The Nation Speaks….Dino Blogger Answers

Ok back hopefully for good is a day for your comments and questions. I never did get any suggestions on what to call this so I came up with the Nation Speaks. I like it personally and I likely will go with that. There was some response to my pleas for mail. Doug Smith always talks about how much he gets and rightfully so. After all he has been covering the team since day 1 in 1995. I had chance to meet him at the recent Canada Basketball games here in Hamilton he is a nice guy.

There was not a HUGE response of emails but there was some. Hopefully by starting this it will inspire more of you to send in some stuff for next time. I am basically a friendly person so there is no need to be afraid to send me your thoughts. I want to mention something that was in the comments be for we get started. Ian from Hamburg, Germany wrote a comment about the Canada win over Germany. He was at the game and is living in Germany and reading the Dino Nation Blog. How cool is that. Prior to moving to wordpress I could track the countries people came from and was amazed where some of you were reading from. Global reach of the internet is truly amazing.  But this blog is suppose to be about you folks so let’s get to it:

A Random Read( They Didn’t Sign It ):

How come the New York Knicks can go miles over the cap but we don’t. MLSE has lots of money still last I looked. Why don’t they spend it?

True thanks to Thomas the Knicks are far beyond the luxury tax limit. They pay a dollar for Dollar tax on that amount that they are over the limit. So it is not like they are just allowed to without penalty. The Raptors have always as a rule looked to remain out of the tax. Bryan Colangelo even pointed out how Jose Calderon in his new contract agreed to re-work it to keep the Raptors under it. Doug Smith has said that the Raps will never go over the Luxury tax number and to forget about it. I tend to agree that in the off-season they will not. Trade deadline could be a different story but that is long way away.

Hey, what’s up my name is Shant Bakmazian …1 of my addictions is watching the raptor games, I always end up watching them instead of studying for my finals and I read your blogs everyday while I’m in the office, to help pass by time, and keep me in the right state of mind, and I can honestly say I am a big fan of the dino nation blog so GREAT job and keep them coming.

 Just a couple of questions, I know this one is from last year but it was asked to me by a friend and I don’t know the answer to it so maybe you can help… remember the game where Shaq got fouled out and they were going to play it again… he was on Miami when that occurred, and so what happens with that now that he is in phoenix now?

Also, when do you think Joel Bosh will be with the raps? And is that a for sure thing? Do you think he can tear up the court like Chris does?

O.K, first off School is important study hard. Well come to think of it I didn’t much. Study hard enough to pass. That sounds more like me. On to the basketball stuff. The game you are talking about was re-played without Shaq. The NBA had addressed this issue. A couple days after the trade to the Suns. Ironic in the sense that the player who caused the historic re-do did not even play in it. Also for the Record the outcome did not change the hawks won the game.

Joel Bosh is not likely to be a Raptor anytime soon(if ever). The closest to being a Raptor might be catching on with the Raptors D-League team which is NOT the Colorado 14ers as the Raps annouced they have changed to the Idaho Stampedee which is shared with Portland Trailblazers. The Raps are giving Joel a shot so he can have a chance to get a job somewhere but it is not likely it is with them in Toronto. I think we all know the Bosh Family will be happy with the gesture on behalf of the Raptors.

This is not to say the brother of CB4 sucks. But he did go to a small school in Alabama State. Big Borther Chris, went to Georgia Tech and was ACC Freshman of the Year. It is a big difference. Joel played through senior at Alabama State. Bosh was in year 3 with the Raptors when he was suppose to be a senior in college. Basically what everyone should want for Joel “Bubba” Bosh is to get a job be it in the NBDL or Europe. Why Bubba? He is Bubba from the famous YouTube Video. I’m 98% sure on that.

Random Nation Memeber ( No Name)

Hey James, I just wanted to know how far you think the Raptors are gonna go this season. Can they finally get past the first round in this ever improving Eastern Conference?

By the way, I love the blog; I just started reading recently and I’m gonna stick around for a while. Keep up the good work!

Thanks ( Insert Name Here) …. Anyway name or not I am glad you enjoy the blog. Happy to hear you plan on sticking around as well. I am sure we all hope to be doing that. As for your question. I as people who have been reading know have not been blown away impressed with this trade. That being said the press conference by Jermaine O’Neal did help me start to change my mind on him to some degree. I think it is to early to say for the record. But if defense is important to advancing in the playoffs. Most seem to think it is. That would and should mean the Raptors took a major step forward in that regard. In the end match-ups in series mean a lot. Replay the Orlando Series from last year with this crew. I think they would win.

 

Hey James,

Just wondering why when the Raptors team for next year is mentioned by any website or anybody in general, Andrea Bargnani isn’t even mentioned. I believe that this guy is what will make our team good or bad and he is what can push us over the top. If the media thinks he’s a bust, they should at least talk about him being a bust. This guy isn’t even being mentioned and I just want to hear what you think is the reason why you think this is happening. I mean, nobody is even talking about what he’s doing in the offseason or how his training is going. Why is this?

Thanks

Jamie

First some useless trivia about the Dino Blogger. Jamie is what I was called as a kid and still am to this day by my mom. As for the Jamie asking the question he has been a long time reader of this blog. I don’t know everyone that reads personally but Jamie I have talked with several times.

Anyway, Andrea and media. I don’t think they are ignoring him. He is working with John Lucas and is back and forth between Italy and United States. If Raps had put him on summer league roster I am sure we would be hearing on how he was doing. But the Raptors feel it is best to just keep him working as they had planned for him. Italy is not in the Olympics so this gave Raps a chance to have Andrea work together with them on his off-season program.

As for the whole BUST idea and his roll. Jermaine O’Neal said in his press conference that he sees Andrea having a key roll on this team. If he says that the Raptors must think that as well. Media have all for most part said this season will be the make or break year for Andrea. To borrow a line from Jack Armstrong( Who is Visiting us Again SOON) he said football coach Bill Parcells use to say that in Year one a player thinks they know. In year 2 they realize they didn’t know and Year 3 THEY BETTER KNOW. I think that is where we are at with Andrea.

Tim says:

im wondering outside the beasly, rose, mayo, dani and guys
who do you think will have a huge nba career specifically those in the second round?

Chuck Swirsky HOMER ALERT!!!! I know this is going to sound like pumping up the Raptors. But honestly if he had been drafted by anyone I would be saying this. Nathan Jawai has the most chance to grow as a player and develop. It is my undersatanding he never even picked up a basketball till he was a teenager. He has a lot to learn but he has amazing upside and the scouts LOVED AUSSIE SHAQ. I am doing research on Jawai and hoping it will turn into a nice feature for the blog. But I will say that Huge Star and 2nd round are rare things. Solid and productive is what I would say. Raps gave this guy 2 year deal that says a lot as very rare do guys get a multi year offer in the second round. The other one that I personally do not agree with but I think many out there believe is Chris Douglas-Roberts. A guy once pegged for Raptors that free falled all the way to round 2. He was a hot pick to a lot of Raptor Fans. CDR is at the least going to be motivated to prove something.

That is it for the E-Mail. But I thought of something else I can add to this and if the mail is light in a given week we can use more of this. I go on several chat boards and read. From Real GM Forum to several groups on facebook. I try to get to as many as I can to understand what rap fans are talking about. One of the E-mails I got was from someone that acts as a moderator on one of those forums. He said he enjoyed the blog and wanted to know if it was ok to post a link to it. To which I replied THANK YOU AND HELL YEA. So I thought why not give these forums some kind of note. Like I said personally can read them all. So if you find something on a Forum and you want me to see it and comment. Add that to my mail bag as well. dinonationblogger@hotmail.com

Raptor Fan Web Buzz

T.J Ford:

Still hated by some loved by others( Like Me) and debated into the ground. Just think what it is going to be like when Pacers go against Raptors in first meeting. Can you say off the hook Insanity.

Vegas Baby:

What did we ever do without a Vegas Summer League team last year. I mean the amount of hype around this is insane to me. People going off the wall excited for games that mean less than exhibition games. I blame the summer heat and lack of basketball. But I admit lots of reasons to be interested in this summer league team for a variety of reasons.

Pay Taxes Get Us Players!!!

MLSE can never win. They can make lots of money though. Raptor Fans want them to spend more of it. Pay the Luxury Tax the Knicks do(Like an Emailer Said above). Here is my take on it. If you believe that this team will advance beyond round 1 go spend that exception to the max. You will recover it in extra playoff revenue. But I am not going to throw MLSE under the your a cheapskate bus until the trade deadline. After all I think you could find a better player at that time.

So hope you liked this new blog based on you folks. If you didn’t maybe you can make it better with some comments of your own for next time. Raps play Kings today in Summer League and I will post the results of that and the Team Canada game from yesterday that they lost to Germans later tonight.

Tags: Alabama State, Andrea Bargnani, Doug Smith, Jack Armstrong, Jermaine O'Neal, Joel Bosh, MLSE, Nathan Jawai, Raptor Forums, Real GM, Shaq, T.J Ford