Jack Armstrong Returns To Dino Nation Blog

HELLLLOOO AND WELCOME BACK TO DINO NATION BLOG

As regular readers of this blog all know Jack Armstrong has always been a good friend and welcome guest to this blog. He made his first appearance in the Dino Nation Blog just prior to the NBA Playoffs.  I mention this for people who may be new readers to this blog. Since that time Jack has been kind enough to offer his thoughts on the departing for Chicago of Chuck Swrsky. He has shared his thoughts on the Raptors as well. So once again we had a chance to talk about a couple of the changes in Raptorland. Starting with the recently hired Matt Devlin.

Jack you may have heard worked with Devlin in the past. He worked together with him covering college basketball on a number of networks as well as on MSG covering the WNBA New York Liberity. So he has a good knowledge of Matt and his work prior to his coming to the Toronto Raptors.

I have expressed my personal concerns about Matt Devlin but Jack is confident that Matt will do a good job in his new role with the Raptors. He said that Devlin is not Chuck and in turn Chuck is not Matt. But he said that both are very good at what they do and great pros. Jack said that Devlin is very prepared and does a good job. He also said the Raptors after losing Chuck were lucky to have been able to hire someone with Devlin’s experience and resume. He expressed that it will take a little time for Devlin to establish himself with Raptor fans. After all he will be working with new people and need to establish a flow with them.

I personally have done play by play on very minor levels and I understand what Jack is saying. It takes time to learn to work with new people and develop a flow in how you interact with them during a broadcast. Jack although working with Chuck Swirsky for 10 years has worked with many other broadcasters Devlin among them. I personally use to work with new people regularly as I was building up tapes for a future in broadcasting. The average fan thinks that calling a game is very easy and that they could do it. But the reality is to be as good as anyone you see on T.V is not as easy as they make it appear. Just because they are not dunking a Basketball like Jamario Moon or blocking a shot like Jermaine O’Neal does not mean it is easy. I have great respect for the people like Jack and Chuck it is a craft to be able to broadcast games and be entertaining and effective. Even the most highly skilled pros will always be looking to improve.

Jack also said that Devlin being a fairly young guy could establish himself and have a great long run with the Raptors as Chuck had. Devlin has said in his blog on Raptors.com about him having family in the area and how happy he is to be in Toronto. He also has made it clear he is aware of the great job Chuck has done here and he understands he has big shoes to fill.

I would agree with that statement. No matter what you personally may think about Chuck be it good or bad, it is clear a large number of Raptor Fans loved him. He does deserve a tremendous amount of credit for all his work with the Raptors. Matt Devlin is not Chuck and he should not try to be. Fans to should not expect him to be. I have no doubt that Matt will do his best that he can in his new job. It will take time for people to accept him but if he works hard at the end of the day that is all he can do. Jack would look forward to the chance to work with Matt again.

Doug Smith said we can be sure Jack will indeed have that chance in a recent edition of his blog. When that is the case Jack said he will come back and talk about that here with us. It is no secert to anyone that reads this blog how much I look forward to that. I know I am not alone in my praise for all the fine work Jack has done and will do in the future. He has done fine work on Raptors T.V, Sportsnet and the Fan 590.

From the broadcast booth to the basketball court. Having Jack drop by is always a good chance to talk about Raptors. He spared a few extra minutes to do that as well.

So what about the big trade for Jermaine O’Neal?

If healthy Jack feels that this move could be a positive step for the Toronto Raptors. He said that it allowed you to turn T.J Ford into a high quality player. In the Orlando series Jack said that Raptors only had 1 of the 5 best players in that series. That one of course was Chris Bosh. Now Bosh has a second star to play along side him. Even if this trade did not workout or blowup due to injuries Jack as many have said points to the hugh amount of cap space the Raps will get when O’Neal is off the books in 2010. Jack said if the Raptors did not take this chance and try to shake things up they would remain at the same level and not improve. In fact with the improvement to the Conference and Division you could even make the case that the Raptors would slide lower.

What about the Point Guard position?

Jack said that he thinks Jose will be fine playing the additional minutes. In the case of Roko Ukic he said we will have to all wait and see till October if he can indeed play the back-up minutes behind Jose. As for a third point guard Jack said it is not as huge a problem as people make it out to be. The 3rd point gurad should only be needed if an injury occurs. He also so said it’s not that hard to find point guards to play a back up role. They are far easier to find than big people.

The Idea of going with Just a small roster of 13?

Jack who was a former NCAA Coach talked about how when he coached the NCAA had cut back the number of Scholarships that teams were allow to hand out. It did not have a major impact in fact Jack likes the idea of less is more. On the pro level he feels the same. The 14 or 15th player on a roster seldom if ever has any real impact. He is another body that you have to pay for and not just salary but all the other expenses that go along with being a NBA Franchise.

As always it was great to talk with Jack and he is always willing to come back and visit here and that is real nice of him. I did forget one thing. Someone over at the Real G.M Forums asked me to say hello to Jack for all the folks over there. He said send a big HEEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOO!!! Back to you.

Tags: Chris Bosh, Jack Armstrong, Jermaine O'Neal, Jose Calderon, Matt Devlin, Real GM, Roko Ukic