This is from a couple days ago but the Pacers did an interview with TJ Ford where he talks about a bunch of things. It was hard to focus because of the interviewer. The segment is quite boring but he does mention how in Toronto he got into techno music. Good luck to him, hopefully he has a career year where he only has 4 extremely crappy games all year long. If his head is sewed on straight he could’ve been an All-Star next year but I actually think Jim O’Brien is a worse coach than Sam Mitchell so the odds aren’t good. If I’m O’Brien I let TJ run loose, excite some fans and have some fun. There’s no pressure on that team and they should be fun to watch.
Jermaine O’Neal made Hoops World’s list of NBA Nice Guys. It made my heart melt until I got to the end of the list and saw Alonzo Mourning’s name on it. Kinda ruined it for me.
Yesterday Eric Smith had this inside info on Bargnani:
By all indications, things are going well for Andrea. I spoke to a few folks within the Raptors and they seem happy with the progress Bargnani has made. Personally, I haven’t had a chance to see Andrea since the end of the season but it sounds like he may have put on a couple of pounds as well. Jermaine O’Neal had a lot of great things to say about Bargnani following their workouts together in Las Vegas. The two hooked up in Nevada when Andrea was down there for the Pete Newell big man camp. He also showed his commitment to the Raptors and to this upcoming season by deciding to NOT play with the Italian national team this summer. Instead, he’s been following a strict workout program that is/was coordinated by and supervised by the Raptors basketball department.
I know its not much and there are no eye-witness reports here but it looks like Bargnani’s been following his off-season regiment in a committed fashion. Him not suiting up for Italy does say a lot given the nationalism of the European players and how much they enjoy playing for their country. In a pic I posted a while back he did look like he had gained a few pounds. Getting stronger and gaining weight is one of the first steps in developing a low-post presence and I’m hoping Bargnani can use this new weight to throw some people around in the block. I’ll gladly accept a decrease in his jump shots and an increase in his post-ups.
Our roster doesn’t have much depth on it this year and its imperative we got the most bang for the buck out of every player – especially the starting five – if we want to compete for home-court advantage. The guy that’s not getting mentioned much this summer is Jamario Moon who last I heard was representing the Raptors out west in Edmonton and playing hoops in someone’s driveway. We obviously expect improvement from Bargnani next year but if Moon even repeats the feats of last season, it’ll be considered a disappointing year. He must get better and make up for the lack of a true SF signing. It’s asking a lot.
I’ve accepted that he’s not going to be a player that consistently takes it to the rim even when the opportunity is there so I’ve switched expectation gears. If he just drains the 15-18 footer with dead-eye consistency, it’ll open up things for us. Last year we got angry when he started taking those jumpers, this year I’m hoping he takes them and makes them. If Bargnani’s off-season regiment involved working on footwork, getting stronger and developing post-moves, Moon’s should simply involve launching 1000 jumpers a day.
If you want to catch a glimpse of Bryan Colangelo and Steve Nash you should go to this event. I know I’m reaching in these posts but there’s nothing going on at all.
Grab the feed for Raptors talk all year long.
