Who Is Cliquing Up on Team USA’s Men’s Basketball Team? | The Ringer
DeMar DeRozan and Carmelo Anthony
Melo and DeRozan may be more than a half decade apart in age, but as Harrison Barnes’s team photo makes clear, they’ve clearly bonded over the fact that the Olympics offer both maligned stars a safe haven to finally escape the pressure and just be dope at what they do. Oh, and their shared love of bucket hats:
But Melo isn’t just a headwear aficionado — he’s also very invested in the luxury-watch scene. Per TMZ, “the guys at Haute Time” even threw an Olympics-send-off party for him, and it’s only a matter of time before he’ll have DeRozan rocking a $25,000 Hublot. This is sure to make DeRozan’s former BFF, Lowry, low-key jealous; for Team USA’s sake, here’s hoping the resulting animosity doesn’t carry over to the hardwood.
Giants Of Africa Documentary Named To TIFF Lineup | Toronto Raptors
“On behalf of Hubert Davis and the team that worked so hard to tell the story of these children with a dream in Africa, we are honoured that Giants of Africa will be showcased at one of the world’s greatest film festivals,” said Masai Ujiri. “We believe that sport really can change the world and encourage these youth to dream big. We are very grateful to the Toronto International Film Festival for giving us such a powerful platform to tell their story and ultimately helping these young people realize their potential through the game of basketball.”
Raptors 905 new coach is Jerry Stackhouse | Raptors Rapture
Stack comes into his new job with massively more playing credibility than any Raptor coach since Lenny Wilkens (make no mistake – Lenny may have been an indifferent leader of the Raptors, but he was a superb player). Whether Stack can impart his secrets to the eager kids, and crank up their skills, remains to be seen.
If he does, I’d wager he’ll be on the front bench beside Dwane Casey in 2017-18.
The Raptors over the years have not been particularly friendly to ex-players becoming coaches. Perhaps that’s because the messy early years of Isiah Thomas linger in the memory of team executives like Larry Tanenbaum. Whatever the reason, the Raptors have employed career coaches like Kevin O’Neill, Jay Triano and Brendan Malone (and now Casey, of course) to a greater extent than most teams.
The D-League team’s coach is an important job, and making good will have a positive impact on the big team. Let’s hope Stack can pull it off.
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Canadian hoopsters hold camps to help kids | Toronto Sun
“It’s important to do these camps, especially for me, especially here in Toronto, I was here not too long ago, so I know know how it feels to be in their shoes and for somebody (in the NBA) to come,” Joseph told a few reporters.
“I know what type of inspiration that did for me being at Steve Nash’s Skills Academy when Jay Triano was teaching us. It’s funny because with Team Canada (this summer), I told Jay, he told us in the camp, I was maybe 12 years old, he told us, ‘Every time you take the ball to the rack, dribble it with your off-hand.’ I did that every day, and now, I told him, ‘Now my left-hand dribbling is better than my right hand.’
“So I know how it feels. I think it’s special, when you get an opportunity to do it.”
Also special for Joseph? The children chanting “Captain Canada” as he arrived at the camp.
“It just goes to show you that what playing for your country can do,” he said.
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Ranking the NBA’s Eastern Conference | Basketball Insiders
3. Toronto Raptors
The Raptors have had great regular season success the last three seasons, winning three straight division titles. However, the playoffs had been far less fruitful. Toronto made amends this past postseason, squeaking past both the Pacers and the HEAT, before falling to the Cavs in the Conference Finals. The Raps are bringing back essentially the same roster – save the losses of Bismack Biyombo and Luis Scola. Toronto will bring in Jared Sullinger to replace Biyombo as a back-up big off the bench.
Guard play is so important in today’s NBA, and the Raptors are powered by their dynamic backcourt duo of Kyle Lowry and (the newly rich) DeMar DeRozan. Thus, along with the improved team defense, it would be foolish to assume the Raps don’t win around 50 games next season and return as a high seed heading into the 2017 postseason.
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Child with Down Syndrome gets attention from Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet | The Wichita Eagle
“The organizers of the camp went to Ron and Fred and said there was a little guy who really wanted to meet them,” Adamson said. “They stopped what they were doing and came over to talk to Keaton and get a picture taken with him. You should have seen his smile, it was just the biggest smile you ever saw. He watches them, he knows who the Shockers are.”
Keaton’s mother, Andrea Palmer, said she was star struck when she met Baker and VanVleet. But it’s the look on Keaton’s face she’ll always remember.
“Basketball and swimming are really his two big things,” Palmer said. “But I played basketball when I was growing up in El Dorado and my dad was my coach, so I would say basketball takes a precedence over swimming for Keaton.”
Keaton’s fraternal twin brother, Kaden, also attended the Baker camp. Earlier in the summer, they were at Gregg Marshall’s camp at Koch Arena.
“Kaden really watches out for his brother,” Adamson said. “At the end of the camp, Ron picked two kids from his group to play against another group on the basis of sportsmanship and one of the kids he picked was Kaden. I attribute that a lot to having Keaton as a brother because he’s learned to look out for him and to include him and to share the ball with him.”
r/NBA Roast of the: Toronto Raptors (15/30) | /r/nba
They call Toronto “the 6” because that’s how many playoff wins it takes for their fans to consider it a successful season.
