The biggest disappointment for the Toronto Raptors in opening action at the Las Vegas Summer League yesterday wasn’t the 92-83 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
It was that rookie centre/forward Nathan Jawai was unable to play because of a groin strain, suffered three weeks ago during draft workouts.
team officials are hoping that he will be ready for some action in tomorrow’s game against the Denver Nuggets, back at the Cox Pavilion.
Joey Graham, who has played three seasons in the NBA with the Raptors and is leading the squad in this year’s Summer League, scored a game-high 24 points yesterday while pulling in eight rebounds.
Forward Hassan Adams, whom the Raptors signed to a one-year deal last week to help shore up the club’s defence, scored nine points, with four assists and three steals. Starting centre Deji Akindele, a member of the Nigerian national team, had 13 points and seven boards for the Raptors.
“I have not seen Joel play, but we’ve heard some good reports on him from various people,” Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo said of Joel Bosh. “I do know that he is a very nice young man and we thought it would be a nice gesture to have him here with us and get him some exposure. But there were no promises or assurances that he would make the final roster.”
Bosh, 22, played four seasons at Alabama State, helping the Hornets reached the NCAA tournament in 2005, and win the Southwest Athletic Conference regular season championship in 2008.
“I thought we played really hard – it was a physical game,” said Raptors Summer League head coach Eric Hughes. “They have four first round draft picks on their team and I think that showed a little bit with the way they were physical. Not that we weren’t ready for it and not that we didn’t compete, but ultimately that caught up to us at the end.”
The Bobcats talked to the Toronto Raptors leading up to the draft about a deal that could have involved Wallace and then-Raptors point guard T.J. Ford. The Raptors instead moved Ford to the Indiana Pacers in a deal for Jermaine O’Neal.
“Basically, I think what they’ve said is everybody is being shopped,” Wallace told the Observer, while watching his team’s summer-league game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “With new management, new coaches and everything, you have to expect something like that.”
Raptors: Nice job picking up Jermaine O’Neal to team with Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon. The problem is Andrea Bargnani, the 7-foot center taken first overall in the 2006 draft. Bosh said he began “playing like a man” midway through his rookie season, at which time LeBron James called him “like a junior Dirk (Nowitzki).” He even started trash-talking a bit. But a serious regression marked his play last year, leaving his future with Toronto – or in the league – somewhat in doubt.
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.
When O’Neal talked to Paul Jones, he noted that defense is what the Raps need to focus on the most. High-scoring teams that don’t put an emphasis on D don’t really walk out of the Finals with a ring. Hell, how many of the high-scoring teams even make it to the Finals? We’ve seen the Phoenix Suns knocked out of the playoffs without one Finals appearance for four straight seasons now. It’s clear Jermaine sees something special on this team if everything can fall into place and he talked about the potential for a ‘special year’, where statistics and numbers wouldn’t gauge success – the only number that would matter would be wins. He talked about being viewed as a Champion when his career is over so here’s to hoping he’s viewed as one in the Raptors’ red and white.
I know it’s only Day 2, but this has been the most entertaining game so far. Think pickup ball in the park — complete with Quincy Douby cherry picking. Toronto’s Jaycee Carroll (as I’m typing this, he fired up an airball) can really shoot it, and Hawes shoots and passes a lot better than I remember.
Graham is attacking the basket every time he gets a touch, and although he has eight fouls (you are allowed 10 before fouling out in summer league), he has 24 points.
The Kings earned the 93-86 victory over the Raptors thanks to Hawes and Douby combining to score 43 points. Patrick Ewing, Jr. got the start at forward for the Kings, missing all four of his shot attempts and finishing with zero points.
Entering the final guaranteed year of his rookie contract, Graham is running out of chances to prove he can one day reach his potential. Still, Graham is hopeful that with the addition of Jermaine O’Neal the Raptors will be a team to be reckoned with next season and that his versatility off the bench could play a role in the team’s resurgence.
“When Jermaine or Chris (Bosh) is tired, I can definitely come in and play that position. When Jamario (Moon), (Anthony Parker) or Jason Kapono are tired I can play that position, too. Me being able to play multiple positions is an advantage for this team.”
On paper, Graham’s sentiment makes sense. However, the onus is on him to prove it to the Raptors with his performance between the lines. Anything less could leave the former first round pick looking for work next summer.
There’s plenty for O’Neal to be excited about, as he joins an up-and-coming Raptors roster that hopes to contend for an Eastern Conference title. Pairing with Chris Bosh in the paint, O’Neal sounded thrilled and rejuvenated with an opportunity to form arguably the most formidable duo of big men in the league. “It can be scary,” O’Neal said. “Teams haven’t seen that in a while, where you can throw two guys on both boxes who can really set up and shoot the 15-foot jumpshot, post up, and put the ball on the floor. I don’t really know who you can double off of because we have three-point shooting on the perimeter, so teams are really going to have to roll their sleeves up.”
One of those perimeter players for the Raptors, Anthony Parker, was also putting his time into training at Impact Basketball on Saturday and echoed the same eager sentiment as O’Neal. “His addition to our team brings us what we were missing last year,” Parker told HOOPSWORLD. “He brings toughness, a defensive presence in the paint, and he’s a great rebounder. All of those things are things we struggled with last year. I’m very excited to have him on the team and the organization and the fans are just really excited for another season.”
With Bosh and O’Neal down low, Parker sees the opportunity for himself and others on the outside to really thrive. “Chris makes all of our lives so much easier and then you add another guy like Jermaine O’Neal who is the exact same kind of presence,” he said. “He’s going to open things up and you’ve got to honor him and maybe send two people at him, same way with Chris. And that opens things up for guys like me and Jason Kapono on the outside.”
O’Neal said he is rested and healthy enough to make a strong run next season with his new team. Using the summer to train hard, O’Neal feels that he’ll be physically and mentally prepared to make a great run. “I knew that in order to get to the level people are used to seeing me play at, I had to take the time off,” he said. “Have a great summer and go into the season with a different mental focus and a different physical focus.”
His summer training with Impact Basketball has been integral in his eagerness to get physically healthy since he’s now mentally healthy. “We’re doing some things that I haven’t done in my career,” he said. “They’ve taken my blood type and figured out what diet you need to be on. The diet they have me on is a pretty severe diet as far as the things I like to eat – bread and dairy product and so on. These guys, they do everything. It’s a full a facility with a lot of different players in the gym, great training, and they hand you off to the next guy. You come in and it’s physical therapy, next guy’s Joe on the court, and the next guy’s JR in the weight room, and then I’ve got my physical therapist at home. So they’ve really put together a great team which really helps me and guarantees in my mind that I’m going to come back and come back in a major way next year.”
So the Jermaine O’Neal saga for the Raptors has begun, and there is definitely a lot of uncertainty that comes with it. Is he healthy? Will he be happy in T.O.? It says here, yes. At the age of 29, O’Neal has still got enough years in him to really contribute. Look no further than the Celtics big three who are all over 30. The problem really is what happens in 2 years? O’Neal is a big time baller pullin’ in 22 mil per year! In the off season of 2010, Bosh becomes a free agent, at the same time as Wade and LeBron. It looks like O’Neal is just a rent a player but let’s hope he can really make a difference in the next 2 seasons.
The best player on either team was Joey Graham, who poured in 24 points on a variety of drives, slashing cuts, and mid-range jumpers, and got to the line 15 times, converting on 12 of them. He should be nicknamed SHOULDERS. His defense was solid and he eats the glass up goijng against bigger players regularly. He should find his way into the Toronto rotation this year as a 3rd or 4th man off the bench.
The Toronto Raptor with the most on the line in Vegas this year is, without question, Joey Graham. Graham was once an up-and-coming member of the team, but found himself on the outside of the rotation looking in for much of last season. If Game 1 of Toronto’s summer league schedule is any indication, Graham is on pace to get back into that rotation.
John Lucas
Joey Graham
John Lucas
Eric Hughes
Joey Graham
Hassan Adams
Get Used To This
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