The Raptors will hold their camp at Carleton University in Ottawa, Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, the team announced Friday.
“We are very excited to hold training camp in our nation’s capital, symbolizing our identity as Canada’s team,” Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo said in a release. “Carleton University offers us state of the art facilities and a great working relationship with a highly successful basketball program.”
The Raptors will conduct two-a-day practices at the Ravens’ Nest Gymnasium at Carleton, and will wrap up camp with an intrasquad game on Oct. 4.
Already an All-Star, many NBA fans didn’t have that much knowledge of Bosh. That is, until he started a YouTube campaign to get into the All-Star Game last season. Now an All-Star and Olympian, he is the driving force towards whether the Raptors make the next step in their growth. Jose Calderon and Jermaine O’Neal will help, but they stand behind Bosh.
The Raptors said the team’s stars — all-star American forward Chris Bosh and spanish guard Jose Calderon — will take part in workouts.
“Chris will be in his best shape ever, and I know he wants to keep the momentum going,” said Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo. “By the time we start camp, he will have had a full five- or six-week break, so everyone will be ready to go.”
Colangelo said he first saw Carleton as a potential camp site two years ago watching the Ravens play an exhibition series against NCAA teams.
He was impressed enough to keep Ottawa on the front burner when the question of where to locate the first week of training camp was discussed. The team held training camp overseas last year, and has trained at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., in the past.
The team will hold two closed practices a day. The club will also conduct clinics for youths aged 10-14.
Rhetorical question: Who is going to backup Anthony Parker? The nominees are Hassan Adams, Will Solomon and Roko Ukic. **shudder**. I mean, there are holes in the wing but lest we forget we also have holes at the backup SG. Parker’s been a player that has shown that he can’t be relied upon to be extended in his playing time and Jason Kapono’s seasonal performance leaved much to be desired. Parker’s fourth quarter shooting has been woeful at times and you have to think if we start calling on him to play 35 minutes a game, he’s going to have nothing left by Game 75, let alone the post-season. You can only ask Roko Ukic to do so much in his first campaign while at the same time keeping a close eye on Jose Calderon’s minutes to ensure his legs are still there come playoff time. Lot of challenges, lots.
InsideHoops.com ran a poll for the last week asking fans to pick the eight Eastern conference teams they feel will make the playoffs in 2008-09.
The voting for the first four teams was pretty close, with the Celtics (592 votes), Cavaliers (588), Pistons (582) and Magic (578) taking the home-court seeds.
The Raptors (504) came in 5th, though from our experience Toronto fans, being very enthusiastic, tend to bump their team up slightly higher than tends to be expected. Though, if new Raptor Jermaine O’Neal can stay healthy and play anything like his old former All-Star self, this is a very reasonable prediction.
Sixth?
At a base level, it’s hard to imagine the team adding Jermaine O’Neal and not making a jump in the standings…especially considering that Toronto basically fell into the sixth seed last year with their dismal finish.
But admittedly questions such as JO’s health and ability to play with Bosh do surround the Raptors, not to mention the potential improvement of a number of Eastern Conference clubs like Philly, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Miami; yes, perhaps the sixth seed makes sense.
So how then does Toronto get over the hump of the first playoff round and perhaps higher up in the standings?
Well let’s answer that question by starting with a few assumptions:
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Something doesn’t jive with me about Colangelo calling us Canada’s Team. I know it’s mostly lip service and a way to build fan-base, and I don’t necessarily blame Bryan particularly. I think I’m just tired of hearing it. How necessary is it to keep saying it? Why do we keep playing this angle? Why is it that every other NBA team doesn’t feel the need to ‘legitimize’ themselves the way we seem to, over and over again?
Who cares if we’re Canada’s team or not? I think if you win games and be competitive, then you don’t need to keep convincing people to watch your games.
That could be said about anything…
“Who cares if we have a conservative gov’t or not? I think if you balance the budget and deal with the environment, then you don’t need to keep convincing people to vote for you.”
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If that’s all you think the Conservative Party stands for, I think I just found the one guy in Canada who knows less about politics than I do.
I think you got my point, without realizing that you did.
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Lost in translation? I think “being Canada’s team” pales in comparison to what the Conservative Party stands for. I honestly don’t think anyone buys the Canada’s Team garbage. It’s not like we have any Canadians on the roster.
If anything, fans might base their loyalty on proximity, kind of like those idiots who cheer for the Buffalo Bills. For example if I lived in Vancouver, why would I cheer for the Raptors? The likelihood of me ever seeing the Raptors in Toronto are unlikely because of Air Canada’s ridiculous air fares. It’s more likely I’d drive south (and then some more now that Seattle is gone) and watch a Portland game.
wow…somebody better get the Cowboys on the phone and tell them to drop their “America’s Team” slogan.
Yes, it would make sense to tell the Cowboys to stop the shenanigans once and for all and drop the ridiculous “America’s Team” slogan if they were doing it encourage their nation to rally behind them because they needed their undeserved fan support.
That is, until you found out that the Dallas Cowboys were deservedly labeled as America’s Team due to their enormous popularity — no matter where they played, people were cheering for them. They had an incredibly huge and loyal fan base, hold the record for the most consecutive sellouts. They have been to the “Finals” 8 times and won 5 times (tied for an NFL record).
Hopefully “Canada’s Team” can make out of the first round this year.
“For example if I lived in Vancouver, why would I cheer for the Raptors?” -eBrian
Well, Lansdell cheers for them and he’s in Newfoundland (or NB). Cyber cheers for them, and he’s in butt-f*ck-no-where (Dryden, MB).
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Go ask Lansdell and Cybersteak if cheers for the Toronto Raptors because Bryan Colangelo says they’re Canada’s Team.
They are the only NBA team in Canada, thus, they are officially “Canada’s team” by NBA standards.
I’m not really sure why this effects you so much. It may be an advertising gimmick, but so is everything else. You work for the government, for heaven’s sake.
Thank you. All I’m saying is that it’s a *dumb* advertising gimmick.
The Yankees have won more championships. Shouldn’t they be America’s team, then?