Hard news? Not here, but at least an update
Say this for Jermaine O'Neal.
He sure can attract a crowd
Six television outlets, at least one radio station, two freezing Toronto beat grunts, the local Indiana paper and the Pacer website were all hanging around Raptors shootaround in Indy this morning for some pearls from the big man.
What did we get?
Nothing of substance. But he'll lead the 6 p.m. news here, I imagine.
O'Neal's knee came through Thursday's practice and the short flight here quite well, he was going to give it another shot at shootaround (we get media availability before they work out now) and all signs point to a return tonight.
Off the bench, of course.
In other (non) news, it'll take some amazing act of some higher diety for Jose Calderon to play tonight. He's here but wasn't planning to take part in the full shootaround so it'll be Will Solomon as the starting point guard again.
Also got a chance to catch up with T.J. Ford, who is battling a bad back (got some spasms a week or so ago and they still bother him) and he'll come off the bench tonight, too.
I'm pretty sure neither Bryan Colangelo nor Larry Bird thought they'd be trading backups when they made that summer time deal.
Rasho? He's doing just fine, had a nice night out for dinner with some old Toronto friends last night and sort of shook his head ruefully when the current state of the big trade was mentioned in casual conversation.
Anyway, that's it for now. Will be back with the usual pre-game blather on the live blog sometime about 6:45 or so. I'd try to get there earlier but for some reason the folks who broadcast Pacer games on TV want to have me on their show. Another station needs a ratings boost, I guess.
Why isn't Roko starting?? I mean really, what do they have to lose? I think the guy deserves a shot to see what he can do.
Posted by: Scott | January 16, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Hi Doug,
Given that he never really wanted to leave Toronto, do you think that there's a decent chance that Rasho could end up back with the Raptors next year (i.e. one last NBA contract before he calls it a career).
Obviously, there are various factors to take into consideration (i.e. would JO and/or Hump still be with the team, etc.) but I'd imagine that he'd still be a serviceable big off the bench as well as a positive influence for Jawai as the latter slowly develops.
Thanks!
Blogger's note: Would really depend on who's on the team but a lot of teams could use a guy like Rasho
Posted by: Patrick | January 16, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Gotta love Rasho.
Funny, smart and a good basketball player. One of my all-time favourites.
The Raptors could use a guy like him.
Posted by: Manale | January 16, 2009 at 02:04 PM
Trading backups? Seems about right. Both these guys have serious injury issues, and it seems like no team wanted to touch either of them unless they could get a JO or TJ by sending back a marginal talent.
Both TJ and JO are starting quality guys, but the swap makes sense, because they're both risky pickups. They're very similar in what their risks vs. rewards are.
I loved hearing JO in interviews during the summer say that he was healthier than ever, knees in great shape, looking to prove himself etc. Problem is, he says that every year.
TJ is one bad knock away from retiring. That can be said of any guy really, but the issue with TJ is that he plays a brand of ball where he's aggressive and brings it to the hoop with speed. He gets knocked around more than most.
We hear how Colangelo wants to put JO on the block. I wonder how TJ is doing in Indy?
Posted by: Duane C | January 16, 2009 at 02:08 PM
Rasho back in San An maybe?
Posted by: Duane C | January 16, 2009 at 02:09 PM
Hey Doug, just read this rumour and thought you might be interested in doing some investigating from your reliable sources for truth in the situation.
Here's the link: http://www.rumorpress.net/?p=66
I would be very disappointed if Colangelo gave up one of our core defensive rebounders for a bag of (selfish shot-chucking) balls like Hughes and Gooden, so please tell Raptor nation this is internet gossip and nothing else.
Posted by: Jeff Steele | January 16, 2009 at 02:14 PM
When you say that the coaching staff feels that they will get the best out Will by making him the starter, does you mean that Jose will be coming off the bench once he is healthy?
Personally I think JC should come off the bench to get something better than 11 points from those guys.
Blogger's note: No, sorry I was unclear. Of the Solomon-Ukic tandem, the staff thinks to get the most of out of Will they should start him; when Jose comes back, he starts and it'll be interesting to see who the primary backup is.
Posted by: lulu | January 16, 2009 at 03:12 PM
Doug you pimp, performing regularly on sports talk spanning North America... You are short in stature but tall in talent!
Posted by: Jef Moore | January 16, 2009 at 03:48 PM
I am hoping JO can stay healthy and contributes over the next 5 games or so. If Miami feels he is healthy and still a defensive force, they will want to pull the trigger on the JO for Marion deal.
Posted by: BrianV | January 16, 2009 at 03:49 PM
I totally agree with having Will to start. He does so much better if he is not under pressure - also a good way for ego management. But let Ukic finish the ENTIRE 4th quarter - Please!
-SY
Posted by: SY | January 16, 2009 at 05:03 PM
From the rumorpress website:
"Recent reports around the internet have indicated the Raptors may be interested in striking a deal with the Bulls. I investigated the issue and found there is a lot of truth to the rumors."
LOL. I'm sorry, but any report that starts off this way should be discounted several notches. The quality of his sources can only be matched by the quality of his writing, which is rife with unprofessional typos.
Anybody can tell you that teams A, B, C and D are missing a big, and then throw up enough darts that one eventually hits. Don't keep your hopes up.
Posted by: Jonathan | January 16, 2009 at 06:27 PM
Diety, deity no
Posted by: mark | January 16, 2009 at 06:41 PM