Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

Ok folks it’s been a while so let’s catch up on stuff before I get to Mr. Turkoglu. If you are looking for a prediction on the finals, you’ll have to hang on and check in tomorrow or Wednesday. My initial thought says Boston, but there are lots of things to look at with respect to personnel. So don’t hold me to that right now, as I reserve the right to change my mind before Thursday.

So how’s that Kobe payback list looking right now? You just have to believe in no particular order it was 1. Settle the score with Phoenix for knocking them out after having a 3-1 lead and letting the Suns make history with the comeback in 2006 playoffs. Check. 2 Win the NBA title by defeating the Celtics and issue some payback for a 39 point loss in the closeout game of the 2008 championship series. That’s next in the cross-hairs. 3 Then defeat Shaquille O’Neal in the Finals to win another ring. Not sure if this one will ever get done.

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After the initial report only a day after the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted by the Boston Celtics, rumour came to fruition when Mike Brown was fired by the Cavs. Yep the coach takes the fall but let’s take a closer look at this situation. Without LeBron James are the Cavs a title team? Seriously, how good was LeBron’s supporting cast? You need a team around you or else you’re not winning.

Just ask Kobe Bryant, who went through what LeBron went through and in the west had a much rougher time. It got to the point where about three years ago, Bryant wanted out of Los Angeles. Only after a little chat with Phil Jackson and a subsequent trade later in the next season was Bryant happy. Now, they lost in the finals that season to Boston but Bryant finally had help.

So if LeBron really doesn’t have a lot of help, doesn’t Brown deserve some credit for his coaching? The Cavs became only the second team to win 60 plus games in consecutive seasons and not go to the conference finals. True Brown was fired but in all, he did a better than decent job with what he had. Things are crazy right now in Cleveland and let me ask you this, do you want to be the next coach in there right now?

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Ok Hedo, just what were you thinking going on Turkish TV and spewing all that stuff about not being happy in Toronto? There was ample opportunity to say it here at the end of the season. Why do international players feel the need to go home, get comfortable and then spout off? Do they think that nobody will hear about it?

Turkoglu was treated well by the organization. When he needed time off in the preseason, knowing that the end of the season was more important the organization gave him time off to recharge his battery. Yep, he’d had a long season going to the finals with Orlando and then playing for his home country but he had about 53 million reasons to be ready for training camp and come to play. Quick question, do you think he’s going to be any better at the start of this training camp with the World Championships in Turkey?

He was and still is, until a deal is made, being paid handsomely by the Raptors. If he wants out that badly maybe he should give the money back and move on. Ok that’s not going to happen, but this is not the way to go about getting moved out of a situation that he sees as untenable. How is that done? Keep your mouth quiet, play your backside off after letting the organization know your desire to be moved and then see what happens. In short, be part of the solution and not someone who becomes another problem with a bail out weak-minded "its-not-going-well-so-I-want-to-leave" attitude.

Right now, Colangelo is like the guy who has new shoes for everyone and just gave a pair to Hedo. Hope he told him to watch out when the kicking starts, because right now Turk looks like a world cup soccer star.

The whole thing probably caught the organization by surprise and it’s now just one more thing to deal with, in what will be a very difficult summer.

Some wonder if this will impact Chris Bosh’s decision. It could as I suppose Bosh could be in one of two minds. Initially it could be let’s see what President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo gets for Hedo (if he can move him) and maybe we can get this thing on track. Or the other side of the coin what a mess. You know I was thinking of leaving and now I’m out of here for sure.

All I can say is oh boy, its going to be an interesting summer.