The Raptors fell short to the Bobcats, but it's never a bad trip when there's a Charles Oakley sighting.
It was a disappointing 97-91 loss for the Toronto Raptors in Charlotte as they continue to put themselves at the back of the pack when it comes to potential tie-breaker scenarios with teams that they could be fighting with for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has now dropped three games to the New York Knicks and two contests to the Bobcats.
It was an announced crowd of 12,482 in Charlotte and it's hard to imagine that it's the same city that once hosted the Charlotte Hornets. As I stood courtside only 35 minutes before the game, the joint was empty. I mean you could have counted the number of people in the arena that weren't playing in about two minutes. Back in the day at the old Charlotte Coliseum, a place that had a banner hanging for the fans as the sixth man, you couldn't hear yourself think.
The Carolina "mob" was out in full force for the game as one of its leading men; Michael Jordan was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. As my broadcast partner Eric Smith asked "Why isn't he in there already, did it just open yesterday?" We found out the real story. Jordan was originally elected to the Carolina Hall back in 1994, but that was the season that he abruptly "retired" from the NBA and was trying to learn how to hit a curve ball in Birmingham. So they finally found the opportunity to have the ceremony, which happened to be at half time of the Raptors - Bobcats contest. It was a short and tasteful speech by his "airness" to cap it off just as he mentioned that it would be when a few of us broadcast types rode up in the elevator with him at the team hotel on Monday night. You can listen to the half time ceremony here.
In the event you missed it check out DeMar DeRozan serving up the "grill cheese" to Tyrus Thomas. It was one of the dunks of the year so far as DeRozan put Thomas on a poster and very reminiscent of the windmill style throw down that Vince Carter put on Alonzo Mourning back in 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were lots of former Raptors around in Charlotte as Dell Curry is the Bobcats TV analyst and there was also a Charles Oakley sighting. You know what, Oak would be a good assistant coach, if he didn't strangle one of the players first. But seriously, the guy is about playing ball the right way. We chatted for a while at the front desk at the team hotel and he made some great observations about the league and how he would run a team. Now he is thinking about delving in the coaching business in a sense as he is hoping to run a big man camp this summer. Somewhere in Tennessee is one of the locations he is looking at as a possibility and Oak has also mentioned that he is looking at doing some sort of basketball camp for kids in the Toronto area in March. He is still working with local folks on details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The New Jersey Nets are still doing their best to pry Carmelo Anthony away from the Nuggets. The roundabout pursuit continues as the Nets were involved in a three-team trade with the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. So the Sasha Vujacic era is done in Los Angeles and the Lakers will get a little more experience and big man help for Pau Gasol with the acquisition of veteran Joe Smith. Even though Andrew Bynum returned to the line-up against Washington with 17 minutes off the bench, Jackson has lamented the extended minutes that Gasol has been logging . But it's the Nets that now have five first round draft picks stockpiled through the 2011 and 2012 drafts and will no doubt try and use them as an enticement in a trade for Anthony.
While there continues to be chatter that Anthony wants to play for the Knicks and not the Nets, if there's a trade that sends him to New Jersey, he will eventually end up in New York with the Nets planning to move to Brooklyn within a couple of seasons. If the Nets do get Anthony, it's quite possible that they become a more attractive destination for free agents with the accompanying move to the "Big Apple". But just remember, everything is on hold until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached.
