Wednesday afternoon while we were looking for something to watch in between General Hospital and the Young and the Restless, we stumbled upon a re-broadcast of the 1997 NBA all-star game.
OK, now that we’ve you seduced inside with a picture of Steve Nash, we interrupt this regularly scheduled blog topic for the following brief Raptors rant.
(If you’d like to skip ahead to the 50 Greatest debate, close your eyes and scroll down)
Long time no blog.
Where have we been? We’re at not at liberty to say, but we think Andrea Bargnani might be hiding out there too.
What is up with this guy?
The losing streak -- 13 straight now after last night’s totally predictable 100-87 loss to the Hawks in Atlanta -- is somewhat acceptable given our rash of injuries, but what’s your excuse Andrea?
If you’re banged up, just say so because otherwise it sure looks like you’re mailing it in of late.
Just look at these stats from his past three games:
2/2 @ Atlanta: 12 points, 5 boards, 4-of-12 shooting.
1/31 @ Indiana: 12 points, 5 boards, 3-of-15 shooting.
1/29 @ Minnesota: 15 points, 3 boards, 5-of-24 shooting.
That’s a tidy 24 per cent from the field over that span, folks, or probably what Reggie Evans could have managed from the same spots on the floor…on his crutches.
So, if he’s hurt, fine. But if he’s tired, too bad. For all of Chris Bosh’s faults, we always felt like he brought it every night. And if Bryan Colangelo feels Bargnani’s mailing it in, he should start pouring over NBA rosters right now and dreaming of potential returns in a summer trade.
Having said that, unlike 90 per cent of the callers we’ve heard on Sportsnet Radio FAN 590 of late, we’re not getting our Raptors knickers in too much of a twist over this latest Dark Age in franchise history because it’s only helping our draft position while allowing us to learn the following key lessons:
- There is still plenty of upside in DeMar DeRozan.
- Jerryd Bayless is talented but raw. Blue steak raw.
- Ed Davis looks like he might be larceny at the No. 13 pick.
- Jay Triano has a potty mouth.
- Sonny Weems doesn’t like to stretch.
So in short: Lose! Lose! Lose!
NBA’s 50 Greatest redux
Wednesday afternoon while we were looking for something to watch in between General Hospital and the Young and the Restless, we stumbled upon a re-broadcast of the 1997 NBA all-star game on Raptors NBA TV.
Basketball scholars know that this game was significant for two reasons:
- It represented the lone all-star appearance of Christian Laettner’s career.
- Forty-seven of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players were on hand and introduced to the crowd prior to the game.
As corny as these things can be at times -- especially at all-star games -- it was pretty cool to see all those greats, young and old, basking in their collective greatness.
At the time of the list’s unveiling, 11 players were still active which has us asking the question: If the list were re-released today, which current NBA players would you add to the team?
Remember, we’re talking about the 50 Greatest Players of all-time so let’s stay away from potential and keep it those whose CVs are ready today. That means no Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant or Chris Paul.
Our totally subjective and open to ridicule list:
Not so easy, is it?
And attention NHL: Your 100th anniversary is coming up in 2017 and you could do a lot worse (and given your track record, you probably will) than releasing a list of your 100 Greatest Players.
It would at least give us all something to talk about other than head shots.
