You have Chris Bosh. He is an excellent player and almost nobody in the USA realizes it. Chris will be a free agent next year and may want to belong to a different NBA team. Is he that good? What do you do?

He played on the Olympic team, you know.

During the tournament itself, Bosh operated as the main backup to center Dwight Howard as Team USA went unbeaten in all eight games en route to the gold medal, defeating Spain in the final.[54] He averaged 9.1 points per game, and led the team in rebounds with 6.1 a game.[55]
source

Now Toronto is trying to build a team to put around him, because next year Chris is a free agent and may want to leave. The biggest off season move was to land Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo is a definite mismatch player that becomes so valuable if you make the playoffs. He not only has the outside shot, but also stands 6′ 10″ tall. Hedo averaged over 16 a game this year.

Will Hedo Turkoglu convince Chris Bosh to stay?

Toronto also made some other smart moves in order to convince Bosh that the Raptors will remain competitive.

“Everything kind of falls into place,” explained Triano. “We have (Hedo) Turkoglu for five years, Bargnani for five, Calderon for the next four, (DeMar) DeRozan’s going to be in that mix giving us athleticism that maybe some of those players don’t have. We’ve got this year to figure out what Chris Bosh is going to do. That’s a great nucleus moving forward for the next five years and one that might not be super successful next year but we’re definitely going to be a better basketball team. As these guys get to spend more time playing with each other I think the ceiling is very, very high for this group.”
source

Photo source Newscom

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Hey, the Heat can forget about Amare Stoudemire.

Miami finally took that option Friday, taking the Heat out of the chase for Marion’s ex-Phoenix Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire.

In a deal first reported by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher, the Heat agreed to trade Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Raptors for O’Neal and swingman Jamario Moon.

source

All Shawn Marion did was lay down a dunk to beat the Bulls and then get shipped out of town.

Is this deal a big deal?
well, no, maybe, yes, depends.

O’Neal gives Miami a center. That makes Pat Riley happy, but O’Neal’s contract of 23 million can come off the books next year when Dwyane Wade has to be signed.

Marion gives the Raptors some scoring, but many think that Bosh will be heading out of town.
Photo source Newscom

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Jose Calderon imitating my grandfather with no biceps and black socks

That guy can shoot. That is what they say about unknown Toronto Raptor Jose Calderon. He can pass too.

Jose Calderon is averaging over 13 points and 8 assists for the Raptors. Why doesn’t anybody know about this guy?

Now he has a shot at the consecutive free throw record.

Even after missing six consecutive games with a hamstring injury, Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon hasn’t cooled off from the foul line.

Since returning to the lineup Friday, he has made seven free throws in a row, extending his streak to 86. That’s 11 shy of tying Michael Williams’ NBA record set in 1993.

“It’s just concentration,” Calderon says. “Of course, it gets tougher now because people are starting to talk about the streak. I just try not to think about it.”

source

And to think, Jose Calderon is only in his third NBA season!
Photo source Newscom

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Paul Pierce takes turns scoring lots of points with Ray Allen

Maybe Boston is just bored, but they just went through a period where losses came more often than wins and that has been rare the last two years.

Boston 115 Toronto 109 OT

Now they turn to Paul Pierce for 39 points to beat a Toronto team missing both Calderon and O’Neal. Sunday they needed 36 from Ray Allen to be Toronto. The big 3 has turned into the big one at a time. Now it is Garnett’s turn to beat Toronto one would assume.

“Ya’ll need to start playing some of that ‘Superman’ theme music in the building when he’s going like that,” Garnett said of Pierce’s 39-point, 49-minute performance, all of it on a sore right knee that nearly kept him out.

“This is Clark Kent right here, ladies and gentlemen,” Garnett said. “He was 13-for-26 tonight with 39 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Superman.”

Not bad for a player who, prior to yesterday’s shootaround, was a 50-50 shot in the mind of Doc Rivers to even play.

source

Digging a little deeper one sees that Kevin Garnett held Chris Bosh to 1 – 4 shooting in the 4th quarter and 0 for 0 in the OT. Garnett proving why he is so valuable to the Celtics once again.
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Man, today there was this crazy thought rolling through my head. What if the Pistons had kept Chauncey Billups and Iverson had stayed on the Nuggets?

Nowhere to go with that thought, so how about taking a look at how some of this player movement and coaching movement is working out?

Chauncey Billups from Detroit to Denver
Denver is 7 – 3 in their last 10 games and in 1st place

Allen Iverson from Denver to Detroit
Detroit is 4 – 6 and in second place.

Ron Artest from everywhere to Houston
Houston is 7 – 3 and in 1st place

Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana to Toronto
Toronto is 3 – 7 and dead last in the Atlantic Division

Rick Carlisle to coach Dallas
Dallas is 8 – 2 but only in 4th place in the Southwest

Terry Porter to coach Phoenix
Phoenix is 5 -5 and in second place behind the Lakers

Mike D’Antoni to coach the Knicks
3 – 7 and 4th place in the same division as the Celtics

Mo Williams to Cleveland
9 – 1 in the last 10 and first place over the Pistons

This is a fun one
Elton Brand from L.A. Clippers to Philadelphia
Baron Davis from Golden State to L.A. Clippers
Corey Maggette from L.A. Clippers to Golden State

76er’s 4 -6 3rd place
Clip’s 2 – 8 5th place
Warriors 1 – 9 but still in 3rd place

Which just begs the question, what if Chauncey Billups had never left the Pistons?
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Zach Randolph is sent to the Clippers

The Knicks have shown the door to half the team or so it seems. Time to clean out the deadwood and find some winners.

The summer of 2010 is still almost two years away, but on Friday the New York Knicks officially made themselves players in what is expected to be the richest free agent crop in recent history. In two bold strokes, Knicks president Donnie Walsh has shed a pair contracts that have hung around his neck like an albatross since he assumed control of basketball operations last April: Jamal Crawford, the offensively-effective-yet-defensively-putrid guard who was shipped to Golden State for forward Al Harrington, was owed more than $20 million on a contract that ran through the 2010-2011 season; and Zach Randolph, a stat stuffing machine who, along with reserve guard Mardy Collins, was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers for forward Tim Thomas and guard Cuttino Mobley, is scheduled to pocket $38 million through ‘10-’11.

source

So are the Knicks setting up to get LeBron James or Chris Bosh as some are saying?

Maybe they are just cleaning out the losers and trying to get players that fit in D’Antoni’s fast paced system?
Photo source Newscom

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LeBron James must be crying in his orange juice. Once again the Cleveland Cavaliers have failed to help him out. It is very hard to believe that LeBron will spend his whole career in Cleveland.

Don’t get me wrong, Jermaine O’Neal is not the best player in the league, but he is a mobile scoring front line player that could have changed the whole complexion of the Cavaliers.

The Pacers were looking for a starter-quality center in return for O’Neal, which made it tough to make a deal work for the Cavs. They are not permitted to trade Anderson Varejao until at least Dec. 5 due to collective bargaining rules because they matched an offer sheet he signed on that date last year. They were not interested in parting with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
source

Was that a collective groan from Cav’s fans? We missed out on Jermaine O’Neal because we wanted to keep Zydrunas? Zydrunas? You have got to be kidding me.

After 6 All Star years and now his 30th birthday, Jermaine is once again healthy and hungry.

“The fact is, I played on one leg for two years,” says O’Neal, whose averages shrank to 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 42 games last season after he reinjured his knee in 2006-07. “You hear people say that you slowed down, that you don’t have it anymore — but you know that you still have it. All the naysayers who are saying that I lost a step, they’ll get a full dosage of me next year.”

source

Unfortunately for Cav’s fans, Jermaine will be a Toronto Raptor to join forces with Chris Bosh.

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While perusing the USA Today over my mid afternoon, really my morning, but your mid afternoon coffee, some surprising stats popped up.

Scoring Average: While no surprise that LeBron James leads with 30 and Kobe Bryant is second with 28.4, there are some surprises. Did you know that Denver has the next two with Iverson and Carmelo don’t smell my breath Anthony? Did you know Al Jefferson is averaging a pretty heady 23 points a game for Minnesota? He is the forgotten man in the Kevin Garnett trade. Kevin Garnett is not on the list.

Kevin Garnett not in the NBA stats for scoring average and Al Jefferson is

Image details: Boston Celtics v Chicago Bulls served by picapp.com

Field Goal Percentage: Beidrins of Golden State is the leader at .623. Who? That is what came out of my mouth too. He is the Center for the Golden State Warriors and averages 10 points and almost 10 rebounds per game. This is Andris Beidrins 4th year and he really upped his stats.

Three Point field goal percentage: This one took me really by surprise. Toronto has the leader and two others on a list of the top ten. The leader is Kapono. Oh, not that deadly “Who?” again? It is Jason Kopono from UCLA. Oh, that Kapono. Like we know a whole bunch of Kapono’s.

Toronto also checks in with Jose Calderon and Parker. Not Tony Parker, but Anthony Parker. Which is kind of like Tony Parker, isn’t it? But not the one from the San Antonio Spurs with the cute girlfriend. Not that Anthony Parker may not have a cute girlfriend, but…arrrgghh. The Toronto Parker, leave it at that.

Better end this now, it is getting too confusing.

NBA Basketball special comment Don’t you love the NBA stats?

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LeBron James career scoring leader for the Cav’s at the tender age of 23

LeBron did it in 168 less games than Brad Daugherty.

LeBron James now has 10,414 points.

Oh, and his team won, too.

Cleveland 90 Toronto 83

Coach Mike Brown pointed out LeBron is only 23.

The sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena immediately rose to give James a thundering ovation and when Brown called a timeout, the All-Star forward first walked to the bench to receive high-fives and hugs from his teammates.

Then, he walked to the center of the court to acknowledge Cleveland’s fans, who serenaded him with “MVP” chants throughout the evening.

“These fans have watched me go from zero points to 10,000” he said. “They’ve seen me go from a young man to a man now. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had. To be the all-time leader is something that I never dreamed of. But now that it’s here, it’s an unbelievable feeling.” source

Perhaps Joe Smith said it best.

“It took me 13 years to get 10,000 points,” Cavs forward Joe Smith said. “It goes to show what kind of talent he is. I know he has at least 30,000 more in him.”

Long live the King, LeBron James.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will LeBron someday get to 30,000 points?

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Dwight Howard has tremendous upside

Normally the All Star game is not a big ticket with your intrepid author.

A game with little or no defense has a hard time holding my interest.

In fact, today’s basketball with all the rule changes towards offense has really bothered me in recent years.

But this year may be an exception. The league is just so filled with exceptional talent.

One starter in particular could become a dominant force in the NBA sooner than we think. That man would be Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Hmm, may just have to tune in after all. Here are your vote getters.

The leaders of both the Eastern and Western Conference players for the second returns of the 2008 NBA All-Star voting program are attached:

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING EASTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Kevin Garnett (Bos) 1,186,690; LeBron James (Clev) 1,005,733; Chris Bosh (Tor) 313,983; Paul Pierce (Bos) 268,926; Yi Jianlian (Mil) 192,828; Caron Butler (Was) 150,042; Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 121,991; Tayshaun Prince (Det) 120,783; Rashard Lewis (Orl) 116,168; Antawn Jamison (Was) 106,370.

Guards: Dwyane Wade (Mia) 777,764; Jason Kidd (NJ) 559,333; Vince Carter (NJ) 468,051; Ray Allen (Bos) 464,810; Gilbert Arenas (Was) 422,463; Chauncey Billups (Det) 238,125; Michael Redd (Mil) 183,309; Richard Hamilton (Det) 121,663; Joe Johnson (Atl) 109,443; Andre Iguodala (Phi) 109,345.

Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 970,778; Shaquille O’Neal (Mia) 466,292; Rasheed Wallace (Det) 124,348; Ben Wallace (Chi) 114,245; Andrew Bogut (Mil) 100,622; Jermaine O’Neal (Ind) 89,900; Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Clev) 55,217; Emeka Okafor (Cha) 51,490; Zaza Pachulia (Atl) 43,036; Eddy Curry (NY) 37,252.

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING WESTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 767,722; Tim Duncan (SA) 722,059; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 686,853; Carlos Boozer (Utah) 281,299; Josh Howard (Dal) 251,756; Shawn Marion (Pho) 240,752; Shane Battier (Hou) 227,112; Luis Scola (Hou) 222,896; Kevin Durant (Sea) 191,542; Grant Hill (Pho) 152,898.

Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 941,716; Tracy McGrady (Hou) 663,141; Steve Nash (Pho) 526,493; Allen Iverson (Den) 514,291; Manu Ginobili (SA) 220,620; Jason Terry (Dal) 200,693; Baron Davis (GS) 194,048; Chris Paul (NO) 189,646; Tony Parker (SA) 183,173; Jerry Stackhouse (Dal) 178,152.

Centers: Yao Ming (Hou) 813,305;Amaré Stoudemire (Pho) 463,916; Erick Dampier (Dal) 171,386; Marcus Camby (Den) 161,807; Pau Gasol (Mem) 118,759; Mehmet Okur (Utah) 85,715; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 69,691; Tyson Chandler (NO) 69,083; Andris Biedrins (GS) 67,862; Chris Kaman (LAC) 66,315.  source

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did your favorite player make the cut?

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