Basketball in Canada

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by theman23

Far in space, but always close to the heart. And apparently always on your mind.

Haha Toronto is never close to the heart here and if it wasn't on tv all day everyday on every channel we would barely even think about it.
The Rockies are our "back".

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

No offence to Kawhi (he did was he was supposed to do and Toronto got it's championship), but it is a sad state of affairs when a sport (any sport) is held hostage by mercenary sell-sword players who choose to band together and pitch their services to the highest bidder. It certainly does not make for a level playing field, and totally upturns the standard model of most leagues where you build championship teams by careful draft management and shrewd trades. In the NBA, it seems it's the players calling the shots and not the management. I don't think this is particularly healthy for the sport. A few teams favoured by the players prosper while the remainder wither. In the NHL on the other hand, parity is the rule and seemingly anyone can win the Stanley Cup.

It is much harder for 1 or two star players to dominate hockey the way they can in basketball. Basketball is a slower paced game where your starters are on the court most of the game, so a star-driven system is probably the natural outcome.

[SignalHillHiker]

I kind of like that the players get to call the shots in professional basketball.

I don't follow basketball but I've been reading all the commentary about Kawhi's move for the funny comments - there seems to be a general consensus that the next year is going to be exciting to watch with no clear frontrunner - they're saying there are a half dozen or more teams with pretty evenly-matched star rosters.

[samne]

The NBA is changing fast and increasingly more international.

MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player, and Most Improved and even NBA Champs were all International this year. Crazy.

Toronto will be less "Foreign" and just an awesome NBA city for the next generation.

[blueandgoldguy]

San Antonio won 5 NBA titles and has the highest winning percentage of any team over the past 25 - 30 years. This was accomplished almost entirely through drafting and development. NBA superstars didn't plot to form super teams in San Antonio, I will tell you that much. It also helps that the Spurs have the greatest coach in NBA history during most of this time frame.

While it's great that Canada has the second largest number of players in the NBA, it is puzzling that there are not more impact Europeans in the league given the sports global popularity. I would have thought by now we would see several dozen (60 or more) Euros dotting starting lineups or as sixth men in the NBA. What is the actual number...maybe a couple dozen if that?

Vince Carter popularized basketball among Canadians particularly those in southern Ontario and the results are there for all to see. Why have we not seen more players from China since Yao Ming dominated as a centre more than a decade ago?

[GernB]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

While it's great that Canada has the second largest number of players in the NBA, it is puzzling that there are not more impact Europeans in the league given the sports global popularity. I would have thought by now we would see several dozen (60 or more) Euros dotting starting lineups or as sixth men in the NBA. What is the actual number...maybe a couple dozen if that?

According to the NBA website, there were 57 European players on NBA rosters in 2018-19. Depends on what your definition of an impact player is.

[MonctonRad]

Absolutely no disrespect to Drake, the Toronto Raptors, or to the many fans of the Toronto Raptors across Canada. I just found this to be hilarious.

• Video Link

Again, don't hate me for posting this. I just thought it was really well done............

[Western Spaghetti]

That's in the past, this trend of players joining together to form winning teams is only just beginning. They won;t win all the time as we witnessed with San Antonio beating Miami the once time and Cleveland beating GS the one time. Toronto beat a handicapped GS team. But this trend of players joining up to form dream teams is not going away any time soon, it's only just beginning, and will keep happening.

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

San Antonio won 5 NBA titles and has the highest winning percentage of any team over the past 25 - 30 years. This was accomplished almost entirely through drafting and development. NBA superstars didn't plot to form super teams in San Antonio, I will tell you that much. It also helps that the Spurs have the greatest coach in NBA history during most of this time frame.

While it's great that Canada has the second largest number of players in the NBA, it is puzzling that there are not more impact Europeans in the league given the sports global popularity. I would have thought by now we would see several dozen (60 or more) Euros dotting starting lineups or as sixth men in the NBA. What is the actual number...maybe a couple dozen if that?

Vince Carter popularized basketball among Canadians particularly those in southern Ontario and the results are there for all to see. Why have we not seen more players from China since Yao Ming dominated as a centre more than a decade ago?

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Absolutely no disrespect to Drake, the Toronto Raptors, or to the many fans of the Toronto Raptors across Canada. I just found this to be hilarious.

• Video Link

Again, don't hate me for posting this. I just thought it was really well done............

Haha!

[Rollerstud98]

What movie is that from?

[MonctonRad]

Interesting article in the NYT.

Are Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and LeBron James Too Powerful?
In today’s N.B.A. the players are the stars and the team executives, and they basically decide whether a contract is actually a contract.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/s...d=758703190709

By taking ownership of his future in such a LeBron-esque fashion, Leonard has also hauled the N.B.A. to a potential crossroads. The manner in which Leonard persuaded George to push for a trade out of Oklahoma City — with two seasons and a player option for a third left on George’s contract — has raised the volume on a divisive debate about stars recruiting stars and the control top players seem increasingly intent on asserting.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Show me the helicopter footage of Kawaih in California.

Meh... before Lebron agreed to sign with the Lakers last year, there was also helicopter footage of him landing in LA via private jet and following his car. In a star driven league, these guys hold the balance of power, and are perceived as essentially being walking championships. Just how it is in the NBA when you're dealing with superstars.

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[theman23]

It’s pretty obvious Denscity’s only purpose of posting in this thread is to troll. No point quoting him, let alone with an actual response.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by theman23

It’s pretty obvious Denscity’s only purpose of posting in this thread is to troll. No point quoting him, let alone with an actual response.

I just want our basketball team back and wish the Canadian tv scene was more spread out like in the US.
ESPN is based in Connecticut, CNN in Atlanta etc.
Right now it's like living in Poland but not in Warsaw.

[suburbanite]

I mean I'm pretty sure both networks still covered nhl free agency pretty heavily so I'm not sure what else you want them to talk about.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by Ramako

Meh... before Lebron agreed to sign with the Lakers last year, there was also helicopter footage of him landing in LA via private jet and following his car. In a star driven league, these guys hold the balance of power, and are perceived as essentially being walking championships. Just how it is in the NBA when you're dealing with superstars.

• Video Link

The difference is Kawhi wants to play at home,,Toronto,Boston, Miami or even NYC wouldnt have been able to give him that.

He has all the hard work and talent without LeBron's huge ego. The Clippers are relatively out of the spotlight; the "discount lakers" I knew 100% he was NEVER going to the Lakers.

[rousseau]

Now that the dust has settled:

It's really bad karma for someone to dump a team you led to a championship, that gave you everything you wanted, in a city that totally embraced you. These are things that any other NBA player could only dream of, but they're still not good enough?

That's totally shitty. What kind of person would do that? A shitty person. I expect that karma will pay Kawhi back for this. I also expect that he'll eventually come to regret leaving in the same the way that Vince and Tracy did.

[logan5]

The Clippers play a pre-season game in Vancouver October 17th. It'll be Kawhi's first visit to Canada after winning a NBA title for Toronto, then immediately after, go on a recruiting mission that resulted in Paul George demanding a trade out Oklahoma so they could form a contender in L.A.

Leonard is sure to play some minutes in this late pre-season game so it will be interesting to see the reaction of the Vancouver audience. There are still plenty of fans here who remember the disdain directed towards this city by a lot of players and we probly are not quite as appreciative for an NBA title 3000 km away. Could be a Steve Francis show.

Come to think of it, I bet George gets a few boos as well.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Now that the dust has settled:

It's really bad karma for someone to dump a team you led to a championship, that gave you everything you wanted, in a city that totally embraced you. These are things that any other NBA player could only dream of, but they're still not good enough?

That's totally shitty. What kind of person would do that? A shitty person. I expect that karma will pay Kawhi back for this. I also expect that he'll eventually come to regret leaving in the same the way that Vince and Tracy did.

He delivered a championship, what more do you want from him?

[TorontoDrew]

Toronto didn't offer him everything he wanted. they never could. he wanted to play back in California closer to home.