I will give you top analysis on the Toronto Raptors and some things that have been happening in the NBA league.
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Europe, Jonas & More!
It had been 10 days since the lockout had been announced and we are just sitting here, bored. For the past few weeks, not much had happened except for some signings in Europe and seeing the 7"6 big man out of China retire after 9 seasons in the NBA. Later on, I will be also talking about the Raptors future rookie, Jonas Valanciunas....Again.
As I said before, we're in lockout mode and players need to work on their game during the lockout. The NBA players are still considering if they should join a Euro team or not. Though some are already agreeing to join European teams. As the matter of fact, star Point Guard Deron Williams had decided to sign a 1-year deal with Turky including an agreement to join the Nets if the lockout ends in the middle of the season. So Williams might have a chance to play for the Nets for about 50 games. Maybe more. Maybe less. Who knows? There are other reports saying that the Raps Sonny "Money" Weems had signed with Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania for 1 year with no guarantee to return to the NBA until the European season has finished. Is this a good thing? Is it bad? Certainly not! This is a huge opportunity for Sonny to improve his game, get stronger, get bigger and show the NBA that he is worth a rotation spot for a championship team. The good part is that he will be a restricted free agent next year because the Raptors give him a qualifying offer. So the Raps can send scouts to see how Sonny is improving just like how Jonas is improving as well.
Yao Ming's time in the NBA is over as the NBA had announced that he retired. Yao was drafted in the 2001 NBA draft as the first overall pick by the Rockets. Yao had become the first international player to be chosen as the first overall pick. Yao had started the season slow with his english and his game. When I watched a documentary of him as he struggled at the start of his career. I still remember how Charles Barkley said " If Yao scores 19 points in a game this year, I will kiss Kenny Smith's ass"... Yao did eventually, make Charles lose that bet and scored 20 as he was 9-9 against the Lakers. Eventually, Charles kissed Kenny's donkey. Funny moment :D... Ok back to business. After Yao's rookie season, he would keep on improving in the points and rebounding as he eventually averaged 25 points and 9.5 rebounds a game adding 2 blocks in 2006-2007. Though that was the year that he played only 48 games. Yao did have a horrific history of being injured. During his 9 seasons in the NBA, he was suppose to play 738 games if he was perfectly healthy. Though instead, he played 486. Therefore, during his 9 year stretch, he missed a total of 252 games. That is a bit more than 1/3 of his career gone. In 2009-2010, he had a terrifying foot injury that made him lose the whole season for surgery. The following year when he was limited to 20-24 minutes a game, played only 5 games and eventually, had to deal with the foot again for the rest of the season. Last week, he officially gave up on his foot and announced retirement. Yao averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and about 2 blocks per game during his career. He was a 8 time all-star though he only played 6 of the 8 all-star games. He was on the All NBA Second team 2 times(2007, 2009) and the All NBA Thrid team 3 times(2004, 2006, 2008). Yao Ming will always be remembered by the NBA.
Here is an update on how Jonas was doing in the U19 World Championship. He lead Lithuania to the finals to face Serbia. Jonas and Lithuania knocked them out with ease and won the U19 World Championship with the score being 85-67. There are some things that I was impressed from Jonas. Jonas was the MVP in the U19 Series averaging 23 points, about 14 rebounds and 3 blocks in 9 games. I loved how he played great defence as he blocked a number of shots during the Championship. In the last game against Serbia, Jonas had 36 points, 3 blocks, 8 rebounds and went to the line 14 times and made 10 of his free throw shots. He also went 13-18 from the field which was also impressive. I love how Jonas has a really high FG% and FT%. I would love to see this guy attacking and going to the line often in the NBA. Hope for him to improve in Europe as he will get bigger and stronger. We will see how impressed we are during the 2012-2013 season when he will be in a Raps uniform.
Jonas is going to be a bust just like Kosta Koufos!:p (http://www.fibaeurope-u18men.com/en/default.asp?coid={E86B7310-B1A7-41B0-BD1E-4BB884CF96EA}&articleMode=on)
Don't get too excited:p. If he put up these numbers against legitimate talent, then that would be impressive. At least he's not stinking it up like Andrea Bargnani on the international scene:P.
As I said before, we're in lockout mode and players need to work on their game during the lockout. The NBA players are still considering if they should join a Euro team or not. Though some are already agreeing to join European teams. As the matter of fact, star Point Guard Deron Williams had decided to sign a 1-year deal with Turky including an agreement to join the Nets if the lockout ends in the middle of the season. So Williams might have a chance to play for the Nets for about 50 games. Maybe more. Maybe less. Who knows? There are other reports saying that the Raps Sonny "Money" Weems had signed with Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania for 1 year with no guarantee to return to the NBA until the European season has finished. Is this a good thing? Is it bad? Certainly not! This is a huge opportunity for Sonny to improve his game, get stronger, get bigger and show the NBA that he is worth a rotation spot for a championship team. The good part is that he will be a restricted free agent next year because the Raptors give him a qualifying offer. So the Raps can send scouts to see how Sonny is improving just like how Jonas is improving as well. 
Yao Ming's time in the NBA is over as the NBA had announced that he retired. Yao was drafted in the 2001 NBA draft as the first overall pick by the Rockets. Yao had become the first international player to be chosen as the first overall pick. Yao had started the season slow with his english and his game. When I watched a documentary of him as he struggled at the start of his career. I still remember how Charles Barkley said " If Yao scores 19 points in a game this year, I will kiss Kenny Smith's ass"... Yao did eventually, make Charles lose that bet and scored 20 as he was 9-9 against the Lakers. Eventually, Charles kissed Kenny's donkey. Funny moment :D... Ok back to business. After Yao's rookie season, he would keep on improving in the points and rebounding as he eventually averaged 25 points and 9.5 rebounds a game adding 2 blocks in 2006-2007. Though that was the year that he played only 48 games. Yao did have a horrific history of being injured. During his 9 seasons in the NBA, he was suppose to play 738 games if he was perfectly healthy. Though instead, he played 486. Therefore, during his 9 year stretch, he missed a total of 252 games. That is a bit more than 1/3 of his career gone. In 2009-2010, he had a terrifying foot injury that made him lose the whole season for surgery. The following year when he was limited to 20-24 minutes a game, played only 5 games and eventually, had to deal with the foot again for the rest of the season. Last week, he officially gave up on his foot and announced retirement. Yao averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and about 2 blocks per game during his career. He was a 8 time all-star though he only played 6 of the 8 all-star games. He was on the All NBA Second team 2 times(2007, 2009) and the All NBA Thrid team 3 times(2004, 2006, 2008). Yao Ming will always be remembered by the NBA.
Here is an update on how Jonas was doing in the U19 World Championship. He lead Lithuania to the finals to face Serbia. Jonas and Lithuania knocked them out with ease and won the U19 World Championship with the score being 85-67. There are some things that I was impressed from Jonas. Jonas was the MVP in the U19 Series averaging 23 points, about 14 rebounds and 3 blocks in 9 games. I loved how he played great defence as he blocked a number of shots during the Championship. In the last game against Serbia, Jonas had 36 points, 3 blocks, 8 rebounds and went to the line 14 times and made 10 of his free throw shots. He also went 13-18 from the field which was also impressive. I love how Jonas has a really high FG% and FT%. I would love to see this guy attacking and going to the line often in the NBA. Hope for him to improve in Europe as he will get bigger and stronger. We will see how impressed we are during the 2012-2013 season when he will be in a Raps uniform.
Jonas is going to be a bust just like Kosta Koufos!:p (http://www.fibaeurope-u18men.com/en/default.asp?coid={E86B7310-B1A7-41B0-BD1E-4BB884CF96EA}&articleMode=on)
ReplyDeleteDon't get too excited:p. If he put up these numbers against legitimate talent, then that would be impressive. At least he's not stinking it up like Andrea Bargnani on the international scene:P.