Implications Of Draft Day Happenings !

Yes sir . As expected , the Atlantic Division just underwent an extreme makeover . Well sort of . Two division rivals were suddenly ' contenders ' for the division crown . Sharpshooter Ray Allen joined the Bostons Celtics in exchange for the no. 5 pick and Wally Z and Delonte West . ' The Celtics are expected to win 41 games with the new lineup ' said a Boston Globe beatwriter . The Icon From UConn can light it up from the 3 point shot as well as from medium range. Allen is known over here as a certified Raptor Killer . He got game because Allen starred in the film He Got Game . Allen is a lot better than the no.5 draft pick the Celts originally have . Don't be surprise if Kevin Garnett suddenly change his mind about not wanting to go to Beantown . After all , not only is Ray Allen a Celtic but more importantly , long time nemesis , Wally Z. is not a Celtic anymore . In such a case , make it 50 wins minimum for Boston !

What about the Knicks ? Based on the crowd's reactions to the trade that will bring Zach ' Idi Amin ' Randolf to the Big Apple for deadweight Steve Francis and the suddenly ' touchable ' Channing Frye , the Knicks will now have a real NBA team . The Last King Of Scotla... er.. Portland is a bonafide 20/10 baller . A reliable go to guy inside the paint . Asked if he did the usual background check on the troublesome big guy , Isiah Thomas said Zach's former college coach Tom Izzo vouched for him .Hmm . Will Izzo vouched for fellow Spartan and soon to be FA Mo Pete ? Of course . I doubt ii though that Isiah will ask for it. You see , Mo Pete and Isiah nearly came to blows years ago when Petterson accidentally tripped then Pacer Al Harrington . Then Indiana coach Isiah thought it was a dirty play . Only Lenny Wilkens intervention prevented the incident from turning coyote ugly . Wilkens tightly embraced Isiah as he went after the Raptors forward . It helped that Isiah used Tide detergent in washing his clothes !

Bouncing Ball 27.0

1. Raptors Favored ? In the NBA Show at ESPN , the Toronto was mentioned as among the favorites in the Eastern conference along with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next season of the NBA . Not so fast . The composition of every team can changed dramatically in the next few days because of the draft and looming trades in the works . We at may still find Kobe , KG and Pau Gasol amongst the players in this part of the NBA or even worst for the Raps , the Atlantic Division . Pau or KG may end up with the Celts and Kobe with the Knicks .

2. Age Does Not Matter Or Does It ? This morning while watching Mike And Mike on Espn News , I heard for the upteenth time that probable top draft pick Greg Oden is a 19 teener who looks like a 40 year old ( not a virgin , I hope ). They say the same thing about Lebron James when he was entering the NBA . Oden looks much older than his age because of his beard , his height and overall appearance . James looked older 'coz his well developed body . Like did you see MJ when he 1st came to the NBA . He was 1/2 the size he was in the latter years in the league . But why are the NBA watchers doubting the Chinese prospect , Yi Jilian , when he said he is only 19 years old . They think he is actually 22 years old. Maybe Yi is telling the truth . Yi is only 19 years old based on the Chinese calendar !

3. No Way Jose ?. Can the Raps afford to part ways with the popular Jose Calderon ? Why not , said some of the Rapswatchers , if the team can bring in a power forward that the team sorely needs . Actually , B.C. is more likely to let go of Jose than TJ Ford .TJ is his man . He let go of Charlie Villanueva to acquire TJ while the Spanish PG was ( former GM ) Rob Babcock's European acquisition . I got an idea . Send Jose with the others to the Timberwolves where RB is a VP in exchage for KG . But KG will threaten to opt out after 1 year ?. It's OK . At least we get a year of him . Remember , Billups was only here for haff a season and Alonzo did not even come . The 2 became members of the championship teams after that !

Bouncing Ball 26.0

1. DelfiNO Trouble ? . So the Raptors acquired it's 1 st Argentine baller in the person of former Detroit Pistons' Carlos Delfino . Yesterday , it was reported that CD passed the physical to seal the trade .The question is , will he fit with the young , docile Raptors. Delfino has some beef with the Argentine national basketball coach that's why he was not in the list of invited NBAers which included the Spurs' Manu Ginobli and the Bulls' Andres Nacioni . Anyway , first the NBA crown ( Manu ) . Then , the US Open ( Cabrera ) . Raps fans are hoping that the Argentine magic will continue .

2. TV Or Not TV. The report said the Colorado Rockies management is said to have raised the price of beer and admission to the Rockies' stadium for the coming visit of the New York Yankees . Despite such moves , the place is sold out . Attendance is expected at 51,000 , up from the regular average of 24,000 spectators. This is not to mention that Yankees gamea are always on ESPN . Why not . You've got an All Star cast in the NY lineup . This what Raptors fans fail to grasp up to now . They keep asking why ABC or TNT or ESPN failed to pick up even a single regular season game of the team . Until the Raps become an excitibg team with bonafide superstar (again - early VC era ) . there is no way we will get US television coverage . And to think that some fans were wishing for a Raps-Spurs finals ! Duncan vs. Bosh ! . The TV ratings will surely be much worse !

3. Kilometric Eric . Listening to the Raptors radio guy Eric Smith conduct an interview makes me puke . Is that guy being paid by the number of words he utters ? Smith's questions to his interviewees are not only leading but super loooooong . It's good the original question is still there somewhere after he completes his 'narration' ! The funny thing is that he would often advice the other part(ies) to keep their answers short. Like in last week's Hoops simulcast in Fan 590 and Raptors TV , Eric advised his interviewee that the portion has only 45 sec left . Good . Understood . After that , Eric then asked his usual kilometric question lasting like eternity ! When the interviewee began anwering the question , Eric cut him and said ' Sorry , we've run out of time . Thank you ' . F--k you !

Bouncing Ball 25.0

1. NBA Finals Ratings .. Last night's NBA Finals game proved it's not Tim Duncan who is ' boring ' . The games were boring because of the low scores .Despite the one sided result of the NBA Finals , the plays of daredevil Manu Ginoblli and spitfire Tony Parker were exciting . .But to those who like all around ball , the series was not bad despite the US TV ratings. . Remember , it's King James's 1st time in the NBA Finals Many sports commentators said the Finals was a non event . I disagree . .When 2 defensive minded teams duke it out , it's a wonderful game to NBA purists. The first 2 games of the Finals have respectable ratings still , I think . .I expect games 3 and 4 ratings to be better . Why ? No Soprano . No Paris Hilton competition .

2. Juanita Banana . New Mexico's coach Reggie Theus is for final interview by the Sacramento Kings' top honchos . The former NBA star ( with the Bulls and the Kings ) was earlier rumored for consideration for the then vacant Charlotte Bobcats coaching job . No way I said . You see , Theus was formerly linked to Juanita Jordan , the fomer Mrs. Air Jordan before she got hooked to MJ . It was even reported then that MJ was jealous because Juanita was playing with Theus' banana , I mean playing good music with the good looking Reggie .


3. Tony-Eva Nuptial . The Finals is over , Time for the long awaited wedding of NBA champ and Spurs Tony Parker and actress Eva Longoria. The 2 are expected to tie the knot next month . The Frenchman , .a master of lane penetration according to ABC's Nark Jackson , was reportedly ( by Ms. Longoria herself ) not too experience in the other type of penetration . You see , Eva is once married and older than Tony by 5 years at least .In the NBA or wherever , that's a huge difference . Assuming one averages 1 a day , for 5 years , Tony is close to 2000 penetrations behind . Or in the case of Brittney , that's a lot of wheelborrowing !

Bouncing Ball 24.0

1. No Magic . It appeared that the Orlando Magic missed a great opportunity to capture a place in NBA immortality. Reports said that Spurs Tim Duncan almost become a Magicman sometime ago. Tsk, tsk tsk . It might had been Orlando now in the Finals instead of the boring SA. Oh I forgot . San Antonio is boring because of Tim Duncan ! Anyway , the Orlando Magic missed another step towards greatness when the charismatic 'Gators coach Billy Donovan made an about face and chose college coaching . So instead of Donovan , the Magic got Dono Van Gundy !

2. Lebron Overrated . WTF ! Why are some people suddenly calling Lebron James overrated . Yes , the 22 yr. old has not scored 40 points in this series so far . However , LBJ is putting more than decent numbers . For example , in game 3 played last night , King James registered 25 points . But wait , both teams scored in the low 70s only ( the 2nd lowest in recent NBA Finals ). So in the current low scoring Finals , 20 is the new 40 !

3. Stunning Stan .Move over Chuck , Stan Van Gundy is here . The former coach of the Houston Rockets showed his flair for one liners and comedy . His partnership with former NBA Player Mark Jackson on ABC coverage of the NBA Finals is a big hit . SGV is a natural comedian aside from his being real knowledgeable about basketball . Last night , he joked that for $ 20,000 , he can give up his seat when Mike Breen said that ringside seats were selling at a premium price .