Joe Ingles (art by Paul Munt)

The second day of the Toronto Raptors predraft workouts came and went, and no-one impaled himself – this is a good sign. But a number of prospects were able to show their stuff.

One of the names that stood out for me is the Australian Joe Ingles (I’m 1/32 Aussie, you see). Let’s get to know Joe a bit. Read more »

Thank Dave Feschuk for reminding us that good young basketball talent is not just in North America, and for reminding me that I can find basketball gold when I look outside of the usual sources.

Here’s video of “the best basketball player ever.” Looks like the guy can score from anywhere, has great athleticism, handles and a killer instinct — he’ll literally take your head off. Judging from his uniform, he’s in the Russian Superleague: Read more »

I wouldn't be smiling, kiddo.

The year is done and the report cards are in. How did our student, Roko Ukic, do in his first year at the NBA School of Hard Knocks? The principal opinion belongs to Bryan Colangelo, who says, “the kid needs a chance,” but also ”the jury’s still out,” and made the backup PG spot the top priority this summer. Ominous.

What did Roko do well, and what does he have to work on? Here is the list of comments from the internets. Read more »

After much discussion, bargaining, and even outright begging, we’ve come to a decision about this tie between TWolves Blog and Nugg Doctor in the Basketblog Header Playoffs (BHP): go to the video replay.

That’s right. College Wolf and Nick have each submitted a YouTube clip of a great playoff moment in Timberwolves and Nuggets history, respectively. The clip you like more will propel one of them into the BHP Elite Eight.

Watch the clips and vote, after the jump. Read more »

With the Toronto Raptors’ 2008-09 season winding down (”2008″ – that felt weird to type), the local beat writers are looking to the future, specifically the development of Our Roko Ukic.

There continues to be concern over Roko’s playing time during this last handful of games. How do minutes help you now, Roko?

With minutes, you get more comfortable. It helps with your decision making first of all because you are not afraid you will go out if you make one mistake. With everybody it is like this, but especially with me. I am the type of player that needs to have at least five or seven minutes to feel comfortable and then I can be much more productive.

Coach Jay Triano is more comfortable now giving him those minutes. Why, Coach?

I think he’s starting to share the basketball a bit more and a bit earlier. He’s not dribbling it so much. When he does that, it makes him more dangerous as a driver. I thought (Friday) night [vs. the Thunder] was one of his better games as far as his balance between sharing the ball and driving to the basket.

So, Roko, will you be following Jose Calderon’s example and work really hard this summer?

Basketball is not like working in a factory: so I will work 10 hours and I will produce 10,000 pairs of shoes.

OK, I’m sure Jose worked (that summer). But I think that gold medal in ’06 (at the world championships) in Japan helped him more than all the work that he did.

Confidence is something that you can’t buy. You can practise your pull-up for 10 years, but if you don’t have the confidence to make it . . .

[pointing to his head] It’s in here.

Back to your playing time, Roko. Do you often ask the coaches why it goes like a yo-yo?

They don’t have to be so nice to me and talk with me all the time, and tell me why this, why that. I know I’m a rookie and I know sometimes I’ll sit without an explanation. That’s cool with me.

[...] I’ll try to work hard on my (weaknesses) and I know what I’m not good at.

Good to hear. Let’s hope you also get a good run with the Croatian nationals this September.

Here’s Roko with the winning basket at the Croatian Cup five years ago. Listen to the crowd chant his name!

Be sure to visit Zoner Sports for Round 1 of the “Best Sports Blog Name” Tourney, and vote for Pete Marasmitch (ranked eighth in the tournament).

To review, Pete Marasmitch combines Pistol’s flash …

and Smitch’s smash.

So, please go vote for Pete Marasmitch!

And while you’re there, vote also for Pete’s friends:

Garbage Time All-Stars (#4)

And One (#6)

A Stern Warning (#11)

Thanks!

How appropriate: courtesy of 2nd Round Reach.

Highlights of new Toronto Raptor Pops Mensah-Bonsu remind me of Jamario Moon, while his name brings to mind former Raptor Pape Sow. But is that all there is to Pops? I go as far as Spain to give you this Ultimate Scouting Report. Read more »

I sure hope this deal gets done. As sources say, it hinges upon Jermaine O’Neal proving himself healthy enough, which is significant considering how the Raptors have gone lately; I wouldn’t be surprised if JO hurts himself against the Hawks today going up against Zaza Pachulia’s big noggin.

“Head, move!!!”

So, if we can get over this Sputnik-like hurdle, maybe Pat Riley would deign to give us Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, resulting in:

C: Bargnani, Voskuhl, Jawai (IL)
PF: Bosh, Humphries, J. Graham
SF: Marion, Moon, Kapono
SG: A. Parker, Solomon
PG: Calderon (IL), Banks, Ukic

With the addition of the Matrix, our mediocre perimeter D would improve for the balance of the season. On the other hand, Jamario Moon would lose a few minutes, I dare say; he’s practically a Marion Lite, isn’t he? What do you say, 2RR and GMTR: Time for fantasy GMs to trade Moon?

And with the addition of Banks, our point guard slot gets pretty crowded. Don’t know what he’s capable of, but I’m guessing the answer is “not much” judging by his lack of minutes for the Miami Heat. On the other hand, Banks got $9 million remaining over the next two years, which kinda demands that you find some use for him — maybe he can rediscover that 12-points-a-game form that got him that big contract in the first place. So it could mean fewer minutes for Roko.

Anyway, this move would be great for the team overall. Even if Marion pulls a Mourning, we still have his expiring contract. Hurray for cap flexibility.

Here’s a video of Ricky Rubio in a viral campaign in Spain.

Thanks to Luis in Doug Smith’s comment section.

UPDATE: Some thoughts from Raul Jimenez -

It’s a McDonald’s campaign. I watched it on ACB.com and they have also created a Youtube channel. Ricky is 18 years old now and he’s starting to appear in commercials (he didn’t do it before, except for an ACB sponsor’s commercial). His parents and his club, Joventut, took care to keep him off that world while he was younger (in Spain, 18 is the age to be considered an adult). This advertisement reminds me of the classic one with Larry Bird and M. Jordan in the eighties [Pete's note: It's the early nineties].

It’s not that I have something against this, although I don’t think McDonald’s is the best brand to represent. I mean, it’s not the healthiest food to eat as we all know, and with everybody from governments talking about fatter kids, about not abusing fast food … but, you know, that’s the way life is. Anyway, I think that many brands will fight for him now, and I suppose that he’ll get good money with advertisements which is fine (his contract with Joventut isn’t really high).

UPDATE 2: More Rubio videos at RickyLaCuela.com (”Ricky The School puts it in”).

Hassan Adams is off to join Baron Davis, Zach Randolph et al in L.A. What treasure was Hassan guarding from the Raptors — just luxury tax money and a future second-round pick? Or, as E-Smith suggests, could this also be a precursor to something more exciting, something that will make Raps fans feel like “happy misers”?

UPDATE: Hassan has been chopped by the Clippers.