Reggie Evans hustle rebounds leads to Derrick Williams dunk

In a preseason game between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers tonight Reggie Evans proves as he always does why he is one of the best re-bounders at the pf position. Reggie Evans fights for multiple offensive boards before getting control and kicking it out to Derrick Williams who soars in for the monster slam dunk. Little light for NBA news today but this play was so nice I felt the need to share it to the world! Great job balling out there boys. 

Steve Nash Sadness: Out for the Season

Today the Lakers announced that Nash will be out for the entire 2014-2015 season with nerve issues. The official Lakers twitter account released this: 

As a Canadian and a fan of basketball it's sad to not be able to see Steve Nash play as his career comes to an end. At age 40 Nash has already mentioned that this season could be his last so this news could mean the end of his twice MVP career. 

Gortat to Wall, Defence to Offence, highlight of the pre season

During the third quarter of Wednesday night's game between the Knicks and the Wizards the sequence of the pre season occurred thanks to Marcin Gortat and John Wall. Gortat gets the block on one end and they get the ball up court to John Wall who throws down the huge reverse slam. Iman Shumpert thought he was going to get an easy dunk after his missed free throw but Gortat decided otherwise and Wall shows why he is the defending dunk contest champion. 

Mavs waive Yuki Togashi and Eric Griffin, roster now 18

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have waived 5'7 Yuki Togashi of Japan and dunking machine Eric Griffin. Yuki Togashi was signed under the pretenses that he would be waived and play for the Mavericks D-league affiliate the Texas Legands in order to further develop him before bringing him into the NBA so this does not come as a surprise. You can read more about it here. Eric Griffin however was signed to a 3 year $150,000 guaranteed contract with the Mavericks and now receives that money for only playing 2 weeks in Preseason. It seemed as if coach Carlyle and the team liked Griffin so hopefully waving him means he too will go to play for the Texas Legands and one day play for the Mavericks. Still I had really hoped to see Eric Griffin in the dunk contest this year but I guess I'll have to wait for that. Griffin and Togashi both starting for the Legends would actually get me to watch some D-league games but until then I guess I'll have to just keep watching this over and over and over again. 

Why Quincy Acy starting for the Knicks makes me happy

Acy came to the New York Knicks looking to hustle hard and show them why he deserves to be in the rotation off the bench but instead now finds himself as one of the likely candidates to start come opening night. It was assumed before that either Andrea Bargnani or Amar'e Stoudemire would be the starting power forward but Coach Fisher likes Acy's high energy playstyle and may feel that he fits better playing in the triangle with Jose Calderon and Carmelo Anthony. If you were to compare him to another power forward who played in the triangle one could make the comparison to Horace Grant when he played with Michael Jordan since Grant passed out the low post and did a lot of the dirty work for rebounds. Acy may be relentless on the boards but he is still only 6'7 so he can't be a dominant shot blocker and because of this he tends to find himself in foul trouble when playing for large stretches; but when your alternatives are Bargnani and Stoudemire it becomes a lot easier to be lenient towards Acy for his defensive faults. 

Acy proves why him starting is justified but the reason it makes me happy is because as a Raptors fan I was yelling how he should be starting over Andrea Bargnani during his rookie season in Toronto. Plus there's a much higher chance of seeing a monster dunk with Acy on the floor then when not. 

Taj Gibson needed another poster

The Tajmanian Devil struck again Sunday night in a game against the Charlotte Hornets. Bismack Biyombo was the victim this time as the Chicago Bulls went on to win 101-96 thanks in part to the 26 points Kirk Hinrich got while shooting 11/14 from the field. 

Jimmy Butler with the Game Winner

News has been very light today in the nba world so I felt the best post would be of Jimmy Butler hitting the game winning 3 against the Hawks from Thursday. Butler also scored 29 points in the game and his defensive was as annoying as usual for the apposing Hawks. Game winners are game winners preseason or not. Good job balling out there Jimmy. 

Metta World Peace aka The Panda's Friend is still amazing

The former defensive player of the year is still finding ways to stay relevant 10 years later. Ron Artest who changed his name to Metta World Peace in September of 2011 is currently playing overseas for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball League and is in the process of changing his name to The Panda's Friend. While I first felt that this is nothing but a publicity stunt I can no longer say that for sure, and also no longer care because Metta World Peace is all in either way. He played basketball with a stuffed Panda attached to his shoe. Metta originally told the press that before each game he would take the heads off and throw them into the crowd and the lucky people who caught them would be named the Panda's Friends of the day, but playing in the shoes is much cooler. 

MWP hit 4 threes in 6 minutes of game time wearing these kicks

To be fair I'd probably fall asleep more easily if I had 5 smiling dolphins above my bed too

Sleep tight Ron. Sleep tight. 

Raptors Rookies' hat game is STRONG

As a man who rarely wears hats I may not be the best judge of headwear but Toronto Raptors rookies Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira have the best hats which seem to be courtesy of Jonas Valanciunas. 

Lou Williams hits the game winning 3 without fear

With about 8 seconds left in the game the Raptors elected to inbound the ball to Lou Williams in the backcourt who then dribbled it up in iso and drained the step back 3 against Avery Bradley with 0.6 seconds left on the clock to give the Raptors a 92-89 win. Baller stuff 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoprAeCWQS8

Mavericks sign 5'7 Yuki Togashi of Japan

Today the Dallas Mavericks officially announced the signing of guard Yuki Togashi with the intention of playing him in Dallas' D-league affiliate in order to refine him for the NBA. Per team policy the terms of the deal were not disclosed. The first time I, as well as most people, learned of Togashi was during summer league this year where he impressed fans and scouters alike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYdPAVkwqDY  While he obviously has to go through a transitional period before he can make his way into the Mavericks rotation moves like that floater around the 0:50 sec mark really shows his fearlessness to attack the bigger defender. 

21 year old Togashi played the last season for the Akita Northern Happinets in the Japan Basketball League and even earned himself all-star game MVP and was named to league's best 5 team. Also in case you didn't catch it Happinets, like happiness but like nets, like buckets, like scoring buckets, Happinets. Japan seems cool.

If Yuki gets to play some NBA ball he would become the shortest player in the league as well as the only Japanese player. These two factors could lead to Yuki being a wise investment not only for winning basketball games but for making money as well. Its widely known that many Asian cultures love basketball and love supporting Asian talent. Jeremy Lin who is on a contract worth more than his skill level would earn him isn't seen as a large financial loss since the team makes A LOT of money from jersey sales and whenever a team with Lin on it shows up you can guarantee an increase in ticket sales for that game due to the influx of Asian fans who attend it. I believe Togashi was signed primarily for his skill but Mark Cuban knows money so I can't say he was singed solely for that reason. Either way Yuki Togashi is fun to watch and I can't wait to see him suit up for Dallas. Mffl. 

NBA to experiment with 44 minute game

On October 19th the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets will play a preseason game that will consist of 4 11 minute quarters instead of the regular 12 minute ones. While I do not wish to see the NBA lose these 4 minutes of playing time it is cool to see the league willing to experiment with things like this. Maybe the week after we will be seeing a game with the half joked about 4 point line. Apparently anything can happen now with commissioner Adam Silver but I hope the game doesn't become overly scrutinized since some changes could seem good in the short term but become failures in the long run. 

One group of people that might not be a fan of this change becoming permanent would be the guys deeper into the rotation that may only see 5 or 6 minutes a game. These players already have to fight in order to get playing time and eliminating 4 minutes of game time per game could take away their chance to show the world what they got. Locker room tensions can already arise from players who feel they deserve to play more minutes so this change could lead to more disgruntled players. 

Finally I have to apologize for not posting content to the website over the last 3 days. A lot has come up for me, both good and bad, and that mixed with the hectic nature of the Thanksgiving long weekend made it so that I couldn't post the baller content I had intended. Nevertheless I'm back on track and will continue to post daily to this site and to my twitter @itsballertime. Thank you to my one subscriber who didn't stop following like subscriber number 2 did, you're the real MVP.  

Alba Berlin Shocks Defending Champion Spurs at the Buzzer

In the first game of the global games initiative, where NBA teams play some preseason games overseas against local teams, Alba Berlin defeated the San Antonio Spurs after a steal off the inbound lead to a bank shot runner just inside the 3 point line at the buzzer. Wow.  The Spurs weren't just playing their bench for the entire game either as Leonard, Duncan and Parker each received 29 minutes and Popovich played his best guys for the final botched inbound pass. Even Tony Parker's 29 points and Tim Duncan getting a double double couldn't stop the hometown German Cup champions. That's because Jamal McLean was balling today. 

5 Yr Old JP Gibson with Leukemia suits up for Utah Jazz

On Monday, the Utah Jazz signed JP Gibson to a one-day contract and later that night, Gibson was in uniform for the Jazz for their open scrimmage. Gibson, who has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was able to play against some of the Utah players thanks to the Jazz and the Anything Can Be project. JP handled his business like a pro slicing through the defence with the pick and roll and finishing with a monster two-hand slam. Good stuff JP, good stuff. 

NBA 2015 Dunk Contest Predictions

Last season the NBA rolled out a new format for the dunk contest that pitted the 3 Eastern Conference players against the 3 Western Conference players. These east vs west competitions started with a freestyle round where each conference had 90 seconds to throw down as many impressive dunks as possible. The winning team was then allowed to choose the dunking order for the battle round. In the battle round 1 player from each conference faced off in traditional dunk contest fashion with the loser being eliminated from the competition. Surprisingly though the east won each of their first battle round match ups leading to a situation where the dunk contest was as short as possible. Granted nobody expected the east to dominate the battle round and the thought of one player from the west having to then win two more battle rounds against the east can lead to a really exciting narrative where one player carried their entire conference proving across 3 rounds that he is better than the 3 best dunkers the other conference could throw at him. I hope they give this format one more shot because in theory this format can be really exciting, it just had it's least interesting scenario play out last year.

East:

1. John Wall (Washington Wizards)

2. Terrence Ross (Toronto Raptors)

3. Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)

West:

1. Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota Timberwolves)

2. Eric Griffin (Dallas Mavericks)

3. Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets)

Raptors Preseason Begins!

Tonight the Toronto Raptors played their first preseason game against the Sacramento Kings winning 99-94. While these are only observations from one game it's already apparent that the Raptors have improved in at least 2 aspects during the offseason. 

1. The bigger the better: Many of the Raptors decided to bulk up during the offseason including Terrence Ross, DeMar DeRozan, and Jonas Valanciunas each doing so for seemingly different reasons.

     Ross was criticized after the playoff series against the Nets for being too skinny because it allowed Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce to back him down in the post leading to easy buckets. He seemed to have taken the criticism as best he could and simply responded by coming back with more bulk to deal with larger the sg/sf  in the league. 

     DeMar DeRozan made his first NBA all-star appearance last season and he seems intent on making sure he will make it back there this year. DeRozan already had enough weight on him to deal with larger apposing guards but he seems to have made "mad gains bro" over the summer in an effort to make his drives to the basket even more deadly. DeMar has shown to be a great finisher at the rim but plenty of big men can still get in his path forcing him to lean and attempt a more difficult shot. This year however thanks to his weight gain DeRozan can now finish against the stronger big men which will hopefully lead to more and-one opportunities. 

     Last season Jonas Valanciunas averaged 8.8 rebounds a game which is quite respectable for a players second year in the league but still not enough to make a title run. Jonas doesn't have many issues reading how a rebound will come off the boards but rather he struggled with stopping larger centres who used their size to push him out of the spot for the rebound. Although there aren't a lot of these behemoth type players in the league this was still an issue that led to Chuck Hayes having to play extra minutes which isn't exactly what the Raptors would like. So to combat this he's gotten a little bigger and I'm sure his rebounding numbers this season will improve because of this. 

2. Tyler Hansbrough spent the summer shooting corner 3's apparently.... I guess he just saw how much people enjoyed seeing Amir Johnson shoot 3's and he thought it would be fun if he could shoot them too. Either way I doubt he will be seeing very many minutes next season but hey it's nice to see that even the players deep into the rotation are working hard to enhance their game. 

NBA 2014-2015 Playoff Predictions (Eastern Conference)

Today the NBA preseason started and both players and fans will start to get an understanding as to just how good, or laughingly awful (sorry 76er fans), the squad is. Until then however the future looks bright for all teams but still only 8  in each conference can make the playoffs so these are my predictions for the 8 teams that will be making the playoffs this year in the eastern conference. 

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

2. Chicago Bulls 

3. Toronto Raptors

4. Miami Heat

5. Washington Wizards

6. Brooklyn Nets

7. Charlotte Hornets 

8. Atlanta Hawks 

1. Last year the Cleveland Caveliers finished as the 10th seed in the east but with the new editions of 4 time MVP LeBron James and and all-star pf Kevin Love along with Kyrie Irving they should be able to secure the first seed baring any injuries. No matter what seed they finish as though Love grabbing a defensive rebound then throwing a full court ally-oop to James will be fun to watch.  

2. The Chicago Bulls have dealt with those injuries for the past two seasons with their leader and one time MVP winner Derrick Rose forced to sit on the sidelines. Combining Rose with last years defensive player of the year Joakim Noah and it's easy to see that the Bulls will take the 2nd seed.... If Derrick Rose can stay healthily of course. 

3. Last year was a breakout season for the Raptors as they finished 3rd and was the best team in the Atlantic division. Many are skeptical about Demar Derozen and Kyle Lowry continuing their high level play this season but to those haters I just have one thing to say. Shush. Pardon my French but I just find it easier to believe they will continue to produce at high level rather than regress. 

4. They lost LeBron James the second best player in the game and they didn't replace him with the first so it has to be considered a letdown. Thankfully they still have Chris Bosh and acquired Luol Deng in the offseason so they still have a starting lineup that will consist of 3 all-star players. They also picked up great role players like Josh McRoberts and still have one of the best coaches in the league so getting the 4th seed seems like the perfect place for the Heat to finish. 

5. Washington Wizards haven't made many changes over the offseason but they did sign Paul Pierce a veteran leader who will bring much needed playoff experience to a team that lacks it. The Truth is also one of the most baller players in the NBA and will ensure the team never backs down from a challenge. 

6. The Nets lost Paul Pierce but still retained their three best players Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. Unfortunately for Brooklyn two of these players, Lopez and Williams, are injury prone but healthy they can provide the edge to secure the 6th seed. 

7. The newly renamed Charlotte Hornets are possibly the most underrated team in the league. They have one of the top 5 centres in Al Jefferson who is nearly unstoppable in post up situations. This combined with the talents of Kemba Walker and newly acquired Lance Stephenson should allow for the Hornets to improve on their 8th seed finish last year by jumping all the way to the 7th. 

8. Right now if I were to mention the Atlanta Hawks you'd probably think of Danny Ferry and his racially insensitive comments and not of their extremely solid team. If the Hornets aren't the most underrated team then it's definitely the Hawks. Even without their best player Al Horford for most of the season the Hawks still finished as the 8th seed and managed to take the Indiana Pacers to a highly competitive game 7. Still the east has only improved this year so making the playoffs will be an actual challenge this season for the Hawks but I'm confident they are up to the challenge. 

Honourable mentions: New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers. I can picture any of these 3 finishing as the 9th seed but each of these teams has something to prove before I can see them making the playoffs.  

NBA 2014-2015 Playoff Predictions (Western Conference)

Tomorrow the first NBA preseason game will begin and with it players and fans will start to get an understanding as to just how good, or laughingly awful (sorry 76er fans), the squad is. Until then however the future looks bright for all teams but still only 8  in each conference can make the playoffs so these are my predictions for the 8 teams that will be making the playoffs this year in the western conference. 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 

2. San Antonio Spurs 

3. Los Angeles Clippers 

4. Dallas Mavericks 

5. Golden State Warriors 

6. Portland Trailblazers 

7. Memphis Grizzlies 

8. Houston Rockets 

1. OKC has the best player in the world on their team, Kevin Durant, who is coming off of his first MVP season and will be looking to prove to the world that he not only deserved it last year for carrying the team while Russell Westbrook was injured but this year as well even with Westbrook healthy again. With Russell back the opposing defence will once again have to deal with two nearly unguardable players and the multitude of talented role players put around them. This together should lead OKC to the first overall seed in the western conference. 

2. Continuing the trend of "best" The Spurs have the best coach in the league in Gregg Popovich who, like the countless seasons before (I counted it was 18), will continue to ensure the Spurs can compete for another Championship. He will have to continue to rest some of his veterans such as Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili thus making it more likely that the Spurs will finish 2nd in the West as apposed to 1st. 

3. The Clippers sort of fell into the 3rd spot on my list. Its apparent that the Clippers are one of the top 3 teams in the west with a highly competitive group of guys and a fantastic coach Doc Rivers but right now I can't picture them surpassing OKC or the Spurs in regular season wins. With that being said I believe the drop off between the 3rd seed and the 4th seed in the west will be significant as every other team fights for the 4 or 5 spot in hopes of avoiding the top 3 terrors. 

4. It's my belief that the Dallas Mavericks will be one of those teams. Dallas made huge moves in the off-season trading for defensive anchor Tyson Chandler and signing free agent Chandler Parsons along with quietly acquiring talented role players like Al-Farouq Amino and Richard Jefferson. Dirk Nowitzki may get getting older but not any shorter or less able to shoot a jump shot so opposing power forwards will continue to play tight on him which just like last year will allow Monta Ellis to get to the basket mostly unimpeded. This mixed with the second best coach in the league Rick Carlyle will ensure the Mavs finish as the 4th seed. 

5. The Golden State Warriors are coming into the season with mostly the same squad that earned them the 6th seed last season. They also have a new head coach Steve Kerr who has no experience coaching an NBA team before so it may seem strange for me to have the Warriors move up a seed but my reasoning is simple. Stephen Curry. He is one of if not the best shooter in the game today and I have a feeling Curry will be averaging career highs in both points and assists this season as GSW takes the 5th seed. 

6. Last year the Portland Trailblazers won their first playoff series since the year 2000 thanks in part to a game winning 3 pointer with 0.9 seconds to go by Damian Lillard. Getting to that point though wasn't easy as their best player Lamarcus Aldridge worked hard to prove to the world that he arguably is the best pf in the league today. This combined with Lilllard's, Matthews', and Batum's excellent 3 point shooting will ensure the Trailblazers make the playoffs but for teams that rely heavily on jump shots sometimes the shots just don't fall. Now since Portland is considered a legitimate threat teams will be working harder to contest shots and force other players like Robin Lopez to become a scorer which leads them to be the 6th seed in the west. 

7. Last year the Memphis Grizzlies managed to snag the 7th seed in the west while missing Marc Gasol the 2012-2013 seasons defensive player of the year. Now Marc Gasol is back and the Grizzlies are looking to improve upon last season. They even signed veteran scorer Vince Carter who will help provide outside shooting off the bench and the occasional dunk and revving of the imaginary motorcycle. Still the core of the team hasn't changed which is great as Memphis has one of the best defences in the league but just like the last two seasons they will continue to struggle scoring points on the other end. For this reason they will lose some games to teams who simply had one player get hot and score buckets against their vicegrip defence. 

8. No matter how you spin it the Rockets lost their third best player, Chandler Parsons, to the Dallas Mavericks during the off-season. Their plan to sign a better bigger name sf such as LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony backfired and they were forced to sign a competent but not amazing Trevor Ariza to fill the void. While their two best players Dwight Howard and James Harden are all star talents each of them have their own faults that will lead to the Rockets struggling to make the playoffs. While I try to make these playoff prediction lists unbiased I have to be honest and say I'm just not a fan of Harden or Howard and although they are obviously talented I simply can't picture them carrying the Rockets to anything beyond the 8th seed and a first round playoff exit to OKC, Spurs, or Clippers. 

Honourable mentions: Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings. I can picture any of these 4 finishing as the 9th seed but each of these teams has something to prove before I can see them making the playoffs.  

Tomorrow I'll be posting my Playoff Predictions for the Eastern Conference so check back for that or follow on twitter @itsballertime for notifications on each post and everything baller happening in the NBA. 

NBA Championship Odds: LeBron vs the Spurs round 3

These are the odds for every team to win the NBA championship via bodog sportsbook.

TEAM:                                CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS:

Cleveland Cavaliers          5/2

San Antonio Spurs             4/1

Chicago Bulls                     11/2

Oklahoma City Thunder    11/2

Los Angeles Clippers        10/1

Dallas Mavericks               20/1

Houston Rockets               20/1

Golden State Warriors      25/1

Washington Wizards         33/1

Portland Trail Blazers        40/1

Indiana Pacers                   50/1

Memphis Grizzlies             50/1

Miami Heat                         50/1

New York Knicks               50/1

Toronto Raptors                 50/1

Brooklyn Nets                    66/1

Charlotte Hornets              66/1

Los Angeles Lakers           66/1

Atlanta Hawks                    100/1

Denver Nuggets                100/1

New Orleans Pelicans       100/1

Phoenix Suns                      100/1

Boston Celtics                    200/1

Detroit Pistons                    200/1

Orlando Magic                    200/1

Sacramento Kings              250/1

Milwaukee Bucks               300/1

Minnesota Timberwolves   300/1

Utah Jazz                             300/1

Philadelphia 76ers               500/1

     After looking at the list there were a few things in particular that stood out to me.

     As you can see Vegas predicts for the 3rd straight season LeBron James will be going up against Popovich and the Spurs in the finals as they are the two teams with the highest odds in each conference. Although it makes sense that last season's NBA champions and a team that has 3 all stars one of whom who has 4 mvp trophies are the two title favourites its hard for me to believe that James can make it to his 5th straight finals appearance and an ever aging Spurs team can make it to the finals for the 3rd straight year.

     The Dallas Mavericks like the Cavs also made a huge jump in the rankings and now sit at 20/1 tying for the 6th best odds with the Rockets, the team who they stole Chandler Parsons from during the offseason. Personally I would hold the Golden State Warriors' odds, which are 25/1,  as the same as the Mavericks' and Rockets' but I guess the inclusion of a new coach this season leaves people a little wary.

     Finally I was surprised to see the New York Knicks who failed to make the playoffs last season ranked the same as the Toronto Raptors who finished as the 3rd seed. The Knicks have a slightly different although largely unimproved roster while the Raptors are bringing back the same guys while adding depth on the bench so it's mind boggling to me as to why they share the same 50/1 odds. I'm unsure whether the belief is that the Raptors won't improve this season or whether Phil Jackson becoming the Knicks GM has garnered Championship hype but either way I don't see a team that has to rely heavily on J.R. Smith making key plays winning a ring anytime soon. 

Media Day/Training Camp: Raptors, Mavericks, and my own

     With media day being yesterday and training camp starting today for my two favourite NBA teams I felt it would be a perfect time to make my first post since like the Raps and the Mavs I too need to hold a media day to create hype for the season and go through training camp to get myself into decent (writing) form. It's been a long time since I've written on a regular basis so this will start off really rough but I promise over the course of the next year and hopefully beyond I'll be improving with every article, video and photo I post. While this site will be covering everything baller in basketball I won't hesitate from posting baller content about anything. So without further ado here's what's going on in the world of Raps and Mavs.

     The pictures from the Mavericks photo shoot seems to indicate that Harris, Ellis, Parsons, Nowitzki, and Chandler will be the starting 5 to begin the season or at least the pre-season. Although personally I'd love to see Jameer Nelson, the guy who got fined for doing the 'big balls dance' after making a clutch game tying shot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN3il8GKIoY , start for the Mavs it makes the most sense for Devin Harris to start for now as he already knows the offensive plays and defensive sets from last season plus his superior defensive ability over the Dallas'  other 3 pgs can help reduce the load on Tyson Chandler who was brought to the team mainly to defend the rim. I also like hearing that Eric Griffin, Dallas' new hyper athletic wing, was the last person to leave training camp today spending extra time polishing his shooting ability with coach Carlisle which could prove to be important since a lot of players may prefer to let him shoot a jump shot as apposed to letting him do this.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qnpr99f6Aw   Anyone else thinking dunk contest? 

     Terrence Ross came into Raptors media day trying to prove one thing. That he's not the skinny sg/sf who had issues dealing with larger opponents last year as seen in the playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri was especially positive about Ross' improvement over the summer saying, "I'm positive we'll see real growth with him." This should be a huge benefit for the Raptors as Ross is obviously talented on the offensive end https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNOXGRS_oow and now the Raps coach Dwayne Casey can leave him out there against larger guys without fear of him being a defensive liability. The start of training camp for the Raptors is a little bit more complicated as there 3 "home" preseason games will occur in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal respectively so the team started training in Toronto today but had to fly out to Vanvouver this evening. So far no real news has come out of Raps training camp because of this. 

     The final piece of baller news is that Martell Webster and Marcin Gortat are sexual black chocolate and sexual white chocolate from now on okay.  https://twitter.com/SarahKogod/status/516616966178893824?lang=en

Please feel free to comment on all my posts as I really do enjoy an open dialogue with any readers I may get and don't forget to follow my twitter @itsballertime since I'll be tweeting links to new content on the site along with just random baller stuff that happens on twitter as a whole. Thanks to everyone who read all of this and to everyone who will continue to follow the work I produce.

It's baller time baby!