Raptors, Bulls, and Beards, oh my!

It's shortly after the Raptors have sent their fan faithful home happy with a win in the season home opener over the Golden State Warriors, so I felt it was only right to drop my first post here on HoopHeadsNorth. How about Bargnani off the bench tonight?!! That's the production the Raptors organization has been waiting for. His off-season work out regimen and working with J.O. down in Vegas may pay dividends.

I'm thinking the Raps may need to stick with the new Black third jerseys all season if they keep playing like this. 2-0 on the season, 2-0 in the Blacks unis.

Meanwhile my Bulls are getting destroyed by the Celtics - at the time of my typing they are down 66-43. The Bulls are devoid of ANY low post game right now - Deng, Gray, and Gooden have to make a concerted effort to work more down in the block...I was REALLY hoping last year was an aberration...but now I'm not so sure...and it's only the 2nd game of the season, and the Bulls won the first one!

In the last post, Romes linked to a pic showing the 'Freeway-esque' look that Rip Hamilton is sporting these days - well, you NEED to peep what Drew Gooden has going on this year! You may remember the beard growing competition between DeShawn Stevenson & Drew last year, well I guess Drew wanted to do something new this time around! I mean, I'm all about personal expression - but dawg - it's a good thing you're a professional athlete to be able to pull that off...or not...

The season is just getting started...and you can bet that means I'm just getting started here @ HoopHeadsNorth. See y'all back here quicker than an A.I. crossover...

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HOOPHEADSNORTH 08-09 SEASON PREDICTIONS

The 2008-2009 NBA season is in full swing... The Celtics are defending their title, Greg Oden made his brief debut in the NBA, Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh are leading the new look Raps into a new season, Oklahoma City is the newest team in the league.....2008-2009 has a lot of new faces in different places.

Here's our take on what we at HOOPHEADSNORTH predict for this season:

Sean Francois - former resident of Chicago, Illinois...Chicago Bulls fan....Check out his sports blog "Off the Dome"

FINALS PREDICTION: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers
NBA CHAMPS: Los Angeles Lakers
NBA MVP: Kobe Bryant
NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Derrick Rose
HOW FAR WILL THE RAPS GO THIS SEASON? Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (East 2nd Round)


Romy Aquino - resident of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia...fan of David Robinson & the San Antonio Spurs....fantasy sports junkie

FINALS PREDICTION: San Antonio Spurs vs. Boston Celtics
NBA CHAMPS: San Antonio Spurs
NBA MVP: Lebron James
NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Michael Beasley
HOW FAR WILL THE RAPS GO THIS SEASON? 2nd round of the playoffs

U-E Sampang - Resident of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...Detroit Pistons fan since '87....Actor by day, online poker player by night, check out his poker blog, "U-E The Kid - Future Poker Legend or Forever Fish????"

FINALS PREDICTION: Detroit Pistons Vs. New Orleans Hornets
NBA CHAMPS: Detroit Pistons
NBA MVP: Lebron James
NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Greg Oden
HOW FAR WILL THE RAPS GO THIS SEASON? 2nd round of playoffs

On an ending note, check out Rip's 2008-09 beard!

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NBA OPENING DAY!

Celtics tip-off against the Cavs.......Bucks at Chicago......and Greg Oden's season debut against Kobe and the Lakers.

Raps start tomorrow against the Sixers and their home debut is against Golden State Warriors on Halloween night.

Check out Chris Bosh at FLOW 93.5 in Toronto sporting an old school Toronto Blue Jays cap:

Check Chuck Swirsky's blog, for the Bulls in his new home of Chicago: CHUCK CHECKS IN.

Coming soon, look out for the first HOOPHEADSNORTH season predictions.

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Bosh-J.O., the 2008 Twin Towers?

• NBA preseason is here! I caught the Raptors debut in Toronto against Mike D'antoni's Knicks. Raps look a little different this year; no Delfino, no TJ, no Rasho, no Garbajosa, no Primoz but they do have J.O. in the lineup this time around. They've been comparing the Bosh-J.O. combo to my fave twin towers, Tim Duncan and David "The Admiral" Robinson. They looked a little rusty in the win, but when you have two bigs trying to co-exist, it may take a little time for the chemistry to come around. Raps take on Elton Brand and the new-look Sixers tonight.
• It was my first time to check out Matt Devlin (Chuck Swirsky's replacement) and his play by play. I'd say he was alright, nothing special. I'll give him a few more games before I can really give an opinion on his announcing, we're gonna miss Chuck Swirsky and his "Swirsky-isms"
• I just finished watching the Nets-Heat game in London.....very exciting game for the London crowd. NJ beat the Heat 94-92.
• If you haven't check Chris Bosh's video blogs, check them out on youtube or at chris-bosh.com, I hear he's battling Baron Davis for video blog supremacy.
• My annual fantasy hoops league is up and running again this year. The league name is Hali Hoops Vol.VI on Yahoo! fantasy sports. In its fifth season, I have taken home 3 championships but fell to a disappointing 4th last season, I got to get my research game on for the draft next week, I'll keep you posted. Hoopheadsnorth co-writer U-E came in second last season.
• As far as the video games scene, Ive tested out both NBA 2K9 and NBA Live '09 for the XBOX 360. And I know EA has come out with some big improvements this year but 2K9 gameplay is so much better and realisitic. EA graphics look a lot better but in terms of gameplay, 2K9 has it hands down again.

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Break out the Salami & Cheese...

...Matt Devlin is in the building.

According to Raptors.com, the Raps have found a replacement for the Swirsk (Chuck Swirsky) The new guy is Matt Devlin.

According to his resume, he’s done play by play for the Memphis Grizzlies and the Charolotte Bobcats. He also has experience with play-by-play for TNT, NFL and MLB on Fox, the WNBA and will be doing some sportcasting for the upcoming Olympics. Check out his first blog post.

Check out Matt Devlin's interview with Jermaine O’neal:

Check this out.....Shaq in a Raps jersey....too funny.

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Billionaire Boys Club – Lebron James

After watching the NBA Draft on Thursday, one of the big trades of the night was the trade that sent Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. ESPN also reported that the trade supported the rumours of Lebron James possibly landing with the Nets in 2010 (when Lebron is eligible for free agency). I haven’t even heard of this rumour until that night, so it sparked me to do some research.

Check this Lebron James quote from Dec. 10, 2005 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

In the next 15 or 20 years, I hope I'll be the richest man in the world. That's one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire. I want to get to a position where generation on generation don't have to worry about nothing. I don't want family members from my kids to my son's kids to never have to worry. And I can't do that now just playing basketball.

Lebron + Jay-Z + Brooklyn = Kings of NY
It’s no secret that Lebron James, one of the biggest NBA icons today and Jay-Z, one of hip hop’s biggest icons (and part owner of the New Jersey Nets) are tight. They host an event together around All-Star weekend and call it the “Two Kings” party. If you put these two in New York, it will fall in lines with the LRMR Marketing’s vision: “....developing and executing successful partnerships between brands and the world’s most recognized talent.....”

What is LRMR Marketing?
I was reading an issue of SLAM magazine (Issue 116, April ‘08) and read the article on Lebron and how Lebron had fired his agent and decided to take high school friends/teammates to be his representation, creating Lebron's LRMR Marketing. Check out LRMRmarketing.com, this points to their website for Lebron’s own sports marketing/branding company. Just take a look at the Methodology section of his company’s site; they plan to do big things by “uniting entities that will benefit from mutual engagement.” Lebron, Jay-Z, New York and Nike....put them together and they will spell......dollar signs. Lebron’s Nike contract could skyrocket if Lebron heads to NY. If Lebron lands in a huge market like LA or New York, his Nike contract could probably double, leading him closer to that billion dollar goal.

The evidence is there...... articles about the Nets trying to clear up cap space, they unleashed Jason Kidd and now Richard Jefferson is off to Milwaukee for young talent, and draft picks. Even when Lebron signed his contract with Cleveland, he opted for the shorter contract instead of the long-term contract with more money. If Cleveland can’t provide Lebron with the supporting cast that is championship calibre and Jay-Z and the Nets execs can get him that championship cast, it looks like there’s no doubt Lebron will be sporting the Brooklyn Nets jersey.

What better way to introduce the Brooklyn Nets than with Jay-Z in the front office and Lebron James as your star athlete.....possibly bringing a long awaited championship trophy to the Mecca of basketball, New York.

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J.O. to T.O.?

The Indianapolis Star reports that Jermaine O’neal is the latest name that may be heading up North. The deal has been “agreed in principle” that would send TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the 17th draft pick to Indiana for Jermaine O’neal. This could be a significant upgrade for Toronto and would give Indiana the 11th and 17th pick in tomorrow’s draft.

If the deal happens (depending on physicals), this would most likely put Bosh and O’Neal in the front court along with Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Jose Calderon. After this season’s disappointing playoff result for the Raps, a roster change is needed to make the Raps a more competitive ball club. In bringing the former all-star O’Neal to Toronto, this could make Toronto a stronger competitor in the East.

Both Ford and O’Neal have both been plagued with injuries but the risk for both clubs would be equivalent. And if Jermaine O’Neal can be the 20-10 healthy player he once was, the Raps can show the fans that can go deeper in this season’s playoffs.

On another note, if you haven’t checked out Shaq’s rap yet, check it here.

He’s no Biggie Smalls whatsoever but it’s amusing to say the least.....

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