Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose - 23rd in the NBA (Video)

[Blacklash2k4]

Interesting video on the Raptors this season by Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose. Nice to hear Jalen saying some good things about Demar except maybe him saying he's a good three point shooter. I do somewhat agree that Ujiri will trade Gay as soon as possible if a good trade is offered. In the video, Bill Simmons predicts this trade: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=l786gzc. We'll see if they are right about this season.

[rocwell]

Little bit off topic but..

Tyler throw JV out of bounds and almost got him injured and now Psycho is on Raptors roster.

And if Bill Simmons a.k.a Sucker's trade prediction is correct, then we'll see JV and Caron reunion...

[Axel]

Can't say I love that trade. Better be picks involved. Ekpe is a nice player, but is he any better than Amir/Hansborough?

[Superjudge]

Sweet Jesus that was a fantastic, and i mean FANTASTIC preview.

For once in a long, very long time I was entertained.

Jalen is hilarious, Simmons is a smug prick and I love it.

More of these guys. Leiweiekekeieie.... whatever it takes, you wanna improve your brand....fire your current analysts and hire these two, whatever the cost. They would make watching Toronto entertaining for the right reasons.

[mcHAPPY]

Good video. A couple of things that piss me off:

1) The Simmons "Toronto Don't Care about Raptors, They Love Hockey" rant is old. Answer me these questions:

a) What US city that has a NFL team and a NBA team has a more popular NBA team?
b) What US city that has a NFL team, a MLB team, and a NBA team has a more popular NBA team?

For both, I can't think of one off the top of my head. The only difference between Toronto and US cities is that hockey is not more popular down in the States - football and to a lesser extent baseball is. So enough, please.

2) The tax issues are true but they do not highlight a couple of things:

a) where the game is played is where the money is taxed. 41 home games and 41 away games.
b) I could be mistaken but I am pretty sure the Raptors can make up the tax difference (the 3-4% Rose refers to). There is a clause somewhere I read in the past that allows the Raptors to not be at a competitive disadvantage. I could be wrong here but I don't think I am. I recall this very clear from Colangelo during a presser. Basically win/make it a place players want to be and there is no excuse.

Other than that, I enjoyed this - thanks for posting.

[Chr1s1anL]

It shocks me more and more how much American analyst don't know about the Raptors. I just want Rudy to have a good season just to shut Bill Simmons up. Like did they even do research? Rudy got more efficient when he got to Toronto. Not the other way around.

[Superjudge]

Matt.

jalen is even wrong, they get that tax money back after they do the tax work. you aren't taxed more to play in Toronto, last I looked at least. Now, Jalen has more experience here than I somaybe he's right, but even so, thats why guys are "overpaid" here. Makes up the difference.

[magoon]

That was a terrible preview video. Just lazy, filled with a lot of erroneous conventional wisdom (the hockey thing, the tax thing - an American playing in Toronto doesn't pay significantly more tax than a player playing in Chicago or New York or LA, although they will compared to Dallas or Miami but that's because Texas and Florida don't have state income taxes), totally wrong stuff like Jalen claiming DeMar can shoot the three when DeMar has NEVER been able to shoot the three, absolutely no analysis of how the team plays together or what their needs/holes are because they're too busy spitballing a Rudy Gay trade that would never happen (and the Bucks? The Bucks have Ersan Ilyanova, they don't really need Rudy - the Bucks need a point guard, they would target Lowry if they wanted us as a trade partner)... yeesh. Bad, bad, bad.

[Superjudge]

Holy fuck Bud, it's Grantland, it's fun. Let your hair down a bit Princess.

[S.R.]

Does anyone know the facts on the tax situation? The obvious assumption is that Canada has higher taxes, but I've heard a lot of muddled arguments to the contrary. You would expect Jalen to know, though - he played here. (Then again, plenty of players don't have a great handle on what's happening with their money.)

I'm also tired of "the Raptors are in Canada" consuming so much of the discussion of this franchise. For all the reasons mentioned above, this doesn't really matter. Toronto's a big, high profile city with plenty of money to be made from wealthy ownership and endorsement opportunities. Vince became a league superstar playing in this city, and he and Bosh both stuck with the franchise past their rookie contracts - I don't know why the assumption that players refuse to come/flee as soon as possible persists. It's not true at all.

I think, even for Americans, the difference between Toronto and any of the US's large northern cities (NY, Boston, Chicago, Detroit) is much smaller than the difference between Charlotte and New York or Oklahoma City and LA, for example. Have these people never been to Cleveland???

I wish they could just discuss basketball instead of the novelty of having a team in another country.

All that said, I love Grantland and this series by Simmons and Jalen. Zach Lowe's got an insightful paragraph on the Raptors situation in his last column: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...2013-14-season

[Superjudge]

Oh Man.

Ok listen up. This is a fun program, its entertainment man, why the fuss. But I will bite.

Toronto, as a Team, and a management group. HAS SUCKED MASSIVELY FOR 20 YEARS.

These guys are being kind. Period.

there IS a greasy tax situation, but it can be circumvented with a good accountant, or overpayment. It IS a Hockey town.

Jalen REPEATEDLY argued that Toronto's Basketball fanbase was huge, and great. I find it interesting that Simmons has drawn so much fire here, I thought you guys were "intelligent canadian fans" Whats up? You know they write this stuff and go over the notes beforehand right? You know that Simmons is playing a part, and Jalen is playing another right? Its called entertainment. Simmons plays up the common myth, Jalen shoots it down. Simmons calls out the fans, and the Hockey myth, Jalen shoots it down. Jalen calls out the money myth, Siummons shoots that down.

On the whole, that was a fantastic bit for Toronto. Jalen was SUPER Pro Toronto, so was Simmons in his own mart ass way. What the fuck are they supposed to say about this HORRIFIC franchise???? We might have to put up with the shit here, as we are local fans, but why should they????

I think people need to settle down, enjoy it for hat it is, and try to be a bit more realistic about the team they cheer for. Our team is fucking horrible, has been, and is set to be again.

[drunkmunky]

the tax thing is a pretty big deal. i didn't know they had to pay canadian tax as well as american... I thought it was either/or.

that sucks balls.

[isaacthompson]

A little more research could've been done prior to filming ("DeMar's a good three point shooter" ???), but overall it was very entertaining. Bill Simmons needs to lighten up his views on Toronto though. lol

[Superjudge]

A little more research could've been done prior to filming ("DeMar's a good three point shooter" ???), but overall it was very entertaining. Bill Simmons needs to lighten up his views on Toronto though. lol

They are just good cop, bad cop'in it man, no worries

[p00ka]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: U.S. on-line sports media play Raptors' fans. I remember, from 7-8 years ago, an NBA.com writer say that one sure way of getting lots of activity was saying something wrong/controversial/critical about Toronto/Canada/Raptors. Raptors fans play along and it pays the bills.