A Non BC Kool Aid Vancouver Province Article On The Raptor's In Vancouver

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Lo...299/story.html

With NBA television ratings being where they are in this country, you can't blame the Toronto Raptors for trying to increase their footprint in Canada, and former Grizz territory is a pretty reasonable approach.

That appears to be the Raptors' reason for holding their training camp 3,000 kilometres from the epicentre of the universe, a city Chris Bosh certainly wanted no part of particularly when given the option of whatever it is going on in Miami.

Obviously if the Raptors train out here and generate a little more interest as they head into their season, their ratings may rise and as such improve the revenue generated from their national telecasts.

And clearly they would love to step into this Rogers Arena gold mine that the Phoenix Suns have been exploiting for some years now, playing an exhibition game up here and generating a nice hunk of revenue while freeing their long-suffering fans from having to take an extra preseason game on their season ticket package.

We get all that, although surely it won't be long before Francesco Aquilini finds a partner and thinks NBA again for this town.

But there may be a more sinister reason the Suns and Raptors are here as well. The people of Vancouver might be the only types so starved for the NBA that they'd even consider buying such rubbish taken on the road by two teams that generate very little interest this season.

Consider this Suns-Raptors tilt on Oct. 6 will be played in the very early stages of preseason, unlike last season when the regular season was extremely close at hand, and involves two of the teams absolutely decimated by player movement this summer.

The Raptors lost Bosh just as they lost Vince Carter and the Suns had Amar'e Stoudemire walk out the door for the Godawful Knicks, of all teams. And no matter what plans these teams claim they have to compete at the same level they did last season, they're full of bleep. They're just hoping that you're too much of a yokel to figure it out and you'll buy a ticket anyway.

Consider for starters that this is only the second Suns preseason game with the start of their regular season still 21 days away.

It's the first for Toronto. If Steve Nash plays 20 minutes in this game, it will be just because it's Vancouver and to play him any less the way they should be would be like slapping the customer directly in the kisser.

Normally he'd likely get somewhere around 15 minutes at this time of year, with Goran Dragic getting the much-longer look. And while Nash will want to play as much as possible here, he does have to make sure he doesn't get carried away and create problems that will linger into the season.

At his age, the early preseason should be nothing more than a little bit of a stroll to get the feel of the ball and a slight sense of how he's going to run this new offence without his pick-and-roll partner with whom he combined for so many great plays over their six seasons together. Robin Lopez may have improved but Amar'e he ain't.

Comparing this to a regular-season game or even last year's preseason game against Portland here would be folly. And if you think Nash has his work cut out for him, consider the uphill hike coach Jay Triano is facing in Toronto, his roster not even having the window dressing the Suns can claim.

We're told breathlessly in the Arizona Republic how much Hedo Turkoglu wants to be in Phoenix and the act he displayed in Toronto will disappear, and that's all very nice. It might even be right.

But the Suns are now laughably soft with rebounding problems that make last season's look like a breeze.

And without defences focusing on stopping Nash to Stoudemire inside, the rain of three-point opportunities which made this team so competitive last year simply won't be there in anywhere near the same number or quality.

If Nash does not slow down physically, he will find a way to make the offence work because that's his genius.

Put him out there and any team he's on starts to score. He'll figure it out somehow.

But even if he continues to improve on a pick-and-roll offence with Lopez and all goes well, this team will still be scratching for a playoff spot and certain first-round roadkill if they should be so fortunate.

With a buildup like this, how can you resist rushing out to buy your tickets? END

I guess some folks in BC are immune to BC's- Bull Chit, flavored Raptor kool aid basketball rhetoric. Any thoughts on the article?

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A Non BC Kool Aid Vancouver Province Article On The Raptor's In Vancouver

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