Leafs Goalie Jonathan Bernier Mistakes Nelson Mandela For Star Athlete Who He Watched When He Was Younger.

The Toronto Raptors honored the late Nelson Mandela On Friday night at an event called The Giant of Africa. Many stars were in attendance to watch The Raptors play the Cleveland Cavilers, and to honor the great Nelson Mandela. NBA legends in the house were Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Charles Barkley, Dikembe Mutombo and All-Star Tracy McGrady, who was being honored by the Raptors and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum. Also there was members of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan and Goaltender Jonathan Bernier. During an interview with the goalie the reporter asked him this" Alright Jonathan, how important is uh, the legacy of Nelson Mandela to you? Bernier replied with this statement "  well obviously he's been,uh, a tremendous athlete , and you know obviously  what,uh, he means to all the sports its pretty amazing. And I think he's definitely uh got a lot of respect in every sports and uh he's definitely one of the athletes I watched growing up as a kid. Mandela wasn't exactly a professional athlete, but he was an armature boxer who ran two hours a day. In my opinion, I think that Bernier should've just said he didn't know who the guy was. He could've saved himself a lot of grief. 

Jonathan Bernier

 

 

Can Kyle Lowry Be An All-Star This Year?

Kyle Lowry

Last year Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was snubbed of an All-Star selection. Even though his teammate Demar Derozan did make the team. That could all change this year though, with the Raptors off to a 15-5 record and hold the number one spot in the WEAK Eastern Conference, with Lowry being one of the main reasons they are where they are. This year Lowry is averaging 20 points a game, 5 rebounds a game, 7 assist and  1.3 steals. But more then Lowry's stats it's what Lowry provides in terms of attitude and leadership. Lowry has a bulldog and a never say die attitude. The many ways Lowry provides leadership is vocally, trying to keep his teammates positive, talking on defense or just communicating with them. Lowry also leads by example, whenever The Raptors are a little bit down on defense or offense Lowry is the first person they will look to. Wether if it's a block,steal or charge on defense or big bucket or assist on offense, Lowry gets it done. Many people have said that Kyle Lowry is the heart and soul of the Raptors and for good reason. Ever since the Raptors traded for Lowry they have been his team to lead.

There are many All-Star Caliber point guards in the Eastern Conference and even in the NBA, but Kyle Lowry is definitely one of the hardest working players in the NBA. Other players might be stronger than Kyle, or jump higher or even be faster but no one will out work Kyle. This is why I believe the Raptors have two All-Stars,  because Toronto have a lot of young players with a lot of potential and I feel they don't get as much recognition as they should because they play in Toronto. Especially Kyle, because realistically he is not one of the more well known players in the NBA. But give him a year or two and everyone will be talking about him and the Raptors. #WeTheNorth

Martin Brodeur Trying To Find The Fountain Of Youth.

After playing his whole career with the New Jersey Devils, it is pretty weird to see Brodeur in another jersey.  On Wednesday December 3, 2014 Brodeur was signed by the St. Louis Blues. After playing most of last year as a backup to Cory Schneider, which is pretty new to Marty seeing as he has been the number one guy for most of his career. Now obviously Brodeur doesn't feel that he wants to retire just yet, but you get the feeling that Brodeur wants to play for a contender. Brodeur loved The Devils and never thought that he would never leave them. Brodeur has set many records and won many awards with New Jersey,  such as most regular season wins: 688, most regular season shutouts:124 and most playoff shutouts:24 and so many more.  Awards include 9x All-Star, 3x Stanley Cup champ and 4x Vezina Trophy winner. There's no doubt Brodeur and the Devils accomplished a lot together, but Brodeur is at an age where he can't wait 3 or 4 seasons for his team to rebuild. I feel that this will be Brodeur's last year playing professional hockey.  Brodeur will get his chance for one more cup this year, but will definitely retire as a New Jersey Devil. Brodeur will be in a Blues jersey this year but his legacy will always be in a Devils Jersey.

Martin Brodeur 

Which Of Lebron's Big 3 is Better? Miami's Or Cleveland's ?

Miami Big 3 

Cleveland Big 3 

I know what you’re saying how could you even make this argument? Miami made it to the Finals all four years they were together, won back-to-back championships and just dominated the league. It’s going be hard to say because the new Big 3 haven’t been together long enough to say, plus it’s early in the season.  Both Big 3’s have their similarities and their differences. They both have amazing talent. Obviously. Both have struggled early on, both struggled to find chemistry early on and they both had trouble establishing a pecking order in terms of scoring. They both have there glaring differences. For one Lebron is playing with youngster Kyrie Irving, who has never even experienced the playoffs yet, instead of playing with wiley veteran Dwayne Wade, who won 3 rings, 2 with Lebron. Another difference is the play styles of Kevin Love and Chris Bosh.  Bosh the more versatile and mobile defender.  But what Love lacks in defense he makes up for with his offense, Love is still a very good rebounder. Love was top 5 in rebounds in 2013.  The last difference is that Miami’s bench was much deeper than Cleveland’s, and that Miami’ s coach Eric Spoelstra has more NBA coaching experience than Cleveland’s David Blatt.

In my opinion, I think Lebron should’ve stayed in Miami for another year or two. Because I feel that the Heat are stronger than the Cavs big 3. But we won’t know, only time will tell how good the Cavs will be. If it’s anything like the first year in Miami it will take time for their chemistry to grow and trust each other. I feel in 1 year the Cavs will be in The NBA Finals.  I feel they should make at least The Eastern Conference Finals this year

Do The Toronto Raptors Have The Best Fans In The NBA?

The NBA has some pretty great fans. But The Toronto Raptors might have the best fans in the whole game.  The Raptors were created in 1995, along with The Vancouver Grizzlies. Which of course was the birth of professional basketball in Canada, the fan bases weren’t exactly huge yet because the teams were rather unknown. Over the years though as basketball has grown in Canada the popularity of The Raptors has picked up. The Grizzlies were later moved to Memphis, and became The Memphis Grizzlies.

The Raptors are now the only professional basketball team in Canada. Being the only team in Canada meant that more people were bound to watch, but that didn’t exactly happen right away. But as the team started to draft better players and trade for more well known players, the team started to do better and put more people in the stands. But during The 1999 NBA draft The Raptors had traded for future star Vince Carter, who had been drafted by The Golden State Warriors.  Carter ended up being The 1999 Rookie Of The Year. Vince Carter would revolutionize Canadian basketball forever. Carter would be Toronto’s first star; Carter was an 8 time All- Star, Rookie Of The Year and Slam Dunk Champion in 2000. Carter put Toronto on the map, by easily winning the 2000 Dunk Contest with his spectacular and athletic dunks.  At the end of the 2000 season Carter had lost his running mate and half cousin Tracy Mcgrady to Free Agency. Mcgrady was a rising star. Carter was all by himself now; in the following year The Raptors had made The Eastern Conference Semis. The Raptors had forced game 7. In the dying moments of the game Carter had a chance to send The Raptors to The Conference Finals, but missed the shot. In the following years Carter dealt with injuries and The Raptors slowly started to plummet.  In 2004 Carter became frustrated with the way upper management was handling the team. Carter was later traded to The New Jersey Nets on December 18.

Ever since Carter’s trade the fan base in Toronto has been loyal, but have not had anything to cheer about, until 2013.  The Raptors had started off looking like it would be another season where they wouldn’t make the playoffs.  But The Raptors made a trade with Sacramento to bring key bench players to Toronto.  The Raptors also brought in Star Rapper Drake to be Global Ambassador for the team.  The Raptors turned their season around, ending the season in third place. Eventually losing in 7 games to the Brooklyn Nets.  During the playoffs the team embraced the motto “We The North”. Raptors fans are some of the most loyal fans in the NBA.  On Saturday The Raptors played the stacked Cleveland Cavaliers. 150 people drove in a bus from Toronto all the way to Cleveland to watch the whole game. Fans haven’t been this excited about the team since the days of Vince Carter.  It gives The city of Toronto hope all over again #WeTheNorth  

Old Raptors Logo

Will The Blue Jays Lose Bautista?

With Free Agency underway, The Blue Jays have already lost a big chunk of the teams' s longest serving players. Bautista now being one of the longest serving members on the team.  With free agency just getting under way, The Jays have already made a huge splash by signing Canadian born catcher Russell Martin. Martin will help The Jays both offensively and defensively.  Last year Martin had career highs in almost every offensive category and had a very good year behind the plate, throwing runners out and calling a good game for his pitchers. The only down side to the Martin signing is that now last years starting catcher, Dioner Navarro has requested a trade. Last year Navarro was a fan favourite and one of the more clutch hitters for the Jays, not to mention his solid defense behind the plate.  Another factor to whether Jose will want to stay in Toronto, is what teammate and friend Melky Cabrera does in free agency. By the sounds of it sounds as if any teams have offered Cabrera anything significant enough to report. Cabrera has been quoted saying that he wants to stay in Toronto, but has rejected their qualifying offer.  I feel that if The Jays are willing to pay enough, that Melky will stay in Toronto for an extended amount of time. Hopefully if The Jays do sign Cabrera, they will have enough money to sign left-handed reliever Andrew Miller, who helped The Baltimore Orioles with their playoff push.

Jose (Joey Bats) Bautista 

 The last factor is how The Blue Jays do in the upcoming season. They will struggle because of how many young players they have, but hopefully players like Bautista, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Reyes and Martin with the help of a few new comers can help lead The Jays into the playoffs.  Which would be the first time in Bautista’s career with The Jays. Hopefully this would be enough to at least keep this thought out of Jose’s mind.  

Is This Year Anthony Davis' Year To Be MVP?

Anthony Davis 

Last year Kevin Durant won The Most Valuable Player award, but you could make the case that Anthony Davis was pretty high up in the MVP race. The only problem is that he has not yet played past 70 games. Last year Davis only played 67 games due to an injury.  In those 67 games, Davis shot 52% from the field, shot 79% from the free throw line, 3 offensive rebounds per game, 7 defensive rebounds and averaged 10 in the year, 3 blocks per year and averaged 21 points for the Pelicans last year. This year with Kevin Durant being injured for the first few weeks of the season and Lebron James having to get used to his new team and teammates, this might be might be Davis' year to show that he has the capability to play at an MVP level. I think that Davis definitely has the game to win an MVP. In the first game of the 2014 season, Davis took the Magic to school scoring 26 points, 17 rebounds, 9 blocks and 3 steals. Davis is on the right path, but it won't be an easy road even though Durant is injured and Lebron has to adjust to his new team.  Durant will be back and will no doubt get back to his old form and James will learn to play with his new teammates.

There are also other players who also deserve to be in the conversation, like Clippers forward Blake Griffin who put up great numbers last year and was in the conversation last year as well. Other players who deserve mention are Derrick Rose, although was injured for basically the last two years, I feel that he can get back to his all-star and MVP form if he can stay healthy. Another player I feel that can be in the race is Damian Lillard.  Although it's Lillard's third year in the league, I feel Lillard did a great job last year leading The TrailBlazers, even coming up clutch during the playoffs. I feel Lillard has a very bright future ahead of him. Which could also result in some MVP's. Last but certainly not least is Houston Rocket shooting guard James Harden. Last year Harden was 6th in the MVP race. Harden who was one of the leading scorers in the NBA and led The Rockets to a 4th place finish in the Western Conference. I think Harden will be in the MVP conversation again this year.

Even though all these players are in the race for MVP in my opinion, I still feel that Davis will be competitive in the race for MVP just as long as he stays healthy and is able to improve on his production from last year and help his team improve. #fearthebrow

What's Wrong With The Leafs? Should They Fire Randy Carlyle?

Maple Leafs Logo

Is firing Randy Carlyle the answer to the Maple Leafs problems? In terms of his coaching skills, he isn’t a terrible coach. Back when Carlyle was coaching Anaheim he won The Stanley Cup so he can’t be that bad. But maybe it’s just that the players have stopped responding to the coaches. Is this the coaches fault or the players fault?

I don’t feel that Carlyle should be fired. But I feel that if The Leafs can’t produce or make the playoffs this year they might have to make a big trade. The Leafs have many pieces that they could trade to get a top 6 player. Which would hopefully improve The Leafs to a spot where they could become contenders again. 

In order for The Leafs to make the playoffs their top two lines are going to have to bring an offensive punch and the last two lines will have to an aggressive gritty game and even a little scoring. The defense will definitely have to do better than they did last season. The Leafs have signed a couple solid defensemen that should help them this year. Last but not least The Leafs are definitely going to need a stellar season from Bernier and Reimer in order for them to make the playoffs.

How The Oklahoma City Thunder Can Survive Without Kevin Durant

In the last 3 or 4 years The Oklahoma City Thunder have been title contenders on the backs of their two superstars, reigning MVP Kevin Durant and All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. But this year it won’t be so easy in the beginning without their best player Kevin Durant who had a fracture in his right foot and is expected to be out 6-8 weeks. Which is obviously a big loss for a team with championship aspirations. To lose the League MVP and scoring champion means that every player on the team has to step up their until Durant gets back.

Some of the key players that’ll have to step their game up in Durant’s absence in order for The Thunder to have a strong start are Russell Westbrook, Even though Westbrook had an All-Star season he’ll have to show people that he can run a team, one way to achieve this is by trying to get the whole team involved. Don’t get me wrong now that Durant is injured Westbrook will probably take up most of the scoring for The Thunder. Another player that will have to step up for the Thunder offensively and defensively are Serge Ibaka who was second in blocks last season and will be key in The Thunder’s defense. Ibaka will be leaned on heavily to take some of the offensive pressure off of Westbrook until Durant returns, other players who need to contribute while Durant is gone is third year man Jeremy Lamb who struggled last year to get much going offensively, Kendrick Perkins who mainly relied on for Defensive purposes but will at least need to contribute a little offensively. Fourth year man Reggie Jackson will also need to contribute some scoring and tough defense in order for The Thunder to stay competitive in the Western Conference until Durant returns. Last of all Free agent signing sharpshooter Anthony Morrow who can hopefully space the floor for The Thunder and Rookie Mitch McGary who is mainly known for his defense and energy but can also chip in a couple points as well.

KD(left) and Westbrook(right)

All these players need to play well in Durant’s absence in order for The Thunder to do well until Durant gets back from his injury. I am hoping The Thunder do well this year because they are one of my favourite teams and are very exciting to watch.

The Historic Run Of The Kansas City Royals.

Eric Hosmer

 So the last time The Kansas City Royals made the playoffs was in 1985 when they won the World Series. The last time The Royals made the playoffs Jackson was still black, Michael Jordan was only in his second year in the NBA, Justin Bieber wasn’t even born yet and Run DMC was still famous. But in 2014 the Kansas City Royals were the surprise team of the regular season. With the help from many of the young players and veterans such as Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas, Jarrod Dyson, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon. Great starting pitching from James Shields, Wade Davis, Jeremy Guthrie and Jason Vargas and closer Greg Holland who was dominant saving 46 of 48 save opportunities led the Royals to a 89 – 73 record.

The Royals ended up with the second wildcard spot. And they haven’t wasted any of their opportunities the Royals haven’t lost a single game yet in the postseason, sweeping arguably one of the best teams in baseball, going in as underdogs and leading the series against the Orioles 3-0.

I feel everybody thinks that this is like a Cinderella story because the Royals haven’t been to the playoffs in forever and now that they’re in, even though they’ve been underdogs in every series they’ve found a way to pull off all these gritty victories. Personally I would like to see The Royals make it all the way to the promise land, and who knows maybe even win it.  Now wouldn’t that be the perfect end to the Cinderella Season?   

Realistic Goals For The Raptors This Year

So the Raptors played won their first pre-season game in Vancouver against The Sacramento Kings 99-95.  Although it is only pre-season, it’s a good start to the season. 

I feel that the Raptors had a great season last year and that nobody expected them to do as well as they did.  But I feel that they can do better this year.  At least that is the expectation of the fans and critics.

Demar Derozan(left) Kyle Lowry (right)

The Raptors made some key additions to the team by obtaining former 6^th Man of the year award winner Lou Williams from the Hawks, ex-Raptor James Johnson from the Grizzlies, Greg Stiemsma from the New Orleans Pelicans and Jordan Hamilton from the Rockets.  We also drafted well this year by obtaining Bruno Caboclo and Deandre Daniels who can hopefully in a couple of years, help the Raptors in becoming a contender.   They are both a couple of years away from contributing to the team and the fans can’t expect too much from them right now.

The resigning of 3 key players such as starting point guard Kyle Lowry, fan favorite and back up point guard Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, are all key to the Raptors success last year. 

With all these signings and additions to the team, I feel the Raptors should be seeded at least  3^rd of 4^th in the Eastern Conference and should be able to make a push to the 2^nd round of this season’s playoffs (maybe even the third round). 

Go Raptors Go!!!!

#Wethenorth