Monday, October 4, 2010

DeRozan's Cameo Appearance On Master P's Music Video




For those who don't know, DeRozan played on Master P's AAU team that also included rapper Lil' Romeo. Following their respective high school careers, DeRozan committed to USC while Lil' Romeo accepted a scholarship with the Trojans. And for those who have forgotten, Master P was once a member of the Raptors training camp roster back in 1999.



During the 1999 NBA summer league, Percy averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Quite the baller for a rap star.

Nate Robinson: The Class Clown







Looks like Nate is having fun in training camp...


... I think

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Raptors Still Pursuing Diaw + AK47 To Toronto Trade Idea

With the Nets' deal for Carmelo Anthony dead, at least for now, the Toronto Raptors are again trying to land Charlotte forward Boris Diaw, one of the key players in the proposed Anthony blockbuster. The Raptors thought they had finalized a deal for Diaw over the summer, but Charlotte owner Michael Jordan reportedly nixed it at the 11th hour.
Via NY Daily News


While I'm not a fan of Diaw, a deal surrounding Diaw and Jose Calderon makes sense for both teams. Bobcats get a starting caliber PG while the Raptors save money at the cost of creating a bigger logjam at the 4 spot. Diaw used to be able the play the 3 spot.

So this little NY Daily News blurb got me thinking. The Melo 4 way trade scenario had the Jazz receiving Diaw for Kirilenko, mainly due to luxury tax savings. Since I don't think Diaw is a fit on a team like the Raptors, here is my 3 team idea involving the Raptors, Jazz and the Bobcats.


Trade:
Jose Calderon

Reggie Evans

David Andersen


Receive:

Andrei Kirilenko
Eduardo Najera
Sundiata Gaines



Trade:
Andrei Kirilenko
Ronnie Price
Sundiata Gaines

Receive:
Boris Diaw
Reggie Evans


Trade:
Boris Diaw
Eduardo Najera

Receive:
Jose Calderon
David Andersen
Ronnie Price

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

NBA Elite 11 Delayed

This year, we set extremely ambitious goals for our new franchise, NBA ELITE. We are creating a game that will introduce several breakthrough features that have been missing from the basketball genre. Unfortunately, NBA ELITE 11 is not yet ready and we have made a decision to delay next month’s launch. We are going to keep working until we’re certain we can deliver a breakthrough basketball experience.

In the meantime, the NBA season is just around the corner and we have a plan to keep our consumers close to the action:

-NBA JAM will launch on the Wii, as scheduled, on October 5. NBA JAM won recognition this summer as the best sports game at E3 and it’s a blast to play. In addition to the Wii version, we’re going to ship NBA JAM as a standalone product on the Xbox360 and PS3 in time for the holidays. Watch for more news soon on the exact timing of that release.

-For NBA LIVE 10 players, we will continue to offer free content and services throughout the 2010-11 season. We will start with a new roster update so you get all the players for the new season, free of charge. We will also provide free Dynamic DNA updates, daily, for the entire season. That’s a full season of basketball with new rosters and updates, free.

The decision to delay NBA ELITE was hard because the game has great promise. But ultimately we feel this is the right thing to do. We’ve been making steady progress on basketball for the past few years and it’s going to take extra time to make the game.

Why make this decision now? As with all of our titles, we continue to evaluate and improve the code right up until launch. Feedback from consumers is a very important part of the process . NBA ELITE had the benefit of play-testing, a demo and a lot of our own research. All that feedback revealed some concerns about gameplay polish, so we’ve listened to your feedback, and made a judgment that the game would benefit from more time in development.

I want to thank our NBA ELITE development team for their efforts to meet this year’s lofty goals, and we’re behind them as they continue their work. While no one is happy with this delay, we appreciate the support and ongoing feedback from our fans. We’ll have more information coming soon.


VIA EA Sports