Thursday, 16 May 2013
It is a testament to the depth of young basketball talent Canada is producing that history may be in the offing as the lead-up to this year’s NBA draft begins here in earnest this week.
The league’s draft combine — a series of group and individual workouts along with a series of physical and psychological tests — includes more than 60 of the top prospects for the June 27 draft, including enough local Toronto talent to make it one of the most intriguing drafts ever.
There is a slim chance — if the guesswork of mock drafts are to be believed this far in advance — that UNLV forward and Toronto native Anthony Bennett could eclipse Tristan Thompson (fourth overall, 2011) as the highest selected Canadian ever.
If Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk, a resident of Kamloops whose father, Ken, was the long-time University of Toronto head coach, earns himself a lottery spot it will mark the first time two Canadians have been taken in the top half of the first round of the draft.
And Myck Kabongo, a Toronto product and a Texas point guard, would make it an historic Canadian threesome if he’s drafted, as expected, sometime early in the second round.
Two of the three — Bennett had shoulder surgery and is out for four months — are here for three days of workouts and meetings with teams hoping to raise their stock.
“Players can move up and down a lot, but this is early in the process,” one NBA official said recently.
That Bennett is injured is keeping with an enduring theme in a draft that lacks a splashy marquee player, a fact that will put added emphasis on workouts and interviews here. Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel (knee) is out for the summer as is Maryland’s Alex Len (ankle).
While both are going to be lottery picks — Noel is likely to go No. 1 overall regardless — if teams find a safer, more ready teenager through the workout process that starts here it could affect the top of the draft.
Players and their agents are, typically, taking a careful approach lest flaws in talent become more apparent in workouts against other players. Some combine invitees will only take physicals and meet with team officials rather than go through full workouts.
There are generally three things that teams look for above any drills scenario here since all the top prospects have been seen repeatedly over the course of the college season.
Some teams put high value on how a player conducts himself in the interview process, they look to see if players have been working diligently on conditioning and they want to see effort in all drills.
The Raptors are represented here by a group of front-office types but basically just as a formality. So far without a pick in the draft — they only retain it if they vault to the top three in next week’s lottery — they will take in workouts as basic due diligence in case something comes up.
But with the future of president and general manager Bryan Colangelo still undetermined, it will be anything but business as usual for the Toronto contingent.
Monday, 13 May 2013
Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng was listed as active just before the tip of Monday's Game 4 against the Miami Heat while guards Kirk Hinrich and Derrick Rose have been ruled out.
Deng, who originally was listed as out, was seen in the United Center prior to the game but was not on the bench when the game started. Deng, who has lost 15 pounds while recovering from complications from a spinal tap, admitted after Sunday's practice that he has been trying to get some work in with his teammates over the past couple of days but has been vomiting just a few minutes into each one.
"He's still not feeling well," coach Tom Thibodeau said after Monday's morning shootaround.
Thibodeau said Hinrich, who has been out with a left calf injury since playing about 60 minutes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Brooklyn Nets, has made some small improvements.
"He's doing a little bit more," Thibodeau said Monday morning.
Rose still hasn't played since undergoing ACL surgery on May 12, 2012. He has not shut the door on possibly returning during this series.
The Bulls come into this game trailing the Heat 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Allen Iverson is back with a new shoe re-release. Without doubt, after The Questions, Allen Iverson’s most well-known shoe has to be The Answer IV. Worn during his 2000-01 MVP season, the classic Reebok’s most enduring image was created in Los Angeles, when following a right-to-left cross and corner jumper at the Staples Center, Iverson stepped over a prone Tyronn Lue on his way to handing the Laker juggernaut their first—and, as it would turn out, only—loss of the postseason.
The best way to describe The Answer IV to someone who’s never seen it is this: a sleek and streamlined update of The Question. The Answer IV utiliz
ed similar colorblocking and the same ghilly lacing, but featured a lower cut and a zip-up upper, as well as new tech—full-length DMX as opposed to Hexalite—in the midsole.
ed similar colorblocking and the same ghilly lacing, but featured a lower cut and a zip-up upper, as well as new tech—full-length DMX as opposed to Hexalite—in the midsole.
“The Answer IV, we really set out to create a lightweight shoe with a great speed graphic,” says Reebok Global VP Todd Krinsky. “So when you look at the Answer IV, it’s got a very strong front-to-back graphic that goes throughout the shoe. We created shoes that have a 3M reflective shot because we were always wondering what a shoe would look like when it was shot, flashes going on in the arena. It’s got a 3D Ultralite bottom so it makes the shoe two or three ounces lighter than a normal rubber shoe—back in the day before there was light everywhere, it was one of the lightest basketball shoes. And then from a fashion perspective we added the zipper, and so kids could wear it laced up when they were playing, and they could zipper it down with jeans when they weren’t playing.”
Iverson’s personality, by then well-established in NBA circles, was all over the shoe as well. “Only The Strong Survive,” the lettering of one of his earliest tattoos, appears on the outsole, as well as a stark black-and-white impression of his face, complete with his signature headband and braids.
“I was just happy to have my own shoe—that was my dream, that was one of my biggest dreams,” Iverson says now. “Obviously to make it to the NBA, but to have my own signature shoe, I mean, nothin’ topped that. I couldn’t wait to put ‘em on…. And then to have an MVP shoe, to have a Finals shoe, just a dream come true.”
The retro version is actually truer to the shoe Iverson wore on the court than the original release, as it features a Velcro leather flap over the zipper pull (as dictated by the NBA) rather than a plastic cover like the OGs. You’ll be able to find the black/white Answer IV at select retailers (a full list follows at the bottom) for $115 starting on August 10th, with red/white to follow in the fall—and then who knows?
“One of the reasons we’re bringing back the Iverson collection is because these shoes are timeless,” Krinsky says. “They’re just great designs that look modern and fresh in any era.”
You could say the same thing about the guy who wore them.
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