Toronto Raptors - Road to Champions

Introducing Will Solomon

2008-07-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Toronto Raptors have found their 13th man for the roster, by announcing Monday that they have signed free-agent guard Will Solomon. As usual, financial details were not disclosed.

Solomon, 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, has played overseas since 2002. He spent the 2002-03 season in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki. He moved to Israel and Hapoel Jerusalem in 2003-04. In 2004-05, he played in Turkey for Efes Pilsen Istanbul. He joined current Raptor Anthony Parker on Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005-06 and in 2006 he signed with his current club, Fenerbahce Ulker.

Check out this video highlight package of Will Solomon.

Solomon was first noticed at East Hartford High School in East Hartford, Connecticut. He held several records and is in several clubs in their schools basketball program such as "1000 Career Points", "All State", "All Conference", and the only member of the "NBA Draft" club.

He went to Clemson where he continued his basketball career. He averaged 15.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 94 career games in three seasons at Clemson University.
He earned first-team All-ACC honours as a sophomore and second-team as a junior. He led the ACC in scoring as a sophomore at 20.9 points. He finished fourth in the conference in his junior campaign at 19.7 points. Solomon finished his career second all-time in school history in made three-point field goals (214).

He entered the NBA Draft following his junior season. He was selected 33rd overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He appeared in 62 games with the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2001-02 season, averaging 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes.

After only one year in the NBA Solomon decided to move to Europe and was signed by Aris Thessaloniki in 2003. That year he won the FIBA Europe European Challenge Cup. After a year in Greece Solomon moved to Israel and played for Hapoel Jerusalem, with whom he won another European title, the ULEB Cup. For 2004-05 he moved to Turkey and was signed by Efes Pilsen S.K.. He then played for the first time in his career in the Euroleague. Solomon, 30, played the past two seasons in Istanbul, Turkey for Fenerbahce Ulker. He averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 13 regular season games last season. In Euroleague Top 16 play, he contributed 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in six games. He had a high of 28 points in 32 minutes versus Tau Ceramica.

Solomon also played point guard for the Washington Wizards summer league team in Las Vegas during the NBA's offseason in 2006.

Welcome to Toronto Will ! All the best for the upcoming season.

JJ Freddy, Writer - Hot Jewlz Entertainment

Introducing Nathan Jawai

2008-07-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce to you... one of the greates athletes to ever play the game of basketball.... Chocolate Thunder himself... Daryl Dawkins !! At least that's who I thought I saw walking down Bay street in Toronto. Turns out it's the new rookie Nathan Jawai (pronounced Nathan Jaw-way) who just signed a 2 year contract with the Toronto Raptors. Jawai (6'10, 280 lbs) was part of the Jermaine O'Neal trade and becomes the first Australian indigenous player to make it to the NBA.

"We have agreed to terms with the Toronto Raptors on a guaranteed two-year deal, which is rare for a second round pick and certainly displays the promise they see in Nathan,” Jawai's agent Daniel Moldovan said Wednesday.

"We are thrilled that Nathan has gone to such a first class organisation and that he will be playing behind two of the true superstars of the NBA in Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh. The Raptors are shaping up to be a truly formidable team."

Former number 1 pick and fellow Australian, Andrew Bogut says Jawai, picked at number 41 in the NBA Draft, is in a good position for the official season.

"He's got an NBA-ready body," he said."He is very athletic and he can jump. I think he's got a pretty decent work ethic too. I think he [Jawai] is definitely going to find himself an opportunity to play minutes."

Bogut has returned from America to train with the Boomers for the Beijing Olympics, and says he is pleased more Australians are getting drafted to the NBA. "It's just great to get more and more Australian players coming over there," he said. "The more the merrier I say. If in another ten years if there are 10 or 15 guys in the NBA, it'll be a big step for Australian basketball.

Jawai, by all accounts is a humble and motivated player who got into playing basketball very late in life. He has shown a lot of promise thus far, and could see some spot minutes in his rookie season. My vote for his nickname is "Jaws", although in Australia he was known as "Baby Shaq" and "Aussie Shaq." Personally I think he looks a lot more like Daryl Dawkins than Shaquille O'Neal. Now only if he could rip the rim down like those two...

JJ Freddy - Writer, Hot Jewlz Entertainment

Jermaine O'Neal - the newest Raptor

2008-07-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Toronto Raptors officially announced their acquisition of six-time all-star Jermaine O'Neal in a multi-player deal with the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday July 9th, 2008. The Raptors acquired the oft-injured but talented frontcourt star in exchange for point guard T.J. Ford, centre Rasho Nesterovic and reserve Maceo Baston. The teams also swapped the rights to picks from this year's draft with Georgetown centre Roy Hibbert, the 17th overall pick, heading to Indiana, and Australian big man Nathan Jawai, the 41st selection, coming back to Toronto.

The NBA teams agreed to the deal in principle before last month's draft but it couldn't be officially announced until the league lifted its moratorium on player movement Wednesday.

"When I got the call from my agent about coming here, it was like a rebirth," O'Neal said. "Sometimes you lose that love, and sometimes you need something else to get that fire back in you. And knowing what kind of organization and fan base the Toronto Raptors have, it was like a whole new life."

A six-time All-Star, O'Neal averaged 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds over eight seasons with Indiana. He'll pair with two-time All-Star Chris Bosh to give the Raptors one of the league's best inside tandems.

"My message to the other players is they better get down and run if they want some shots," coach Sam Mitchell added. "Because when we come down and set up, the ball is going into Jermaine and Chris, and we're going to play from there."

When asked whose team this would be, O'Neal replied "This is Chris' team, I'm here to help him lead. He's been a centerpiece for quite some time and he's a hell of a talent. I'm not into whose team this is, I'm into success. I've been through some rough times over the past four years and to get this opportunity, it makes you want to do whatever is necessary for this team to be successful."

Check out this interview with Jermaine O'Neal

Welcome Jermaine !

JJ Freddy - Writer
Hot Jewlz Entertainment

Introducing Hassan Adams

2008-07-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Toronto Raptors signed 6'4, 220 pound swingman Hassan Adams on Tuesday July 8th, 2008 to a two-year minimum contract. Adams, 24, was drafted in the second round, 54th overall, by the New Jersey Nets in the 2006 draft. Regarded as a tenacious defender, he shot 55.6 % from the floor and averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 61 games in his rookie season. He started eight games, and scored a career high 16 points against the Boston Celtics (in 23 minutes of playing time.) He was waived by the Nets in the summer of 2007 (to make space for Jamaal Magloire.) Some may remember that the Nets paid a 1 year $4 million contract for Magloire, and to avoid paying luxury tax, decided to cut Adams and Clifford Robinson. He played in Europe (Italy) for a year where he averaged 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.0 steals.

He was a college teammate of Andre Igoudala (currently on the Philadelphia 76'ers roster), where they teamed up to be an exciting dunking duo. Here's a video of them discussing who the better dunker was. His college stats are listed below from his career at the University of Arizona.

Year RPG APG PPG
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2002-03 3.6 0.6 9.0
2003-04 7.0 2.0 17.0
2004-05 6.0 3.0 12.0
2005-06 5.0 3.0 17.5
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Some things you may not know about Hassan include his ability to finish and shoot free throws with either hand (he's ambidextrous), although he's listed as a right handed player. His nickname in college was "Hot Sauce."

What can we expect from Adams ? He is known for being a high energy player in the mould of a Ronaldo Balkman from New York. Whether that means he'll be a key reserve for the Toronto Raptors depends on his performance in practice, and the level of play of his team mates. Like Jamario Moon a season ago (whom I predicted to have an impact on the Raptors the minute he was signed) I expect Adams to also end up being a key piece of the Raptors squad next season. Check out this video mix of his abilities.

JJ Freddy
Writer - Hot Jewlz Entertainment

Joey Graham - Will this be his year ?

2008-07-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Joey Graham. A freakishly strong athletic defender or a waste of a baller, athletically gifted but with a terrible "feel" for the game? Basketball is a sport that combines physical prowess, mental capacity and a hight basketball IQ. Now I'm not suggesting that Joey is mentally deficient, but anybody who has seen him play in a Raptor uniform knows all about the defensive lapses, the head down, bull headed forays into the lane which consistently resulted in charges, as well as the terrible passes (often) into the stands.

Anybody else get so sick of that Raptors TV commercial which consisted of Jose Calderon repeatedly yelling at Joey and trying to get his attention ? I was not sure what annoyed me more. The fact that this lone act was supposed to get me excited about my purchase of Raptors TV, or the fact that it took so long to get Joey's attention.

Joey remains an enigma. His performance on the court is often hit and miss, and you're not sure if "Good Joey or Bad Joey" is going to show up. Despite his inconsistencies, many Raptor officials are still intrigued by his potential. Remember Joey was a highly touted prospect out of college and was expected to make an impact in his rookie season. See more here.

If he can ever put together his athleticism with some better BBall IQ, then he could be an impact player or at least a good backup. Who would have thought 2 years ago, that Stephen has a better chance of sticking in the league than Joey ? My main problem with Joey is that every year he talks about it being "his year" where he's going to prove the doubters wrong... well it's been 3 years, and he's just about out of chances.

And yet, that's what's being given to him one more time. With all the motivation available that any ball player could need (contract year, starting spot up for grabs, rotational spot up for grabs, last chance to prove himself) Joey will be battling Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono and Hassan Adams for a chance to be a contributor to the Raptors this season. To this end, Joey will reportedly be attending the summer league (which is very rare for a player with his years of NBA experience) but perhaps speaks to the seriousness of this season for him. Perhaps Joey will finally solve his problems and become Good Joey for most of the season. All I know is another season like his previous three, will result in "No Joey" in the NBA.

JJ Freddy
Writer - Hot Jewlz Entertainment

5 Reasons why Raptors will win 50 games

2008-07-05T21:32:00.001-07:00

The Toronto Raptors will accomplish a goal that they have not achieved thus far in their 12 year history. They will surpass their franchise record of 47 wins. Below are 5 reasons why this will happen.

1) Jermaine O'Neal. You know about the player he once was. 6 time all star. MVP candidate. Led his team to an NBA best 61 wins in the 03-04 season. Yes he has an injury risk, and has missed significant parts of the past 4 seasons...but he's still Jermaine O'Neal. He says he is healthy for the first time in 4 years, and he is motivated to regain his all star form. He addresses two dire needs on the Raptors - Rebounding and Interior Defence. See the update on his thoughts on the Raptors and his goals for the new season here.

2) Chris Bosh. The 3 time all star has blossomed into one of the best power forwards in the East. Playing alongside O'Neal will allow his stats to increase, as he now has a tough partner-in-crime to do the dirty work down in the paint. O'Neal will also assist him in policing the locker room and holding each other accountable, which can only help Chris develop as a leader.

3) Jose Calderon. No TJ Ford means more Calderon. This pass-first point guard has a decent outside shot, and he used it effectively last year in TJ's absence. He rose in profile around the league and helped lead the Raptors to a number of victories. The big sub story next season will be who lands an All Star appearance first ? TJ or Calderon ? This should spark renewed TJ vs. Jose debates across the internet.

4) The return of Andrea Bargnani. Most have given up on the Italian forward after his disastrous 2nd campaign last season, but the talent still lies in this baby faced big man. The question remains whether he can regain his rookie form where he primarily worked from the perimeter. His critics point to his lack of speed on defence, and his soft style of play, especially in the post (both offensively and defensively). His terrible shooting percentages last season certainly didn't help his cause, and he lost the confidence of his coach and the fans. Why the optimism then ? Well for starters according to the Caliper test, Bargnani rated off the charts. Pressure and what other people think of him, does not affect him in the least (which may account for his blank stares during most games). Why is this a big deal ? Read more here and check out Lebron's quote, "He's like a junior Dirk, he's going to be a very, very, very impressive player in this league."

5) X-Factors stepping up: Hassan Adams & Roko Ukic. These two individuals should bring effort and athleticism to the Raptors backcourt. Adams, a former college team mate of Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Igoudala is a leaper and a lock-down defender. Although a little short at 6'4, he brings some much needed hustle to the position. Look for Adams to have a breakthrough campaign similar to Jamario Moon's last year. Ukic, (drafted in 2005) has finally been signed and should provide a steady hand at the backup point guard spot. With Calderon as a mentor, he will be in good hands as he adjusts to the NBA game.

Look for the Raptors to take a huge leap forward from last year's 41 win club. With a bit of luck, this team will stay healthy and will be primed to not only win 50 games, but make the second round for the first time in franchise history as well.

JJ Freddy
Writer - Hot Jewlz Entertainment
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