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Top-10 Most Popular NBA Jerseys in Europe

Raptors’ Bargnani to be centre of attention in Rome against revamped Celtics – Yahoo! Canada News
The top-10 most popular NBA jerseys in Europe based on sales from retail locations across Europe during the 2006-07 NBA season:

1. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

2. Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets

3. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs

4. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

5. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

6. Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns

7. Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

8. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors

9. Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets

10. Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets

Revamped Celtics take on Raptors in Rome

Revamped Celtics take on Raptors in Rome – International Herald Tribune
The Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors on Saturday to open the NBA Europe Live preseason tour.

Bargnani was selected by the Raptors with the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft and will be playing his first game in his hometown in an NBA jersey. The Celtics have added two all-stars to their roster — former MVP Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — and have nine other new players as well.

“It’s a brand new team, brand new players. We’re still finding out about each other,” said Celtics veteran Paul Pierce, another all-star. “The game vs. Toronto is going to be a good game for the people to come out and see two of the better teams in the NBA.”

Rome’s 10,500-seat Palalottomatica arena is sold out for the game.

LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe: Shawn Respert

LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe: Shawn Respert

RaptorTalk: Nothing Of Substance To Report Out Of Raptors Camp Yet

http://raptortalk.com/2007/10/02/nothing-of-substance-to-report-out-if-raptors-camp.aspx

Atlantic Division Slogans

Green Bandwagon :: Atlantic Division Slogans
Even though the Raptors play in the same division as the Celtics I have no ill will for the team up north. Granted I frequently mock Chuck Swirsky. But I like the whole model U.N. concept. So it is disappointing to see the Raptors either go without a slogan or settle with “Canada’s Team.” I thought they were more cutting edge than that. And for the record no matter how hard the Raptors organization tries it will never be the first team people think of when they hear the term “Canada’s Team.”

Pivotal time in Italy

Pivotal time in Italy – The Boston Globe
Raptors vice president and assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini, who formerly served as Benetton Treviso’s GM, cites the extra practice time as one of the major reasons Europe has closed the gap on American basketball in recent years.

Raptors may need $5 million to keep Calderon

Raptors may need $5 million to keep Calderon – Rumors – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
A free agent after the season, Toronto may have to pay starters money for the back-up to T.J. Ford. Colangelo is optimistic that he can keep Calderon in Raptor red next year despite the fact that the cost may be prohibitive. The Raptors will pay Ford $8 million next season and if Calderon has another good year in Toronto, he could be looking for close to $5 million per year.

Raptors Notebook

Raptors Notebook
And last night, almost 2,000 of them came to the Palaverde arena to watch the show, and they stood several times before the tip-off to applaud for Andrea Bargnani, Jorge Garbajosa and Raptors assistant general manager — and former Benetton chief — Maurizio Gherardini. Coach Sam Mitchell, tipping the hand he is expected to play at the start of the regular season, had Chris Bosh, Bargnani, T.J. Ford, Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker start for the “home” team.

Kapono has shot to make Raptors better

Kapono has shot to make Raptors better
But that is not what is keeping the Toronto Raptors’ Jason Kapono up at night. His mild case of training camp insomnia has a human face. In fact, it has several human faces, and they look a lot like Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon and the rest of the Raptors that run through his mind when he closes his eyes at night.

“I get home, and I think about it, I think about the spacing around Chris Bosh, where he likes to catch (the ball) out,” Kapono said after Toronto’s morning practice in Treviso. “It’s different than (Shaquille O’Neal). Shaq was a post-up, power guy.”

From Deep

globeandmail.com: From Deep
1. Andrea Bargnani is definitely trying to be more physical. He had four dunks; he laid out Graham on a blind screen and went hard enough to the glass to get a couple of offensive fouls.

2. There is some tightness at the bottom of the rotation: Juan Dixon and Luke Jackson are playing for jobs and they look it.

3. Bosh looks like he’s not game sharp, which backed up his talk that his emphasis was on resting and re-habbing his foot rather than getting a lot of runs in this summer.

4. I barely noticed Ford, which is good. Less is usually more with him.

5. Kapono is not merely a standstill shooter. His understanding of spacing and his overall floor game is pretty impressive. With him and Parker on the floor together, the ball just flies around.

6. Garbajosa didn’t look like he was favouring his leg necessarily, but he missed a lot, turned the ball over some and generally looked rusty.

7. My guess is Kris Humphries worked hard on his shooting this summer and was eager to prove it every chance he got. There is more work to be done.

Mitchell potshots must mean he’s enjoying himself

TheStar.com | Sports | Mitchell potshots must mean he’s enjoying himself
He sized up Juan Dixon, the shooting guard who was wearing an oversized pair of aviator-style shades: “Those are ugly sunglasses … y’all look like a bumble bee.”

He spoke into the lens as Chris Bosh, the all-star forward who has been a fervent videographer and photographer on this trip, pointed a minicam in the coach’s direction: “Whassup, young fella? You need a haircut.”

He singled out Jamario Moon, the training camp hopeful and fellow son of the U.S. south: “Hey Moon, do they have water down there in Alabama other than in the well?”

And he guffawed as he caught a glimpse of Steve Fruitman, the club’s director of basketball finance, who, in the style of a cartoon pirate, had wrapped his scalp in a bandana for protection on a sunny day. “Hey Fruits, you look like you’re on crack! … You’re the spitting image of Johnny Depp!”

Graham says this will be his big year

TheStar.com | Sports | Graham says this will be his big year
But there will come a time when Mitchell will have to avert his eyes when Graham’s on the court, and that’s been the story of the two-year career for the mercurial swingman.

“If you can figure it out, I’m going to tell you to resign and I will double your salary to sit behind the bench,” Mitchell told a reporter who wondered what it would take to get Graham to be consistently good instead of maddeningly inconsistent.

“And your whole thing would be, get Joey ready every game. I would double it, I’d triple it because I would make so much money when we win.

“There’s just things he can do physically that not a lot of guys in the NBA can’t do. Hopefully, this being his third year, that light came on. We’re hoping.”

EURAPTOUR

TheStar.com | Sports | EURAPTOUR
The Raptors, who’ll leave this idyllic setting for bustling Rome tomorrow afternoon, said ciao at a private affair last night hosted by Gilberto Benetton, the sports-crazed member of the family that seems to own half of Europe and 99 per cent of Treviso.

After an open scrimmage for season ticket holders of the Benetton Treviso team and a few busloads of American armed service personnel stationed nearby, the team finished a first-class stay in true first-class fashion.

All hail Bargnani, ruler of Rome

TheStar.com | Sports | All hail Bargnani, ruler of Rome
As much as this trip is about the Raptors spreading the Raptor brand in Italy and next in Spain, the second leg of the three-city journey should be all about Bargnani. Maurizio Gherardini’s role as the overseer was exponentially harder here, in his former hometown, than it should be in Rome and Jorge Garbajosa and Jose Calderon will get their moment next week in Madrid.

Tomorrow, it’s Bargnani.

The atmosphere in the 11,000-seat PalaLottomatica for the games on the weekend should be electric, perhaps even enough to move Bargnani to a public display of emotion he’s seldom shown before.

Playoff success or bust

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – Playoff success or bust
when it comes to matters of the team, Bosh’s opinion carries the most weight by far. And the two-time NBA all-star said yesterday that the goal of this year’s edition of the Raptors is to make it past the first round of the playoffs. Anything less, he said, will be a major disappointment.

“We’ve set (the bar) that high and we have to keep going up,” he said.

When in Rome, the legend of Bargnani grows

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – When in Rome, the legend of Bargnani grows
In fact, tomorrow, the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, will present Bargnani with a gift at City Hall. According to his longtime agent, Antonio Ricciotti, Bargnani and Veltroni, who also is a key member of Italy’s Democrats of the Left political party, are very good friends. Ricciotti said the presentation will mean a lot to the normally reserved Bargnani.