Saturday June 21 2008 - 11:10am eastern
I thought I’d check-in quickly with “Three Things I Saw at Day 1 of the Raptors Free Agent Camp” …
1 - John Lucas stood out more than anyone. He put his speed on display and showed a great amount of leadership as well (as difficult as that is in a quick camp like this). He was confident, but not arrogant or cocky. And he nailed a number of big shots as well - most of them from 3-point range. If you left Lucas open, he made you pay.
The only concern I had with Lucas - was his size. He’s listed at 5′11 but I’m 5′9 (5′10 on a good day) and I sure felt that I was taller than Lucas. Maybe … maybe not.
2 - Rod Benson opened some eyes. He looked raw at times but he ran the floor well and showed a lot of aggressiveness near the hoop. He threw down a ton of nasty dunks and showed an ability to take some contact and get to the line as well. I’d guess he shot about 70% at the line … not bad for a big man.
3 - Tamar Slay “looked” good - physically - carrying more weight and much more muscle-tone than when we first saw him in the NBA with the Nets in 2002-03. Slay spent two years with the Nets - before getting a sniff with the Bobcats (for 8 games) in 2004-2005. Since then he’s bounced around Italy, Spain, Israel, and the D-League. However, yesterday, he didn’t do much on the floor to truly stand out in my eyes.
I’ll have more … later today … on the Canadian Men’s Basketball team as well.
E. Smith
Happy to hear John Lucas Jr. had a good showing. Kid obviously has a great resource in his father to work on his game. Hope he is able to find a home in NBA somewhere even if it is not with Raptors.
- James Borbath