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Originally Posted by octothorp
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It's ridiculous the misconceptions alot of U.S.-born NBA players have about playing in Canada. The Vancouver Grizzlies could offer up a similar list I'm sure(Steve Francis comes to mind. I remember before the draft, his excuse to not wanna come out here was because he's an East Coast boy, and Vancouver's too far West. Then the Canadian reporter, sensing the B.S. said "So you're saying you wouldnt play for the Lakers either??", to which Francis just lowered his head, sheepishly smiled and added meekly "No I'd go there, I mean its the Lakers". What a punk). I also remember when the Grizzlies drafted Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. He said when he got to Vancouver he was shocked at how modern it was, he said he expected moose to be all over the roads. Seriously.
This is why I really like the moves Colangelo is taking with this current team. I think he realizes Toronto is arguably the least-desired place to play for U.S.-born players(basically the Oilers of the NBA, with a much better GM), so he seems to be trying to get the inside edge on the European talent-base, possibly urging more Euro FA's to want to sign in Toronto in the future. I also like how the only U.S.-born players Colangelo and the Raptors now pursue are "high character" types, like a Chris Bosh. Colangelo definitely gets the Toronto basketball market, and what types of player he needs to bring here in order to be successful. I'm really starting to see why he won the NBA's best Executive award in '07.