Has anyone had a chance to watch Raptors Real Training Camp yet? I assume it is running on Raptors TV now but I am watching it from NBA.com.

What a great insight into a Raptors practice.

I am only about half wa through (2h 30min program) but a couple things jump out.

I am wondering how much our ESL players are getting from Sam's comments during the video session. "If you don't know, you'd better ask somebody"

Hillarious when Bosh try to get out of biking to lift weights instead. Later Sam see Bosh is not biking and asks one of the trainers if it takes 15 minutes to teach Chris how to ride a bike.

MIKEL T

Yeah I'm slowly watching the whole thing too.....it's a lot of fun for sure..I'm about at the same point you are. Man honestly though sometimes during the whole thing I wonder if Mitchell is watching anyone besides PJ and Joey. You never hear him focusing on TJ or AP. Who's more critical this year: Joey or TJ??

If Joey can turn the corner this year, he'll can be a major force for this team coming off the bench. 90% of the time last year, Joey was fumbling around, making huge defensive errors, and looking completely lost. But that occasional 10% we saw a powerful small forward, with tons of potential. I think Sam's focusing on that. If the Raptors can see a bit more of Joey's potential, we'll benefit a great, great deal.

This situation is very similar to PJ, although he is a rookie, his post-up ability is absolutely phenomenal for a kid his size. If we can dig into that (meaning if he can become competent in other areas of the game as well), he will be yet another key weapon coming off the bench.

And I'm thinking Mitchell is less worried about TJ because he already knows what he's doing.

I'm just watching this now and how many times did mitchell say Ice at the start.

If there is one thing I've learned (1:51:45)

"No sneakers on the plane!!!"

You gotta wear "them old ugly bowling shoes ya'll be spending $400 on"

hahaha......I love how Jones knows he's 42 for 46 right away when Mitchell asked how he's doing at the free throw line in the preseason. Think he's been watching his numbers?

Watching it right now and it is awesome. In fact, I feel comfortable saying it is the best non-game raptors programming I have ever seen. Everyone on this site should watch it.

Sam seems to go pretty hard on Joey. Check that. He goes hard on everybody.

And Garbajosa looks stone-mother-f@%*king cold

a few observations:
1) pape sow was practicing - does that mean he's ready to return soon?
2) PJ tucker seemed to be a bit on the chubby side - i always thought he was wide and muscular but he seemed to be more of the Barkley mode.
3) after watching real training camp, i can't even imagine getting through that practice without collapsing.

I know eh......by the end during the drills they all seem to be moving so slow I thought they were dogging it till I realized they've probably run the length of the bball court 100 times in the last hour. They're probably so happy when Mitchell goes on a rant just so they can catch their breath.

That was suprisingly fun to watch.

Sow isn't cleared for contact practices until almost the new year. I think it was Doug Smith who said he likely won't be putting on a game uniform until around the all-star break.

I found the tape analysis portion the most interesting thing about the practice; and it made me really appreciate someone like darrick martin being on the team. Watching him pull back Slokar to the basket to prevent a mismatch and so he could go defend on a perimeter showed veteran experience. It happened so fast in the game to notice, but upon review it was very clear. That is why we have him; he is not a waste of a roster position.

gettin old mo!

agree with edisonfire. also liked the ol' college style recaps of all the things they did right that doesn't show up in spreadsheets, like running the floor, hustling, how the trap

Totally agree. There are things that TJ and AP are doing for our team already. These guys have shown that that know how to play the game of basketball. Although Parker's shot has not started falling yet, he is a very very good perimeter defender. He and Mo Pete will do a fantastic job keep people on the perimeter. Help D seems better as well. Nesterovic can block some shots so after getting past the above 2 mentioned, you have to worry about shot blockers.

no wonder pj tucker didnt get measured for the draft! he's shorter than calderon!