Originally Posted by js12

^ Aww to bad... hope the knee gets better

Originally Posted by MikeToronto

First off - sorry, no pictures. Mafia prefers to stay off-camera and doesn't carry one either.

They were understandably late, appearing on the court @ about 7:15. Entourage consisted of a couple of girls, a couple of buddies and a fellow who was actually responsible for their appearance @ the club. According to the Pavilion's manager who also was on hand, the dude (who is a regular at these pickup games) actually twitted either Sonny or DD and suggested they should come play some pickup ball - and they've accepted. Just like that. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, back to the proceedings. They were greeted, but not mobbed. A lot of kids got a lot of stuff autographed by both players, a lot of typical fan pictures with the stars were taken - and then the games were on. Disappointingly (to me, at least), they played on the same team, with those three they came with rounding up their five. Each game lasted 10-15 minutes, then they'd break for 5 minutes or so, chat with the fans and then the next team would come in and the play would resume. I talked to Sonny during one of these intermissions, basically congratulating them both on impressive summer league showing and expressing to him how good for the fans this appearance is, especially during the "summer of departing Bosh". He said they fully understood the significance and were thinking the same thing when they've agreed to come. After 3-4 games a longer intermission broke into an impromptu dunk contest, with 2-3 locals showing off their modest wares and the Raptors throwing down some pretty impressive slams. I left shortly thereafter to complete my workout, but the games were still going strong...

Personal observations: they are about the same height and none looked taller than 6'4" to me. I am about 6'1" and they weren't more than 3 inches taller, at least when standing up close. Of course, their leaping ability is amazing, but that was to be expected. Sonny is built very much like Vince - the same powerful physique, while DD has a thinner, wiry frame and looks way too slim for the abuse of the NBA. Sonny looked much sharper, rarely missing a shot from anywhere on the floor, while DD was missing left, right and centre and even blew a dunk. Obviously, none tried too hard, they've let others play at both ends of the floor, taking their intensity up a notch with a steal or a block or an offensive move whenever they wanted.

Overall, I was very impressed with both players and the fans @ the gym. Everyone was really cool, some friendly trash was talked, some game pointers were given and received, a lot of applause and general fan support was provided (complete with ubiquitous "D-fense") and everyone had really good time. Great idea, awesome for both of them to come and mingle with their fans like that - they've certainly made me a bigger fan of the Young Gunz.

Originally Posted by 0nekhmer

thanks for the recap! sounded like fun. i thought demar would look bigger than sonny. heard how he put on like 10 pounds from last season. but then again sonny could weigh more than what it says he's listed.

Originally Posted by Acie

Originally Posted by Raptor36

i don`t know wherre to post it but i think you`re happy to hear that Bargs dominated latvia tonight with 30 points/ 13 rebounds/ 4 blocks on 11/22 form the field including 0/2 from downtown. he also was 8/10 from the foul line. belinelli did also have a good game with 19/7/4.