<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WATERLOO, Ont.?Sam Mitchell, the Raptors coach, calls P.J. Tucker "a dirt worker." Chris Bosh, the resident all-star, says Tucker "doesn't know his own strength ? that's how strong he is." As a 6-foot-5 grinder who is shorter and less polished than most of his colleagues in the NBA frontcourt, Tucker, a second-round pick in the June draft, will have to carve out his professional niche with superior defence and copious rebounds. But if his limited skill set hasn't exactly been inspiring awe in training camp, he is making a name by inducing the occasional "Ow!" The other day, Tucker, the tattooed muscleman from the University of Texas, collided with Jose Calderon, the gangly point guard from Spain. They bumped heads. And while the point man's flesh was split open and required a few stitches around the eye, Tucker said yesterday he wasn't immediately aware the contact had even occurred. Like the trucker whose 80,000-pound diesel has unknowingly crushed some wayward hatchback, the 225-pound rookie shrugged in concerned disbelief. "I busted his face and I didn't even know I did it until (the next morning)," said Tucker. "Jose was like, `I got three stitches.' I was like, `When did you get hit?' He's like, `You hit me.' I was like, `Oh, my fault' ... I apologized, but it was kinda late." Tucker flashed the gap-toothed smile that turns his countenance from menacing to friendly. "Stuff like that has been happening now for a while," he said. "I just play hard, so I don't think about what I'm doing ... I've always played like that." His presence has clearly pleased Mitchell, who has praised Tucker at length. For all the NBA tools the 21-year-old lacks ? an ounce of finesse, say, and a 15-foot jump shot on which he is said to be working earnestly ? he is attempting to compensate with the frenetic expenditure of energy. In Hogtown, where a barking-and-diving livewire named Jerome Williams was once a fan favourite, Tucker has the makings of an heir to that adoration.</div> Source PJ Tucker was a definite steal for the Raptors. He has the quick 2nd leap like Shawn Marion and is very active on the offensive glass.
We need players like that. I'm sure seeing a player work hard and hustle motivates the other players to work hard and do the little things that are needed for things to go well.
From the clips i've seen of him on the net, he seems to lack any form of an outside game. I can't find many clips of him hitting any jumpers.
<div class="quote_poster">Fever Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Someone start a "Good Bye Joey" thread.</div> /The "We could of had Granger" thread. I hope Joey somehow turns it on this season. I'll be happy with 10 PPG and some of the defense he showed and Oklahoma. And...maybe a couple of highlight reel dunks like the one in Sacramento last year. It's basically a given that Mo, Parker and Jones will all be getting big minutes at 2 and 3 (Jones being primarily a 2), so it's wide open for Graham and/or Tucker to grab some extra/leftover minutes there. We might even see Garbajosa there.
