> We're two weeks into the new season. What didn't you foresee in this opening fortnight that you maybe should have?
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: I didn't foresee the Raptors' fast start but should have, given their early schedule; two victories over ORL, plus PHI, BOS and banged-up OKC means they're 2-1 in their own weight class. Their next four are at home, too, though visits from Chicago and Memphis might give us a better sense of Toronto's legitimacy. The roster is deep, Kyle Lowry is playing as if he wants another contract on top of the one he just signed and Dwane Casey is in control of that group, having raised them from li'l lizard hatchlings.
Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: You mean besides getting a question that includes the word "fortnight?" Well, old chap, I'll cop to taking a nap on the LeBron-less Heat. Chris Bosh has played like a member of the royal family and tossed his hat into the early MVP conversation. Lord Dwyane Wade is healthy and productive. Prince Luol Deng has been a good arranged marriage into the lineup. Sir Erik Spoelstra continues to prove that he wasn't just a guy with a good seat on the Miami bench through those four straight trips to The Finals. He's had the S.S. Heat thriving and steaming ahead with an efficient offense in spite of what could have been a gaping hole in the hull. So far, it's tea and crumpets.
Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: I won't say the Kings, a big surprise, because anybody who claims 5-3 was realistic at the start of the season is a liar. So I should not have seen that coming. Maybe I should have seen Rajon Rondo from a distance, but did not. Eleven assists and eight rebounds a game is very nice work, whether he's a Celtic for the long term or raising his trade value.
Shaun Powell, NBA.com: Well, I certainly didn't expect OKC to lose Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and for Derrick Rose to pull up lame in the second week. But given the carnage of the last two years, when the league lost a number of stars for long stretches and even entire seasons, I should knock myself upside the head for not seeing this coming (and risk a possible concussion and long recovery, of course).
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: I certainly didn't see the Bucks ranking as the No. 2 defense in the league. Seven of their eight opponents have been below-average offensive teams (and four rank in the bottom six), but the Bucks are supposed to be an opponent that those teams boost their numbers against, not continue to struggle against. I don't know if anybody could have foreseen this, but Jason Kidd's Nets turned their season around with a strong defense last season, and his new team has similar length and versatility on defense. They're not going to stay in the top five (or even the top 10), but this 4-4 start (and Saturday's win over the Grizzlies) tells me that they're going to be a better team than I thought they were. They already have a longer winning streak (two games) than they did all of last season.
Sekou Smith, NBA.com: The Memphis Grizzlies should have been on my mind heading into this season with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph healthy and ready to go and all of their offseason front office drama in the rearview. When your team is built on the bedrock of rugged defense and an adherence to playing the game the gritty and grimy way the Grizzlies play every night, a solid start should be expected, particularly in a Western Conference shaken up by significant injuries (OKC) among the elite. The Grizzlies play in what is easily the toughest division in the league, so their hot start should be kept in context. It's early. But I should have had them on my mind.
Ian Thomsen, NBA.com: I should have known that Miami would be off to a better start than Cleveland. The Heat have been able to survive LeBron's absence because they have everything else going for them: They know who they are and how they're going to play. The Cavs have yet to figure out any of that. The Cavs are going to have the last laugh, I'm sure of it, but it may not be so easy to get there.
Lang Whitaker, NBA.com's All Ball blog: Look, I publicly ate crow about this last week on the Hang Time Podcast, so we might as well warm it up again so I can chow some more. I didn't expect that Klay Thompson would be this good this season. While I dismissed him as player who was a terrific shooter but subpar in other areas, he's become one of the most well-rounded guards in the League. Not only can he stroke it from the perimeter, but he's getting to the basket and getting to the free-throw line (averaging a career-high 6.6 FTA per game, almost triple his previous high). He's also a strong defender who obviously puts in work on the defensive end. And his development might be enough to carry Golden State into parts unknown in the postseason.
Marcelo Nogueira, NBA.com/Argentina: I just wish there were fewer injuries. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if it's something that's related to each team's preseason system, but the disappearance of stars is opening up the road to teams we thought would be struggling to reach high places.
Simon Legg, NBA.com/Australia: I don't think I expected the Raptors to be this good. They were great post the Rudy Gay trade and I had expectations that they would make the playoffs again. But their start to the season has exceeded expectations. I think we knew the capabilities of their starting group and that Terrence Ross would improve even more this season, but it's been their new additions to the second unit that have surprised me. James Johnson has given them an edge defensively and Lou Williams has given them a nice offensive blend and he has the ability to heat up. I expected they would hover around the 4-5 range in the East, they're a legitimate chance to finish top 2 now.
Orr Ziv, NBA.com/Israel: How well the Kings have played. It's easy to dismiss Sacramento after years of futility, but Mike Malone has done a great job so far in making those guys believe that they can compete. And Boogie Cousins is in my mind the front-runner for Most Improved Player of the year.
Stefanos Triantafyllos, NBA.com/Greece: OK, we expected the Lakers to have a tough beginning, but not this tough. Kobe and Co. are in deep trouble the way they playing right now. They lost Julius Randle, but that's not their only problem.
Ole Frerks, NBA.com/Germany: Generally speaking, I didn't anticipate the Team USA guys making that big of a leap this season. Davis, Cousins, Thompson, DeRozan, Curry and Harden all rank among the best players of the young season so far. Guys like Davis, Curry and Harden could also be thrown into the early MVP conversation. And speaking of Cousins: I'm surprised by the nice start the Kings have enjoyed. I anticipated him to provide his usual monster stats, but so far they've been competitive in every single game and could even make the playoffs. If they make it, that would be a lot earlier than I would have expected.
Karan Madhok, NBA.com/India: I knew that the Warriors would be better this season than the last, but I honestly didn't foresee them to be the last undefeated team in the league and sit atop most NBA Power Rankings by the end of the second week. In hindsight, their improvement makes sense: They have already been blessed with the league's most volatile offensive backcourt between Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but the real difference-maker has been Andrew Bogut, whose healthy return has helped this squad secure the best defensive rating in the early season. If you're doing everything right on both ends of the floor, you deserve to be on top.
HANG TIME SOUTHWEST — About one month into the lockout shortened 2011-12 season, a new basketball movie trailer burned up the Internet. A documentary, it chronicled mostly unknown 5-foot-9 point guard Isaiah Thomas' improbable path from a junior in college all the way to the NBA.
Over three seasons, Sacramento never seemed to believe he could be much more, even as Thomas' production and tenacity became impossible to ignore — and to keep out of the starting lineup. As a rookie he badly outplayed the Kings' No. 10 overall pick, Jimmer Fredette.
In 2012-13, the Kings tried to unseat Thomas with Aaron Brooks and Toney Douglas, not exactly Allen Iverson and Damon Stoudemire, but still, Thomas refused to be overtaken. Last summer, Sacramento traded for 6-foot-6 point guard Greivis Vasquez and immediately penciled him into the starting lineup. In December, Vasquez, a solid player to be sure, was traded to Toronto. Thomas, a pound-the-rock, take-you-off-the-dribble, finish-at-the-rim point guard went on to average 21.1 ppg and 6.5 apg (plus a career-high 1.3 steals), improving in both categories for a third consecutive season.
It is one of the greatest statistical seasons ever compiled by a player under 6-foot. His PER (player efficiency rating) checked in at 20.5, well above the league average (15.0) and again was one of the all-time best marks for a player of his stature.
Yet the Kings, even after revamping the front office, never viewed Thomas through the same prism as he viewed himself: as a 5-foot-9 playmaker, scorer, starter and leader. Sacramento, seemingly suggesting it wanted more of a facilitator at the point, signed free-agent journeyman Darren Collison to a three-year, $16 million deal on July 10. It was a hefty raise for Collison, a backup last season with the Clippers, but much less than what Thomas, 25, felt he deserved in line with his production.
Thirteen days after signing Collison, the Kings signed Thomas to a four-year, $27-million contract and traded him to the Suns.
Thomas spoke to NBA.com about his opportunity for relevancy in Phoenix, an upstart last season that won 48 games and missed the playoffs by one game in coach Jeff Hornacek's first season.
NBA.com: Do you think the Kings viewed you as irrelevant, in the sense that you don't fit into a tidy description of a point guard and therefore you never could be their answer at the position?
Thomas: I guess. I guess because I'm 5-9 and I'm not the prototypical point guard they just kept trying to find … which every year I would beat out the guy. Like I tell people, it's a business and I know where they're coming from, but three years in a row it happened. I mean, it's definitely not going to happen a fourth year so I was kind of fed up with that and that's why I wanted a little change. I wanted to be somewhere where I was wanted for, like I said, being who I am, being 5-9 and being a scoring guard.
NBA.com: To be clear, you never asked to be traded did you?
LAS VEGAS — Back in December it hardly seemed possible that Dwane Casey would be standing here at Summer League with a smile on his face and his lightweight button-down shirt casually untucked, and most of all still as the coach of the Toronto Raptors.
This misbegotten big-market franchise with the redundant roster was floundering again, off to a 7-12 start, and the well-liked, but lame-duck Casey looked to be running out the clock on his three-year contract.
Then, on Dec. 8, new general manager Masai Ujiri, having built a reputation as a next-generation whiz, made the deal to send Rudy Gay and his massive contract to Sacramento for depth help in point guard Greivis Vasquez and forwards John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Around the same time, Knicks president James Dolan vetoed a trade that would have landed Raptors starting point guard Kyle Lowry in New York.
Suddenly, a feeling of stability overtook the team. They looked around, looked at themselves and liked what they saw. And everything changed.
"After the trade happened, I thought it brought our team together — camaraderie," said Casey, who signed a three-year contract extension in May. "They made the decision that we were not going to be a lottery team — I think that's what everybody expected — and we kept teaching them the principles of what we wanted to be doing and it just came together.
This wasn't a referendum on Gay, who went to have a surprisingly efficient offensive season with the Kings. Gay and DeRozan are friends off the court, but ill-fitting parts on it, and as the parts fit better and the floor opened up, the Raptors' offense, also buoyed by Lowry's uprising, took off.
On Dec. 8, the Raptors ranked 30th in assists and 28th in offensive efficiency (101.4 points per 100 possessions). From Dec. 9 to the end of the season, they ranked 13th in assists and ninth in offensive efficiency (107.2). They went 41-22 after the Gay trade and played a rousing seven-game series in front of madhouse crowds, plus gatherings of 10,000 fans in Maple Leaf Square. It was truly one of the great scenes of the postseason.
And it was enough to convince Lowry to stay put, making him the rare Raptor to re-up when he had a chance to leave. He signed a four-year deal worth $48 million. Free agents Patterson and Vasquez also re-signed. Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, Jonas Valanciunas, Ross, Hayes and Tyler Hansbrough are all back, giving the Raptors a real sense of continuity in roster and process.
Toronto also traded Salmons to Atlanta for guard Lou Williams and intriguing developmental center Lucas Nogueria, and signed long, athletic wing James Johnson, who is coming off something of a breakout season with Memphis.
"I don't know if [Lowry] is the first player to be a free agent to re-sign that had an opportunity to leave, so that says something about what we're trying to do, where we are, trying to build," Casey said. "For the first time in his career he was able to say, 'this is a team that I'm one of the leaders of,' and for him to come back, it does make a statement of where we are in our growth process and the kind of program we have, and kind of opened some eyes to what kind of city Toronto is.
The Raptors could get some votes as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference when the preseason predictions start to hit the newsstands. LeBron James' return to Cleveland has shaken up a conference that might boast a favorite in Chicago, but mostly has a handful of what should be entertaining squads, including Toronto, Cleveland, Washington, Indiana and perhaps Brooklyn and still Miami.
Back in December, that hardly seemed possible.
HANG TIME NEW JERSEY — The Toronto Raptors have taken care of the important business, agreeing to terms with Kyle Lowry on a new four-year, $48 million contract. After winning their division for the second time in franchise history and returning to the postseason after a five-year absence, they're bringing back their best player. Lowry is a bulldog on both ends of the floor, and if he wasn't the best point guard in the Eastern Conference last season, he was right there with John Wall.
The Raptors had one the conference's best benches as well. Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson arrived in the Rudy Gay trade in December and made big impacts. Patterson spaced the floor at the power forward position, while Vasquez's passing was infectious. Toronto recorded assists on just 49 percent of its baskets before the trade and 60 percent after it.
The numbers spell out how important Patterson and Vasquez are. They had the two best on-court NetRtg marks on the team, with the Raptors outscoring their opponents by 9.9 points per 100 possessions with Patterson on the floor and by 8.5 with Vasquez on the floor. In the playoffs, Toronto outscored Brooklyn by 53 points with Vasquez on the floor and was outscored by 64 with him on the bench. Patterson was a plus-30. As it was in the regular season, they were at their best with those two guys on the floor.
If the Raptors want to build on last season's success, they need to keep the bench together. If Lou Williams (acquired in a trade for John Salmons) is healthy, it could be even better than it was last season.
On Friday, Toronto reportedly agreed to terms with Patterson, a restricted free agent, on a three-year, $18 million contract. That's Step 2.
Vasquez is another restricted free agent, meaning the Raptors can match any offer sheet he receives from another team. But with the new contracts for Lowry and Patterson, the addition of Williams, and the possibility of adding rookies Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira, Toronto is approaching the luxury tax line. And they want to make one more move.
After Joe Johnson beat them up in that playoff series, the Raps acknowledged that they need more size on the wing. Even if Caboclo is less than "two years away from being two years away," that size would have to come in free agency, perhaps from an Al-Farouq Aminu, Alan Anderson, Jordan Hamilton or Richard Jefferson. The Raptors have the mid-level exception (or a portion of it) to spend on an outside free agent.
Adding one of those guys, keeping Vasquez, and staying under the tax line will be a challenge. If Darren Collison can get the full mid-level exception (from Vasquez's former team) in Sacramento, Vasquez should surely be worth that much. Complicating matters is that Toronto is already paying small forwards Landry Fields and Steve Novak almost $10 million to ride the pine.
Back in January, SportsNet's Michael Grange reported that the Raptors would be willing to go over the line "at the right time." But if they bring everybody back, they're still a team that lost in the first round. Even if they add a piece, they still have a ceiling, especially if LeBron James remains in Miami. And if Jonas Valanciunas gets a lucrative contract extension next summer, it will overlap with the last two seasons of Lowry's deal (and the last of DeMar DeRozan's), which may be the time to think about paying the tax.
So Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has his work cut out for him over the next couple of weeks. He got the most important deal done. But his team's depth is just as critical to its success as its best player.
For LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and all of the front line stars, there are current teams tugging on their jerseys, pulling at their heartstrings, trading for rookie point guards, offering Brink's trucks full of cash to get them to stay.
Pau Gasol, Forward/Center, Lakers — After so many years as the designated whipping boy of the Lakers, it simply makes no sense at all to stick around on a team that has about as much chance of contending in 2015 as Staples Center does being hit by a meteor. His skills have lost their sharpest edges and he's no longer an All-Star player. But he still gives a solid effort, averaged 17 points and nine rebounds last season and could make a nice backup on the front line of a team that is in the mix and needs a real pro. He won't be looking to break the bank this summer, just find himself a place where he can fit in and be appreciated while he chases one more championship before his retirement.
Greg Monroe, Forward, Pistons — Unless somebody out there just loses their mind and lets the Pistons off the hook for former general manager Joe Dumars' last big mistake by agreeing to take Josh Smith's bloated salary, a return to Detroit would just mean another year of frustration for Monroe. The three-headed monster with Smith and Andre Drummond on the front line did not work out and Monroe is going to be the odd man out in the rotation. After three straight seasons of averaging more than 15 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game, Monroe has shown himself to be solid, if not an elite level player. It's time to find out if he can step his game up to the next level someplace where he's not hemmed in.
Thabo Sefolosha, Guard/Forward, Thunder — When coach Scott Brooks pulled him from the starting lineup and rooted him to the bench in the Western Conference finals against the Spurs, it was a likely signal that Sefolosha's limited game had finally hit its ceiling after 5 1/2 seasons in OKC. It was alright to have him in there for defense and 3-point shooting as long as there was enough offense in the rest of the lineup. But his shooting fell off badly last season and the Thunder need more of the punch they'll get from playing Reggie Jackson or Jeremy Lamb in his spot. If he spends the summer working to repair that broken shooting touch, Sefolosha could find himself as a nice role player for a team that needs a defender on the wing.
Evan Turner, Forward, Pacers — It was a calculated mid-season risk that blew up in Larry Bird's face. The deal to essentially replace Danny Granger with Turner may or may not have been the first thread to unraveling the locker room in Indiana, but his play certainly didn't produce anything that was positive. The jury is still out on the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 Draft. There were times when he was the best player on the 76ers' roster, though he does need the ball in his hands. If the Pacers make the commitment to keep Lance Stephenson, there's definitely no way he sticks. At just 25, there's reason to hope that a change of scenery could jumpstart his game and his career.
Greivis Vasquez, Guard, Raptors — After their strong finish and ultimately claiming the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, you'd think the Raptors would do everything they could to hang onto starting point guard Kyle Lowry. If they do, it relegates Vasquez to the bench again. If not, they're probably watching money and starting over again with a young prospect running the offense. Either way it means the journeyman — in the truest sense of the word — would be best served by being back on the move again. He's not the model of today's point guard that can be the quarterback and also get his own points. Instead, he's an inconsistent shooter without a real nose for putting the ball into the basket. But he's got good size, is an excellent passer and those attributes deserve to be on display on more than just a part-time basis.
BLOGTABLE: What to do in Miami | Spurs faves in 2015? | Who wants to be Lakers' coach?
> You're Pat Riley. How do you convince the Big Three to stick around … and take a pay cut? Who – give me names – do you go after to give them some help? They need help, right?
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: Pay cut? Did someone say pay cut? We're all too hip and cynical to take that notion seriously. You've gotta get whatever you can get, as much as you can as fast as you can, because that's what the other guy is doing, and besides, you'll look like a chump if you don't! Except then you notice that Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are playing for about $29 million combined, and you cannot deny the role that plays in the Spurs' sustained excellence. The help Miami can put around them is directly related to the budget they leave on the table for others. Who should that be? I'd only want to see Carmelo Anthony go there for the gawkability of the Heat going all-in on the "star" system and to actually witness Anthony making such a huge financial sacrifice for the title he claims to covet. My hunch, though, is that Miami would be better off shoring up its weakest positions – point guard and center.
Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: The pitch is that they're all better together than apart. Wade and Bosh certainly benefit sticking very close to LeBron. And it's hard to see James going to play in Kobe's shadow with the Lakers or repeating his Cleveland experience. Riley will make his obligatory run at Carmelo Anthony and, after what he pulled off in the summer of 2010, I'm not counting him out. That's the kind of addition that possibly have a longshot chance of convincing the Big Three to take a salary haircut. I might also be interested in Pau Gasol, who at this point in his career, might be willing to take less for a shot at another title or two in Miami.
Jeff Caplan, NBA.com: The Big Three know this: If all three opt in, there will be no room under the current rules to to bring in players that can make an impact. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have to agree to opt out and re-sign at considerable discounts. The James can opt out and re-sign. As for help, obviously Carmelo Anthony has been mentioned at the top of Miami's wish list, but that will take some real financial sacrifice from the Big Three and Melo. Until the Big three opt out and re-sign to lesser deals, it's hard to determine how much money will actually be available to go shopping. A run at Kyle Lowry or Greivis Vasquez, a cheaper option, to run the point would be great, or maybe Ramon Sessions. Kent Bazemore is a young, athletic two-guard with size, defensive chops and a potentially strong offensive game, who could backup Wade. How about Pau Gasol giving this team a real post presence and allowing Bosh to do his preferred thing on the perimeter?
Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: I convince them that their real legacy is based on titles and that the chance to respond to setback is what will separate them from other champions, as the Spurs just proved. I'm Pat Riley. I'm good at the head games. "You are already crazy wealthy. Don't you want the riches no one can buy?" The Carmelo Anthony conversation does make sense for this team in this time. That's the longshot of getting a lot of people to take a pay cut, including the guy who forced a trade to the Knicks because he wanted to be in New York, but would be at the top of my list. It doesn't get nearly the attention, but adding Kyle Lowry at point guard would equal a huge offseason as well.
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Staying together in Miami gives them the best opportunity to win more championships. Even though they had some defensive slippage this season, they still got to The Finals without much of a challenge in the Eastern Conference. They do need help, and guys like Shawn Marion (defense at the other forward spot), Carlos Boozer (rebounding, if amnestied by Chicago) and Steve Blake (ball-handling and shooting) might be willing to come for cheap in pursuit of a championship. But losing in The Finals to a team that good playing that well is not cause for major changes. If the Heat stay largely intact, they will give themselves a chance to win for the next few years. And that's all you can ask for.
Sekou Smith, NBA.com: I remind all three of them of the four straight trips to The Finals, the two championships and all of the opportunities they'll have to remain atop the Eastern Conference by sticking together and continuing to make sacrifices from a financial standpoint. And yes, they need help in the form of a point guard like Kyle Lowry, who can serve as a breath of fresh air and a catalyst for this group for years to come. It's obvious that the Heat lost faith in Mario Chalmers during The Finals. They recognize the need for a more dynamic floor leader and they also know that they need another energy source for this team with Dwyane Wade clearly on the other side of the mountain of his career. They'll also need to replenish the reserve ranks with veterans willing to join the championship search party and my first call would be to Shawn Marion.
Lang Whitaker, NBA.com's All Ball blog: If all three of the Big Three stick around under the current contracts, the Heat are effectively handcuffed. So if I'm Pat Riley, I talk to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and somehow convince them that they should take less — I guess you talk to them about longer deals if these deals are opted out of. And to me, that's the most important thing — you have to do something to create some flexibility. Then the other thing I'd do is go find a point guard who can penetrate and create. If the midlevel is your threshold, maybe someone like, uh-oh, Patty Mills, or even instant offense like Nate Robinson. Either way, I think you have to have a point guard who can handle the ball and create for his teammates and take some of that burden off of LeBron's shoulders.
TORONTO — How silly of us to think that one of these teams would win this series in six games. We should have realized that the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets have some sort of reciprocal gravity that keeps one team from ever pulling away from the other.
They've played 10 games this season. They've each won five, with a total combined score of Raptors 767, Nets 766. Eight of the 10 games have been within five points in the last five minutes.
So it's only fitting that this first round series will come down to a Game 7 on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC).
For the Raptors, this is an opportunity. A win would give their young core 4-7 more games of playoff experience against the defending champion Miami Heat. It would give head coach Dwane Casey additional job security. And it would help establish the franchise's place on the NBA map.
For the Nets, this is another referendum. If they can't get past the first round, what exactly did they spend $104 million in salary and another $92 million in luxury taxes on? And where the heck do they go from here?
"They have more to lose than us," DeMar DeRozan said Saturday.
Indeed. But payroll won't determine which team gets their first Game 7 victory (since the Nets came to the NBA). These six factors will.
Though the Nets lost Game 5, they established some things offensively. One of those was Joe Johnson operating from the middle of the floor, a set that made it difficult for the Raptors to double-team him. The Nets didn't go to that set much in Game 6, instead using Johnson back in the low post and in pick-and-rolls with Deron Williams more often.
But the Nets did take the middle of the floor away from Kyle Lowry, who scored just three points in the paint or at the free throw line in Game 6 after scoring 14 in Game 5. They took away the Raptors' primary offensive actions and often had them trying to improvise with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
DeMar DeRozan will make some tough shots, but if it's only tough shots that he's getting, Brooklyn is in good shape.
The Raptors have been at their best when reserves Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson are on the floor. They may sacrifice some defense by playing big minutes with Lowry, Vasquez, DeRozan and Patterson on the floor together, but their regular small forwards have come up empty offensively all series.
Terrence Ross is gaining experience and John Salmons is a bigger body to put on Johnson. But Raptors coach Dwane Casey shouldn't hesitate to go to the three-guard lineup early and often, because the positives on offense will outweigh the negatives on D.
Lowry, Vasquez, DeRozan and Patterson are a plus-23 in 54 minutes together, but played just 12 minutes over the last two games.
Neither team has shot well from 3-point range in the series, but both teams have attempted 22 threes per game. If one team – or just one player – gets hot, it could be the difference. With the attention that Johnson draws, Brooklyn is more likely to get open looks. That's why Alan Anderson has replaced Shaun Livingston in the starting lineup.
Patterson, of course, puts a fourth shooter on the floor for Toronto. He can punish the Nets' defense for its focus on Lowry and DeRozan.
One of the bellwethers of this series has been Amir Johnson, who has averaged 14.7 points in the Raptors' three wins and 4.3 points in their three losses. A lot of Johnson's production has come as the roll man, catching passes from Lowry and Vasquez. The Nets' weak-side defender needs to meet the roll man – whether it's Johnson or Jonas Valanciunas – before he gets too close to the basket.
Both teams have averaged less than 10 fast break points per game, but have been at their best when they've been able to get out into the open floor. Williams pushed the pace from the start in Game 6, which allowed the Nets to get into their offensive actions early in the shot clock and before the Raptors could get set. That produced easier shots.
When the Raptors made a little bit of a run in the fourth quarter, they were getting some easy baskets in transition as well.
After averaging 19.3 turnovers in the first three games, the Raptors have averaged just 13.0 in the last three. But it was an issue that popped up again in the fourth quarter on Friday, keeping them from being able to cut the Brooklyn lead to single digits. Any extended turnover issues in Game 7 (for either team) could end their season.
NEW YORK — Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey would not commit to whether his team's Game 4 win was about great defense or bad offense.
"They missed a lot of easy shots," Casey said of the Brooklyn Nets. "I thought our team defense was really solid," he said later.
A little from column A, a little from column B, and the Nets scored just 79 points on 87 possessions, the least efficient performance of either team through four games. The result was an eight-point victory for the Raptors that tied the first round series at two games apiece.
After coming back from 17 points down, Brooklyn had a one-point lead with 4:58 left in the fourth quarter. But they went scoreless on their final eight possessions of the game. The Raptors didn't have much going on offensively themselves, but got just enough (a Greivis Vasquez 3 here, a Kyle Lowry running hook there) to complement their improved defense.
The Nets were able to get the ball to Joe Johnson, who had been abusing the Toronto defense through the first three games. But the Raptors were aggressive with their double-teams and quick with their rotations. Johnson couldn't get to his spots in the paint and his teammates couldn't take advantage of four-on-three situations. Down the stretch, the Nets missed two jumpers, committed four straight turnovers, and then sealed their fate with a 29-second possession that ended in a blown layup by Shaun Livingston.
Johnson, who had averaged 23.7 points on 26-for-43 (60 percent) shooting through the first three games, got just seven shots off in Game 4. He made just two. The Raptors went with a variety of post coverages and it worked.
The Nets have other players. Pretty good ones, too. They don't need a big game from Johnson.
But his only teammate who looked comfortable offensively on Sunday was Paul Pierce, who scored 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Others were afraid to shoot or just shaky with their jumpers. It was like the veteran team shrunk in the big moment.
The jumpers haven't been there all series, really. After a 4-for-20 performance in Game 4, the Nets are a brutal 22-for-88 (25 percent) from 3-point range in the series.
Still, the Raptors took a step forward on Sunday. They showed resilience in the face of a more experienced team, a hostile crowd, a handful of injuries, and foul trouble.
They also regained home-court advantage, with Game 5 back in Toronto on Wednesday.


Stay tuned, a name change is imminent. There could be service interruption. Stay tuned.
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text:
Virginia G. (Higgins) Goodwin
Family & friends are invited to visit with the family on Monday, May 14th, 2012 in the Vertuccio & Smith Home for Funerals, 773 Broadway (Route 107), Revere, beginning at 9 a.m. for Virginia G. (Higgins) Goodwin, who died on Wednesday, May 9th at the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, Melrose, following a long illness, at 81 years. A funeral mass will follow at 11 a.m. in the Immaculate Conception Church, Revere, followed by interment in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, MA. Born & raised in Revere, she was a 1949 alumna of Revere High School. Virginia wore many hats during her working career. She worked for the former Honeywell Corporation for over 30 years, then to the Veterans' Administration in Boston as a recording clerk for 12 years, and then as a Revere Crossing Guard for the City of Revere. She also was a past President & member of Revere's V.F.W. Post #6712 – Ladies' Auxiliary. She was the wife of the late Henry R. "Doug" Goodwin, who died in July of 1997. She is the Devoted mother of Paulette L. Trumbley & her fiance, Todd J. DeCost of Winthrop. She is the dear twin sister of the late Catherine M. Poelaert. She is the cherished aunt of: Karen E. Swain & her husband, Frederick, Robert F. Poelaert & his wife, Carol, all of Bellingham, MA. She is also the loving Grand-Aunt to: Kelly E., Kayla M., Kristen T., & Bradley O. Swain, & Thomas J. Poelaert, all of Bellingham. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Alzheimers' Association, 311 Arsenal St., Watertown, MA 02472.
Monday, May 14th, 2012 from 9 – 10:45 a.m. in the Funeral Home.
Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 11 a.m. in the Immaculate Conception Church, Revere.
Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Alzheimers' Association, 311 Arsenal St., Watertown, MA 02472.
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Mazzone
Paulette and Family,
Our thoughts and prayers are wit you all during this difficult time. Ginny will never be forgotten, she was a special lady to so many people.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"Organising the collaboration between startups and traditional players." Our humble opinion: it's one of the most important panel sessions of the FinTech CONNECT Live! conference taking place in London now. Why is it so important? The point is a chain of new business connections.
Let's take e.g. Apple Pay® and TfL business case into account. Enabling mobile contactless payments by the Transport for London implied i.a. increase of sales of mobile insurances with bank accounts due to the fact iPhone® became a real everyday-use payment tool in London.
A lot of exciting work in front of Warsaw! Smart cities can create future and it can cost these days less than other cities think.


text:
struct StringTableEntry;

class CeeSectionString : public CeeSection {
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	StringTableEntry *createEntry(__in_z LPWSTR target, ULONG hashId);
	StringTableEntry *findStringInsert(
				StringTableEntry *&entry, __in_z LPWSTR targetValue, ULONG hashId);
	void deleteEntries(StringTableEntry *e);
#ifdef RDATA_STATS
	int dumpEntries(StringTableEntry *e);
	void dumpTable();
#endif

  public:
	~CeeSectionString();
	CeeSectionString(CCeeGen &ceeFile, CeeSectionImpl &impl);
	virtual HRESULT getEmittedStringRef(__in_z LPWSTR targetValue, StringRef *ref);
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Bettendorf native and Iowa jazz orchestra to perform Jan. 16 at Redstone Room
by: Jonathan Turner
Mike Conrad and the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra will play at the Redstone Room on Sunday, Jan. 16.
Bettendorf native Mike Conrad will return to perform at the Polyrhythms Third Sunday Jazz Series, with the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra, in concert on Jan. 16 at the Redstone Room, in the River Music Experience on the corner of 2nd & Main in Davenport.
This will be an in-person performance with proper personal distance and mask-wearing.
University of Northern Iowa Professor and award-winning jazz composer Mike Conrad (a 33-year-old Bettendorf native) brings Iowa's premier large jazz ensemble to Davenport for a special performance to kick off Polyrhythms' 2022 Third Sunday Jazz Series.
Conrad has assembled this 17-piece all-star band with a simple mission: to showcase the best jazz musicians and jazz composers that the state has to offer, according to a Tuesday release from Polyrhythms.
The Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra wants to show people in Iowa and beyond that they don't need to look to New York City or Chicago for beautiful, high-quality, creative music — there are amazing artists and musicians doing incredible things right here, the release says.
Among the composers featured are Conrad (UNI Jazz Professor), Chris Merz (Director of Jazz Studies, UNI), Bob Washut (Emeritus Faculty, UNI), John Rapson (Emeritus Faculty, Iowa), Ryan Kisor (Sioux City/Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), Nate Sparks (Des Moines/New York), and Paul Lichty (Cedar Falls/Oregon).
Polyrhythms presents Fr. Stan Fortuna on Sunday
Polyrhythms returns to Redstone Room with in-person concert
"Polyrhythms is very pleased and honored to collaborate with Mike Conrad and ISCO, who have long been a good friends, staunch supporters and great performers for our Third Sunday Jazz series," said Nate Lawrence of Polyrhythms.
The band roster is comprised of the following:
Saxophones: Robert Espe, Jen Tiede, Chris Merz, Nolan Schroeder, Simon Harding
Trumpets: Cory Schmitt, Dave Rezek, Jon Ailabouni, Steve Wheeler
Trombones: Anthony Williams, Rich Medd, Joel Nagel, Zack Morton
Rhythm Section: Steve Grismore, Michael Conrad, Drew Morton, Dave Tiede
Conrad — who performed for Third Sunday Jazz at Redstone in November 2018 and January 2020 — joined the UNI faculty in the fall of 2018. He has been recognized for his arranging and composing with four ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards and seven DownBeat Awards, as well as awards and commissions from organizations like the Bundesjazzorchester of Germany, West Point Jazz Knights, and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers.
Mike Conrad has been on the UNI music faculty since fall 2018. As a performer, he has toured China, played at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, and appeared at various jazz festivals and venues all over the United States.
Conrad's arrangements have been performed all around the world, including a 2014 premiere at Carnegie Hall, and a performance at the U.S. presidential Inauguration in 2013.
General admission for the 5 p.m. concert on Jan. 16 is $15. Seats are limited and you may pay at the door, but they suggest that you call and reserve a spot. Call Polyrhythms at 309 373-0790 or email nate@polyrhythms.org.


We could all name churches that you could figuratively throw 'a bomb under', so to speak, to take it from its lifeless medicority and give it God-given hope.
I present to you a provocative title, primarily just to have your eyes glance upon one main thought. The church must be challenged to understand that we are not called to be pew-warmers, sideline critics or disengaged whingers. The church does not even exist to have nice tea, nice coffee, nice worship music, nice welcoming, nice fellowship, nice committee meetings, nice offerings and nice denominational get-togethers.
The church exists to be missional. While I'm not going to unpack that too much here, let me give you some thoughts. Wendell Berry says, 'Love your neighbors-not the neighbors you pick out but the ones you have'. We could start with that.
Mike Frost in The Road to Missional writes, 'God didn't give us talents and gifts and all this freedom and initiative just to sit around discussing how to produce a slicker and more impressive worship gathering. He gave us these gifts so that we might breathe shalom throughout the world, that we might bring reconciliation and joy, peace and justice to a broken world yearning for redemption' (p. 120).
We must challenge our churches to be missional. We are called to be and do nothing less.
Communicate it. Live it. Embrace it. Unite together arond the mission of Jesus.
A Salvation Army Parable - BEWARE: Written by a Finance Officer!
And the Divisional Commander replied, 'You wicked, lazy officer, to everyone who has a DHQ grant will be given another, but your corps will have its Mission Support Funding withdrawn, and you will be thrown into darkness, to a posting at THQ Audit Department where there will be much counting and ticking and gnashing of teeth'.
I'm about to say something about prayer that should get your ears pricked and your heart beating.
Prayer is essential to every Christian's walk with God; we know that. We speak of spending regular times with God in prayer. Pastors speak of spending time in devotions and being prayerful on all occassions.
I wonder though whether the church (especially in the west) is missing something. Something crucial.
If we truly believed that our prayers could transform society, prayer meetings would be overflowing. 24/7 prayer rooms would be packed. Mountain tops would see Christians gathering. Homes would be places of consistent, faith-filled prayer. BUT! The fact is, that deep down we don't actually believe God really, really hears our prayers and that God intends to answer them. I mean, seriously, if we believed wholeheartedly that our commitment to intercessory prayer could change a circumstance, we would pray with greater hunger and tenacity. If people in our churches ACTUALLY believed God COULD heal the sick through THEIR prayers, you wouldn't have to pay them $100 to attend a prayer meeting (you hear my sarcasm, I'm sure).
There I've said my piece. We are missing a deep conviction inside of us, that believes God hears prayers.
Generally speaking, we don't need to convince each other, that God knows the end from the beginning. We don't even need to be reminded that God has plans and purposes for our lives. We've heard it continually. We know God loves us, and cares for us, and so on and so on.
Though do you believe deep down, that God wants you to pray, to fast, to 'press in', to cry out and intercede for your country and its people? If so, great. If not, it's time to change.
Who was John the Baptist? The Scriptures tell us little of who John the Baptist was, but we do glean some information from the Scriptures and documents such as Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18, chapter 5, 2). He was the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Luke 1 records the story of the birth of John the Baptist, and the miraculous work of God in Zechariah's life and the naming of the baby as 'John'. John the Baptist was known to have worn clothes made of camel's hair, lived off locusts and wild honey. He was eccentric to say the least, and was committed to preaching a message of repentance and baptism to his listeners.
Let me sidetrack for a few moments.
Have you been watching The Voice? The Voice has been a popular promoted show around the globe, showcasing some of the finest voices in their respective countries. Coupled with panelists who are famous entertainers offering the occasional comment, and you have a show. John the Baptist was 'The Voice' of his generation. In fact, prophets were few and far between following the years of the minor prophets. Though John the Baptist was a voice. As mentioned in the Scriptures, he was a voice calling out in the wilderness. All the Synoptic Gospels mention John the Baptist as one calling out in the wilderness (see Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 1:80). Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3 are both making reference to Isaiah 40:3.
We must be a voice to our generation. We must live out and communicate the good news we have found in Jesus Christ. Without a voice, the church is hindered. Sure, we must and should let our actions speak louder than our words, but in all appropriate ways, we need to be a voice, a generation that represents the one we serve: Jesus Christ. Just as John the Baptist was a voice, we too must be a voice today.
As Romans 15:5-6 says: 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The weather in the United States has been horrendously cold lately. They called it a polar vortex and the cold weather and mind numbing temperatures affected over 200 million people in parts of Canada and eastern parts of America (all the way down to Florida). The weather was unprecendently cold. My parents know about freezing temperatures, when they spent some time in Detroit, Michigan. Dad would wake up early to begin throwing water on the car, trying to loosen up the ice. Then he would spend some time shovelling snow out of the driveway so they he could reverse the car. Shovelling and shovelling and shovelling. Without doing that, there was no way to make an exit! Finally, after making a way through the snow, he was off to work!
John the Baptist, paved the way for the Messiah. You remember his preaching right? John the Baptist would preach his heart out, about preparing the way for the Lord. He would preach out about repentance and baptism and the crowds would gather and listen. Just like my father who shovelled away the snow and made a way through the snow, John the Baptist made way for the Lord. Matthew 3:3 quotes Isaiah 40:3, saying that he would prepare the way for the Lord.
We must prepare the way for the Lord today. I have this picture of someone slashing their way through a thick jungle area, until there is a clearing. In today's culture, we need to slash away all the things that hinder people from following God, and provide a way for their salvation. Let me explain. There are some who have been burnt by organised religion: They need someone to help them navigate their way through to forgiveness. There are some who misunderstand who Jesus really is, and the role of the church today: They need someone to explain to them the real Jesus. There are some who are broken, hurting and depressed: They need followers of Jesus to offer them hope in Christ. Just as John the Baptist did, we need to prepare the way of the Lord!
John the Baptist didn't live in the luxury of palace grounds. We did not even live within the rough, difficult social conditions of any 1st century town. He chose to live in the desert. Was that because people didn't accept his message in mainstream society? Maybe so, but either way, he truly was one preparing the way for the Lord in the wilderness.
Interestingly, people hear God in the wilderness. I'm not trying to be smart. There is something about being away from the noise and hustle and bustle, that you hear what you would not have heard otherwise. Call it the still, small voice of God if you like. When we consider the desert, we could think of people such as David, Elijah, Moses, Joshua, Joseph and others, who heard God in the desert. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert before he even began public ministry. People hear God in the desert.
Maybe some of us reading this, are in a metaphorical desert. Wandering around and around, trying to make ends meet, trying to keep the marriage together and trying to fit it at church. I know so many people who are 'in-between jobs' or have depression or who are sick, or who are battling weight or finances or addiction. God can speak to you in the desert. In fact, being in the desert maybe exactly where God wants you to be right at this moment, so that you can learn to hear his voice and appreciate the greater blessings of life.
People hear God in the desert. Speak to us Lord!
I want to elucidate one more pertinent point from the life of John the Baptist. We have seen that he is the voice of his generation, we have read of his role in preparing the way for the Lord, and also of his life in the desert.
Lastly, I come to the dramatic point in John the Baptist's life, where he is thrown in jail in the fortress of Machaerus in the mountains by the Dead Sea. We understand that through the courageous and challenging words of John the Baptist, he got on the wrong side of Herod Antipas (ruler of Galilee - ruled from 4BC - 39 AD). John spoke out to Herod about repenting of his marital affair, with his sister-in-law. Herod Antipas threw him in jail in Machaerus. Before John the Baptist was beheaded, something interesting happened. All of what I have said about this eccentric man brings me to a critical point in his life.
As John the Baptist was reflecting in jail, he began to question his life. He began to question the authenticity of the messages in which he had been communicating to the people in the desert of Judea. This is recorded in Matthew 11:2-3 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" After all those months and months of telling the people about the promised Messiah, he wants his followers to find out where Jesus really is the one he's been talking about. The doubt has risen up within John the Baptist. Is the Christ really the Messiah? Is he really the one who comes to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire?
There is no doubt, a nagging wait for John the Baptist in prison as he waits for a message to be relayed back to him. These are the astounding words that Jesus replies with, '4 "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me." (Matthew 11:4-6). What an amazing word from Jesus, sent to John the Baptist in prison. You may well be in prison John, but I'm still healing the sick, I'm still raising the dead, the good news is still being proclaimed! In fact, John, let me tell you, Jesus IS the Messiah that you've been speaking of. It is how you say!
Let me finish by preaching a little. You may find yourself in that place of loneliness and isolation, but let me say to you, Jesus is still Lord, God is still a God who heals! Remember, even if you are in the desert, you can still take encouragement from the fact that Jesus has still come with good news! So, prepare the way for the Lord!
· Let's continue this spiritual gift overview. The next spiritual gift listed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 is the gift of words of knowledge. Previous I spoke about the spiritual gift of wisdom.
Sometimes I am out of my depth. Like the time I was leading The Salvation Army in Palmerston (NT, Australia). We had organised to build a garden area for the children, and in conjuction with that, to build a cubby house. I organised my brother-in-law to fly up from Melbourne and to help us build the structure over a special weekend. Over the phone I organised material that I needed to purchase and he gave me a list of what to buy. There was only a couple of days before the big 'Working Bee' weekend, and I still had a few products I was missing. I didn't have any material for the roof! I didn't know what the description was that I needed, and I didn't know where to purchase it from! So, I did what ever good Christian does; I started to pray. 'Ohh Lord, I'm really stressed, will you help me build this roof. I don't even know where to go and what to buy! Help!' So, here's what happened. I'm driving the car out of a local hardware shop (of which was not helpful at all), and I started to drive. All of a sudden, I heard a whisper in my head, to continue driving down the freeway, until I tell you to stop. I was thinking to myself, that this is a little crazy, but what have I got to lose. I kept driving and driving and driving. All of a sudden, a shop on the side of the road, grabbed my attention. A big sign said, 'ROOF SUPPLIES'. I started cracking up laughing because I knew God had just lead me to the place I needed to be. I went inside, and told them what I needed, and they very quickly said, yes, no problem, and even organised to deliver the roofing parts to the church. Five minutes later, I got back in the car, laughing and crying, and drove home. God had given me a word of knowledge. God lead me to that roofing place that day. God is good.
The spiritual gift of the word of knowledge, as we mentioned previously in relation to wisdom, is a gift imparted by the Holy Spirit and is a word that the Holy Spirit gives. The Lord does not reveal to you 'all knowledge', but a word of knowledge.
God is omniscient (that is, all-knowing), and the spiritual gift of a word of knowledge, is really the privilege of being revealed a speck of understanding from the plethora of knowledge that the Lord has. The knowledge is of God and comes from God.
Some would define a word of knowledge as a supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit of certain facts in the mind of God (Hagin, 1974, p. 52).
Colossians 1:9-14 - 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul is praying here that the Colossian people would be filled with the knowledge of his will and also that they would grow in the knowledge of God. You must pray these things, because you cannot simply read books to be filled with the knowledge of God's will. You must pray, because you cannot grow in the knowledge of God, without growing in your closeness to God.
See, a word of knowledge, is not found apart from God. You cannot live in ignorance of God, read a bunch of textbooks on Chemistry and then rattle off chemical formulas and think you have a word of knowledge. This is not a spiritual word of knowledge. That is just knowledge. It's just facts and ideas and thoughts. A word of knowledge cannot be simply knowledge, or 'natural knowledge', because otherwise it would not be a spiritual gift. Furthermore, if we went down that track then the other 8 spiritual gifts listed in the 1 Corinthian 12 passage could also be obtained without the Holy Spirit. The gift of healing would simply be related to the advances in medical science. Faith would just be a nice 'whim' you have every now and then, believing things are going to work out for the best. Speaking in tongues would just be someone learning another language and speaking it out. No; these are spiritual gifts and thus the word of knowledge is a Spirit-imparted word given to a person.
A word of knowledge differs slightly from a word of wisdom. I think of stories I hear, of someone who goes to the supermarket, and receives a word from the Lord that says, 'Someone in the store has a problem with their hands, and God wants to heal them.' Now, that is a word of knowledge, that differs from a word of wisdom. A word of wisdom might come as you speak with someone about their crippled hand, for example, 'I believe God might say to you, that he wants to strengthen the work of your hands...' Can you see the slight difference between a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge?
Can you now tell the difference between a word of wisdom and word of knowledge? Reinhard Bonnke says, 'If a special word brings to light a particular circumstance, a word of wisdom may well be needed also to do what should be done' (Bonnke, 1994, p. 114).
Remember a word of knowledge, is a supernatural gift, and so you may begin praying for someone, and be given a word about them, that you could not possibly have known without the Holy Spirit revealing it to you at that moment.
Some of you may turn off at this point. Theologians may choose to skip over what I'm saying, because it does fit rationally into a logical, theological framework. It is not safe theology.
I mean, you're telling me, God can tell someone something that they could not possibly have known without the Holy Spirit revealing it? YES.
I firmly, absolutely believe that. I believe that this is the spiritual gift of a word of knowledge.
So, why do we not see this gift exercised much in our churches and furthermore, why do we not see it expressed in the marketplace? Well, that question could be asked for all the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. The word of knowledge will only come when you learn how to hear God. You must learn to hear the still, small voice. You must tune your ear to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying; what God is saying.
One of the reasons is when the push comes to shove, we have adopted a 'sola scriptura' kind of mindset, that is, that it is only Scripture that can speak to people today. A word of knowledge, from my understanding, is a word that pops into our spirit, that actually leads people to Scripture. It is not Scripture itself, but a word that the Holy Spirit gives, and it is not something to be concerned about, as long as it is pointing people back to Scripture and pointing people to the central figure in Christian theology, namely Jesus. If the word of knowledge someone has is truly of God, then this will happen.
One of the other reasons we do not see words of knowledge exercised often in our churches, is because deep down many Christians simply do not believe it. They have not experienced the gift in use, and live naive to the potential that this kind of gift has when it is fanned into flame.
Acts 9:10-15 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
Acts 10:4-6 4 Cornelius stared at him [the angel] in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked.
Smith Wigglesworth says, 'The revelation of the mysteries of God comes by the Spirit, and we must have a supernatural word of knowledge in order to convey to others the things that the Spirit of God has revealed' (Wigglesworth, 1998, p. 76).
'One afternoon in a hotel room I was praying, and the Holy Spirit began to speak to me. He put in my mind that that night a young man would come to the service whose name was John. The Lord gave me a message for him. I said to the Lord that half the men in that city were called John, and if I just called his name it would sound ridiculous. The Lord replied, 'But his name is John!' 'Very well,' I said, 'I will obey you'.
Colossians 1:9-14 - 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
God has given opportunity for the spiritual gift of words of knowledge to be given to his people today. Tune your voice to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. Maybe it will simply be a word of encouragement for your own spiritual journey, and maybe God has more to show you.
Spiritual Gifts Overview - Start this series of Spiritual Gifts here.
Spiritual gifts are listed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. The first spiritual gifts he lists, is wisdom.
So a while back my family and I are on a holiday to Queensland (AUS), and we find ourselves at a theme park called Dream World. Dad and my sisters are absolutely pumped about the new Tower of Terror ride. They begin telling me it's the best thing since Beyonce.
Gee, that almost sold it for me. I had to make a decision right then and there. I mean, would I regret not going on this fancy new ride that I'm sure Dream World management had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building?! Even my Mum who knows I'm not good on rides was trying to convince me. The pressure was on. I mean what was Mum doing? She saw me the last time I went on the dodgem cars. I got dizzy going round in circles around the little dodgem car circuit!!
Anyway, my Mum (who's not good on rides either) sat with me, as we waited for my sisters and Dad to get back from their adventurous Tower of Terror ride.
Now, you have to understand that my sisters are good on rides. They never get sick! Finally, after about 15 minutes, we see them walking towards us in the distance. Each of them had their shoulders slumped, and it was like four ghosts were walking towards us... I think they were feeling sick!!
What is wisdom? Futhermore, what is the spiritual gift of wisdom? That's a fair question to ask. You can read of people recorded in the Scriptures who prayed for wisdom; but what were they actually praying for?
James encourages us to pray for wisdom and then we will be given wisdom. In the New Testament, he writes, 'If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind' (James 1:5-6).
Ok, so Solomon encourages us to search after wisdom, and James challenges us to pray for wisdom… But was it?
We find wisdom in Jesus Christ. I am not talking about rattling off the answers to Who Wants to be a Millionaire or about making a quick decision at work based on your 10 years of experience in the industry. The word wisdom used in Ephesians 1:17 is from the Greek word sophias, which means insight that is not naturally attained. Wisdom that comes from God, is not wisdom that is obtained naturally. If you like, it is not wisdom as the world speaks of wisdom; it is from God.
Ephesians 1:17 could be translated, 'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you special insight – I'm talking about wisdom that is not naturally attained. This is the divine moment when the curtains are drawn back, and you are supernaturally enabled to see what you could never see yourself' (Renner, 2003, p. 40).
So wisdom is the special insight that is obtained from God, through Jesus Christ, that is not obtained by natural means, but by the Spirit of God.
Without God you can have intellectualism, and smart-sounding theories, and special think-tanks on complex issues, but you will never have the spirit of wisdom. You can look to articles, blogs, specific magazines and encyclopaedias to find an answer to a pressing problem, but there is something special about the spiritual gift of wisdom.
The answer comes directly from God.
When we speak of wisdom, as mentioned in the 1 Corinthian 12:8-11 passage, Paul is speaking of a word of wisdom, not the gift of wisdom. Let me explain. God is all-wise and all-powerful. God encapsulates wisdom. When you receive a word of wisdom, you receive an understanding of part of the wisdom of God, but you do not receive the entirety of wisdom as such. A word of wisdom, is a word from God, and is but one part of the entire wisdom of God.
Peter Wagner defines the gift of wisdom as, 'the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to know the mind of the Holy Spirit in such ways as to receive insight into how given knowledge may best be applied to specific needs arising in the Body of Christ' (Wagner, 1975, p. 220).
I found myself at a computer shop recently looking for a computer screen. It was very complex. There were different brands of screens and different sizes of screens, but then also different resolutions of screens. So, I had to stand there and try and determine which screen I need most.
I may not need a word of wisdom on what computer screen to buy, but I tell you when I'm trying to work out what I should be doing in life, I long for a word of wisdom from the Holy Spirit. I know full well, when I'm trying to make the right decisions about my finances, I need a word of wisdom from God. When the path in front of me, suddenly splits into three different directions, I need a word of wisdom. When a family member asks a difficult question, I need a word of wisdom. When I'm sitting in a business meeting, and suddenly the boss asks me a question, and all eyes are pealed on me waiting for an answer, I need a word of wisdom.
You may not think a word of wisdom is overly exciting, and you may be hanging out for spiritual gift teaching on healing and miracles, but let me say, when your life is at breaking point and all you need is a word from God in order to give you direction or hope, a word is wisdom is absolutely invaluable.
A word of wisdom might be needed when a family member rolls their eyes when you try to tell them about what God is doing in your life. Or maybe God will even tell you to be silent!
If Christians used more words of wisdom, then maybe we wouldn't have so many people who are antagonistic to the gospel.
Words of wisdom are essential to the Christian life. Words can damage, but words can heal. Words can tear down, and words can build up. The spiritual gift of words of wisdom, means you hear a particular word from God, and you apply to it your life in an appropriate manner.
Walking around Princes Park in Parkville during my first year of Salvation Army Training College I remember receiving a word of encouragement. As I was walking, I felt the words, 'I will sustain you...' So clearly. So needed!
Whatever the word of wisdom, be assured that God is seeking to draw you closer to Jesus, and help you live in closeness with him.
We need the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom to be evident amongst followers of Jesus. Pray today, that if God so desires, that God would give you that spiritual gift.


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Canadian megamall developer's U.S. project on shaky ground due to pandemic
VIP cocktail parties, DJs, dancers, fashion shows, balloons and much more — opening day at the Canadian-owned U.S. megamall called American Dream had been planned for maximum effect and excitement.
The project in New Jersey, just across the bridge from Manhattan, was nine years in the making, and patterned on the West Edmonton Mall and the Mall of America in Minneapolis, the other two well-known destinations owned by the wealthy Ghermezian family of Edmonton.
All three properties combine retail shops with amusement park attractions. The American Dream's approximately three million square feet includes attractions like a DreamWorks water park, Angry Birds mini golf, Legoland and an indoor ski slope plus some 450 retailers such as Levi's, Sephora, H&M and Zara.
But, of course, the March 19 grand opening didn't happen. A global pandemic happened instead. The venue was shut down March 16 along with all casinos, gyms, and movie theaters in the state.
Now an October 1 reopening is planned, but it comes amid financial turmoil.
Mortgage not paid since March
All three of the Ghermezians' entertainment/shopping venues have been linked together in a financial arrangement that shows signs of weakness.
In order to help finance American Dream, the family's company, Triple Five Group, mortgaged both West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America. According to Trepp LLP, a data company that tracks commercial mortgages, Triple Five has missed payments on the $1.4 billion US Mall of America loan since March. The status of finances at West Edmonton Mall aren't clear.
"The Ghermezians have a very complex business empire, and shopping centres are part of it, but it's a privately owned company so we don't have all the information," says Nick Egelanian, a retail consultant in Annapolis, Maryland, who's been watching Triple Five's gamble closely. "But it looks like this situation could put all the properties into default."
Both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, the New York City-based investment firms that helped arrange construction loans for the Ghermezians, declined a CBC News request for comment.
Lineups for ski hill
Members of the Ghermezian family aren't talking either. They are "extremely busy" with the new October 1 grand opening plan for American Dream, according to a spokesperson. The venue's chief creative officer, Ken Downing, is handling media interviews, and he insists all is well in hand.
"The team is super-excited," he said in an interview from Manhattan. "We've been wanting to reintroduce and reopen to the public, and we want to do it the right way."
WATCH | Dianne Buckner tours American Dream megamall under construction in 2018:
Dianne Buckner reports on the latest massive project from the Ghermezian family 5:39
The launch of American Dream was planned to happen in stages, and a few of the attractions did indeed open in the fall of 2019. Retailers and the remainder of the theme park's attractions had originally been intended to open with a bang in March. For now, admittance to the entire megamall is restricted to a quarter of its capacity due to COVID.
"I don't think you'd be able to find many large projects like ours that haven't been touched by COVID," said Downing.
He points to the sole attraction that reopened on September 1 this year, the indoor ski hill, and says people have been waiting in line as early as 8:00 a.m. with their skis and snowboards. "People love that ski slope," said Downing. "It's been as busy as it can be with 25 per cent capacity."
Snowboarders and skiers pictured at the grand opening of Big Snow last December. The attraction shut down in March due to the pandemic, and reopened on Sept. 1. (Seth Wenig/The Associated Press)
But even before the economic catastrophe of the pandemic, there was plenty of skepticism about the wisdom of opening the new mall amid a climate marked by multiple major retailers seeking bankruptcy protection or liquidating assets. Besides, there are already more than enough malls in the state, according to Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey chapter of environmental group Sierra Club. He says there's no way American Dream will solve the financial predicament for all three of the Ghermezians' properties.
Wrong place, wrong time
"People going to New York City want to go to the Radio City Music Hall or the Empire State Building," he said. "They're not going to get on a bus and come to New Jersey."
The Sierra Club has opposed American Dream from day one due to its impact on wetlands in the area. "It's always been the wrong project in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Tittel.
But the Ghermezian family — whose patriarch arrived in Canada from Iran in the 1950s and built Triple Five along with a fortune in real estate development, with the help of his four sons and now grandsons — is not easily discouraged.
Don Ghermezian of Edmonton's Triple Five Group, on site in 2018 at the construction of the American Dream megamall in New Jersey. The West Edmonton Mall, also owned by his family, has been used as collateral to help fund construction in a financial arrangement that now looks shaky due to COVID-19. (Jon Castell/CBC News)
In the late 1990s, they spent four years battling a lawsuit brought by the Alberta Treasury Board and emerged triumphant. And before West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America were built, there was doubt either of those venues would ever work. Both have been remarkably successful, ranked as top tourist attractions.
The future of malls
Steve Rappaport, a New Jersey commercial real estate broker who specializes in retail leasing, says talk of malls being doomed is off-base.
"People love to congregate," said Rappaport. "It's always been about much more than shopping at a mall. They are places where people go to mall-walk in the morning, and teenagers go there after school just to hang out."
The view of Manhattan from Triple Five Group's offices in New Jersey, located next to American Dream. ( Jon Castell/CBC News)
He believes profitability at American Dream will be a struggle, but he says he has no doubt the Ghermezians will stay the course. "I don't think that all of the sudden they're going to say all is lost and just hand the keys back."
There is, however, that matter of the mortgages. Late payments on an almost $1.4 billion loan are no small thing.
The managing director of Trepp LLP, Manus Clancy, says everything hinges on the lenders.
"They have to assess does the borrower want the property, and do they have the financial ability to keep this thing going? Or are we better to take the property over and find a new team to run it?"
Some in the industry believe that only the Ghermezians have the experience to run unique destinations such as American Dream, West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, with their distinctive mix of retail and theme park attractions.
Clancy isn't convinced.
"We do have big players in the U.S., like Simon and Brookfield; they are operators of high-end malls in the U.S. So there are people that would be candidates," he said, if the lenders lose confidence in Triple Five Group.
In Edmonton, the executive director of the Building Owners and Management Association, Percy Woods, has faith in the family.
"They might have their PhD in dealing with financial situations," he said. "They always come out OK. They're very smart. And they've been very successful."
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Accredited with the Australasian Sleep Association, Sleep SA conforms to the "Gold Standard" of laboratory sleep studies. All sleep studies are conducted in private and comfortable rooms with dedicated en suites to ensure diagnostic integrity and patient privacy. We also utilise the latest analysing technologies and have friendly, highly trained staff who continuously monitor all patient data to ensure comprehensive data acquisition. In addition, we are specifically set up to identify and discriminate between differing complex sleep and respiratory conditions and also ensure effective discrimination between milder and more severe degrees of sleep apnoea. Finally, you can have the peace of mind knowing that we are totally independent and that any recommendations coming from our physicians are free of any conflict of interest.
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Though shooting bore-sized conicals does not make sense in most quality in-lines that are designed for saboted-projectile use only, in some cases antiquated game laws are still in place that require their use. To require conicals also requires ignorance that the patch in a patch and ball front-stuffer is somehow not a sabot and that muzzleloaders are something other than rifles that load from the muzzle.
It makes no sense, like the banning of scopes that holds just as much logic as forcing folks to try to hunt without their contacts and eyeglasses. If there is such a thing as common sense, being better able to see what you are shooting at easily qualifies. Using the most lethally effective projectile possible for game animals would likewise be a matter of basic logic, logic that has escaped a few DNR departments that apparently make do without electricity, refrigeration, or motorized vehicles.
Nevertheless, game regulations need not make any sense to exist, like some DNR departments themselves. There are folks that want to participate in "conical only" hunting opportunities, though a clever six year old will notice that the projectile that is fired from a sabot is indeed a conical. Colorado is one of the few remaining states that reveres regulatory schemes over ethical hunting practices. But, there is hope.
"It's obvious to me that my choice is a long heavy bullet with hollow point, explosive on the hit, plenty of weight left to plow on through the animal. Its the best combo for lighter big game, though a big heavy wide meplat lead bullet is still best for the really big stuff." Dr. Gary B. "Doc" White, shown above with his "Katie Bear."
For the Savage 10ML-II, smokeless powder is prohibited by Savage Arms for any non-saboted projectile, or any projectile over 300 grains in weight. Blackhorn 209 is, of course. Folks like Doc White have shown that heavy conicals are appropriate for all North American game despite the loopy trajectory. There is still no substitute for proper shot placement, regardless. Of a historical note, the old .45-70 Government calvary load of a 405 grain bullet at 1305 fps is the load that drove the American Bison and the grizzly bear to extinction in a few short years.
Requiring hand-work, the premium hunting Hydra-Con (above) goes through four distinct finishing modifications.
Bob Parker, of Parker Productions, has continued to experiment with his heavy conicals that are easy loading, economical, and have been proven as devastating to all North American game. Recently, Bob has done a bit of testing with his 440 grain .50 caliber Hydra-Con in his Savage 10ML-II. His Savage results, this far, have been impressive: a five-shot group at 100 yards, measuring .725 inches. The propellant of choice is Blackhorn 209, 85 grains by VOLUME, for a surprisingly good velocity of about 1400 fps considering this heavy bullet. 80- 90 grains by volume is a reasonable window: pick what groups the best for you. Bob considers the 85 grain volumetric load comfortable in the recoil department as well, in the Savage 10ML-II. No bullet lube is needed, as Bob's Hydra-Cons are already moly-coated.
With Blackhorn 209: Sight in 2 inches high @ 100 yards, confirm POI @ 150 yards.
Bob has several slight variations in the precise bullet dimensions for best results in the Savage 10ML-II, Thompson, Knight Rifles, and other brands that offer you the highest probabilities for quick, satisfying results in your individual rifle, so be sure to contact Bob directly to get the most appropriate bullet for your preferred set-up.
Bob's "Traditional Hunter" flat-nosed line of bullet are more economical, ideal for the requisite preliminary working up a load work and practice as they shoot essentially identically to the high-performance Hydra-Con. Finally, the Bore-sized line is available in 440 grain .50 caliber, 530 grain for the Knight .52, and in 580 grain / .54 caliber.
© Copyright 2003-2012 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.


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