Being Raja Bell
If there is one player who wants another shot at the Finals, it’s Raja Bell. Raja got a chance as a rookie to run with the Sixers and ended up guarding Kobe Bryant in their 2001 NBA Finals loss. He’s come a long way as a player . Raja turned his buzz-worthy ‘06 postseason into a great ‘07 season that came with First team All Defense honors.
Raja’s competitive fire makes one of the more hated Suns and makes him the heart and soul of the team as well. While Amare and Boris wandered away from the bench to do whatever they were doing, Raja caught an elbow in the face going after Robert Horry. Raja is the player a lot of fans would like to be on the court. The guy who doesn’t take a possesion off. He makes a player like Kobe Bryant work on both ends of the court. Fighting a scorer for position, reaching, flopping, jawing- while his shot total increases and his percentage drops. Raja then runs the floor hard and doesn’t miss when he’s wide open.
Some of the best theater in the NBA is when Raja is called for a foul. He picks himself up. He gets in the ref’s ear with smiling complaints. He walks over the scorers’ table wipes his feet for more stickum. Then he returns to battle. Raja is a pro. He’s the player every title team needs. The guy who gets dirty and fights for the extra inch. He calls himself the poor man’s Bruce Bowen.
There’s not much Raja needs to work on this offseason other than healing from a recent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Raja was banged up at times last season and hopefully this procedure will help out. Raja logs major minutes for this team due to his defense and shooting. It’d be nice to see his minutes scaled back a bit in the regular season now that it looks like DJ Strawberry will make the roster. Having two guards (possibly three if Banks gets more minutes) to sic on opposiing wing scorers would be nice. The development of the young wing players will help depth and give veterans like Raja more in the tank for the grueling Western Conference playoffs.
Revenge for Raja would be another chance to perform on the highest level. The Suns’ season slipped away due to stuff that had nothing to with actual basketball. Those things eat at veterans and fuel their fire. Raja will have plenty of fire for 07-08.
Original post by Hersey
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