Carlos could have been a long-timer

We seem to be spending a lot of time lately discussing Carlos Delfino and how good he’s been in such a short period of time. Here’s something to think about.

I’m told by someone who’d know that the Raptors worked right up until the final minute on Halloween night trying to get a contract extension done for Delfino but couldn’t quite finalize a deal.
Getting him locked up for two or three years would have been a pretty good move.

Oh, and the Humphries deal? Am told it’s $3.2 million, $2.9 million, $3.2 million for the next three seasons.

Good money?

Yeah. The kid’s only 22, it’s far below even the mid-level salary exception and if Rasho’s gone after next year and Humphries can assume a bigger role, he’ll be uber-cheap.

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Alex, whoever you are, you win.

I wake up this morning, check the comments thingy for the item on Big Threes and here’s what my man comes up with:

"Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams."

Ding! Ding! Ding! Contest over.

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Speaking of trades, the worst one in NBA history is on the table.

Never mind Vince Carter for that slop, how about Seattle for Oklahoma City.

Man, would that bite.

The Pacific Northwest without a team? I shudder to think about it.

Vancouver for Memphis is the second-worst of all time; Seattle for Oklahoma City would take the cake.

And Ray Allen, who knows a thing or two about Seattle, had this to say, thanks to Marc Spears of the Boston Globe, who sent the quote along Sunday afternoon.

"When the team was bought from the previous ownership they told us and everybody in the city that they sold it to a group that they thought would likely most likely keep the team in the city. Everybody thought was some (garbage). How is someone from Oklahoma City going to buy a team in Seattle who doesn’t have any ties and has big money in Oklahoma? If things don’t go right, everybody’s craving for the team to move to Oklahoma City.

"That’s what a lot of us were disappointed in the beginning because the chances were greater (to stay). But it just seemed like they got the higher bid because they made more money selling the team to someone outside of the city. So when they made that announcement (to move) it came as no surprise to me. I think the people of that city are so snake bitten by previous ownership and now the new ownership. They kept telling people that they were doing everything they can to keep the team (in Seattle). I’m sure they did what they could. But that secondary option was always in line for them."

Can they save it?

"I still think there is a shot at the 11th hour,” said Allen.

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And another comment worth noting, this one from Blake Kennedy on yesterday’s item on Three Things I Learned:

"I disagree entirely on your assertion about Jason Kapono's defence.

"JK currently has a stop percentage of .524 _ which means 52.4% of the individual defensive possessions he's faced with, he provides a defensive stop. His defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) is 97.7, and the team's is 95.9. So he's barely above the team average in this case, and since 8.8 points per 100 possessions better than the league average of last year.

"He guarded Paul Pierce straight up most of the night, and did a fine job. He got beat off the bounce maybe once or twice, but that happens to the best defenders in the NBA by Paul Pierce.

"Bottom line is, Kapono has been giving the effort and intensity and playing smart team defence, just like the entire unit. I understand you have deadlines and you're a busy guy, but a little research would have given you the truth on this matter."

I'll just say this about that: Stop percentage? Defensive rating? When did basketball become baseball? Have we got seamheads in this game?

I put very little trust in such esoteric individual stats in a free-flowing team game like basketball, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is a game far too dependent on what other players – teammates and opponents – do.

The truth is, Kapono’s an okay defender. Not a great one; and he’s probably got a step or two to go to be even good. And that comes from the people who count – his coaches.

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Remember, if you've got questions for the mail bag, just click here.

The day after the night (well, afternoon) before

Good morning.

Here’s what we’re going to do, now and forever more (or at least until it gets old and boring and we come up with something new and exciting).

Because the people who actually know this web thing tell me you remain an inquisitive lot, we’ll do a mini-mailbag after each game to satisfy the demand as well as provide, I hope, some insight into what you might have missed.

On with the show, as they say.

Wasn’t that a rather intense game for No. 3 of a looooong drawn out season? Yesterday’s gem, that is. Big shots, big plays, big misses and mistakes. If that’s what we’re going to get in the Atlantic Division this season, it’s going to be a great, great winter.

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR

T.J. Ford skips his way to the basket (again) past Rajon Rondo.

Of course, 38-31 at half was hardly a clinic but the finish more than made up for it.

Three Things I Learned

T.J. Ford has stones

You didn’t see it but I heard it and it’s a glimpse into his character.

Raptors come out of the timeout with 7.1 seconds left in overtime, down three. Ford’s standing right in front of us and says to Andrea Bargnani: “Give me the ball back.”

It wasn’t so much a suggestion as a demand and we all saw what happened seconds later; an inbounds pass, a return pass and a huge three.

Rajon Rondo may not be quite ready for Hall of Fame induction.

Remember a year or so ago, when Rondo scorched the Raptors in a pre-season game?

Remember how cyber world was dominated by suggestions Rondo was better than any point guard the Raptors had ever employed and was destined for a great and long career filled with MVP trophies and championship rings?

Um, not so much, eh?

The Celtics may be good this season but watching Ford go around, through and over their point guard could not have been a fun sight to see. Boston is going to need to upgrade that position, somehow, because it’s going to kill them in the end.

Can Carlos Delfino start?

After all, he already finishes.

Another solid game off the bench and I’m wondering when the call will come to have him start either at the two or the three.

He seems comfortable at either spot, he defended Paul Pierce pretty well most of Sunday and there just seems to be something “off” with Anthony Parker’s game.

Yesterday, Delfino had six points, four boards in 30 minutes, good but not great. But there’s something about his game that makes me think we’ll see him on the court more like we did against the Celtics, when he played all 12 minutes of the fourth and all but 10 seconds of the OT.

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Three Things You Wondered

Q: After the loss to Boston on Sunday, what do you think the Raptors need to do to beat them next day? Or do you think that even though we shot horrible in the first half if we improved on that we would have won the game?

K. George, Toronto

A: It's really about making shots. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? If they shoot even a respectable percentage in the first half, they’re ahead and the game takes a different tone. Not to say they win for sure, but …

One thing they have to do better, though, is not leave Ray Allen. Too many times, the man guarding him, Parker or Dixon or Delfino, left him to help out on someone driving; they can’t have as much separation as they got.

Q: Missed first because of work. Missed second game because I can't afford another sports channel. So finally got a glimps of the new raptors in the third game. SF seems like a big issue when they tried to guard Pierce and Allen. I'm intrigued by Kapono since I know he can shoot, but can he do anything else well? He had trouble defending the Celtics. I thought it looked quite funny Kapono dribbling behind his back around Scalabrine when he went in for a drive.

Kevin Yip, Scarborough

A: Kapono has to rebound better, no question about it. And if they’ve got some drills to make him quicker, or at least move his feet more quickly on defence, I suggest they start them. But watching him go behind his back on Scalabrine was the (non) athletic highlight of the day, wasn’t it

Q: Lovin' the work you're doing. I would show a lot more love, but I've got to get to my point because I'm very disappointed with the Raptors-Nets game. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome game but what bothered me was when Malick Allen smacked Jose Calderon on a layup. Jose fell awkwardly and was laying there and NOT ONE RAPTOR came to his defence!  Someone on the Raptors has to send a tactful, yet stern, message to Malick and co. on the defensive end. We may be labeled a soft team but come on this is ridiculous. What's your take?

James T., Markham

A: My take is pretty much the same as yours. I was surprised no one at least got in Allen’s face a bit but I don’t recall if there was a moment after that in the course of play where any kind of, um, retribution could have been offered. I presume there was.

I also presume that as this season unfolds, you’ll see some nastiness emerge.

One thing I don’t know if you saw yesterday was Andrea Bargnani wrestling with Kendrick Perkins, long before they got hit with those OT technicals. It was very interesting to see The Big Soph pushing and shoving and fighting. Welcome sight, too.

Big Three cometh

Kevin, Paul and Ray may never reach the exalted status of, say, Curly, Larry and Moe and certainly not Bird, McHale and Parish but the arrival of Garnett, Pierce and Allen here Sunday is sure to wake up some echoes.

No more than in the mind of Raptor assistant coach Alex English.

You see, back before the NBA was a marketing machine driven by individuals rather than teams or -- heaven forbid! -- the game, English knew what it was like to be a member of a gang of three that could dominate the game.

In fact, when he looks back, there were a couple.

"There was a time when I was there with David Thompson and Dan Issel but I think the best was Dan, myself and Kiki Vandeweghe," English recalled this week when I asked him about the impending arrival of the Boston Celtics and their three all-stars.

"We knew what we could do, we knew what we had to do and everybody knew what their role was."

And that, he says, is what's going to make the Celtics formidable. Specifically, it'll be Garnett who drives it all.

"He’s a hard-worker, leads by example and he’s made sacrifices. He made sacrifices in Minnesota, he could have gone out every night and scored what he wanted. But he’s a passer, he’s a rebounder and he works hard.

"In Denver, that’s the way it was with us, it was by example. We knew what we wanted to do and we led by example."

I am of the opinion, off-stated, that the Celtics will be good, but not great. They will be among the teams fighting for the sixth through 10th spots in the East, I'd venture, because there's no certainty they can all stay healthy. The drop-off after them -- unless you are fully enamoured of the skills of journeymen James Posey and Eddie House -- is shocking.

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Speaking of Big Threes, what's your favourite?

We don't need any long-winded replies, and we'll not limit it to basketball or even sports but because they tell me this interweb thing is very interactive. Send a long a quick sentence or two defending your selection and we'll get 'em up as time allows.

I like Curly, Larry and Moe but am down on Peter, Paul and Mary. Figure 'em out and let us know. Even you old heads out there should go back in history -- Hope, Crosby and Dorothy Lamour? -- and add some context.

Smith

Rivalry? This ain't no stinking rivalry

You just hate it when guys won't play along.

We're in the Izod Center this morning -- the dump formerly known as the Continental Airlines Arena -- trying to poke, prod and goad Sam and the fellas into telling us how much they hate the Nets and tonight is payback and all that good headline-making stuff.

Nope. Not going there. None of them.

"It’s just another basketball game," says Sam. "It’s Game 2 of 82. After tonight we’ve got 80 more to go, that’s it."

But, c'mon, it's a division rival, tiebreaker implications down the line, there's that whole playoff series thing to look back on. Surely, there's a little extra juice, right? Nope.

"There’s nothing that’s going to happen tonight that’s got any chance of ruining our season," he said. "If we’re looking back and saying, 'if we would have won Game 2 then these things would have happened,' then we’ll be looking back and saying, we should have won Game 20 or Game 25."

Okay, Chris Bosh, you must feel something, right? Even just showing up at the arena?

"It was different, I hadn’t been here since so I couldn’t help but kind of try to remember everything that happened before but I pretty much don’t live in the past."

Double argh.

For sure, though, over at Nets shootaround at their practice facility, the always quotable Richard Jefferson must be laying it on and playing along? Right? Um, nope.

"How can it be a rivalry? No disrespect to them. we've been in the Eastern Conference mix for six years," he said. "They have definitely come up, their fans dislike us more than they do. (But) I wouldn't say it's a rivalry to the point where they get up for this game.

"Any time you lose against somebody in the playoffs, anytime you go against somebody who won your division, obviously there's an intensity there. But to say we all of a sudden have a rivalry?"

Treble argh.

There goes that angle.

Smith

Friday mail bag

This week’s themes: Plenty of Basketball 101 for the folks who miss Tuesday, remembering Vince (not fondly) and a look back at the lockout. Click here to submit a question for the mail bag.

Q: I love the blog, but for the lack of a Tuesday mail bag (which was the lowpoint of my day), I have a question for you to ponder.

If Magloire was a Raptor, would you start TJ or Calderon?

Scott T, Waterloo

A: Exceptional question, as I’ve come to expect from the Waterloo contingent.

If Magloire were a Raptor, I’d probably think about trading Jose for Kobe or maybe holding on to him to make a play for Nash when he becomes a free agent.

The morning after

Three things we learned last night

The franchise record for free throw attempts is safe

FTAs in the first quarter? 0

FTAs in the game? 17

We always knew this was a jump-shooting team but, c'mon. The guards and forwards have to get to the line a little bit more. The bigs tried, Bosh and Bargnani both had five foul shots; the swingmen never went near the rim. Anthony Parker, 0; Jason Kapono, 0; Juan Dixon, 0.

That's got to improve.

Oh, the record? They averaged 26.6 in 1998-99.

Small works, for now

With Jorge Garbajosa and Kris Humphries both invisible -- a combined two points, three rebounds and three fouls in 13 minutes -- the Raptors were forced to go small and, the little fourth quarter snoozefest notwithstanding -- it worked okay. For one night.

The oddest lineup of the night? Bosh, with Calderon, Dixon, Parker and Delfino at the start of the fourth quarter.

Carlos Delfino does have energy

He may look lethargic, and he's the quietest talker this team has maybe ever had, but Carlos Delfino will have an impact.

He looked like a bigger, stronger Morris Peterson crashing the offensive boards from the corner, he's got some good ball-handling skills and six rebounds in 31 minutes from the small forward position is a going to be a blessing for this team.

He may have struggled to get used to things right off the bat but according to those who see full practices, and watching last night, he's going to be a key part of this team.

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Feel old?

I do, a bit.

Vince Carter's now in his 10th NBA season.

Dave D'Alessandro, crack beat dude from the Newark Star-Ledger, wrote an excellent main season setup for the Nets around Carter, who is all grown up. In it, Nets GM Rod Thorn says he thinks Carter's a better player today than he was when New Jersey got him in that theft, er, trade, with Toronto in '04.

But 10 years? Seems like only yesterday he started the lockout shortened season in Boston.

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Props to Ms. Ewing of The People's Wire Service for nailing the intro song long before opening night. It was pretty good, as was most of the game ops, which haven't really changed much from last year.

But the explosions? Hope that was a one-night wonder. It's a cacophany of noise anyway, that was over the top.

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Don't forget we're doing the regular mailbag thingy tomorrow, just like the olden pre-blog days.

Just click here if you want to get involved, as I know you all do.

Remember: TJ-Jose queries verboten and if anyone, glancing at the schedule and seeing a game with New Jersey, asks why Jamaal Malgoire isn't a Raptor, they will be dealt with harshly.