The Morning After The Night Before, XII

The Legend of Jamario grows.

Helluva play, wasn't it? That Dr. J-esque layup? Haven't seen one of those in the arena since that Carter fellow was jumping over tall buildings in a single bound.

Oh, and how bad are the Bulls? A point guard apparently allergic to paint, a centre who can't rebound at the moment and a bunch of other young kids who run around like chickens with their heads cut off most of the time. Is Scott SKiles in trouble? No one had him on the First To Get Fired list this year.

Anyway ...

Three Things I Learned

Memories of Butch

You could almost hear the raspy tones of Butch Carter yelling ‘crack him’ whenever Kirk Hinrich was pestering Jose Calderon 85 feet from the basket Sunday. Carter thought the best way to dissuade that kind of pressure was for a big to set a rather punishing screen on the defender, maybe knocking him on his butt.

Mitchell did yell at Bargnani and Bosh a couple of times to set screens for Calderon, guess that was his way of channeling Butch.

Of course, it could have worked better than the one time the Hump set the screen and got knocked down.

No Moon Time

You check out the little scorers’ table byplay late in the second quarter Sunday? Sam has Jamario Moon ready to check in for Carlos Delfino, who is guarding Luol Deng, when Delfino drains a big three from the far corner. Moon looks back, smiles; Sam smiles and waves Moon back to the bench.

Absenteeism

No, you did not see Jorge Garbajosa on the bench during Sunday’s game with Chicago. And, no, you did not see Rasho Nesterovic on the bench during Sunday’s game with Chicago. And, no, you should not read anything too significant into it.

Three Things You Wondered

Q: Doug do you think that it's time to cut D Martin, give him a assistant coach role and sign a third point guard? Sam did not use him at all against Chicago and I don't blame him after the Cleveland game.

Astrit

A: If you can find a veteran point guard who’s a good teacher, makes (relatively) very little money, is a great guy in the locker room who is accepting of his role of playing – what? – about eight minutes in total this season who won’t wine about his lot in life then, yeah, go sign him.

Oh, wait, that’s Darrick Martin? Then keep him right now.

Q: Now that Sam has become the all-time winningest coach in Raptor history, I want you to gaze into your crystal ball and predict when Sam's coaching record will be above .500.

Bay Street Lawyer, Toronto

A: Funny, when we were busting on Sam about that very record – wondering if they’d have a parade back home or a pre-game ceremony here – he mentioned that he wanted some recognition when he got to .500.

Since he’s 32 games below right now, I’d say it’s early in the 2009-10 season when he gets there and it’s party time.

Speaking of Sam, check out how other people see him in this piece by Wayne Embry biographer Mary Schmitt Boyer in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on the weekend.

Q: I know it’s a long season but with the emergence of Jamario Moon do you see Joey Graham getting any significant PT this season? Moon does everything that Joey was drafted for (defence, athleticism, hustle) and does it better. After only 10 games it’s clear to most fans that even Good Joey is no match for Super Jamario! I wonder if BC regrets picking up Graham's option.

Andrew Wye, Toronto

A: Did you ever hear of a guy named Wally Pipp? Oh wait, that was a month or so ago.

No, I don’t see Joey Graham being anything more than an emergency, injury-replacement player for the next long while, which is fine because that’s a good role for him. At least until Moon comes back to earth, if he ever does.

But I also don’t think they regret locking him up for another year because he’s now an asset who can maybe packaged in a trade later this year.

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On the notes they provide us every game, there’s a little panel that tells us the pre-game timing issues. Like 7:05, introduce visitors; 7:07, introduce Raptors; 7:08 opening dance number and in-game host scream-a-thon. (Not really, the dancers don’t get any billing)

They may have to add on now: 7:10, clean up the court.

Sure, fire and explosions and noise are nice (well, they’re not nice at all; as a matter of fact they’re loud and obnoxious but all part of the show) but they do make a mess.

And it’s getting very boring watching dudes sweep the court before every game can start, cleaning the debris of the over-the-top intro.

--

Oh, and that Kanye West song? Heard it Cleveland, too. It’s getting entirely over-played in a series of NBA arenas. Even the First Lady Of The Beat wants it gone and she's the one of us who actually knows what it is.

I figure there has to be some Canadian artist whose music should be played, right?

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And remember, if you've got questions, just click here to send them along.

Comments

[Omar]

The whole "D-Mart is a good teacher" retort seems a little strange. If my Grade 2 teacher couldn't multiply 2 by 2, I would probably ignore her...and unless D-Mart is teaching TJ and Jose how to chuck constantly and pretend you're the next coming of AI, then I still don't see why he couldn't teach in a (less-expensive) assistant coach role. Why would the rules on how to run a team be any different for him? Delfino, Juan, or a 10-day contract player could do just as well in the 3rd PG slot if needed. Oh - and Moon is my favorite Rap to watch since Keon Clark was jumping out of the gym. Talk about hops!

[DougG]

The Raptors played well enough this weekend to beat a struggling team but they lost to a team with one supertar again.
They lost to that superstar even when their superstar performed at the same level. The team seems to be OK for what it does well, when the shooting eventually returns.
However, in my opinion they still lack an inside game, which seems to require toughness and a strong desire to rebound the ball and score points off the paint. I know Carlos Boozer is not available but they need a player something like him, a Ron Artest type of player.
That ought to help them win games against the top flight teams, who have one or more superstars, when the Raptors shots are not dropping.
Bargnani just isn't ready to play that role yet. I wonder if there is a communication problem with that kid because he seems to be confused out there when he isn't taking shots.

[Robin]

Andrea is lost in translation ...

[Dagomar Degroot]

DougG, the Raptors lost to Lebron James, but so did the Pistons and the Nets in the playoffs last year. That guy is a force of nature; the Raps ran into his ridiculous triple double and could have easily won. When Lebron is playing close to his best and the shooters on the Cavs are actually hitting their shots, Cleveland is a really, really tough team. And while Bosh is a wonderful player, James is on a different level right now.

As for the inside game, that's what Bosh is for. The team is built around his inside game.

The Darrick Martin thing makes some sense. Every team needs quality locker room leaders, and Martin can serve sufficiently as a fourth-string PG, behind Dixon. Who else could we pick up in his stead? Colangelo knows what he's doing.

[Zack]

There is no way BC trades up Andrea for something better (which he probably could) and Bosh is the "cornerstone of the Raptors foundation" so those two better learn to play well together or we are in all in for a long season...

[Robin]

If trading Andrea will bring in something really 'better' BC will probably accept.
I can understand that most Raptor fans, and not only fans, are already done with Andrea and are prepared to trade him for any Mr. Miracles but the question is:
What can you find in this moment better than a 22-year-old kid with potential and a 'decent' contract? Another 3-point shooter at $ 8 mil/year ?