The Morning After The Night Before, XXIII

I take back everything bad I ever said about the Boston Celtics. I was wrong. They are good. Very, very good. And if I had to pick an Eastern Conference champion today – the provision being that I haven’t seen Detroit in person yet – they’d be it.

But there are still almost 60 games left in the season and a couple of playoff rounds for them to get through so plenty can still happen.

And on with the show:

Three Things I Learned

Big Rook or Big Soph is a Big Nothing right now

I was talking to someone high up on the staff yesterday about Bargnani and he said “he looks like he did the first two weeks of his career.”

Bargnani told Dave Feschuk yesterday that he’s playing like poo – or something like that – and I guess if the first step to recovery is admitting you’ve got a problem, he’s on the right track.

But it was sort of telling that the first big off the bench the last two games has been Kris Humphries and when there was four minutes of garbage time Sunday, who got to play? Bargnani.

No idea how you get a guy’s confidence back but watching Bargnani play yesterday it was obvious he has none.

I don't think they should trade him, or even take calls about people wanting him because his upside is so good. But garbage time? That's an indictment of how far he's fallen.

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A telling comment?

Jose Calderon gets knocked down twice within about 30 seconds and a guy (not a wag because we’ve set the record straight on that one) turns to me and says:

"I don’t know what streak’s longer. The games with a three-pointer (which hit 720 on Sunday) or how long it’s been since we knocked someone on his ass.”

Good question.

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No time for friends

After they mopped up the halftime leak, when the teams were warming up, Sam Mitchell was standing in front of us having a conversation with Glen Davis. Just some idle chit-chat, couple of smiles, maybe a joke or two.

Kevin Garnett sees it, is not amused, and pushes his teammate away from talking with the enemy.

And KG and Sam are tight. That’s the kind of mindset the MVP has.

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Three Things You Wondered

Q: Your main man (Walter) Hermann just got traded to the Euro-Killers. Hopefully if he's smart he won't resign with them. Why does Detroit keep going after players they'll never use? They just like ruining careers don't they?

Chuck, Toronto

A: They may kill some players, or at least wound them, but this one made sense for Detroit from a financial point of view and that's why Joe Dumars should get credit. They get out from the albatross that was Nazr Mohammed's contract, can now maybe sign Chris Webber for the end of the season without hitting the luxury tax level and surely My Man Walter can get some backup minutes on that team.

As for the Bobcats? I have no idea what they're doing. The thought that Mohammed may make things easier on Emeka Okafor is valid but what about when Okafor bails 'cause the team's so crappy and they're stuck with Mohammed's contract?

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Q: I read the question about travel last week and I had a bunch of my own. Why don't the Raptors fly you guys with them? Don't they want the coverage anyways? Does any team in the league fly reporters with them? It can't possibly cost them that much more to fly you and Stumpy.

Raymond Young, Toronto

A: Some of it's timing -- they leave right after most games, when we're just getting into the thick of the workday; some of it's opulence -- the manner in which they travel would cost my company way more than the cheapy advance booking commercial flights we take.

But mostly, it's because that's their team time and we are interlopers. Sometimes, they don't really want to see any more of us and, sometime we don't want to see any more of them.

And, no, no team flies the beat grunts around.

Oh, and it'd cut way down on the post-game convivality and adult beverage-drinking time we get.

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Q: My question this time is if you had to rank the cities with the craziest, loudest and most loyal NBA fans how would you rank them. Here is my ranking: 1-Toronto, 2-Oakland (Golden State fans), 3-Los Angeles (both Clippers and Laker fans ) 4-Phoenix, 5-Dallas.

Rob Stone, Vancouver

A: That's a good list, but I'd have a different one.

I'd have Sacramento in there, I'd take the Laker fans out because they're mostly pretty boys and girls just there to be seen. I'd have Detroit on that list and dump Dallas because they're mostly sheep who cheer when Mark Cuban's over-the-top PA announcer tells them to.

Oakland's a good choice, though, but only in the last couple of years and if I had to replace them, it'd be with Utah.

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I need to throw this in as a bonus because it’s just another chapter in a sad, sad tale.

Chris of Toronto sends along this link to a story where Keon Clark says he never played an NBA game sober and wonders if I saw any evidence of it here.

No, the answer is. We all knew Keon enjoyed a cocktail, and perhaps some other things that would, um, take the edge off, and his smoking cigarettes was legendary but if he was even slightly drunk playing games, it never dawned on any of us.

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It’s a long, long trek out west starting today and you interweb people are lucky. With the way deadlines work around the paper, and with two 10:30 p.m. starts in the first three games, we can use this forum to give you different stuff than the paper does. And don’t forget, we’ve still got to worry about the mailbag so just click here to send along all your questions.

Comments

[Dinosty]

Do you realize you just wrote an entire post without talking about yesterday's game? Just curious.

Blogger's note: Um, actually, the stuff about KG and Big Baby, Andrea playing garbage time minutes and the top about the Celtics playing well sorta took care of the game, no?

[Sara]

In Italy there have been persistent rumors on Andrea having big troubles inside the locker room : what I've seen lately let me believe that there is something going on which is not connected with his health . I will not be surprised if a trade is coming . Raptors do not need him. Sam doesn't want him. BC should simply admit he made a wrong choice for this team and move on. What a waste of talent.

Blogger's note: No disrespect intended but those persistent rumours would seem to be waaaaaay off base.
And I would be shocked if a trade is coming any time because, yes, the Raptors desperately need him to play better; Sam wants him to play better and, quite frankly and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, if they even were remotely interested in dealing him, his value is at an all-time low because of the way he's been playing

[egrrl]

I was at the game yesterday, and man, it was pretty surprising how full it was, wasn't it? Not that many empty seats.

But can someone fire the in-game operations people? Fourth quarter. Raptors close the gap to 10 points. Fans on their feet, going nuts. Boston calls timeout. And during the timeout they play ... Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. As The Swirsk might say, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Totally took the crowd out of it - and granted, I doubt the crowd would have pushed the Raptors over the top or anything, but still. What a stupid decision that was.

[ET]

Well, I certainly don’t think Raptors are going to give up on their #1 pick that easily. It has been frustrating to see Bargnani struggle mightily, but let's not push the panic button yet. He struggled like this last season and then came around big time. So hopefully he can regain his confidence back soon and we don’t have to trade him for some bench warmer/another project (that’s what we’ll get for him in return at this moment).

[Shrugz]

I agree with egrrl
Terrible timing I hear the music drown out the crowd
on another note

trading Bargnani now is like sticking with a stock for 1 year seeing some nice returns and then after 4 months of decline selling it really low. Even when you know the stock is good and should be good after some time.

[Maciej]

Wow. How fickle are the Toronto fans? Give Andrea some time, seriously, he's had a bad stretch and that's all. I still remember people last year comparing him to Rafael Araujo when he was struggling early on.

He needs minutes more than anything. It was no coincidence that he started to play better when he got the 20 plus games instead of the 5-6 garbage time he's getting now.

[Dinosty]

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure shootaround conversations and stating Bargnani's struggles constitutes 'game analysis'. It's difficult (as many blogs have noted) to write about the Raptors without sounding like the record's skipping. You're in an even tougher spot, though. You've got post game reports, regular Raptor columns, and yet you've STILL got to mine some new information for this blog.

That's a full plate, sir.

Blogger's note: A very full plate but I hear your concerns and will try to address them.

[Blake Kennedy]

I think less in question concerning Andrea Bargnani's garbage time minutes is Sam Mitchell's approach to him. He has seemingly gone out of his way to demoralize and regress Bargnani's game, from yanking him out of the starting rotation without explanation ("we just need to get Rasho going") to his wavering commitment to playing him at all.

Sam is obviously under the delusion that he doesn't need Bargnani to win games. The more games they play against teams like Boston will result in more cracks to the skull of that theory - and the more, the better. I'm finished with Sam's bizarre and inconsistent approaches to this team and incessant experimenting. It's time for Dr. Frankensmitch to be sent packing.

Blogger's note: You're kidding, right? A coach sabotaging a former No. 1 draft pick? Fire him? Wow.

[alex]

Why on earth would Mitchell sit bosh when Garnett is still playing? As soon as he went out they ran up a 20 point lead that Raps never recovered from. Wasn't this a big enough game, you wouldn't sit Bosh unless you were at least ahead?

[H to the IMMO]

Doug,

I know that guards develop quicker than bigs, and I know that everyone was willing to dismiss Dirk early in his career...

But is it too soon to lament the fact that BC didn't pick Brandon Roy with his #1?

Blogger's note: Yes, it's far too soon. You've got to wait at least into the third season before you can assess draft classes, in my opinion.

[tino]

Garnett rather play Rasho or Humps at their best than Andrea at his.Someone should let Sam know,and remind him of the playoffs,why he started Andrea and how the team benefitted of his presence. Of the 3 games against the Celtic, only when Andrea started, Boston defense wasn't as effective as one of their big was guarding Bargnani at the top of key,allowing more penetration to our guards and space to CB4.Andrea has not improved as we expect, but i think it's fair to expect improvemts from the coach also, in how to get the best from him.

[Zack]

I don't buy that Bargnani is playing so poorly due to lack of playing time. Wouldn't the lack of PT result in him doing better when he gets the minutes? That hasn't seemed to work. And Sam didn't "yank" him from the starting line-up, he gradually withdrew him from the rotation as his game began to regress. I don't think a trade is the answer, but some tough love is in order so this kid can learn that he needs to bring his game every night for the Raps to be the team they want to be.

[GM]

What was the story of what Sam did in a weight room or some such place last season that got Bargnani playing well? And why doesn't he do it again? It's like something clicked with him from that point on.

But still, no way do you trade the guy. Not yet, anyway. It's a sophomore jinx, that's all. If he doesn't come around next season, then you might consider it. Might. But it's tough knowing you've got to produce in short stints or else you'll be yanked out. It makes you overly concerned about making a mistake or bad play, and ironically that causes you to make mistakes and bad plays.

Blogger's note: Funny you should mention that Bargnani thing from last year, am about to put it in the blog, soon as I wipe the sleep from my eyes out here in La-La Land.