The Morning After The Night Before, XVII

You know what that was like?

That was like watching my cat with a mouse. Catch it, bat it around a little bit, let it go, smack it again, let it go again, catch it and kill it. Oh, and then leave it right outside the front door so squeamish people see it, dog goes beserk and Dad has to scoop it up. (Oops, sorry I digress).

Anyway, you can just file that Suns game under Undermanned Team That Couldn’t Win Didn’t. And move on.

Three Things I Learned

A perfect storm

Take a team that doesn’t go near the paint, put it against one that doesn’t care if you score when you get there and, presto!, you’ve got last night.

The Suns didn’t commit a single foul in the entire second quarter and didn’t commit a team foul for the first nine minutes of the fourth.

That moved the game along at a nice, brisk pace (interrupted only by the emergency timeouts called by an increasingly agitated Sam Mitchell), over in 2:06.

Dancing in the streets of Ljubljana

You probably didn’t see the glee along press row when Rasho had that put-back dunk in the third quarter.

But it meant Bea Arthur, um, I mean B. Arthur, won a bet with M. Grange. When Rasho came back from his injury, they set an over and under date when he’d have his first dunk.

It was Jan. 7 and Frick, or is Frack?, took the under.

Speaking of Rasho, one of the correspondents – after watching a hobbled Jermaine O’Neal scorch Amare Stoudemire on Tuesday night – suggested before the game that we might want to check Rasho’s career-high scoring night. When he got 10 on the first quarter, we did.

It’s 24.

Where’d that come from?

Is it possible, we were wondering, for a guy to have a ‘quiet’ night of 10 points and 18 assists? Yup.

Sick as a dog with a cold and a touch of the flu, Steve Nash was outstanding, and barely noticeable for long stretches, Wednesday night. No one thinks he’s quick but he got by Jose and T.J. almost at will, there were questions about his shooting but that three-pointer he hit in the first half was Dell Curry-esque.

Dude’s good. Really, really, really good.

Three Things You Wondered

Q: What would the Raptors have to do in your opinion to acquire a power presence like a Tim Thomas? Do we have enough trade bait and salary to match any such possibilities? Tim was a great acquisition when BC brought him to Phoenix.

This is the first time I have posted a comment I hope I've put it in the right spot. If not where do I go?

Craig Culver

A: This is the right spot. That, unfortunately, is the wrong idea. Tim Thomas is not the answer. He was all right in Phoenix, big in that playoff series with the Lakers, but that was a couple of years ago and his skills have diminished. He’s a finesse big, in many respects, not something they need here.

I want to start a Free Walter Herrmann movement! He’d look good over here.

Q: I thought that last year's referee scandal would have been a huge story this season; however, we hear nothing about it. Has Howard Stern done some PR magic and had it swept under the rug? Thanks!

Doug Nason, Parry Sound

A: Howard? Not to worry, I know you mean David; it’s easy mistake to make, many have.

The answer is no, he hasn’t done anything special at all. The Tim Donaghy thing was what Stern said it was, a ‘rogue, isolated criminal’ acting on his own. I said all along that the refs in the NBA are the best officials in all pro sports with the toughest jobs. And they, with the exception of that one, it seems, are all honourable men, and a woman.

Q: Answer me this, oh wise one: what horrible, grievous sin did Joey commit (Wednesday) to justify Sam simply forgetting about him? A defensive lapse? Hell, if that was it, then the entire team should have been benched. The Suns had no answer for that little two-man game he and Jose were running early on. Either a 12-footer or a drive to the basket and a hoop and/or foul was the result each time. And against the Suns, you need Joey's athleticism and speed.  Sam needs to ease up on the kid just a bit, or he'll lose what's remaining of his fragile confidence.

Lee Zimmerman, Ottawa

A: Not sure there is an answer for you. Joey did look good early (settled for jumpers a couple of times when the lane was open) but it was his second good stint in a row. Sam grows exasperated not so much by defensive lapses -- Lord knows there were enough of them committed by all of them -- but by a lack of desire and no willingness to compete. That's what he sees too often from Joey.

That's an excellent point you make about the confidence, though. Joey hasn't -- yet -- tuned out the constant harping and maybe he never will. There is some praise offered -- heard a couple of 'Good play, Joeys' from Sam courtside the lat two games so maybe that's what's keeping the kid going.

Best line of Wednesday

A wag, well, okay, Mike Grange of the Globe, watches Sean Marks hit that pretty little garbage-time jumper and asks: “Is the first basket he’s scored in Toronto?” A joke, of course, ‘cause we watched Marks, one of the all-time good guys in the game, light the Raps up for 16 while with the Spurs in ’06.

Keep 'em coming

Don’t forget, tomorrow’s a mailbag day, and it’s cold outside so a perfect day to sit and the computer and compose tomes to me. Through the magic of the interweb, just click here to send things along.

Comments

[DougG]

I attended the lesson in how to play basketball at the ACC last night and the only consolation I could take away is that the same guy that put Phoenix together now works for us. We probably played well enough to beat most teams in the league but shouldn't even be on the same court as the Suns. It seemed like they scored every time they came down the court. Their passing game was amazing and they didn't seem to miss any shots. Maybe that is because they were wide open when they took the shots? The other thing I noticed is how athletic and fast they are. We looked slow and lumbering in comparison. Toronto obviously has a long way to go before it joins the elite in the NBA.

[Kevin]

Tim Thomas was good for two reasons two years ago:

1.) He was playing on Phoenix.

2.) It was a contract year. He was THE guy that season that you knew a GM would see in the playoffs and think "I'm going to spend a fortune on that guy!" and then he would sink back into obscurity. As far as NBA players go anyway.

[Dan]

The problem is Steve Nash kept drawing several help defenders leaving wide open shooters. If they played him staright up and made him a scorer they may have had a better shot at winning. Steve Nash is a great player but I think they showed him a bit too much respect. Plus there is no way the Suns will shoot that good from three every night. They miss a few of those and the game would have been alot closer.

[omurchu]

At least you got free pizza out of it though right?

[Connor]

I started and deleted this comment a few times because i think that the whole TJ/Jose debate gets a tad ridiculous at times and was surprised I had the urge to join in on this debate. But TJ just has that special something that rubs fans the wrong way, and i think everyone knows what it is. TJ is good and all, and someone had to score some points in the fourth quarter, but passing it to one of the 3-point specialists that the GM brought in and the coach put on the floor might have been a nice way to try and catch up when down by 20 points. I really hope that he buys into the system at some point.

[Jason Ohashi]

I would agree with Connor on the most part but I think they kinda conceded the game already so maybe TJ was just trying to get used to playing in game situations? Doesn't mean he shouldn't pass to the three point specialists, but TJ does usually pass it around more than he did last night.

[Zack]

Connor, when you are down by that much and the three's aren't falling (or any shots for that matter) why wouldn't T.J. cut to the net for a layup or sink a few of his jumpers when wide open at the stripe? If it wasn't for T.J. initiating some offense last night, the score would have probably been a whole lot more lopsided. Just because you continuously shoot threes doesn't mean they are going to start going in all of a sudden. There are other ways to come back from a big deficit, unfortunately not enough players stepped up last night like T.J. did to help us get the win.

[Edgar]

I think its important to point out that the Raptors played comparable to the way they played against Charlotte on Monday. Just pointing out its funny that the media is focusing only on how good Phoenix is (duh) and not how above average we were dispite lacking top bigs.

[lennox]

(Walter) Herrmann will be perfect. i often think he is that missing link for charlotte. Vincent doesn't know how to play that guy. fabio can play the 3, 4 or even 5. he is a 12/7 starter or 9/5 off the bench. Toronto should unfortunately trade Rasho to get Herrmann.