The Morning After The Night Before, LVXIII

Sorry I’m a bit late, seems the road caught up to me and some extra sleep was necessary. But considering the calm that's awash over Raptorland today, I figure it was a good morning to catch an extra 90 minutes of shuteye.

So here we go

Three Things I Learned

It’s not just me

Sitting in the room waiting for Sam to come entertain us, the conversation got around – as it usually does – to what we’d just seen.

And after we’d carved the Heat, we started carving fans, all of us did.

That booing over the pizza? That’s entirely bush league. Embarrassing. I know it’s a drum I like to beat but, really, just cheer or sit on your hands or walk out of the building to go get a beer. Booing in the final minute of a 42-point win cheapens everything.

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Scoreboard watching?

The lounge just off the main section of the Raptor locker room is generally reserved for eating and avoiding us. Last night, though, there were more than a few extra bodies in there watching the end of the Philly-Denver game and, judging by the groans coming out of another area when Turkoglu missed a potential game-winner, there was some attention being paid to Washington-Orlando, too.

No one’s saying who they’d rather meet in the first round but, trust me, they are paying close attention to what the Wizards and Sixers are doing.

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How about Bosh?

What’d you think? I saw the predictable rust but also a whole lot of intensity and emotion from his teammates that had been lacking. Sam talked at shootaround about how just seeing Bosh in uniform would make a difference in the attitude and swagger of the other guys and he was right. No one can say for certain how they’re going to play from here on in but there were a lot of people around the locker room last night thinking some corner had been turned.

I believe they were right.

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My man Ira was wandering around the press-room last night with guides and records books and lists of all time unspeakably bad performances, trying to put some context to what the Heat had done. Here’s how he finally put it all together.

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Quickly the mailbag:

Q: Hi, a couple of unrelated questions have occurred to me, hope you don't mind...

So, I didn't see Wednesday's 'game' and ended up checking the box score, and noticed that there were 8 Miamis who got the DNP, and only 7 who played. Isn't the rule that 8 players have to dress, and if so, which uniformed player got spared being fed to the lions on that one?

And the other question is, how much non-Raptor NBA do you get a chance to see? It's one thing to get the gist of Kobe or LeBron from the highlight reels, but how often do you get to refresh your opinion on Walter Herrmann?

Just sorta randomly curious, thanks for your time.

Michael R, Toronto

A: You would have seen Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion in uniform on the bench, although neither could play.

How much do other basketball do I see? I’d estimate it’s a game a night when these guys aren’t playing, a lot of clicking around the dial to see which is the best game. And I’m generally on a couch or in a press room somewhere on Sunday afternoon to watch the ABC game.

And, of course, the good folks at the Harbour Sports Grille will put on whatever game we want to see on whatever TV we’re sitting closest to every night after home games. Toss in the friendly folks who work there and it’s another reason to stop by.

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Hey, did you get a load of Daequan Cook’s Andrea Bargnani imitation? Two fouls in 16 seconds. That’s doing something.

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A whole different take on restricted free agency:

Q: I just wanted to know the rules about restricted free agents being signed. Is it like the NHL where the team that loses the player gets draft picks?

Amir K, Waterloo

A: We’ve got to stop these comparisons to the pucks, okay?

No, if a restricted free agent signs an offer sheet with another team and his present team doesn’t match, he’s gone. No picks, no money, no nothing.

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Last week when we were out in Denver, old friend Marcus Camby was suggesting the five-game trip the Nuggets are on would make or break their season.

Well, they’re 0-2 and now 2 1-2 games behind Golden State for eighth in the West and they’ve got Jersey Friday before they get here on Sunday. My bet is if they lose to the Nets, they know the season’s over and they mail in Sunday afternoon’s game.

Comments

[Fire Cracker]

Raptor fans are like babies. Dangle candy/pizza in front of us and then not give it to us will make us cry/boo.

My only excuse is that Raptor fans have not been around very long and perhaps are still learning the dos and do nots of being a fan.

[Zack]

I have a feeling the commenter jk would be whining no matter what state the team was in. Bosh didn't help? I guess you couldn't see how much more confidence the team was playing with when he was back in the line-up? And dreading TJ coming into the game? Just because a guy has a rough string of games, you're going to throw him under the bus? Did we all forget how much he helped this team win 47 games last season?

Come on man, you are just talking to be heard, those comments have no merit and you need to actually watch a Raps game before commenting any further.

[Gerald]

"It was all in fun, and some of you - Doug Smith included - have to lighten up."

"They are booing with a smile on their faces because as much as the fans love watching Basketball, they are there to have a good time."

"Even from the comfort of my sofa I could tell the booing was more ironic than serious. Geez, and they say Americans don't get irony... "

You folks don't seem to understand "fun" all that much. Having "fun" or being "ironic" (incorrectly used above, BTW) is one thing. Having fun at the expense of and with disrespect to SOMEONE ELSE (in this case, the opposing team) is a different thing entirely. Hint: one is something that you would teach your own children to do, and the other is something that you would teach your children NOT to do.

[TMF]

Are you going to start a second blog, focused entirely on pizza?

Blogger's note: Why do that when so many here are having so much fun with it. But, really, it's gotta end soon, right? Please? Please?

[Jamie]

Most Raps fans wouldnt know a good game of basketball from a bad one...i think the term "bushleague" defines it quite well, if they were watching a bushleague game where they gave a away cash and prizes and pizza, everyone would be just as happy as long as the team didnt totally suck.

How can you call any under 25, 2nd year player a bust, or chant MVP all season long...look at Jose in his 2nd season, compared to where he is in his 3rd...last season, who would have thought that Jose Calderon would have been given SERIOUS All-Star consideration...

So, when MLSE stops providing a "bushleague" experience, and the fans become more educated in the game of basketball, all the crazy emails that get sent to everybody from the swirsk, to you, to all the NBA.com writers will probably become more educated and less ranty as well.

...patience i guess...

[Pat]

Hey Joe and GM, I think it's a matter of different viewpoints. Even Chuck got upset when he heard the boos. It's one thing to be involved with the Raptors everyday as a means of earning a living but it's another to pay for the tickets and making your way down to the ACC and cheering from way up in the three hundreds. Heck, just travelling to and from the ACC takes up anywhere from 2-3 hours out of my day. I say just let the crowd have fun.

[Jon M]

Why not make it free pizza for a win? That's actually an accomplishment, as opposed to say losing 120-100.

[GM]

Hey, Gerald, "irony" was used correctly. As the dictionary says, it's "the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning." The booing was in jest. Yeah, they wanted the pizza, but it's not like they were really disgusted. Just having fun.

Although if they wanted to boo for a pathetic game, it was their right. Good for the home team, but a no-show from the visitors.

[Jack Trentman]

Man, who was the 'booing' re no pizza really bothering...the Raps players (I'm sure they'd get it, it's mostly in fun...) the 'no mas' Heat?
If you think it's bush, blame Raptors game ops and/or the MLSE wunderkind who drummed up the promo in the first place. Raising your media 'highbrows' over where the boos come from seem misplaced given the carnival that is an NBA game..you guys want purity, cover more high school ball. And for those patronizing the Sprite zone fans - they make Raps games real and fun, and many of us would prefer much more of those fans in the building than the perma-tan corporate stiffs in the lower bowls

[Lance Uppercut]

Free Pizza for wins... otherwise I'm boycotting Pizza Pizza until they realize that Raptors fans aren't intelligent enough for this type of promotion.

[Dan]

While the booing may have been in bad taste, it's not like the Raps were being any more professional. The final 4 minutes were filled with botched behind the back passes and terrible alley-oop tries. Fans wanted some pizza and they booed - it died off in about 10 seconds and that was that...not THAT big of a deal, is it?

[cuzzy]

New rules for pizza.

110 points

A raptor gets 10 boards in a game.

D-Mart scores a hoop.

OTher than that stop boooing and cheering for less than average pizza.

[brad]

I agree with getting PIzza only for a win...cheering for the right reasons!

[Eric]

The booing over pizza was entirely justified. That's 19800 homeless mouths that could have been temporarily satisfied in this city- but weren't because the team (already up by 100 000 pts) didn't feel right about scoring another 4. Classy? Professional? I'd saying it's anything but.

[CARLoS M.]

LMAO! Doug, did you ever think that the pizza debate would surpass TJ vs Jose?

Nobody to blame but the MLSE marketing folks on this one. You can't condition fans for so many years and use the scoreboard to prompt fans to cheer for pizza and then expect them not to boo if they don't get it. It's a dumb promotion that should be eliminated.

To expect fans to not follow orders like 'make noise' or cheer 'pi-zza' is like expecting them not to get in the back of the line when they see one... we are Canadian after all!

[K-Town]

Word, Dan. WORD.

[Mike]

Brad

Your argument is incoherent. Do you honestly believe that the majority of the crowd at the ACC was booing because they so desperately wanted a slice of pizza to give to a homeless person downtown. Human beings have self-interested egos by nature, it's how the world evolves. Any introduction economics course will depict this story right off the bat. Clearly, the fans weren't spending their energy booing for the sake of giving a slice of pizza to the homeless. Are you saying a city booing their team is more classy and professional than a professional NBA team running up the score? I don't care if it's by 4 points or 1 point, it's just not good sportsmanship, and that's being professional.