Bits, pieces and a chicken out of control

I think it was Baller over in the comments section of this little piece of the cyber world that wondered about twos and threes and scoring.

So, with a wee bit of time on my hands yesterday (it’s amazing what not having to fly to Atlanta from Charlotte can do to do to open up a day), there was a chance to do some ciphering.

AP and Jamario average, combined, 21.2 points per game from the shooting guard and small forward position. There are 19 teams in the league whose starters at those spots average more than 30 points per game.

Figuring as best I can since some teams float guys in and out of those spots at this time of year, only one team – San Antonio with Mike Finley and Bruce Bowen – averages fewer. And the Spurs have the Ginobili dude coming off the bench to provide more than 20 a night.

At least as interesting is that the difference between Toronto’s top scorer (Bosh, 22.5) and its second best (Parker, 12.6) is greater than only one team – Cleveland, which has this LeBron James guy averaging more than 30).

Telling numbers? You tell me.

Not sure if those facts mean everything or nothing, you know I’m not a hard numbers kind of guy, but it is sort of interesting. And I know it’s something the Raptor coaches pay attention to because one of ‘em mentioned it to me.

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This is what happens when stuffed animals run amok.

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There were 56 personal fouls called in the Phoenix-Denver game I saw from the comfort of the couch last night. What’s shocking? Apparently not a single one of them was legit. Never seen such whining on every single whistle.

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Terence G in Mississauga wants to change the jump ball rule:

Here's a follow-up question regarding ball possession at the beginning of each quarter. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem to make too much sense, and I'm hoping your superior basketball IQ can shed some light on it.

At the start of a game, a tip-off determines who gets first possession - I get that. The opposing team then gets it for the 2nd and 3rd quarters (and it goes back to the other team in the 4th) - that I don't get i.e. the possessions basically even out. Doesn't it make sense to reward the team that 'won' the tip-off?

The NHL holds a face-off at the beginning of each period; wouldn't instituting a similar rule in the NBA be more fair?

The only reason I can think of why the NBA doesn't do this is maybe because the high number of possessions and the dynamic nature of a game means each possession isn't really that important. But if this were the case, they should simply award the team that won the tip-off with first possession at the beginning of every quarter.

As it stands, winning the first tip-off is kind of meaningless

You watch the way officials often botch the toss for jump balls on a regular basis and it makes you wonder why they do it even once. Not sure if there’s another way to start quarters. This works pretty well.

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Sam may get his asterisk soon.

No, not beside is name in the list of coaches of the year).

Indy’s passed Jersey for ninth (and I’m pretty sure a couple of you are happy about the Nets demise) and a win by the Raptors in Atlanta tonight and a Pacer loss in Boston sews up a playoff spot for Toronto.

Whenever we talk to him about the impending playoffs, Sam seldom wants to get drawn into the conversation because no spot is clinched until there’s an asterisk beside the team’s name in the standings.

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Mail, of a different sort:

Q: When they inevitably do a Dancing With The Stars all-star edition who would you like to see on the roster? I'm going to go with Stacy Keibler, Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith, Mel B., Mario Lopez, Jennie Garth and possibly Kristi Yamaguchi and I have Stacy Keibler to take it

Ron Y, Markham

A: All good choices but leaving out Laila Ali is shameful. And, I’m not a big Cheetah Girls fan but Sabrina Bryan has some moves and I’m not sure you can have an all-star show without John O’Hurley.

And if they don’t bring Edyta as the female dancer, it’s not worth going.

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Check out today’s Hawks yarn from cousin Sekou.

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I’m scalping this from Arun over in the comments section this morning:

I was wondering what you meant about Andrea losing some of his shooting technique. Are there any specific signs that we can look for in his shooting form to confirm this?

Check out his legs. Specifically how straight-legged he shoots sometimes. Flat-footed. He got his legs into the shot a lot more last year. And watch the arc. He’s firing line drives.

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A final dip into the mailbag

Q: Just a thought on the Division Banner. I think putting the banner up is fine but they put it up during the playoffs, which I thought was bush. It was a clear statement that they knew they would not be putting a conference or league champs banner up that year.

Now a quick question. In the game (Monday) night, Delfino dunked the ball, it popped back out and another Raptor tipped it back in. The refs stopped play and did not award the Raptors the points or the ball. Why not?

James V, Toronto

A: Before you go calling people names, get your facts straight. They raised that banner before the playoffs began, before the final game of the regular season.

Delfino’s play? Blown call. That’s all it was. Happens sometimes.

Comments

[John]

To the KG and Posey haters: Imagine the outrage in Toronto if a mascot had shot t-shirts at Chris Bosh and Jose Calderone. We'd have people on here asking for Bennie the Bull to be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

[RaptorMike]

This just in, Bennie was framed.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/04/mascot_says_its.html

We can all sleep better tonight.

[Naz I.]

Zack, since when does feeling threatened equate crying? Oh, I forgot...you must be a genius at innuendo or something. Please. And where does your vitriol against KG come from? If you need this spoof of an article to find something about KG to rant about, I feel very sorry for you.

[bballer]

i can't believe there were more posts about stupid tshirts over what makes up a winning team. i thought at least some people would poke holes through my observation or recognize that the history of the raps is littered with omissions with our personnel. who cares about kg and posey joking about getting hit with tshirts. if you guys took them seriously you have greater issues and are looking for reasons to hate athletes. is this what you have to go through daily doug? they need to pay you more!

if i followed my theory better, i would have put kansas in my final 4. every team that had the composition i talked about won in the ncaa tournament. i chose georgetown over kansas. but of course, georgetown didn't have a scoring guard, whilst kansas had brandon rush. rush will be a 20ppg scorer by his 3rd year.

[bballer]

so should sam had benched calderon for some ill advised shots? should sam had taken out calderon sooner when atl started its comeback? by the time ford came in the raps could not stem the tide of the game! sorry, bad jokes.

doug, can't the raps do anything about the score keepers in atl? i know the game shouldn't have come to the last shot, but how many times can the raps get messed up by those inadequate score keepers. good play by smitch. i guess he can plot some x's and o's afterall. but the smitch haters wouldn't admit it.

[Dave]

Atlanta game

This was a great game up to the overtime period. TJ was playing great up to that time. He then tried to take on the whole Atlanta team by himself and this caused them the game. Atlanta only had to defend TJ.

I realise the Raptors had already won the game but it was taken away from them by the scorers table.

Dave

[Zaddups]

All I have to say is this team will do absolutely nothing in the playoffs! This Raptor team has no idea! They lead by 17 in the 3rd and can't put the ballgame away because they lack agressiveness. Raptor's lead drops down to about 8 with 7 minutes left(Raps in bonus) and Bosh decides to go to the hoop once and then after that he just take jump shots. In fact the whole team just takes jump shots down the stretch.I am disgusted with this team's inability to get to the hole and be aggressive...especially when on the road. It is a total disgrace to lose this game as a Raptor and they should all be embarassed. Then late Bosh misses that DUNK(joking)! Actually he went for a layup and blew it. He knows Josh Smith is lurking and he's a shotblocker so why not dunk the ball Chris?
Then with Raps down 4...TJ has Delfino, Parker, Kapono on the floor and instead of the drive and kick to one of those legit 3 point shooters he takes it himself and misses the three. I can't take TJ anymore. This guy is so much about himself it's deplorable. These guys play worse defence than a high school basketball team...poor rotations...doubling guys who don't need to be doubled while allowing shooters like Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson uncontested threes. TJ why didn't you foul Bibby at the end of the game? Please answer me that. In fact why didn't they just sub TJ out and put someone who was willing to make the right play in? Why can't Sam coach? Someone...please answer that question. I am done. I cannot watch another Raptor game until they trade for some toughness, grit and b-ball IQ! I refuse to watch this jump shooting no defence playing disaster of a so-called NBA team.

[bballer]

Zaddups - dude, relax. it's only basketball. ironically, the best player on the team who can attack a defense is the player you hate the most, tj. yes the raps lost a game they should have won. but the team suffers from a personnel issue. the raps has not had a player that can take over a game since vc left. bosh needs to screw this euroleague pass the ball mentality and take over the game down the stretch. the best in the league does this all the time and he is capable of doing the same. but too many people wants the ball to be passed around the circle like a child's game. kobe, lebron, wade, duncan nor shaq will fall prey to that thinking. this is not the euroleague. it is the nba. play like a franchise player bosh and screw the rest. this team wins and loses on the back of bosh.

[ghostface]

Well said zaddups.
Exactly my sentiments.
What a sad sack. To think there were such high hopes for the Raps at the beginning of the season. As big a let down as the Hakeem season. What a joke.
Why OH WHY wasn't Bibby fouled at the end of the game? As the radio commentators put it, shocking. Isn't it Sam's job to remind his players to do so?! Isn't it his job to get the most out of his players no matter what the situation? Bosh or TJ being injured should not be an excuse as injuries are always a part of the enduring season for any team. Sam has clearly failed in getting the best out of his players.
For once and for all FIRE SAM!