Is the period of mourning over?

How’s everyone feeling today?

Sorta empty? Angst-filled at Bryan’s comments about Sam? About to list the TJ replica jersey on some auction site?

FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Nobody knows what colour shoes T.J. Ford will be wearing next year.

Lots to digest, wasn’t there?  More than enough to keep this little thing rolling this week and then we’ve got to figure out what to do through the rest of the playoffs. Any and all suggestions welcome, you know where to reach me.

Speaking of reach, you folks went bonkers in the mail, I’d say about 90 per cent of it rants of varying degrees but all quite fun to read. Have siphoned off more than a few that we’ll put up in the usual Friday mail bag.

And tomorrow, because a bunch of you have been calling for it, we’ll do a player-by-player assessment.

Anyway

Sam

Yes, Bryan did say it’s “ludicrous” to think of a Mitchell-D’Antoni swap. And it is, not only because both are still very much under contract, and both were very much working in the playoffs when the speculation mounted.

You all know I think he should be back because I think he’s the guy who coached the team to 47 wins, not the one who got ‘em to 41 this year.

If you put your scrutiny on every coach in the league like you did Sam this year – substitution patterns, post-game comments (as if they have anything to do with anything), lineups – everyone’s going to come up short. A lot.

The fact is, they’ve been in the playoffs two years, the players play hard for him and he does – despite your opinions – know what he’s doing tactically. I'm pretty sure many of you missed the fact they did things like change coverages on pick and roll a couple of times a game to throw the Magic off (going under fo ra quarter or so, a hard shot for the next quarter or show, pre-rotating every now and then). That's the kind of small thing that goes unnoticed too often.

Sit back and make an honest, honest assessment of the roster and tell me, as it turns out, that this was more than a .500 team no matter if Red Auerbach coached it.

Besides, what will you fill my inbox with all next season?

-

Since this whole “Best Playoffs Ever” crap has gone out the window (a terrible first round), let’s start hyping “Best Off-Season Ever.”

There’ll be big changes in Dallas and Denver, I assume, Chicago has some major issues to deal with, I think Joe Dumars might realize this is the last run for Detroit and I imagine John Hammon in Milwaukee’s going to make some moves.

Could be a very cool summer.

How much do these guys get involved? I’d say lots. But when?

"The process began at the beginning of training camp and it’ll end probably some time in mid-July or sometime later,” was how Bryan put it yesterday.

Guess that’ll keep us busy.

-

Two quotes:

"You already know me, everybody was asking me about the starting lineup with 12 games to go and I was in my finishing last year of the contract so I think it was a big step for me. I’m ready to sacrifice for the team for sure.”

And

"I don’t know. I don’t know. I think where I’m at right now in my NBA career, I consider myself a starter and I don’t see myself coming off the bench for 82 games.”

Who said what?

-

Speaking of the summer, they’re going to have the mid-level salary cap exception to spend, about $5.6 million to start.

The Raptors will have the so-called mid-level salary cap exception (likely about $5.6 million) to spend this summer on free agents. Here’s a look at some possibilities: Restricted (Teams can match any offer they get) Josh Smith, Atlanta Rony Turiaf, L.A. Lakers Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Luol Deng, Chicago Ben Gordon, Chicago Monta Ellis, Golden State Craig Smith, Minnesota Unrestricted (Can sign anywhere) Mickael Pietrus, Golden State Bostjan Nachbar, New Jersey Antawn Jamison, Washington Roger Mason, Jr., Washington DeSagana Diop, New Jersey Eduardo Najera, Denver Beno Udrih, Sacramento

Who do they get? Probably not an all-star but likely a viable piece.

-

A generic mailbag query:

Q: One of the main themes coming from yourself and others during the Raptors tailspin to end the season was that they would be judged based on what they did in the playoffs. So, what your verdict?

Greg W, Toronto

A: Well, that’s easy. It’s a failure, a disappointment, a step back.

The reasons are there for all to see and some are mitigating factors.

Injuries to T.J. and Bosh hurt, not having Garbo was crippling, Bargnani’s regression was costly.

All of those are relatively easy to overcome so the future’s not entirely bleak.

But this year? This was a bad year.

-

You know who’s smart? Anthony Parker’s smart. Everyone knows that changes are coming and with his contract expiring at the end of next season and his steady production coveted by teams looking for a solid player and good citizen, it’s entirely possible he’s played his last game as a Raptor.

And when asked about it, he was forthright. And we appreciate it.

"It’s a business. It’s a business first. I love the organization here: The people that work in it, the team that I play for, and the coaching staff. I love coming here and it’s not something that I dread. I know a lot of situations aren’t like that. There are not a lot of situations like this in the NBA. But it’s a business. Like you said, maybe my situation might be attractive to somebody. Mr. Colangelo, if it makes the team better here in Toronto, I expect him to do his job.”

Classy dude.

-

List time (remember that?)

Five best wins:

At Boston, they shot the lights out

At San Antonio, best defence of year and Bargnani finishes the game guarding Duncan

At New Orleans, heckuva way to end the calendar year.

Vs. Portland, double-OT thriller maybe most exciting home game of the year

Vs. Detroit, about the only “quality” win of the last half of the season.

Five worst losses

At New York, Jamal Crawford goes off, they have no clue

At Seattle, bad team, bad effort.

Vs. L.A. Clippers, one of many at home that got away

At Atlanta, season really turned the night T.J. got hurt

At Washington, can’t take advantage of injury-ravaged opponent.

Comments

[Eric]

I have to say, as we mourn the loss, this entire season has been one devoid of many highlights. The team will talk forever about NO and San Antonio but really, those blips on the radar occur pretty much every season to every team. The Raptors had many more bad losses than that, namely Milwaukee, New Jersey, Atlanta, Atlanta, Philly, Charlotte, Washington, New York, Seattle, Portland and on and on and on. Moreover, as someone said, if you look at the schedule, it appears the Raptors were blown out more often than any team not named New York or Milwaukee. Just a horrendous year.

I guess they can still brag to their moms about beating San Antonio or New Orleans- but why stop there? Why not gloat over beating the Bulls in March of 1996?

The team doesn't know how to improve. They do embody complacency whether they want to admit it or not. The team cannot stand on its laurels and expect to do better next season. It already wasted this season by doing that

[DougG]

"How’s everyone feeling today?"

I'm sort of relieved that I don't have to watch them any longer and agonize over their performance. Hope springs eternal so I'll chalk it up to a learning experience and consider it part of the development of a winning franchise, that is just around the corner.

If you watch sports in Toronto long enough it almost becomes operatic. If Toronto had a winning team we probably wouldn't be able to handle it, given how foreign the concept would be.

Anyway I still think BC can deliver. I don't think there is any reason to put too much lipstick on the pig. I'd much rater see them diagnose the problem rationally and address the issues this time around.

[Tunacanpeen]

Raptors fans - I wish we would collectively take the long view , be realistic and not get so apoplectic. The "media's" job is to get hits on blogs and sell papers ... hence them being slightly hyperbolic when assessing a situation (drama sells). 41 wins isn't 47 wins ( 6 steps backwards after 20 steps forwards) but it's still progress. The "Titanic" is no more - Boston wasn't "rebuilding" for the first time in ~8yrs, Philly got stronger when they found themselves and only NYK remained horribly dysfunctional so in Division games weren't gimme's anymore. Did I have higher expectations? Yes. Am I surprised that they had 41 wins after this season of injury? No.

With a potential blow-up happening in Dallas and, apparently, Josh Howard losing favour there - it got me thinking how interesting it would be to see him in uniform here. There's a 20 ppg player with a new contract (BYC ~ $9.5 million) that could be got for Rasho + Joey or a TJ + Hump ... (TJ you ask? but we all know that Kidd isn't the longterm solution for Dallas). Couple a trade for a SF like that and a draft that looks good for big men and I'm feeling positive.

Also, on the Bargs situation - after being asked to change position, put on weight (thus losing his speed) and not having an off-season of coaching (playing for Italy) I can understand why his numbers dropped off slightly. I would love to see what he looks like after being coached by a Ewing or Kareem (see Howard or Bynum) or I'd love to see him going back to PF being the 6th man backfilling for Bosh and killing other teams 2nd units.

Doug, thanks for a good blog. I'm looking forward to the draft and off-season trades to see what happens to the Raptors and I'm hoping you'll be back on-line to give us your thoughts.

[Kevin]

I like Mitchell, I'm unsure of his coaching but I sure couldn't do any better so I can't really pretend like I know what I'm talking about. That being said, as much as I like Mitchell, if D'Antoni became available I would really like to see him coaching this team next year.

I think he would work wonders with Bargnani, and let's face it, the Raps really need Bargnani to (re-)emerge next year.

[Ret Jackson]

I would love to see Richard Jefferson in a Raptors uniform. Man he is the true fit for this franchise!! Tough, all star caliber clutch competitor and overall good defence. Lets see.....Kapono/Delfino, Nesterovic, Baston and first round pick. Lets make some noise for that!! Anyone agree?

[Serge Papineau]

I bet more than half of the "Fire Smitch" and "TJ is a bum" people posting in here don't even watch the games... They just read the tabloid-style stories found in the media and jump on the bandwagon. The Raps are only 2 years removed from being a 27 win team and, if you look at the talent on the roster and the ages of the key players, they really do have a bright futur but the key is to stick with it, sure you make a few changes here and there but you can't fire the coach and trade two thirds of the roster after every season where you don't win a championship. Look at the Dallas Mavs in Mark Cuban's early years, every season they'd make major changes to their roster and, even though they had tons of talent, they never got very far in the playoffs because the players hadn't had enough time to trully gel together. It's only after they stuck with the same core guys for 2-3 seasons that they started making conference finals and even NBA finals appearances. Change for the sake of change is rarely a positive thing.

[Huseyin]

Doug, i've come to realize that it is the media who keeps adding fuel to the fire of this TJ vs Jose debate. So what if TJ said he wants to start, shouldn't that be the mentality of every player on this roster. The Toronto media and fans kill all of the teams young talents(Sorry for the pucks reference but the media and fans single handedly ruined Andrew Raycroft). You paint the picture of TJ as the bad guy and Jose as a saint with your quotes. Be fair to TJ

[Dan]

it feels like many people here jumped on the Raps bangwagon last year. I've been a fan forever, and compared to the horrible seasons I'm used to, this was still a fun year. They obviously need a wing player to create his own shot, but the team is close to being pretty good, and I can think of MANY worse situations. Support your players and coach, since you can't fire/trade them anyway. For the record I like Calderon more than Ford, but come on people, it's not that bad right now.

[Pete Z]

Re: Garbo and the Olympics... it's not happening.

see: http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSL3093534920080430

I really don't want to start another Jose vs. TJ debate, but those quotes say so much to me.

[Elwyn Jennings]

Jim K, who are you trying to kid?? Most of the readers shouldn't be 'talked' to at all...

[Chris]

TJ Ford deserves the criticism and it's not irrational at all for Raptors fans to have a strong dislike for him and I am becoming tired of some people trying to make others feel bad for disliking him. Yeah it was only one issue but its such an important one. I appreciate TJ's desire and he outplayed Calderon on more than a few occasions but when a player makes it clear (both directly and indirectly) that he values himself over the team it's gonna leave a sour taste for fans. His on court play resembles that attitude, shoot first, pass second. This team was doing great with Calderon starting and no TJ and that's hard to deny. The team didn't fall apart until they lost Bosh, not Ford. Also, Calderon's great play did not diminish until TJ came back. This team was not headed for the finals anyway but there was still alot of hope as recently as february (think the game vs. Orlando after the all-star break with of course no TJ in the lineup). I am not saying TJ is the sole reason they had such a weak second half but he only made it worse and that type of attitude is a cancer on any team (think Knicks, didn't starbury also say he wouldnt come off the bench? that worked out well haha)

[Tim Hommel]

Congratulations Doug! You must be SO proud knowing that so many elite NBA coaches are reading your blog! Any idea why they have 'ordinary' jobs like the rest of us, and aren't head coaches in the NBA when it's obvious they know EXACTLY how to make the Raps NBA Champs this season?

I agree with MarcM about trying to read through the negative comments. I applaud your 'fairness' in publishing all comments, but I think you may be doing a disservice to the readers who read your blog for KNOWLEDGEABLE insight.

Just a quick thought - do you think that this year's team 'underachieved?" Or do you think that perhaps last year's team "overachieved" because they weren't just "under the radar" for the rest of the NBA, they were completely off the screen (especially after their terrible start)? Perhaps, based on personnel, injuries, etc., this year's team performed about as well as could be expected?

Thanks! I look forward to whatever the future holds for your fans!

[Shawn]

When did Raptor fans become more knowledgeable than the people who work in Raptor Management??? Do these people even watch basketball?? Are we really led to believe that Mitchell has absolutely no clue what he's doing? Or that BC has no clue what he's doing either? Please......Anyways, Doug, keep up the great work, it's great to read your work and you definitely deserve a vacation.....Question though....I had read somewhere (I believe it was a Denver paper) where the Nuggets were looking to do some moves this summer, and one of the names that came up was Marcus Camby....is this a person BC should look to go after? Seeing how Denver could use a true PG, something along the lines of TJ or Jose and Rasho for Camby and something else.....your thoughts?

Blogger's note: I'm a huge Marcus Camby fan but he's got $22 million and two years left on his deal. But it's certainly worth thinking about.

[John C]

Hey Doug - you were looking for ideas for content over the summer? I suggested this idea a couple of months ago and you mentioned that you liked it, so I thought I'd just remind you.

I'd love it if you might take one day each week over the summer to dedicate to Raptors History. Reminisce about major stories from the past 13 years, and post a link to your original newspaper story about them. The failed takeover in the second season, Isiah's burnout, Butch's flameout, the Damon trade, the first ever playoff game, the "worst NBA trade of all time (TM)" with he-who-shall-not -be-named, etc.

It would be great reading and could eat up one day a week for your blog. I'm in the minority probably, but I would like it better than mailbags.

Also, thanks for giving us SO MUCH content over the past season. This blog has become a daily must-read and we appreciate it. Hope your head doesn't explode after one too many TJ vs. Jose emails.

Blogger's note: That's absolutely something we're looking into and if we can swing it, it's a cool idea.

[Louis]

Hi Doug,

Don't listen to all of those ranters. It seems as if Sam Mitchell isn't their scapegoat that you are. That is just plain unfair. Mitchell is one thing, and whether or not readers can embrace him or not as the Raptors' head coach, it is downright uncalled for for readers to be bashing you.
I read your blog religiously, I often read first thing in the morning and check back at noon and then again in the evening just to make sure I haven't missed out on any of your well thought out and informative insight about the current events in the NBA and with the Raptors. I genuinely appreciate the long hours you put in to gather every tidbit of information for us readers. You always offer the facts, and give your highly educated opinion and translate the facts into what they may potentially mean for the Raptors. I find reading your blog enlightening and it truly enriches my understanding and appreciation of the Raptors. I am neither a basketball know-nothing or an expert, and I have found that your blog quite adequately addresses my needs as far as building understanding of plays and the technical aspect of the game. I also believe that your blog appeals to those who have been around the game for decades as well as those who are new to being interested in the game. Your writings offer informative content that will be useful for either of those viewers, and that is something that takes serious skill and maturity as a writer to accomplish. I had been reading several basketball blogs but I found that the quality of your blog outshone the others, and met all of my needs so I now read yours exclusively.
I also must point out that above and beyond the more informative, interesting and insightful writings that you produce, you are a very well seasoned and skilled writer as far as mechanics and the such go. I rarely find errors in your blog, and when there are errors they are promptly corrected and fault is accepted. I know that it takes a very mature writer to do such things. I, for one, appreciate your technical writing skills that are not often present in the writings of other sports journalists.
My dream career is to be a basketball journalist, no matter how large or small the scale. I must say that you have become one of my role models. You write with a poise and balanced perspective that I hope someday to develop.
Please do not pay any mind to those who are beating on your work. Keep up the great work. I appreciate everything you do for us fans.

All the best,

Louis

[Andrew]

So I send Doug a list of about 12 HORRIBLE Raps losses during the year (this was before the late-season loss to Atlanta where TJ played matador D on Bibby's last second three) and ask him which are his five worst losses. I picked my five worst in that e-mail. It was way too long for a mailbag, but I certainly am disapointed that I did not get any credit when he posted his 5 best and 5 worst losses. Especially considering that three of his 5 worst losses were the same as three of mine (I think I had the home loss to Indy and a December home loss to Boston rather than Boston and the Horford TJ game).