On ugly shots and bad memories

We got a true Basketball 101 lesson from Sam after practice yesterday, when we were talking about shooters catching the ball in the ‘triple threat’ position so they’re ready for whatever happens.

Seems what they’ve seen is that guys are catching passes up by their foreheads instead of down at their chest and the split second it takes to reload gives defenders a chance to get up on them.

The other thing to watch for to see if they’ve corrected a mistake is what moves first on a jump shot.

Look for a lift in the shoulder, which brings the elbow up and gets the legs into the shot. A guy like Bargnani, who seems to have lost most of his ability to shoot lately (which really sucks for a guy who’s a shooter) has a tendency to move is arm out rather than up to start the shooting motion and that’s part of what’s causing the flatness to his shot of late.

Correcting it is learned behaviour, like muscle memory or something, and you know they are working on it in practice and shootaround now.

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A question a few have posed

Q: Hey Doug. A couple of questions about the upcoming game on Sunday versus Detroit. I've noticed that they have changed the start time from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. so it could air on ABC in the United States.
a) Why would ABC want to air this game when it has no real significance in the grand scheme of things?
b) Are we going to be able to watch the American feed for the game and get a perspective on the Raptors from someone other than Swirsky?

Perry K, Ottawa

A: ABC was originally going to broadcast Miami at Cleveland as the early game on Sunday and, next to that, Toronto-Detroit looks like Lakers-Celtics.

Yes, on ABC you’ll see the ABC feed, I understand it, not The Score.

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This might be the greatest article on the New York Knicks ever.

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With the playoffs just around the corner, it’s time for remembering. And since everyone’s in such a dull mood given what’s transpired over the last 21 games, let’s remember bad stuff. And we’ll leave out Chris Childs and his ciphering problem (85 minus 82 equals four) and He Who Shall Not Be Names missing that jumper in Game 7 in Philly ‘cause those are too obvious.

BERNARD WEIL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

The power of Larry Johnson defeats the Raptors in 2000.

A top five list of sad Raptor post-season moments, in no particular order:

LJ’s Three

Down two with 25 seconds left in Game 3 in 2000, Raps need a stop to have a shot at a game-tying basket. They don’t get it when Larry Johnson banks – banks! – in a three-pointer from the top of the key.

AI’s Second 50-plus

Game 4 in 2001, Raptors up 2-1 in the series, coming off two days to prepare for Allen Iverson and put a stranglehold on the series. What do they do? Take one of the days off and get scorched by AI for 54.

My bad, Iverson's second 50-plus game was actually 52 in Game 5. He was the second player in history (Michael Jordan in 1988 vs. Cleveland was the other) to have two 50-plus games in one series.

Thanks for the catch, various readers.

Dee Brown’s miss

The smooth-shooting Brown made 267 three-pointers in his time in Toronto but missing a wide-open shot from the corner right in front of the Raptor bench at the end of Game 2 in New York in 2000 was the one everyone wants back. Vince drove and kicked and Dee – playing his only eight seconds of the game – missed.

No Timeout

Not sure what he would have come up with but in Game 1 Game 2 of the 2002 series with Detroit, Lenny Wilkens let ‘em play and Alvin Williams missed a game-tying three with seven seconds left. Maybe the presence of Dell Curry on the court coming out of a timeout would have helped.

Fuelling The Fire

Jason Kidd misses a practice between Games 2 and 3 last year and Sam says something that could be construed as doubting the severity of Kidd’s sore knee. Guess that got him riled up because Kidd comes out and has 16 points, 16 rebounds and a mere 19 assists for the Nets.

Feel better?

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More mail:

Q: With the NCAA games over, which team did you pick to win it all?
Who would be your first pick in the lottery draft?

Roland M, Richmond Hill

A: Super Son and I had UCLA beating North Carolina in a Final Four that included Pittsburgh and Kansas. C’est la vie.

The draft? It’s easy. Wait and see who wins the lottery and see if they need Rose or Beasley. For this team, I’d probably take the big guy. But maybe not after I'd seen them work out.

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Bucks take the Celtics to overtime, my man T. Enlund reports. At least they took some of the other Celtics to overtime.

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Oh, from the “There’s Nothing New” department, there’s nothing new on either the Garbo or lawsuit front.

Garbo keeps working out and got medical clearance to increase the workload earlier this week but there’s no chance of a miracle comeback.

And the lawsuit the Raptors filed against the Spanish basketball federation continues to plod along in the legal process. The slow, ponderous legal process.

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Old mail:

Q: Hi Doug, Love your blog. You printed my first question way back but none since (or maybe I'm not reading to the bottom). Probably justified as I was likely ranting. Anyway, have a straight forward one for you. What is the bandage thing on Jamal Crawford's shoulder? Been wondering all year. Thanks.

Tom D, Oakville

A: Asked answered but what the heck. It’s like a heat patch to provide muscle stimulation on a previous injury.

Comments

[A V]

There's no doubt that heat patches make players look tougher. Yet another reason to acquire him.

[GM]

I remember thinking last season that Ford's passes were often above or below, so the catcher had to adjust to get in the triple threat position. Obviously where the pass comes in is where you have to catch it, so it's the fault of the passer, right? Is that what Sam was saying?

Just wondering what you would or could see in a workout from a draft prospect that you couldn't see in game situations. I've often wondered why they place such importance on a workout. To paraphrase Bill Simmons, it's easy to post up a chair.

Looking forward to that Knicks article. Thanks for the link.

Blogger's note: I think he was putting the blame on both passer and receiver, although it's more on the passer, in my opinion.
And the workouts? It's not so much the physical skills they look at, it's how the interact with other players and coaches, whether they can handle the drills if it's something like their fifth workout in five days, and how they comport themselves off the court as well.

[David Silver]

Iverson scored 54 in game 5, not game 4. And Lenny didn't call the timeout in game 2, not in game 1. We got killed in game 1. Thought I'd help you out.

Blogger's note: You, and others, did. The catches were much appreciated. And have now been fixed. Thanks.

[t-vor]

That Knicks article was really good. Nice link, thanks Doug.

[Lenon]

hi doug, I like your blog, i read it all the time. I have a question for you. Would Desmond Mason be a good fit for the Raptors? I am not sure, but he seems like a slashing 3 to me. And since the Milwaukee need to shake things up on their roster, would it be possible that there will be a trade for him? Thanks You~

Blogger's note: I'm sure Desmond Mason's on a list, but he's far down it.

[Jay D]

Was sam focusing on anyone or any particular pass? Is he referring to passes in the post? Like people passing to Bosh should make sure it is at his chest when he gets it? Because lots of times it depends on the player or play. Kapono can catch it above his head and has no problem shooting it. If I was passing to Rasho, I think I would make sure the pass is higher than the chest, most of his buckets come around the hoop with him rolling and what not, so he'd want to receive and keep the ball high.
Also, shouldn't Sam have been giving them a basketball 101 on defence? Or have they already been doing that enough?

[scott]

i agree with all the thanks given to you for this blog doug; gets to be something of an obsession i'm afraid!
i've always admired the way that steve nash passes. along with the spectacular bounce passes in traffic etc. he seems to hit the player spotting up for a jumper exactly where they will naturally start their shooting motion=no wasted time and nothing to throw off their rhythm.
the raps have had Plenty of open looks over the last weeks (so i'm not as worried as some about the offensive structure) but here's hoping that they start falling like they were earlier in the year!

[LY]

Doug,

I realize this is a variation of GM's question but was Sam saying the passes were coming in too high or that the recipients were lazily catching them standing straight? Dave Feschuk's article implies the latter and your blog the former.

I vaguely recall thinking that Parker was repeatedly guilty of catching passes while back on his heels in a few games.

Blogger's note: I think there's enough blame to go around.

[DS]

Doug, you forgot when Calderon passed the ball to Jefferson instead of Bosh. Worst moment I can remember.