Some this, some that, and a blast from the past

Miss me? It was nice to have a weekend off, even if it was spent battling a stoopid end-of-season cold. We’ll keep trying to go Monday-Friday through the playoffs ‘cause there’s still lots of good basketball left, even if there’s scant Raptor news to worry about.

AP FILE PHOTO

May 4, 2001: It was a good day.

Before we start, can I just say one thing: You people are indeed imaginative. The mailbox and comments section are full of trade suggestions, some of which make sense, some of which are so over the top I chuckle when I read them.

But one thing I can’t do is respond to every single one of them. Takes too much time, the ones that have no hope of ever happening aren’t worth the effort to explain why. Sorry. You can keep sending them but I’m not going to comment on every single one.

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What a letdown

Guess those Celtics showed just what home court’s all about, didn’t they? Can’t imagine a less suspenseful Game 7 then that dog of a game.

Quite aside from the fact the Hawks couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean from a boat, the kind of defence Boston threw at them yesterday is the kind of defence that wins championships, easily.

And here’s the thing: It’s not so much schemes as it is effort, they swarm the ball, have the Basketball IQ to figure out where a guy wants to go and then there’s a second guy there waiting for him.

Not sure exactly why they’ve bought into giving that kind of consistent effort but they have all year and that’s what’s made them stand out.

Now, can they beat Cleveland?

In a nanosecond. Cleveland has LeBron, who can maybe win a game or two himself against such a stacked defence, but the other Cavs aren’t the kind of explosive, athletic scorers that cause Boston trouble.

The way the Celtics swarm the ball and still get out on shooters will expose the Cavs.

Boston takes that one in six, maybe five.

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A coincidence? Maybe not

Oh, watching Marvin Williams tackle Rajon Rondo, and remembering Al Horford on T.J. and seeing the other hard hits in the Boston series, I’m wondering if the Hawks are a really just a bunch of good guys who make mistakes in judgement or whether that’s a dirty team.

Just asking.

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Here’s one from the mail:

Q: Question about the MLE.  A player like Antawn Jamison is an UFA and makes about $15-16M right now.  Can teams like the Raptors sign him using the MLE in his first year but backload his contract so the average salary would be somewhere closer to his market value?  Or does the NBA do the same thing as the NHL and count the average salary of the contract?

Brad W, Waterloo

A: No, they can’t. If they offer a guy like Jamison a contract, any raises in subsequent years are limited to eight per cent. No back-loading.

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Did anyone catch any of the Euroleague’s Final Four on the weekend?

Bryan Colangelo did. He and Maurizio were in Madrid for the games but, as we’ve said quite often, Europe has been pretty picked over and they aren’t going to come away with a Garbo or an AP free agent.

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Been pretty gloomy around here, has been for a week now. But here’s a trip down memory lane, a story from this paper on this date in 2001.

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More mail

Q: This is kind of un-basketball related, and with the season winding down, I figured if I waited any longer with the season over, I may not get an answer. So here goes. Your articles are insightful, helpful, and have a touch of humour. I would say I enjoy reading them each morning.  Another writer for your paper, to my knowledge, has always written about the doom and gloom surrounding everything. From Vince dropping 50, to real doom and gloom like bowing out in the first round. The negativity makes me not want to read.

Sorry, a bit ranty. Question: Are you told what type of article to write (ie, happy, sad, doomy, gloomy? The over all mood?) Or is it up to the particular writer to find their angle/mood?
Thanks, and please keep up the great work. The blog is an official part of my morning.

Dean O, Toronto

A: No, I’m given pretty wide berth in story angles. It’s really dictated by the news of the day and, in the absence of any hard news, it’s up to me to come up with the “right” angle, the topic that will drive discussion, inform and entertain. Some off-days, that’s the hardest part of the gig.

A post-script: I wouldn't cover any other writers, or myself, with broad strokes. Fair comment is fair comment and I know our guys to be fair and to offer genuine opinion.

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Time to settle an argument:

Edward C of Toronto writes:
Mr. Smith, I would be very interested in your opinion on a heated debate I'm having with a friend of mine.

Overall, who is the better player? Pau Gasol or Tim Duncan?

Today, I’d say hands-down Duncan. His disappearing act in Game 1 against New Orleans notwithstanding, I’d say he’s a better all-around player, more shooting range and as good as, if not a better, defender and there are all those championships he’s won.

I’d say Duncan’s the best power forward in the history of the game, and Gasol’s not even in the conversation.

Comments

[bballer]

so the coach that everyone wants in toronto is d'antoni and he is free to talk with other teams. he wants to leave because kerr wants him to teach more defense in practice and develop young players. d'antoni says he is not here to develop players. plus, it is stated that he doesn't hold his players accountable including stoudamire and barbosa. so if the weakness of the team is defense and we have a lot of young talent, why are fans interested in seeing this clown coach here?

over the last 4 years, he had arguably the most talented teams on paper in the nba, including this year with 4 allstars and 3 hall of famers. yet they got killed by a well executing team the past 3 out of 4 years. there is nothing that d'antoni says that makes any smart gm interesting in winning championships stupid enough to hire him. entertaining yes, championships no. give me san antonio, their rings and fiscal responsibility over this guy. my rant is over and the gauntlet has been dropped.

ps. they should let smitch go and coach atl. he will get them to 45 wins next year easy.

[nicole t]

And Anthony Johnson on Jose. (back when Anthony Johnson was with the Hawks)

[Robert]

Doug, ESPN reports that Phoenix has given other teams the right to speak to D'Antoni about hiring him. I know Colangelo said that "he had no intention of making a coaching change" - but he left the door open slightly and previously had said he had no intention of making a coaching change "at this time". If he wanted to close the door on this issue all he had to say was that that Sam will be the team's coach next year. Given D'Antoni's connection to Colangelo and Gheradini and some of the apparent disagreement between Colangelo and Sam Mitchell regarding Bargnani's development and the under-utilization of players like Kapono, do you think that Colangelo makes a coaching change.

Blogger's note: I spoke to someone in Phoenix this morning and the report says D'Antoni has permission to talk to Chicago and New York, two teams with coaching vacancies. Toronto doesn't have a vacancy and I don't believe they will.

[Tim Hommel]

Referring back to a question quite a ways back, may I suggest that you add, "The Game of My Life," by Jason McElwain, to your list of best basketball books.

Jason is the autistic boy who was manager of his high school varsity team, and got to play in the last game of the regular season, and lit up the scoreboard with 20 points in about 4 minutes. This book is his story, and it is a very interesting read.

Keep up the great work with the blog!

[Andrew R.]

I watched a bit of the Macabi Elite game and it was a good one! The one thing I really enjoyed was the announcers, they were brutally honest. It was like having two Jack Armstongs.

Looking forward to seeing how Boston plays Lebron, they'll have a real tough time if they decide to leave Ray Allen out there to guard him.

Doug, I know you said that you were ignoring the improbable trade suggestions, but can you think of a scenario where we can score Hedo?

Blogger's note: No, there is no realistic scenario that lands them Turkoglu.

[Amanda]

Hey Doug, what Raptors players would you say are pretty much guaranteed to be back next season? I'd say: Bosh, Bargnani, Moon and Calderon. Anyone else is up for grabs. Care to prove me wrong or do you agree?

Blogger's note: Well, not having played for an entire season makes Garbajosa un-tradeable I think so he'd be on that list. But other than that? I'd presume everyone else can be had.

[John C]

Yay! Historical article! Keep 'em coming.
Thanks Doug.

Blogger's note: We're trying to figure out how often is appropriate, but there will be more.

[Ana]

I almost dropped a tear as I re-read the May 5, 2001 article. I can still feel the joy from that Friday night ... the visual of JYD waving his Knicks towel from the bench in celebration may never leave me.

[Ellie]

I guess we know what Bosh is doing in the off-season.
http://www.chris-bosh.com/

He's a lot more natural in front of the camera than most athletes, but I don't think Denzel is looking over his shoulder yet.

[John]

Hey Doug, I'm one of Calderon fans out there.
I know on offense he is one of the best PGs, but I'm little worried that his defence might hurt us badly next year given that TJ is traded(not that TJ was any better on D).
Do you think raps need a defensive PG to compensate JC's defensive skills? or am I just worrying too much?

Blogger's note: Jose has to get better defensively, there's no question about that.