Inside the coaches retreat

We know that most of the players show up early and work the kinks out before training camp officially begins.

The coaches? Well, they do, too. And then they retreat.

I’m told the whole enlarged staff headed off to the Niagara area on the weekend for a couple of days of fun and frivolity and, yes, some work.

RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR

We don't know what's in the cards for Sam Mitchell's Raptors this year, but we're sure to see the odd full house in his hand.

Like? Like meetings each morning to go over such things as how they’ll defend the screen and roll, for instance, what kind of offensive sets they think will get the most of out of their personnel and how they’ll set up training camp practices to maximize the time they’ve got.

They talked and brainstormed and, probably, did a little bonding, too.

Oh, and I’m sure there was some recreational opportunities, given their proximity to golf courses and games of chance.

To wit (and these are only from my little mind and may not have actually happened):

Press: What to do to scramble a game or what to do when you’re two-down to Sam on the fourth tee.

Split: Where Roko’s from or what you do with 10s.

Fore: A new play to take advantage of two bigs or “where the hell did Micah just hit his drive?”

Full house: Bosh, O’Neal, Bargnani and two bigs, or the best hand of the night?

Rotation: Double the post and race to shooters, or “come sit at this table, this dealer’s stone cold.”

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Did you see the news the Washington’s Eddie Jordan had the option on his contract picked up for 2009-10?

That, in itself, isn’t such big news but, as the Wizards PR people pointed out, Jordan has spent five seasons already coaching in Washington and is “currently the third-longest tenured head coach in the NBA behind Jerry Sloan (Utah Jazz) and Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs). “

Man, they eat their young in that business, don’t they?

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A mailbag offering:

Q: If you took away that brawl (which O'Neal was also a huge part of) and the time he wanted to promote his CD, at a bad time, what exactly has Ron Artest done for you to consistently bad mouth him at the drop of a hat?

I think you have him pigeonholed and no matter what happens, you'll never appreciate his skills. He seemed to handle himself well with the Kings the past few years, and that was a team going nowhere, so it almost dictated he should have gone crazy, but he didn't.

If you think Artest will be a problem, than your logic dictates O'Neal will also be a problem. They have a similar checkered past.

Do you not believe in a player redeeming himself? I have not seen, nor heard of anything out of the ordinary from either player this pre-season.

Shawn L, Bowmanville

A: Well, let’s see.

You forgot to mention the elbow to the side of Rip Hamilton (or maybe it was Tayshawn Prince) in the dying minutes of Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference final in Detroit that turned the game – and the series – to the Pistons and robbed the Pacers of their best chance to make it to the NBA finals since 2000.

You forgot to mention the “I want to be traded, I don’t want to be traded, I want to be traded, I don’t want to be traded” saga in Sacramento last year.

You forgot to mention the verbal sparring with Yao Ming before he even took part in a Houston practice.

You forgot to mention the pattern – long and illustrious and one that’s followed him every single step of the way – that shows a lack of maturity and respect for his team, his teammates and the game.

There is no denying he is skilled, unbelievably skilled. There is also no denying his is disruptive. Has always been and, in my opinion, always will be. Some players, no matter their skill, aren’t worth it. In my opinion, Artest is one.

And, while not blameless for that brawl (although he didn’t start it and never once left the court), to suggest that Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest are the same kind of problem player is, in my opinion, utterly ridiculous. And the history of each would, on the whole, support my theory.

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Five reasons, to answer a whole bunch of questioners, why Vancouver will never, ever, ever get another NBA team.

There is absolutely no movement throughout the league to expand and when there is, all eyes will be on Europe.

Members of the league’s board of governors have told me, for years, they don’t believe there is enough deep pocketed corporate entities in Vancouver who would be interested in basketball.

Teams that move do so because owners covet markets (Shinn to New Orleans, Clay Bennett in Oklahoma); no current owner covets Vancouver.

If an owner buys a team with a plan to move it to Vancouver, there will be an issue – as there was in every instance except the first couple of years – of a battle between hockey and basketball for money and sponsorship and suite revenue and advertising deals and hockey is much more firmly entrenched and unwilling – if you ask privately – to share with an upstart sport.

There are several American markets – Seattle chief among them – that would have first dibs on a franchise that’s going to move and there’s no way the governors to back to a city in Canada that failed before they exhaust all other options.

Sorry.

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Noticeable by his absence so far at the de-facto first week of training camp in the Air Canada Centre is Jamario Moon.

I know he doesn’t have to be here, but he has to be here, if you get my drift.

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How can you pass up a Chicken question?

Q: Hey Doug, something I always wondered.
What's the process in selecting the team mascot?
I would assume you need a special type resume to even be considered a candidate. And also, how much does the average mascot earn? Not that I'm looking for a new career, just curious.

Carlos R, Toronto

A: Well, the same gal-guy has been doing it since the very first season in Raptor history so there’s not a whole lot of turnover.

I think you’d need some gymnastics training, you’d need a sense of humour and you’d need some way to let personality shine through a goofy, heavy costume.

How much do they make? That I can’t answer you but Chickens generally live in huge mansions with a bevy of servants and have homes on Maui, the French Riviera and, I believe, Tuscany.

Comments

[Mike S]

Never split a winning hand. Never.

[Nick M]

I thought the Raps had a good chance of picking up a few more casual fans this year, but with the leaves punching their ticket into the playoffs last night I guess it will just be us diehards for another Raps season!

[Dallas]

Hey Doug,
I hope your enjoying these last days before the season begins. Question about your Moon comment, have you spoken to anyone who may lead you to believe that Moon’s absence is due to a legit reason and that management is fully aware, even though technically they can't expect him to be there, or are there reasons you have to believe that this is just Moon not wanting to report until the official start of camp. It just seems contrary to what I would expect from Jamario, who sounded so pumped in the off season after the JO signing. Thanks

Blogger's note: I was going to get into this more in the morning, but what the heck.
I was talking with a very high ranking type yesterday who mentioned, with a great level of disappointment, that Moon isn't in working out yet.
It's apparently an issue with a passport, which is I'm sure legit but not something that couldn't have been dealt with in August or July rather than September.
It's true that players don't have to report yet, and there will be no repercussions for not being here, but a guy coming off an okay rookie season who appears to be in a fight for his starting job should, in my opinion, be here a week before the official start of training camp. And judging by my conversation, that's an opinion held by people with titles over there.

[2damkule]

doug - you're bang-on with your assessment of artest, except you're far too PC. artest. is. crazy. like, bat-sh!t crazy. if anyone's looking to kill some time at work (not me, i'd never do that...), have a look-see at some 'interesting' work by artest on youtube. no denying dude can ball, perhaps like no one else in the league...but he's gone tysonic over the last few years.

[jhaus]

regarding artest, you also didnt mention the matter of his dogs that were inpounded due to animal cruely;

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/17029765/

the man has no sense of decency or moral character what-so-ever

[Justin]

Doug I could be wrong but isn't our fan friendly mascot also a former gold medal olympian? I sure hope that inquiry about the Raptor was just someone curiously killing time and not expecting a tryout! lol

Blogger's note: Gold medal Olympian? Nah, sorry. Not that good.

[joe Ng]

yeah the guy who compared o'neal and artest, to put lightly, is crazy and clearly doesn't know a thing about artest as a player and as a person. even if you forget the crap he's pulled in previous years (something that on its own is hard to do) just this PAST SUMMER is enough to not want him part of the club.

[Gerald]

Wow...the comments yesterday. I love the seething. Doug (not that you are) but don't worry about the cue of idiots. The, "I can do it better than you crowd." These are the same imbeciles who watch UFC and are convinced that if they stepped in to the ring they could hold there own. Because remember children, it looks a whole hell of a lot easier than it really is on TV. The fighters are actually taller than ten inches (couldn't resist).

By the way, as you already stated, Artest is a complete loonbag. I love the question that asked besides him asking for time off to promo his rap album? Are you freaking kidding?!!! In the middle of a basketball season? If that's not a sign of a pathological narcisist pounding his chest and yodelling like Tarzan, I don't know what is.

I've heard a lot of crazy...that gets the gold star.

[GM]

Doug, no need to be sorry for your opinions on why you think Vancouver will never ever in a million years get another shot at an NBA team. You act as if it's fact. It may be fact why they won't get one next season or for the next few seasons, but it's not fact that they will never ever get one. (I forget your exact words but it was definitely to that effect.)

Let's look at your evidence:
1. No imminent expansion. Fair enough, but this only proves that Vancouver won't get an expansion team in the near future. Not that they'll never get one ever.
2. If there is expansion, it'll be to Europe. Not a chance in hell, if many American players can't even handle Vancouver or Toronto. Man, if they get culture shock here, imagine if they are sent to a place that has actual culture!
3. Not enough deep-pocketed financial entities in Vancouver interested in basketball. Again, fair enough for now. No one's arguing that. But our economy is pretty damn good and basketball is growing. So that hardly speaks to the rest of eternity.
(On a side note, Steve Nash's favourite team, outside his own, was the Grizzlies. He loves Vancouver and is still bummed we don't have a team. He recently opened up a state-of-the-art gym here. You don't think a guy like that could attract -- or even be a part of -- an ownership group that would want a team for Vancouver somewhere down the road? Ever? The league loves the golden boy and so does the public. The media couldn't even ignore him.)
4. No current owner currently covets Vancouver. Keep in mind you're arguing for the fact that Vancouver will NEVER get a team. This point doesn't address your original assertion whatsoever.
5. Battle between hockey and basketball. While that's still true, it's hardly at the level it was when the Grizzlies were here. Back then, there was not a single all-sports radio station in town and only one all-sports TV station. And as the old guard of the media slowly phases out, fresh blood is more open to other sports. And if you think there's a battle between hockey and basketball, can you imagine the battle between soccer and basketball there'd be in Europe?
6. Seattle would have first dibs on a franchise. As they should. But the original questioner (from Whistler, I believe) was asking something different. His scenario saw a businessman who wanted to own a franchise in Vancouver. So the question remains: If such a person materialized, and had gobs of cash, would the league say no?
7. Vancouver failed once already. Wrong. The NBA failed Vancouver, just as it did Seattle. And specifically Michael Heisley failed Vancouver, just as he's doing to Memphis. Vancouver always supported the Grizzlies, despite them having the worst -- WORST -- five-year record of any team in the history of the NBA.

End of rant!

[leon]

you NEVER split 10s!!!

[Felix]

Doug,
Could you please put a little excerpt on your blog to head off any potential 'why don't the raps sign marbury to the veteran's minimum contract to be a backup PG' questions? Thanks. If possible, in bold too.

Blogger's note: Done. See it in the morning.

[neil no more last name]

THE NBA will be in Europe before any other major professional league in N.America- believe it.

[Alex]

One time a friend who worked at the ACC gave me a back stage tour. We were walking through a tunnel near the dressing rooms and walked by a normal dressed guy she said hi too then turned to me and said "that's the Raptor"!
He was late twenties, about 5'6", short black hair and a tanned complexion, very wiry build like he was a gymnast. handsome man I must say.
Sorry to ruin the secret, he is not an it or a she!

[petro]

Doug... a question and a couple of tenets.

Did you know that FIBA rankings came out right after the Beijing Olympics and Argentina is ranked #1? USA who won the Gold and spanked all teams is #2 and Spain, world reigning champs and Silver medal winners is #3. Gotta love that FIBA formula.

Moon... Moon baby... you dropping your guard and showing why you've been a minor league journeyman?

I've been saying for a long time... I'd bet my bottom dollar Artest is bi-polar.

[Larry]

Its about winning isnt it? If the Rockets win this year, then I assume all the Artest haters will have to shutup.

[Thane]

Of course you can split 10s! If the dealer is showing a 6, split anything you're allowed.

[2damkule]

larry - the rockets winning this year won't make artest sane all of a sudden, nor will it be because he found sanity. it'll be because yao is one of the top 5's in the league, 'cause tmac will be hungry to prove something, 'cause battier's one of the most underrated dudes in the league, etc.

and yeah, i'd say he's definitely bi-polar.

[Shawn L]

I don't normally read, or post comments, because they can get juvenile. However, I feel the need to defend myself here. I myself wasn't comparing Artest with O'Neal, I was merely stating that by Mr. Smith's logic, they should be treated the same (because of the checkered past) and that it seemed O'Neal was getting a reprieve while Artest was still being branded. It was mentioned above in the past year alone it was enough to stay away. Please enlighten me to what this was. I know wiki is no say all to end all, but the last major incident they have is from last year, related to a dog not getting fed. No one here can claim to know anything about that, and that was cleared up. And the cd thing, if I remember, was at the beginning of a season (maybe not??) and he never actually did it (take time off to promote), so to hold that against him is a stretch. As for him being narcissistic, guess what? The whole league is built upon narcissism, what do you think the N in NBA means? Anyways, I hate even writing this, so think what you want. I say Ron Artest is a great player and the bottom line is, he plays his ass off every single night, and he's the best bargain in the league for what he is paid.

I am NOT Ron Artest, but I approve this message.

[2damkule]

o'neal & artest may have 'checkered' pasts, but one is certifiably insane, and the other isn't.