And away we go (with apologies to Jackie Gleason)

RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR

They're ready. You're ready. Doug's ready. Let's go!

How long have you been waiting for this one? Since the end of the Orlando series? The start of training camp? The first pre-season game? Glad it’s here?

Lots of people are so I say find a nice spot in a comfy chair, put on that Jose jersey, grab an adult beverage and sit back and enjoy. And if you’ve got some time and the inclination, check out the in-game blog; if I’m going to do it, I’m hoping someone out there’s reading it.

And here it is:

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What to expect?

I have no real idea since it was impossible to get a true read of this team or the Sixers from the pre-season.

In a perfect world, Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Bosh have it all worked out, Jose Calderon’s in mid-season form and Jamario Moon’s rediscovered what made him pretty good at times last year.

Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world (I know this because I’m not filthy rich and retired at some compound on Maui) so I’d think we’re in for a rather sloppy and choppy game as both teams continue to try to figure it out.

As I recall, most regular season openers are hardly works of art, games played more on emotion than skill so, please, take this one for what it is, the first of 82.

If they lose, don’t suggest roster moves or firings; if they win, don’t get those 82-0 T-shirts printed up.

(Like that's going to happen with you nutty fans) -

Oh yeah, it’ll be Jamario who’s the starting small forward today.

Sam gave us one of those, ‘duh!’ looks and lines yesterday when he was asked about it again.

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Because I’m a helluva guy (seriously, some people allegedly think so) and because you want to help a worthy cause, here’s that link again to the on-line auction for that great package my friends at the Raptors Foundation and Jawad have put together.

I heard they did about $900 the other day and the deadline’s today at 5 p.m.

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Checking into the mail:

Q: So you’re the coach. Down 15 at the half. Do you put Jose back out there or let Ukimon play it out and give them some much needed experience? If not, how long do you go with Jose before giving him the night off? What if it's the first night of a back to back?

CJ L, London

A: Do I get the coach’s salary?

No. Never. Ever.

You’ve got starters, they start; they play their regular minutes and you try to win games. Waving the white flag at half makes no sense whatsoever.

I keep the regular rotation down 15 with three minutes to go.

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Think this is a good sign for someone who travels a bit?

First flight of the season? Cancelled.

Yep, Air Canada got us again Tuesday, blowing off the 5:30 flight to Philly, giving some of us a chance to sit around the lounge for four hours.

Something about winds and rain down here. Funny, though, the Raptor charter left from the same Toronto airport to fly the same Philly airport a couple of hours before we were supposed to take off (and long after the commercial flight was cancelled).

Sweet, eh?

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On the other hand, the first regular season road beer was a Yeungling so that doesn’t bite.

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Hey, check, out Jose’s feet tonight. (And I know there are people out there who will)

I believe the deal is done and he’s got a sweet new endorsement gig with Li Ning, the Chinese shoe and apparel company that was all over the Beijing Olympics.

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Wonder how weird it’ll be around the arena tonight with this World Series thing and all.

One thing the Sixers got at the end of last season was a lot of support from the home crowd, they started selling out the place again and it was noisy. Really noisy.

It wasn’t early in the year, though. We were there in November and again in January and the joint was a mausoleum.

I suspect tonight will be somewhere in the middle but I expect, opening night and all, for it be more muted than zany. Does that help the Raptors? Probably more than it hurts the Sixers. Philly likes to run and dunk and scramble the game and that type of style feeds off a loud audience. Not sure we’re going to have that tonight.

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Another guy who was waived who isn’t coming here:

Q: Can you give us a rundown (and short dissertation on why we won't and/or shouldn't sign him) on Patrick Ewing Jr. in advance of the multitude of armchair GM's who will scream for BC to sign him?
Jeff R

A: Good heading ‘em off at the pass.

Well, he’d be the fifth big man here, maybe sixth if Jawai ever plays and if anyone thinks they should go over the tax threshold for a rookie fifth or sixth big man, they need to re-examine their knowledge of the game.

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A wee digression, if you don’t mind.

In a previous life, I was a baseball scribbler and was here in Philly in ’93 for the Blue Jays-Phillies World Series.

Working for The Canadian Press, we were sort of the fringe media and didn’t stay with the team out at some posh suburban hotel. Oh, no. We were at the official media hotel, which was some crappy Holiday Inn in the vast parking lot wasteland around Veterans Stadium and it sucked.

How bad?

Well, the housekeeping staff was on strike, leaving managers to fix up the rooms and if you got new linens or towels every third day, you were special. And even then, it was dicey.

I recall a now-famous pucks big shot who was then a mere radio schlub arriving in his room ready to relax, pulling down the bedspread to find something that look suspiciously like a blood stain on one of the sheets.

Needless to say, he beat a rather hasty retreat from that room. And, I recall, that hotel.

I don’t know where my seamhead brethren are staying this year but I can guaran-damn-tee you it’s not in a dicey joint like that.

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Speaking of Philly, here’s what my man Phil Jasner had in the morning paper today. He also had a notes package that says Thaddeus Young, who’d been bothered by a bad back, will indeed start.

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Last letter of the day:

Q: The Raptors are still a young franchise and have yet to retire a player's jersey in the rafters of the ACC.  Who do you believe will be the first?  Does "he who shall not be named" deserve it?

Jesse S, Thornhill

A: If I’m a hard-ass on the Hall of Fame stuff, I’m worse on this. There is no one connected with the franchise yet who is remotely close to deserving a number retirement. And I cannot imagine who that guy may be.

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In the time I took to write this, Greg Oden did not get hurt.

What's this? Games that count? Oh, my!

Oh my, there’s basketball tonight. Real, live, games-that-count basketball. What a concept!

Of course, you poor souls in Toronto who subscribe to Rogers Cable won’t be able to actually, you know, see the games, given that the conglomerate and TSN still haven’t resolved their “issues” of carriage of TSN2 on your cable outlet.

Guess you could go find a cocktail lounge that gets TNT or something, or you could meet us in the bar at the Philadelphia airport Marriott, but that’s not really the point, is it?

The point is, two business giants are, simply, screwing basketball fans in the biggest market in the city. Simple as that. Blame Rogers, blame TSN, blame Maple Leaf Sports but blame someone ‘cause you’re really getting the short end of the stick.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

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On to the real stuff:

You probably have read all the NBA preview stuff in our paper today (and if you haven’t, I’d suggest you go and do it as soon as you’re finished here) but there was a distinct lack of predictions in there, aside from the order of finish in each of the divisions.

So, forthwith and so you can all hold it over me as the season progresses (remember Boston, life and death to make the playoffs? Well, we’ve all had our embarrassments, haven’t we?) here we go:

NBA champs: Spurs.

One more kick at the can. Why not?

Eastern conference champs: Boston

I know, the easy way out but, still …

MVP: Kobe

See: Out, easy way.

Rookie of the year: Derrick Rose

And I’m sure Jose still says Rudy Fernandez

First coach fired: Mike Brown, Cleveland

I’d like to say Marc Iavaroni in Memphis only ‘cause KO might take over

What the locals will do: 45 wins.

Should get them fifth, maybe fourth, in the East.

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You should have heard Sam yesterday. Might have been one of the all-timers.

The gentleman from The Score tries to get Sam to do his Bosh tribute all over, following what the coach had said on Sunday, and it became quickly apparent that Sam wasn’t playing along.

Here’s how it went:

Sam

All these guys will tell you, I spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about it. Now, other people have different questions and other type questions. Why do I need to go back and repeat myself?

The Score, trying again

I wasn’t asking you to.

Sam

You just asked me that question. You went down that road, today we’re going a different rout. We went down Friendship Avenue yesterday. Today we’re going down Grumpy Sam Road. Grumpy Sam Road don’t talk about what he talked about yesterday. Friendship Sam Road, Friendship Avenue, we talked about that yesterday. Grumpy Sam Road do not go back and talk about yesterday so we’re at Grumpy Sam Road today.

All of those who are going to get on the bus going down Grumpy Sam Road, get on. All those looking for Friendship Avenue, they get off. That was yesterday.

But you know what, after that little moment, Sam went on to give the guy almost exactly what he wanted about Bosh.

Oh, and the other spots for Geographical Sam?

The intersection of Irascible Crescent and I Ain’t Talking Boulevard.

How about One Word Answer Way.

Or, a personal fave, Duh! Drive.

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Okay, digression here:

Is baseball nuts, or what?

Did you watch that travesty last night? Letting that game get to that point before suspending it was so ridiculous it’s not even funny. Everyone from Bud Selig on down should tithe 10 per cent of every dime they get paid for the rest of their lives to Tampa’s Carlos Pena for driving the tying run and avoiding the embarrassment of the World Series being won in a rain-shortened game.

Best part? We still might get a 6 p.m. start tomorrow night (beat grunts always, always, always like an extra hour of writing before deadline). Of course, if it rains all today and tonight and they have to resume Game 5 in Philly tomorrow, we’re a tad screwed ‘cause the ballpark’s about a Ryan Howard homer from the arena.

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This, from regular contributor GM over in the comments section sort of goes to the Grumpy Sam Road issue:

My biggest beef with sports reporting is the pack mentality. That's why I don't read the papers anymore and just read your blog. Because it's individual. I hate how I see the same story in every paper (obviously game reports are different). Can't you or anyone else wander off from the pack and speak to someone privately? Or are you always worried that someone else will "scoop" you? But you gotta think maybe you'll "scoop" them, too. (I use "scoop" in quotation marks because in the situation you're describing, I doubt it'll be anything significant.)

And you, my man, have just hit on one of the biggest problems facing beat grunts in this day and age.

The pack-mentality issue is out there and, speaking entirely personally here, it’s one I haven’t quite mastered yet. Maybe it’s fear of being beaten, or fear of missing the one great quote, but we do spend too much time doing the same story.

As a matter of fact, I was just talking to my boss about this yesterday. I hope – and I can only promise to try – that this season our paper can do “different” stories rather than the predictable ones because, frankly, there’s hardly ever any big news once the season gets going. Sure, an injury, or a trade are obvious, but the Raptor Of The Day stuff you see on off-days? Ho-hum, most of the time.

What it takes is some planning, some imagination and, frankly, the willingness to read the other guy and say, ‘damn, wish I’d been in that scrum’ without getting a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach ‘cause he had something you didn’t.

It’s an area that I need to improve on. Just takes time to break old habits.

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Speaking of digressions, and it’s been a while since this topic was broached here, but Michael Flatley might be one of the great dancers ever but, man, is he ever boring as a judge on Dancing With The Stars. We need Len back.

Oh, and I don’t know what it is about athletes but Warren Sapp’s gotta win this one, right? If he doesn’t, isn’t it the biggest travesty since Leila Ali was upset?

We now return you to our regularly-scheduled stuff.

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This is pretty good:

Q: From your article on Bosh's new dedication to practice: "You don't become a three-time NBA all-star by blowing off all responsibility for your skills..."
Let me submit into evidence one Vincent Lamar Carter, 8-time NBA all-star.  In light of Mr. Carter's skill-wasting career, I think we could more accurately change the statement to: "You don't become a three-time NBA all-star by blowing off all responsibility for your skills ... unless you can dunk like a mascot ... just without the trampoline."
Looking forward to the start of the season Doug!

Mike D, Toronto

A: Ding! Ding! Ding!

There will be no bodies arriving soon

Good weekend everyone?

RICK EGLINGTON/TORONTO STAR

No roster moves coming for the Raptors - unless they get off to a shaky start.

Things are picking up quite nicely around here, aren’t they? Must be a real game coming up or something. We’re scratching our heads trying to figure out ways to enhance coverage, people are writing just to chat (which, for the most part I certainly don’t mind) and even when we go to practice, the players seem a bit more anxious.

Good time of year, isn’t it?

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Darius Miles. Ruben Patterson. Damon Stoudamire. Dan Dickau. Lindsey Hunter.

No. No. No. No. No.

Why? None of those are real “difference makers” are they?

Miles has health questions, Patterson’s 30-something and couldn’t beat out Juwan Howard for a job in Denver, none of Stoudamire, Dickau and Hunter is appreciably better than either Ukic or Solomon.

No, if the Raptors do something – and I don’t see anything happening for at least a month or six weeks, and only then if things are going very, very bad  – it’s going to be far bigger than signing a guy who’s an end-of-the-bencher or a backup at best.

And I don’t even think a guy who’ll have a far bigger impact than any of those is going to be around.

Is this roster flawed? Absolutely. Lots in the NBA are. It’s going to take continued good health for the three key players and internal growth from guys like Bargnani, Graham and Moon for them to reach their potential as a team.

Is it possible? Certainly. Will it be interesting to watch? Sure.

And that’s why you do watch.

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Remember last week there was a question, having to do with an ESPN survey, about whether Sam could dunk?

Asked him about it Saturday and he thinks he could:

"It wouldn’t be pretty but I could get it in there.”

Then he proceeded to waltz over to a basket, stand under, take a quick leap and grab the rim.

Maybe he could.

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First mail thing:

Q Hey Doug, last week some guy in Holland asked about Dutch players in the NBA.  I can't believe you didn't mention the Raptors' own Remon Van de Hare.
Just how bad is that dude anyway?

Joel S, Toronto

A: Re-read your question. “Dutch players in the NBA.” Closest I can tell he ever got to the NBA was watching it on TV.

Nuff said?

How bad? Who knows? No one ever laid eyes on the guy. A second-round pick gone awry.

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There’s this guy, Jawad R., who you may know from the mailbag and he does some pretty good things for the Raptor foundation.

This is one of them.

The lovely women who run that end of the franchise have asked to get the word out about this auction so there you go.

Now, if they were to throw in post-game cocktails with a haggard beat grunt, I bet the interweb would blow up with all the $25 donations.

But this should be pretty good anyway.

Bid early, bid often.

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This is part of the reason we like Sam.

We show up at practice Sunday scratching our heads trying to figure out what the day’s story is. We’ve all got a bunch of stuff to do for NBA previews (you’ll read a lot of Jermaine O’Neal takeouts in the next couple of days, I believe) and it’s tough to figure out the daily missive for this morning’s paper.

It’s the third of five practices before the season starts, there’s going to be a gaping 650-700 word space in the paper to fill and there is no true burning issue. We’ve written just about all there is to write about Joey-Jamario, Roko-Will and the injury story was Saturday’s.

So, what’s to do?

And that’s where Sam comes in. I’m sure you’ve all read the various glowing tributes to Bosh in the daily fishwraps this morning and here’s how it came about: One of us, searching for a story, asks Sam about AP and his apparent lack of ego and how good it is for teams to have guys like that.

Sam gives us one sentence on AP and launches into an unsolicited soliloquy about Bosh and how great he’s been and all that stuff you see in the papers.

Presto! A story. A good off-day story.

No idea why he did it. Maybe he wanted to throw some love Bosh’s way since he’s flying under the radar in a lot of league-wide publications or maybe he knew we were struggling and being the helpful soul to the media that he is, he wanted to help out.

Yeah, right.

But, whatever the reason, the coach was absolutely effusive in his praise and since that doesn’t happen to often, especially without prodding, you’ve got to think he really means it.

"I’m really proud of him. It’s been a pleasure for me just to watch him grow from where I had him when I first got here to where he is. It’s amazing.”

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Another one from a fine regular on how we do things around here:

Q: Hi Doug, I realize that this is your blog, but do your bosses tell you that you have to have a certain amount of blog entries per week? Or is it your call?

Sam C, Kingston

A: Nah, they don’t put any limits on it, actually. I think, and hope, they like that it gets updated regularly because I think that’s what these things are for, relatively constant contact with you lovely readers, but they’ve never said I had to do this much on this number of days a week. It’s kind of nice, actually.

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So, what do we need to find out in the last two days before the season starts?

Nothing, really.

Sam won’t say it, but if I had to bet I’d wager Moon starts and Ukic is the first guard off the bench but other than that, there’s nothing.

And, as perhaps I’ve mentioned, that’s going to make it challenging to find any news between now and the start of the season.

Hope Sam’s in a chatty mood later on today.

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And a last dip into the mail before we start another day anew:

Q: Hi Doug, good work on the blog. How much practice time do the beat grunts actually get to see? With Hump and Moon continually jacking up shots that they should not be taking, does Sam work with them on this to cut it down? Sam repeatedly had stated that if Hump focuses on his role (defence, rebounding), he can be effective. So how do both Hump and Moon continue to get away with jacking up shots in games with no repercussion? Thanks

Jeff B, Milton

A: Actually, we get to see very little practice time. Some shooting drills, some informal one-on-one tournaments sometimes, coaches working with individual players on a good day.

But, trust me, I know Sam and I can absolutely assure you he works with them – quite vociferously – on doing what he wants them to do.

I had someone tell me the other day that Hump came in for some Special Sam Attention at practice and I can only imagine how Special that really is.

How do they get away with it? Mental blips. That’s about the only explanation because, believe me, they are reminded what they should do quite regularly.

This is like one of those big brown leaf bags of mail

Hello, ladies and germs. Here’s the big ol' mailbag I hope you’ve come to expect. If it's Sunday morning when you see this, grab a cup of coffee or two, settle in and read. You’ll be glad you did. If it's Saturday night, what the heck are you doing reading this stuff on a Saturday night?

Me? I’ve got about a zillion preview things to so I'm working 'cause I have to.

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Q: From a journalist's perspective, what's it like to watch a game on TV versus in person? Are there things you notice about the team when you watch them on TV that don't seem as apparent when you're watching courtside, and vice-versa?

Steve M, Toronto

A: It’s different, I’ll tell you that.

The biggest thing I find is that you see the game through the announcer’s eyes. Not sure, if you’re a guy in my place who might have to offer comment on something, whether that’s a good thing or not. I tend to think not.

Of course, you don’t get nearly the scope of the game on TV that you get courtside, or even in the arenas where we sit up in the stands. You’re at the mercy of the cameramen and the director as to what you see and don’t. You do miss a lot of off-the-ball stuff on television.

Of course, the big benefit is the replay but, more often than not, the replay simply affirms what you think you saw.

But it’s really the overall court vision you get in person that you miss on TV.

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Q: Hey Doug a follow up on your comment about the e-mail beast you created and its constant bloodlust for fresh e-mails.
How were things before the whole blog, before even 'Nothing but (inter)Web'?
Did you put more time into the newspaper articles or write more of them or did you, you know, have more time to just hang out looking busy during the day.
Since the daily blog and e-mail beast have been born, you must spend countless hours reading, writing and posting while still putting out a similar number of paper articles.
So how have you coped? I take it from you that working from home probably keeps the family happy even if you are at the computer more than before.
Lastly, without getting into numbers or specifics, has the Star sweetened the deal for you since all this started? Any extra perks or a little extra scratch every 2nd Friday? I know if my employers came to me and said they were upping my work load 50% with no accompanying remuneration I would have some choice words for them!
You do a great job with all this though...best Raps coverage on the web as far as I’m concerned and I think most fans would agree....not all, but those seem to be the ones that also can't spell or write out logical arguments so what does that tell ya...
Game on Doug!

Alex L, Sudbury

A: Even before ‘Nothing But (Inter)Web?’ You mean when we were scratching on tablets?

Honestly, it’s just added time to the day but if you get in a routine, it’s manageable. Up about 6, finish off blog ‘til 7:30 or so, chill for a couple of hours and get ready to go again. You still have to go to practice, 11-2 most days, to gather information for the newspaper story and the web stuff, you still have to go to games and travel ‘cause that’s the bread and butter of the job. But it’s the job.

The time spent on gathering daily news and writing for the newspaper hasn’t changed – and I’d like to think the quality of the work hasn’t changed either – but I would hope that most readers feel more engaged because of the internet stuff. And I think that’s where we’re going, more discussion and dialogue rather than me writing, you reading and never the ‘twain shall meet. If it means more work, it means more work; I’d hope it’s appreciated by the folks it’s aimed at, guys like you.

It helps more than you can possibly know to have an understanding family and the ability to write from home, an airport lounge, a hotel room or, on the odd occasion, a saloon with wireless internet access.

Renumeration? We’ll just keep that private, if you don’t mind. You will notice, however, that I'm still working and not lounging at the villa in the south of Spain.

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Q: Doug, two questions for ya:
1) During the Denver game I noticed that Roko rarely dribbled with his left hand (or go to his left for that matter) - As he brought the ball up the court he seemed to do so on an angle really favoring his right side.  Don't know if you have noticed this, but over the course of the game it was very apparent, and actually looked weird.  A point guard should at least have his dribbling skills down pat no? Any thoughts?
2) I don't know how it would/could work in terms of salary and not going over the cap, but I noticed Lindsey Hunter is available - now that’s the perfect veteran who can spell Calderon for 15/18 minutes a night and not have the turnovers of Roko or Solomon - what are your thoughts? (I'm very concerned about the backup pg spot - are the Raps looking at ways to bring in a new body seeing as our backup pg’s don’t look as sharp as they may have hoped?)

Jacob W, Toronto

A: Actually, Roko’s ball-handling is one of his better skills, I think you might have just turned away for a minute; his left hand’s as good as his right.

Lindsey Hunter? Is having him really going to do enough to offset the fact it might stunt the development of Ukic and/or Solomon? Not in my opinion. At some point, those guys gotta play and if they blow for a game or two, well, they blow for a game or two and it'll probably help 'em in the long run.

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Q: Hey Doug.  First off, how can McCown only give you four minutes of air time earlier this week. He should be ashamed..
Do you know if there is an open practice this year? Its usually held the last Sunday before the season but I've heard/read nothing about it.

Frederick L, Mississauga

A: I’m sure he is ashamed, and I’ll mention it to him. But I’m sure there was a valid reason (maybe Mats Sundin burped) for the earlier segments running long. (I kid, McCown’s the one guy who has about the same amount of time for the Sundin saga as I do).

Anyway, as has been mentioned a few times, there is no open practice this year. Instead, they had about 13,000 kids who took part in the team’s reading program at a shootaround before the Minnesota pre-season game.

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Q: Hi Doug, love the blog, 2nd time writing in. I don't miss a day reading it. Even though we had triplets a couple of weeks ago, I manage to sneak away to read your blog everyday on my week off.
A couple of quick questions, if Ukic develops a jumper like Calderon did. Do you think he will be as good if not better than Jose?  I haven't seen the kid play so I can't make that assessment, and what do you think are his best attributes?

Calvin L, Milton

A: Triplets? Man, I’m impressed. I hope you’re changing diapers while you read or you read in down time after you’ve sent your wife and a friend out for dinner.

Now, I can see a career path quite similar between Ukic and Calderon, actually. There’s no telling if he’ll have the on-court decision-making that Calderon does but, skillwise, they could turn out quite the same.

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Q: Hey Doug, with our boy CB4 coming into the season as healthy as ever and with his new confidence and recognition from the Olympics (and those unfortunate Leno appearances), I feel that this could be the year he FINALLY gets the superstar recognition in the US that he deserves. Very hypothetical question (I know how much you love hypothetical questions, I keed, I keed) but do you think that if everything comes together, the big three stay healthy, Andrea has his breakthrough season, the Raps are near the top of the East with 45-50 wins, do you think it’s at all possible Bosh gets at least mentioned in the MVP talk outside by anyone outside of the ACC? Or is he doomed to maintain his status as an underappreciated star, no matter how great he plays, as long as he’s playing in Canada?

Marc S, Pickering

A: In a league with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, it’s going to virtually impossible for Bosh to get serious MVP consideration unless Toronto wins like 57 games, the Atlantic Division and he averages something stupid like 26 and 14. And, frankly, it doesn’t matter if he plays in Canada, the United States or Mars. The voters, and I know most of them personally, aren’t at all swayed by the country he plays in.

What's on Sam's mind? Well, maybe I know

Well, it’s pouring rain here, which will ease the guilt of not raking leaves ‘cause I’ve got to go stand around practice in a few hours. Actually, Saturdays at practice aren’t bad, there’s hardly any media around ‘cause two papers don’t publish on Sunday and most of the TV folks take the day off) and we do get the added bonus, if we want, of watching the pucks skatearound. Oh yeah, it’s wildly entertaining.

Anywho …

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If I could read Sam’s mind (and what a wonderful trip through literature that would be, wouldn’t it?) I’m betting Jamario’s back in as the opening night starting small forward and Roko Ukic is the backup point guard.

And why, you ask, do I think that’s what the poobah is thinking?

Well, it may mean nothing or it may mean everything but Jamario was wearing the black jerseys that starters wear when we got into watch the end of practice on Friday and it seems Sam’s starting to really like the way Ukic handles himself.

Sayeth the coach:

"Right now, Roko is getting a little bit better every day. One thing I really like about him is he’s like a sponge, man, He asks a lot of questions, he’s trying to learn. And you only really have to tell him something one time before he gets it.

"Right now, Will hasn’t been practicing (sore hamstring) so right now Roko will get those minutes. You can’t give those minutes to a guy who hasn’t been practicing.”

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Am sure you saw this in the papers today but in case you didn’t, we know where they’re playing on Wednesday, we know who they’re playing on Wednesday, we just don’t know when they’re playing on Wednesday.

If the Phillies and Rays extend the World Series to six games, and I’m betting they do, they’ll move up the Raptor-Sixer game to 6 p.m. from 7 p.m. so that the zany Philadelphia fans can get in front of their TV sets in time for the first pitch.

And get this: The folks at the basketball game can stick around and watch big screens on the concourse where, according the Sixers press release yesterday, they can enjoy “half-price domestic beer specials.”

Sounds delightful, no?

(Of course, it’s American domestic beer so it doesn’t really count, right?)

You can bet a gaggle of grunts will beating hasty retreat out of the gym and back to the safety of the airport Marriott lobby bar just as quickly as we can.

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I’m pretty sure this isn’t a good sign. We’re standing around the concourse waiting to get into practice when out walks Hassan Adams, being guided by trainer Scott McCullough and holding his shoulder.

We were told later he banged up during practice, no word on if, or how long he’ll be out, but a team with only 12 healthy bodies to start with (13 minus Jawai) can’t afford to lose any more.

Not because it’ll be a problem in games but because it’ll be a problem in practice. When they’re scrimmaging – and that’s where they’ll best keep game sharp – not having any subs, or only having one for each team, doesn’t allow them to go for very long without breaks.

Maybe they should suit up a Coaching Team. Put Mike Evans at the point. Alex English and Jay Triano at the wings, Sam can play the four and, yes, they could go outside the staff and grab Wayne Embry to play centre.

Now, that’s a team I’d pay money to watch.

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Gotta expand a little bit on a question from the mailbag yesterday about the Hall of Fame. You can find it if you want but the gist of it was whether I thought guys like Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups or Baron Davis were destined to get in.

Here’s my deal on the Hall of Fame: I’m a hard-ass when it comes to enshrinement.

I think it’s become too easy to get it, too many relatively marginal players get the honour, it should be reserved for only the true greats who won titles, led their teams, were great over a long, long period of time or changed something in the way the game is played.

It’s really impossible to tell in the middle of someone’s career whether they should get in, I think a body of work should be examined as a whole.

That said, though, I don’t think there are all that many guys in the league today who are going to the Hall.

Koke, sure. Kevin Garnett’s in. And LeBron. Shaq’s gotta get in, so does Tim Duncan and you can make a solid case for Steve Nash. Allen Iverson? A tough one but I think he makes it. Jason Kidd’s in, too.

But you know what? You get past them and I wonder how many others there are.

Dirk? Yeah, ‘cause of the international aspect of the basketball hall, which is probably how Yao gets in, too.

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Action: Minnesota’s Glen Taylor elected chairman of the board.

Reaction: Under-the-table deals with free agents now acceptable behaviour.

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Here’s one from an already over-flowing mailbag. Guess I’ll post one a bit later today or tonight and keep with this regular gunk until the season starts. Sound fair to everyone?

Q: I know you're not a big stats guy, but I like them because there's no hype involved. I do try to focus on positive stats, to be fair to the players (giving credit when it's due). My questions are, "What do you consider to be the "hustle" stats, and are they available to the general public?"

Bo K, Mississauga

A: The two I consider more important than any other are charges taken and deflections. The former might be available on the more esoteric stats websites (it’s hard to even get the team to give me the numbers), the latter is a privately held number that, again, is hard to get.

Of the ones easily available, I’d put offensive rebounds at the top of the list.

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This has nothing to do with anything but you know what I hate?

Video advertising in the men’s room of your local.

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Okay, consider yourself humoured:

Q: With the new season approaching, I think it is time rank the top 8 teams from each conference. I know there are injuries and many other factors to consider, but let's assume it will be a completely injury free season aside from the injuries that have already occurred during the off season. I understand this is still an unreasonable request, but I am going to need you to use your gut feeling on this. Don't worry, we won't hold you to your predictions. Just humor us.
Thank-you. looking forward to the blog during the season!

Edward C, Toronto

A: Of course you’ll hold them over my head, it’s what you do.

But what the heck, here we go. (And there'll be lots more preview stuff here and in the paper over the next few days)

East:

Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Toronto, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, and (and this is the really, really hard one), Indiana.

West:

Lakers, New Orleans, Utah, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, Portland.

My goodness, you ask a lot

Okay, here’s my dilemma.

After more than a few hours work on the mail until Thursday evening, I’m up to about 8,000 words of questions and answers and since a regular morning blog thing’s about 1,000 words, that’s an awful lot for anyone to digest.

And with practices starting again this morning and the regular junk to go through, should I blow off the blog, do an extra mailbag since it’s done anyway, take the weekend off to work on season preview stuff?

Tough call, no?

Okay, just thought about it for a minute, we’ll do a lot now, a bit more on the weekend and try to work in the usual mumble-jumble Saturday and Sunday.

Lucky you, eh?

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Q: Looking forward to the regular season kick-off, but enjoyed your Beijing posts over the summer.
Caught an analyst on Canada AM this morning predicting a not-so-happy future for the NBA and NHL ticket sales, but not in a substantial way until next spring. His reasoning was that season ticket holders bought their packages earlier this year, before the economic downturn and global fiscal crisis got out of hand. Ergo, NBA teams should be anticipating fewer ticket sales next year if the economy doesn't pick up between now and then and people remain conservative with their disposable income.
Last year, I went to about 10 games, but I'm not planning to go to any this year for family and financial reasons.
I wondered how you see this broader trend affecting the Raptors over the long haul? Do you think teams in the States where the credit crunch has been more pronounced have more to worry about than MLSE?

Ellie W, Toronto

A: That analyst was bang-on. I think the NBA is smart enough to know that, if things haven’t turned around or leveled off by next summer, that they’ll either have to hold the line on ticket prices or find some way to lower them in some sections of the arenas.

But I also think the Raptors, while not bullet-proof by any means, might be better off than their American partners because it seems, at the moment at least, the crisis is hitting the United States harder. I don’t read about people walking away from their homes en masse as they are in parts of the States.

I also think you might be one of many who cut out discretionary spending on sports and entertainment first. The teams can only hope things don’t get worse and, in fact, improve over the next calendar year.

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Q: I can't understand this; Sam Mitchell has tried countless rotations this pre-season as a way to experiment with different combinations and try to get the most out of his players. Why has he not considered starting Kapono for Parks and have Parks run the (so-called) second unit with an unproven but familiar point guard in Solomon?  It seems (given we have the former Euroleague MVP) worth at least a look.  Thanks

Stephen C, Mississauga

A: He did consider it, as we reported from Ottawa at training camp, and he and the staff decided it was best to leave Kapono coming off the bench.

And I think you’re over-estimating Parker’s point guard skills to think he could “run” a team on the floor, even if Solomon was there with him.

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Q: Doug, I have an interesting question for you: If a player is a real good player but is asking too much money for their contract and his team does not want to offer that much and then another team offers the player to an offer sheet of a really low amount of $ per year for like 5 years, and the team that actually owns the player matches this offer. Does that mean the player who wanted a huge contract now HAS to settle with a small contract?

Chaz E, London, UK

A: Well, here’s what that’s never going to come up: The restricted free agent doesn’t have to sign an offer sheet and surely any agent worth his four per cent or whatever it is would never let him sign one that he thought significantly under-paid his player.

So, it may be interesting in theory but it would never happen in real life.

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Q: Doug, in your opinion what are the chances we see a significant reduction of the cap and tax threshold next year?  Based on the economic climate I think it is quite likely league revenues will drop.  There would be less money for free agents, many would sign one year deals at much less than what they would have normally expected (hoping to see the economy and league revenue improve the following year) and the 2010 free agent class could include half the league!

Rap T, Toronto

A: I don’t think significant, no. Enough of the big-money deals the NBA has with sponsors and the like are multi-year so that gives them some protection. And if you see a decline in, say, season ticket sales next summer, it’s not going to have an impact on the cap until the 2010-11 season. And do you think they’d sign short-term deals hoping for a turnaround, or long-term deals to get locked in and be bullet-proof to more of a recession. Would a one-year deal at, say $10 million instead of $12 million, make more sense in these economic times than, say, a five-year deal at something like $11 million a year? Me? I take the security.

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Q: Hey Doug, a couple:
1. Why is that some players thrive in college and some thrive in the NBA. Kind of like Mateen Cleaves being the better college player and Morris Peterson being the better NBA player.
2. People keep talking about 2010 as being the year where the Raps land someone big. What are the chances of the Raps landing a big name?
3. At Andrea's prime, what will his numbers be like?

John V, Toronto

A: Mostly because there is a HUGE difference between NCAA basketball and the NBA. I’m not a big NCAA fan – I find it quite boring as a matter of fact – and I think it’s a game of systems rather than players. Cleaves was a very good NCAA player who couldn’t cut it in the NBA; Peterson was a pretty good college player whose skillset and size made him more valuable to an NBA team. Plus, I think Peterson’s about 10 times more mentally tough than Cleaves.

Now, 2010? Chances? Seeing how it’s two years away, I’ll say 50-50. And I don’t want to take a guess about numbers, it’s not something I like to do because there are far too many variables (teammates, team success or failure) to make anything more than a silly guess.

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Q: Doug, it's extraordinarily early to reach any conclusions at this point, but what the hey, I'll beat the Christmas rush: this Delfino-less second unit ain't gonna cut it offensively (or defensively, for that matter). The thought of Hump and Kapono and Solomon trying to create their own shots is as dread-inducing as the thought of Sarah Palin in the Oval Office. So let me be the first to make a heretical suggestion: split up the Twin Towers, other than for the last 5 minutes of the 1st half and last 10 minutes of the game. Besides, all they seem to do while they're on the court together is take turns at taking possessions off while the other one plays one on one. I know, I know, it's early, they'll get better together, yada yada. Think I'm crazy?

Lee Z, Ottawa

A: Crazy? Heck no. I think you might be closer to reality than you think. Not that the coach won’t play them together, but I think they should be much closer to a three-man big man regular rotation than maybe they are. I think you’ll see Bosh and O’Neal together for the first seven minutes of the game and the last five minutes or so of the half, the first six or seven minutes of the third and the last seven or eight of the game.

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Q: Hey Doug:  Now that all these "Where Does Every NBA Team Rank" articles are coming out, I was wondering if you or your kind are the people supplying the info to these major magazines on the local team?  I mean, it would make sense to me to go to you for the scoop on the Raptors.  I'm not saying you write the article, but do you provide heavy info for them?

D’Arcy C, Sudbury

A: I can’t speak for the others but on occasion I’ve written some of those summer pieces for the preview magazines on a freelance basis. And every now and then, a friend from, say, Sports Illustrated or ESPN will call to get my take on the team, where it is and where it’s going.

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Q: Love your blog - read it too much. Couple of questions:
1. before preseason the prevailing wisdom seemed to be that Kapono would step into the starting 3 spot based on his playoff performance and his outside shooting stretching the floor for the 2 bigs. But in pre-season it’s been all about Moon then Graham. That shift didn't seem to be questioned much. Is it because they want to keep some scoring coming off the bench? Why not start Kapono?
2. Saw in SI that it referenced Scott Carefoot's "Raptorblog" so I clicked on it and see that he's back actively writing in it. Do the bloggers have any actual access to the team or does he write that based on what he sees on TV? Do the beat grunts and bloggers socialize at all?

Tom D, Oakville

A: You cannot read this too much. Honestly.

Yes, the original thought, and the existing thought, is that Kapono could provide offence, along with Bargnani, off the bench. I don’t know if that’ll change any time in the future, like if they really get off to a bad start, but I kind of doubt it.

Now, I’m slightly familiar with the blog you’re talking about but I wouldn’t know the gentleman who writes if, and I steal this from an old pucks coach, I ran him over with my truck.

The only people who are around this team on a daily basis are representatives of the four newspapers, the FAN590 radio, Raptors TV and a couple of other TV stations are hit and miss.

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Q: Now that we've seen the team in action, how would you predict the Raptors to start the first 10 games of the season presuming they have no critical injuries. I'll say a slow start with 6 wins 4 losses since they need to get the bench going.

CJ L, London

A: Well, six of the first 10 are on the road, with stops in Boston, Philly and Orlando. There are a couple back-to-backs and one stretch of three games in four nights.

I’d sign a 5-5 scorecard right now and move immediately to Game 11.

This and that and another day off

And a fine good day to you all.

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Sam Mitchell: Benevolent Dictator.

Not only did he see fit to give the lads the day off Wednesday when they flew back from Edmonton, he’s giving them Thursday off, too.

At first blush, you’d think a team that looked so utterly average in its last pre-season game could use as much practice as is possible but at many levels, the two days off makes much more sense.

They don’t play until Wednesday so there are five days of practice before the opener and they looked horrificly sluggish in that loss to Denver – at least they did on my television set – so an extra day of mental and physical rest was probably due.

And, truth be told, I bet more than half of ‘em find their way to the ACC sometime today to get up some shots, maybe do some weights or get treatment on bodies beaten and battered by a month of camp.

But it does mean that Friday’s practice is going to be a long one. Lucky us, more time standing around the hallways at the ACC waiting to be summoned in.

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Wow. How ‘bout those GMs? Really went out on a limb with the old predictions, didn’t they?

Lakers to win. LeBron as MVP. Beasley as rookie of the year? Brand as the most significant acquisition? Yeah, that’s some daring predicting right there, isn’t it?

Of course, they’re probably dead on and I couldn’t argue with any of the selections but let’s just say the Lakers, LeBron and Beasley weren’t in the equation.

Who then?
Well, how about the Spurs to win it all again, Chris Paul as the MVP, Rudy Fernandez as the rookie of the year and James Posey as the most significant acquisition?

Don’t hold me to it, but it’s gonna ‘cause more conversation that Lakers, LeBron, Beasley, Brand.

Actually, some of the sub-sections are rather interesting. I note Sam got a vote for coach with the best defensive schemes (stop laughing!) and that both Bargnani and Calderon got votes for international player with breakout potential (guess the international numbers might be down).

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How about that Jamal Sampson Era? Kinda flew by, didn’t it?

Really, though, Sampson was only brought in as training camp fodder after Nathan Jawai was lost and there was never a serious thought he’d stick. Then he hurt his wrist and couldn’t even practice and it just became a matter of him getting healthy enough to be waived.

The thing is, it’s not as if Jawai’s ready to get back on the court. Was told yesterday there are still no developments in his seemingly never-ending pursuit of cardiac tests that will either clear him to return to action or put on the shelf for an extended period of time.

Read that again: There are no developments. He’s not done, he’s not coming back. They don’t know yet.

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Let me get this straight:

One team.

Five broadcast outlets.

Three colour analysts.

Almost a third of the games unable to be seen by cable subscribers in the team’s home market.

I don’t know broadcasting as well as many but that doesn’t strike me as the greatest of scenarios.

Now, I suppose five stations showing 82 games is better than three showing 55 or something but, still ….

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A Sam question:

Q: I have been searching for a way to get feedback from the media on Sam Mitchell and how terrible he seems to treat the media as a whole.
I just watched another QT Video of him on the Raptors website and his responses to questions from the media were ridiculous. He doesn't appear to respect any of you, and seems to blow off the media as a whole just about every time he is interviewed.
Does he realize that when he is answering the media's questions, he is actually talking to the fans? Does he realize how much contempt he shows? How on earth does he expect to get respect from the media when he isn't showing them any respect either? Does Brian Colangelo recognize that this is part of a coaches job? Does he care how terrible Sam is with the media? Is he getting any kind of coaching on this?
I have seen far more mature responses coming from his players (who are far younger than he is) even in their rookie years (Jose)!!
Maybe the answer is that the media should just ignore him altogether?
I mean how bad does it have to be? I know the media can be a pain in the butt sometimes but shouldn't it be in Sam's job description that he has to be the one taking the higher road? Turning the other cheek?
Sorry, but after this many years I believe the man should be answering ALL of your questions and giving the fans the insight we are looking for!!
Unless he thinks he is above the fans?
Chris S, Burlington

A: Yes, Sam’s relationship with the media is at times contemptuous but – and you’re not there every day to see it all – after he has his little fun, if that’s what you want to call it, he’ll answer all the questions we have. He might be snarky, he might every now and then go with the one-word answers but if you put in the time, you’ll get your stuff.

And, as much as you’d like us to, we can’t ignore him. And I wouldn't want to, sometimes he can be wildly entertaining.

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Speaking of the mail, had a couple of people wonder in the last few days why there’s so much, why a lot of it seems redundant and some of it’s little more than thinly disguised rants with “your thought?” tossed at the end.

The way I figure it, the volume comes from the fact you people are nuts (in quite a good way, I mean); the redundancy I can deal with ‘cause if there’s a legitimate question I figure I should answer it if you’ve gone to the trouble to send it and the thinly-disguised rants can be ignored if that’s all there is.

Simple fact: There probably is too much but it’s a monster we’ve created and it’s got to be fed. The fact that it dominates most of my days is something I’ve got to get used to, I guess.

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You watch the start of the baseball game last night?
The Backstreet Boys singing the anthem?!?!? How about Backstreet Washed Up Middle-Aged Dudes? My goodness gracious.

Now, this is putting all you anthem people at the Raptor games on notice: The anthem is a song of respect and celebration, it is not – I repeat NOT – something to be reworked or rewritten or used as some sort of goofy demo tape. It’s not to be “covered.” You want to do cover tunes, go to some cheesy hotel lobby bar.

Sing it as it’s written, using the right words, the right tempo, the right tune.

End of rant.

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Speaking of the mail:

Q: What’s good Doug? This one isn’t a Raptor related question it has to do with Shaq. A lot people say he ran out of gas, he’s too old, out of shape etc. but watching him play on Phoenix and when he was in Miami is that every time this guy touches the ball he gets double tripled team every time and we all know Shaq is a low post player strictly so its not like were going to see him step out and take jump shots to adjust to a zone defence what do you think about the Shaq situation.

Omar H, Brampton

A: What’s good? A nice cold beer on a hot day (or a cool day, or a rainy day, or a freezing cold day), a perfectly done medium rare ribeye steak, that’s what’s good.

Now, Shaq. It’ll be interesting to see how teams play him this year; there was a move away from automatic double-teams last year, and even a bit the year before that. I’m not entirely sure what Phoenix’s offence is going to look like this year, but I’d bet teams double Amare and leave Shaq to be guarded one-on-one. And I guarantee you every team that plays them will primarily run high screen and roll plays with whoever Shaq’s guarding.

Is he done? No. Is he the old Shaq? Not a chance.

Imagine there's doom and gloom today

Pretty crappy performance out in Edmonton, no? Slow or non-existent defensive rotations, sluggish offence, not an over-abundance of hustle. Oh, and what, a kazillion turnovers?

At least they won’t be going into the regular season over-confident, right?

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Hands up everyone who figured the season was over when Jermaine O’Neal failed to materialize for the second half? If I know Raptor fans, that little trouble spot coupled with an up-and-down game from Andrea Bargnani and another bad game from the bench had you figuring out TV plans for the draft lottery. Maybe it sent more than a few of you to the interweb to seek out Ricky Rubio highlight videos.

JIMMY JEONG/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Bosh: 17 points in 29 minutes vs. Denver.

Here’s the thing: If no one got too excited about anything good that happened in the pre-season, you can’t go all sackcloth and ashes on them for a bad game to end it.

It is of no solace to many of you, I’m sure, but it is the pre-season, no one played their regular rotation or minutes, there’s a week to go before the first real game.

Are there issues? Absolutely. Are they season-killing issues before the season actually begins? No, they’re not. Can they get fixed? Sure.

Will they get fixed? They better hope so.

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O’Neal’s problem, in case you missed the morning dispatches, was tightness in his right hamstring. Nothing to do with his left knee. They’ve got today off to travel back but O’Neal told anyone who’d listen that he’d be ready to go when they get back in the gym tomorrow.

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I’m sure you heard the full TV sked is due out some time this morning; we’ll get it up here as quickly as we can but The Score has the first two and TSN the third.

Of course, there’s still no resolution to the Rogers-TSN impasse over getting TSN2 on the largest cable provider in the team’s home market.

It’s in negotiations but that’s all anyone’s saying.

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Seriously, do you have to have like a zillion tattoos to play for the Nuggets?

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Here’s one for you:

What if there is no “second unit” most nights?

I’ve been saying since before the season began that I think an eight- or nine-man rotation is the way to go, never 10 on a consistent basis and certainly not 11 or 12.

So, how?

Well, how’s this (and these are night when no starter gets two fouls in the first six minutes or so and everyone’s healthy):

Usual starters, which I think should be Calderon, Parker, Graham, Bosh and O’Neal.

After about 7-8 minutes, replace O’Neal with Bargnani. After about two or three minutes of the second quarter, replace Bosh with O’Neal. With about four or five minutes to go in the second quarter, put Bosh back in for Bargnani.

Total time: O’Neal gets about 17, 18 minutes, Bosh gets about 17, 18 minutes and Bargnani gets about 11.

Jose plays the entire first quarter and Solomon, or Ukic, starts the second and plays about four minutes and then Calderon comes back.

The wings? Same sort of rotation, only shorter runs for everyone. If Graham starts, take him out after about six minutes, go to Moon for as long as you like, maybe nine or 10 minutes, and then go back to Joey. Or, if Moon starts, simply switch it around.

And I can see Parker and Kapono splitting minutes almost evenly, with whoever’s having the better night finishing.

Now, that leaves Hump out of the rotation and I don’t really have a problem with that. Figure he’ll get some minutes some nights when one of the three bigs gets two quick fouls and maybe a hungry Hump will be more active trying to earn minutes because right now he’s not really doing anything to help him earn playing time.

And, frankly, if Moon’s play doesn’t pick up, I’d have no problem cutting his minutes way back and if they need to fill a few minutes a game, go with Hassan Adams. He’s not as athletic, that’s for sure, but his work ethic’s pretty good.

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A roster move question:

Q: So with the Raps having 13 players I understand trades that would involve getting extra bodies back. What happens though if the Raps make a trade and get less players back? Would they have time to sign guys to fill the roster out or it would have to be done before? If we see them signing a guy or two would this be an indication something is happening?

Mike P, Thornhill

A: League rules mandate a minimum of 13 players on the roster but if they were to make a two-for-one deal, for instance, they could simultaneously sign that 13^th player; they wouldn’t necessarily have to do it before making the trade.

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Okay, here’s the laughable league story of the week:

Andrew Bynum, who has played in a grand total of 163 NBA games and hasn’t played a minute in one that counted since last January because of a knee injury, wants an extension worth about $17 million a year?

That’s simply delusional.

The best part of it? His agent offering some veiled threat about “repercussions” next summer if the kid has to go through this season without a new deal.

The repercussions? He’s a restricted free agent who won’t be going anywhere.

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So, I see a headline in the New York Daily News that suggests Eddy Curry is out of shape.

Next headline: Plane lands safely.

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A long one to end the day:

Q: Hey Doug, it's been a while since I've written in but it was the offseason, and you need time to relax, right?
I just went through a 7th consecutive season of false hope with our baseball team, and now I have to hear how the "slimmer" roster is going to make everything all better. Last year our strength was our "depth", and this year it's the "tightness" of the rotation, allowing players to play through mistakes etc etc. It's a good spin on things but I refuse to believe it. We are one Calderon, Bosh, or O'Neal injury away from a wasted season. And, I know I'm not a fortune teller, but let's be honest...do you truly believe in your heart of hearts that O'Neal and Bosh will stay healthy? God forbid Calderon goes down, I may have a heart attack.
Now, I've read your column enough to know your response. There is no way to tell, and if O'Neal or Bosh do get injured, let's just hope it's at different times, and they are ready to go for the playoffs. I just don't want to see this franchise and it's fan base start using the mantra "if we stay healthy" because it's a cop-out, and is almost non-existent in professional sports. I, unfortunately, see it coming already. Hopefully I'm wrong. Thoughts?

Mike S, Georgetown

A: Thanks for your opinion, I’m sure it’s shared by many. It seems to me, though, that you do feel like something of a fortune teller and you’d just like others to agree with what you see happening. And it could very well come true.

But it’s also quite possible that, with Bosh healthier than he’s ever been going into a season that he plays 75 games or more. It’s also quite possible that a surgically-repaired knee, if the surgery was done well, will allow O’Neal to play 70 games. And Calderon played 82 games last season, 77 the season before and 64 as a rookie.

Yes, if one of them goes down for an extended period of time, it’ll be disastrous and it will likely be the reason the season goes in the toilet.

But I don’t mind this roster. There are holes, yes, but on the whole, it’s probably good enough for anywhere from 44-48 wins.

There are many who are going into the season holding their breath for good health and, trust me, there are a dozen or more teams chanting the same “if we stay healthy” mantra you see as a cop-out. You don’t think they’re holding their breath in L.A. today after Kobe hyper-extended his knee? Are they worried about Chris Paul's health in New Orleans? Dwight Howard in Orlando?

A cop-out? How about reality.

The end is near

Not sure if the Last Day Of Pre-Season Play is reason to celebrate but, what the heck, let’s have a parade! Or at least a nice private moment to signal the passing of another season of Games That Don’t Matter.

And to all you ticket-holding folks in Edmonton, enjoy the game, at least you should see something close to a regular rotation and players taking things more seriously than if it was, say, the first game.

Wish I was there. But I’m not. And because I’m not this little missive might be a bit short in the content department.

FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ukic under pressure. Get used to it.

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Am sure you’ve seen Roko Ukic and Will Solomon struggle at times during the pre-season and that’s a troubling sign.

Here’s another one: It seems the word is out that applying pressure as soon as they touch the ball is the best way to get them off their games. It started with Moscow’s J.R. Holden started picking up Solomon full court and it continued the other night against the Lakers when Roko was being pestered all 94 feet pretty much ever possession.

And the way each of them dealt with the pressure, and knowing the way scouts talk and teams pay attention to things like that, I’m sure you’ll see the backups bothered every step of the way in a lot of games.

Neither has been really adept at handling that pressure yet; they better get used to it quickly.

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Oh.

My.

Lord.

The Nuggets are on a pre-season road trip to Bismarck, N.D., and Edmonton.

Someone in their basketball operations department is going to pay for that.

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Hey, another TV question:

Q: As a Raptors fan in Winnipeg, I must say that the current tv situation is disgusting. Last year I was able to get away without having RaptorsTV (12 exclusive games if I recall). This year, I would need to switch providers and subscribe to digital cable (TSN2, RaptorsTV).

This is a terrible considering the Raps potential this season. I can't even imagine how you in-market fans feel. I thought The Score wanted to increase their basketball content. I have my fingers crossed that they'll step up and carry more games.

Dan C, Winnipeg

A: Sorry, the broadcast schedule, at least for which games will be shown on what network, is pretty much cast in stone, there is little or no wiggle room for one network to pick up more games. I found it interesting that CBC turned back two of its games to RaptorsTV rather than to The Score or TSN or even TSN2; I guess the schedules wouldn’t permit it.

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Moon. Graham.

Graham. Moon.

Guess there’s just one decision left for Sam to make: Who starts at the three?

After the Minnesota game, eons ago it seems, Sam seemed to be leaning towards leaving Joey to come off the bench.

"We know Andrea can score, Jason can score and get some shots, but we’ve got to find that that other guy. One thing Joey has shown the ability to do is he can put the ball on the floor and create a shot for himself or get to the basket and create some contact.”

But as they say, that was then and this is now and after two more starts for Joey, perhaps his mind has been changed.

I think Graham is better suited, right now, as a starter than Moon and I think that’s the way they should go to start the season.

Of course, Sam doesn’t often take advice from me. Shocking, I know.

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Couple more questions from yesterday:

Q: Hey Doug, do you think the Lakers' 'Lights Out' arena lighting will spread to other cities? Personally as a fan I'd be curious to see at least once what it would be like at the ACC.

Paul G, Toronto

A: The Lakers actually stole the idea, or borrowed it rather, from the Knicks, who’ve been lighting Madison Square Garden like that for years.

I personally love it but the one time I asked about the possibility of doing it at the ACC, I was told the cost of changing the lighting system would be prohibitive.

After all, they had to spend eight million bucks on that scoreboard that doesn’t have in-game stats yet.

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Q: No doubt that Chuck is and will be missed doing the TV. My question is will Sherman Hamilton do the colour for all the games? Where is Jack because we've now learned that jack can't do radio!

Joel R, Toronto

A: Nah, Sherm was a pre-season analyst only. It’ll be either Jack or Leo once the regular season starts.

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Hey, how many of you have written Rogers to dump on them for not having TSN2 on their cable system in Toronto yet? I know a billion or so voiced their disgust with TSN, I’m hoping you haven’t let the other party to this travesty off the hook.

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Not much happening with the Nuggets (Iverson won’t play tonight in Edmonton) but here’s how things are playing in the paper out there today.

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Just to head everyone off at the pass:

No, there seems to be absolutely no interest whatsoever in either Dan Dickau or Darius Miles here.

If they wanted, or liked Dickau, they could have got him in the summer but there wasn’t even a sniff; and Miles got a long, long look in Boston and if he didn’t cut it there, there may still be questions about his knee.

Nope, there is just one move left for the Raptors to make:

When Jamal Sampson’s wrist gets better, he’ll be waived and if Jawai’s not ready to resume workouts, they’ll bring in some other big man to occupy that seat at the end of the bench.

Memories of Edmonton, and Moon's tough week

Well, that was a bit of pleasant surprise, having RaptorsTV pick up the Laker game late last night, although it was hard to watch at times with tears welling in the eyes over the Red Sox demise. But, alas, there’s nothing more thrilling than a Tampa-Philly World Series, is there? Bet the networks are drooling over that one.

I digress, as usual.

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Hmm, let’s see:

Raptors vs. CSKA Moscow: Jamario Moon sits most of the second half.

Raptors vs. Minnesota: Joey Graham’s a starter over Moon.

Raptors vs. Clippers: So-so night for Moon coming off the bench again.

Rpators vs. Lakers: Moon, a sub again, plays just 14 minutes and misses eight straight shots as Hassan Adams get an extended run.

Promising sign for the second-year swingman? Not so much.

Haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone on the staff over the weekend but I’m thinking the patience with Mr. Moon is wearing pretty thin.

Sam said the other night after the Minnesota game that he might like Joey better with the second unit to provide some slashing offence and rebounding to go along with Bargnani and Kapono but he could very well be re-thinking that these days.

It’ll be interesting to see who starts in Edmonton.

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Speaking of Edmonton, Tuesday ends the pre-season for the lads and I have to say this might have been the worst pre-season schedule I can remember.

Starts with a back-to-back, which everyone hates in the exhibition season, ends with three games in four nights out west and there’s a whole week of inactivity before the opener.

Ugh.

And with only 13 guys – three of whom were injured for most, if not all of the games – I’m a bit surprised we haven’t heard much complaining, even privately.

I know these schedules are hard to put together with arena availability being an issue along with the reluctance of some teams to travel much for games that don’t count, but this has been a bad one.

What’s the optimum? I’d say game, two days off, game, two days off, game, two days off might work. And I’d have a game on Thursday this week just to cut the time before the start of the season.

But that’s just me.

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No doubt Hassan Adams was a disappointment, and a non-factor, over the first six pre-season games (he got a DNP-CD in one for goodness sakes) but 7-for-9 from the floor and some impressive defence against the Lakers may have earned him a longer look. Or got him some goodwill with the coaching staff. Or maybe cut him some slack with the inbox writers who wanted him waived in the middle of last week.

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Speaking, again, of Edmonton, and there’s some Raptor history in that fine city and it’s not at all good.

The last time they were there was in 1999 to meet the Grizzlies in one of those legendary Naismith Cup games.

Showed up at shootaround and there was only one basket available on the court, the other one wasn’t set up correctly, ticking off the coaches and teams no end.

Then we’re about in the middle of the second quarter and from in front of the bench you couldn’t see the top of the scoreboard with the score. A rather odd thing, yes.

The situation was made a bit worse because the auxiliary scoreboards were showing, of course, out of town hockey scores.

Butch Carter, diplomatic as he could be, turns to the scorer’s table and says something to the effect of:

“Can we get the score of the game being played here up on the board somewhere?”

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Here’s one that’s on a lot of minds:

Q: Any updates on the intro music for this year or will we have to wait for opening night? Thank you and I love your in game commentary!
Martin A, Thornhill

A: Sorry, it’s a state-held secret, apparently. Maybe someone whispers it to me this week but probably not. I will tell you it was some major league production. A year ago, they did it in the hallway outside the practice gym on media day; this year, they did it on the main court, with three separate stations set up in what looked like some Hollywood set. And they did it last week, long after practice had ended and grunts were gone.

It better be good. I pretty much expect it'll be unrecognizable to me, but it still better be good.

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Speaking of that Edmonton game (sense a trend here?), it did mark, I believe, the last appearance in a Raptor uniform of one Master P, a musician of some note, I’m told, and an NBA hopeful of marginal skill at best. But it was fun to watch him play because when he got the ball, you didn’t have to worry about looking to see who he’d pass to.

Oh, I also remember the great Alex Radojevic, all gangly 7-3 of him, leading a fast break and dribbling the ball about 6-6 off the floor. Hilarious.

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Hump was way better with hair, wasn’t he?

As many rebounds as a dead man and four straight missed shots against the Lakers? Hello, Bad Hump.

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A visit to the mail:

Q: Quick question: Do the Raps have any players coming off the books in 09? You mentioned that the current Raptors' roster may not be the same we'll see at the end of the regular season, but with limited bargaining chips (and a smaller roster), what on earth could they do?

Frank B, Ottawa

A: The contracts of Anthony Parker, Joey Graham and Will Solomon (and I forgot Jamario Moon, originally; now he's added) expire at the end of the season, so there may be the possibility of some movement at the trade deadline but that’s a long, long way away.

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If, as many seamheads I respect contend, the National League is far inferior to the American League, taking Tampa in five wouldn’t be a bad idea.

At least it wouldn’t be a bad idea if gambling was legal, which it’s not unless the provincial government is the bookie.