Riding the rails and writing

Finally got my stuff done for the newspaper, now I can do stuff for you interweb people, at least the ones at home on a Saturday evening. Or maybe you’re seeing this Sunday morning while I’m sawing logs after a train ride back from the nation’s capital and a great, if adult beverage-filled, few days.

I’ll tell you this, if they’re picking a place to have camp next year out of Ottawa, St. Catharines and Waterloo, I know one beat grunt who’s voting for Bytown and voting often. Of course, if Europe or Asia in the mix (and I hear they are), the vote might change.

Great time, you kids acquitted yourselves extremely well in the Advice To The Beat Grunt department and being wildly enthusiastic at the little show on Saturday afternoon. The dude with the jersey that had General Manager Of The Year stitched on the front and Colangelo 613 on the back takes home the prize for zaniest character.

Seriously, though, thanks for all the recommendations. Didn’t get to all of them, that’s for sure, but the places I did go to were because you folks told me about ‘em and none of them were in the slightest way a disappointment. Way to go. My liver thanks you.

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So, who won? Who knows? Who really cares?

With a handful of in-game trades, it was impossible to tell who was on what team at what time in the scrimmage, although the team that was primarily the starters ended up winning by 11 when it was all said and done. Big whoop.

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Random thoughts

At one point in the game, maybe after Hump made like seven shots in a row and Bargnani was splitting defenders, driving and dunking, I swear it struck us that they should start. Then we woke up.

Seriously, though, if Humphries keeps running the floor like he has been and Bargnani keeps going like he has been, all of a sudden this is absolutely the best set of four bigs in the East and maybe the league.

Here’s Sam, after the Saturday run, on how he sees them being used:

"The perfect world would be having Chris and Andrea at different times on the court because both of those guys can go outside and Hump and Jermaine can go inside.

"But you know what? I think there’s going to be nights when we play Hump and Jermaine together. And we’ve already played Chris and Andrea together … they’ve started and played games together. So it’s not going to matter.

"The perfect scenario for me (would be) to try to make sure we always have one big out there who can shoot and another big down there that can play in the paint and rebound and do the tough stuff.

"But if you look, Andrea’s down there doing the tough stuff. As one of my coaches says, he’s going where it hurts now.”

Going where it hurts? Now that’s not something many said about Bargnani a year ago.

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Best line? The crowd chanting ‘M-V-P, M-V-P’ after a Hump dunk. Laughed out loud at that one.

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Watch Roko Ukic’s jumper if you get a chance. On every one he takes, he leans as he elevates. Looks really odd. I’m not sure if they’re to break down and rebuild his stroke like they do with golf swings but some serious reconstructive surgery is necessary.

Luckily, there are guys around to help.

One of the most constant things we saw whenever Benevolent Sam let us in the gym after practice, was Ukic off to the side working on his shot with assistant coach Gord Herbert. I’ve got a feeling those two guys are going to be spending an awful lot of time together.

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So, what else was troubling out of the first five days?

Nothing too serious, actually.
One thing was that Hassan Adams probably could have reported in better shape – no, wait, he absolutely could have reported in better shape – but he didn’t look too bad in the scrimmage. Can’t shoot a lick but that’s not what they got him for. He’s here to push guys in practice, maybe fight his way into the rotation with tough defence, rebounding and doing all those little things Sam loves so much.

Another thing is that Joey is going to be way behind whenever he gets back on the court, which is troubling because I do think they had some idea he might be able to play some backup minuets to Jamario at the small forward. I know it’s a long, long time until anyone has to do anything for real but Graham missing a week was tough break.

No word on when Jawai will get a final determination on whatever the “cardiac issue” is. One guy whispered to me that they think he’ll get cleared and could be on the court the middle or end of next week. But that guy wasn’t a doctor or a heart specialist.

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Both Will Solomon and Ukic were pretty much as expected, raw at times, energetic at times and still feeling their way through the team, the speed of the game and the intricacies of their teammates. I would bet if the season started tomorrow, Solomon would be the first PG off the bench but not by much, at least that’s what the coaches are hinting at.

It’s not going to be Jose and T.J. – or T.J. and Jose lest all the Ford supporters out there get offended and start flooding the inbox – but it’s not going to be the unmitigated disaster some are predicting.

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We’re seeing Benevolent Sam a lot these days. Sure, he’s got his grump on for some of us already but with the players, he’s being kind. Days off. Short practices. No cussing. Very little screaming, I’m told. Kinder, Gentler Sam.

It’s probably got lots to do with the fact this is the most veteran team he’s had in the five seasons he’s been here. He’s got the same core of the team he’s had for three years (Bosh, Calderon, Parker, Bargnani), a relatively old dude in O’Neal (entering his 13^th year) and coaches need to change as the group they’re in charge of changes. Older guys require less yelling and confrontation and more quiet instruction and the chance to figure things out for themselves.

"The thing we have to do is make sure we get them the days off and cut the practices down once we get them in the shape that we feel like they need to be in. Keep them at the point where they’re in good shape but not tired.”

Good shape but not tired? You mean the opposite of a grunt.

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Okay, we’re just past Kingston, time to post this. Not sure if there’ll be mail in the morning, depends on how good this edition of The New Yorker is and whether or not I have time to look at some questions.

Night.

Comments

[Philippe A]

All I have to say is the intrasquad game was everything that I anticipated it to be and more! It was a highly entertaining game. From what I saw, good things are bound to happen during the season if they stay healthy. I was also very impressed with the people from media. I got to talk to Eric Smith and Paul Jones and they were easy going and had interesting things to say. I also met Sherman, BC and I did say hello to you too Doug. You all seem like really nice people.

Now to give my point of view on the game, I was very impressed with Bargnani and Kapono. Bargnani seemed much more comfortable and his decision making ability has improved a lot. Bosh and O'Neal were their stellar selves as usual. As for Ukic he has the potential to be an above average pg in this league. He seems to be hesitant at times but it is expected from a player that lacks experience.

Overall this was a great experience and please persuade everyone to come back to the nations capital next year haha...maybe in the near future, have one regular season game here too.

[Archie gillespie]

Hi Doug, getting exciting as daily updates from you come in. Good to hear about Bargs driving and banging inside. Question though on how his outside shot is looking so far, as at times last year he seemed to have misplaced it. If he gets that back along with his inside capability it'll be cool, very, very cool. Thanks.

Blogger's note: It looks better than it looked last year, but it has only been a week.

[DG]

Maybe they should hold training camp, in Ottawa, every year, and play an exhibition game too? It looks like they would easily fill their arena.

Doug how many points do you think Toronto's big three will produce, on average, per night, and where do you see the rest of the points coming from. It sounds, from the media reports, like Bargnani may be ready to assume responsibility, for a lot of the extra 30 or 40 points they will probably need. Is Kapono expected to step it up as well?

Thanks

Blogger's note: Sure, he's expected to "step it up" as they all are. That's just logical. As for totals, it's a mug's game because you can't foresee injuries, the impact O'Neal will have on Bosh's numbers and vice versa. So, this is nothing but hugely wild speculation, and I presume the big three is Bosh, O'Neal and Calderon so I'll say 53.

[Alex]

wicked blog today Doug

[Paul]

Hey Doug,

Do you notice that a lot of the raps dunk with their left hands? Every dunk JO had was with his left (2 or 3 of them), and i Solomon's fast break dunk was with his left too!