Of minutes, Joey and the train wreck in New York

Great. Now there’s a standard to meet. I kid.

Seriously, the thing yesterday was a great honour and totally unexpected and very, very, very much appreciated. So, too are the various kind words and nice notes from so many of you. Very cool. Very nice.

Oh, and Mr. Roofer, to say nothing of Miss Harbour Sports Grille, are quite all right with the financial repercussions.

Okay, enough sappiness; let me type so I can say something odd and generate some of the hate mail some of you are so good at.

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How many minutes are too many minutes? Is Bosh’s 42.1 minutes per game (second heaviest workload in the league behind Stephen Jackson’s 42.9) too many?

Bosh doesn’t think so.

Sam doesn’t think so.

I don’t think so.

Many of you do think so.

This was Sam yesterday:

“We watch his minutes, we try to. We try to make sure we rest him in between games and if you’re in shape, you can play. Obviously we’re not trying to set a record of playing him 48 minutes a game but he’s not tired.”

I don’t believe in the theory that says extended minutes can lead to injury because a guy can get injured just as easily playing six minutes a night as he can playing 40 and there is no doubt that Bosh is getting rest.

Sure, the fear is the cumulative effect of playing so much every night is a concern but they are managing his time away from the court effectively.

He doesn’t take part in full practices usually (yesterday he did about half the stuff, I’m told) and he is becoming much more aware of the need for treatment and recuperation now that he’s growing up

And it’s certainly not like his extended playing time is causing any drop off in his play, that’s for sure.

Now, should 42.l be 38.1? In a perfect world, yeah, it probably should. But this is not a perfect world and if they need him to play that many to win, he’s got to play that many.

Maybe there’s a slight reduction if Hump provides the kind of effort they need from him every night but until that time, the workload will remain heavy.

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A quasi-list thing:

From Tony K. of Halifax:

Top five deadliest 3-point shooters in Raptors history?

Dell Curry, Walt Williams, Mo Pete, Donyell Marshall, Vince Carter. That’s a pretty good group of shooters. And you’ve still got Dee Brown, Anthony Parker, Tracy Murray and Damon Stoudamire to think about.

Oh, I hear this Kapono guy’s a pretty good long-distance shooter but I haven’t seen it first hand. (Seriously, he’d replace Carter on that list with a greater body of work).

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Real quick, let’s see what Cousin Sekou’s up to in Atlanta.

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I’ve got 65-35 Bad Joey at least makes a cameo appearance tonight.

But, regardless, you will see a bit of Graham, at least, a point Sam reiterated yesterday at practice.

Not as a starter (Moon remains if O’Neal can’t go but it looked yesterday like the big centre’s close to being back) but Joey is going to get some burn off the bench. I’d presume it will come at Moon’s expense as Sam once again extends the rotation one more guy.

Toughest thing Sam’s got to do is try to figure out which of those two guys is going to bring it every night. He never knows, you never know, it’s a crapshoot the coach has to make each and every game. That can’t be easy.

Sayeth Sam:

“It’s been up and down for him but if Joey keeps coming with the energy and the things that we’re trying to do and be focused like he was last night, the opportunity is there for Joey.”

Will he seize it? He has, once, in his career, when he played consistently replacing Garbo two years ago. Other than that? Continually confounding with his inconsistency and I have no reason to expect anything otherwise this time around.

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Welcome to a first-timer

Q: Great Blog I read it everyday. This is the first time I have posted a question though. I have been a Raptors fan from day one. But when is someone gonna step in and make some changes before we ARE too late in the season and nothing can be done?

Karen P, Whitby

A: I firmly believe no major changes should be made before at least a quarter of the season unfolds. Oh, and don’t forget that no one who signed anywhere as a free agent last summer can be traded before Dec. 15 so you might hear about more action after that day.

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What a cesspool in New York, eh?

You’ve got to figure that the Stephon Marbury thing is going to come to a head any day now, either with a suspension, a release or some sort of buyout of his contract.

Could it have been handled better? Sure. And, like with anything, there’s more than enough blame to go around.

The Knicks had to know it would become a circus, and a distraction, sooner rather than later and if they weren’t going to play the guy, they should have pulled a Tinsley and just told him to stay home.

And Marbury, who is operating with only guidance from a players’ association lawyer, should have hired an agent to find him a place to land and taken that proposal to Donnie Walsh long before now.

I will say this: If the Knicks did ask Marbury to play and he refused, that’s about as serious a breach of professionalism – and contract – I can imagine.

So where’s he land?

Not here.

Marbury may still have talent – he’s looked good when I’ve seen him play over the last two years – but he’s a five-month rental and all the extracurricular crap that comes with him isn’t worth it. Not for a team that’s looking to the future rather than one searching for an immediate fix to get them to the NBA final.

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And a question about you. And you. And you, too.

Q: I have just been reading some of the comments on your blog and some of the articles, wow what a bunch of downers. I'm not saying I've got rose coloured glasses and all is right in Rapsland, but are other fans in other cities this "unbalanced" (up and down)?

Mich G, North Bay

A: Let’s just say that it’s my experience talking to writers around the league that Raptors fans are, um, unique in their passion, and disgust, with the team.

Comments

[Marlon]

Congrats Doug. A well deserved award. Keep it up.

[tony]

Hey Doug, thanks for providing links to the other markets we play, i read them everytime. It's cool to branch out and see what the outside world really thinks of our Raps. Love your column and dedication.

[tony]

Hey Doug, thanks for providing links to the out of town markets, before and after games. Find them very fascinating reads on how someone sees our Raps from the outside. I also feel more worldly, thanks to you Doug. Congrats on your award, well deserved and it means you have a job for at least another year hehe. It's kinda like winning coach of the year isn't it?

[Nat A]

Boy oh Boy! Did I laugh at that last one. We, myself included, are quite a funny breed of fan. We certainly are wiling to throw our team and ourselves, if need, be under the bus. But hey, you gotta respect the enthusiasm. Its not like Bobcats or Grizzlies fans give a crap or like 70 percent of this league. I'd be willing to bet we have some of the most rabid fans of any expansion team. I;m mean listen to the ACC cascade our players with boos! Ha!

[Kevin]

Interesting reading for those who like to a comparison between Bosh and Stoudemire.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=smith_stephen&page=Stoudemire-081128

[Rob]

How about signing Marbury to a 5 game contract..... to play against the Knicks.
I am certain that he would have a stellar performance against the Knicks, and would probably shoot the lights out.

Whoever he eventually ends up with.... the Knicks better watch out.

[Nick M]

A gentleman, scholar and an ascetic.

Ascetic? Is that because of the way you're choosing to spend your money or because you cover the Raptors???

[E.C.]

Wow, over the years I've really started to understand just how important GMs and scouts are. Unless you're willing to go way over the cap and pay large amounts of tax... in addition to the higher payroll, it's all about who you draft.

Araujo/Iguodala.. wow. But who knows then with VC still in the mix.. I won't go that far back. How about Brandon Roy instead of Bargnani? How different would are team be? Bargs has amazing potential.. I can't really fault BC on that one; but where would we be right now with Roy?

I don't see MLSE going over the cap anytime soon, especially not in large amounts for the Raptors. This makes the draft that much more important. Once again I feel that the Raptors organization has failed to put a good team around an elite player. Not a good player.. not an allstar.. but an elite player. Yes, Vince was an elite player in his golden years here, and we failed to put a winning team around him. I feel like the same thing is happening with Bosh. He is an elite player, and we've got to at least try and put an championship team around him. I know.. easier said than done.

Doug, for a team like the Raptors who have had some amazing picks and some really bad ones too, how important is drafting the right players now? I think its paramount, but also perhaps too late, especially with hopes of making the playoffs and thus bad postioning in the draft. Did we blow are big chance with that # 1 pick 3 years ago?

Why is drafting the best player so hard? Whats the percentage between past performance and potential when drafting a player?

Blogger's note: It's hard because it's so much an inexact science, you really have no idea how a young kid is going to handle the money, the responsibility, the game. But if drafting is so important, go look at the roster of last year's finalists and see how many guys on each team were drafted by that team?

[Rish]

Take a close look at "Joey Graham" when he has bad nights vs when he has good nights...It's STEPHEN! ... Good Joey is Joey Graham...Bad Joey is Stephen Graham!

;)

[CJL]

Congratulations on the award. You really deserve it.

[Tim M]

Congratulations on the award, Doug. It's about time you got some recognition.

[Jojo]

Congrats Doug. There is no other Raps reporter who engages so deeply and regularly with the partly psycho (I say that with affection) fan base and for that alone you deserve kudos. It takes some, um, onions, to open yourself up to some of the vitriol but don't let the personal shots ever get you down. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of us are grateful for this blog/your reporting and hopefully most of us are respectful when we tell you how wrong you are about everything. Have we figured out why we're so nuts yet? Is it the Canadian inferiority complex? Comparitively young fan base? Too much beer? Leftover anger at Vince and the Hoffa pick? Cold winters? Somebody should do a study...

[al]

To Andre:

It's CALDERON not "CAULDRON"

[Jason]

Andre,
I hear what your saying. I'm just curious why we have no hype about our teams chances.
Lets just say they'll be room for about 3 or 4 second tier free agents here.