The morning after dribs and drabs

The juice taste a wee bit sweeter this morning? The coffee just the perfect blend of taste and strength? Yes, in the oft-bipolar world of Raptor fandom, I can imagine there’s a wee bit less angst today. I also can only imagine what it would have been like had they not had a good fourth quarter and lost that game.

It’s amazing. I had about two dozen e-mails, questions, comments over the course of the game and you could almost chart a graf on the ups and downs of the game by reading them.

First half: They blow. Third quarter: They blow but not as bad and can they fire Sam during a game?  Fourth quarter: Bosh for President. Bargnani for VP.

Love it.

Here we go:

-

Action: Bosh and Bargnani

Reaction: Should we see more?

Interesting fourth quarter in that it played out with Jermaine O’Neal watching from the bench while Bosh and Bargnani combined for 24 of Toronto’s 26 points. Why? Because Bargnani was lifted above the three-point line most of the time, giving Bosh more space to operate in the paint. And when Bargnani went inside, Bosh went to 19-feet and drilled jumpers.

O’Neal, ineffective all day, can’t play above the three-point line and he doesn’t have 19-foot shooting range. I think there might be more than a few times that Sam has to use Bosh-Bargnani (on those nights when The Big Inconsistent is playing well) and it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

-

This came from Archie over in the comments section and I stole it for here:

Hi Doug, someone had posted a question with regards to bottling the heart and desire of the KGs and AIs of the league and passing it others. As you personally get to watch and observe so much more than the rest of us, both at games and at practices, would your opinion be (that) these types of attributes that very few athletes have are part of their personal makeup or something they learn?

Case in point would be Joey and Jamario, who, I would guess are two of the most athletically-blessed players on the team but for whatever reason appear not to have that drive and intensity. Perhaps they don't show it outwardly as others but when you're up close and personal as you are I'm guessing you have the ability to sense just how much effort players are putting in. Mental blocks? Fear of failure? Coaching? Time for a hypnotist?

Heart, desire, consistent intensity and mental toughness are not learned behaviours. They are part of an athlete’s DNA; heck, they’re part of a sportswriter’s DNA, I think. Yes, good motivation from a coach can bring it out but it can’t create it.

What I’ve seen is that players all work hard, or at least they think they work hard. The true greats can find a way to work harder more often and that what makes them stand out.

But it’s in them, you can’t give it to them.

-

Action: Will’s good game

Reaction: Get used to seeing him

Will Solomon is the man behind Jose now and for the near future. And it had nothing to do with his six-assist game Sunday. Sam and his cronies had actually decided before the game that Solomon will get job for now.

"We made a decision this morning that we’re going to give him a block of games … He just gives us a different look. The reason we signed him is we thought he was just totally different from Jose and we just felt like if we can just keep getting him some minutes and he keeps learning, he’ll get better.”

Now, before the Roko To The Hall Of Fame crowd starts killing me and Sam, it’s not that they hate Ukic or think he can’t play. It’s just that, right now, they want Solomon to get some consistent minutes. Roko’s time will come.

-

First in the mail:

Q: Pretty awesome performance by Bosh today. Bargnani could start silencing his critics if he could do that on a regular basis too.
My actual questions is about Antonio McDyess. If there are 17 teams interested in this guy then there has to be some sort of trade value (or cash, or picks, or exemptions) rather than just letting him walk.  I'm not seeing or hearing anything about Denver trading his rights.  Any news Doug?

Kevin M, Maple

A: You’re not going to hear trade talk, nor were you before he was bought out. McDyess’s value to those teams that want him comes at a significantly reduced price than the nearly $14 million he had left on his deal when he was traded. He’s good, but no one wanted to touch that kind of money.

They want him free and clear of any future obligations so they can sign him to a one- and maybe two-year deal at a very reduced cost.

-

Know what? Charlotte’s not bad.

Jack Armstrong, M. Grange ™ and I found ourselves with a Sunday evening to kill and, whaddya know, there’s this Irish pub between the arena and our hotel. We’re sitting there and all of a sudden a group of about 10 musicians, with fiddles and guitars and flutes and I think there was a set of bagpipes in there, shows up and starts playing, without any amplification, and give us about three hours of excellent Irish music.

Sometimes this job doesn’t suck.

-

Speaking of Charlotte, here's how the game played in the papers down here and here's what they're saying in Boston this morning about the Celtics.

-

Here’s one to maybe put a damper on the day:

Next Sunday’s game against Miami is being broadcast by TSN2. And that means that no Rogers subscriber in Toronto will be able to see it at home.

I talked to a couple of people in the middle of last week and there had been no movement on the impasse. Rogers is being intractable in the talks, I’m told. TSN has somehow convinced just about every other cable and satellite broadcaster in the country to take TSN2, Rogers is the lone holdout.

Figure out who’s the villain in this travesty yet?

I’m looking directly at Rogers. And you should be, too.

I’m going to try to get someone, anyone, on the record over there this week because I want to hear what their explanation is. Gimme a day or two to try and track it down.

But for now, make plans to go somewhere next Sunday to see the game ‘cause you probably won’t be able to sit in your Toronto house and see it.

-

Action: A horrific 1.5 seconds

Reaction: Could have been costly

End of the first quarter, Raptors up five, Bosh drives and gets called for a terrible offensive foul when Emeka Okafor pulls a Vince and looks like he’s been shot instead of bumped by Bosh. Sam goes nuts, gets a technical foul. At the buzzer, AP fouls Ray Felton on a desperation heave and Felton makes three free throws.

Game goes from what should have been 22-15 Toronto to 20-19 at the end of one.

It didn’t matter in the long run but that’s exactly the kind of sequence, despite being so early in a game, that can cost a team a win.

-

I’m rubbing the sleep from my eyes and looking at the standings and it says Atlanta’s 5-0 and San Antonio’s 1-4? I think we might have been over-served at Ri-Ra last night.

-

Oh yeah. I’m not going to Boston (we had Dave there yesterday for the Bills so he’s staying) but we’re going to try something goofy and I’ll do one of those in-game blog things from the comfort of my couch tonight. I’ll be just like a lot of you.

Comments

[Wallace]

Nice touch giving a link to the local press after the Raptors game (especially when the Raptors win).
Maybe you could do this as a regular thing.

[Peter]

Doug, would Raptor TV broadcast the game if they cannot reach an agreement by Sunday?

Blogger's note: I doubt it, but I'll check when I get home.

[Kelsie]

Hey Doug, just a few observations from yesterdays game. The Good: Bosh was Bosh, and Bargniani played very well coming off the bench offensively and defensively. He looks like he understands the rotations far better than he ever has and it is showingin his play. J.O wasn't good, but his shot-blocking presence affects games and his temamates efforts to do the same. Solomon was solid. A bit out of control at times but found the open man on key possesions. I especially liked the possesion in the 4th when Bargs had a 3 point rim out and Solomon went right back to him and Andrea nailed it. We didn't panic when down and took over when we needed to.

The Bad: We trailed for much of the game while holding the Bobcats to a low field goal %. Our perimeter defence is giving opposing teams too many looks. Our wings are not preventing dribble penetration and our pg is being isolated and attacked by opposing teams. I think Calderon is the best floor general for this team, but opposing coaches have attacked him mercilessly from game 1 until now through iso's, running off screens and pick and rolls and every pg we've played has had a good game so simply, he needs to keep his man in front of him. J.O needs to play better offensively. I could live with the current production if there was 10 boards and 3 blocks every night but there isn't yet, so he needs to step up offensively, otherwise crunch time minutes should go to Bargs (like yesterday).

I never like to go back to the past Doug, but do you ever wonder where we would be if John Salmons didn't renege on his contract agreement with Colangelo? It's a minor footnote in history, but our achilles heel is dribble drive penetration and guarding the wing and I think Salmons would have helped tremendously in that area. A priority for B.C. now or in the future is to get out there and try and find a player of similar abilities (or another Joe Johnson).

Blogger's note: i don't think Salmons would have made a huge difference, but he would be an upgrade. How much? I'm not entirely sure.

[Dave Robinson]

Fans who are upset over the Rogers-TSN impasse might consider sending a missive to the C.R.T.C. (with copies to both Rogers and TSN). There is nothing like the dreaded prospect of a government agency getting involved to help motivate parties toward a resolution of differences.

[diuqil]

There was a lot of bad calls against the Raptors in the first two quarters of the game. Any idea why? Did the Raptors forget to buy a coffee for the Refs before the game?

It was frustrating watching our bigs get whacked under the basket with no call, while on the offensive end, any tap/bump/rub was considered an offensive foul.

Blogger's note: I'm pretty sure if you asked Larry Brown, there were as many bad calls against Charlotte.

[Ryan]

While I'm upset that I'll miss out on the TSN2 games, I am NOT upset at Rogers. To me, the blame lies at the feet of TSN and MLSE. To me, it appears that Rogers is actually telling them that they don't think the consumer should have to pay for yet another channel in order to watch the raptors. They're telling TSN and MLSE to quit trying to nickel and dime us for being fans. Maybe if TSN moved darts, poker and dog shows to TSN2 they would have schedule space for actual sports on their primary channel.

[Peter S]

Does anyone know if mountain cablevision here in Hamilton has TSN2? I can't find any mention of it on the TSN site or in the Mountain Cablevision material. If not that means a major chunk of this city won't be able to see the game either.

[aditya]

Gimme a day or two to try and track it down.

doug, doug, doug, its give me a day or two.... lol just kidding, thanks for the blog again, makes my day

Blogger's note: I don't dare point out that it should be, "it's give me a day or two" do I?
lol, thanks

[Shades]

RYAN:
According to a friend of mine who has Bell ExpressVu, he gets TSN2 at no additional cost, so I can't see how Rogers is NOT to blame here.

Best way to send a message would be to cancel my Rogers subscription and switch to ExpressVu, but what a hassle! It really is ridiculous that Raptors broadcasts are now on so many different channels and it's obvious to me that they don't really care about Raptor fans in this whole mess.

The fact that 25 (!!!) Raptors telecasts are considered not good enough to be on regular TSN due to intense Wednesday night hockey matchups, like Nashville vs. Buffalo and crap like that, just makes me sad.

[Dave]

I have to disagree with you about the TSN/Rogers fiasco. In my opinion the blame belongs to CTVglobemedia, parent of TSN/TSN2. If you're having trouble finding a good reason for Rogers not to add TSN2 then I double-dare you to come up with a good reason for TSN not to have all of its Raptors games on the main network. This is an obvious attempt by CTVgm to force Raptor-loving subscribers to pay for a new station that they don't want. What's next, half of the Leaf's games on TSN3? Football on TSN4? SportsCenter on TSN5? Rogers should continue its quasi-principled stand and refuse to add another unwanted, unnecessary station to its already bloated sports package. It seems quite obvious that CTVgm is holding these games hostage in a transparent, greedy cash grab. Like Comcast vs. the NFL Network in the US, I hope that Rogers tells TSN2 to stick it. Or am I missing something?

[Boko]

I make $9/hr for 21 hrs/wk. I'm not giving anyone another dime for access to Raptors games. They're going to lose allot of people like me! The Argos tried this !@#$%^&*()_+{}:"<>? with their local blackouts and lost their fanbase. You aren't the Leafs. You're never going to be the Leafs. Stop acting as if you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryan]

Hey Wallace, you must be a new reader. From what I've seen, Doug always gives the local news from other papers after games; win or lose.

[KJ]

Is the game even available to us on tv tonight? I checked the raps sched and it says it's on RTV, what is that? (my digital guide at home also shows no raps game for tonight)

Blogger's note: It's on Raptors TV

[yertu damkule]

ryan - far as i know, TSN2 is part of the same package as TSN, so all the provider has to do is include it & it would be available to anyone who has TSN. of course, i switched to bell a while back, so i'm not 100% certain of that, and different providers might have it in a different package, but from what i understand, it's part of the TSN package. could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first.

[Jack]

Rogers isn't the lone holdout. Videotron in Quebec is just as frustrating when it comes to TSN2. It's not the main market for it, but still, there are Raptor fans in Montreal.

[Tree]

Doug - re: your "The Big Inconsistent" remark, you may want to be more specific with this team. Could be anyone of Bargnani, O'Neal, Moon or Graham. I know you meant Bargs, but that is just too general of a term for this group! Love the re-org of the in-game piece to a chromological order after the game - I don't read it during the game, but after the game it's nice to get some insight that isn't just a regurgitation of the AP story.

[Matty-Pix]

Sean May ... Felton ... Morrison ... signing of okafor ... MJ may have been the best nba player ever ... not so hot in the front office though.

[Adam C]

It's all on MLSE. They should have told TSN to get their channel on the air first, and then talk about broadcast rights.

[Tim Amor]

I have satellite and TSN2 was added to my package (it comes with TSN, I believe) at no additional cost.

Bell is satisfactory at best for customer satisfaction, but they still found a way of getting TSN2 without a hinge. If everyone else has TSN2, how could it be TSN's fault?

[esco]

hahaha....darts poker and dog shows...that is awesome and soo true. When is the Curling season starting? or its already started...sorry hope i didnt offend anyone

P.S...Has anyone noticed how amazing of a slasher Kopono is...i thought he could only shoot 3's oh wait...its Mr. Mitchell who has transformed him from a 3 point gunner to such a pathetic..oh excuse me a great slasher goin to the hoop...bravo Mr. Mitchell...a Jerry Sloan in the making NOT!@ I wonder if John Stockton has thought of coaching...im sure he would make an AMAZING coach...(not implying to get him for the raptors..but in general i think he would be a good coach) sorry but really frustrated with some of sams coaching techniques thats if he has any. Ur cool Doug just dont defend him again or else il think something fishy..

[chris]

A large part of the blame for this lies with TSN. TSN2 is supposed to be an overflow station, yet next sunday the raptors are "overflow" behind a tennis event in shanghai showing on TSN in the same time slot. I actually like tennis, but have to assume sunday raptors games draw a larger audience????

If so, it seems ot me that they are using the raptors as leverage to get Rogers to pick up the feed. Doug -- i'm curious...any idea what TSN paid for the right to show these games? If any amount, i wonder how they feel about their investment going down the drain if the largest media (advertising) market that matters for it doesn't get to watch..

[Aaron J.]

Let's be realistic, in reference to the TSN2/Rogers fiasco. TSN2 created this channel with bigger profits in mind(obviously). By putting the majority of the games on this channel it forces the consumer to purchase this channel. TSN2 creates more competition for Rogers own channel 'Rogers Sportsnet'. I'm a customer of Rogers on several platforms and if there is one thing I know it's that Rogers isn't trying to save it's customers any money. If Rogers wanted to be fair, they would give their customers the option to purchase this channel at a reasonable fee($3/month). That way they are presenting the option, but not forcing their customers to pay extra for the channel.

[Sean]

Hey Doug, now that Atlanta is starting to win some games, does Charlotte have the worst home atmosphere in the NBA? It was hilariously quiet there yesterday.

Blogger's note: I haven't been to Jersey yet this year but I bet that mausoleum rivals Charlotte by Christmas

[Alan Crook]

I thought M. Grange had gone over to the dark side.

Blogger's note: Nope, that's Stumpy who left.

[PKrazy]

I think this whole TSN2/Rogers thing will start to move a lot quicker once TSN realizes that their audience for Raptors games on TSN2 is going to be about 1/4 of the size of a game shown on TSN. No point fighting with Rogers when your advertisers are dropping out over the pathetic ratings. Rogers would be wise to wait this out as long as possible because Rogers isn't losing anything (unless there is a huge backlash and customers start leaving over this) and TSN will be forced to cave if they want the ratings. Plus, if you have Raptors TV, just wait a couple of hours after the game and watch the Game in an Hour and get a nice condensed game.