A day for fringe survival, and a couple of good questions

Nervous about tonight? Wondering if the Orlando team or the Milwaukee team shows up? Don’t blame you. I bet there are people connected closely with the team who share your trepidation, and if they’re going to be in Toronto like I am, and they’re Rogers customers like I am, they’ll have to venture out into the winter night to watch. Bet that’s a pleasing thought.

In a lot of ways, isn’t watching these guys a hoot every night? They can be to cover because you never know what you’re going to get. Will they play hard? Will they play well? Share the ball? Play to their strengths? Mail it in? Miss easy shots? Defend like middle-age sportswriters? Seriously, wouldn’t it be boring if they were good all the time; and just as boring if they were bad all the time?

Look at it that way, it makes it easier I bet.

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Big day for fringe players, too.

Today’s the day that all contracts for the year are guaranteed and we’ve seen a couple of casualties already in Shaun Livingston and Austin Croshere (neither of whom are coming here by the way) and there maybe a couple more names drop during the day.

But don’t expect anything to happen with the Raptors.

The only guy who has to be the least bit concerned is Jake Voskuhl but I can’t imagine them letting him go because he’s proven to be a pretty useful fourth big man of late and with Jawai not nearly ready to do that role and Hump on again-off again all the time, a consistent tough, big guy has to be kept.

Yes, when they guarantee his contract they will be over the tax threshold by a few hundred thousand dollars but that can be overcome in the weeks between now and the trade deadline.

How? Well, I known Bryan’s working hard on getting a deal done sooner rather than later and maybe it’s a two-for-one transaction that saves him enough money to get back under the cap.

Or maybe he finds a GM with a team under the tax who’d take Hassan Adams and a second-round pick or two in return for, well, nothing.

Or maybe he sends Hump somewhere for a couple of future picks that he can stockpile.

There are many ways to avoid the tax even with Jake getting his deal guaranteed so it’s not that big a deal right now.

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I love this question:

Q: Complete this sentence. "For every NBA player there's probably ___ young adults living a more difficult life than they have to because they spent too much time on basketball and too little on education."

Aaron N, Cambridge

A: My immediate reaction was “a million” but that’s probably high. But if there are 400 NBA players, roughly, I bet there are a million delusional under-employed or under-educated kids around the world who thought they had what it takes to play in the NBA and neglected their studies to some degree. That’d put it at, what? 25,000?

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Speaking of people being waived, and because you zany fans are never at a loss for roster manipulation ideas, I asked a couple of times over night about Shaun Livingston and his suitability here.

Please, put that thought out of your mind, okay?

I used to love his game, thought he had the potential to be a very, very good NBAer but every team in the league has looked at him, he had almost half a season of practice with the point guard-strapped Heat and couldn’t get on the court, why in the world would there be interest here in having him for 45 games or so?

At the moment, the backup point guard of the future – like next year – is Roko Ukic. End of story.

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Here’s what’s up in Washington today, besides everyone getting ready for the inauguration, that is.

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Did you see this? Sort of interesting and I was asked about it by Marc from Brampton over the holidays and needed ‘til now to get it in this space.

Interesting but absolutely unworkable, that is. Newspapers need autonomy – and the perception of autonomy -- to do their job well and serve the people we’re supposed to serve, which is you, the readers.

To be paid by the league, and by extension the team that you cover and write about, creates a conflict of interest that anyone would see through.

Even the most miserly of newspapers owners wouldn’t “sell” editorial space to leagues and teams in that fashion.

I give Mark credit for pushing the envelope, but this is going too far. And I’m not sure, in this market at least, there’s a lack of coverage in the newspapers. We have at least one story every day, so does the Sun and the Post and Globe, with different readerships to worry about, cover the team regularly, even if they don’t travel to every road game.

You can argue about the quality of that coverage (and many of you do vehemently) but, and you’ll have to trust me on this, I can assure you the readers in Toronto and Canada are better served by the newspapers that cover basketball here than almost any other market in the NBA.

We, the collective “we” break stories, provide insight, context and

Information that serve the readers well. We provoke passion and argument and discussion (which is a very large part of today’s “interactive” sports journalism world) and every now and then I think we can be entertaining.

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List time, sort of.

Q: Nicknames. In your opinion, who has the best the nickname and who has the stupidest nickname? I've always liked Pistol Pete, Clyde the Glide and Magic but my best, AK-47 and worst is a tie between The Matrix and Il Mago. All-time funniest has to be in Hockey, a goalie named Andre Raccicot was nicknamed "Red Light"

Naoto Y, Calgary

I don’t know – or care – about the pucks frankly and the worst nicknames in the NBA today are the ones guys got ‘cause people are lazy. T-Mac? Snore. AI? Snore. “King” James? Snore. And what do they call Kobe? Kobe! Snore.

Maybe this is showing my age a wee bit but here are 10 personal faves

Darryl (Chocolate Thunder) Dawkins.

Earl (The Pearl) Monroe.

Nate (Sweetwater) Clifton.

The Big Dipper Wilt Chamberlain.

Dollar Bill Bradley.

James (Buddha) Edwards

Vinny (The Microwave) Johnson.

Pistol Pete Maravich.

Hakeem (The Dream) Olajuwon

And it was a bit too long but calling Charles Barkley the Round Mound of Rebound was pretty darn good.

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Oh, and speaking of tonight, I think we’ve worked out the kinks in the new in-game blog format we used the other night. We have the scrolling issue nailed, a way to eliminate the chat-room nature of it and a few extra surprises we might be springing on you lucky, lucky readers.

Check back then to see what’s going on.

Comments

[Nullo]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11144

is this THE ONE?

[Mr. T]

Hey Doug,
Isn't Kobe's nickname "The Black Mumba"? Also if Jose is still out do you think its time to give Roko a shot in the starting line up? In my opinion the Raps offense flows more with Roko and seems dysfunctional when Will is on the court and the fact that Roko is pass first whereas Will is shoot first guard.

Blogger's note: It's nominally The Black Mamba, I believe, but no one really uses it

[CARLoS M.]

"that means the biggest market teams probably pay 150k per year"

That sure buys a lot of nachos at Cooper's. Hellooooo!!

Damn TSNtoo.
Looking forward to the improved in-game blog tonight Doug.

[Jojo]

On nicknames, I think Chocolate Thunder wins hands down. The Microwave was pretty good too, and definitely appropriate for the player.

Some people call Kobe "Mamba" which isn't bad, but it never really caught on.

I still think Hump deserves more PT. I'd rather he get paired with Bargs than Jake.

[Steve Graham]

SI.com is reporting a trade rumour with the Mavs. Josh Howard, DeSagana Diop and Antoine Wright for Bargnani and Parker. Do you think there's any substance to this?

Blogger's note: No real idea. Seems questionable to me but I'm not sure

[Ron]

Come on, did you forget that Kobe is nicknamed the Black Mamba...well...snore...

[Jason]

Any comments/insights into the internet report that the Raps are talking to Dallas about a trade for Josh Howard? (Via hoopsworld.com)

Blogger's note: Nope, not until I do my own checking and haven't had a chance yet. Seems far-fetched to me

[Kelsie]

Hey Doug,

Not sure what the topic of the day will be. I have a feeling it will centre around these Bargniani trade rumors so I will avoid this topic today.

I have contributed to the Jose criticism i've been seeing on the blog more recently. That being said he has earned my respect as a good player in the NBA. He has heart and wants to win, and he wears a Raps uniform so I'm going to back him no matter what.

We don't have a 2 or 3 that can slash and get to the rim so that means for me the guy who has the ball the most has to be able to create. Rondo is a good player but he doesn't have to create late in shot clocks cause Pierce is handling the ball in those situations. Same for Williams in Clevland (James), Fischer in LA (Kobe) or even Blake in Portland (Roy).

The other top teams have a pg guard NO(Paul), SA(Parker), Denver(Billups) that can create when needed. I would include Orlando but Turks does most of the late game ball handling so that is another example of the team that has a swing that can cause havoc for opposing defences.

We have no slasher at the 2 or 3 so your pg has to be able to get to the rim especially when he shoots 100% from the line!
That percentage is ridiculous by the way.

Until Jose gets to the basket more frequently and defends better, cause thats most important, I will always be hoping for an upgrade at the pg spot, unless we get a swing that can do it.
If we have that on our team, Jose is lethal, but we don't have that so I'm hoping Ukic can develop and step up in some in team competition and through his play earn that spot, although he is far from that right now.

Doug, I know you're a busy guy, but if you speak to Jay, I'm begging you please, to suggest this to him when Calderon gets back in the line up:

In regards to the breakdown of minutes at the pg spot Calderon -30 minutes, Ukic - 13 minutes, Solomon - 5 minutes. When Ukic is in the game for his minutes he needs to press full court on the defensive end and Solomon can gain extra minutes at the 2 if he's hitting his shot early.

Sounds like a plan? lol

[K Price]

Hey for all Toronto fans that feel they are getting ripped off by Rogers...u can watch any game here @ this website...http://www.atdhe.net/....Hope this gets posted for everyone to enjoy!!!!

[Jamie Buckingham]

Rotoworld.com and ESPN.com are reporting that a deal is very very close to being done involving the Raptors and Dallas. Toronto would send Barnani and Parker for Josh Howard, Antione Walker and DeSagana Diop. The report also indicated that the Raptors will take on more money to get it done. Although the Raptors are trying to get a different/cheaper package in return.

[Martin Hartshorne]

Hi Doug - The trade rumour mill is churning today (when isn't it?). I haven't seen you speculate on Josh Howard yet. What is your take?

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11144

It is certainly significant deal for both teams and I think with getting back Diop along with Howard, we address two needs: a slashing, starting SF and quality backup big behind Bosh/O'Neal.

[Kendal]

Morning Doug -

Just wanted to drop a quick note - if there are frustrated Raptor fans out there who can't watch the game tonight because they don't have TSN2 and are sick and tired of waiting for Rogers and TSN to get the stuff together - send a quick note to Rogers to let them know how frustrating this is: Nancy.Cottenden@rci.rogers.com.

It might logistically hard tonight to watch the game online and be on the blog - we'll see how it works out.

[Jason]

Doug

It's true that nicknames these days don't compare to the classics of years past. My fave is probably Dennis "The Worm" Rodman.

My question: There's a rumour floating around about Bargnani and Parker to Dallas for Josh Howard and Diop (fillers on both sides also mentioned). It's been pretty established around these parts that Colangelo doesn't want to do anything more than a tweak, and that he wouldn't dare ship off his prized asset in Bargnani, but is BC capable of and likely to pull off a blockbuster as such?!

[Lola]

Glad to hear you'll be sticking with the new format (with improvements). I loved it. Thanks Doug!

[WSG]

Awww, man! For whatever reason, I didn’t realize that tonight’s game was NOT going to be on my 50’’ HD screen tonight until I read it here, this morning. I called Rogers and gave a serious blast of ap-cray to reps Hilry and then Tony, wanting to speak to the President, whoever he or she might be … but that didn’t seem like it was gonna happen. But I am peeved! (Yes, again, over this.) Rogers stock is dropping and maybe, just maybe, it’s not ONLY due to their declining cell phone sales, last quarter. Maybe, customers like me, who’ve paid that rotten bunch over TWENTY GRAND the last 3 and half years (since moving to current residence) … and a whole lot more, adding the previous 20 years, are ‘talking down’ Rogers out there for NOT CARING enough about their customers to swing the deal that would make us happy. And I don’t care if MLSE are the idiots who signed off on a TV deal that would exclude Toronto fans from seeing 25 games … and I don’t care that dopey TSN can make it look like they’re less repsonsible for this mess than anyone else (they’re NOT less responsible) … and I don’t care because, they don’t carry my cable TV feed that I pay for. Rogers does. And ENOUGH is ENOUGH! And rant is NOT over … except for here. (Thanks Doug.)

On another note, if basketball fans all over the cyber-world aren’t talking about your blog here, Doug, I wouldn’t know why. Amazing amount of good stuff in all the comments and such, yesterday. This place (your blog) is home-base for THIS hoops-addict … and for a whole lot of others, it appears. I know you will, but I’ll say it anyway … Keep up the good work!

[brennan]

i think the best nickname isnt' even a nickname at all...
his name: God Shammgod
(who also owns the greatest crossover in basketball)

[Josh]

Any truth to the rumoured Dallas, Toronto deal? (Josh Howard, Diop and Antoine Wright for Bargnani and AP)

[Matt G]

Let me be the first to suggest that Will Solomon be forever known as Will "Anti" Solomon. Or how about Will "I think I need to shoot another 23' 8" shot for 2 points" Solomon? Then again, someone else named him Mike James Jr. which maybe sufficient too. That guy is constantly taking 2-point shots that are a hair short of the 3-point line. I bet Matt Devlin would agree - he has to constantly correct himself because Will neglects to make sure his foot doesn't touch the gawd-damn line.

[WildAce]

Kobe = the black Mamba

You also forgot Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway... and since I know you can't resist at a sarcastic snarl, Doug, you will probably say that for years he was never worth more than a "penny". Not a bad nickname though if you hear the story behind it, and it isn't cheesy either.

Best one I'd have to say right now is "Boobie" Gibson!!!

Although I never quite understood why Alvin Williams was "Boogie".

[UK]

Sorry Doug hopefully this doesn't cause you too much grief.

Bargs for Josh Howard?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/extramustard/specials/morning_jolt/2008/01/07/morning.jolt/index.html

[John Millett]

Doug,

Your thoughts on this rumour.

The Toronto Raptors have been looking for a small forward, and HOOPSWORLD has learned that they may have finally found their man. A deal being discussed would send troubled forward Josh Howard to the Raptors in a deal that would land Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker in Dallas, with a combination that could involve DeSagana Diop and Antoine Wright headed back to Toronto.

[Steve]

Interesting, the Cuban blog. There's no doubt we get great coverage for the Raps. But how long can this last. This week it seems all you guys aren't even travelling with the team. After-game quotes can be had from the post-game show on RapsTV, produced by MLSE. Most of the "insider" info is info from someone within MLSE or the Raps. And we understand that insider info is being spoonfed to us for a purpose (BC willing to move JO, for instance). With internet coverage, it seems sports departments in newspapers are hanging on by a thread. The future is what you have now, Doug. A blog written by a pro, instead of by some unknown guy.

With respect to coverage being paid for by teams, I admit I found it very odd in recent years to see you and Grange on RapsTV doing shows. I assume you were paid for it, so I saw you as being on the payroll. It was an uneasy feeling. At the same time, more coverage for my team is always better.

Blogger's note: I haven't done a RaptorsTV show in a season and a half, and that's one of the reasons.

[UK]

Hey Doug,

When did you start blogging? Just curious because I can't remember following Raptors ball w/o it.

I know you are not one to fuel zany trade speculations, but is there a trade that you have dreamed up that you think would serve this team well? Obviously w/i the cap, and somewhat realistic.

[Andrew Gregg]

This is interesting:

Bargnani and Parker to Dallas for a combo of Josh Howard, Desagana Diop and Antoine Wright.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/84110-mavs-raptors-blockbuster-in-works?eref=fromSI

Bargnani would be tutoured under Nowitzki--the guy he used to be compared to.

AG, Toronto

[Shawn]

More rumours....heard anything about this one?

The Toronto Raptors have been looking for a small forward, and HOOPSWORLD has learned that they may have finally found their man. A deal being discussed would send troubled forward Josh Howard to the Raptors in a deal that would land Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker in Dallas, with a combination that could involve DeSagana Diop and Antoine Wright headed back to Toronto.

hoopsworld.com