A little help for our friends the coaches

Slow day yesterday, optional practice with no media so we had a day of rest and recuperation, too. A day that was very welcome, as a matter of fact.

So with not much going on with the heroes of the hardcourt, let’s turn our attention to something important, like who will be in Phoenix next month when I’m not:

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Big day for NBA coaches.

They’ve got until 3 p.m. to submit their votes for the all-star reserves, a group that’ll be announced Thursday night. It’s been my experience that the majority of the coaches take the job quite seriously, consulting with assistants and the like; some do it quickly and right off the cuff.

I’d hope those ones are reading this because here’s all the help they need. Remember, they have to take two guards, two forwards, a centre and two others and they don’t have to pay any attention to what position a player was listed at on the ballot. The can slide anyone to any spot he’s ever played if it’ll help create a team that can win:

The East?

If you take Devin Harris, can you take Vince Carter?

If you take Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, is there room for Mo Williams? And is Williams an all-star or just a product of being a teammate of LeBron’s?

Can you have all of Boston’s Big Three when they’ve only got the second-best record in the conference?

How about Hedo Turkoglu, does he get there this year?

Does Joe Johnson go again?

Where does David Lee fit, or does he?

Well, after careful consideration, almost minutes, here’s what I’ve come up with:

Guards Jameer Nelson and Joe Johnson

Forwards Danny Granger and Paul Pierce

Centre Chris Bosh

The Other Two: Devin Harris and Mo Williams.

That snubs the likes of Hedo and Vince and Lee but someone’s going to get snubbed.

The West?

Interesting dilemmas and almost as many questions. Like:

Does Steve Nash still have enough juice, or game, to be an all-star in that guard-laden conference?

How about them Jazz? Boozers’ hurt, Williams was, is Milsap an all-star? Has Al Jefferson done enough in Minnesota?

Can Shaq be a second hometown Sun?

What about Portland? They should get someone, right? Houston, too, besides Yao?

Again, I don’t pretend to know exactly how the coaches might think, but this is how I think:

Guards Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker.

Forwards Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

Centre Shaquille O’Neal.

The Other Two: Brandon Roy and Al Jefferson.

Sure, Carmelo gets snubbed, I’m certain Nash wouldn’t mind having the day off and there’s no Utah representation.

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

You can almost hear the birthday boos right now.

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Do we bring cake? Balloons? A card?

Seems You Know Who turned 32 on Monday – 32?!?!? – and there were hijinks and hilarity all around the Nets.

Keyon Dooling probably got off the best line, courtesy of the legendary Mr. D’Alesandro:

“He started his career with the Raptors, now he’s technically a dinosaur.”

Seriously, 32? Kid grew up right before our eyes.

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Speaking of the Nets, they lost in Oklahoma City last night – wonder if the fans in Jersey were as crazed as the ones in Toronto were in the same circumstances – and here’s the reportage on that one.

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A dip into the mail:

Q: A couple of comments and questions. I was at the game (Sunday) and you missed the shot of the day as you went for some "fresh air" during the half. They had a bunch of "urchins" playing, and with the clock running down, one of the players who couldn't have been more then 4 feet tall, grabbed the ball, stepped back beyond the NBA 3 point line, and drained a buzzer beater! WOW! Ask Herbie, he was as impressed as the rest of us!

A game related question. I noticed that Calderon was doing an excessive amount of stretching and non traditional warm up exercises during free throws, time outs, and any other stoppage in play. Is he doing preventative work, or is there still concern because he may not be 100% yet?

Finally, Jawai's home debut may not have been statistically memorable, but the crowd did a nice job appreciating him, and Ukic did the right thing feeding him the ball in the post to attempt a basket. The crowd really wanted to see him get a basket, and that was good to see.

Peter L, Toronto

A: I heard about the kid’s step-back jumper, apparently quite impressive.

The Jose stuff? It’s preventative maintenance, making sure the hamstring stays loose and stretched out. He’s doing things like slide drills along the baseline during timeouts just to make sure nothing tightens up.

And the fans do love Jawai and why not? Good kid, works hard, been through a tough time and is a good story.

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Have been relatively over-run by Jamario Moon mail since last Monday in Atlanta and it’s continued unabated.

But here’s the thing: Obviously, they’re not taking my advice and giving Joey a 20-game run as a starter (but Joey’s 22-4-0 run as a starter was hardly confidence-inducing) so why not use Jamario just as they have.

Five or six minutes at the start of the game, another couple in the second quarter and five or six to start the second half and, generally, a seat behind Joey or Kapono down the stretch.

Jay’s obviously of the school of thought that “it’s not who starts, it’s who finishes” and since it’s clear that no one is going to jump up and make that spot theirs for 35 minutes a night, balancing as he has been seems to be working.

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Okay, so I didn’t see any NBA basketball, practice or otherwise yesterday, but it wasn’t an entirely hoops-free day.

Super Son’s Hawthorn Hawks opened their season with a nail-biter of a 32-31 home win over the dastardly Tecumsehs.

Since they’ve got a four-game regular season, I believe they’ve clinched a playoff berth already.

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And, finally, a moody question:

Q: How much would you say a players personal life affects his game play I.E. Argument with the wife, Superdog gets sick etc. etc. ?

Mary L, Ajax

A: Ah, probably less than you’d think. Pro athletes are wired a bit differently that you and I and once a game gets going, those competitive juices tend to block out a lot of distractions.

Practices might be a different story. If they’re simply cranky or something’s going on outside of basketball, it has an impact.

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Comments

[Chris]

Doug - great blog...got a question about the Russian league, not sure how close you are following it if at all or if you have any spies over there. Anyway, I read an article about Jannero Pargo breaking contract with Dynamo and signing with Olympiakos. The main issue surrounded late payments from the Russian team as the Russian government has stopped funding to these teams, presumably for these high salary players.

Got me thinking about Delfino, I don't believe he's with Dynamo (Khimki I believe) so I was wondering if you've heard any word on his status, are they paying him on time, are they losing funding etc...if not, could this be an easier transition for bringing him back? If they want him at all?

Thanks D

Blogger's note: Any financial issues have been solved, they fired one coach and hired another; Delfino is NOT coming back this season

[Aaron]

"Seriously, 32? Kid grew up right before our eyes."

No he didn't grow up; that was part of the problem.

[Simon]

He-who-shall-not-be-named has been named!

[Anthony]

Hey Doug,
I was at the game Sunday and seen that half time buzzer beater, too bad you missed it.
Anyway, I've been saying since 2 months now that they should consider using JO in a sixth man role and they have been kinda forced in to doing this the last few games as they slowly increase his minutes. Do you think JO would accept this role if we get on a nice little role over the next 5-8 games?

P.S. - Do you think Kapono has any trade value if the JO/Matrix trade doesn't happen?

Blogger's note: If they get on a role, maybe; trade value? I think some

[Jeff D]

I remember a time last year when all of Toronto (okay that's a little bit of exaggeration) was excited about Jamario. It was a great story he played beyond intial expectation and so on. As Doug pointed out in those early days, Moon probably was at the height of his development as a player and further improvement over the summer and in subsequent years was unlikely. It seems the sophmore is getting killed daily by those same fans now for not developing his game. I'll concede that he seems to have regressed, but isn't this what to expect in one's sophmore campaign? I wonder what kind of reception Jawai will receive if he doesn't live up to the unreasonable expectations some will put on him?

[Roll With Tha Clan]

hey Doug, early in the season they were calling tj ford, tj 'just shy' ford for the amount of games he was just shy for getting a triple double. i think AP also deserves this nickname because he is tearing up the stat line.

do you think he gets a triple double by the end of the year?

Blogger's note: A Raptor hasn't had one since like 2001 so I doubt it

[Phil A]

What about Rashard Lewis? He's having an exceptional year. He should be considered before Turkoglu is. Turkoglu isn't even close to shooting as well as he was last year. I personally think he should not even be considered to be an all star.

[James]

I think your all-star pics are the best I've heard yet.
But, I could not include Mo Williams. I'd send Rondo instead. His progression as a player since he came out has been amazing. Big Three or not he has proved he is a force. He's been good but not great. I guess it has more to do with lack of other candidates but I would send Jefferson or Biedrins instead. They have been playing great ball. Its time to pass the torch and put Shaq out to pasture.
Game on!

[GM]

If those are the all-star subs, the east is gonna get smoked.

When you write things like, "Delfino is NOT coming back this season" (complete with CAPS), this might be when you rub some of your detractors the wrong way. Without the aid of a crystal ball, how can you be so SURE (with caps)? You could have written, "As of right now, Delfino isn't coming back this year" or "It's highly unlikely Delfino comes back this year". If your crystal ball turns out to be wrong, they'll just pile on and you won't have an out other than, "Well, at that time he wasn't going to come back but things change." Considering a second player just got out of a contract there, it seems, maybe it's more possible. But if you have facts other than the financial issue has been solved as of this moment, that would be helpful.

[Alex]

Come on now GM, are you actually serious. You think Delfino is going to break his contract and come play here for less money for 2 months? AND you think MLSE will pay luxury tax for a bench player so they can MAYBE scrape into the playoffs? Delfino is NOT coming here this year get over it. Doug has been over this so many why are you not getting it???

[GP]

Doug,

What's the latest on this proposed Marion/JO trade? Are Miami still waiting to see how JO's knee holds up? Or is it a matter of one of the teams wanting more (i.e. Moon, draft picks, etc.). Is the delay on Miami's end?

Blogger's note: It's on their end as far as I can learn

[Sean]

Hey Doug, if you were the Heat, what Marion trade would you take: JO or Brad Miller?

Blogger's note: Here's the thing, I'm not the Heat; but I like O'Neal's game for Miami better than Miller's

[jon]

Here's a direct quote from the comments section in that Jersey gamer recap. Seem familiar?

"TRADE VINCE. Sorry VC, but you stopped playing to win, and now that's rubbing off on Devin. I say trade VC for a wing that will come in a play hard."

Hilarious and to think i, at one point, thought he'd once again be a good fit here. My bad.

[luckyone]

Delfino is NOT coming because MLSE is not going into luxury TAX territory in order to bring him here.

Voskuhl put us over the tax line and we dumped Adams to get under it again. There is NO financial wiggle room to land Delfino. That is the reality.

[Chris]

How is everyone so sure south of the border that Chris Bosh will bolt at the first opportunity? I love the comments by Jalen Rose among others. Do these people know something about the franchise that we don't? I seem to recall the same kind of "Vince will bolt" talk before he signed as well...

[Bill Wong]

I remember a while ago when someone asked whether you would, if you were the GM, trade Bargs for Caron Butler (1 for 1) if being offered by Washington, you said you'd do it in a second and call the doctors to check out Washington's GM's brain. Is this still true with Barg's recent improved play?

Blogger's note: I'm not entirely sure you've got the right; I've been pretty consistent in (a) not talking about ridiculous non-starting trade speculation and (b) I've been pretty steadfast in "don't trade Bargnani" even when he was going horribly last year.

[chris]

Joey's run as a starter was at SG. Its unfair to measure him there (the guy grew up as a PF). Try him at SF for 5 games and Moon will not start another game this season (barring injury).

Or, at the very least run Jamario through some contact drills. His softness going to the rim is maddening.

[Jeremy]

While I don't disagree with your all-star selections, you do realize that your selections for the Western conference backups leaves them without a real SF- starting or off the bench...looks like the wild west will own the paint while the east runs circles with guard play. Could be very interesting.

[jordan]

hmmmmmmmmmm...I see that HWSNBN lit up the Thunder for 8 points last night. Should I be a little worried that he of the 21.3ppg average is saving the other 34.6 points for us tomorrow?!

[Conrad]

I'll preface this by saying that I enjoy the blog, as many do, and generally dislike the cynics, haters and egotists who use the comments section to attack your professionalism and style.

That being said, your 'roll' is to discuss basketball related topics and not to criticize spelling or grammar, even if the question being asked is tedious.
Assuming your incorrect use of 'role' was intentional, it was an unnecessary jab and in my opinion unsavory as English is not always the mother-tongue language of your audience.

On a side note and out of curiosity, do you speak a second language?

[Jonathan]

Wow Conrad, and I was just about to tease Doug for using "role" instead of "roll" by mistake. I don't see how you can read that comment in stride and think it was any sort of jab, rather than a simple typo. Doug has plenty of those, you know. Mayhaps you simply read too much into it.

[chris]

I am really pissed off about TSN2 not being available to rogers customers. I pay for HD programming as well as the rogers super sports package. I expect to be able to see every game. The ONLY games I cannot see are on TSN 2. I would like to invite everyone to complain to rogers. Something has to change!!!!!!!

[Thane]

Hey Doug:

A question about the Coaches voting...

Say coaches A and B vote for player X as a centre, and coaches C and D vote for player X as a forward. If player Y gets three centre votes and none for forward, who goes? Is it total votes that matter, or votes per position? (and yes, I know this ignores that there are two forward positions and some blanks, but work with me here).

Blogger's note: I'll check that out tomorrow when I see these guys again and let you know

[Roger]

to chris:
I cancelled my cable with Rogers, and told them I'm cancelling because they wouldn't offer TSN2. And they said, "Sorry." and that was it. No attempt to offer discounts or hold me for a month or two longer until they get TSN2. They said there's no plan to get it. I'm looking into getting Bell or getting the NBA leaguepass on broadband when and if it becomes available to Canada.

On other note about the personal life distractions to the players, I forget about EVERYTHING in my life when I start playing basketball as well. I guess my mind is wired a bit like the professional players, but with much less skills. :(

[John Culligan]

Hey Doug, know how you hate the trade rumour mill, but ESPN has got an insider on an AP trade.. any word on what it's about and for whom (for all us non-beat grunts that have to fork out our $$ to be an insider..)

Thanks for jumping into the rumour waters on this one to keep us fans super-informed of everything Raptors related!

Blogger's note: No idea, and it would have to be something pretty darn good to pry the starting 2-guard and backup point guard, not to mention a locker room leader and favourite of the front office away from this team