Of moods and minds and all-star snubs

All’s right in the world when your 19-28 and winners of three in a row. At least that’s the prevailing mood around these guys these days and, actually, you can’t blame them.

There’s been some slippage – defensively they’ve been so-so and the energy level has been a bit below acceptable at times – but confidence and momentum are huge and they truly do feel they are at least approaching a corner, if not already in it.

We’ll see, of course, we know they have the capability of throwing up on themselves without any notice but there’s no reason they shouldn’t come out tonight and roll.

There. Feel jinxed?

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As some may recall, I was a bit dubious about the need for, or value of, a sports psychologist for a team sport. And then you all saw today’s story about Dana Sinclair and the Raptors have obviously not paid one lick of attention to my opinion. (not an odd occurrence, by the way).

Anyway, now I’m figuring what the heck, if they think it works, go ahead and do it. I’m not paying the freight, another resource can’t be a bad thing and, here’s the funny thing, I now recall having met. Dr. Sinclair at the Sydney Olympics way back in 2000 when she did some work for the Canadian Olympic Committee. I also recall her working with a couple of members of the women’s basketball team back then and them being highly complimentary so now I’m okay with this (as if that mattered).

And Bryan C? Well, he had this to say about a sports psychologist working with a team rather than an individual

“It’s about individual performance and how it relates to teams in this regard but clearly …each player in the NBA has a different psychological profile and whether or not they’re getting the most out of their ability i9s something you want to try to determine.

“With respect to the players, this is not so much about curing a problem, it’s about helping people achieve best results.”

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I’d like this story an awful lot more if someone from Rogers or Maple Leaf Sports or TSN actually said they’d do something about this fiasco.

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My man Tom Enlund isn’t making the trip up here tonight (I believe that’s allowed at least one extra Harbour Sports Grille server to get a night off) but he does provide this in our look at what’s up with the other team.

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Just in case he misses, let’s get this one out there:

Q: With Jose's recent brilliance at the free throw line (perfect for the season), I was wondering if you could tell me if Dave Hopla, shooting coach extraordinaire, should be given a ton of credit for helping Jose develop such a stellar shot? I assume Hopla spent time with Jose working on his shooting mechanics when he was an assistant a couple years back.

Miles V, Kitchener

A: No. He shouldn’t. The credit should go to Jose, who went home between his rookie and sophomore seasons and worked like crazy on his new shooting form. He was given tips (tips that even a dope like me could see were necessary, like keeping his right elbow in closer to his body) and exercises as much by Jay Triano as Hopla but it was he who did the work.

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Hey, six out of seven all-star backups in each conference? Can a guy get some love?

Seriously, putting Rashard Lewis on the East team instead of Mo Williams is fine with me (makes the East bigger, gives them another shooter) but David West over Al Jefferson in the West is, to me, a bit perplexing.

West’s team is okay, sure, and Jefferson’s isn’t, except for the fact the Timberwolves are like the hottest team in the league in the last two weeks or something.

I think the Western Conference coaches blew that one.

But, since I’m not going to be in Phoenix, I really don’t care all that much.

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A question of styles:

Q: Short and sweet - who is the better defender right now, Bosh or Bargnani? And who do you project will be the better defender when it's all said and done? There have been stretches when Andrea has played exceptional team and individual defense, and I would argue he is more physically equipped (length and relative strength) to guard opposing bigs.

Jack C, Ajax

A: Short and sweet? Not so much.

Bosh is a better help defender, Bargnani’s a better post defender. Together, they’re all right.

But, really, all this chatter about who’s a “good” defender and who “sucks” as a defender is, in a lot of cases, ridiculous.

NBA defence is always team defence. No one can stop anyone one-on-one in the league, it’s more about schemes (turning your man to help) and scouting (forcing him to his weak hand, or a spot on the court he can’t shoot from) that one guy stopping one other guy.

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So they announced the all-star subs around 7 p.m. in these parts, the Magic get two and the Cavaliers get none and then Orlando goes out and whacks Cleveland with Jameer Nelson wildly out-playing Mo Williams and Rashard Lewis getting 19 or something like that.

And all of us who originally thought the East was just a two-team race were, apparently, dead wrong.

Now the premium for finishing first in the East is even greater. Not only is it homecourt through the conference finals, it’s avoiding the third team in the second round.

I believe we are in for a great, great finish.

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You know how stinky this winter’s been in the parts? You walk outside about 7:20 in the morning so Super Dog can have it’s morning constitutional, it’s about minus-9 and you go, “hmm, nice day.”

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The last word:

Q: Hey Doug. I hope you answer this one as I've written before and I'd love to get your take on it. Is there anyway on God's green earth that we ever...ever...ever see Vince back in a Raptors jersey? Ever? If not, would you like to see it? Thanks for your great work Doug.

Paul G, Aurora

A: A wise man once suggested I never say never but I will say, unequivocally, that you will never see Vince Carter in a Raptor jersey again. Ever. Never.

They won’t trade for him, they won’t sign him as a 34-year-ol free agent when this contract’s up. That ship has sailed.

Would I like to see it? No. It would be far, far, far too much work for me.

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Comments

[Eric]

Doug,

Is there any truth to the rumour that the Raptors' staff are designing a Shawn Marion bobblehead as we speak and listening in on Bryan Colangelo's conversations with Pat Riley, while involving Colangelo heavily in all decisions pertaining to said bobblehead and promo night?

[Iain]

I can't believe anyone without basic homonym knowledge could have the audacity to nit pick about long and short dashes.

Blogger's note: Nitpick is one word.
But thanks for reading.

[Kevin]

Hey Doug,

dOn't know if you caught this, but it was on ESPN's Daily Dime the other day about Calderon's shooting success, and how he improved so much... it really goes to what you said in your blog on Calderon's work eithic. Thought I'd share:

"His secret?

A big old rubber band.

In discussing Calderon's shooting prowess beforehand, Triano explained how the Raptors were so frustrated three years ago by Calderon's poor shooting stroke -- his flaw was that he was flaring his right elbow out -- that one day Triano, then an assistant to Sam Mitchell, grabbed a long rubber band that players use for leg stretching exercises, attached it to Calderon's forearms just below the elbow and told him to try shooting that way, which kept Calderon's elbow tucked at his side.

The trick was so successful, Calderon used it over the summer when working on his shot (he said he also would position himself one inch from a wall on his right side and practice that way, knowing that if he flared his elbow out he'd scrape it against a cinder block surface).

"It was to help concentrate, but you could not do more than 10 shots in a row with the rubber band because it hurt too much," Calderon said. "But I'd keep shooting without the band, and I'd keep shooting the same way."

The rubber band method is now being used to reconstruct Roko Ukic's shot, but that's a story for another day (or, more likely, another year). "

[Mo]

Blogger's note: Nitpick is one word.

hahaha... You crack me up.

You should draw the line somewhere Doug. There are morons out there that will spend their day checking your grammar and spelling and writing comments about it. That's fine with me, but we shouldn't have to filter through that to get to the real comments. Make sense?

We already have to filter through everyone taking "shats" at you for being the reporter/blogger of a 19-28 team!

Have a good one and try to sneak in a session of therapy alongside Joey G. You probably need it more than him :)

[Alex]

Oooooh wow new comment-box-thingy. Very chique.

Tyler Hansbrough is a great college player but I'm not sure sure he will be as effective as a pro. However he does have a similar body and skill set as Kevin Love and if he has found a groove I guess Hansbrough might too. But lets not forget how terrible Adam Morrison and Tyrus Thomas have been so ya never know.

Also, can we all PLEASE stop ripping each other and Doug over typos and grammatical errors. That is so childish and pointless and you always come off looking worse than the one who made the mistake. Unless sum1 is riting lik this wee shud all jus kewl it. TTY l8er

[Alex]

I can garantee you one thing...if there ever is a Shawn Marion Bobblehead it will look NOTHING like him... Probably end up looking like Jose Calderon!

[Jason]

Re: Iain and Yan (Junior Editors in Training)

Good to see Doug put you in your places. You should follow the rule that it is better to be thought an idiot than to speak and remove all doubt.

Props Doug!

P.S. If there is any grammar mistakes on the above post, please read the below disclaimer.

Disclaimer:
I ran Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar check on this blog entry. If it is not grammatically correct, it is my computer’s fault. The program does not recognize the word “bloggers” and recommends “bogglers” instead, which can be descriptive of people whose writing is mind-boggling.

[CARLoS M.]

If the trade had already happened what would MLSE do with 10,000 JO bobble heads? What about the big $$ spent by the sponsor of said bobble heads? I think timing is everything...

[steve]

aren't blogs an informal space, and therefore subject to informal rules? i don't really know if we need grammar nazi's patrolling the comments, waiting to pounce on minor errors, especially when the real goal of the activity is little more than petty humiliations and ego gratification. to be fair, doug, you've done this more than once to your respondees, and with an acerbic tone at that. maybe there ought to be a couple of informal rules suggested when you log onto this site to tidy up some of this behaviour? maybe you could invite your readers to help develop how the space should work democratically? no remarks about, sp. gr. and pct. that aren't constructive in nature to begin with, and no personal attacks on individuals would be another. respecting people's right to their opinions and resisting the temptation to mock might also be observed by the comptroller and users of the blog alike.

i love this blog, but sometimes all that petty stuff really bums me out, man. i care about basketball in general and the raptors in particular; i love great debate, but we're losing that here, and we need to do something to preserve it. let's not turn out intelligent commentary in favour of crass idiocy. fresh start people?

[James]

Doug - check out TSN2's press release...c'mon...Let's go Rogers -We are going to miss Kobe coming off a 60 point game...This sucks
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It’s a Basketball Bonanza on TSN2

TSN2 is jamming with five days of NBA hoops action featuring the Toronto Raptors and some of the league’s biggest stars, including reigning MVP Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, and Canadian superstar Steve Nash.

From Wednesday, Feb. 4 through Sunday, Feb. 8, basketball fans can turn to TSN2 for five marquee NBA games, led by the Toronto Raptors’ match-up against the Western Conference-leading LA Lakers (Feb. 4). On Thursday, Feb. 5, the Lakers are on TSN2 again as they take on Kevin Garnett and the NBA Champion Boston Celtics in a heavily anticipated rematch of last year’s Finals. Raptors fans can then see back-to-back road games on TSN2 with Chris Bosh and company taking on Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, Feb. 6 followed by a tilt with the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Feb 7. Finally, it’s a battle of two of the NBA’s all-time best guards on TSN2, as Canadian basketball legend Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns take on Allen Iverson and the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, Feb 8.

In the Greater Toronto Area, TSN2 is readily available in both standard definition and high definition on Bell TV, Star Choice and Cogeco Cable.

[Mrk]

Hey doug! are you really a professional? The only thing you can write is about criticizing! All of us here in toronto hates VC! Can't we be more mature? DO u even know that the video when VC said he doesn't play that hard was 'EDITED" john thompson confess to VC said sorry to even know that??? we raptors don't know how to appreciate VC! we are so BITTER! we can't even appreciate what he has done for us! We almost ended up like the vancouver!

[Edison]

Hey Doug, if Colengelo wants to a make run-and-gun team so badly, why dont he just trade JO for Marion, Bosh for Amare and then sign Nash this off-season. You have Marion, Stademire, Bargnani, Calderon, and Parker as the staring five and then you have Nash, Graham and Kapono comming off your bench. Cant see why this wont work.