What's it all mean? No one knows for sure

What’s it all mean?

Start of something big? Lightning in a bottle?

No one knows for sure but being around those guys Sunday, there was a true feeling of accomplishment and a sense of confidence I really haven’t seen in a month.

Of course, it all goes out the window if they spit the bit in Milwaukee and-or Washington this week but the feeling is good at the moment. Imagine what it’ll be like if they rattle off three wins this week? Or even get two of three? What will everyone do?

I will tell you this: If they win three straight, I can’t wait to see the traffic jam of horn-honking crazies driving up Bay Street late Friday night. Oh, wait, that’s the pucks. Never mind.

Anyway, I’ll be like you folks this week, am taking the trip off while Mr. Dave handles the chores. But thankfully, only one of the games is on TSN2 so I don’t have to spend every night out working in some lounge. One’s good enough.

On to the fun and frivolity:

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Action: Roko’s big day

Reaction: There may be more to come.

RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR

Plenty of good stuff from Roko, especially down the stretch.

Of all the good stuff, not much was better than the play of the rookie point guard down the stretch of a close game against a good opponent.

Six points (four clutch free throws), five assists and a turnover in 12 fourth quarter minutes? That’s solid. Very solid.

And I don’t know if it was a break-out game – he’s still a rookie and he’s still going to make rookie mistakes – but there was just something about the way he handled himself and the team that made everyone sit up and take notice.

The quote about the floater that sealed the win? Shows you what kind of work ethic and understanding of the game he has.

“If I have one special shot, for sure that’s it, going left and try to throw this floater. Since I’ve been here I’ve been trying to find the most effective way to finish. I had to completely change my finishes from the way I did in Europe because the first 10 games I got maybe 15 shots blocked. I just came up with this little floater, I try to work on it a lot and it just came.”

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A topical question:

Q: Hey Doug, With Bargnani's improved play of late (vs. Denver, Houston, Orlando), would Colangelo now put aside any thoughts, no matter how little, of trading him and instead give him more time to mature?

Dave R, Markham

A: I think, no matter how bad things were going, Bryan would have had to have been entirely bowled over with an offer for Bargnani and might even then have resisted trading him away.

And I think that, yes, there is even less chance of a deal now that they’ve seen what he’s done as the starting centre for three games.

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Boston loses to New York.

Cleveland loses to seven-win Washington.

Toronto out-rebounds the Magic and wins at home.

Some kind of odd Sunday, wasn’t it?

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Action: Grabbing a board

Reaction: How things have changed

Just over two minutes to go, Raptors up two, Howard at the line. He makes the first and misses the second with the rebound bouncing almost back to him at the free throw line. A month ago, five Raptors would have watched him calmly pick the ball up and give Orlando another possession.

Sunday, AP did exactly what he was supposed to do, come in from beyond the three-point line, race in front of Howard and get the ball.

I know it’s a simple, routine play that grade schoolers make. But they haven’t made so many other times it was notable.

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I hear there’s a hockey game tonight, kids or something?

I only have one world junior story and it has nothing really to do with hockey.

The day Stephon Marbury is traded from Phoenix to New York was an off-day, no practice, for the Raptors. Trying to drum up a story, I decide to call Kevin O’Neill just after noon for reaction to what then was a huge trade. He gives me a quote (something prescient like “How are the Knicks going to pay him $21 million in 2008?”) and then informs me that he’s in a local establishment surrounded by Canadian junior hockey fans and that because he’s cheering for the Americans, I better get over there.

I go, we watch the game, I make sure he doesn’t insult our beloved pucks youngsters too much and it’s the last world junior game I think I’ve watched.

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The Orlando papers took it much easier on the Magic for losing to Toronto than the Houston papers did after Friday’s game. Read about it here.

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I presume you all saw this in Griff’s column off the game but this might be the best quote Joey Graham’s ever given us:

“On the court I'm a giant, too. I actually get bigger when I'm out there. He calls himself Superman. I call myself the Incredible Hulk.

“That's two heroes right there.”

The man does not lack confidence.

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Action: Carlos Delfino

Reaction: Wait and see

Yes, Bryan told Elliotte Friedman at halftime yesterday that the Raptors would be interested in Carlos Delfino, whose NBA rights they still hold, if it works under the luxury tax level and if Delfino gets out of his Russian contract.

Yes, Delfino would look good on this team, there’s no question about it and it’s something we’ve been writing about since November.

But I don’t imagine he’ll be in uniform any time soon so everyone can just take a pill and let things develop.

I will say this, I remember standing in the mix zone interview area in Beijing last summer with Jay after an Argentina game and chatting with Carlos.

Jay said something like, “hey, you come back, okay?”

To which Carlos replied, “sure, when you’re the coach.”

Hmmm.

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Another visit to the mail:

Q: Hey Doug, attempt number four to get a question answered. I can't help but notice that since Jose has been out, the team has played much better defence. Is this just a coincidence or is it a case of Will and Roko being able to keep their man in front of them better than Jose? Question two, is keeping your man in front of you essential to good team defence?

C B, Markham

A: Hang on second. Jose missed three quarters of the Houston game and, yes, the Rockets were miserable but it was as much on them as it was on Toronto.

Sunday, Orlando scored 102 points, shot 47 per cent from the field and 44 per cent from three point range. It wasn’t a gritty, great defensive performance by any stretch of the imagination. They won ‘cause they scored.

So, no, there is no correlation between Jose missing a game and three quarters and some magical defensive turnaround because there’s been no magical defensive turnaround.

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Here’s how things are playing out in Milwaukee, where the Bucks are waiting.

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Action: Big possession

Reaction: Odd, odd call

I wrote this in the in-game blog but it needs repeating here.

Down six with about 11 seconds left and the Magic run a play that gets JJ Redick a two-point look, which he misses.

I swear, if something like that happened to Toronto, the internet would crash with all the e-mails suggesting someone be fired.

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And, to wrap things up:

Q: Doug at today's ( Magic ) game I noticed Joey Crawford getting one of the magic players to help him pick one of 2 balls for the game and he did. He then asked CB to look at them too but he declined. Is this how they usually do it or does the ref just usually pick one on his own?

Mike K, London

A: All balls are not created equally, even though they are all inflated to the same degree and are supposed to be close to identical. So, yes, the ref each night will grab one or two and let the point guard or captain or key player on each team give his nod of approval.

And I cannot remember ever seeing a player turn one back.

Comments

[bob]

Doug,
You've always said in the past that you're not big on stats and that they don't tell the whole story. Yet, you bring out the stats when someone asks you about the Raptors defence sans Calderon.
Yes, I agree that looking at the stats alone it would appear that the raps defence wasn't that great. Does it not matter that the Magic are a top 4 team in the entire NBA? They are going to get their points. However, actually watching the game, I'm sure even you can agree that the Raps contested most of Orlando's shots, even the ones that were made.

Based on anecdotal observations, even you can see that Nelson's dribble penetration was limited. 3 pointers were made off of broken plays, ball movement, and inside-out play with Howard.

Observation and strength of team have to be considered. If the Raps gave up similar stats to a sub-.500 team you can bet that people watching the game could visually SEE that the Raps were playing horrible defence.

So what is it, Doug? Are you going by stats or by observation? If we are going by stats then I guess we can make the conclusion that the Raptors are a better rebounding team without O'Neal in the lineup since we outrebounded Houston and Orlando... We both know that's not true. Yes, stats tell one story, but when you actually WATCH the game--what you see is what you get... especially those small things that don't show up on the stat sheet (i.e. # of times opp. PG allowed in paint with ball)

Blogger's note: Yes, I don't use stats alone and shouldn't have in that case. I should have also suggested that neither Alston nor Nelson spend much time breaking down oppponents and getting in the paint because of the presence of Yao and Howard and that may have had something to do with it, too. And I will also say that while Jose is absolutely not the greatest defender ever, or even in the top 100, he's better than his two teammates, who, in extended time, will be equally exposed. Are any of them great? No, but I'll take the experience of Calderon over the other two right now for sure.

[Nick M]

Overall a great game yesterday. But there were a few things I noticed. The most glaring was Andrea's unwillingness to post-up. While the magic were making their run and it looked like they might run away with the game-Andrea was on the court with no other true post(only Joey G)-AB would not post-up, rather, he chose to stay outside while the Raps offence sputtered. If AP does not have that game Raps lose. But so goes the game of Basketball.

Glad to see Doug mention the confidence of the team. At the start of the year when Jose went down the Raps expected to lose. Now the body langauge is a complete 180. This is no gaurantee of a turn around but their chances, all of a sudden, look a lot better!

[Eric]

Hey Doug,

Happy new year. If you're still around when you get this, can you tell us why Jose and Jermaine were not sitting courtside yesterday? Nor versus Houston? Kapono and O'Neal versus Denver? Is this some new change brought by Jay Triano's staff? Unless they're hard at work on the exercise bike, I fail to see why injured players wouldn't come to the games and at least cheer on the team.

Thanks.

Blogger's note: Generally, with this team, the injured players are in the back getting treatment from the staff during games because that's the best time for it. The assistant trainers and massage therapists and the like are working on players who are playing before and after games so the best time for Calderon and O'Neal to get their treatment is during the game.

[Gary L]

Hey Doug, wasn't it nice that Anthony Parker thanks the fans during the post game interview for their cheerings, I hope this little talk will stop those boo birds from booing their team.

Gary

[Ryan G]

Doug, just wondering why Bargs was not reinserted to finish off the 4th quarter. I believe he only had 5 fouls and was playing another pretty solid game.

Blogger's note: The group on the floor was doing a pretty good job; same reason they didn't go back to Solomon.

[Travis]

if Roko misses that floater... how many emails would you get urging colangelo to throw him under the team bus? that was a terrible play, but it was fortunate that he made the attempt.

agree/disagree?

Blogger's note: Hundreds. And if you believe him that he's been working on that shot all season because it's the best way for him to finish then, no, it wasn't a terrible play at all.

[antonio vehal]

Morning Doug,

In reading your articles and blog, it seems to me that other writers in other cities are much much more in "the know" than you are about potential trades and rumours. Whereas you tend to report more on "surface" topics that most people already know.

Why is this??

Thanks for your work.

Tony

Blogger's note: Go back and check how many of those "rumors" come true, okay? Or how many of those "potential trades" are actually consummated. I'll put my record of breaking "news" up against anybody. It's easy to sit back and fabricate or extropolate situations into what you "think" might happen. It's also irresponsible.
But thank you for reading, obviously you get something out of this little spot.

[Rob]

Ok, I realize that 2 games does not a season make however as I have mentioned in this blog on a couple of occassions having Bargnani play the 5 consistently is somthing that the Raptors should conisder. I dont mind JO pounding the ball inside however the offense tends to stagnate when he does. Bargnani is a better facilitator which keeps the ball moving... and he's 7/8 years younger and still learning.

Doug, is JO someone that Colangeo could be shopping or given the fact that he was the big off season trade does it make this unlikely?. Has there ever been a 21 million dollar center coming off the bench?.

[Edward]

Hey Doug no offence but thats why we "sports freak" come on the internet to read this kind of stuff. Hey it makes it more interesting if there's rumours , it makes us want to talk about it. The more rumours the better it interests us!!!

[SY]

Given 3 solid games from Bargnani, I guess we couldn't really trade him now, could we? I'll still pull the trigger if there's a deal out there w/ Bargnani + Parker for G.Wallace (now a better chance given Bargnani's sold plays). I say one of the main reasons we won yesterday was because of solid plays from Parker (Unfortunately, that does not come very often). We need solid plays from the wing every single night and I think Wallace fits the bill very well.

Delfino? Can't wait for him to return.

If we trade Bargnani + Parker for G.Wallace and resign Rasho, Parker and Delfino (I say the three signing is highly possible) in the off season.

Bosh/Humpries/Nathan
O'Neal/Rasho/(2009 1st round draft)
Jose/Ukic
Wallace/Delfino/Moon
Kapono/Parker/Gramham

Do we have a chance in the East? Absolutely. Are we going to go over the luxury tax limit? Maybe. (we have approx. 7 million for summer of 2009 - we can resign parker w/ a 5 million 3 year contract, same w/ Rasho, probably mid-level goes to Delfino). Are we going to win 50 games? Highly possible. Do we still have financial flexibility in 2010? Very much (O'Neal's contract comes off the book). What is the implication for long-term? Bosh 24, Jose 27, Wallace 26, Kapono 27, Delfino 26, Gramham 26, Ukic 24, Nathan 22. Is this team a contender the next couple of years? I would say so.

-SY

[Kelsie]

Hey Doug, Happy New Year

Just a few observations. I was pleased with the intensity the Raps played with in the fourth yesterday. They made all of the hustle plays and they deserved that win. Like some of the other bloggers I disagree with your assesment on the defensive end of the floor, specifically guarding the 1. I actually think both pg's did a better job yesterday than Calderon does in keeping dribble penetration out of the lane but more importantly during the switches (does no one on our team like to man up?). The mismatches off switches weren't as bad especially with Roko being 6'5, we were able to defend better and later into the shot clock. Who knows what will happen over the next few games and I might have to eat my words but if Roko continues to develop he will have the starting job in 24 months. He's cetainly not as heady as Jose and cannot shoot like Jose, but is quicker, a better defender and can create his shot a lot easier than Jose does. My only problem with Jose is that he is attacked constantly by opposing teams and our defence breaks down because of it through penetration or post ups off switches.

I don't think a trade is going to be in the works now that they've won a few games against solid teams but my question is now with Bargs playing the way he has recently and BC saying specifically that he appears to be much more comfortable starting at the 5, what happens when JO gets back? I'm sure BC wold love to have Bargs starting at the 5 now, but how can you with JO on the team and a year left on his deal?

[Dennis]

Hi Doug,

In your opinion do you think it's too soon to end the 3 man rotation of bigs and trade one of them (O'neal or Bargs, not Bosh)? Seems like the chemistry between O'neal and Bargnani just hasn't developed and Bargnani seems to be a completely different player when O'neal is not around.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all 3 of Toronto's bigs free agents in 2010? Bargnani the only one being restricted? Wouldn't a decision on who to keep and who to let go have to be made rather soon?

Blogger's note: I don't think it's too soon but if there's a good deal out there for JO, he's probably got to make it. And yes, they are all free agents and, no, there's no need to make any decisions right now unless the perfect deal for JO comes along. 2010 is a long, long way away.

[Anthony]

Enough of the Bargnani trade talk..... Would be almost impossible to do and BC will not do it unless it is for a star....

Delfino back would be great too. I do think we miss him, especially with Parker & Kapono not playing well. Is it me or are we missing Delfino's defense?

Love Graham's comments, he sure lives in a different world. The guy just drives me nuts. Never seen a player with his skill miss more layups or get lost in the scheme then he does.

Perimeter defense has to be improved. I know Orlando is a very good 3-point shooting team, but to let them go 15-34 is just unacceptable, while we only go 3-12 just makes no sense.

As I said the other day, this game is quite something when it can turn so easily on 1-2 shots. Vs. GS we miss 5 straight open 3's to give us the lead down the stretch. Wednesday Nene hits his first ever 3 pointer (off an inbound, before the half with no time on the shot clock), we lose. Yesterday when we needed a shot, there was Ukic making a running floater to give us the 105-102 lead.

One last question. When was the last time we made a shot to end a quarter/half/game? Seems to happen against us wioth too much regularity.

Again how do we contact MLSE about this TSN2 debacle????

[DougRules]

http://newsok.com/trading-season-about-to-begin/article/3335369?custom_click=lead_story_title

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/01/04/sports/nh304836.txt

Wow, our assets are being attacked as tradeable in the media today.

Doug, what do you think about all this b/s rumour-making?

Blogger's note: Rumours and speculation are fun, and irresponsible journalism.

[Chris]

Joey Graham is too funny. The Incredible Hulk??!!!

[CARLoS M.]

Jay said something like, “hey, you come back, okay?”
To which Carlos replied, “sure, when you’re the coach.”

That's an awesome quote. Loves it! I'm anxious about the possibility of a Delfino return to the Raptors. If it were to happen, given all of the conditions you've explained, is there a deadline by which they would have to add him to the roster this season?

[Lavi]

Hey Doug, Great blog!
So with the new year here, and 34 games in the bag, where do you see the Raptors finishing after 82 games?

Blogger's note: Impossible to tell. And if I say sixth and they finish eighth, I'll get killed for being an optimistic dope. So I'll say sixth.

[Dennis]

To all you Jose haters out there:

If Steve Nash and his "all world" defense were on this team would you be bashing him too? All the positives that Jose brings to the team far out way any of his defensive liabilities, which are not that bad. Don't forget he's been playing on a bum hamstring for over a month. All the other teams know this so of course opposing point guards are attacking him every chance they get.

Jose is a great point guard. Ukic and Solomon are nowhere near the same level as him. Period.

[TMF]

Hey Doug, nice pass.

[Andrew]

Hey Doug,

With this talk about Carlos Delfino coming back, the Big Aussie being sidelined, and the signing of Jake Voskuhl, wouldn't that mean Calangelo's 'slim'/'thinned out' roster was a bit too presumptuous to begin with? Does Brian go in with a 'tighter' roster in the future?

Thanks.

Blogger's note: Probably not

[Mark L]

Hi Doug,

With all the trade talk around Bargnani...how does he feel about Toronto? Does he like it here? Will he eventually leave on his own? (Assuming he's not traded)

Blogger's note: Seems to like it fine. Will he leave on his own? I have no idea

[SY]

Given our financial constraint, we can't even trade Bargnani + Parker for Wallace, we have to trade Bargnani + Kapono for Wallace in order to put us under luxury tax next season.

Here's the salary breakdown for the next three seasons -

Player 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11
Jermaine O'Neal $21,352,500 $22,995,000 $0
Chris Bosh $14,410,581 $15,779,912 $0
Jose Calderon $7,438,018 $8,219,009 $9,000,000
Jason Kapono $0 $0 $0
Andrea Bargnani $0 $0 $0
Anthony Parker $4,550,000 $1,450,000 $1,450,000
Jorge Garbajosa $2,000,000 $0 $0
Kris Humphries $3,200,000 $3,200,000 $3,200,000
Joey Graham $2,449,184 $3,441,104 $0
Roko Leni Ukic $1,250,000 $1,350,000 $1,450,000
Jake Voskuhl $875,409 $0 $0
Willie Solomon $711,517 $0 $0
Jamario Moon $711,517 $711,517 $0
Hassan Adams $711,517 $0 $0
Nathan Jawai $442,117 $736,420 $0
Gerald Wallace $8,287,500 $9,075,000 $9,862,500
Rasho Nestero $0 $1,450,000 $1,450,000
Carlos Delfino $0 $3,000,000 $3,000,000
TOTALS: $68,389,860 $71,407,962 $29,412,500

We can save a few extra $$ this season too.

-SY

[Kelsie]

IN response to Dennis,

No one is saying that these two backups are better than Calderon, thats really not the debate cause Jose's a better player than both of them, but defence wins championships in any sport and when the opposing pg is getting in the lane at will, your defence is going to suffer for it. I would be bashing Nash for his defence as well cause we don't have the type of team defence needed to cover up his defensive liabilities either. Ray Allens not a great defender but with the nucleus of players the Celts have his defiencies are hidden. How often do you see teams attack Calderon on pick and rolls, off the dribble through iso's or on switches in the post? Often enough that it is something that needs to be addressed over the long term.

I agree that Joses positives outweighs the bad, but at what point do you expect him to guard the position better? He's imporved in all areas since he's come into the league except defensively and running out at your man while "clapping" is not the sort of defensive improvements or shot contesting we're looking for, bad hamstring or not. This has been happening for longer than when he got banged up, and even if your banged up you stil gotta defend, no?

[Jack]

One thing I noticed. When Ukic or Solomon plays point, there is ball movement. Everyone gets to share the ball. Unlike when Calderon is the point guard. He either pass to Bosh or take a shot.

[James]

Great KO story. I miss those days (but certainly not for the quality of on-court play). I went into the archives and reminisced about the games the Raps scored in the 60's, 70's and gulp, even the 50's once!!! WOW.

Anyways, seeing how comfortable and effective Bargnani looks at the starting 5, where does that leave the Raps? On most teams he would be starting 4 or 5 but here he will have to go back to the bench where he struggles when JO returns. Will this go on another season? Does something not have to change less we risk wasting his development?