They ran into one very big, very prickly, cactus

I know, I know, back to being tardy. But doesn’t everyone sleep in on a Saturday morning?

-

Action: Shaq’s still got it.

Reaction: An awful lot of it, too

You cannot imagine until you’re sitting up close just how quick and strong and powerful Shaquille O’Neal is. I know he probably got the benefit of a few calls – the way he clears out space in the paint borders on assault – but, still, he was vintage Shaq and I don’t care who the other centres were last night, they were not going to stop him.

He’s 7-1, probably closer to 375 pounds than the 325 he’s listed at, but he’s quick and when he gets that body and those elbows moving, it’s time to get the heck out of the way.

It’s pretty easy to sit at a keyboard and suggest they hit him, or move him, or stop him in any way. It’s entirely different to do it in person.

-

This is one of the all-time great post-game quotes and I have to repeat it here even though it’s in the story that’s in the paper:

“I think I’m the only player who looks at each and every centre and thinks that’s barbecued chicken down there.”

-

Action: Call of the game

Reaction: A hustle play

Biggest moment of last night’s game was not any of Shaq’s baskets; it was a three-point play by Louis Amundson and it was simply a good basketball play.

First Suns possession of the fourth quarter, the ball’s on the left block, Amundson dives from the right wing, take a pass, gets hit by a late-reacting Chris Bosh. It’s Bosh’s fifth foul, puts him on the bench and the play puts Phoenix up by seven.

Bosh could have perhaps reacted more quickly but it was just one of those plays that happens in the course of a game. Trouble was, it was the turning point, as it turns out.

-

Okay, I’m sitting in the press room at the arena last night and we’re listening to Jalen Rose on the pre-game show before the Orlando-Detroit game.

And I swear I heard him say the Boston Celtics are now favoured to win it all because they added Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury, who are “two big time players.”

Avoided doing a spit take, somehow. Seriously, “big time players?”

Marbury’s never won a thing, he’s been a disruptive factor on every team he’s ever been on and he hasn’t played a real game in, like, almost a year. Yes, he had eight points on Friday night; yes, he will eventually do something to make people in Boston despise him.

Moore? He’ll play, justifiably, behind Garnett, Perkins, Powe, Davis, Scalabrine when he’s healthy, and will likely not have the tiniest impact on a significant playoff game.

-

A question:

Q: Hey Doug - happy travels on this little road trip! I'm curious: do you tend to have more contact with the players and coaches on a 3 or 4 game road trip like this, or during a home stand? Is the routine pretty much the same (except for part of the day being eaten up by planes and buses)? Do you travel with the team or on your own?

Rob E, Scarborough

A: You do tend to get more interaction mainly because there are fewer of us following these guys on the road than there is at home. On this trip, for instance, I’m the only beat grunt travelling and it’s just been me and Jonesy and Eric Smith at the practices and shootarounds, which gives you a much greater chance to have private conversations with players.

In fact, I had a nice one-on-one chat with Chris Bosh before shootaround Friday – it’s going to make a nice, revealing story in tomorrow’s paper – that I never could have had at home, where there are always a dozen or more reporters hanging around.

And I do all my own travel.

-

Speaking of access, showed up at shootaround about 15 minutes before the team on Friday and who’s sitting there by himself waiting for the bus to arrive? Shawn Marion.

He’s still got a place out here and stayed at it instead of at the team hotel because his mom and some family members were in town, too.

Gave me a chance to stand and have a chat and, I have to tell you, he’s one of the really nice guys I’ve met. Conversation ran the gamut from both our families, the weather, the league, Toronto, his place here, good places to hang out in Phoenix and just general chit-chat.

And then who comes walking up on his own but Jake Voskuhl, who also lives out here and was staying with his wife and kids. He was telling me how cool it was to see them – they’ve been back in Phoenix while he’s been in Toronto because the kids are all under about seven years old and don’t need the disruption.

He was, of course, spectacularly happy to see them and pretty disappointed it’d only be for a couple of days.

Was a nice relaxing time with a couple of guys with more on their minds than just basketball.

-

Hey, don’t the Chicken but the Gorilla’s got his own dressing room with his name on the door.

Sure, the Chicken’s got a little coop in the back of the ACC but he shares it with some humans and there’s no indication that it’s his own space.

All stuffed animals are not created equal.

-

Here’s the Shaq love piece from the local publication.

-

Action: Foul him

Reaction: You foul him.

Got a whole whack of “why didn’t they Hack-a-Shaq” questions and here’s what the thinking is.

Not only does it make a shamockery of the game, to steal a Shaq word, it’s often a faulty tactic. It slows the game even more – and the Raptors were, and are, most efficient when the game has some flow – and Shaq’s actually making his free throws this season. And it only has ever worked if teams foul him away from the play and with a team so thin on the front line – two bigs fouled out, a third was in foul trouble all night, the fourth would have been utterly useless at the other end – having players intentionally commit fouls is folly.

-

Oh yeah, remember Nellie and the “I’m going to give the kids a nice long look and if I have to throw away this game against a team playing for something, well, screw the other teams in that race” story from yesterday? I notice that every team in the chase of the final playoff spot in the East lost last night except – yep – Charlotte.

And according to my friend Janny, the Nellie idea was bogus. It was pretty much the same old, same old for the Warriors except one of their most prolific scorers didn’t play.

-

Action: Jake’s quick night.

Reaction: A record setter

I know I put this is the in-game blog last night but I’m not sure everyone here reads there so this requires repeating.

When Jake Voskuhl fouled out in 7:30 it was the fastest disqualification in Raptor history. The previous was nine minutes, but Roger Mason Jr. in an April, 2004 game against Chicago.

And Voskuhl almost fouled for the cycle. Not only did he get the six personals, he also picked up a technical. If he’d got a technical after his sixth personal, it would have been a perfect night.

-

Oh, in Dallas, this is what they had to say about last night’s Mavs game.

-

Last mail thing, and we’ll be back with a big ol’ mailbag in the morning, it’ll give me something to do while sitting around the lobby in Dallas tonight.

Q: Are players contractually obliged to play a max of 82 regular season games per year? I am asking if a player is traded and with his former team, he played more games than average. And then he gets traded to another team that has a lot more games left on the schedule such that he would end up playing, say, 85 games. What happens then? He sits out a few?

Ken L, Hong Kong

A: The guy plays 85 games with no increase in pay or anything like that; in fact, it’s part of the reason the NBA schedule is set at so many days as well as so many games.

Jalen Rose, for instance, played 53 games with Indiana in 2001-02 and 30 with Chicago after a trade that season. That made it an 83-game season for Rose.

The Goods On The Game, Vol. 60, the Nash-less Suns await

Suns hurting; is it a help or a hindrance?

Well, I’m getting a wee bit better on the time zone thing but it’s going to take me another day, at least, to get used to working outside in the 20C sunshine. But I’ll try to improve, promise.

-

What’s the difference between smart basketball, which the Raptors are trying to play, and run-and-gun basketball, which is exactly not what they’re trying to do? Let Jay explain it:

“We’re not necessarily running to take a shot in five or six seconds. We’re running to look for an advantage and create tempo and flow and not hold on to the basketball. That’s what our focus has been and we’ve been pretty good at it the last little bit.”

So, heretofore, the phrases ‘run-and-gun’ and ‘Phoenix North’ are forever banned.

-

It used to be, back in the day, you’d get into the end of an NBA practice and more often than not see some three-point shooting contest, perhaps with some buttons on the line, between players and players and players and coaches or players and trainers or equipment guys.

Now? Not so much.

Now it’s halfcourt shooting games or H.O.R.S.E. competitions that we see and they’re even relatively rare. Sam used to get into a guy’s pocket every now and then – Fred Jones was his particular patsy if my memory’s is correct – and Jay as an assistant used to horse around a lot more than he does as the head coach.

The issue came up yesterday because as practice wound down, I was trying to develop the three-point streak story for the paper. It was impossible to find anyone who could remember those three-point post-practice contest and, given that every player in the NBA has recently sat through an anti-gambling meeting, no one was interested in talking about friendly wagers.

Of course, who’s the first guy to go to? Jason.

“No, it’s more halfcourt games or trick shot games like HORSE. No one really does a three-point game, especially now that I have a couple of trophies.”

The best post-practice halfcourt shooter in these parts? Mo Pete, by far. But Jay isn’t too bad, either.

So what are we reduced to for entertainment while waiting for guys to come over and chat? Yesterday, it was a school-yard shooting game between the true brains of the operation: Equipment and travel gurus Kevin DiPietro and Paul Elliott, fitness magician Keith D’Amelia and the video genius Casey Whalen.

“Look,” one guy said. “A game of midget Bump.”

-

The word out of Phoenix is thatSteve Nash is “questionable” for tonight, which has to warm the cockles of your hearts, right?

Not sure how many of you were able to watch the Suns last night in L.A. (was it a TSN2 debacle?) but let me tell you they are “questionable” without him. Leandro Barbosa, who killed Toronto earlier this year as I recall, is a fine, fine player but he’s not a front line NBA point guard in the Nash mould. The Suns just didn’t look close to the same team.

But having an advantage over an injury-bothered team is nothing the Raptors have shown they can live with. Remember the times they’ve played teams – New Orleans and Memphis come quickly to mind, so does Milwaukee – that were missing key players?

That sure worked out well.

-

Hey, you know how you hear all the time about coaches going in after games and ripping their players or praising them or making some heartfelt speech that rallies the troops for the next game?

Doesn’t happen with the Raptors.

This isn’t new at all, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this before. Jay, after games, doesn’t talk, he calls the players in, says stuff like ‘okay, tomorrow at 11’ and then retreats to his office.

As he put it to us once:

“I may praise ‘em for the doing the wrong thing, I might criticize for the right thing. I need to sit back and see the tape before I really say anything.”

Makes sense to me, actually. Why say something in the emotion of the moment and then have to either backtrack or apologize after closer scrutiny.

-

This is getting out of hand:

Q: I heard that Shawn Marion's underperformance is caused by him having a hard time adjusting to the cold weather north of the border. Is this true or just another rumor spread by the Raptors faithful?

Jonathan M, Thornhill

A: At first, I thought this was a joke and then I started thinking, ‘no, this is obviously the kind of crap that’s out there’ and it needs to be dealt with. And it’s not just you so don’t take it personally.

Marion made a joke about the Toronto weather, like we all do, and like something that can be fully expected from a guy who’s lived the past decade or so in Vegas, Phoenix and Miami.

He has nothing to do with his future, it has nothing to with your ill-conceived notion of “under-performance.” It has nothing to do with anything.

It was a throwaway line in a conversation and now it’s an issue?

I don’t know where you “heard” it but you’ve got to listen to other people.

My goodness, people have to chill.

-

It’s official. I believe Don Nelson has lost his mind.

And, if this continues, making a mockery of the game.

I understand the need to see what young players have, especially if you’re a going-nowhere team playing out the string.

But the generally accepted practice, in basketball and in every sport, is to rest your best players much later in the season and only in games against equally inept teams playing for nothing.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Charlotte wins tonight because the kids who replace Jamal Crawford suck. And then let’s say, for the sake of argument, the Bobcats go on to finish, oh, I dunno, eighth in the East by one game or by a tiebreaker, over someone like New Jersey or New York. Or even Toronto.

Will this game matter? It sure would.

Not sure what anyone can do but what Nellie’s doing is a shame.

-

Riddle me this, Batman.

How tough is Ben Wallace?

A broken leg?

-

See ya later, Nate.

Q: With Nathan assigned to the D-League, doesn't that take Toronto down to 12 players? How long can a team operate below the 13 player minimum? Is anyone being bought out of interest to this team? Keep up the good work.

Richard S, Lethbridge

A: Nate (and I actually asked him which he preferred, Nathan or Nate, and he said Nate) is still on the official roster, which keeps Toronto at the league-minimum 13. He’ll just be on the inactive list for as long as he’s in Idado (lucky soul), which might be three weeks or so.

And I don’t think a anyone being bought out is of any interest here.

They could do a guy for a 10-deal and even sign a free agent to a pro-rated minimum contract for the rest of the season and stay under the tax threshold but I’m not hearing there’s any significant interest in any one player right now.

-

A wee bit late but still pretty darn good

Hey, sorry I’m a bit late.

Had a long day of travel yesterday to get out here in Phoenix, the time zones got to me, had to get up this morning and shovel the sunshine.

Anyway …

-

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

Parker's had a good run lately.

Let’s get right to the injury update because reading a few of the comments last night showed me there’s an inordinate amount of interest in Joey Graham’s hamstring.

Well, I wish there was news.

What there is, unfortunately, is another “he’s day-to-day, we’ll check in the morning” update which is the norm this season with anyone connected with the Raptors, it seems.

Word is Joey may try to practice in a few hours – there was no substantial injury apparent on the “diagnostic testing” he had (a fancy phrase for MRI) – and then they’ll see how he comes through that. Or they may just treat him today and see if he can do anything tomorrow at shootaround.

The one thing about this team and injuries this year is that everything is “day-to-day.”

I swear, if someone left the court with his leg dangling by a tendon, we’d get a “injured let, will not return, day-to-day” notification.

Maybe it’s understandable (we are all day-to-day, aren’t we?) but it’s also a bit frustrating.

And it runs counter to the olden days. I remember standing around the locker room back in You Know Who Era with about a dozen reporters converging on one of the team’s doctors and pressing him to explain what “jumper’s knee” was in layman’s terms.

-

Speaking of injuries, there’s the same non-news out here about Steve Nash, it seems.

Nash hurt his ankle a bit on Tuesday against Charlotte and he’s in L.A. tonight but we won’t know for hours whether he’ll play.

Oh, and remember when Shaq vs. Kobe would have been huge? Well, it's not anymore, out here there they're more worried about making the playoffs and maybe making a move on Joe Smith if he's waived than the O'Neal-Bryant return.

-

This has got some topicality, if that’s even a word:

Q: Doug, one quick question and one quick comment: 1. is the Raptors' consecutive game streak with a three still going (haven't heard it mentioned in a long time)? 2. Have you noticed the chemistry between AP and Marion? Seems like they have a nice on-court rhythm - particularly in that they are looking for each other on the break and off cuts and screens.

B F, Halifax

A: Not only is the streak alive, it’s its birthday! For real.

It began Feb. 26, 1999 against Minnesota and has now been going for a full decade, 837 games and counting going into tomorrow against the Suns.

The good folks over in the Raptors media relations department sent us a nice birthday news release yesterday pointing out such things as:

--The streak has been extended in nine arenas that are no longer in the NBA - Market Square Arena (Indianapolis); Miami Arena (Miami); GM Place (Vancouver); Alamodome (San Antonio); The Spectrum (Philadelphia); Pyramid Arena (Memphis); Reunion Arena (Dallas); Compaq Center (Houston); Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte).

--October Sky (Jake Gyllenhaal), Office Space (Jennifer Aniston) and My Favorite Martian (Christopher Lloyd) were playing in movie theaters when the streak began.

--Modern inventions since the streak began include the iPod (2001), the Segway human transporter (2001), Blue Tooth (2002), the hybrid car (2003) and YouTube (2005).

(And Doug Smith’s Raptors Blog, 2007).

And yes, statistically at least, Marion’s had a huge impact on Parkers, whose transition offence seems to have blossomed in the last week. The back-to-back 24-point nights Parker had against the Knicks and Timberwolves marked the first time this season he’s gone over 20 in two straight games. Does it last? That’s the question.

-

Wow.

Just looked up at the TV here in the room and Chris Broussard of ESPN is doing his weekly around-the-league schtick on the Mike and Mike in the Morning show.

One of his lead items?

How Sam Mitchell is going to be one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market this summer. Broussard suggests not only didn’t the Raptors under-achieve under Mitchell in his last season and 17 games but in fact they over-achieved given what’s gone on since then.

I’m not sure about that – I think Jay’s getting about all he can out of this roster – but I’ve always held that Sam should, and would, coach again. And now it seems that other people are seeing it, saying it publicly and that can only help Sam’s pursuit of coaching employment.

-

Okay, when we talk about teams in disarray, the poster children this year have to be the Detroit Pistons, no?

They are in seventh in the East, just two games out of ninth and, somewhat shockingly, are only 5 1-2 games ahead of the Raptors.

Rasheed Wallace got thrown out of a loss in New Orleans last night, Allen Iverson’s got a back bad and he’s on the shelf and, frankly, they are in such a freefall that if they miss the playoffs entirely, no one would be surprised, least of all me.

Can you imagine the angst there? Six straight appearances in the conference finals, two trips to the finals, a championship and now maybe missing the playoffs?’

I don’t know if Joe Dumars is a knee-jerk reaction kind of guy but if I’m Mike Curry, I might not get too comfortable in that coaching seat.

Oh, and just to show you how quickly they can fall, how many of you had Dumars in the Executive Hall of Fame a year ago? How many would put him there now?

-

And, finally:

Q: Hi! Doug, you probably heard this a lot but, anyway. Long time reader and this is my first time asking you a couple of questions.

1. I know how much you like Randy Foye but don't you think he is a bit undersized much like Ben Gordon. Comparing those two who do you think has a potential to be a better player?

2. I tried asking questions during the live session for the Minnesota game yesterday and was rather disappointed. I tried typing a couple of questions but, none of them got posted. I was wondering if it had something to do with the web browser since I tried using both Firefox and Explorer, much to my disappointment none worked. So, I don't know if you could help me out with this or you could have one of your "tech gurus" to help me out with this situation.

Anwar A, Markham

A: Foye is a bit under-sized, yeah, but Gordon’s hardly a giant and is probably more, um, defensively-challenged.

The second one is the reason I’m running this, because it’s been asked often.

The thing is, and this is not anything other than laying out facts, but there’s about 2,000 comments-questions-snide remarks-cheap shots that come in during the course of a game. I see them all but you can understand they call can’t be used – it’s a blog about a game, not a chat room – and I try to get enough that are representative of the thoughts of the readers and are interesting. It’s nothing to do with browsers, it’s the number that I see.

This is better than the alternative, no?

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

Shawn Marion: Potential glue guy.

And now the road beckons, where there’s no snow or cold but plenty of good teams. Guess you do have to take the good with the bad in this gig.

But it is better to be going out having won two in a row instead of losing two in a row. Beating the Knicks, eight under .500 at the time, or the Timberwolves, a mere 20 under .500 is hardly enough to get the playoff tickets printed or the parade route planned. But consider how many mornings you’ve woken up to remember “damn, they lost to Oklahoma City?” or “Hey, did they really shoot 29 per cent in Memphis last night?” these are such horrible times.

Oh, those times are coming again, I’m sure of that, but for now? Why not feel a little bit good?

-

Action: What’s glue?

Reaction: A lot of things

Promised a gal, or maybe a guy, in the in-game blog last night I’d try to explain what I think a “glue guy” is since it’s a rather nebulous term that gets tossed around an awful lot.

To me, it’s a veteran who knows how to use his mind as much as his body to get his job done; it’s someone respected in the locker room because he’s had success and seldom, if ever, takes a night off. It’s someone who doesn’t care what other people think of him, he’s going to do his job, do it well and if pisses people off, so be it. Someone who’s been around the franchise a while and knows the people, knows what it takes to be successful in that market, has a connection with the fans.

They don’t have a true one on this team, I don’t think. Parker’s close, Marion might be if he sticks around but that’s about it. I think Bosh is held in too high esteem by management and many fans to be considered that guy, it really has to be someone who makes the most out of relatively limited talent.

-

Action: 34 assists

Reaction: That’s the way it works

I don’t think anyone who watched that game last night would consider the way Toronto played “run-and-gun” yet they had a season high in assists, shot almost 54 per cent from the floor and hung a 66-point second half on the Timberwolves.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, not some kind of willy-nilly, hoist-it-soon-as-you-can offence that does nothing more than give the ball back to the other team more quickly. There were more controlled breaks – if an open shot isn’t there, get into a set – than we’ve seen in a long, long time and that’s the kind of intelligent offence that’ll win games.

Of course, they could fall victim to Phoenix’s style and lost 160-130 on Friday but at least that’d be wildly entertaining.

-

Shawn Marion, bless his naïve little soul, said this last night in a post-game scrum:

“I’ve been on teams where you get down 15, 17 points and you just kind of hang it up a little bit. We’ve got some fight in this team, we were out there grinding and pulling for each other.”

No one laughed out loud, I know at least one guy who smirked and supressed a giggle.

“Fight in this team?” “Grinding and pulling for each other?” I dunno about that.

-

Out in Minnesota, they woke to find this today.

-

Action: Joey leaves

Reaction: He better come back

No word last night and with no practice or media availability likely no word today, on how bad Joey’s hamstring issue is but – and I cannot believe I am going to type these words – they need him healthy in a hurry to have any chance at doing anything.

Jay’s only playing eight guys – a wise decision considering what’s been available after them – and to have one of them on the shelf will lead to some serious depth issues, serious over-work for the starters and that last thing Bosh or Calderon needs right now is 44 minutes a night.-

But if Joey can’t go you’d presume Marcus Banks gets some extra playing time as that eighth guy and no one has any idea what he’ll bring. He’s not as big as Joey, not as versatile, cannot play the three. No Graham is a big blow.

And, sure, the possibility exists that Bryan could go out and sign a three-four kind of guy but that guy is going to need time to fit in, that guy is going to be looking out for that guy as he pursues either a second 10-day contract or a job for next year and I don’t think that’s the answer.

-

Some mail:

Q: Thanks for all you add to an otherwise mostly unenjoyable Raptors season.

Q1. To my untrained eye, what grabbed my attention foremost about Marion was his offensive rebounding. Given this is partially due to it being so lacking from his teammates, could they somehow learn from him or would they have already learned if they could?

Q2. Bosh seems to have lost his Olympics-inspired intensity. Is he just not the kind of guy that can sustain a high level of mental intensity? Heard Coach K on PTI yesterday talk about how he mentions the work ethic of Dwyane, Kobe and LeBron to his college boys. Didn't exclude Bosh specifically of course but didn't include him either.

John P, London

A: Marion’s a freak, pure and simple. Amazingly quick second jump – check out how many boards he gets at either end on a second leap – but he’s also in his 10th season in the NBA and just has a knack for knowing where the ball is going.

I think it’s hard for anyone but the true greats, and you rattled off three of them on that list, to maintain extraordinary intensity for 82 games or even 75 games. Bosh has lost some of that, but it’s lost in part because of the physical condition his knees are in; I’m sure he wants to be at that level but when he asks his legs for some extra, it’s not there.

-

So muchfor my advice to Donny Walsh, eh?

-

Action: The coming schedule

Reaction: A seven-pack of toughies

At Phoenix, at Dallas, at Houston, Miami, Utah, at Philly, Detroit.

Is 5-2 necessary? How about 3-4? I think even playing important games in April will depend on them at least coming through this stretch with more wins than losses.

Of course, too much depends on what teams above them do, and there remain an awful lot of them between Toronto and even eighth, but the Raps cannot afford to lose more ground.

-

An end-of-the-bench question:

Q: In your opinion what do you think the Raps have planned for Patrick O'Bryant? The reason I am asking is I am looking at this guys body language on the bench and he doesn't look too enthusiastic to be here.

Leroy B, Lethbridge

A: Personally, I think what they have in store for him is to use him only in the case of dire foul trouble- or injury-induced emergency and then either package his salary as cap ballast in a draft-night trade or release him outright before July 1. That will save them $350,000 or so.

-

I will say this: Kevin McHale is a much better coach than he was a GM. Not sure what the plans are for him next year – at least one guy with some knowledge of the Timberwolves franchise thinks the Minnesota icon will walk away – but the team plays hard and there some nice pieces.

Of course those nice pieces – I like Randy Foye a lot, and Ryan Gomes – are in the West so they may be years from sniffing the playoffs but McHale’s doing a not-bad job coaching them.

And if he sticks around, it’s one fewer gig out there for Sam to try and get.

-

The Goods On The Game, Vol. 59, Sam's old team is here

It's much more a matter of being smart

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

All this running talk and suddenly everyone's all atwitter.

A nice quiet day yesterday around the lads. Everyone was pretty much doing the same story everyone did on Sunday, more energy, more speed, fun and games and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Let’s see ‘em do it two games in row, then we’ll talk.

Until then …

-

I’m so tired of all this running talk that it feels like I’ve been actually running.

(Of course if I had, it’d be carrying around an oxygen tank and be hooked up to heart monitors so it’d hard to type).

Really, it isn’t “run-and-gun” because that’s the old Paul Westhead Denver style or the Mike D’Antoni Phoenix style and to be even marginally successful, it takes that kind of unique blend of talent that doesn’t exist on this roster.

So spare me all that kind of chatter about these guys.

What the Raptors want to do is play smart offensive basketball. It’s that simple.

When they rebound, get going; don’t wait around to hand the ball off to the point guard, either pass it to midcourt or dribble it yourself. It helps to have more solid ball-handlers in Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion on the court so the bigs can look either for them or then can take off themselves.

And then it’s just a matter of taking what you get on the offensive end. If there’s a runout layup, great; if there’s an open three for a trailer like Bargnani or Calderon, great; if there’s an easy post up for Bosh, great.

If not, get into your stuff.

But, please, we need to stop with all this blather about it being some quasi-revolutionary style of basketball. It’s one that’s worked for good teams for eons, even marginally good teams, and it’s something these guys should have been doing all season.

-

We’re all a’twitter over this tweeting stuff over here now.

Thanks to people who know what they’re doing – as opposed to, say, me – little “tweets” go out whenever I do anything. Work-wise, that is.

It’s at http://www.twitter.com/SmithRaps in case you were all wondering. And I hope you were.

Now all it’s going to take is me to figure out how to use it without it being too much extra work for me.

-

Q: Hi Doug, since becoming the starting centre 27 games ago, Bargnani has averaged 19 points and 6.7 boards per night (if he can ever add 5-6 points per night by getting some easy low post points watch out). Has he finally turned the corner for good?

Andrew J, London, England

A: Hmm, a young teenaged 7-footer takes into his third year to fully develop? Wow, who would have seen that coming!

I have no idea if he’s turned a corner – I think he’s at least a long way around the bend – but I also think some people need to listen more closely when some NBA head coach suggests it takes time for a young teenage big man to develop.

-

This is odd. Trying to do my usual “what are they saying” thingy, I go to the Star-Tribune site and can’t find a single word of news on the Timberwolves?

Hmm.

Anyway, here’s what they’ve got over at the Pioneer Press.

-

So, Anthony Parker has zero points in New York and 24 two days later and it confirms a theory we’ve had for almost three years now.

No matter how, he’s going to average 12 a game. It might be 0, 0, 0, 48 or 0, 24 but when it comes to the end of year? A dozen.

Wait and see.

-

Speaking of, remember a couple of weeks ago when the shackles were coming off Jason Kapono? He was going to be the modern-day Vinny Johnson?

It was in Memphis right?

Check out the FGAs since then:

15, 10, 16, 9, 13, 5. Which by my math averages to about 11.3 per game.

Before that? In the first 50 games, he had 354 attempts, an average of 7.0.

It’s coming, slowly but surely. But it’s coming.

And I think if they play like they say they want to (and that’s a rather substantial ‘if’) he should benefit perhaps more than anyone..

-

A Marion question from the past:

Q: Doug, I am not sure if I am remembering this correctly, but I thought you were not all that fond of Marion's game in the past. Have you changed your mind or has he gotten better?

Terry D, Kingston

A: I still don’t think he’s adept at creating his own jumper and I think there are serious questions about his shooting range (the two things that led me to believe he was a product of Steve Nash) but I am impressed with his court savvy. The guy just knows how to find space and he has the quickest second jump of any Raptor that I can remember.

-

I’ve been reading an awful lot the past few days about Stephon Marbury and, to a lesser extent, Joe Smith and how they’ll be bought out and sign with new teams this week.

Know what I’d do if I were the Knicks and Oklahoma City?

I’d wait one more week, until March 2. That way, both could still sign with championship contenders but neither would be eligible for the playoffs; the deadline for that is March 1.

Why? I guess I’m just opposed to players engineering their own buyouts so they can go where they want (which is quite different from what Sacramento’s Mikki Moore is doing) and keeping them out of the post-season may seem vindictive but it may give one or of them cause to think about staying where they are. And it may stop teams (Boston, are you seeing this?) from sending out signals to guys looking for a change.

In Smith’s defence, he’s never suggested he wanted to leave; in fact, he said last week he wanted to stay to honour his contract so maybe he wouldn’t be too put out by still being a Thunder this time next week.

-

From the Department of Good News Department:

Hump was supposed to dump the crutches yesterday. Doesn’t mean he’ll be back on the court any time soon but it’s an important step. And hopefully it'll mean the return of Ask Hump, although that will be hurt by the absence of the comedic stylings of his locker-neighbour Jamario.

-

A good point, and a defence:

Q: Doug, I agree, for the most part, that the Big Ticket and the Big Fundamental owe their teammates over the years to their success. However, I can't let you gloss over Timmy's accomplishments - before Parker and Ginobili played any significant role in the Spurs' success, the Greatest Power Forward of All Time had already collected an NBA MVP award (2002), a ring (1999), a finals MVP award (2002).

Craig M, Vancouver

A: I agree wholeheartedly that he’s the greatest power forward of all time but take a look at those rosters. See what’s there? That Robinson guy, who was no slouch, and a huge factor in both those championships.

-

Are no plays good plays?

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

... freelancing, getting out on the break, reading and reacting ....

You knew that was coming, right? They had to win, no self-respecting team gets drilled by 30 on the road and then loses to the same team at home less than 48 hours later. Just doesn’t happen. Of course, if it did happen, it would happen to these guys.

But it didn’t and I don’t believe there’s a single “season’s over, what should I do with my time” e-mail in the lot.

And now there’s reason to watch this week.

But first…

-

Action: No plays for Shawn

Reaction: So what?

Here's what Jay said yesterday afternoon:

“Until he learns our schemes offensively and defensively, we say, rebound the basketball, get out, push the ball up the floor, run and see what’s available.”

Here's what Doug said this morning:

“Maybe we should just leave it that way, freelancing, getting out on the break and reading and reacting seems to be working more often than not. Bogging down an offence with running sets for another guy might be counter-productive. Marion’s getting enough off breaks, secondary breaks and stuff run for other guys that it might be worth cutting back the playoff book rather than expanding it.”

But that’s just my opinion. Right, though it is.

(That’s a joke).

-

Okay, so we’ve all had our guffaws about the big ACC 10th anniversary press release and announcement that asked fans to celebrate:

10 Years Of Excellence

(We were guessing yesterday that 10 Years Of $15 Beers or 10 Years Of Losing With Gusts To Mediocrity probably weren’t considered).

Of course, they trotted out the top 10 moments in the buildings history which, as you’d expect, got us thinking “if they say good, we say …” To wit:

Fire Guy

First Raptor playoff game, halftime clown spills flame accelerant all over midcourt area, second half delayed, Raptors fined.

The TV screen

$8.5 million or something like that for a big television that hangs over centre court and couln’t, for weeks, give, you know, stats. But a helluva picture.

Welcome to our land

Raptors-Panathinaikos. International friendly, called early ‘cause the lights went out. Where’s the ouzo?

A ragged line

Not too many noticed but at pre-season opener this year, the out-of-bounds line was jagged, like it was laid down by a drunk. Out an inch here, two inches there, guess that jigsaw puzzle of a court was a bit tough to put together.

Pink is the new red

First time the new court arrives, the baseline and sideline stripes look quite pink. Some team officials quite red-faced, which is more the colour they wanted.

The swells live, um, swell

Not very many mortals are allowed into the directors lounge down in the bowels but there was a time when it was supposed to be Gruntville. In the original plans, the whole lounge was to be incorporated into the press room; the Leaves got ownership and, ah, not so much. The media room now: “Worst in the league,” according to someone who’s been around.

KO’s good-bye press conference

A classic moment in dead man walking, maybe the single-best self-inflicted firing ever. He stands in a small, packed room off the Raptors locker room and says something to the effect of “My bosses don’t want to win, all they want to do is sniff jocks and crowd my locker room and it’ll never change until they do.” Greatest “I’m getting my butt fired and I’m going out guns, a’blazing thing the building will ever see.

How to throw a party 101

They do catering well and they can put on a good bash. Just like the ACC hosted on June 24, 2004. “With the eighth selection in the 2004 NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors select Rafael Araujo of Brigham Young University.” The booing that followed was classic. Almost as classic as the momentary stunned silence. Yeah, heckuva party that was.

But, seriously, Happy Birthday, ACC.

-

Cue the spooky music

Jonesy and I were looking down at the Knicks bench before the game and spied Herb Williams and grew wistful. The hard-core among you will remember that he was a Raptor for a game, obtained in a trade that got Toronto Doug Christie with the provision that he would be immediately waived so he could go back to the Knicks.

Except for one thing: Then-coach Brendan Malone wanted to win, he loved veteran players and instead of letting Herb have a night off for his only game with the Raptors, Brendan rode him for 31 minutes that night in Utah.

The date:

Feb. 22, 1996.

Yesterday’s date:

Feb. 22, 2009.

Ooooh, scary.

-

And you want even scarier?

In that game, a 102-86 Jazz win, Utah pulled away with a 47-point fourth quarter. I mention this only because the number jumped out at me when I was checking the boxscore and it now becomes the single highest scoring quarter by a Raptor opponent ever. They had somehow missed it all these years and it wasn’t in the record book.

It will be now. Thanks to Herb.

-

He’s no Antoine Walker but, stolen from the AP story, …

Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 39 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to help the Austin Toros defeat the Colorado 14ers 131-124 in overtime on Sunday.

Just thought you’d like to know.

-

A Bosh query, again:

Q: Watching this season, do you believe Bosh is a 'max' player who can be the key piece to build a championship team around (like a Duncan or Garnett). I was convinced that all the Raps needed was to add pieces around him, but now I'm not sure. I figured they had the PG (Calderon and Ford) and centre (O'Neal and Bargs). Is it a matter of complimentary pieces still not being here, coaching, or is it an example of a guy putting up numbers on lousy/mediocre teams.

Bo C, Toronto

A: There’s a flaw in your thinking. And it’s this:

The Spurs didn’t build “around” Tim Duncan, he joined David Robinson and thrived when they got Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Garnett, was to some, an under-achieving big who didn’t come through at crunch time until he joined Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and one year he had better teammates in Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, he got to the Western Conference final.

Here? His teammates haven’t been good enough and he’s had his struggles. He coaching could better and he could be better. It’s a combination of things but it can be corrected.

So, yes, I do think Chris Bosh, playing with two other all-stars, can win an NBA title or play for one. It’s a matter of finding those guys.

“Max” player? Is he worth 20 per cent of whatever the cap number is? Sure. As long as he’s playing for a team with GM that can use that other money to get better players.

-

Action: David Lee

Reaction: Good not great

Took some heat during the game yesterday when I suggested the Knicks forward is more over-rated than under-rated.

Here’ why: He is a good player, no question, works hard all the time, it seems, has a nose for the ball.

He is absolutely, at this point in his career, limited offensively and I’d suggest on a team that’s not hoisting 30-something threes a game and shooting within seconds of getting possession, he might not be the Chamberlain-esque rebounder some make him out to be.

Would I like him on my team? Indeed.

Do I think he’ll ever play in an all-star game? I’d be surprised.

Can he be the focal point of any quasi-good team? No.

-

Doug Does Economics

Hey Doug, Just saw your short video on the Raptors/Knicks game. Just one question, in the pantheon of economic speak, with billions and trillions being bandied about, what's a cabillionaire?

Allan S, Vancouver

A: Actually, I believe it’s “kabillion” and it’s the sum total of all the bailouts to banks, auto companies but not beat grunts being kicked around today.

Or it’s how much these guys would pay for a 50-win season.

The Goods On The Game, Vol. 58, time for revenge?

Some mail; a big, heavy bag full of it

As always, you folks came through. This should take you right up until game time, if you’re at all inclined to watch the game. If you’re not, why not sit back and click on to the live blog and keep me entertained, I’m thinking you might be more able to do that than the Raptors and Knicks.

-

Q: What exactly do players have to do to pass or fail a physical after being traded? Can teams just back out of a bad trade by saying the guy failed the physical?

Rob C, Toronto

A: Physicals are sort of like the physical you’d get, a bit more extensive with particular attention paid to areas that have previously injured, as we saw with Tyson Chandler’s toe. And I suppose unscrupulous doctors could ignore their Hippocratic Oath and fail a guy for no good reason but doctors do hold things to different standards. It may be intentional, it may be a case of one physician being more, um, careful, than the next.

-

Q: Just wondering what the cap situation is now for the Raps after the Marion and O'Bryant trades. Do they have enough room to sign another player from FA? Bring back Cool Hand Luke!! :)

Oliver A, Milton

A: After all the dealing is done, and with all the various cap permutations taken into consideration, they are just over $300,000 below the tax level so they could sign just about anyone they wanted to a pro-rated minimum for the rest of the season.

And I’m sure you’ve read, they had Antoine Walker and Pops Mensah-Bonsu in already for a look so they are beating the bushes.

If by Cool Hand Luke you mean Luke Jackson, I believe that ship has sailed.

-

Q: When a player is traded, what obligations do teams have to the traded player? Conversely what obligations do teams have to the player just received. I am thinking of moving expenses, accommodations, breaking leases, food, family, airfare, new digs etc. The mundane problems one has in moving un-expectantly. Is this issue covered by the CBA?

Peter T, London, Ont.

A: They pay for them to get here and for some accommodations right off the bat but after that, they help players find places and leave them on their own.

-

Q: Hope you enjoy your respite this weekend, even though NYC is never a bad trip out, is it? Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the backup point situation with Banks now in the picture. The way Ukic played the last few games before the break, and considering he is a nice piece going forward, do you think he will continue to get the backup minutes or is there a chance, with the team trying to make a run, they will go with the veteran Banks?

Isaac O, Thornhill

A: I do think you’ll see as much Ukic in the next 25 games as you’ve seen in the last few; what you’ll probably see with Banks is some minutes at either guard spot when the opposition goes small in the backcourt. For instance, Tuesday against Minnesota, if they go with Telfair and Foye, you might see Banks with either Calderon or Ukic.

-

Q: Hey Doug, I was wondering if you could explain to me how trade exceptions work. I'm not quite sure I understand how teams acquire them.

Simon S-G, Toronto

A: If you take the total monetary value of the players being dealt – and it’s a very, very complicate formula – the difference is the “trade exception,” which gives the team taking back more money an “exception” worth that value they can use to sign a player for one calendar year from the time of the original transaction. That money can’t be used in any aggregate deal.

The Marion, Banks-O’Neal, Moon trade was as complicated as it gets. I asked Bryan Colangelo to explain it to me and it went something like this: The main parts, Marion-O’Neal, satisfied the cap needs of 125 per cent, plus or minus $100,000 and then when you factored in the other two, the Heat came out with a trade exception of something more than $3 million. I was confused as I’ve ever been and just took him at his word.

-

Q: A quick glance through the league's salary statistics shows that very few teams will have cap space this summer and the ones who do (ie. Detroit and Atlanta) probably wouldn't be interested in adding Shawn Marion. If Marion's options are limited, won't that be a good opportunity for the Raptors to lock up a talented player at a reasonable number?

Matt J, Toronto

A: You’re leaving out the possibility of a sign-and-trade transaction, which brings every team in the league into the picture so to suggest there’s a limit on the clubs who might be interested is wrong.