Of past drafts and coming playoffs. And Alonzo doesn't say thanks

No practice yesterday so precious little about the local Heroes Of The Hardcourt.

Hope this offering satisfies at least some of the hoops cravings:

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A whole bunch of people are up in arms because the Raptors may slide back from the No. 8 pick in the draft because (egads!) they are winning games at the moment.

Yeah, like that’s going to make a difference. Check out the past five drafts in the second half of the lottery:

2008

8: Joe Alexander, Milwaukee; 9: D.J. Augustin, Charlotte; 10: Brook Lopez, New Jersey; 11, Jerryd Bayless, Indiana; 12: Jason Thompson, Sacramento; 13: Brandon Rush, Portland; 14: Anthony Randolph, Golden State.

Best pick: Jury’s still out but I’d say Lopez, No. 10.

2007

8: Brandan Wright, Golden State; 9: Joakim Noah, Chicago; 10: Spencer Hawes, Sacramento; 11: Acie Law, Atlanta; 12: Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia; 13: Julian Wright, New Orleans; 14: Al Thornton, L.A. Clippers.

Best pick: Right now? Thornton, No. 14, maybe Young, No. 12.

2006

8: Rudy Gay, Memphis; 9: Patrick O’Bryant, Golden State; 10: Sare Sene, Seattle; 11: J.J. Redick, Orlando; 12: Hilton Armstrong, New Orleans; 13: Thabo Sefolosha, Philadelphia; 14: Ronnie Brewer, Utah.

Best pick: I could make the case it’s Brewer, No. 14, for what he does for the Jazz but I’ll give you Gay, No. 8.

2005

8: Channing Frye, New York; 9: Ike Diogu, Golden State; 10: Andrew Bynum, Lakers; 11: Fran Vazquez, Orlando; 12: Igor Korolev, Clippers; 13: Shawn May, Charlotte; 14: Rashard McCants, Minnesota

Best pick: I guess Bynum, No. 10, if he’s ever able to stay healthy.

RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR

One of the more painful slaps in the face for Raptor fans has to be the results from the 2004 draft.

2004

8: Rafael Araujo, Toronto; 9: Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia; 10: Luke Jackson, Cleveland; 11: Andris Biedrins, Golden State; 12: Robert Swift, Seattle; 13: Sebastian Telfair, Portland; 14: Kris Humphries, Utah.

Best pick: Guess it has to be Iguodala, No. 9, but there’s lots of love for Biedrins, No. 11, around the league.

So, what’s this tell us?

There can be good players found at any spot in the second half of the lottery; a lot depends on what teams picking ahead of you do, and how good your scouting department is at unearthing good players with late lottery picks.

But we can all agree that it’s more a crapshoot than anything and just because you have No. 8 doesn’t mean you’re going to get a far better player than if you have No. 11 or 12.

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I didn’t hear the whole speech so maybe I missed it but I don’t think Alonzo Mourning thanked Rob Babcock and the Raptors for repatriating him to Miami, where they retired his number last night.

But how crazy is this?

Normal halftime breaks are 14 minutes; the Heat-Magic game was delayed 43 minutes at halftime for the Mourning ceremony.

Thank goodness we’re at least a decade away from ever having to worry about something like that happening at a Raptor game. Or until they decided to play some Little Urchin Basketball Tournament that includes five or six games.

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List time

Okay, so we’ve got two weeks and a day or so left in the regular season and there’s still lots of jockeying for playoff position – and even one playoff berth, perhaps – in the Eastern Conference.

Here’s a quite subjective list (like everything around here of) – ta-da!:

Three Teams With Something To Prove

Boston (56-19)

The reigning champs are, for them, stumbling along at 7-3 in their last 10 and they’re in third by percentage points. Kevin Garnett’s hurt, Stephon Marbury hasn’t really been the answer (who’d have have seen that coming?) and Doc Rivers has already given up hope of finishing first overall.

But as we saw last year, when they were horrid on the road in the playoffs in the first two rounds – and when they were running far, far more smoothly to end the season than they are now – the Celtics need homecourt more than almost anybody.

If they can’t reel in the Magic, I can see them not even making it to the conference finals this time around.

Detroit (36-37)

A playoff spot isn’t locked up by any means – although it’s a pretty safe assumption – but to think the Pistons are doing anything but stumbling into the post-season is dead wrong. Can they get Allen Iverson to truly buy into a backup role? How will Rodney Stuckey handle the increased pressure of running a team when every possession is like life and death? Which game, or games, will Rasheed Wallace blow with some Rasheed Wallace-esque temper tantrum?

I can see the Pistons finishing eighth, going out in four and making radical change.

Miami (39-35)

Yeah, I know. Every time you look at a boxscore, Dwyane Wade’s got 30 or 40 or 50 or something stupid like that and he’s increasing his odds of finishing a strong third in MVP balloting. And then you wonder? Surely to goodness someone else on that team is going to do something, right? Maybe not. And in the playoffs, when teams can lock down on one guy because they have days and days to prepare, someone else has to do something good for anyone to have any chance of winning. The Heat’s only got eight games to find out if that guy exists.

Tomorrow: The West.

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Oh yeah, the much anticipated e-mail from the league office arrived yesterday, carrying with it the ballots for the post-season awards.

And like a kid a Christmas, I opened it eagerly to see what I got.

A tough job is what I got.

How about MVP, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

Three difficult, difficult choices. Luckily, there’s a couple of weeks left before they have to be returned. It’ll give me some thinking to do.

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Seriously, the scoreboard when I shut the machine down last night said Milwaukee 79, New Jersey 48 in the third quarter. Now, that’s the way to tank. Go big or go home, I say.

Now, would you rather have players and coaches talking about how good they feel, or saying how sorry they are, as my man Dave reports here.

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Seriously, if the world doesn’t bounce Steve Wozniak this week, the world needs to re-examine itself. (It’s sort of code, regulars will get it).

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This wraps it all up and is gleaned from a very good e-mail basket I’m going to have to get to quickly this week. Lots of interesting questions that’ll get me through Wednesday-Thursday-Friday when I’m not in Florida (I’m picking ‘em up in New York):

Q: Doug, one thing that annoys me, is that when I tune in to watch the post game show of a Raps game, I have a hard time hearing the reporters questions. Is it too difficult or time consuming to have someone handle a microphone? I'm sure other viewers must feel the same way. Keep up the good work, and keep us entertained during the offseason!

Ken B, Matheson

A: Well, frankly, I’m not sure we want to be part of a studio audience. They could get boom mics, I suppose but I’m there to get my questions asked and answered and, honestly, sometimes I save my good stuff for private conversations because I’d rather not have the dozens of people watching on TV get my best stuff before the readers do.

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As a one-time event, that one yesterday was a doozy

I know it’s impossible to take one game as a singular event in a sports season that always has to be thought of in the context of 82 games but for sheer entertainment value, that one yesterday was right up there with the best in a long time.

Enough mistakes to make it angst-filled, enough big plays to make jaws slacken. It wasn’t the perfect game but it was a great one and while it means nothing really in the big picture – Chicago’s likely going to the playoffs, the Raptor season was shot behind the ear years ago – don’t tell anyone in the arena that it meant nothing.

And that’s why sports is great.

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CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR

More rim destroying from Pops yesterday.

So The Legend grows.

That little performance by Pops yesterday – 13 points, four boards in 23 minutes – was vintage. Energy at both ends, a couple of minor blips (dribbling after grabbing an offensive rebound puts the ball in play for all the tiny guys in the paint to peck away at) but the kind of effort that’s become his trademark.

As regulars know, I’m all for keeping him – at a reasonable cost – next season and I found out last night that there’s another twist to his contract that might make that possible.

Among the more arcane parts of the CBA as it relates to the cap and impending free agents is a clause that says guys like Pops, signed until the end of this season, are restricted free agents as long as the Raptors make him a qualifying offer, which I’m sure they will.

So no matter what kind of sniffs he gets out there, and he will get more than a few, Bryan will have the chance to match an offer and keep the fan favourite.

And the more I think about it, a frontcourt rotation of Bosh, Bargnani, Pops and Hump sounds pretty good.

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Action: Ben Gordon shoots

Reaction: An awful lot

There has been, and there will be, much debate over whether the Raptors should try to make a legitimate and serious push for Chicago’s Gordon this summer and after he went off for 37 yesterday, the screams for him are going to be louder.

But, please, consider this:

He’s not really a slasher, he’s certainly not what anyone would consider a lock-down, or even above-average defender.

What he is is a relatively under-sized, volume-shooting combo guard. Make no mistake about it, he’s a good relatively under-sized, volume-shooting combo guard but that’s what he is.

If Bryan’s talking seriously to Chicago, I’m asking about Luol Deng and leaving Gordon right out of the conversation.

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Would have loved to have asked the “Hey, look at me! I’m the cool guy wearing shades in the arena” Terrell Owens what he thought of the game but, of course, he didn’t bother to stick around.

Could have given his ticket stub to someone on the way out to use the seat he occupied for, oh, I dunno, about half the game.

Good luck, Buffalo.

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Still in the digression mode, did anyone anywhere in the world really expect Tiger Woods to miss that putt?

This guy is a killer; no way that one wasn’t going right in the middle.

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So I’m in a place after the game being social and it’s got a lot of TVs playing all kinds of sports and I look over my shoulder and there’s San Antonio-New Orleans.

And I think, of all the old-time Raptors hanging around, especially the ones no one thought would amount to an awful lot, the one I’m most happy for has to be Sean Marks.

I know Matt Bonner and Roger Mason Jr. are good stories and all but I look up there and Marks is blocking a Manu three-pointer and scoring on the baseline and really contributing to a pretty good team.

And I tell ya, he’s one of the really good guys.

We’re in San Antonio at a finals one year, he’s playing for the Spurs. It’s an off-day and the last thing a gaggle of grunts wants to do for dinner is fight the crowds on the Riverwalk so I asked Sean for a recommendation and he tells us to go to the Quarry Market, sit outside at this one place and it’ll be great.

So, Toronto, Philly, Minneapolis and Jersey all head out there, we’re having a lovely dinner and here comes a round of cocktails, courtesy of Mr. Marks, who’s sitting at a table over there.

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Oh, in Chicago, my man K.C., who knows everything Bull, races from a marathon game to barely catch a flight home and he still manages to file this for the Trib readers.

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Action: One small step

Reaction: One big move by Bargnani

This is pretty much rudimentary Basketball 101 but the play Bargnani made with 58.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter last evening is another example of his maturation.

He gets the ball on the wing near the three-point arc, fakes, puts his head down and starts that ramble of his to the basket.

But, instead of going all the way to the rim – where he’d inevitably either run into someone and commit an offensive foul or be forced to put up one of those zany out-of-control, off-balance, underhand-scoop layups that are one of his trademarks, he pulls up quickly, stops entirely and hits a little eight-footer that puts Toronto up by three.

Lots of guys make that play, he seldom does but it was a very nice thing for the coach to see.

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You know I’m not a big stats geek at all, in fact I think the fact most of them can be bent to suit any purpose renders them a very insignificant part of most conversations but, still, 22 points and 19 assists is darn impressive.

I’m searching and searching and searching and over the last eight days, I cannot see a single “trade Jose” e-mail.

People must be having computer problems, right?

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A random question plucked from a near-empty mailbox:

Q: It seems apparent that the number of games played by Bosch and Calderone had some impact on this season. Do you know what the plans are this off-season such as the FIBA events?

Bill C, Oakville

A: When I see Bosch and Calderone, whoever they may be, I’ll ask them.

But Chris Bosh has no commitments whatsoever, it’s an off-year for the Americans, who don’t have to qualify for the worlds because of their Olympic triumph.

The last time I talked to Jose Calderon about it was about three weeks ago and he hadn’t made up his mind but made it sound like his tenure with the Spanish national team – a program he’s been with for about 13 years – is coming to an end. At the very least, nothing for him until August at the earliest, the European championships in Poland aren’t until September.

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The Goods On The Game, Vol. 72, the Bulls (and Swirsk) are here

This will help you get through the morning

Way to go, folks.

Even on a week where the vast majority of e-mail had to do with L’Affaire Bosh, you still managed to fill the mail bag to overflowing.

So this is long but it’s a nice Sunday to relax and do a little reading.

And I hope everyone did the whole turn-out-the-lights-save-the-world thing last night.

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Q: Can you explain this idea of the way the game is played changing in the playoffs? It seems very odd to me and I'm wondering what causes it. The fact that one team can beat another during the regular season but not during the playoffs just because the portion of the season they are in has a different label is very strange, why don't they just play the way they did during the regular season?

What forces them to 'slow it down' and all of those other cliches? Does it have something to do with playing a team of a higher caliber every night? But if so why can they beat a team of that caliber in the regular season? Maybe they want to be more careful so they slow it down? But if that is true and slowing it down is beneficial why not always do it?

David S, Toronto

A: What causes it, mainly, is familiarity. Every play is charted, every play call memorized, every counter has a counter and that’s got a counter. No team can put in any real new wrinkles in an offence, or a defence, over the course of a series so the outcome of almost every game comes down to intense levels of concentration on every single possession and – and this is not me channeling Sam Mitchell – which team makes the shots its gets.

It’s just harder to get those shots.

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Q: A non Raptors related question for you: what's up with the terrible free throw shooting in the NCAA? It seems like a lot of teams have low FT percentages in both the tournament and the regular season as well. I haven't watched that many games, but the number of guards I've seen missing free throws is astounding. I also don't watch a lot of college ball, so I can't tell if this just an anomalous year or if it's a skill that doesn't get much attention in college ball compared to other skills.

Marc Z, Halifax

A: I don’t see a whole lot of college ball year to year, either, but people I talk to who do tell me this is not a one-off phenomenon. And I’ve noticed it, too. Those kids can’t make free throws, whether it’s because of the pressure of the situation or – and this is what I think is the reason – they don’t spend nearly enough time developing free-throw shooting skills ‘cause everyone’s hoisting threes or trying to dunk when they’re teenagers.

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Q: Here’s a question my friend asked me the other day that got me thinking (it is not Raptor related). If you could have Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in their primes together on your team or LeBron and Kobe, which of the pairs would you take!?

Mario A, Toronto

A: Good question. One I’m sure will spark at least a little debate.

I’d take LeBron and Kobe for sure. Jordan’s talent was singular, either of the two current players are better than Pippen ever was. That’s not say Scottie wasn’t great (not Top 50 of all time great, in my estimation, but great nonetheless) but he was not in the class of James or Bryant, who may end up among the top 10 players of all time at any position when it’s all said and done.

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Q: Hey Doug - your comment that the Raps might be camping in St. Catherines this summer got me wondering: are fans allowed anywhere near the players while they're training? Recent training camps haven't really been within easy junket distance for me, and I've always just assumed that these are closed-door affairs. Would be cool if I'm wrong about that, though!

Lyn I, London

A: There really isn’t any formal access at any training camp; you might catch a player or two signing autographs on the way to the bus or at the team hotel but that’s pretty hit and miss.

The one thing they do, however, is hold a scrimmage on the final day to which they sell tickets rather cheaply and it’s a nice, laid-back affair.

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Q: If the 2010 FA Bosh, James, Wade stay with their current team and receive max contracts and the same number of years, will the 3 have the same salary?

T T, Toronto

A: Since the maximum value of a contract is tied to a percentage of the salary cap, everyone making the max makes the same money over the course of a maximum length contract if they stay with their teams.

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Q: Who are the best columnists in Toronto? (Your opinion) I won’t make you list current ones for professional reasons, for fear you may offend by exclusion, how about past writers

Rick H, Toronto

A: Of the ones I’ve read regularly in the decades I’ve been reading Toronto newspapers?

The gold standard was Milt Dunnell and he will be forever, in my opinion.

Jim Proudfoot at our place was pretty damn good and I’d round out the top three by saying I never ever missed a Wayne Parrish piece.

Some day, when it’s really, really slow, we’ll get into what makes a good columnist.

Of Shawn, The Legend and I hate Kansas

So I’m thinking of sitting around watching games tonight (it’ll have to be college because the only NBA game I can see at home is Memphis at Portland and as much as I love Rudy Fernandez, that’s got crap game written all over it) and was thinking about finishing off tomorrow morning’s mailbag.

But then I look at the inbox and a kabillion percent of it is diatribes about Bosh, me, Dave, the season, Bosh, me, Dave, the season. All get read, I appreciate the thought that goes into many of them, love hearing the diverse opinions but there’s a distinct lack of, you know, questions. And “Why are you so stupid?” isn’t a question I’m going to answer.

Anyway, that’s my point for the morning.

Now, read this crap:

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Action: Shawn, Shawn, Shawn

Reaction: Where’s that been?

That might have been Shawn Marion’s best all-around game since he joined the Raptors and it makes you wonder where it’s been hiding.

Outstanding defence on Durant most of the night (4-13’s a pretty bad shooting night for the kid) and two plays on offence that were perfect for him, both in the third quarter when the deal was sealed. Both finishes on fast breaks that were absolutely exactly the kind of transition offence plays Jay’s been harping about since December.

On the first, there were two passes and maybe on dribble, the ball went from free throw line to past half court to Marion on the other side for the finish.

The other had a couple of dribbles but the same kind of ball movement and ended the same.

It was fun to watch and a perfect example of where Shawn’s offensive game shines.

Trouble is, it might be a week or so before we see two in the same game again.

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At some point during last night’s in-game blog, the discussion turned to triple-doubles (Bosh had about six assists and the hopes were high) and because we can always find other fun stuff to talk about, the discussion expanded to categories for quadruple-doubles and even quintuple-doubles.

Well, there’s never been a quintuple-double but there have been four quadruple-doubles in NBA history.

Somewhat surprisingly, two of them were recorded by guys who wore Raptor uniforms. I’ll give you a few paragraphs to figure out who they are.

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In Oklahoma City, aside from lionizing Blake Griffin, this was in the newspaper today.

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I’m not entirely sure, but I think I heard that the people from Springfield had called for the tape of Douby-O’Bryant assist-dunk with five minutes to go. I’m pretty sure we never see that again.

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Action: Fans cheering

Reaciton: And I’m thinking

Late in each of the last three games, I’ve seen fans cheering, some standing, the players on the bench having fun, the June Taylor Dancers dancing, The Chicken supplying his usual brand of hilarity and hijinks and all I can think of is this: Tell me again why people think it’d be good for them to lose on purpose?

Each sports event anyone attends is a unique experience, for some it’s the only one they might get to in a season, for others a win is smile-inducing event regardless of what the records are.

I suppose there were so-called fans in the building last night who began the evening quite willing to accept a loss because it might mean the difference between the eighth and ninth pick in the draft but I promise when the game was over they were far happier than if they’d lost.

Tanking is ridiculous; ask the people in the gym.

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Drilled. Again.

Sure, going 3-1 last night in the brackets isn’t all that bad but having Kansas to beat Louisville tomorrow is.

Oh well, next year.

And since Super Son’s over there doing his Wii fit routine, I’m not entirely sure he cares at all.

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Okay, I know you’ve been waiting anxiously – and no one cheated the scrolled down, did they? – so here’s the quadruple-double answers.

Alvin Robertson (20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals in February, 1986) and Hakeem Olajuwon (18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 blocks in March, 1990) were the two ex-Raptors to accomplish the feat.

The other two? Nate Thurmond (22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, 12 blocks in October, 1974) and David Robinson (34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks in February, 1994).

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Looking into the crystal ball:

Q: I don't want to jump the gun or anything, but now that they've won three in a row, do you think it's fair to say that assuming they don't make any changes in the off-season (and that's a big if) we're pretty much guaranteed an 82-0 (or at minimum a 74-8) season?

Thane B, St. Catharines

A: I’d say it’s 10-90.

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Action: The Legend’s tough night.

Reaction: He’s still hurting.

I guess they decided to activate Pops Mensah-Bonsu because they must have really thought he could give them some energy off the bench but it was pretty evident the knee was slowing him up considerably.

And if that’s going to be the case tomorrow or evening Wednesday, I’d shut him down again and let Nate put on a uniform. The last five or six minutes of Friday’s game would have been a perfect chance for Nate to play (Joey could have taken the rest of the night off) but he was in street clothes and Pops was watching.

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Oh, the Chicago readers got this from my man K.C. today.

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The Goods On The Game, Vol. 72, Thunder rolling

A whole bunch of little (but wildly interesting) items

Warning.

I feel like poop still, took a day off practice yesterday, these fellows are 26-45 and few care greatly about the day-to-day nuances of games and the preparation for them so read this with caution.

But read it. Please.

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AP PHOTO

Your chance to see Russell Westbrook and friends tonight.

We’re going to have all of the first two weeks of April to dissect the various awards races (and that’ll be fun because talking about Toronto games might not be) but before we do, pay particular attention tonight.

People whose opinions I respect greatly tell me that Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder deserves huge consideration for rookie of the year honours.

And with the young Thunder a relatively respectable 20-51 in the supremely-difficult Western Conference, he’s playing a huge role on one of the very good young teams in the league.

I haven’t seen him in person – I didn’t venture to Oklahoma City for Toronto’s only visit this season – which is one of the big reasons I’m even remotely interested in tonight’s affair.

The other? Well, if you’re a fan of the game, I think a good young team that includes Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green would be quite intriguing.

I have no idea if they can keep all of them when it comes time to start spending real money on salaries (which I think will be the fatal flaw in Portland’s rise to prominence just as it derailed Chicago for a season or three) but for now, they have to be worth watching.

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So, I couldn’t help but notice, what with my trained professional observation skills and all, that the Eastern Conference standings are quite muddled these days.

Chicago beats Miami which falls into sixth and that’s a death sentence ‘cause it’s Boston or Orlando in the first round. The win moves the Bulls into seventh, which is quite an accomplishment for that team this year so I don’t imagine they’ll be too crushed to get whacked in the first round.

Detroit loses to the Lakers and all of a sudden they’re not even a lock for the playoffs, let alone a good seed because they sit in eighth and should now be as worried about Charlotte catching them than with who they might catch.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be, you know, involved in stuff like that?

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I don’t for one second that playing “spoiler” is anything but a contrived issue for bored beat grunts trying to knock off another easy off-day story to get you one item closer to the end of the season.

That said, I’m not sure we’re even going to get to use it here even if we were lazy enough to.

Fully half of the remaining games – two each with the Knicks and Wizards, one with the Thunder – are against teams that have nothing at all to play with and Atlanta’s locked into fourth so that one means nothing.

And by the time they get to Indy and Chicago in the last week, those will probably be inconsequential, too.

So there’s not even that for some to look forward to.

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This exposes a fatal flaw in the logic of most:

Q: Doug, in (Wednesday’s) in game blog, you mentioned that you'd prefer to have Charlie V. as opposed to Marion. I agree 100%. Can you clear up a vague memory that we traded Charlie V. for TJ Ford, who we traded for O'Neil, who we then traded for Marion? Or am I recalling this all long? I know there were extra's here and there, and different needs at different times, but, if true, this doesn't depict a very good trail for BC.

Paul B, Toronto

A: That’s the way the line went, with other bits and pieces thrown in but it’s pointless, fruitless, ridiculous (I’m channeling my inner Jackie Chiles right there and it’s nothing personal) to follow it.

Nothing is linear in pro sports transactions, it’s one the most misused pieces of logic fans point to when they try to make their cases for either the firing, or the lionization, of a general manager.

Charlie Villanueva was traded for T.J. Ford because the Raptors weren’t sure whether Jose Calderon was capable of being full-time starting point guard and they also knew they had Andrea Bargnani, a presence that made Villanueva redundant.

T.J. Ford was traded for Jermaine O’Neal because (a) it was the best offer they got to clean up a backcourt glut and (b) it addressed one of two glaring needs on the roster.

O’Neal was traded for Marion because (a) O’Neal had missed about a third of the season with injury, (b) he wasn’t working well in tandem with Chris Bosh, which they had hoped would occur and (c) Bargnani needed to play.

Marion will likely be signed-and-traded or let go this summer (which is something, the GMs protestations the day of the deal notwithstanding) that has been in the minds of many since the transaction occurred. Then we can fully evaluate that singular transaction.

What you say is technically correct; it is also grossly misleading. But, fear not, you are not alone in mis-using it.

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Dang it.

You think going 2-2 last night (‘Nova, UConn good; Xavier, Memphis, bad?) in Super Son’s pool was at all a good thing?

Nah, me neither.

That’s why it’s imperative we get a sweep of Louisville, Kansas, UNC and Oklahoma tonight.

Cheer wildly, please.

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I was saving this piece of information for a really slow day and since this seems to be the slowest in a while, what the heck.

Whispers around the gym have us not going anywhere truly exotic for training camp next fall. No games in London, no visits to Rome, no – as was once hoped for – junket to Mumbai.

Looks like wherever we’re going, we’re driving or taking the train.

Nothing’s finalized yet – at least it wasn’t when I first heard this – but it seems Ottawa and St. Catharines are two most likely destinations for next October’s week-long camp.

Both are familiar – Ottawa was excellent last year except for the lack of a Starbucks on the Carleton campus – and Brock was pretty good, too – except for the fact the media room was a storage closet. It was, however, closer to home and we could commute.

Anyway, like I say, no firm decisions been made but it’s not going to be too far from here.

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Speaking of Oklahoma, if you can get by all the college basketball stuff and college football stuff, you’ll eventually read this about the Thunder, which makes my glowing praise of Russell Westbrook ring hollow.

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How could someone send this this morning?

Q: First of all I have to say thanks for the blog!

Question, what is the likelihood that you will be retracting your statement that the Phoenix Suns are dead (this season)? It looks like they are making a pretty good come back with a slightly easier schedule for the rest of the season with Dallas. Plus they also have a game with Dallas left. Did you say your son’s school team is call the Hawthorn Hawks? Is it a coincidence that there is an Australian Rules Football team called the same thing? (feel free to leave this out if you do post my question, especially if I’m wrong)

Christopher M, Toronto

A: Perhaps you were asleep when the Suns were drilled in Portland last night – the Blazers shot something stupid like 60 per cent from the field – and they are now four games behind Dallas in the loss column with 10 to play.

Dead. Plugged pulled. Season over. Start wondering what they’ll do to change it in the summer.

They are the mighty Hawthorn Hawks, indeed, and while I do know of that Aussie Rules Football team, the school seems to have, um, er, ah, borrowed their logo from the NBA Hawks.

Personally? They were the Stingers when first started caring and I have no idea why they changed. And I know a lass or two from a local establishment who wonder the same thing.

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Of relationships, good and bad, and some real estate news

Anybody else got this crappy head cold that’s going around, making one feel like there’s an anvil inside your cranium? Just wondering.

And I believe it makes you hallucinate a bit ‘cause this piece of paper in front of me with all kinds of numbers on it says something about the Torontos winning another basketball game.

ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR

As if he hasn't had enough trouble with injuries. Calderon shrugged off a dislocated finger last nigh to lead Raps past Bucks.

Back to the Nyquil, I guess.

But first …

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Action: Jose’s game

Reaction: What if …

I know it’s a silly idea to even think about it but what if Calderon doesn’t strain his hamstring in November and hurt it again in January and doesn’t miss 14 complete games and be hobbled in probably a dozen others?

Does it mean 10 more wins out of those 26? Eight? Twelve?

I can’t, won’t, put a number on it but, believe me, there are people around that locker room who think it’s a double-digit and truly believe they’d be getting ready for the playoffs now if he hadn’t been injured and seeing last night, it’s hard to argue against them.

But as my man Sam used to say:

“If ifs were fifths we’d all be drunk.”

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If you’re trying to figure out a good way to explain some of the antics of this team this year, Jose probably summed it up as well as anyone yesterday morning after shootaround.

“We lost so many stupid games or something like that.”

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Someone over in the comments section yesterday asked me to elaborate a little bit – without getting into specifics – on the general relationship between beat grunts and columnist at newspapers.

Why not.

Generally, and this holds true for your favourite grunt, it’s a really good working relationship; guys will talk about what angle they’re going to take after games or on off-days to make sure there’s no duplication and the readers are better served.

They sometimes share information, but that’s not always the case, especially if it’s just run-of-the-mill stuff that comes up in the course of a day.

Generally, they let their personalities dictate the “tone” of their copy, one may be more conversational in style, the other more reportorial, it’s not something done of conscience where one will say: “I’m going to be funny today, you be harsh.”

It’s just like you and the other widget salesman in the other cubicle. You work together, grab a beer together after work’s done every now and then, whine about the bosses and the company (that’s you widget folks, not us newspapermen, of course) and live your merry lives.

It is not always that way, though.

There have been writers and columnists at the same newspaper who’ve hated each other with such passion they didn’t speak. One would be sitting at one of a press box, for instance, and call the desk to find out what the other was writing about when the other was sitting about 25 feet away.

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Action: Two Jason shots

Reaction: Two teammates reactions

Some people gasp when a shooter gets ready to shoot (remember that Moon fellow?), some people don’t.

It’s late in the third quarter and Shawn Marion has the ball in front of the Milwaukee bench when he sees a wide open Jason Kapono on the other side of the court. And after he makes the pass and Kapono gets ready to release the shot, Marion starts walking back down the court, his hand up, his back to the basket, confident the shot would be good.

It was.

A couple of quarters earlier, after Kapono had drilled a couple of shots in a row, he’s got the ball relatively uncovered right in front of the Toronto bench. Just as he’s about to release another shot, we hear, clear as day, AP yelling “he’s on fire.”

Shot misses.

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T. Enlund, man of the people and an equally-popular but not nearly as frequent habitant of the Harbour Sports Grille, summed up last night’s affair thusly.

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If we’re talking overweight, often out-of-shape, shoot-first, non-defending, chemistry-killing, lazy ball hog, Zach Randolph may be right in his assessment of his talents compared to Chris Bosh.

But since I’m reading one of the better blogs out there done by beat grunts and it appears Randolph is talking about legitimate basketball skill, I can come to only one conclusion.

Dude’s on crack.

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This is super secret code only a few will get. But you know who you are.

The Chicken talked to Bango and the Stuffed Animal is feeling all right.

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Another request from a commenter yesterday was to chat about physical or verbal confrontations between players and writers and broadcasters here in the centre of sports universe (bad teams division).

Sadly, on the basketball side, there have been precious few, at least that I can summon from the dark recesses of my mind at the moment.

Antonio Davis went off yelling at Perk one day in the doorway of the practice gym over something Perk had written about AD’s betrothed but, other than, I can remember only one of note.

Victor Alexander got all pissy at then-Sun columnist Craig Daniels way back in Year 1, I think it was, probably because Craig had pointed out that Victor was, um, not so good; more Zach Randolph than Chris Bosh, you may say.

Well, Victor approached us courtside the next day or so with malice aforethought and we really wondered if he might do something stupid.

Craig, to his everlasting credit, came up with one of the best lines of the first few years. It went something like this:

“Hang on. If you’re going to hit me, let me get a photographer over here so we have a story.”

Of course, Sam used to threaten Stumpy all the time (was gonna put him in a barrel along with various embarrassing items and toss him over Niagara Falls, if I recall) but he was just joking.

We think.

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Action: Real estate values

Reaction: Looks like they’re dropping

The Newbie Douby (hey! A rhythme!) got some prime chunk of Raptor turf to call his own.

Because they seem to have so many players now that Nate’s back and Quincy’s here, Douby got the locker right next to Chris Bosh just inside the room.

Don’t think anyone’s had that spot for at least a couple of years.

One thing, though. Bosh, despite his status as, you know, best player and all, has never expanded his empire to take over the other stall.

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All right, Nyquil or NeoCitran? Or a journey for a triple vente non-fat latte? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

The Goods On The Game, Vol. 71, Charlie V's revenge?

I wonder what's next in this wacky year

I fully expect to go to shootaround later this morning and find that a plague of locusts has descended on the Raptors locker room.

It’s been that kind of season.

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Lots of questions yesterday on how the Bosh story developed, why it came out when it did, how things shook out.

Honest answer: I don’t know.

Dave got the story, I’m not sure when but I know our business and I know no one “sits” on a story like that, although I didn’t ask.

That’s the way these things generally work is, if a guy gets something, it’s his. I don’t share a lot of inside information (it’s much better to keep a circle as closed as you can when you’re dealing with sources or tips) and I don’t expect to be keep in the loop on something I’m not working on.

If I were to get something, say a trade of Jermaine O’Neal to Miami, I keep my bosses in the loop and that’s about it.

Should this one have been written?

Absolutely.

And it was written perfectly, in my opinion. Comment solicited from both sides (the opportunity turned down by one), context to timing provided, context to part of the issue that made it news (Bosh’s declining play in December) also provided.

Good story well written.

Of course, as I mentioned yesterday, this is a far cry from being anything proven in court and in situations like this there are layers and layers of truth, fiction and spin. I don’t know what went on between those two kids, you don’t know, nobody knows for sure except them.

I would expect the final determination by the courts may provide some answers (although if there’s some out-of-court settlement – not uncommon at all – it may include some sort of gag order that precludes anything else from being made public and I also presume that’s not unheard-of in these cases).

But I will say this:

If all of the points made in the case are true, Chris Bosh has absolutely bamboozled me and thousands of other people he’s come in contact with on an almost daily basis during the past six NBA seasons.

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Now on to more, less contentious, much more frivilous issues.

Like why this team blows.

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Math time, and you know I suck at math.

Yesterday’s contention that the main fix needed is with the team’s defence was based on anecdotal evidence but here are some numbers:

The Raptors are 21st in scoring, 20th in points allowed;

The Raptors are 27th in points per game differential (which some people say is a telling stat).

The Raptors are 16th in field goal percentage, 21st in field goal percentage allowed;

The Raptors are 12th in three-point field goal percentage; 13th in three-point field goal percentage allowed.

The Raptors are seventh in assists; 27th in opponents assists.

They score enough, shoot it well enough from both sides of the arc and move the ball well enough that I do think they get enough points.

What they cannot do is stop anyone, anywhere.

The anecdotal evidence goes like this:

Jose has to be healthier and better

Bosh has to be better man-on-man and with his help

Bargnani has to be a better help defender

The wings are simply not quick enough to keep their men in front of them.

And better defence leads to more misses by the opponents, which leads to more transition baskets, which is where this team – at times – has thrived. If they get stops and run, they get better looks and score more.

I’m not saying the offence, with its reliance on spotty outside shooting, is perfect, but they get enough points right now; they need to give up fewer.

Of course, you know me and math, this could be entirely botched but I don’t think so.

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I swear, the folks in the Bucks PR department, eminently qualified and one of the best groups in the league, have too much time on their hands. This was passed on by T. Enlund, Milwaukee scribbler, yesterday.

BANGO SURGERY UPDATE

Bucks mascot Bango had successful surgery Monday morning to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, the team announced today.

The surgical procedure was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Gordon, M.D., at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Ozaukee, Wisconsin.

Bango will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to make a complete recovery in time for the start of the 2009-10 season. The popular mascot will continue to set the entertainment pace at Milwaukee’s final five home games of the season next month, and is expected back for the next home game on Wednesday, April 1 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers.

The ageless Bango has brought smiles and thrills to Bucks fans at home games, appearances, parades, school assemblies, hospital visits, festivals, and everywhere Bucks fans celebrate since 1977. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada and in China.

That’s one tough stuffed animal. Blows out an ACL and is still going to do some schtick after surgery?

This is old, but it’s how he got hurt and had to have surgery and it’s an absolute classic. And, yes, that is The Raptor down there trying to see if he can help his fellow, ah, er, fellow thing. What a humanitarian.

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Oh, right, forgot one thing. Sorry, but we didn’t get too deep into the whole Quincy Douby in, Marcus Banks out transaction from yesterday.

So here it is:

Marcus Banks is having a bone spur on his toe removed and will be out for the year, Quincy Douby, who got a 10-day deal out of the D League.

What’s it mean? Um, nothing really. But, dutifully, I shall report that it has no impact whatsoever on the court or on the balance sheet. It does give the Raptors another guard should they have to play, you know, garbage time in any of their remaining 12 games.

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Speaking of T. Enlund, chronicler of all things Bucks and a general bon vivant, here’s how he set up tonight’s mighty struggle, in which Scott Skiles channels his inner Sam Mitchell on the importance of games.

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Cue the scary music, this is a bit spooky.

It’s yesterday’s Horoscope from our newspaper

If today is your birthday:

Without troubles, we would never be able to appreciate the good times. The sky is offering a clear cosmic promise of some much-needed and highly anticipated positive change. Chris Bosh is 25 today.