Not as quick as elephants but good nonetheless.

Gorgeous morning here in Manhattan, which means no possibility of weather delays on the flight, which means I’ll be back as scheduled early afternoon, which means I can go right from Pearson to the ACC, which means I’ll be courtside for yet another dramatic showdown between the Raptors and Knicks, which means I can continue to chronicle the epic struggle for 13th and 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Yes, I’m living the high life.

On with the show:

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Action: Bargnani’s huge afternoon

Reaction: He keeps adding stuff

This from our “Beating The Dead Horse” department but Bargnani does keep impressing in different ways even as the season winds down.

Yesterday, the four blocked shots really caught my eye because a couple of them were from off the ball rather than his usual straight-up blocks.

It speaks to an increased awareness of defence and how to make an impact even if he’s not making shots.

And the coaches have noticed. In fact, they are giving him way more responsibility on defence, as Jay explained to us after the game.

“I think people under-estimate his length … I think that’s part of his development and his evolution. He’s recognizing the defensive end of the floor and he’s becoming good at it because of his length.

He’s a stop-gap back there and he was on Jefferies and that was his job tonight, to be the help guy for everybody and he knows how to do it.”

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As some may know, there a lot to be enjoyed in a public house after a game, decompressing for a couple of hours, telling tales, getting caught up on the road with old friends.

And every now and then, you see something you’ve never seen before.

Like someone drinking red wine and Coke.

Yes, a lass asks the barkeep for red wine and Coke and the fellow – rightfully so – is aghast.

“I’ll give you red wine and I’ll give you a Coke, what you do with them is entirely up to you,” he says.

And sure enough, here comes the wine, here comes the Coke, they get mixed together and then consumed.

There is no accounting for taste.

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Action: Pops gets five minutes

Reaction: Two bad ones in row.

Yes, Pops Mensah-Bonsu was his usual active self on the boards yesterday, jumping here and there to keep balls alive, getting his hands on errant shots and generally doing what he does best. But a couple of blown defensive assignments got him in the doghouse pretty quickly and we saw Joey at the four in the second half in the minutes Pops would have usually been playing.

During the first timeout after he got on the court, he, Jay and Shawn Marion were involved in quite an intense discussion about the defensive possession that had just occurred.

About two minutes later, Pops came out, never to return.

What’s it mean? Well, maybe it means he’s still got some work to do before he’s regular in the NBA.

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Seriously, this whole elephant circus thing that delayed the Raptors from getting into the Garden yesterday was hilarious.

They arrive and the bus can’t go down the usual ramp they take to get into the building because the elephants are walking up to take their daily constitutional and the guard at the top of the ramp says, I’m told, “you can come back in an hour and get in.”

Well, that’s probably not going to work so the bus tries to go around the block to some other entrance and it’s Manhattan traffic gridlock and it’s inching along, giving the players and others a chance to snap cell phone photos of the elephants walking alongside them.

They can’t get in this door or that door and finally Kevin DiPietro, apparently the only guy in the travelling party who can get something done, gets a guard to let them in somewhere. Except they’re told at place:

“Don’t go in that door, that’s where the lions are.”

Finally, they get in, it’s taken about 45 minutes longer than it should and Pops has the best line:

 “You know how slow it was? Elephants were passing us. Think about it. Elephants were passing us.”

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Here’s a Did You Know.

Watching the various pre-game basketball shows here yesterday and the various newscasts, found out the Orlando Magic, so distraught at that loss to the Raptors, felt compelled to call a players-only team meeting the day after.

That’s how bad they felt.

Of course, they went out and smoked Cleveland and blew out Washington so maybe that meeting helped.

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In New York, where my friends are entirely bored of watching and writing about the Knicks, here’s a sampling of today’s items.

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A visit to the mail:

Q: Hi Doug, I know you've said at least twice that there are no NCAA rules you would like to see put in the NBA (hopefully, I am not putting words in your mouth!) But, are there NBA rules you would like to change? I for one wonder what tremendous basketball skill is required to call a time out with ???? time left on the clock that somehow moves the ball from the baseline to midcourt??? HUH???? Reward a team for being behind, but at least having time outs left?

Tim H, Windsor

A: Yeah, that’s a rule built more for creating drama, I’m afraid, than for any real tactical reason. Does make for interesting last-second shots, though, and I don’t think I’d change it.

What I’d like the NBA to do is cut down on the number of timeouts – maybe just one in the last minute of a game – and if they wanted to cut the time to get the ball over midcourt from eight seconds to six, we might see more transition offence, which is something I like very much.

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Action: Opening Day!

Reaction: Time begins

More digression (what? You want intricacies of the 75th game of the regular season, one against the Knicks?) but what the heck.

And for that, here’s one from the mail:

Q: A non-Raptor, non-basketball question for you! You've mentioned many times that you’re a baseball fan so with the baseball season upon us - who is your early pick for the World Series winner? Also, do you get out and watch any of the Jays games? Finally, what is your greatest baseball memory?

Dave G, Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

A: You know what? I’m taking the Mets. I know they’ll probably blow a 10-game lead in the last three weeks or so but maybe they won’t. And I’m a big Carlos Delgado fan (probably from the fact I was doing some seamhead work when he first broke in the majors) and it’d be nice to see him get a ring.

Super Son and I see four, five, six games a year in person, mostly weekend afternoons on games picked for pitching matchups and only on nice days when the lid’s off the ballyard.

Greatest memory? Wow. There probably isn’t one, to tell you the truth. I regret I never saw Clemente play in person but in my mind’s eye I can see him twirling and throwing a runner out at third from the wall in right; I never saw Sandy Koufax pitch in person but I did see Greg Maddux in his prime and there was not much better than that.

I can’t pick one.

Comments

[pooks]

Wow...between the horrible flight there, the bar and the elephants, sounds like you had a very interesting time in NYC. How many renditions of "New York, New York" did you and Jack belt out?

Blogger's note: The trip from hell did not include a minute of entertainment with Jack, sadly.

[Tim H]

Re: red wine and coke - if you check this link, you'll see that it's not as weird as it sounds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calimocho

[Mark M]

Hey Doug

If the Pistons win today are the Raps eliminated?

Blogger's note: No, not necessarily. Raps can still tie Chicago if they win out and Bulls lose every game and they are tied at 37 wins; Toronto would have the tiebreaker for having beaten Chicago three times out of four this season (the third would be in the last game of the regular season; and I haven't investigated fully enough the possibilities of three- and even four-way ties at 37.

[Marcos]

What you saw at the bar is called a Kalimotxo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calimocho). Ask Jose about it since it is a very popular drink among young people in Spain and I'm sure he's had it more than once. It basically helps turn a very cheap wine into a drink which is sweet and sparkling.

[Rob]

Doug,

Just surprised it's taken this long for the red wine-and-coke thing to make its way across the Atlantic. I was visiting relatives in Germany back in 2003 when I first saw these two drinks being combined with regularity! Since I viewed this as a permutation on their beer-and-Coke or beer-and-Sprite concoctions, I wasn't as surprised as you might think. I even steeled myself to order a red wine-and-coke and quickly learned that importing this idea to Canada would NOT be my path to ridiculous riches. Good to know that it has finally established a beachhead in Manhattan. Maybe boxed wine-and-Coke will be the new Olde English. One can dream...

[WSG]

Red wine and coke, eh? You know of course, that about a hundred readers will want to try that now … and will never, ever admit it. I sure won’t.

[Vince]

Red wine with Coke is an extremely popular drink in South America

[imloulo]

Doug - red wine and coke is a national drink in Spain and the argument can be made that it is even more popular within Spain than Sangria. The drink is called Calamucho and it is very common to see families bring their boxes of red wine and bottles of coke to mix their Calamucho on the beaches of Barcelona. Its extremely refreshing in the summer time served with ice. Ask Jose about Calamucho and I'm sure he will set you straight.

[gargalen]

" Of course, they went out and smoked Cleveland and blew out Washington so maybe that meeting helped. "

That was Cleveland and Atlanta. Just a small error?

When is Andrea going to break out a hook shot? Go across the lane, use his height to get that shot up? Does he practice this?

[Andrew]

Hi Doug,

The mixed drink is called "calimocho," and is very popular among youngsters in Spain (you mix cheap wine, which costs one or two dollars, not like here). And calimocho is hugely popular in the northern province of Pais Vasco (Basque Country), where Calderón played for Tau Vitoria. So I guess you saw some Calderón's fans drink "cali" in NY

[Steve]

Just FYI, the red wine and Coke concoction is actually quite a popular drink in Spain, where it's called calimocho. It's usually homemade and consumed straight from the Coke bottle by young people who can't afford proper drinks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calimocho

[chris]

Doug -- do you think there'll ever be a day when refs call the game the same for everyone, instead of favoring the "star" players so much? It makes the game kind of ridiculous at times....

[Craig A]

Please tell me that these comments in a NY Post story were taken out of context (I suspect they were):

Bosh is hounded by Canadians who want to know if he's headed south of the border.

"Every day on the street, it follows me wherever I go," Bosh said. "That's why Toronto's not as fun. Everybody wants to talk about it. It's still a little ways a way, but it's getting closer."

Traded Zach Randolph said he didn't think Bosh was any better than him. Bosh is a three-time All-Star, but is he a franchise player?

"I think so," Bosh said. "I know I'm a good player. Whether people know it or not, I have a lot of confidence in myself. I can really help this team."

[Danny]

Coke and red wine is a very popular drink in Spain. It's called calimocho. Enter sarcastic comment here.

[imloulo]

doug, also wanted to share with the others out there, the game is now being shown on TSN rather than TSN2 as originally planned. Confirmed on TSN website.

[Mark]

Hey Doug,
the red wine and coke thing is popular with the kids in Eastern Europe, especially Hungary apparently.

[Doug]

liked your Alan Parsons reference yesterday....wonder if fans know it's his song that is used at the most popular pre-game intros the Bulls...also wonder how many know what album he produced, one of the all-time great albums, in my eyes the best album ever,...loved the project and all he did.."Thus quoth the raven, nevermore"....

[Oyster Boy]

Actually, Coke and Red Wine is a rather popular drink in Hungary. The reason for the combo is that historically if there is a poor bottle of red, you don't want to waste it, so mix it with coke. It is more of a village thing than a city thing. Dougie, next time you get served a bad glass of red, order a coke! You may just like it... or not.

[Mr. Cook]

An awful lot of readers seem to know about cheap booze combinations. Think this says anything about your reading demographic? Or maybe it's just the recession.... ; )

I have a question completely unrelated to basketball, with preamble. I have noticed that you tend to use AP (or the Canadian version) photos in your blog and the Star tends to use them as well for sports. Does the Star have their own dedicated "sports" photographer, and if so does s/he attend all major sporting events in the city? Secondly, related to the NBA, in the ACC do they limit the number of professional media photographers that are allowed to shoot?

Blogger's note: We generally have a staff photographer, not necessarily the same one, though, at every home game and rely on the wires for road games or, if CP has a great shot from a game here, we may use it.
And yes, there is a limit, determined by space, on the number of photo credentials granted each game, just as there's a limit on the number of reporter credentials granted each game.

[Richard Yun]

That's what I like about this blog - the veritable cornucopia of diverse information. From raptors to basketeball to baseball, to history, economics, pop culture, journalism, geography, grammar, dancing, technology, music, parenting, and now mixology.

For the basketball purists: this is not your kind of blog. The blogger is the modern day rennaisance man.

By the way Doug, every try out for Jeopardy?

[RonT]

Hi Doug,
I'm a little disappointed with the depth of journalism today. Just what kind of red wine was mixed with the Coke? Was it a shiraz? Maybe a merlot? Does a nice cabernet sauvignon bring out the Coke's rich flavours? Inquiring minds must know.
You must be able to ask these difficult questions.
Now, I'm afraid I'll never know what kind of wine to mix my Coke with.

Blogger's note: Anything that comes in box or has a screw top would do, I'm told

[The Original JJ]

Mark M writes:

"Hey Doug

If the Pistons win today are the Raps eliminated?"

Just to add another tidbit to Doug's response, keep in mind that Det/Chi also have one more game against each other this season, meaning that one of those teams is GUARANTEED at least one more win. So theoretically, one of those teams are already out of reach for the Raps, we just don't know which one yet.

Also, just one Raps loss will eliminate them.

Yes, for the naysayers, we all realize that it's highly improbable that the Raps win all 7 remaining while either the Bulls or Pistons lose all of theirs, as well as Charlotte, Indiana, and New Jersey playing along and losing some. We're not delusional. But considering the weak draft and the unlikely chance the Raps will win the first pick in the lottery regardless of final standings, why not indulge in the "what if" scenarios? It's fun and doesn't cost anything, other than time we were going to waste procrastinating on the internet anyways, such as looking up the best "cheap wine and Coke" combinations...

By the way, I have a bottle of merlot, but it has a cork. Does that mean it's too classy for "calimocho"?

[gthomson]

Thank god there are other people who think that the amount of timeouts near the end of close games put a damper on things.

I get that basketball benefits from set plays but it really kills the fans' momentum if you ask me.