Quincy's time and Andrea's summer

Another boring day around the lads; they practiced, they talked, they flew to Orlando. No real news, just another day. We need game days to at least have something to go over, don’t we?

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Here’s something I think we’ll see for sure tonight:

Quincy Douby.

Since the kid’s 10-day contract expires before Saturday’s game in New York, they’ve only got tonight in Orlando to find out whether it’s even worth having him around for another 10 days.

I figure no matter what he does if he gets a chance to play, they will keep him around just to have another guard on the roster in the absence of Marcus Banks and the money they’re paying Douby is really chump change and doesn’t hurt them one way or the other cap- or tax-wise.

But Jay did say yesterday he’d like to at least get Quincy some time so there’s one reason to watch tonight. Not a very good reason, but a reason nonetheless.

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My toughest job today? (Besides getting rid of this crappy cough and cold that’s still sticking around, that is).

Finding out which of my locals might actually give me a seat near a TV with volume on it to watch the big game.

After all, the pucks go tonight and I don’t know if the places even I frequent are going to have the volume on the hockey or the hoops.

I think I may be relegated to a corner with minimal sound. Which, actually, isn’t that bad now that I think of it. Private, relatively quiet and not distracted by the Leaves audience.

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When you’re considering all this draft lottery stuff and where the lads are going to end up picking, please consider this when making your arguments:

They were never, ever going to be worse, or better, than eighth when it was all said and done.

The seven teams below them – Washington, the Clippers, Sacramento, Memphis, Oklahoma City and Minnesota – are so bad, even throwing games wouldn’t have moved Toronto up. Even Golden State, Toronto’s closest rival, was going to fall because they gave up weeks ago.

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Why do I think Gary Payton and Chris Webber are like Bob and Doug McKenzie? Only not as funny.

Here’s how much they bug me. Usually after games, I like to watch the NBA TV post-game show to catch up on the highlights from the other action that night. So, Cleveland-Detroit ends, there are a whole bunch of other games I’d like to check out but I had to switch the channel rather than listen to those buffoons do their low-brow comedy and butcher the language.

I’m all for schtick but basic usage of the English language would be a nice thing to get from national television broadcasters.

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Speaking of the summer, which can’t come soon enough, Andrea Bargnani told me yesterday he’s definitely going to play for Italy.

And it could be busy.

The Italians have to play in an additional qualification round this summer – against the likes of France and Israel – just to make it to Eurobasket 2009 in September so there’s a chance the majority of Bargnani’s off-season will be taken up with national team obligations.

You all right with that?

Of course, Italy could bow out in the first qualifier and he’d have all of September off but that might not be the case.

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A question on the process:

Q: Can you just explain a little bit on how you get to cast a vote for MVP, COY and ROY? Do you represent The Star while grunts from the Sun and Globe get theirs too? Does the league only give you votes for 3 awards a year at a time? Do you get cool swag like you would from the Oscars(Gift bags)? Inquiring minds want to know...mainly because I'm nosey. Ha.

Dennis G, Mississauga

A: The league, in consultation with the media relations departments of the various teams, dolls out the ballots based on such things as consistency of coverage of the league (a guy who sees six games a year isn’t going to get a ballot for anything; a guy who sees 65 is going to get some of the more major categories) and, yes, we represent our various publications and broadcast outlets.

It can change year to year – last season I think I got five categories to vote in but only two of the most significant – and that seems to be at the discretion of the league office. I don’t know who else got what here in Toronto this year, for instance.

Swag? Oh, I wish. Teams used to send out little gifts as ways to hype their players (posters, gag gifts extolling a players’ virtues, nothing ever too serious) but most teams now have dumped all that.

I will get e-mails from now until the end of the season asking for my “consideration” for such and such a player with details of his stats and things but that’s about it.

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ERIC GAY/AP

A healthy Spur is a happy spur. And the Spurs are not happy.

How the West will be won.

Yesterday, we gave you three teams with much to do the rest of the season (and you’ll notice Detroit pooped the bed last night in Cleveland) and today here’s three from the West.

Spurs (48-26)

Health. Health. Health.

All season long, I’ve been saying the Spurs don’t care all that much how good they look in February or March as long as they’re healthy in late April and May.

Well, Tim Duncan’s knee’s still bothering him and Manu’s still getting in game shape after his leg injury and there’s no real optimism either of them can get to 100 per cent in the last two weeks of the season.

And given the muddle of the conference standings – the Spurs are third this morning, half a game out of second but only two out of seventh – time is of the essence.

Lakers (58-16)

They’re not chasing anything in the West (they’ve got first overall sewn up) but they are chasing the best record in the league because they know how important home court can be in the final.

Well, thanks to two ugly losses at Atlanta and Charlotte this week, they are going to be hard-pressed to catch Cleveland and if they don’t smarten up, they may fall behind Boston and Orlando, too, which would put them on the road in a championship series if either of them comes out of the East.

Rockets (48-26)

Everyone knows about Houston’s post-season failings in the current era – they haven’t won a first-round series since Tracy McGrady got there and that stretch of failure sits heavily on their minds.

It’s got to make things a wee bit easier if they go into the post-season either on a hot streak or, at the very least, with homecourt advantage in the first round.

Well, right now they’re dead tied with the Spurs for first in the Southwest Division and winning that will guarantee home court in the first round. And since they’re barely holding off Portland in the race for fourth and fifth, winning the Southwest might be their best bet.

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Comments

[Raptoronto]

Doug - has there been any indication from Raps brass or the bench players that once the Raps are officially eliminated from play-off contention that they will begin "resting" the starters and giving said bench players an opportunity to get major minutes...or do you sense they will indeed "compete" to the end.

Blogger's note: I sense they will try their best to win every game the rest of the way by playing their best players.

[Scott]

Eric,

In the past 41 games (since he started his scoring tear), Bargnani's averaging 6.4 boards/game. Now you might say that for a 7-footer that's not great, but you have to keep in mind that not everybody's a Chris Bosh and 10 rebounds a game is something that only a select few big men in the league are able to do. He's clearly made strides towards being a solid defender and rebounder and there's no saying he won't be a solid rebounder one day. Also keep in mind that he's playing on a team with a guy who pulls in 10 boards a game and since the All-Star break, has been playing with another guy (Marion) who pulls in almost 9 a game, and as long as they're rebounding well as a team and Andrea's boxing out, that's all that matters. Bargnani's also not a conventional center and when you're an offensive weapon hanging around the perimeter on the offensive end, it's harder to pull in offensive boards.

As for his scoring, I agree that he hasn't reached his full potential in terms of really having some monster scoring games. You have to keep in mind though, that he's not taking his foot off the pedal so much as just not getting the ball enough, and I think that's on his teammates and the coaching staff. I think as the season's wore on, both parties have gotten better at feeding him when he's hot.

Finally, trading your former #1 draft pick once he starts to really show signs of being a star just doesn't make much sense. I think it's also way too early to say a third year player's chances at winning a title are unlikely. You'll never know for sure until his career's over and he's had a chance to be the centerpiece of a good team with a solid supporting cast.

[The Original JJ]

I don't condone "tanking", though I'm sure many people have varying ideas of what that term actually means. Until a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, every game should be played with the intention of winning. Once a team is mathematically eliminated, then perhaps philosophy can change a little. I believe at that point, it is in fact in the team's best interest to see what some of the lesser used players can offer. HOWEVER, this does not mean that the team intentionally loses a game just to improve their chances at the NBA crapshoot, er, I mean, draft. Start your starters, but increase the minutes of some of the bench players. If the game stays close, go for the win. If it gets away even with the starters playing decent minutes, then extended garbage time it is.

As it currently stands, the Raps are not officially eliminated, but the Bulls "magic number" is 2. Meaning that any combo of Bulls wins and/or Raps losses eliminates the Raps. Technically, it may actually be 1, simply because there is the unlikely possibility that the Raps and Bulls (and some other teams for that matter) could end up in tiebreaker for 8th, which would depend on the Bulls/Raps game on the last day of the season. But for simplicity's sake, call it 2 and assume that the official elimination will happen within the next 3 or 4 days, if not sooner. However, having said that, until it happens, the Raps should be expected to play their best players and try to win every game until it does because...

... as Doug pointed out (on many occasions), the positional standing of the Raps between now and the end of the season is unlikely to change much regardless. Not to mention that they could end up in the 7th spot for the draft and after the lottery have just the 10th pick or they could even finish 12th worst, and end up with one of the top 3 picks. So things could easily change after the lottery. Sure, finishing closer to the bottom increases your odds for a better draft position, but combining the lottery with the even bigger gamble of the guy you pick actually turning into a decent NBA player (see Stromile Swift, Tyrus Thomas, Adam Morrison, Shelden Williams, Shaun Livingston, Darko, Mike Dunleavy, Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Darius Miles, Marcus Fizer, etc) leaves quite a bit of uncertainty.

By the way, the Knicks now have more losses (46) than the Raps, so technically, the Raps have moved to the pre-lottery 9th pick.

[Duane C]

Hi Doug,

For the game you can try Hoops at College & Yonge. The place is a little loud though, and I'm not sure if they have wi-fi. Ever think of using one of those sites that streams the game on-line?

[Uncle Zeke]

how does Detroit losing to Cleveland in Cleveland where they've only lost once this year equate to "pooping the bed"? The Pistons led half-way through the 4th quarter... if anything it indicates that now that Detroit is healthy they could surprise in the playoffs...

[Brian Gerstein]

Jay Triano is coming back! I just heard Bryan Colangelo on the Fan 590 (Bob McCowan), and he pretty much guaranteed that it will happen, with just his recommendation to the board holding it up.

He said that Jay will not be judged by his wins and losses (A good thing for Jay), but on the respect he has garnered by his players plus his ability to communicate with them, and Bryan is very pleased on both ends here.

MLSE will be pleased, as they do not have to cut a cheque for a name coach while still having Smitch on payroll, plus the vast majority of the Raptors fanbase has been extremely supportive of Jay, being Canadian, and an icon with the National team.

Was this the right decision? Time will tell.

[Tim W.]

Scott,

A 7 footer with the mobility of Bargnani should be averaging more than 6.4 rpg. Period. It doesn't matter where he plays or how well he boxes out or how much his teammates average.

Laimbeer, who had fewer post moves than Bargnani and did almost nothing on offense except for stand around the perimeter averaged double figure rebounds for 8 years straight. Larry Bird averaged nearly double digit rebounds for his career. Dirk had a career average of 8.4 rpg. This whole "he plays outside, so he doesn't get as many rebounds' excuse is just that. An excuse. On defense, where he should be getting the majority of his rebounds, he's playing close to the basket. He's a weak rebounder. He was in Europe so it shouldn't be a surprise he is in the NBA.

And while he does a pretty good job of keeping guys off the boards, unless you can actually grab some of those rebounds yourself, that's only half the work.

While Bosh is good rebounder, he's not a great one. It's not like he's Dwight Howard on the boards out there. There are still plenty of rebounds available. And Bargnani was still not rebounding well even while O'Neal was injured and before Marion was traded for. There are just so many excuses you can come up with before the inevitable conclusion is reached.