A little mail for the weekend

Hey folks, here is this week’s mail offering. Hopefully it gets you through until Sunday night, when we’ll be back for the in-game blog just before 8 p.m.

Nothing tomorrow morning, I believe sleeping in will be a very good idea. The Raptors brass is in Jersey seeing gang workouts (not of anyone with a legitimate chance at being No. 9 I was told) so there’s nothing cooking there and the Finals are quiet and I’ve got nothing to add out or Orlando.

So digest this and tell your friends and family to join us Sunday, might be the last game we get to see.

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Q: Hey Doug, who do I need to lobby to get the Raps to come to Halifax for an exhibition game? (And please send their email addresses.) What factors go into the decision making? How far in advance are these decisions made? Halifax is a wonderful basketball town and the Metro Centre would be a sellout. The Raptors came before their first season but that now seems like light years ago.

Phyllis P, Broad Cove, N.S.

A: Believe me, if I had my way, we’d not only be there for an exhibition game but for training camp, too. Great city, nice arena, excellent people. But, alas, they set their schedules up so far in advance, you’d have to start lobbying now for 2010 and I’m not exactly sure who you’d be best to pester. I’d just go to the website, find a contact here and inundate them with your suggestion. Eventually, I’d hope they take it.

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Q: A question about 20 million dollar men. If that is the max a team can give (either as current team or sign and trade), which players are actually worth it? Lebron, Wade, Paul, yes. (Kobe already has it for now.) Is Bosh worth 20 of 58/71 (however the caps work?) Play GM for us, how do you build a team when a player accounts for that percentage of your spending limits.

Bruce M, Winnipeg

A: No player is “worth it” by any stretch of the imagination. But your $20 million man is a bit of a stretch since there are, by my count, eight in the entire league and they are all on – or close to – the final year of maximum value contracts they signed years and years ago.

Under CBA rules, the most any player can now make, to start a contract, is 30 per cent of the cap. If, as expected, it’s around $53 million next season (give or take a million) that’s a starting deal of about $16 million a season. And it’ll take three or four seasons, with maximum allowable raises, for anyone to get to $20 million.

And, yes, if you find bargains in other spots, or are willing to go above the tax level, spending 30 per cent of the cap on one guy doesn’t preclude building a good team.

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Q: Hey Doug, not that the draft is approaching. Raps have a decision to make who’s their guy. I heard in an interview that it's hard to get DeMar DeRozan to come here? He might come but it's unlikely he'll be ready to run drills. Have you heard anything on that? And how big of a role do agents play in determining weather a player should workout for a team or not. I saw four drafts all picking DeRozan to the Raptors. I’m confused, especially if he's our guy at 9 and we desperately need a wing, can you please elaborate on this issue?

Spirow B, Toronto

A: Heard anything? I wrote it. But, not to worry, the Raptors have seen DeRozan work out and if that’s the guy they get – and he’s just one on a list of possibilities – they won’t be going into it blindly.

Agents? They play a huge role on who works out where. Sadly.

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Q: In a previous column you mentioned that if the Raptors renounce all their free agents they would have $8.9 million to spend in 09/10.In 08/09 the Raptor salaries were $72 million including Marion, Parker, Graham, Kapono, Garbo etc. Exclude salaries from above and include R.Evans & salaries committed would amount to $44.5 million. Would they not have considerably more money to spend on free agents than $8.9M?

Steve T, Fredericton

A: Here we go again. The CAP level will be, under current estimates, somewhere below $54 million (and it will not be determined until early July) so the $8.9 is about right.

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Q: Hi Doug! With the trade of Jason Kapono to the Sixers for Reggie Evans and with Alvin Williams close to joining the coaching staff, do you think we have a chance and interest (from the management)to sign Morris Peterson and Rasho Nesterovic as bench players? Thank you and keep up the awesome work of yours.

Don F, Scarborough

A: I know they have a big interest in bringing Rasho back, if they can make the numbers work, but there is absolutely no interest whatsoever in Mo. That is a non-starter.

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Q: Another paper reporting that the Raps 2nd round pick from Greece is coming over next year -- True?

Jeff G, Vancouver

A: No. False. Very false. According to people in the Raptors organization, he is not nearly ready for the NBA and, if the information I’m hearing from both sides of the ocean is correct, his agent is using the Raptors as leverage to get a better deal in Greece.

Mistakes abound and that's the story of the day

Sorry about the tardiness but at the intersection of work and life, work had the big yield sign this morning.

But it’s worth the wait, maybe.

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GARY W. GREEN/AP

Don't blame the ball, Dwight. Blame Nick Anderson.

When these Finals end – and, sadly for many reasons I believe that will be Tuesday night in Los Angeles – there will be two enduring symbols to me. And neither has to do with the team that won the championship.

The first is going to be the look on Dwight Howard’s face when he went all Nick Anderson on the Magic last night, bricking those two free throws with 11.6 seconds left.

I know Howard’s not an accomplished free throw shooter but with nothing less than the season on the line, making one of two to seal the game is, um, big. And after, walking back to the huddle, didn’t he look bewildered?

And for all you fans of curses out there, do you think Orlando rues the moment it decided to use Anderson to fire up the crowd before the game. The same guy who missed four free throws in the final minute of Game 1 of the 1985 1995 final before the Magic were swept by Houston being trotted out the next time Orlando plays for a championship?

That, my friends, is tempting fate.

The second symbol? It’s got to be Jameer Nelson backing up, backing up, backing up in those final 11 seconds before realizing, “hey, we’re up three, who cares about a layup, I probably would be smart to guard Derek Fisher a tad more closely.”

Duh!

I can sort of forgive Howard, he is what he is at the free throw line; it’s stunning to me that Nelson, who seems a bright player, would not be in Fisher’s chest the second the Laker guard crossed the midcourt line

It’s not like Fisher was going to find a sudden burst of speed and get by Nelson, is it? The dude’s like 63 years old.

I know Nelson made some big plays in the fourth quarter – and I would have loved to have been able to read Rafer’s mind when he was doing it – but that’s just a dumbass play by a guard who should know better.

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Speaking of the Raptors, this is how things go for NBA teams around now heading into the draft.

A whole raft of Raptors types – I believe Bryan and almost all his henchmen – are off to New Jersey today to see a workout.

When I asked one of the travelling party who they were checking out, he rolled his eyes and said

 “Don’t know, we’ll find out when we get there.”

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Now, riddle me this, too.

Why didn’t the Magic foul Fisher? Or someone.

Well, this is what Stan said:

“I thought it was too early at 11, though when they took it full court, I'll have to go back and look at that. That one will haunt me forever, but we could have played that play a lot better.”

Um, yeah, they could have.

The foul isn’t given at 11 seconds when they inbound the ball, the foul’s taken with six seconds left when they’ve got it in the front court. It’s a debate about coaching styles that will go on forever but I think we’ve seen a few times in these playoffs, fouling probably is the way to go.

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Speaking of Stan, he’s the same coach who was lauded a genius for that last-second play for Courtney Lee at the end of Game 2 and I presume he’s being killed today for not fouling.

Such is life as a coach, eh?

Brilliant on Sunday. A dummy on Thursday.

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Oh, how proud David Stern must be.

All season long, we’ve heard what a great kid Derrick Rose is, takes responsibility for his actions, carries himself in a professional manner, the Rookie Of The Year is an excellent role model for youngsters growing up.

Well, since that epic seven-game series with Boston (and doesn’t that seem like it happened about two years ago?), Rose has found himself in the middle of an SAT controversy about his test scores going into his one year in college and is now defending himself over a picture that shows him flashing an alleged gang sign, as this Chicago Tribune story details.

What’s it all mean? Maybe it just means a kid made an honest mistake – although anyone, if a kid like Rose, has to know that everything he does will eventually be found out; maybe it means he’s got some serious character flaws – although folks around the Bulls will tell you that’s the furthest thing from the truth.

What it tells me is that we are often far to fast to judge people, especially young people and to lionize a teenager is a silly thing to do.

Derrick Rose will probably go on to have a long and illustrious NBA career, he could become a man of whom all fans and friends can be proud. But right now, he’s a young kid who made at least one serious mistake – the concrete proof on the SAT thing isn’t out there yet – and I don’t think we should be surprised.

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Speaking of the intersection of work and life, I’m sure you’re all dying to know that Super Son made his career pitching debut last night, threw two Maddux-like innings of strikes on the corners and deceptive quickness as The Mighty Yankees got back to winning.

And if you weren’t dying to know, well, tough noogies.

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Why will it end in six, you ask?

Because I picked Orlando in seven and because I will have to watch Game 5 on Sunday not knowing until like 11 p.m. whether I have to wake up and fly to L.A. on Monday and you know that whatever will inconvenience me the most will definitely occur.

(Okay, truth be told, I wrote that with the hope of some kind of reverse-curse or something; if I say it, I’ll be wrong and I’ll be home all next week)

But, regardless, for the tens and tens of you who missed the in-game bloggy thingy last night (and you know who I’m talking about), we will be back in the usual spot on Sunday night if you care to stop by.

Of workouts and wacky WWW fantasies

All kinds of fun stuff at the moment. Some from here, some from there, some from the world wide web, which is either the greatest thing invented or something created just to make my life a living hell (I’m torn as to which it is.)

But, before the fun and frivolity, some good news. Or bad news. Or non-news.

Some stuff’s come up that’s going to keep my busy tonight so the delightful in-game blog has to take an evening off. We’ll be back Sunday, for sure; but tonight? Tonight you shall be left to your own devices.

And now …

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Here’s the thing about these workouts that go on before the draft: Sometimes, they’re not workouts at all.

Bryan mentioned earlier this week that they want to get DeMar DeRozan in next week, what’s likely to be the last big session in Toronto, but that the kid might only come in to meet, not to work out.

Seems silly, no? Not if you understand that teams don’t drive this process, which sort of sucks. The agents – who have a fiduciary interest in not having any flaws in their players exposed – are actually running the show.

Here’s a somewhat exasperated Jim Kelly:

“Again, that’s part of the draft procedure, we don’t actually control it, we do what we can with what we have.”

The interesting thing yesterday, to me at least, was Ty Lawson. When I mentioned that very fact to them, that some kids – and their agents – run scared at this time of year, Lawson said that wasn’t for him. Something along the lines of “If you want to show you’re stuff, you have to show it against the best.”

I like that kid.

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Oh yeah, the Finals.

You’ve read the local stuff here, I presume; but not sure if you’ve read what they’re saying in the specific cities.

Seems this whole point guard thing is still gurgling down in Orlando, as Brian S. writes here in today’s missive.

I will say this: If they both play like they did the other night, Rafer has to play about 40 minutes because Nelson was horrible. But if they both play like they did in Game 2, I can see no recourse for Stan but to play Turkoglu at the point down the stretch.

This is where coaches earn a chunk of their money, managing egos and personalities in the biggest games of the season.

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Okay, let’s stop this insanity right now.

From the mail:

Q: Hey Doug, i am hearing that theres a good chance that Kris Humpries gets traded to the Nets for Dooling on draft day + swap picks 9 and 11. Any truth to it

Sam A, Toronto

And

Q: Hey Doug, long time reader … I read somewhere that Raptors were interested in a trade involving Humphries and Keyon Dooling. Is there any truth to this?

Joel R, Mississauga

And from the Comments section:

well, theres a guy on real gm who has been VERY reliable in the past, knows someone high up in MLSE and apparently its being discussed, not someone to make a rumor up and the mods verified it. I was wondering if you could check it out, ask some of your sources and see if its reliable.

Ok, you know I don’t usually do this stuff but the sheer volume of questions – this is a representative selection – made me.

So, I discovered the “hearing” and “read somewhere” came from the “very reliable” source and it’s all crap, like about 95 per cent of the junk floating around these days.

Because I had some time, and because I figured it’s a good way to make a point, I bounced this off a couple of people in the organization.

Their reaction:

“Utter nonsense.”

“Got a good kick out of it.”

So, reliable is bullpoop (the guy or gal either lied or was lied to) and the energy anyone spent talking about this would have been better spent cutting the grass or something.

Here’s the deal: Unless you dig and have multiple sources and are trusted and legitimate, you’re not going to find out facts. You’re going to find out fiction and waste the time of a lot of people.

The internet and chat rooms and discussion forums, I guess, are wonderful things in some aspects. But, and I will say this for about the thousandth time, they are not places where legitimate news breaks.

Now that I’ve wasted some of my time, and yours, we’ll return you to the usual drivel.

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So, Alvin Williams, what kind of advice can you impart in your new gig:

“(B)eing a professional, that’s the biggest thing. Don’t disrespect the game or yourself or your teammates. Be a professional. Come in on time, give 100 per cent for yourself and your team.

“Sometimes, once you get to a certain point in the NBA, you get paid, you get some notoriety, some people get lazy. And it’s a natural thing but you’ve always got to push. It’s hard to get here, but it’s harder to stay in the NBA and that’s what you have to tell the younger guys.”

Oh, and what do you have to learn about coaching?

“You have to manage people, you have to build relationships, you have to know each individual and how they respond. That’s the toughest part. I can go out here all day and tell somebody what to do, you just have to know how to get it across to them.

I’m going to listen right now, listen to coach Triano, coach English and coach Iavaroni, these guys have been involved for so long, I’m just going to pick up on those guys.”

Yeah, I think the kid’ll be all right.

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Oh yeah, the Finals

This always has been, and always will be, The Kobe Series and my man Mark Heisler’s got a good one right here.

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Back to the workouts for a bit.

A rather odd sight greeted us when we walked in the gym and survived the huddled masses perched on chairs along the sideline. It’s the domain of coaches and scouts and GMs usually, with the regular assortment of Raptors Worker Bees charting every move every kid makes.

So, what’s John Bitove Jr. doing there? Ready to buy the team back? A front office coup?

Nah, seems he was checking out James Johnson of Wake Forest, which is John’s old school.

I’m told Johnson was really good, too.

Of trades and some Magical shooting

Looks like, for a day at least, we’ve got ourselves a series.

Of course, the Magic had to shoot like they’ve never shot before and the Lakers had to channel Shaq at the free throw line for it to happen but it’s 2-1 and until Game 4 is in the books we can all hope for something sweet to develop out of this.

The locals? Well, the locals were busy, which threw a big wrench into my plans for an afternoon on the couch but if you wanted Raptors news, you sure got it yesterday.

And seeing how quickly that came up, who knows if there might not be more on the horizon.

If there is, we’ll be there.

For now, we’re here. And here it is:

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TANNIS TOOHEY/TORONTO STAR

Reggie Evans and Kris Humphries will continue their battle and decide the first big off the bench for the Raptors next season.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Here’s how the money for the summer works, and be mindful that none of the figures are precise because no one – not even the teams – knows the exact salary cap level until the league beancounters get through surfing the books in the first week of July.

If the Raptors renounce every free agent they have – Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker, Joey Graham, Pops Mensa-Bonsu and Carlos Delfino – they should have right around $8.9 million to spend.

If they don’t exercise the options they have on Patrick O’Bryant and Quincy Douby, that number bumps up to about $10.1 million.

So, here’s the deal and the question facing Bryan: Do you want that money to spend -- likely on one significant free agent -- and have no shot at bringing back any of your guys or even signing-and-trading them while filling out the roster with minimum salary players and your draft pick while not having the mid-level salary exception to spend because you’re under the cap?

Or do you want the option to do sign-and-trades, maybe keep a Parker or Marion and have the mid-level as well as the draft pick?

I’ll tell you one thing: If he opts for the first, he’d better be sure that one big free agent is going to come because the prospect of sitting around with a bucket full of money and no one to give it to while your roster needs help is ugly.

And who is that free agent? Could, or would, he make a run at Hedo Turkoglu on the off-chance he could get him? Is Lamar Odom worth the gamble and would he listen if Bryan called? Ben Gordon worth it? Or Ariza? Boozer?

If I’m Bryan, and judging by my paycheck and fashion style I’m certainly not, I don’t renounce anyone to keep my options open, I hope I can find a good sign-and-trade for Marion if he won’t take $7 million a year to start on maybe a three-year deal and I hang on to the mid-level exception because I think there are going to be some relative bargains out there this summer.

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My man Phil in Philadelphia caught up with Jason – I’ll give it a shot today – and writes his trade story this way.

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One from the mail:

Q: Raptors acquire toughness and rebounding, beat grunts lose a good quote. Knowing you will cover the basketball skills I am curious as to how Evans compares to Kapono for personality?

Ed S, Hamilton

A: My man Phil, along with another friend in the business who knows Evans quite well says he’s a friendly guy, really nice off the court, not a great quote but a solid one.

His nickname’s the Joker, which can’t be a bad thing, I guess. But if we cross him, I’d be a bit worried that one of his best friends in the world is apparently Roy Jones Jr.

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Speaking of the Finals, I have one question to ask: Why in the world did the Magic trot out Nick Anderson to try to pump up the crowd before the game?

Nick Anderson, by all accounts, is a very, very nice guy who does a tremendous job in community relations with Orlando and had a nice career down there.

But Nick Anderson and the NBA Finals?

Yeesh.

Remember, it was his four bricked free throws that cost the Magic the first game of the last Finals they were in, shots that reverberated around the franchise for more than a decade, misses that made Anderson’s life a living hell.

To put him in the pre-game spotlight? That was a gamble.

Guess it paid off, though; Kobe and the Lakers shot free throws like he did that fateful night.

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Stan-ism of the night.

Hey, coach, how’d you get Rafer going so well:

“I'm a motivational genius, that's what I am. I thought for two days about what to say to him, and I said, ‘play your game.’ You can write that down. That’s a quote. It took me two days to come up with that.”

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Oh yeah, the trade.

What’s it mean for the rest of the Raptors bigs?

Bryan made it very clear yesterday – and you know he’d have spoken to Jay about this – that Kris Humphries and Reggie Evans are going to fight it out to be the first big off the bench behind Bosh and Bargnani. I have no idea who’d win that fight, I presume Evans because he’s a better rebounder and tougher post defender.

Bryan also suggested that they’d keep Patrick O’Bryant because he’s intriguing but I figure he’s a 12th, 13th, maybe 14th guy on the roster.

The GM didn’t say it out loud but every indication is – as it’s been since the day after the season ended – that there is no room for The Legend, which is something I’m quite fine with. The trouble? Toronto’s still smallish off the bench with its bigs.if it’s Evans and Hump, which is why I’m hearing they remain entirely interested in Rasho.

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Oh yeah, the Finals.

The Magic have now shot the highest percentage in an NBA Finals game, 62 per cent last night; and the second lowest percentage in an NBA Finals game, 29 per cent in Game 1.

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Oh yeah, the Raptors.

(Sense a trend here?)

Forget all about any reports you read coming out of Europe about Giorgos Printezis.

There are no plans at the moment to have him as much as come to training camp let alone any kind of contract offer.

And talking to people who actually saw him in person at the European Final Four, he’s years and years and years away from being able to play at the NBA level.

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Oh yeah, the Finals.

A Phil quip? An oddity, but …

Hey, coach, how come your bigs had such low rebounding numbers?

“What kind of rebounds are they going to get?”

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Speaking of …. ah never mind

So, all in all, what about the trade? As I’ve mentioned, it’s good, not spectacular, maybe not even great, but a good one.

Evans obviously ups the toughness quotient around here and that was one of the team’s glaring weaknesses last season and something Bryan was adamant about addressing.

Now, Evans is not a saviour, he’s a career 52.5 per cent free-throw shooter so he can’t be on the court down the stretch of a close games but he’s an upgrade.

Jason obviously never fit in particularly well here, blame for that can be shared between him and the men he was coached by, and I’m sure someone will emerge to fill that three-point shooting void. Perhaps AP in some return role? Maybe Delfino?

This deal was one of a few I think we’re going to see this summer and as a first one, I think everyone can be happy with it. Not drive up and down Yonge Street honking your horns happy – this isn’t like winning Game 1 of the first round of the Pucks Playoffs or anything – but happy nonetheless.

The Goods On The Game, NBA Finals Game 3

More in a minute but a trade is done

Just a quick heads-up while I write the quick story but the Raptors have made a trade, league sources tell me.

Jason Kapono's gone to the Philaelphia 76ers for Reggie Evans.

Now, off to figure the financial repercussions; will be back with a story in a little bit.

Links:

Evans' stats and bio

Kapono's stats and bio

A little mail to get you through the workday

Welcome home!

Oh, wait, it’s you who is supposed to welcome me home, at least for a little while.

Anyway, still trying to get back onto eastern time, it may take a day, which means a slight delay in this. (And I had to finish a couple this morning because instead of working the whole flight, I watched about four episodes of 30 Rock on the trip home and I may now have to rethink my opinion that Seinfeld was the greatest sitcom ever. 30 Rock is hilarious and Tina Fey is my new unrequited crush.)

But I digress …

And now I answer, before I rest to be back here well-rested for the game (that’d be the NBA game at 9, not the big baseball game to coach just before)

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Q: How often do you get tips or leads on stories from off-the-record sources? Are there times when you're just not able to find someone to confirm the story on-the-record? In other words, do you have a bunch of interesting stories that you're not able to tell the readers because they were told to you off-the-record?

Andrew H, Washington, DC

A: Sure, those times exist, but usually when the original information is wrong. If a guy (say a scout, or another beat guy, or a coach, or a low-level exec) says to me, “hey, I hear the Raptors are going to do such-and-such” and I check with people who’d know and they tell me it’s wrong, does that count as a “tip” that doesn’t pan out? If so, that probably happens two or three times a week right now. And, no, I’m not going to give you an example because it will likely start some conversation on why it’d be a good move or a bad move when it’s not even a move being contemplated and that’s a waste of time.

But, yes, I’m sure I know stuff in confidence some would find interesting. But that’s the problem, they’re told in confidence and I won’t betray that.

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Q: Do you see the Raps adding a shooting coach, at least part time, for this season. They had one a few years ago but since dropping him it seems their shooting has dropped off considerably.

Mike S, Calgary

A: This is what I don’t get: All this love for Dave Hopla (who is a nice guy but no magician) and perception that a guy like him makes all, or even any, difference.

Consider:

In 2006-07, the only year the Raptors have employed a “shooting coach” they shot 46.3 per cent from the field, 36.3 per cent from three, 78.8 per cent from the free throw line and scored 99.5 points per game.

In 2007-08, they shot 46.8 per cent from the field (an improvement), 39.2 per cent from three (an improvement), 81.2 per cent from the free throw line (an improvement) and averaged 100.2 points per game (an improvement).

Last year, the overall field goal percentage dipped to 45.8 per cent, three-point percentage was 37.2 (down from ’07-08 but higher than when they had a “shooting coach) and the free throw percentage was at an all-time franchise high of 82.4 per cent. They scored 99 points per game.

The impact of a “shooting coach” is hugely, vastly over-rated.

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Q: Why is it that LA gets another All-Star game while Toronto hasn't even had one yet?

Rick K, Ottawa

A: I should have done this is the blog Monday because I had about four e-mails on the issue.

Toronto hasn’t even applied for an all-star game for a couple of reasons. They didn’t want 2010 because it coincides with the start of the Vancouver Olympics and no corporate money would be around; in 2011 there were issues with space for things like the FanJam since convention locations are already booked. Maybe 2012? That’s the earliest and always ways, regardless of where the 2011 game went.

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Q: How much of the Iavaroni signing is Jay's idea? Seems to me that BC is hedging his bets here, and that, perhaps not this season, but next, any slip up by Jay is going to result in Iavaroni taking over. Not that that is a bad move, but I was always under the impression that a Head Coach picks his staff, and Iavaroni seems to have been inserted in the mix regardless of how Mr. Triano felt.

Shawn L, Bowmanville

A: Your impression is right so your contention is wrong. Look, there are people who are going to see conspiracies in this hiring no matter what anyone says. But if you want to know the truth, and this comes from unimpeachable sources, the Raptors brass feels that Marc is one of the best assistant coaches – not head coach, assistant coach – in the league.

But if he and Jay did not get along, if Jay had any concerns about their working arrangement whatsoever, he wouldn’t be on the staff, it’s that simple.

If there is cause to fire Jay in the next two seasons – which I highly doubt – who knows what will happen but I am here to tell you Marc Iavaroni was NOT hired to be the next head coach of the Raptors and if Jay wasn’t on board with his hiring, it wouldn’t have happened.

That comes from the highest levels of the organization.

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Q: Hey Doug, why is it so many writers and sports show anchors make such a big deal about a series being 2-0 for the team with home-court? All the Lakers did was take care of business, that doesn't mean that Orlando is toast yet - a la Kobe "the job isn't done" right?

Ryan M, Ottawa

A: Because history shows that if a team wins the first two games of a best-of-seven series, it goes onto win the series in 90 per cent of the cases.

Pretty compelling statistical reason right there, no?

This is either early or late but it's got some good stuff in it

Magic in seven? Are you on crack?

I know, I know.

Well, look at it this way: If they win, it’s probably going to have to be seven so it’s not like I’m going to blow it like last series where I thought they’d get Cleveland in seven and they made me look like a doofus by winning in six.

But I digress.

Thank goodness for a compelling fourth quarter because for about three quarters, that looked a lot like Raptors-Bucks on some February Tuesday night.

But it did present some interesting tidbits. Like …

(And yes, this is either late or early, depending on your coast, but I’ve got to get up and write an off-day story before I travel so it was easier to knock this off now).

CHRIS CARLSON/AP

Orlando was this close to tying the series.

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“Excrement.”

Well, actually, the four-letter synonym for “excrement” and Kobe Bryant finally gave us his best quote of the series and we can’t really write it.

The question was: What were you thinking when the ball was in the air to Courtney Lee (at the regulation time buzzer)” and Bryant told us exactly what he was thinking.

“Excrement.”

It was what we shall forever call The Sam Play, a lob to the most unlikely guy on the floor, almost exactly the same play Sam Mitchell drew up for T.J. Ford the night the refs blew the timing in Atlanta and it would have been a spectacular end to a rather boring Game 2 of the NBA Finals if Lee had been able to finish.

Kobe was impressed.

“Honestly, it was just a brilliant play. It was just a very, very smart play that he drew up. He knew my eye was more on the shooters coming up, and just a hell of a play by a hell of a coach.”

It really was a helluva play (and I’m not suggesting Sam was the first one to ever run it, but why not give him some props) and it would have been the defining moment of Lee’s young basketball life.

“It was very close,” was how he put it. “The ball rolled off the rim. ... I just had to finish but I didn't.”

Stan says he’s run it “two or three” times before but no one can ever remember him running it for Lee.

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So, what do the Magic do now?

Well, they’ll get a big boost from their fans and homecourt on Tuesday but they’re going to need every edge they can get.

They can only hope the fans, and the familiar rims, will allow their point guards to play even passably well; right now, they are killing them.

The Lakers simply don’t guard Alston and only give Nelson cursory coverage, which allows them to have another defender to dig down on Howard. And since Los Angeles is also paying practically no attention to Gortat when he’s out there in Howard, I can see huge trouble looming for Orlando.

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The Things You See, No. XXVIX

A cameraman filming a colleague FILLING HIS PLATE IN THE FOOD LINE IN THE MEDIA DINING AREA before Game 2.

I swear.

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I think I should probably put this under some ‘save-get’ key on the old keypad because the question comes up almost nightly now, it seems.

Yes, My Favourite Marcin is a pretty good back up centre. Yes, Marcin Gortat is a free agent.

No, the Raptors are not going to make a pitch for him.

Before anyone gets all hot and bothered about any fours or fives out there, consider this:

Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries, Rasho Nesterovic, Patrick O’Bryant, Nathan Jawai and – doubtful but maybe – The Legend Pops Mensa-Bonsu.

That’s the front court. Four of those six guys already have guaranteed contracts, Nesterovic is still a very likely probability and even if they don’t do Pops, they’re full in the front court.

So, yes, Gortat’s good; no, he’s not “on the radar” unless things change dramatically between now and July 1 and that’s about 99.9999999 per cent not going to happen.

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Know who my favourite Laker is?

Derek Fisher.

Not because he’s old like me but because he is far and away the most thoughtful and intelligent interview subject on the team. He’s the go-to guy in the scrums on the court when the practices are over because he’ll look you in the eye, consider the question before answering it and answer in full and complete sentences.

Like a grown up.

Good guy; no wonder he won the 2008 Magic Johnson Award given out by the Professional Basketball Writers Association for the player who best combines media relations and on-court abilities.

(Needed a plug for our PBWA after chairing first annual meeting Sunday).

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Hey Jalen.

Or Jalen’s people.

(And Jalen did once give us one of the all-world quotes about his penchant for collecting people by declaring in Detroit: “My entourages have entourages; that has to stop”).

I didn’t mean any disrespect, I thought your arrival was cool, and befitting a dude like you.

Anyway …

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Remember I told you about this Vic The Brick character, a radio chat show host out in L.A. who passes himself off as a journalist when the final hits town, even though him wearing the Laker gear probably means none of us take him seriously.

Well, here’s his big “question” to Kobe last night:

“Experience is divine on this squad right now, making the plays, executing down the stretch. You've reached the abyss with the warrior glare, but it just seemed tonight Gasol and D. Fish separated themselves making key plays in money time.”

Reached the abyss with the warrior glare. You can’t make that crap up.

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We, the collective sportswriting “we” that is, know how this week is going to unfold because we all live under Koppett’s Law, as presented by the late, great sportswriting legend Leonard Koppett.

The law suggests what ever inconveniences the greatest number of people (primarily sportswriters) is what will happen so …

Magic win Game 3; Lakers win Game 4 and while we’re all sitting in our homes next Sunday wearing Laker facepaint because we don’t want to have to book a Monday flight to L.A. late Sunday night, the Magic will win Game 5 in some dramatic, likely double-overtime, fashion.

Trust me on this one.

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The Stan Quip Of The Night, pre-game edition:

Q:. I don't know how often you think back to your days in Miami, but after you left there, did you ever question your ability to coach or connect with NBA players?

STAN VAN GUNDY: No.

The Goods On The Game, NBA Finals Game 2

On Jalen and a day of worldwide pickup games

Morning, everyone.

Another quiet day yesterday (this series really needs some player or coach to say something inflammatory, doesn’t it?) but at least we get back to the game tonight.

Two days off might be nice for the players to rest and recuperate; it’s killing us looking for good stories. But now we get game, day off, game, day off, game and there might be some momentum built.

Don’t forget we’re back here just before 8 to do an in-game blog and be there right on time because they aren’t wasting a lot of time getting things started; I’m told tips at seven minutes after the hour are certain for these games.

Until then …

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You gotta love Jalen.

The big ESPN breakfast yesterday – chatting with Mark Jackson, Hubie Brown, Dr. Jack and, supposedly, our old friend J – unfolds for about an hour and there’s no Rose.

So I’m wandering outside over to Starbucks, hugely disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to see Jalen spread his unique brand of early morning cheer, when this big old Range Rover-ish thing pulls up, the door opens and there’s he is, all his Jalen Glory, sunglasses on, cellphone at his ear, big smile. Seems he’d been at a doctor’s appointment – even had the band-aid in the crook of his elbow where they took some blood – but was stopping by for his breakfast.

After stopping to have a picture taken with some passersby, he sees a familiar face, big hug, handshake, a ‘how are you?’ and then he gets right to the heart of the matter.

“How are they going to fix that mess north of the border? Bringing back Delfino going to be their big move of the summer? What’s that?”

And then he’s off, up the stairs to hang out.

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So, what’s going to happen tonight?

I wish I knew but it’s impossible to get a really good feel for either of these teams right at the moment.

The Lakers were as good as they’ve been in the entire playoffs the other night but we’ve all seen them stumble at various points in the post-season.

The Magic haven’t been as bad as they were in Game 1 the entire playoffs, either, but they’ve shown a great resiliency over the course of the first three rounds.

So, it has to be a good game, right?

Well, it’s only going to be a good game if the Magic make some three-pointers – saw a replay of Game 1 and the number of open shots they missed was shocking – and if the Lakers don’t dominate the paint.

I do think the Magic are okay with Kobe getting between 30 and 40 as long as they shut down the other guys (as they did in the Cleveland series) but they cannot get out-scored by 30 in the paint and survive.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, and because I saw this series going the distance, but I do expect the Magic to get it together and at least give themselves a chance to win. Which I think they’ll do.

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I’m pretty sure not many of you caught the big WNBA opener here yesterday (Sparks 78, Shock 58, by the way) but if you did, perhaps you saw the thin edge of the uniform wedge.

The Sparks showed up not with “Los Angeles” on their jerseys, or even “Sparks” or even some snazzy motto dreamed up by marketers. They showed up with “Farmers” stitched across the front, the name of some insurance company or something. Phoenix has the same thing going on, too.

So, does that mean it’s coming to the NBA? Well, David Stern said “I don’t think we’re going to see it any time soon” but then added a codicil.

“We'll study it. I just saw that an insurance company replaced AIG on Manchester United's uniform for a price. If you have an offer you'd like to make for the owners, I'm prepared to receive it, but right now it's not for sale in the NBA.”

Soon, I have a feeling, it might be.

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As I’ve finished this up, just got done watching some tennis on TV and, apropos of nothing to do with hoops, I’ve got to think Roger Federer might be my favourite athlete in the world.

Classy, unbelievably skilled, seems like a really good guy.

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The next time we’re all stuck on the Gardiner or the 401 or QEW and cursing traffic, take solace that you don’t live in this armpit of transportation.

Seriously, we’ve travelled from the home base in Hollywood to the downtown Staples Centre for games and practices and yesterday we had to go to El Segundo to the Laker practice facility because the arena was being used for the Farmers-Shock game and every single time – morning, afternoon, night – the freeways we use are stopped. Dead stopped.

An eight-mile trip takes 45 minutes. It takes 10 minutes to get down the ramp on the freeway.

This city blows when it comes to traffic.

Digression done.

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This is a very cool thing.

It’s a plan to get every pickup player on the planet – or at least a few million of you -- playing on Wednesday.

Sean, the fella in the video you can see by clicking here, is a Toronto guy who’s a friend and this just seems to me to be a pretty cool thing to try and pull off.

Not for some hugely altruistic reason of saving the world or anything, but just because it’d be neat to know you’re missing a 15-footer at the same time some girl in Ghana or boy in Beijing is.

If you can’t get enough information off that site just mentioned, here’s a Facebook place you can look, too.

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Hey, to give me something to do on my flight home, and to make sure I’ve got something of substance to put here Tuesday morning, the mailbox could use some submissions.

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This was rather unique.

The Clippers worked out presumptive No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin yesterday at their practice facility here and they invited an audience.

Usually, the workouts are open only to the media and only at the end, long after the real work has been done; and some teams don’t even provide that kind of opportunity.

But the Clips, who need the publicity and need something good to happen more than any other team in the league, not only let writers in to see the entire session, they had about 150 or so season ticket holders in the gym, too.

A couple of guys I know who went said Griffin looked really good, a lot bigger than you’d think, really powerful but his mid-range jumper was very, very ordinary.

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