A whole lot of Kobe and greatness remembered

I know, it’s late again but, what the heck, it’s Saturday and everyone wants to sleep in anyway, right? Not a whole lot going on out here, it was a very boring off-day, to likely be followed by an equally boring off-day today. Memo to self: Find interesting angle.

But before I search, there’s these tidbits:

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Way back in the day, when he was losing NBA finals and when he was winning them, too, Kobe Bryant was a pretty good guy in the interview room.

He’d be engaging and entertaining and gave a good, insightful quote.

That was then.

This is now and, man, is he ever boring.

It’s all part of his “locked-in” Grumpy self. Short answers to good questions, no expression, no “engaging.” Boring. And, seemingly, quite miserable.

Which makes me wonder, if he didn’t win the last two times being expressive and he doesn’t win this one being a grump, what’s left? Silence?

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You know how story lines develop at these things, where some off-beat or odd thing becomes the topic du jour.

Here, it’s becoming Kobe’s face.

Maybe you’ve seen the look – although I would wager there hasn’t been a whole lot of NBA video on the news in between the zillion pucks reports – where he bares his teeth and gets all crazy looking after some particularly spectacular play?

We’re all trying to figure out what the best way to describe it is.

In fact, one guy went as far to suggest to Derek Fisher that Bryant’s visage bore a bit of resemblance to the maniacal look Jack Nicholson had in The Shining.

“That's all time No. 1. I don't know if anything can compare to that one. Even for me as a kid that was pretty scary moment, seeing him in that film.”

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I’m not sure how much play the story got back in Toronto but news of Randy Smith’s passing was a big topic around here.

As it should have been.

To people of a certain age who used to travel to the Aud to see the Buffalo Braves – that’d be people like me – the sight of Smith with the wild Afro wearing those crazy baby blue jersey and racing past every player on the court.

“The best athlete I ever coached,” was what Dr. Jack Ramsay told my buddy Tom Withers of the AP yesterday.

I don’t think Smith got nearly the credit he should have for his game. He was an ironman – played 906 straight games, a record that last 14 years, until A.C. Green went past him in 1997 – and is the all-time franchise leader (including Buffalo and L.A. Clippers they eventually became) in points, games played, steals, and assists.

He was one of the great under-rated players of all time.

He was 60 and in apparent good health when he died suddenly.

That sucks.

And if you want a really good read on Smith, check this out thanks to Henry Abbott and his excellent TrueHoop blog.

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Quick question:

Did any other group come forward to put another NHL team in Toronto today?

Seems like a daily occurrence, no?

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The things you see …

There may be no more recognizable a basketball icon than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, right? Bald fellow, a shade over 7-feet, was a pretty good player that a lot of people would know, right.

Found it odd, then, to see him at the Staples Centre yesterday wearing a t-shirt that said, simply:

Skyhook.

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Speaking of fashion (and we do a lot of fashion here, don’t we?), there’s Dwight Howard.

That sleeve he had on his arm the other night? The one that’s there for, oh, I dunno, support or to soothe muscles or provide some protection from getting hit?

Um, not so much.

“Man, I just wear the sleeve because I like how it looks. It has nothing to do with performance or making shots or anything. I started wearing it in practice, it felt good one day, and I thought, man, I should wear this in the game, it might make my shot look better. But there's nothing.”

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Finally, one from the mail:

Q: Hey Doug, I meant to submit this question last night but life interrupted me. If they don't reseed (is that a word) the teams during the playoffs, shouldn't the Magic have the 4 games a home. They after all beat the team with the most wins this year. Also do you think Bosh is being a little too honest about saying he wants to wait and get the most money possible and that was his master plan along.

Bob C, Hamilton

A: Hope life’s interruption was worth it.

In the final, it’s the team with the best regular season record that gets the homecourt advantage, just like it is for every other round of the playoffs. The Lakers won more games than the Magic did

Too honest? You can’t be too honest, can you? I think three years ago, Bosh decided he’d like to have some options after the 2009-10 season and nothing’s happened to make him change his mind.

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Okay, gotta run.

ESPN’s putting on some breakfast here in the hotel to discuss the series with some of their talent. Usually, that’s the kind of thing that I avoid like the plague but when the e-mailed said the talent was going to be Jalen Rose and Mark Jackson, how could I resist?

Breakfast With Jalen.

Sounds likes a TV show.

I’ll you know how it turned out tomorrow.

And now, we return to our regular stuff

Yes, I know, it’s later than usual for this, right? Well, if someone can please get the world to agree to operate on one time zone – the one I live in – it’d be greatly appreciated.

But, there’s already been news so I presume that sated everyone’s appetite for a bit.

Until this, of course.

So, we’ve got some Raptors, some finals and some stuff.

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Staffing issues

Absolutely no surprise to the Iavaroni-English hiring today, right? And they’re still working with Alvin and I’m hearing that’s still got a good chance at happening.

So, what’s it mean?

Well, I keep hearing that they’re going to have Iavaroni handle the defence – it’s what he did in Phoenix and whatever you think about the Suns, they had good defensive systems, just not good defensive players – and that’s got to be good news. Under Sam, they didn’t really have one “defensive coach” (which isn’t a big problem, lots of teams share responsibility, including the two in the final that’s going on) but I think having one guy teach one system isn’t a bad idea.

And English? Well, he did a good job working with Bargnani last year, he’s a good sounding board for the players and the respect he garners in the locker room and around the league is substantial.

But, and this goes back to something Jay said when we were talking coaching philosophy a few weeks ago, it’s his demeanour that’s important as well. Where Iavaroni is animated, English is not. Where Iavaroni will yell, English will speak more quietly. Both personalities fit well with Jay and having a staff that’s got diverse personalities is huge.

You can’t have four dominating personalities, just like you can’t have four guys who operate quietly.

This staff seems to have a good mix and, most important, I think it will allow Jay to develop his own “voice” as he learns his craft a bit more; these are his people and he’ll feel comfortable directing them.

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

Doug's response to Chris Bosh playing out his contract: Chill.

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Someone riddle me this:

Why in the world is anyone getting all worked up by the suggestion that Chris Bosh won’t sign a contract extension this summer and will play out the final year of his contract?

Seriously. As news goes, that ranks right up there with Smith Likes A Cold One Every Now And Then.

And, no, it doesn’t mean that Bryan Colangelo needs to get on the phone today trying to swing some deal for his all-star power forward. What it means is just what it meant in April and in May and in October: The GM needs to improve the team, turn it into a consistent winner and let Bosh see that the future is bright and I am absolutely certain he’ll be back.

He loves the city, likes the organization and, I honestly believe, loves his place in the pecking order on the roster. What he wants to do is win and why anyone would think he’d commit long-term this summer with the team where it is absolutely baffles me.

Nothing has changed. Please remain calm.

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The things you learn schmoozing with people around something like an NBA final.

From the Water Under A Bridge department, found out last night the Raptors had a deal done with Golden State last season that would have seen them ship Joey Graham to California for guard Marco Bellinelli.

It was so done that Bellinelli was almost on his way to the airport to come to Toronto and told friends he was being traded.

And then the Warriors backed off and killed the deal.

Not huge news, and it’s old, but thought you might like to know.

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Try this on for size: Isn’t what Kobe did to the Magic last night pretty much exactly the same thing LeBron did to them?

Go nuts, dominate the game, scoring bunches.

And how’d that work out for the Cavs.

The feeling I get is that the Magic might be okay with Kobe getting 40 as long as they don’t let Gasol get 20 or Odom get 20 or Ariza get 20.

And doesn’t that make entire sense?

Trouble is, the other Lakers are far better than the other Cavaliers and that’s a dangerous game for the Magic to play against Los Angeles. But it might represent Orlando’s best chance at winning so they better do it.

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Oh.

My

God

A TV spot on one of those wacky morning shows down here just announced that it’s

National

Donut

Day

How good is that?!?!?!?

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Digression done, let’s get back to the final.

Here’s the one thing that kind of got lost in the Bryant hoopla last night.

There is no way the Magic can win if they can’t shoot and 29.9 per cent from the field is shockingly bad.

Dwight Howard as many field goals as Tony Battie?

And a team that lives by the three died by it, too.

Horrific.

The biggest problem was the Lakers’ “length,” a term you’re going to hear a lot of in the next couple of days, I assume. And what is length? Well, Sunday, watch how far back towards the lane the Laker perimeter defenders play, which takes away a lot of Orlando’s chances of dumping the ball into Howard to start their offence.

They can do that because they are tall and lanky – Ariza and Odom specifically – and that allows them to get back out to shooters more quickly than, say, anyone on Cleveland.

I’m pretty sure Stan and Brendan were up late last night trying to figure out how to space the floor more to get move the Lakers out of the lane and let Orlando get its offence back to normal.

Never mind the Kobe effort, if the Magic can’t get their offence going, they have no chance whatsoever.

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So, today’s workout kids in Toronto were (or are, depending on when you’re reading this) guards Jonny Flynn and Jrue Holiday and forwards Chase Budinger, Damion James, Alade Aminu and Gorat Suton.

The big two, of course, are the guards but what I’m hearing is they are as much fall-back positions as players who are right at the top of the Raptors list. Toronto’s still focused – and should be, without question – on getting a two or a three with that No. 9 pick.

But if all the good twos and threes that they like are gone, you have to think Holiday or Flynn would be pretty good alternatives.

Still, by no means is anyone’s mind made up in Toronto, they’ve got a lot of guys still on their radar and are no closer to making a decision on a specific pecking order today than they were two weeks ago.

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With Kobe being Grumpy and Dwight being subdued because his team got murdered, Stan was the hit of the post-game interviews last night. He did his usual self-flagellation thing (“I’ve got to do a better job,” he said) but then he got after the assembled horde a little bit.

Someone asked him, quite legitimately, whether the Magic might have been a little tight given it was their first game on such a grand stage.

His response, chiding us:

“Well, I mean, again, that's one of those stories that you write ahead of time and you have ready to go if a team doesn't play well. I mean, I say that all the time to you guys. It's the simple cliché psychology stuff that you write when a team doesn't play well.

“I have no idea on that. That's not in my thinking at all. My thought process is how are we going to defend them better, what are we going to do offensively to score. We need to play better. You guys can write all the psychological stuff. Nobody cares if you're right anyway.”

No one cares if we’re right? Ouch.

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This just in

This is hitting the ground running out here today:

Just got word that'll be officially released in a bit but the Raptors have added Marc Iavaroni to their coaching staff for this year and will bring back Alex English.

Surprised? Hardly. But glad it's done.

No details, yet, on whether they'll come to some arrangement with Alvin Williams -- that's still being worked on -- but now at least Jay Triano has half of his staff officially in place.

Will get to this more in-depth in the regular blog, which I'll get to as soon as I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and find a coffee, but it's a good move, in the opinion here.

Iavaroni brings some experience and intensity to the staff, English was well-respected by the players and his co-workers and, most important, Jay feels comfortable working with both of them.

It does mean Mike Evans is gone, and that's too bad because he's a really good guy, and they still have to finalize things with Micah Nori and Eric Hughes, which I presume they will.

Anyway, had to get this up quickly.

Now I have to go do the regular morning stuff. Be back soon.

The Goods On The Game, NBA Finals Game 1

It's time to talk

The things you see and hear

CHRIS CARLSON/AP

Rashard Lewis sets a familiar pose during a workout yesterday.

Okay, don’t get used to this timing, please.

Yes, we’re posted bright and early (depending on your time zone, of course) with this offering; no, it’s not likely to become a habit. It’s a function of the off-night before a game day, a bit of quiet before things get really busy.

How busy? Well, we’ll be back at noon for a little chat (I cannot think of a better way to spend to a lunch hour so feel free to stop by) and then there’s that whole game thing tonight.

So have fun with this and we’ll talk to some of you in a few hours.

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Only in L.A.

The NBA final always attracts a rather disparate group of, um, journalists when it’s out here and this one seems to be no exception.

There used to be a dude, not sure if he’s still around, who’s called Vic The Brick or something like that, apparently some radio, er, host, who used to show up all decked out in Laker paraphernalia and ask rather, ah, fawning questions of the Lakers.

Stuff along the lines of “you guys are so good, how can you lose?” Or, and I paraphrase here, “how come you guys are so good?”

Didn’t see him yesterday but there was a moment.

Some fella representing the Jimmy Kimmel Show, which is to sports reporting like I am to entertainment reporting, had the following verbatim exchange with Laker coach Phil Jackson

Entertainer: “Who will win the game, the Los Angeles Lakers or Orlando Magic?”

Phil, perplexed: “The game?”

Entertainer: “Yeah, who will win the game?”

Phil, more perplexed: “Game No. 1? Well, I hope it’s the Lakers, obviously. It’s a big plus for any team to win the first game of the series.”

Entertainer: “What about Game Dos?”

Phil, seeming to be almost out of patience: “We want to win Game 2, also.”

Entertainer: “And Tres?”

Phil, reaching exasperation: “We’ll cover that when we get through one, okay?”

And we now return you to legitimate stuff.

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There’s all kinds of pressure and intense preparation and video work and business, business, business to be done when teams get ready for the NBA final, right? Not so much.

Sure, there are moments of very hard work but also moments of levity, especially when practice is done.

It was kind of heartening to see a group of Lakers – Luke Walton, Sun Yue, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Adam Morrison, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown – goofing around with a spirited game of “bump” at the close of practice. Just like a bunch of kids in the playground.

Walton won the game I saw.

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Guess we know how Stan Van Gundy’s enjoying his first foray into the NBA finals.

Part of the gig for head coaches, and top players, is that they have to sit through interview room sessions every day. Coaches have it a bit worse, since they’ve got to do it every off-day and pre-game and post-game every game day (NBA-TV has to have programming, after all) and Stan was pretty clear on how he felt about it during his first stop yesterday, when he was asked what he was learning about being in these parts.

“What I basically learned in a half an hour of being here is that it's hard to do your job because I want to go practice; okay, enough of this stuff. So that's basically what I've learned ... You guys make it tough for us to do our job. After practice (in the regular season) you meet with the media a little bit, but I want to get out on the court. That's what I mainly learned.”

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I’ve got to get away from the stuff out here for a quick minute:

You know what I love about all the draft claptrap that’s going around? All this fascination with the numbers from the draft workouts: the “verts” and the “lateral quicks” and “lane agility.”

Gimme a break.

If you think a guy who can jump 36 inches from a standing start with no one around him is appreciably better than someone who can jump 33 inches from a standing start with no one around him, you’re nuts.

And lateral quickness is all well and good when you’re doing light basketball drills unguarded with no pressure. Same with “lane agility,” whatever the hell that is.

The numbers are just that, numbers. They are a small part – a very, very, very, very small part – of the equation. I’m pretty sure a guy like, for instance, Jerome Moiso had a great “vert” and some impressive “lateral quicks” and was most likely quite agile in the lane.

But he couldn’t play a lick.

So go and read the numbers and crunch them as you will But, please, don’t take them out of context. They are a part of it. That’s all.

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News before it happens. Not big but what the heck.

Chris Bosh is going global. No, not in search of comedy bits or budding music stars but to spread the word of basketball. The NBA is going to announce sometime today that Bosh will be in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September as part of its very cool Basketball Without Borders program.

I’m told he’ll be joined in South Africa by Masai Ujiri, Toronto's assistant general manager of player personnel, who is a staple at the African portion of BWB, and a handful of other NBAers, including Dwight Howard.

What's it all mean?

Probably not a lot to a lot of you but I guess it does speak to the way the NBA thinks of Bosh, that they’d invite him to one of their most significant events.

And, yes, he’ll probably still get some work in the gym during the week he’s away, lest any of you think he should pass up the opportunity to “work on his game.”

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Things you see but you can’t understand.

Hanging around the lobby with the cronies when an interloper sidles up and specifically orders a “vodka and sugar-free Red Bull."

Yeah, missing that extra jolt of sugar’s really going to make a difference.

But I digress.

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Yes, the Raptors have cancelled the scheduled pre-draft workouts scheduled for today and the story is there were some travel problems with some of the kids they were expecting to have in. Yeah, right.

Okay, that may or may not be true (or it could have just been an excuse offered by antsy agents who don’t want their players to go to many workouts) but it speaks to the biggest problem with this workout period. Because teams can’t be sure that players will eventually show up, it becomes more obvious that the work they do in the NCAA season – the countless hours watching conference games – is the most important work that scouts do.

It’s long been held, here at least, that the individual workouts mean much less than many think and now, as more get cancelled because agents are afraid their players’ weaknesses will be exploited, that’s becoming much more of a reality.

A multi-media look at the final

Some this, some that before we really get started out here

JAE C. HONG/AP

The circus begins today.

Yes, we’re a little bit late today, thanks mainly to these zany time zones that mess a fella up after a 12-hour travel day that includes seat 44B on the Minneapolis-L.A. part of the journey. And until you’ve been in seat 44B with the crying child in 45F and the must-ignore not-quite-classic He’s Just Not Into You playing on the tiny video screen, you haven’t lived.

But, as usual, I digress.

Not much going on yesterday, here or there, but the fun really gets started about 3:30 your time when we get our first crack at mass interviews. Fun? Oh yeah.

Oh, and because we know you love to talk, we’re planning a live chat tomorrow at noon your time to get this ball really rolling. Be there or be square.

Until then …

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Scratching and searching for Raptors tidbits and all I can come up with after a travel day is this.

They certainly haven’t turned their back on Europe; Jay and Maurizio are headed to Europe at the end of the week for the Reebok Eurocamp and a look at the top 48 prospects over there.

But don’t expect them to come back raving about having to get this guy or that guy or some other guy.

According to a lot of scouts I talk to, Europe is pretty picked over. There might be some interesting second-round draft picks and a team may take a gamble on someone in the first round (outside of Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings, of course) but this trip is more about seeing guys for the future than it is finding someone for the present.

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Here’s how it works out here, if you care or want to know.

The assembled crowds get half an hour a day to conduct interviews with each team and that’s not a lot of time so grunts better have an idea of what they want to write before we get to the practices.

The league brings each coach and two players to the interview room – you can be sure it’ll be Kobe and Pau for the Lakers today, Dwight and Lewis for the Magic – and the rest of the players are put behind podiums on the court.

It’s a zoo, as you can expect. Maybe 300 writers, TV talking heads, radio guys and sundry hangers-on crowded around everyone, trying to get their questions answered and their angles taken care of.

Game day? There is no post-shootaround access to the players, the locker rooms are open for their usual 45 minute period starting 90 minutes to game time but there are so many people crowding around the players are generally hiding in the back somewhere and the coaches do a short stint in the interview room.

What I’m saying is there is nothing really fresh. It’s finding good stories and telling them well.

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A sign that we’re not in Kansas any more.

Walked across the street from the media hotel (the very nice Hollywood Renaissance for this leg of the journey) to bump into the Kodak Theatre and who’s the first person I see: A platinum blonde in a white dress standing over a grate waiting for a gust of air to blow.

Entertaining.

I probably shouldn’t have stood and stared too long because Green Day (a collection of crooners, I’m told) was doing some in-store autograph session right next door and there was some outstanding live jazz band giving a free concert in the middle of the courtyard.

Yeah, sure makes one forget 44B pretty quickly.

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The latest on Jameer Nelson?

Well, we’ll find out more at practice in a few hours but my man Brian from Orlando makes it sound like he’ll probably suit up in this story.

What’s it mean?

Probably not a lot. He won’t start and if he’s healthy he’ll be an upgrade on Anthony Johnson, that’s for sure. And the emotional bump he’ll give his team will be pretty substantial.

To say nothing of giving us a nice notebook item to write.

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Let’s dip into the mail to get this oft-asked question out of the way:

Q: I would like to know your analyses on Stan Van Gundy as a coach? He has quite a bit of critics out on him, do you think he’s one of the best coaches in the NBA. And is he an offensive or a defensive coach? And who would you rather have behind your bench, him or his brother Jeff?

Mario A, Toronto

A: This gets to the heart of the “what’s a good coach” question, doesn’t it?

Is Stan a good coach because he got his team to the final? I’d say this year, yes he is. Is he a good coach because when his best player ripped him (see, Howard, Dwight, post-Game 5 vs. Boston), he challenged that same player to be better and that player was? I’d say yes. Is he a good coach because he seems to lose a bit of control in tense late-game situations when clam may be needed? I’d say no. Is he a good coach when Rafer’s 10-18 from the field and the Magic wins and a bad coach when Rafer’s 1-10 and the Magic lose?

The essential questions, to me, are these: Do the players respect him and try to implement that strategies he gives them? Yes.

Do his strategies make sense given his team’s skills and the opposition? Yes.

Does his team win? Yes.

So, yes, I think he’s a good coach.

Him or Jeff? I think Stan’s probably a coach more able to adapt, which is a big key.

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So, David Stern was on ESPN radio yesterday and said he planned to speak to LeBron James about James blowing off the media and the Magic after losing the Eastern Conference finals.

And that’s a good idea.

I know losses hurt but it’s not like James is the first heavy favourite to lose a playoff series and the best always stand up and try to explain what happened. He was there for pre-game interviews, even before Game 6; he did every post-game up to that point and to not speak after being ousted was childish.

But then, the story out of Cleveland is that LeBron started his off-season in the operating room so I’m guessing that conversation is on hold indefinitely.

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And the winner is ...

You wanted to know what I thought? Well, here’s what I think.

NBA FINALS

L.A. Lakers vs. Orlando Magic

Schedule

Game 1: Thursday at L.A., 9 p.m., ABC, TSN

Game 2: Sunday at L.A., 8 p.m., ABC, TSN

Game 3: Tuesday at Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC, TSN

Game 4: Thursday, June 11 at Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC, TSN

x-Game 5: Sunday, June 14 at Orlando, 8 p.m., ABC, TSN

x-Game 6: Tuesday, June 16 at L.A., 9 p.m., ABC, TSN

x-Game 7: Thursday, June 18 at L.A., 9 p.m., ABC, TSN

x-if necessary.

How They Got Here

Lakers beat Utah, 4-1, Houston, 4-3, Denver, 4-2; Orlando beat Philadelphia, 4-2, Boston, 4-3, Cleveland, 4-2.

Season series

Magic won, 2-0

Burning question

Is Kobe Kryptonite?

Short answer

Does that kind of cliché bore you like it does me?

Stuff about the series

This may not be Kobe-LeBron but there is all kinds of intrigue to look for in a series that could have some legs.

Of course for the Lakers, it stops and starts with Bryant, who is as comfortable setting up teammates and acting as a decoy (as he said he did in pivotal Game 5 of the West final) as he is getting his 35 points a night. But it’s time for the best players to be the best players and you know he’s uber-bitter about the way last year’s trip to the Finals turned out.

Los Angeles is going to need something – anything – consistently out of Lamar Odom, who can present as many matchup problems for the Magic as Orlando’s Hedo Tukoglu and Rashard Lewis do for the Lakers. Trouble is, the uniquely-talented Odom disappears for long stretches, and that usually coincides with games disappearing for the Lakers.

One hunch: Andrew Bynum will have two fouls in the first three minutes of at least four games. He’ll try to muscle Dwight Howard and fail miserably.

Pau Gasol-Lewis is the best matchup of the series, in one man’s opinion. Is Gasol going to defend out to the three-point line well? Is Lewis going to be able to handle Gasol in the low post? And if the Lakers go with Gasol and Odom, who does Howard check? Figuring that out is going to keep Stan Van Gundy up nights.

This sounds funny to devout Raptor fans with long memories but one of the huge keys for the Magic is the shooting of Rafer Alston. He’s going to get his shots – every team in the league seems to double off him and go under high screens – and when he makes them, it opens the floor for everyone else. I presume Sam Mitchell won’t be sitting at home smiling every time Skip drills a three.

Mickeal Pietrus does not start for the Magic but you can be sure he’ll finish. He’s got the best chance to try and even slow Bryant down; there is no way Orlando can live with Courtney Lee guarding Bryant, he’s too small and too inexperienced. At least Pietrus has some length.

This is a perfect example of a series between teams built around multi-faceted, multi-position players. Which is going to make matchups interesting and the games fun, we can hope.

What won’t happen

No formal attire for Stan Van Gundy.

What will happen

There’s just something about the Magic. They have met every challenge – and Boston and Cleveland were substantial hurdles – because they just keep doing what they do. Shoot threes and create matchup problems.

Orlando in seven.

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A couple quick hits on some other stuff.

I’m sure you’ve all read the Alvin Williams story today?

And I’m sure you all know that I think this is a good idea and if you don’t, here’s why:

The one thing the Raptors don’t have is any sense of tradition. There are no old Raptors still in the fold – hell, Alvin played here in 2006 and the only guys left from that team are Bosh, Calderon and, maybe Joey – and welcoming one back can’t hurt.

Two, he’s a good basketball mind and the more of those you have, the better. When he played, he “thought” the game as much as played it and if he can impart some of that knowledge to guys like Jose and Roko and whatever rookies they bring in, it has to help.

Third, if players want to whine during the season – and, trust me, they do – I think they’ll find it easier to whine to a young coach two years removed from the game than anybody else. Don’t diminish the need for a sounding board.

Anyway, from conversations I’ve had with a few people who’d know, I expect an announcement Thursday or Friday.

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Another Raptor-related item.

Yes, they have kids scheduled to work out here on Thursday and Friday.

No, they are not 100 per cent sure just yet who they will be.

No, they haven't finalized any kind of pecking order for the draft, according to people I've spoken to.

Yes, I'll try to find that out in the next few days but it's always, always, always a fluid situation and the guy who may be the apple of their eye today could be an afterthought tomorrow. Because they are so far down the draft order, it's more a matter of trying to figure out what people ahead of them will do more than anything.

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I’m also sure you all went here yesterday hoping to find out that Bosh was going to profess his undying love for all things Raptors and was going to commit to the team for the rest of his born days.

Um, not so much.

But this DVD-CD thing’s kind of cool, no? A nice way to branch out for a kid who likes to push the envelope and try different things. I have no idea if it’ll be funny, and I’m pretty sure I won’t quite “get” the music on the CD but what the heck, why wouldn’t a 25-year-old kid try something new.

And don’t worry, I’m assured by people who know him and work with him that he’s still going to get his time in in the gym working on his game and his body. It’s not like he’s going to get fat and slovenly because he’s doing some video comedy work.

Besides, who among us works 24/7/365? Don’t we all need hobbies and a break every now and then?

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Oh yeah, we’re trying to work out some live chat thing for Thursday afternoon to discuss that night’s opening game of the finals. Figure noon here, 9 a.m. out west, might be a good time? Get your questions ready now.

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If you’re going to the ball game tonight, get there on time if you want to see a lanky righty throw out the first pitch. Dude at one time was a heckuva first basemen, as I recall, but decided playing and coaching basketball might be a better way to utilize his skills.

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All right, time to pack, clean up some stuff around the house before Toronto-Minneapolis-L.A. journey that’s got a lot of Lewis and Clark in it. The next transmission comes from L.A., where we’re staying in Hollywood and I figure I'm headed to Schwab's Drugstore to get “discovered” while out on a starlet search.

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First, the mail; later, maybe news

This is a bit of an easy way out this morning; clearing up the mail through the weekend while I try to figure out some way to pick a Finals winner and do a good setup piece.

Besides, Chris Bosh is supposed to have some “big announcement” on his website today (it’s quite doubtful that it’ll have anything significant to do with his future) so I presume I’ll be back here sometime to talk about it.

So, for now, digest these and we’ll speak again.

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Q: Doug - Do us a "thought experiment": Playoff games are different. What does it take to win them? Let's assume - bear with me - our Raps improve to the point that we are in Conference finals next year, 1) What would we STILL need to do to win games such as the ones we are now witnessing? 2) Is there ANOTHER WAY win playoff games at this level in this league other than SLOWER? THUGGISH? FREE THROWS? ONE ALL STAR GUY AGAINST THE OTHER TEAM?

Charles N, Toronto

A: I guess the one thing it takes, almost more than anything else, is concentration. Intense concentration on each possession. That’s knowing your opponent and what he might do on offence; knowing your teammates and what they might do and then playing accordingly.

What do the Raptors need? Well, they need to get back in the playoffs and then have a sound game plan and the mental tenacity to perform well there. Can it be a learned behaviour? I think it can, with some experience.

And I think we’ve seen there is another way to advance all the way than slow, thuggish play. True teamwork, like we saw from both the Lakers and Magic; the best players being the best players, like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, is a must; and the other players have to play at a consistently high level, which we saw late in both those series from the “other” Orlando and Los Angeles players.

I don’t think many would equate slow and thuggish with either of the two teams playing for the championship, which is a very good thing, in my opinion.

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Q: Nice new pic! How old was the previous one? Quick question: Any chance to see any game start before 8 pm ET before the end of the season? It’s kinda tough to be up at 2 a.m. every night :) Keep up the good work.

Matthieu B, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland

A: Sorry, but it’s going to be late nights or early mornings for you, I fear. The Thursday, Tuesday games will start at 9 p.m. and, in a very minor concession to east coasters or Europeans, the two Sunday games (Games 2 and 5, if necessary) will start at 8 p.m.

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Q: Hi Doug, Anderson (Birdman) has achieved cult like status in LA, a lot like JYD did here when in Toronto. Who else is there around the league that could fit that status and why?

Steph R, Glencoe

A: There really aren’t that many, actually. Because there are so few with an act quite as emphatic as Andersen’s, or a look that’s so unique.

I guess maybe you could put Nate Robinson in the discussion but there are probably isn’t anyone else. At least that comes quickly to this mind.

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Q: In basketball the home team usually wears white, it's the opposite in hockey. A good argument for the way it is in hockey is that the home team gets to wear the team colours. Can you think of an argument for the way it is in basketball? After seeing it for so many years it seems natural but I can't really think of a good argument for it being that way.

David S, Toronto

A: Because basketball’s better? I honestly don’t know, but you are seeing home teams wear third jersey or colours more often in this day and age. And it wasn’t always like that in hockey, either. In the nether regions of my mind, I recall a time when home teams wore white.

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Q: Hi Doug, I wonder if you could please explain the difference between a restricted free agent and an unrestricted free agent? Thanks for the blog; I enjoy reading every day.

John C, Saskatoon

A: There are two rather simple ways to explain it.

The first, of course, is that teams have the right to match any offer a restricted free agent gets and keep them for the terms of that deal.

Restricted free agency is actually rare, comparatively. First-round draft picks on rookie scale contracts become restricted if their team doesn’t exercise its option on the fifth year of that contract. Any veteran free agent who’s been in the league for three or fewer seasons is also a restricted free agent.

Everyone else is unrestricted when the terms of their contracts expire.