Seriously, there's a little bit of news in here today

Man, a guy gets invited to a little Canada Basketball reception at a cool downtown saloon and all kinds of nuggets drop his way.

Maybe nothing earth-shattering but given the dearth of news around these parts for the last couple of days, this is a treasure trove of information you’re not going to get anywhere else.

To wit:

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It’s going to be a rather boring season on RaptorsTV this year; or so I’m hearing from a variety of insiders.

If you’re a fan of Double Dribble (kind of PTI Lite), or Full Court Press (formerly known as the Norma Wick Goodtime Hour until they tinkered with the format and whacked guys like, well, guys like me) or the TV simulcast of the H oops radio show (kind of like McCown with a single focus), you’re in deep doo-doo.

All three are getting the axe, the spies report, in what has to be a cost-cutting measure. No idea what they’ll be replaced with but whatever it is will come from the vault or NBA-TV, not from some self-produced Raptors-specific programming.

Kinda sucks, doesn’t it? Not that I watched those shows religiously, or even agnostically, but someone had to and that’s two hours a week of Raptors programming gone out the window.

Oh, one more, now that I think of it.

Word circulating around the bar equivalent of the water cooler last night was that the pre- and post-game Raptor game-night shows are being cut back from 60 minutes to half an hour.

Anyway, you wanted some dribs and drabs of news, you got ‘em.

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Another accomplishment for the young Canadian programs at the international level.

The under-16 girls, Cadettes in the parlance of FIBA, knocked off Argentina last night down in Mexico and have qualified for the world championships next year.

They get a shot at the Americans tonight for gold at the tournament but have already joined the Cadet men (like how FIBA does the politically-correct spelling thingy?) in getting to the inaugural worlds next summer.

So, two teams have qualified, the under-19 women were fourth in the world and the under-19 men were seventh.

Over to you, senior teams. Let’s see if you can match the success of the youngsters.

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Oh yeah, when I was at this men’s team bun-toss last night (and I can highly recommend St. Louis Bar and Grill on King Street by the King Eddy as a nice place to hang your hat and meet nice people), of course some of the chatter got around to the games in Italy and that minor fracas in the last game.

No one was at all worked up about it; they felt as I did that, as international incidents go, it was tres minor and, trust me, there are guys on the team who figure they gave as good as they got before, during and after the melee.

And in a crowd that included a few oldsters like myself, most of the talk about Italy was in comparison to a little dustup way back in 2000 in Montreal. On their way to the Sydney Olympics, or maybe it was before the qualifier (the mind’s sharp but it has its dull spots), Canada hosted Brazil in a “friendly” at the arena by the Big Owe that included a helluva argument replete with tossed chairs and much, much menacing behaviour.

That was relatively serious; the one in Italy, all concur, was really nothing.

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Oh, no.

The dream dies for the Lions.

Maybe 2014 in Spain.

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Speaking of old friends, I hear Garbo’s blowing off Khimki this coming season and signing back in his homeland with Real Madrid.

No word on the money or the years but it’s a good move; I always thought Garbo was far more Spain than he was Russia.

And, no, there is no chance – zero, nada, zip, ain’t gonna happen – that he could come back here.

Please. That ship has sailed.

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In the time it took me to type those last three items, Quentin Richardson had not been traded.

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So, the Raptors play four pre-season games here, trips to London, Minneapolis, Sioux Falls and Hartford and I’m thinking, how boring is this?

One thing, though, and it seems to be a tradition over at the Air Canada Centre.

Somehow, they’ve once again scheduled a home exhibition game on Thanksgiving Sunday, this time an afternoon affair Oct. 11 against Washington. I know they have to jam four home games into a relatively short period but don’t you think they could take the Canadian sensitivities into consideration and have the one holiday off?

Noooooo.

So, with that rather humdrum pre-season sked this year, I’m hoping next year they really take care of us.

I’m voting for a game in London (the big one, over the ocean) and then a quick side trip to Turkey to play in front of Hedo’s peeps. Whaddya say, Bryan, can you make that work? And if you wanted to get us back to Spain, I’m all for that, too.

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Oh yeah, back to that Canada trip to Italy and the fallout.

How’s this:

I’m told both Jesse Young, who apparently played his head off over there; and Aaron Doornekamp both came away from the exhibition tour with contracts in the top Italian league for this coming season.

And that’s one of the huge benefits for getting the national team out there on the road, where scouts and other coaches and other teams can see these guys. Finding a good-paying gig in a good league in Europe isn’t easy, but it’s huge for the development of the Canadian players and there’s no doubt in my mind that these two guys wouldn’t be getting the deals they got had Basketball Canada not found some way to get the money to send the team on that trip.

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All right, we’ll stop back sometime on the weekend with a mailbag. Not sure when since there’s a Mighty Yankees playoff game at the gawdawful hour of 10 a.m. Saturday and then a Stumpy Turns Half A Century fete Saturday night at this joint I know downtown, but we’ll get to it sometime.

Have a nice weekend.

Comments

[Conas Allen]

I pay for Raptors NBATV as an added channel to my regular HD cable bundle. Let's do the math on this:

1. They are cutting the 3 best Raps related shows on the channel, being Hoops, Double Dribble, and Full Court press (it's bad enough I have to fast forward Primetime Sports twice a day hunting for Raps talk in the summer but I can't do it year round)

2. They offer VERY little in way of live Raps games, and when they do they are usually simu-casted on another channel with HD (so why would I ever watch one of their crappy quality games)

3. They are cutting the on-air time of the pre and post game (which is the least of these evils as last year I had a hard time committing to watching the full game most nights due to pure frustration and the ulcers they were giving me)

Raps NBA TV is a mess. They need to rename it "NBA Classics TV plus crap-tacular NBAXL" (and on a side note, they play too many classic Bulls games and not enough pre-Wince Raps games and late 80's Pistons games!!!

[Robbo]

Hey Doug,

I love the tidbit on the national teamers signing in Italy (I know Jesse Young has that Irish passport, which always helps). I would love if you kept those coming once in a while on the odd slow news day as such info can be hard to come by for us common folk.

Super Son + a Star-funded Eurobasket account (I can't afford the daily $0.34 myself) sounds like a 12 year old's ideal after school project/first job to me. :)

Thanks.

[Vincent Lam]

It's sad that Hoops has been cancelled. I'm sure the cost of producing the show could not be very high. I hope it's still on the Fan.

There's a good article about doping in the NBA and sports in general by your friend Bea Arthur. Even everyone's favourite sports guy has a tweet about it.

[John]

That really sucks about hoops, i happened to watch that often. I really enjoyed watching it on TV, but for some reason I cant see myself sitting next to a radio and listening to the program. Shame it had to go.

[JM]

Last year MLSE turned Leafs TV into one long infomercial and it looks like they are going the same route with Raptors TV. Not sure how you grow the game if you are killing a show like Hoops. If you complain here make sure you also contact MLSE. Next step Bob McGill hosting the Raps pre-game. I kid, sort of.

[Jack]

You can't fault Rogers for charging you extra for things you got for free before. They have to raise money to pay Vernon Wells and the departed B.J. Ryan. And of course, Ricciardi. Rogers' management realizes that the fans will not be flocking to see the Blue Jays anymore since they have already given up on the season, so they have to find money somewhere. So even if you don't go to the games anymore, they'll find a way to ding you.

[Jeff Steele]

Wow, I'm shocked at the number of people that are complaining about the loss of those low budget hoops shows. I'm actually happy to hear they will be cut as I never was able to sit through an entire episode without losing interest within a few minutes.

Here in Victoria BC it only costs $2 a month for RapsTV and it shows tons of regular season games in addition to Raptor games that you can't watch on any other channels. Now there will be more time slots for those non-Raptor games now which is a good thing in my opinion.

I'm also glad to hear the pre and post game shows have been cut back to half an hour. That was pretty painful trying to watch Matt, Jack and Leo shoot around the ol' bull for a full hour before and after each game with so little to talk about. You have to draw a line at the amount of analysis that goes into each game and I think they are heading in the right direction with these changes.

As for NBA XL I'm a little confused why that show is still around...

It would be nice if they cut that show and added more shows which feature those clips you can watch from nba.com showing profiles of individual players and their offseason workouts and routines. I just watched Dwight Howard's new one yesterday and it was outstanding (from a personal trainer's perspective at least). Here's the link if anyone's interested in getting a "Superman" physique:

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/08/12/nba_20090812_orl_howard_workout_final.nba/

Also, check out this Rookie survey which feature Demar as the most athletic, even ahead of Blake Griffin:

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/08/14/rookiesurvey/index.html

[aditya]

keith bogans....possibility for backup 3....

[sg60]

Is there really any point in watching Raptors TV other than if they're broadcasting a game? They really annoyed me when they cut Norma Wick. I thought she did a really good job. She understood the game, was a capable on-air host and helped make Full Court Press relatively interesting. Last year's version of Full Court Press was nothing short of awful. Whoever runs this network doesn't seem to have a clue.

[kazbid]

is the tsn2 fiasco going to continue next year?

Blogger's note: Ah, it was resolved

[Matthieu]

Sorry for the Lions, but for the anecdot, I'd mention that Ivory Coast is coached by a Swiss guy who is also coaching the French club of Dijon in France.
The guy started coaching in Switzerland and took a small-town club from a minor league all up to the title of Swiss champion (yeah, not that impressive I know) in a few years. Lets see what he's going to achieve with Ivory Coast...

[bajoje]

Hey Doug. Looks like Italy lost to France today (doesn't look like Bargs played too well, 5 pts & 5 boards). Does that mean that Bargnani & Belinelli are finished playing with the Italian national team for the summer?

Blogger's note: I believe they may have one, meaningless, game remaining in the qualifying round but that'll be it

[sean]

Doug just out of curiosity any idea what Norma Wick is doing these days?

Blogger's note: Teaching

[Joe]

Doug,

1. Is Garbo fully recovered from that devastating injury he suffered in 2007? Is there any possibility that he'll return to the NBA with some team?

2. Will Hoops still be on the Fan 590?

3. Bargnani not looking good playing for Italy. I'm seeing a pattern here. He played for the national team in the summer of 2007 and had a bad year. Went to "summer school" in the summer of 2008 and had a good year with the Raps. I hope history doesn't repeat itself and we see another off year in 2009-2010.

Blogger's note: Yes, no, yes

[Daniel K.]

Dang. Sad news about Raptors TV.

Doug, do you know if the Raptors division of MLSE is turning a profit? Do you know how much in the black or red they are in? They are private company so these numbers aren't really readily available but maybe you heard something.

Blogger's note: No idea

[James Benson]

Say it aint so...
Honestly, who is making these Raps TV decisions?? If the team is successful people WILL watch. They must be basing on viewers but not correct data given the poor performance of the team. If it was up to me (sadly.. not) I'd chop NBA XL but keep Hoops and the full hour of post game. Is there a petition I can sign!!

[Carlton]

Would the raptors bring back Jermaine O'neal for the midlevel after this coming season?

Blogger's note: No

[Gary]

NBA XL was a pretty bad show... it started out good with cabbie hosting it... and the merchandise advertisement was kept to a minimum... now you have a dude and a girl who talk about shoes... SHOES!!!

[aditya]

blue jays have 3 of the 11 worse contracts in the MLB....
#1 - vernon wells
#7 - alex rios (traded)
#11 - bj ryan (released, not even a buyout)
FIRE JP

[aditya]

maurice cheeks as an assistant in oklahoma city?!!! shocker

joe smith to atlanta....

[dp]

hey Doug

mock trade scenarios is not your thing but what about rHq

random Hypothetical question:

Do you see Bargnani shooting for 20+ pts on a regular nightly basis and even hitting the 45-55 pt mark 1nce, twice, thrice or more at home or on the road?

Or is Bosh the one we'll see doing the above

rhq:
( i guess when you get a chance to next see them )
How's Jose's concentration? I'm mean, it's excellent i know but could it be better than last season? He crushed the FT% record last time out - by i think almost 2%.

Blogger's note: Couldn't even guess right now

[a]

Good, I'd rather see the NBA TV programing than the Original Raptors programming. I'd prefer to watch NBA Stories, Hardwood Classics or All Access. Can they please cancel Raptors Heartbeat too? I'm all for players helping in the community, but I don't get why anyone would want to sit down and watch it for 30 minutes.

[Mr. Cook]

As to the profit margin question above, there haven't been any internal documents that have come to light in a long time, in fact it was last reported on by the Star.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/271086

This was pre-recession of course so curve your figures accordingly, but I can't imagine that MLSE has a cash-flow problem. The Raptors division must hover near the black mark at the very least or MLSE would divest itself of it eventually. They're all about making money.