A rather quiet morning, again

Well, that was entirely uneventful.

Which, I guess, is good. For some.

The last thing anyone with a vested interest in a training camp wants – and by that I mean bosses, coaches and players – are, um, issues.

They want to get their work in, to stay healthy, to learn a little bit and, frankly, to get through it with little fuss.

So far, so good.

At least for them.

For us? Not so much. If you’re looking for any semblance of hard news, I guess the only thing noteworthy today is that when we were let into the gym, we were greeted by the sight of Hedo Turkoglu getting up some shots dressed in uniform like the rest of ‘em.

(Well, not exactly a uniform, the shooting shirt and shorts everyone else had on).

I’m told he did a little bit of work, and Bosh got up some shots, too. But in a very, very relaxed manner.

Other than that? This morning was dedicated to drills and non-contact stuff.

They did start putting in rudimentary parts of their offence but spent a lot of time on defence – again – and some shooting drills.

Snore.

But that’s a lot of what training camp is. A bit of drudgery interspersed with some actual work and if you get to a player off the record, they’ll say pretty much the same thing.

Camp is something endure more than it’s something to enjoy.

-

Tomorrow’s going to be DeMar DeRozan Day in the local fishwraps and on the local broadcasts back home.

Nothing horribly newsy, that’s for sure.

He is spending an inordinate amount of time working on his jumper, which is the one part of his game that could use some work.

Not surprisingly, Jay was pretty effusive in his praise of the rook. Jay also touched on the whole “does DeRozan start?” thing and while it sounds like it’s still the plan, it’s not cast in stone.

I presume this is as much the politically correct answer as anything but here’s the coach on the rookie’s chances of beginning the season as a starter:

“I’m not going to give it to him. In an ideal world, I’d like to start him to give him minutes and let him grow as a player with the starting unit but not at the expense of someone who out-works him throughout this training camp and the pre-season.”

Anyway, you’ll get lots more DeMar in the paper in the morning, and on the site overnight. That’s just a wee taste.

-

That’s it for now, think it’s time for a walk around the market, perchance some lunch and then back to typing.

It’s a glamorous life, indeed.

Comments

[Jordan]

Was Jay hinting that Bellinelli was out working DeRozan, or am I reading too much into it? I thought Jay's rhetoric on DeRozan starting used to be much stronger.

Blogger's note: I think you're reading too much into it.

[LeeZ]

"With the NBA fearful of the damage an H1N1 flu outbreak could create on the league, the league office has passed down an anti-handshake directive. Players and coaches have been asked to greet each other via more sanitary means of contact, such as fist pounding." Does this extend to beat grunts as well? For example, will the first lady of the beat be forced to eschew air kissing? And does this mean we won't see you hugging your interview subjects anymore? Doug, better work on that fist pump. As a middle-aged white dude, you're already at a marked disadvantage...

[cheese]

Doug, if you can find a taxi that is prompt, knows where it is going and is not talking on his cellphone in Ottawa you are a better man than me. I lived there 7 years (been in TO for a year now) and nothing infuriated me more than the absolute (and often willful) incompetence of Ottawa taxis. End of digression.

Glad to hear no issues so far.

[Aditya]

oh man funniest thing happened in the demar derozan's interview on raptors.com...as the interview is headed to an end, sonny weems comes over (yes he looks like joey g) and says "beyonce had one of the best videos of all time"

hilarious...watch on raptors.com

[Kevin A.]

Related to your last entry:

Atta boy, Roy.

[Joe]

Doug,
Thanks for the info on DeRozan. When all is said and done, I think he'll be one of the better players to come out of the 2009 draft along with Griffin and Evans. Watching his summer league highlights, he reminds me a bit of our old friend, Vince Carter. I also like the fact that he's very confident. In about 2-3 years time, he'll take off. For this year, just let the kid learn the game.

[Jag (Waterloo)]

I am regular reader of your blog, but first time sending message. Just wondering how Antoine Wright is doing, I heard alot of good things about his defense. But never saw him on camera about his reaction about Toronto roster and how is liking to be here in TO. How is he fitting with rest of the team. Is he not really into facing camera or what.

Blogger's note: He's doing fine, good kid, fits in well, will write more about him on the weekend

[Eric]

The feeling around the team feels an awful lot like 06/07, don't it? So many new faces, Raptors TV goes crazy, laughing having a good time everything's just perfect!

I remember the same thing back then. Fred Jones and TJ Ford in the weight room clowning around. Smitch punking Mo Pete and Joey cos everyone else was new and he wasn't comfortable with them yet. No pressure on anyone because they hadn't failed (or succeeded) yet as a team.

It's up to the leaders to make sure they don't hit the same wall again. I sure hope Bosh learned something about that! But I'm not holding my breth.

I am glad Triano's getting his first camp. Good guy there. No excuses!