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.

Of defence, dinner and no talking in school

Man, these two-a-days (files, not practices) can tire a guy out.

And make a fella go deep, deep into the mind and the notebook to come up with moderately interesting items.

Like these:

-

The defensive buzzwords this year?

Shrink and contain.

Talking to Marc and Jay yesterday about basic defensive philosophy and that’s pretty much what it comes down to.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Raptors get started at training camp on Tuesday.

Shrink the court, contain guys on the perimeter.

Sprint back to elbows and boxes and make sure the rim’s protected.

It’s not rocket science, which I guess is why I was able to understand it, but it’s something that’s going to be hammered home incessantly every practice.

It’s a style that lots of teams use and its lineage to here traces back to Pat Riley, as a matter of fact.

It’s something Marc used to drill when he was with Riley and the Heat, it’s the same style KO used when he was in Toronto (and if nothing else, that team wasn’t too bad defensively) and Jay liked it then and likes it now.

With the size of the Raptors – and going with 6-3 Jose, 6-7 DeRozan, 6-10 Turk, 7-0 Bargnani and 6-11 Bosh makes this team as big as any starting unit in the league just about – it probably had a chance to work quite well. Put those five guys on the boxes and the elbows and there’s not going to be a lot of room.

And they should also be long enough to get out into the corners in a couple of steps to contest shots.

Now, all they had to do is do it well and they’ve got something. Whether they can or not is something we’ll see as the games start.

-

Did something last night I don’t remember ever doing before.

Sitting at dinner with a gaggle of grunts, had to ask a server to change over one of the many televisions from something (it was Canadian sports television, it was likely poker) to the WNBA final.

Glad I did.

Heckuva game, no?

Mercury in OT, in case you weren’t watching.

-

I’m sure you saw Chris Young’s piece on tweeting and twittering and whatever else you have.

He’s got the Raptors rules in there and there’s something else, too.

No Blackerry or cell phone use in the gym.

For everyone. Like presidents and general managers and reporters and anyone who’s in the gym.

Yes, you can have them, no you can’t use them. You can look at ‘em but if you want to use ‘em, you have to leave.

Trust me, the GM likes to use his Blackberry every now and then so I have a feeling he’s going to feel it even more than we do.

The way Jay sees it – and it’s his rule – if you’re in watching practice, you’re watching practice.

It’s a respect thing.

A cellphone-in-the-locker room story:

It’s post-game one night a few years ago and we’re all standing around waiting getting ready to interview Antonio Davis, a group that has to be 12 or 15 of us, all close to or on deadline, and just when the questioning begins, a guy’s cellphone goes off; it’s got the Elephant Walk as its ring tone and it’s a wee bit loud so you can’t miss it.

The guy (hi, Stumpy!) looks a bit sheepish and he’s going to ignore it so we can get on with our jobs, which is the right thing to do.

Oh, no, says AD. Tells the guy to take the call and he’ll wait to start his scrum. Deadline writers unimpressed.

Call’s from an off-spring and we get to listen to dad talk to daughter for a minute or so.

Very sweet.

Call done, interview commences.

-

Thanks to all who suggested Pub Italia here in Bytown.

Stopped by for a wee bit on my own last night to check it out, had a fine Pedavena, a Krombacher and a Czechvar, all quite tasty, and some mussels done in Sambuca with pancetta and fennel.

Good call, folks.

Much appreciated.

-

Digression to another sport:

As we’re watching Tammy against Diana, the big Tiger fan at the next table to us makes sure we know not only that Detroit got a much-needed split but he tells us to make sure to check out the Jays screen ‘cause Lind has three homers and has an at-bat coming in the ninth.

So we do and when Lind gets drilled, we’re riveted for a while because Surely To All That’s Good In The World whoever pitches the ninth for the Jays is going to throw the first pitch under someone’s chin and we might see one of those baseball brouhahas.

But, nooooooo.

First pitch is a fastball away, the next one’s the same and I’m thinking, “wow, what kind of teammate is that?”

-

Back to the Raptors for a second, if you don’t mind.

Lots of people want to know how these guys spend their time when they’re not in the gym.

A bit of it these days up here is spent in the classroom.

Seriously.

Jay’s started something new for this team: Before every practice, they get together for 15 minutes, maybe half an hour, maybe longer to sit in a classroom set up and go over stuff.

It’s teaching and talking, about philosophy, systems, how practice went, whatever he wants.

The thing is that it’s more formal than usual.

Jay’s got the room set up with seats in a row, like a class, there’s a whiteboard for showing plays and the like.

It’s something he picked up from Coach K and the USA Olympic team the past few summers and something he thinks works pretty well.

“Some guys don’t pick it up on the floor, they need to see it on the board.”

-

I am a fan of Ottawa, it’s a nice city of good people but, really, you folks here gotta do something about the cabs.

Long waits seem to be the norm, they seem quite hard to find and, yes, I know Preston’s being ripped up for construction but the dude who tried to take me to Pub Italia last night couldn’t find it with a search warrant.

Took the guy in the back seat to spot a sign.

(Lots of digression today, no?)

-

In the bit of the scrimmage we got to see yesterday morning, it was Reggie Evans and Antoine Wright who filled in on the nominal first unit with Jose, DeRozan and Bargnani.

Not that it means anything, but I’m sure people want to know.

They're off and playing

The early dispatches, or A Lot Of What We Expected

-

The first glimpse we got of Hedo Turkoglu and Chris Bosh at Raptors camp today was them walking from the gym to get some treatment – much to the glee of the folks gathered in the hallway and at least a little to the dismay of the team.

Neither guy, as expected, did anything during a morning session split about equally between drills and scrimmages.

Bosh, with the hamstring, isn’t going to do anything all week; Turkoglu, with some fatigue and a sore knee, might get on the court later on.

Jay’s not ready to completely count him out:

“He’s going to work with Cuzo and Jonny and Scott to make sure he rehabs his knee as well as gets to a point where he can be at 100 per cent. There’s no point beating him down in October after the summer he’s had.

“I don’t know if I can say the whole week but for the first part, he won’t practice.”

Cuz, Jonny and Scott being strength and conditioning coach Francesco Cuzzolin, assistant strength and conditioning coach Jon Lee and trainer Scott McCullough. They’ll be big this week.

-

Okay, so what did they do?

A little bit of video work in a room at the hotel, an hour or so of drills and then a scrimmage.

The scrimmage was a bit of a surprise.

Teams are only allowed “contact” work once a day and some teams like to do drills and the like in the morning and then let the players go at each other at night. Jay figured they were rarin’ to go so he let them go.

“We decided, the energy level coming in here was real high and we knew that’d be the case. Guys have been out for a long time, they’re anxious. We did a lot of teaching but we did a lot of playing.”

-

They are treating us like big timers this year at Carleton.

Instead of being curtained off in the hallway outside the gym, they’ve got us in a room upstairs that had coffee and donuts and good wireless access.

I apologize on behalf of all of us to the yoga students at Carleton, who probably didn’t know they’d be giving up their room the assembled media hordes.

Trust me, there will be no yoga done in there, we won’t ruin the karma.

Now, if we could just get the cab company better able to find our door instead of making a couple of us wait 40 minutes or so, we’d be all set.

-

Had a nice long chat with Marco Belinelli after practice – you’ll see the fruits of that labour in tomorrow’s paper and here early tomorrow morning – but suffice to say that he’s dang happy to be in Toronto instead of Golden State.

“It was tough for me before. I never played the first year, last year I was playing very good but there was an injury to my ankle so it was a so-so situation.

“But at the same time, I was practicing very hard to improve myself, to not lose my game. And I want to show it here.”

-

All right, that should get you through the afternoon, right?

Oh, and thanks a lot for all the suggestions for Ottawa; since I’ve only got a few nights (tonight, Thursday and Friday ‘cause Wednesday’s the annual Dinner With Bryan And The Henchmen) not sure I’ll get to ‘em all, but I’ll try.

Getting ready to get going for real

Welcome back, kids.

First day about to unfold after some leftovers from a rather uneventful media day.

We’re going to keep going with the usual pap and drivel here each morning but if you’ve got suggestions, I’ll be glad to listen to ‘em. Can’t promise we’ll implement any or all of them but, what the heck, may as well hear what the people want.

-

What did we learn yesterday?

Not a whole lot, actually.

Bosh is noticeably bigger (the 20 pounds seem concentrated on his upper body and arms), Rasho’s waif (yes, you can be a 7-foot waif) and Hedo talks really, really slowly (which is good for those of us who have to take notes when he talks or transcribe tape of his conversations).

Other than that?

It was pretty much the same old, same old, which is kind of surprising given the number of new faces traipsing around the atrium eating hot dogs for part of the afternoon.

-

The quote that could come back to haunt. It’s Bryan’s:

“Are (we) shooting for a target of 50 (wins)? Yeah, I think that’s what we should be realistically looking at.”

Now, it’s not like a bold prediction or a guarantee or anything but, frankly, I’m fine with it and I think others should be, too.

There’s no problem with setting a bar high and putting some pressure on some people. I’d much rather have a coach or a player or a general manager say something worthwhile instead of the usual drivel about working hard, coming together and seeing what happens.

Is 50 realistic? Well, no one knows but it’s a nice round number to shoot for. So why not say it? We chastise people for saying nothing far too often, we should welcome it when something’s uttered that’s got some juice to it.

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR

Which one's Abbott?

-

It appears the Rowan and Martin or Martin and Lewis or Abbott and Costello of this collection of Raptors may be the old college buddies.

Jarrett Jack on Chris Bosh’s dreadlocks:

“The next order of business is to get him to cut them off.”

Chris Bosh on Jarrett Jack’s high comedy:

“It’s just Jarrett being Jarrett. He’s just mad because he can’t grow hair.”

Hey, I didn’t say it was knee-slapping funny.

-

I’m asking the coaching staff who they think the surprise of the pre-season is going to be, the guy who impresses and makes people sit up and take notice.

The consensus?

Marco Belinelli, in a tight race over Reggie Evans.

Each brings something this team needed.

The word is Belinelli’s got a flare for the game, just a style that excites.

Evans? He’s as tough as a $2 steak. And tough is not something this team had in abundance last year. Or the year before. Or the year before. Or the year before, now that I think of it.

-

If that under-construction ink on Chris Bosh’s back says I (Heart) New York, we’re in for a very long season.

-

Hey, Waterloo?

My abject apologies for that training camp faux pas yesterday.

Speaking of training camp in Waterloo (which is not Kitchener and should never be called Waterloo and I should be severely chastised for doing it) as part of our never-ending pursuit of trivial stories to pass on, we present: One Day At Raptors Camp, I

One thing we’re pretty good at as a group of making fun of each other, or whatever we want to mock, good naturedly, of course. And, of course, you get all kinds of media at these things that you might not see during the regular season.

So we’re sitting around the RIM Park place (it’s in Waterloo, dummy!) busting on each other and whatever, an old grunt who’s gone on to Hollywood fame and fortune comes back in from outside, where there’s a vehicle all decked out and painted with Raptors colours and logos.

It stands out, to say the least.

It is, good naturedly of course, a perfect target for cynical old goofs:

“Hey, Smith, is that your truck out there?”

Much laughter (the last thing any of us would do is show the colours, so to speak) until a voice comes from the media room.

“It’s mine.”

Seems the hard-working young fella (and a bit an over-exuberant member of the media, apparently) was sitting right across from us in the media room.

Sheepish look on older grunts.

-

What’s up today, you ask?

Two practices scheduled, 9-11 and 5-7 and a whole lot of teaching.

And that will include the two achy Raptors, Bosh and Turkoglu.

Bosh won’t do anything but he’ll be next to the court listening and, hopefully for them, learning, and if Turk only goes through one workout – which I believe will be the plan – he’s going to go through the one that’s instruction rather than scrimmages.

It’s not a perfect situation but, really, it’s not that big a deal if two guys don’t do both first-day workouts.

-

It was a rather uneventful train ride to Ottawa last night, even if the wireless kept going in and out, which made it quite difficult to keep up with comments, stories and, you know, the world.

And luckily nothing happened like last year when we were about at Coburg Cobourg (I flunked geography) when we got the news Nate Jawai had a wee ticker issue and was going to miss camp.

Guess that didn’t turn into a huge, long-term issue for the Raptors, did it? Here we are a mere year later and everyone’s forgotten about the young fella.

-

It was an eventful arrival, though, and pardon the digression into Doug World.

Arrive at less-than-ritzy Courtyard (one elevator of two out of commission, somewhat drab surroundings), get key, go to room in somewhat of a hurry because there are fellow grunts at some tiny place at Bay and Albert and we need to have a pre-camp meeting.

Put key in door, open it, see TV on, clothes on chair and then get greeted by a rather startled guest who, I have to say, had malice aforethought for the intruder.

Beat hasty retreat, apologizing as I go, return to desk, find out they gave me wrong key and think, ‘well, this pre-season’s off to a rousing start.’

Speaking of out, I keep hearing Pub Italia is a good spot? That true if a guy’s looking to hang sometime this week? The market, where I’m ensconced once again, is all right but it’s time to venture out in the city, I believe.

-

Speaking of Nate, I’m sure you’ve all heard he’s got a familiar face to hang around with down in Dallas?

The Mavs have signed Jake Voskuhl to a training camp contract. Not much of a chance Jake makes it, the Mavs have like 16 guys under contract already, but maybe someone sees him and offers him another one-year gig.

-

Five things you didn’t hear at any of the media days around the league yesterday:

“We’ve got no shot, I have no idea what we’re doing here.”

“Help the team whatever way I can? I’m here to help me whatever way I can.”

“Oh yeah, it’s a great city. Was probably in the top 15 on my list.”

“Sure, coach is a great guy. As long as I get my touches.”

“I got great teammates, just let me figure out what their names are.”

-

And away we go

Well, here we go.

This’ll be 14 of these media day things for yours truly – missed 2007 because we were in Italy waiting for the gang to arrive – and, yes, it does get old.

But it also is a bit like the first day of school and we all recall how much fun that was, right?

-

What, my friends ask, is Media Day really like?

Well, it’s busy but with a lot of standing around and waiting; everybody gets what they need – eventually.

It’s relatively informal, which is good, but it’s also crowded so getting one-on-one time isn’t going to happen.

It’s kind of a mishmash.

But the drill, if the methods of 14 previous years holds, is:

The player saunter in, get their pictures taken at half a dozen or so “stations” before running a gauntlet of media outlets where they do those “I’m So And So And You’re Watching Raptors Basketball On Whichever Of The Hundred Networks We’re On Tonight” promos.

They’re herded around the room (this year we’re in the fancy-schmancy new atrium instead of the practice gym/sweatbox) by a member of the staff and then we get ‘em, usually in rather unmanageable scrums wherever they break up.

But it’s after those scrums, when we’re standing around awkwardly wondering what to do, that you get to actually stop and say hello to a player or a coach or a member of the staff.

That’s the good part. You can get a bit more work done and catch up on the comings and goings of the summer and have a normal conversation.

Then we all head back to our little places to write, some of us hop a train to Ottawa and things get started in earnest tomorrow at Carleton.

-

And, finally …

ATLANTIC DIVISION

What happened

Well, nba.com is a bit slow off the mark, they seem to have missed a couple the Rasho and Belinelli transactions here but it’s the best I’ve got.

These guys, you know

Lots of stuff in our paper (like this from this morning) and on the site about the Raptors so we’ll leave them pretty much alone.

Suffice it to say that this is, on paper, as deep a team as they’ve ever had.

Look at the second five: Jack, Belinelli, Wright, Evans, Nesterovic. All starters at times last season.

Yes, it’s only on paper and rebounding and defence are an issue going in. But, still …

Wait ‘til next year.

So the Knicks are still planning to be big players in the 2010 free agency derby. Guess that’s good because I only see them being bit players in the NBA this season.

Lucky ticket buyers.

The knee’s the thing

Sure, Rasheed Wallace probably helps Boston a lot but I’m holding off on the Celtics until I see Kevin Garnett run. Yes, they are still good but Ray Allen’s not getting any younger, if you recall there were issues that arose about Rajon Rondo’s “coachability” in the summer and if Garnett’s not normal, neither are the Celtics.

Who’s the boss?

Philly was a feel-good story last year but I’m wondering how they’ll do without Andre Miller and no experienced replacement? Not well, I fear.

They’ll score and run and be quick. Will they win? Not enough.

Let the Nyet jokes begin

Yes, they still have Devin Harris and I really like Lopez but, seriously, in This Man’s East, you have to think the Nets are life and death for the post-season, don’t you? Somewhere, Kidd-Carter-Jefferson are collectively smiling. They got out when the getting was good.

You still here?

This could, now that I think of it, be the Under-the-Radar signing of the division, but yes, that’s Darko Milicic, third team in six years, with the Knicks. If he can’t play for Mike D’Antoni, he can’t play.

Which is probably what we’ll find out.

What will happen

Anyone’s guess after the Celtics – and that’s only if the Celtics don’t run into a rash of injuries. There’s no reason to think the Raptors don’t start the season as the second-best team in the division.

-

Okay, this may not be earth-shattering news, but when I was hanging out at the golf tournament, talk got around to the scrimmages that had been going on at the Air Canada Centre

And here’s unsolicited Bryan on Reggie Evans:

“I have to say, he’s going to be a difference-maker for this team.

“He looks like he’s in mid-season form … he had an impact immediately, he’s around the ball all the time, he came up with multiple rebounds that in the past we wouldn’t have had.

“He challenged Andrea when he was defending him to the extent that Andrea came back the second day much more prepared to go a little bit harder, to fight against that defensive pressure, that little inside force.

“If it’s any indication, he’s going to have a big impact both in practice and in game situations and we’ve got someone to turn to.”

Now, it would have been big news if Bryan ripped him or something but still …

-

Hey, this is pretty cool.

I’m sure you’ve all heard and read about the Canadian women making it to the world championships (if you missed it, go here to get all the details).

Am working on a story now for tomorrow that says this has been the greatest summer for Canada Basketball in, well, in ever, I’d suggest.

And I know a lot of you don’t know coach Allison McNeill or any of the women on the team but, trust me, this is a good thing happening to good people.

These folks go through a tough summer of travel – they’ve played in China, Cuba and B.C. before Brazil – with little or no fanfare and truly for the love of the game and their country.

No one’s out to assure themselves of a big bucks contract for the summer, there’s no media and no glamour.

They play for all the right reasons and it’s nice to see them rewarded.

-

List time

(Remember that?) Anyway, it being Training Camp Nostalgia time, I was trying to figure out how they’d rank – in order -- over the decade and a half I’ve been going.

This is totally subjective and has as much to do with how we were treated as anything but what the heck.

Treviso

The no-brainer of no-brainers. Great hotel (the front yard was a vineyard), excellent conditions (Il Ghirada’s gorgeous) and a half hour train ride from Venice.

Ottawa

Seriously. Good city, excellent gym, coffee place just down the hall. Only drawback? We worked behind a curtain in a hallway.

Kitchener

Lattes in the building, good ante room to set up in; minus for being stuck way out of town and having to commute.

Hamilton

Hotel, when we stayed, was attached to arena. And it was all new so everyone was excited. And, although I’m not sure this is good, Brendan Malone let us watch every minute of every practice.

Brock

Close to Niagara Falls, which was a big plus, but the work room was a storage closet.

Barrie

One year was enough. Guess it was a nod to The New VR or something but facilities were so-so and it’s hardly the garden spot of North America.

Buffalo

You ever spent time in downtown Buffalo in early October? Ugh.

Toronto

Training camp at home? Heresy.

-

Do yourself a favour if you’ve got time this week. I’m pretty sure RaptorsTV is going to pick up the WNBA Final – starts Tuesday in Phoenix – and I bet you’re surprised by the level of play if you tune in.

So tune in.

And, of course, watch local Tammy Sutton-Brown with the Fever, she was huge in a big Game 3 win over Detroit that got Indy to the final.

-

Let’s see: Men’s world championships in Turkey, about 10 days off and then the women’s world championships in Czech Republic?

Guess I’m going to have a busy summer next year, right boss?

Boss? You there? You reading this?

A hefty mailbag to end the off-season

All kinds of good stuff here, about the process and the people and the game. Have at it, folks, and then get some rest because tomorrow’s the big day.

-

Q: So, the players are all back in town and the serious workouts, drills, training begins. But I wonder, is there an equally arduous program of pre-season preparation for beat grunts? How do you know when you, too, are "season-ready"?

Lorie P, London

A: Like most finely-tuned, mentally-sharp professional athletes, we never really get out of shape. But we do spend part of the summer taking care of the aches and pains that built up over the last season, hangnails and headaches and the like.

Now, though, with camp approaching (and I think I speak for many of my colleagues) I find myself spending more time working on my skills and getting my mind in the right spot to face a long season.

I get in an individual workout once a day to stay sharp and I’m studying the playbook for the coming season, going over such things as new flight paths, hotel renovations and the latest in fermented energy drinks.

-

Q: Hey Doug, the blog is fantastic, I read it religiously. Just looking for a little insight into the mind of a basketball reporter. What makes a player great as they interact with the members of the media scrum? Who were/are the all-time Raptor greats with the media?

Andy F, Toronto

A: The three things I look for, personally, are honesty, insight and a willingness to answer questions win or lose.

Some of the greats? This list has been out there but it’d include Oak, probably Mo Pete, TJ used to stand and talk right away regardless of the outcome of the game or his role in it and Alvin Williams, when you got him to open up, was excellent.

Under-rated? Antonio Davis, who seldom blew us off and while he didn’t always say truly insightful things, Vince Carter talked every shootaround, post-game and off-day that we asked him to.

-

Q: Doug_Re: your comment about female role models in basketball. Absolutely in agreement here! I would like to add that women's basketball could provide a good role model for the boys and men, too. They play a sound fundamental game which can be very rewarding to do and to watch. I appreciate your coverage of it - do you think that the women's game can ever come to be fully appreciated?

Alfred D, St. John’s

A: No, I don’t think it can. There are pockets of fans but most basketball fans don’t appreciate a game played more slowly and below the rim. Too bad.

It’s not inferior, it’s just different and it can be embraced without having the spectacular athleticism we sometimes see in the men’s game.

-

Q: Hey Doug- here's one for the mailbag, more on the sports journalism side of things than the basketball.

Although I know there's not much hard news to report these days, I'm sometimes shocked at how rare a Raptors article is. Don't you get the freedom to try to go out and 'get' a story? Talk to a player, find an angle, say an update about a player's lifestyle at home in the off-season, etc? Is it your editors or you that gets to decide when a story like that should be in the paper? Do you often go to your editors with story ideas that they shoot down, or would they support whatever you proposed? Have you ever been encouraged to play up an angle that you didn't feel entirely comfortable writing about? Or chased a story despite being warned off it? Thanks for your insight!

Stephen M, Toronto

A: It's rare in the summer, which is actually a bit of August and September, because players are off and don't want to be bothered, a lot of us are off or doing something else to satisfy the bosses. That's why you don't see a lot of basketball -- anywhere -- for large chunks of the summer.

In my case, story ideas are often collaborative, I'll suggest a few, the bosses might suggest one but, often, they give me great latitude to come up with the right story each day. And that's the hardest part of the job sometimes, trying to find interesting pieces to tell well over the long haul of a season.

Encouraged to play up an angle? Not sure what that means but, yeah, over the course of a career I've had my share of chats with editors about substance and style and always work it out.

No sure what you mean by being "warned off" a story. Yeah, there have been people ticked about what I've written or questions I've asked or angles I've pursued but that doesn't mean you don't keep going.

-

Q: Thanks for the update on Joey. Seems like a nice guy.

ESPN has been giving Jose some fantasy love. Nice.

I read your benchmarks for success, what would you consider a failure (first month, must trade, season?) Not being a downer here, just curious for your view.

Bruce M, Winnipeg

A: This team will be measured by where it finishes at the end of the season and what it does in the playoffs.

Yes, there will be blips along the way, losing streaks and, I presume, streaks of poor play. But those will be meaningless until the entire season’s body of work is considered.

-

Q: Hi Doug, With all this pre-season talk, and the Raps hitting up Ottawa shortly, I was wondering if you've heard talk of the Raps coming to Montreal for a pre-season game. Yes, yes, I know that on a pucks level, Montreal is the enemy, but for Montrealers like me, the Raps are our team. I can only imagine that a pre-season game played here would help more to build the fan base.

Any chance the team could be up here for a visit in the next few years, or is the idea just too heretic?

Charlie D, Montreal

A: I would guess Montreal is on the list of cities in Canada they’d like to visit but I also imagine it’s quite far down the list. I’d say it’s behind Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa, probably Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton so I wouldn’t be waiting for a pre-season game in the near future.

Oh, and they need to go back to St. John’s first, too.

-

Q: Hey Doug, I read that Joey Graham signed a non-guaranteed contract. What does that actually mean "non-guaranteed"?

Keep up the good work and thanks!

Ryan M, Burlington

A: It means he has to make the team to get a contract; they tell him they’ll pay him “X” dollars if he makes it but if they cut him, there’s no financial obligation.

-

Q: With more all-star calibre talents on the starting 5, do you see Jay Triano trying to keep at least one of Jose, Hedo, Andrea or Chris always on the floor, especially with the second unit? Or is the second unit strong enough that would allow Jay Triano to rest all four at the same time?

Manny T, Toronto

A: I think he’d probably like to structure his usual rotation to have one of them on the floor but there will be nights with foul trouble and injuries where that’s not possible.

And given the second unit seems to be Jack, Belinelli, Wright, Evans and Nesterovic or perhaps Johnson depending on the opponent, I think they’d be okay going with that five for short stretches.

Of Bosh and that V. Carter fellow

Yeah, crazy late. Major issues with Your Friendly Internet-Cable-Phone Provider.

But we’re here. Finally.

-

How about that Bosh news, eh?

Kinda bites, given that this was going to be a pretty important training camp.

But what can you do?

Deal with it, I guess.

No, not deal him, as some more over-the-top people have suggested.

Deal with it by keeping him out for maybe a couple of weeks, letting him get treatment and rest and then walking him back into things somewhere around the middle of the pre-season.

It’s not like there isn’t some time until things get going for real, the opener’s not for another month and, I’m told, Bosh is as good shape now as he’s ever been. Shouldn’t take him all that long to get back up to speed once he’s able to go.

There was a bit of disappointment in the voices of people I talked to at the golfing extravaganza yesterday. But they’ll get over it.

-

Second-to-last one here

SOUTHEAST DIVISION

What happened

Here’s the nba.com rundown of movements to and fro.

Is Zero a plus?

Yes, Gilbert Arenas says he’s healthy; yes, he should be back dominating the ball in Washington; yes, he is likely to make things interesting for people who follow him with his penchant, much appreciated, for saying what he thinks.

But are the Wizards better with him? I honestly don’t know.

One thing I do know is that Flip Saunders is a pretty good offensive coach, if anyone can figure out how to mesh Gil with all those other scorers, he might be able to do it.

Good luck to him.

Under the radar

I’m going with Brandon Bass in Orlando, actually. I kind of liked his game last year and think he might bring something that was missing to the Magic second unit.

Is this a fit?

Is Jamal Crawford destined to be a guy who puts up big numbers on bad teams and little more?

I like his game a bit, he’s certainly not shy about trying to “announce his presence with authority” once he gets on the court but that’s a pretty set pecking order down in Atlanta and I wonder if he’ll disrupt it.

A note of thanks

Is what every Raptors fan should give to Orlando GM Otis Smith for helping facilitate that four-team, double sign-and-trade transaction in the summer.

Oh yeah, he’s there, too

I have a feeling we’re going to see a monster year from ol’ No. 15. Really.

With Dwight Howard there, and Rashard Lewis, he can slide somewhat into the background and that’s where he can kill you.

There’s no denying he’s still got the skills, now he’s got some motivation and, in my opinion, the best team he’s ever been on and a coach who can be tough enough to challenge him.

I know it won’t sit well in these parts but watch out, he could be great. <p>Wait ‘til next year

Check out those Heat transactions and tell me that’s a playoff team. No way. Not now. Maybe next year.

What will happen?

Two teams that are going to be right in the thick of the 4-8 race with Toronto – Atlanta and Washington – reside in this division. That’s going to make it worth everyone’s while to pay close attention.

I wish I had a good crystal ball but let’s just say today I like the Raptors are much as I like the Wizards and Hawks.

-

If Bosh rolls an ankle in February, I don’t want to hear it has to do with his hammy, okay?

-

So a fella comes home to deal with some family stuff mid-afternoon on Friday only to find no cable, no internet, no phone.

Sweet.

After maybe an hour on the telephone with various Rogers employees and a suggestion someone might be able to stop by Monday morning, someone finally got me a supervisor who kind of understood the predicament over here.

So, yes, this is later than it should be but the dude was here about 8 a.m. trying to figure out what happened.

Got it fixed, too.

Now, I guess I can call Bell

-

Best Bosh comment from readers? The one that suggested -- tongue-in-cheek, I really, really hope – that they’re holding him out because there’s a trade done.

Seriously. That’s what one said.

I truly hope it was a joke.

I truly fear it wasn’t.

-

In the weight loss department, not only is Jose Calderon slimmed down a bit – although you can hardly tell he’s 10 pounds lighter like he says because he looks the same – but Rasho’s been avoiding the all-you-can-eat buffets, too.

I’m not saying that if he turns sideways you won’t be able to see him but he’s shaved more than 15 pounds or so off his frame and looks a lot lighter.

He’s still big enough, don’t get me wrong, but he’s definitely lighter and, I suppose, in better shape.

I guess being away from the many red-meat emporiums that dominate downtown Indy might have something to do with it.

-

Know what I need to find?

I need to find me someone who can get me in this foundation golfing tournament next year.

Swag? Sweet.

Bags, balls, clothing, and fun and frivolity.

Those toffs know how to live well.

-

Slight change in the big game for the national women’s team tonight at the world qualifier in Brazil.

They get Argentina, which upset Cuba late last night to finish off the first round.

Not sure what that means, but Canada was going to have to beat one of Cuba or Argentina to get in; now they might get the chance in reverse order from what everyone expected.

Shockingly, it’s not going to be anywhere on your television unless you’ve got one of the all-time great satellites. So, guess you’re going to either have to pay attention to the play-by-play on a computer (which I did for a bunch of the Puerto Rico game and it’s really frustrating) or check back here later tonight to find out how they did.

The women, unlike the men, have a bit of a history to uphold. They were in the 2006 worlds, after all, finishing ninth.

It’s a late start, 9:45 east, so it’ll be a late night around here, it appears.

-

Mail’s looking good. Not great, but good. We’ll do a mailbag tomorrow and then wrap up the divisions with the Atlantic on Monday, if that’s okay with you?

And if it’s not, guess you really don’t have an alternative.

-

Bosh begins a bit banged up?

A guy goes to a golf tournament a little bit of news breaks out.

Still awaiting official confirmation but the chatter is that Chris Bosh may be nursing a tweaked hamstring and could sit out the start of Raptors training camp next week.

The word out at the foundation event this morning is that it’s a setback, not huge, but still not a great way to get the season underway.

It’s unclear exactly how Bosh, who I’m told spent a lot of time this summer working on his body and his game, got himself a little banged up. But he is and now they have to deal with it. I do know he’s been in town a few days going through workouts and scrimmages with the other Raptors.

We’ll get more on this later today, I imagine, but just thought you’d like to know.

Be back when I can.

Trekking out to the golf course, again

Another day, another division, another drive out to the golf course.

-

CENTRAL DIVISION

What happened

A lot, actually. Check out nba.com’s list of transactions, it shows the general managers were a tad busy shuffling people hither and yon.

We knew ye when

Yes, that opener here against Cleveland’s going to be big ‘cause of that LeBron fellow but don’t forget AP and Jamario, too. I think AP was a solid pickup for that team, he’ll make a shot every now and then and keep defences honest. Jamario? He’ll probably have his moments; he’ll also probably drive Mike Brown crazy at times, as he did to a couple of guys here.

Everyone busy except …

The Chicago Bulls were the feel good story of the post-season when they had that epic first-round series with Boston.

Guess it was enough for them.

Aside from losing Ben Gordon, and hoping Luol Deng returns to health, they really did nothing.

I still don’t think they’re big enough and they still don’t have a low-post scoring threat. If there’s a team taking a step back, this might be it.

For some radical change

Ladies and germs, we give you the Detroit Pistons.

Charlie V and Ben Gordon are going to help the offence, no question. They won’t lead the league in assists or anything but they can score.

But a big remake like this – no one really knows how either of those two are going to mesh with Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and the rest of the holdovers – is fraught with peril.

If it doesn’t work, it could go really south and I bet there are at least a few Pistons fans who wish this team was in the hands of someone other than a first-year head coach.

This could be the most intriguing team to watch in this division.

We knew ye when, 2.0

Do games with Milwaukee take on added juice with old friends Roko Ukic and Carlos Delfino there?

I didn’t think so.

Chemistry 101

Think LeBron and Shaq co-exist peacefully in Cleveland?

Like Shaq and Kobe did? Or Shaq and Wade? Or Shaq and Nash?

Maybe for a while but that’s got a chance to go off the rails, doesn’t it?

Yes, Shaq had some okay numbers on a very confused Phoenix team last year and, yes, he’s very big.

Oh, and he’s saying all the right things these days about just being in town to help LeBron win a title and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Guess maybe the best thing about it is Shaq’s time in Cleveland may be short and it’s always taken a bit of time for him to, um, exert himself with other stars he’s played with.

Under the radar

Really doesn’t seem to be one in this division, does there? I’ll put Cleveland signing Leon Powe out there. Powe’s months and months away from being able to play but if he’s okay when he gets back, he might be the kind of late-season addition good teams need.

What will happen?

There’s no doubt Cleveland’s the class of the division. What I’m wondering is how many others are in the playoffs come April.

One? Two? Certainly not three.

Chicago? Are they really any better?

Detroit? Too many new ingredients?

Indy? They seem just kind of ‘blah’ to me.

Milwaukee? Same kind of thing, okay but boring.

So, which will it be?

-

Oops.

A wee bit of miscommunication somewhere, I guess. At least that’s kind of what I was saying while I was hanging around Angus Glen pretty much by myself yesterday morning.

Turns out the golfing festival is today.

Dang. Oh well, it was a nice day for a drive.

Should have known as soon as I arrived that something was amiss. No gigantic Chicken in the parking lot.

-

You read this, right?

A bit closer than a 66-point win but that’s okay, it was the game the Canadian women had to win and they did.

Things are breaking down exactly as I expected them to.

Canada, barring a miracle upset of Brazil tonight (you don’t beat Brazil in Brazil, sorry) will get Cuba in tomorrow’s semis with a berth in the worlds on the line.

Not sure if I had this in any earlier piece, but it’s a very telling Teresa Gabriele quote about Canada-Cuba.

“They’re definitely beatable … we know that we can beat them and we can play with them. It’s probably one of the first years that I’ve felt that Cuba is beatable. They’ve kind of always been out of reach for us but we feel we can beat that team.”

Except once, that is, which brings us to today’s Trip Down Memory Lane, Women’s Basketball Version.

(I take great pride in recalling a thing or two about Canadian women’s basketball and bringing it to you; it’s an important part of the national sporting landscape that’s been relatively screwed over in the past.

End o’ digression).

Anyway, it’s like 1995, McMaster University, what was then called the Tournament of the Americas, qualification for the Atlanta Olympics.

(Another digression: Ever watch Corner Gas? Well, when I write or say “Atlanta Olympics” it’s my own personal Woolerton.)

Canada plays Cuba, big game, big lead for the Cubans, as I recall, and a hugely stirring Canadian comeback and a win that gives them first place in the tournament.

What I remember is the place being crazy loud with young girls and moms and dads and it being a very emotional event. It was maybe then that I realized just how much the women of the team could be role models to the young girls who wanted to play the sport.

And that’s important

-

Could we get some mail, please and thank you.

-

So I see all kinds of relative journeymen are getting camp invites and one-year deals these days. Dan Dickau to Boston for camp, Rashad McCants to Houston, James White gets traded to Denver, and I’m sure there are other inconsequential transactions I’ve forgotten. Or don’t really care about.

And then there’s Joey.

Still nary a whisper about an invite to a training camp, let alone a contract for the ex-Raptor.

I find that odd.

Now, I don’t know that he’ll ever be a regular contributor to a good team, Whatever Deity You Worship knows he got his chances here and never fully took advantage of them.

But it is a wee bit surprising that no team’s even interested in having in camp as fodder on some make-good deal.

Odd.

Of golfing and oligarchs; a strange mix indeed

LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Fore!

Yep, today’s the big old Raptors Foundation golfing event (no, my invitation to play never did arrive) but it’s another signal that things are close – really close – to beginning for real.

And who knows, it might give a grunt a chance to sniff out some items. Wish me luck.

Until then …

-

PACIFIC DIVISION

What happened?

Not a whole lot, as nba.com tells us; but there’s still enough.

One in, one out

Okay, so the Lakers win the title and they must love the team they’ve got because they draft Chinemelu Elonu and let Sun Yue walk and how in the world is that going to change ‘em?

Oh, wait.

Right, Artest in, Ariza out.

I don’t know about that one, talent-wise it’s probably an improvement if you like older, slower, defensive-minded players over young, dynamic up-and-comers.

But it’s not about talent, is it? And this is a de facto trade that everyone connected with the NBA is going to be watching closely.

Me? I think it backfires.

Why bother?

Okay, someone needs to explain to me what it’s like to be a fan of the Sacramento Kings, who are small but not particularly fast, young and entirely unproven and who play in the league’s worst arena not called Whatever It Is They Call The Joint In Jersey.

A deal to come?

The Golden State Warriors are, from this vantage point, an absolute mess. Stephen Jackson says he wants out, they keep dangling Monta Ellis in trade speculation, and who knows what Nellie has up his sleeve. At least he’s got Devean George, I guess.

But if you want true train wreck potential, you’ve got to watch the W’s.

Under the radar, Part III

There really isn’t one that sticks out, is there? So let’s go with Channing Frye in Phoenix. He’s a good shooting, athletic big who might blossom in the new-old Suns system.

Less is more?

Not sure the Clippers are at all relevant – they do have the Griffin kid who seems okay but there’s still that Baron Davis-Mike Dunleavy disconnect to worry about – but they did shed Zach Randolph, which should make things a tad better out there.

Less is more, 2.0

In hindsight, it seems there were some, um, issues with Suns in the woebegone Shaq era. That era’s over, of course, and it may mean that the Suns are at least fun again. Whether they’re among the top six teams in the conference remains to be seen. It’s debatable.

What’s it all mean? The Lakers are still the chalk in the division, probably the West and perhaps the league. Other than that, the Pacific – with the Clips and the Kings and the Warriors – is the worst division in the NBA.

-

Oooooh.

We may have an oligarch in our midst! Tres cool, no?

Anyway, news that Russian Mikhail Prokorov has a deal to buy into the Nets and their pie-in-the-sky Brooklyn plan was greeted with some trepidation in some parts yesterday, mostly because there were some concerns that he’d spend the Nets to prominence with some of his billions.

Legitimate?

At least not now.

The Nets are not set up to be major players in free agency next year – they certainly can’t go out and sign two max-contract players – and the way the rules are set up, it’s going to take years before they can amass the kind of payroll befitting an oligarch.

And, besides, I’ve never been convinced the Nets would ever play a game in Brooklyn, there are all kinds of unresolved issues and a whacked economy to deal with and therefore I’m not entirely convinced this deal gets done in its precise form, anyway.

Sure, I guess this guy could come in and go all Cuban and Cleveland and MSG on us, building payroll to incomprehensible lessons but just because he’s filthy rich, it doesn’t mean he’s going to sign every expensive player in the league, he can’t.

-

You heard about the big trade yesterday, didn’t you?

TSN2 gives up the opener against Cleveland and Dec. 16 to The Score for Jan. 20 at Milwaukee and March 31 against the Clippers.

That’s Vince-to-Jersey-esque, isn’t it?

The Score’s Rod Thorn, TSN2’s Rob Babcock.

-

What’d it take?

Ninety minutes? A wee bit more?

To sell out the end-of-camp scrimmage, I mean?

Whatever it was, it was quick, I bet.

So, what will you lucky ticket holders get to see?

You’ll see tired players at the end of a stretch of six practices in four days doing a little shooting, some running and some stretching. You’ll see a layup line that might be the most entertaining part of the afternoon and it’s all very, very, very low key.

Not a bad way to kill an afternoon, I guess, and the fans do seem to have fun. It is up close and personal but if you’re looking for anything serious, look elsewhere.

One thing about training camp you should know, and one thing I’ll repeat again a couple of times:

There is very little, if any, good access to the players. None of the workouts is open to anyone – we only get in to see them shoot free throws and finish up, if history holds – and while some may stop and sign an autograph near the bus that takes them away, some will scurry to their seats to get out of there.

-

I have to admit, I wasn’t at all surprised to see Macy Gray and Ashley Hamilton heading out of DWTS.

She can go try to resurrect a pretty dormant career, maybe he can go ask dad for tanning suggestions.

-

Yes, Canada really did edge the Dominican Republic by 66 down in Brazil yesterday, as I’m sure you’ve already read right here.

What’s it mean?

Canada’s pretty good, but not that good; the DR might be that bad.

As a portend for the rest of the week, though? Nothing.

Canada has known since the schedule was released that the season really comes down to today against Puerto Rico. Win and they’ve got a better-than-good chance at qualifying for the worlds; lose and it’s pretty much over.

The more I talk to people who know more about these things than I do (and, yes, a couple people like that exist out there), the more I hear this is a somewhat special team. Good mix of young and old, good chemistry, good size, good players.

I’m betting tonight’s going to go pretty well.