And so it begins, again

Yay!

A game.

A real game.

After the month of camp, it’s about time to get into the rhythm of the season and start this show for real.

Let’s go.

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Here’s the thing with trying to figure out what’s going to happen with these guys this season:

No one has a real clue.

Not you, not me, not Jay, not Bryan and not the players.

There are so many questions marks, so many new faces, so much still to be done that to make a prediction is, well, it is what it always is, a mug’s game.

You saw the point-counterpoint thing in today’s newspaper, right, three key issues that could turn either way and either make or ruin a season or a chunk of it.

But part of the reason we’re here is to make somewhat bold statements, generate conversation and, every now and then, get something right.

So yes. They will.

They will make playoffs next spring because I think in the way the East is constructed, they have at least as much talent as the middle-echelon teams in the conference, and more than some of the perceived bottom dwellers.

The way it looks from here, and the way it looks from just about every point of view, is that Orlando, Cleveland and Boston stand out and I’ve got Toronto, Atlanta, Washington and Chicago in that 4-7 group. You put Detroit, Philly, Indy and maybe even Charlotte (don’t sleep on a Larry Brown coached team) next in a dogfight for the other spot.

Of that middle group, there are questions everywhere. Toronto needs to defend and gel, Atlanta an interesting mix of personalities that could blow up, Washington’s never healthy and I still don’t see enough front-court scoring in Chicago.

So is fourth there for the taking? Sure. But so is seventh.

The wonderful thing about this season is that it begins with doubt and trepidation and a bit of excitement. Will they be good? Will they be bad? Will they be average? It’s going to make it fun, isn’t it?

My best guess, and that’s precisely what it is, is that they’re good enough for 43 wins, a 10-win improvement over last year.

That win 43-win total would have been good for fifth overall in the East last year, and the year before, and I bet if you offered that right now to Jay and Bryan, they’d sign the scorecard and see you in April for the playoffs.

Anyway, I’m just glad there’ll be real games to watch and dissect, lots of them starting tonight.

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I remember seeing a comment here a week or so ago that the opening intro song was something-or-other by some local crooner called Drake.

Well, I don’t want to throw cold water on the information of others but reputable sources told me this week that it’s not Drake, or even The Drake, who’ll provide the musical accompaniment.

The sources, secret that they are, wouldn’t tell me what it is, though.

Guess you’ll have to be in the building, or reading the blog, to find out.

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Did you catch the Cavs-Celtics last night?

Not a bad game for the first one out of the box. And if you didn’t see it, here’s how they reported it in the Cleveland paper.

There is not, as far as I can glean, any calls for the firing of Mike Brown, which just tells me those Cavs fans are not quite as, ah, excitable as you are.

(I keed. Sort of).

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We’re standing there listening to Chris Bosh do his post-practice scrum – actually, I was standing off to the side because I’d done a lot of my work already – and noticed something quite, um, odd, I guess is the right word.

He had wrapped one of his braids around the others to create this kind of ponytail effect.

And having seen the debut of GruntTV, I was quite envious of having enough hair to even try that.

I gotta say, he’s got the best Raptors ‘do since Oak left town.

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Speaking of Bosh, I don’t think I could have said this better when he was being dogged about predictions by experts.

It really doesn’t matter. How many prediction polls have actually been correct in the past 10 years? If you dig ‘em up, let ESPN bring that up. It really doesn’t matter.

I’m sure nobody picked the Magic to be the Eastern Conference champs last year, they were probably like sixth or seventh in the conference and look what they were able to achieve.”

Words to the wise. Or the unwise.

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We’ve shown up at the arena each of the last two days to find young folks sitting on the sidewalk in front of the door – and this is in the late morning, mind you – waiting to be the first in the joint for Metallica concerts at night.

Now, I don’t recall ever, ever lining up that long before a show in my life but that may say more about me than it does about anything else.

We’ve seen all kinds of lineups over the years by fans waiting to get into concerts and seen all kinds of construction on the arena floor as crews build the stages.

Only once, in all the years the joint has been open, have we ever been even marginally inconvenienced, and it’s never been by fans.

One morning, again about 10 hours before the show began, we had to be wanded by somewhat exuberant security officials.

The concert?

Barbra Streisand.

Yeah, that kind of show attracts a dangerous crowd.

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Don’t forget, GruntTV should be back on the air sometime around noon with some post-shootaround nuggets and we’ll see if there’s an appetite for a game-day chat this afternoon at 4.

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You know, I think Charles Barkley hit the nail squarely on the head when he told reporters in New York yesterday that Donnie Walsh is doing a disservice to his Knicks franchise and his players by all but tanking two full seasons on the off chance he gets LeBron James next summer.

Frank Isola has the direct quotes here and they’re quite good in a Barkley sort of way. Which is to say “hey, I’m going to say something outrageous because I’m me!.”

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So, I’m flipping around the dial just as the second half of Cavs-Celtics starts, getting my fix of DWTS, and there’s that Taylor Swift belting out a tune.

And all I can think is, ‘where’s Kanye?”

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Time to get all sappy here for a second, if you’ll indulge me.

You don’t see the numbers that I do about this blog but yesterday we hit one that, even to a jaded old goof like me, was pretty impressive.

Thanks to you – all of you – there have now been more than 10,000,000 page views since we started this a couple of years ago. Ten million. That’s a lot.

It’s your passion and your curiosity – and dare I say your ability to goof off from work and school every now and then – that lets us get those kinds of ridiculous numbers and, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you.

Now, get back to work so you can come back this afternoon.

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Comments

[John Torres]

Doug: Congratulations on those numbers, as always you do a great job with the blog. Good job also on that article about how "stats dont dunk".
I agree chemistry is crucial for the Raptors this year because they definitely have the talent for 43 wins this year.

[Peter]

Good morning Doug,
Congratulations on the ten million mark. I know you are likely too humble to tell us but I'm hoping that you'll answer this question. Is your blog the #1 rated blog on thestar.com? You certainly go above and beyond and I'm sure that I'm not the only person to be curious about this.
Thanks for all that you do!

Blogger's note: I'm not entirely sure, but I hope so

[charles novogrodsky]

Please! Make the Doug's Blog easier to find on the website! Otherwise we will go from 10 million pages viewed to "why waste time looking?".

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Perhaps this is 10,000,001? I should be so lucky...

Judging from the Cavs-Celtics game last night, the Raps aren't the only ones who'll need to work on chemistry. The Cavs were back to LeBron plus four other guys. Moon looked as lost there as he did here and wasn't that an Anthony Parker fade-away jump shot from 20 feet along the baseline barely grazing the rim?

But the surprising part for me--and I realize it was only one game--was that Shaq wasn't really involved in the second half. He had some nice power moves in the post in the first half and proved to be a strong second option to JBJ. I couldn't figure out why they didn't go back to that well more often.

It's only one game, but Boston can crow this morning that they made a statement. Cleveland can't.

That being said, the Cavs have set themselves up for a statement game tonight. It will be a helluva test for the home squad...can't wait.

AG, Toronto

[R Chak]

Interesting you should announce the 10 million viewers. I actually wondered about how many viewers came on this blog daily, and how much revenue the blog alone generates for the star.
Congrads on the very impressive 10 million mark and here's to wishing it continues to grow! =)

[JR]

Use this link to grab the rss feed. Add it to your browser and you'll have one-click access to the blog.

http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/rss.xml

Doug-I'm not a tech expert. It would be cool if you had someone from the IT side of your fish-wrap give you a few sentences to post on how people can set that up. There's some clicking and dragging and such required and a primer for the readers would keep the page hits coming.

[AK]

Hey Doug,

Is there any way GruntTV can be made accessible by blackberries. Ask your techies, if you don't mind. Perhaps they can post a version on Youtube and the link can be pasted in the GruntTV posting.

Congrats on the milestone

Thanks

AK

[WSG]

Re 10,000,000 page views ... congratulations. That is impressive. Don't post much, but I figure my contribution to that number, at 3 or so hits a day, is somewhere around a thousand + a year. But 10,000,000 ... that's wild.
and oh ... Go Raptors!

[Wilson]

Does 10 million views on this page get Doug a raise?

:)

[Chris]

Any idea on how many unique IP addresses you've had? Or how many views per IP address? Just a couple interesting stats for a nerd like me.

Blogger's note: Not entirely sure about that. Wish I could find out, too

[metal]

Cavs looked good in first but t was over at the half. There is going to be some major flow issues with diesel on the court.

[Mike]

43 wins sounds right to me, hopefully it's good enough for a top 5 spot. Chicago/Charlotte/Detroit/Philly don't worry me. Washington is all on injuries.

but Atlanta .....

Why are you down on the 'Hawks? Or put in a different way - not giving them the benefit of the doubt for the #4 seed?

They've gone from 30 - 37 - 47 wins the last 3 years. 2 years ago they lost in the 1st round in 7 to Boston, last year they made the 2nd round. That's 3 straight years of actual improvement measured by results. JJ/Horford/Marvin/Josh Smith are all back and are all young. Same coach/same system.

Not a fan of Crawford but Joe Smith was an ok add. Bibby/Zaza and other bench guys are all back too. It's basically the same team with the hop that it's 4 best players still have another level of improvement.

What makes them take a step back this year? Betting on a blow up with the coach is possible but that's not exactly a strong reason.

[Striker77]

Hey Doug!

Honestly, Doug, I think for a lot of us, your blog is a stress relief from a hectic life (at work or at home). I am always very happy to sit at a computer for a few minutes each day and keep updated with the game I love, with such excellent information. 10 mil today, 100 mil. tomorrow...

I also saw the Celts/Cavs last night and what stood out for me most was not Lebron making 38 points while the rest of the Cleveland starters made about a dozen points (or less), but how good Boston looks with the addition of Rasheed! Man, they were already good, and although the big three are a little bit older, they still can manage (for now). Rasheed had good numbers (he was a plus 10)

How about Parker and Moon in that Cavs uniform? Takes getting used to. I think we will all miss AP.

[Matt]

Congrats on the blog views. You should definetly get profit sharing options with all the readers you bring in. If you make a petition I'll sign it!

[Eric]

Opening night is always fun! But I wish it was on Friday like it used to be.

Few things. #1, I'm glad Poehler is gone but it will be nice to see him tonight. If he can fit on a team it's on Cleveland where he won't need to be tough! In Toronto, his role player softness did not fit with our star player softness. I won't miss how many times he got dunked on, either. He was the backcourt Shawn Bradley! Maybe worse! But he's anice guy and deserves some respect tonight.

#2 I've heard rumbilngs about how the Raptors should be happy with a .500 record coming out of the gate ("big road trip!") and that blows my mind. That was always the problem with this team. Maybe they need to get used to each other but is that what Boston said in 06, when they came out 46 and 1 or whatever it was? Is that what Phoenix said in 92? Lakers in 96? You go up and down the list of teams who made big changes and only the ones who expected the worst came out of the gate slow "while they were getting used to each other." This is basketball, not a highway! You don't have to ramp up to speed unless you don't know how to win. You don't EXPECT bad outcomes unless youre team is diseased!

3, if this team is slumpy and lethargic this year like last year, this is an indictment of 3 players: BBC. Everyone else is gone. The coach is gone. The staff is new. Even the TV crew is gone (long live Swirsk!........ see ya PJ!). If there's any problem that looks like it's been here before, it's BBC who is responsible. There is no excuse left. Hopefully we don't have to talk about this again!

Go Raps! 82-0 in 0910.

[Terence]

Congrats on 10 million+ views, Doug! The quality of the content you put here makes this a must-visit site for Raptors (and basketball) news.

Just a little ironic how your blog page is listed last on thestar.com's blog page!

[Paulino Nunes]

Happy 10 million, well deserved!

I was reading your colleague Dave Feschuk's article today and wondered what kind of nasty cynic juice he's been drinking.

He writes: "But there's an upside to the uncertainty of Bosh's summer-of-2010 free agency. This, for the 25-year-old Bosh, is a contract year, which explains his sudden commitment to summertime training."

I understand that a contract year might boost anyone's intensity, but is Mr. Feschuk suggesting that Chris Bosh is normally a slacker and cares not about improving himself unless there's a big payday?

He writes: "Can centre Andrea Bargnani, gifted a $50 million (all figures U.S.) contract, sustain high-level achievement for an actual full season? (Perhaps so long as the coach handles him with kid gloves)."

Is the implication that Bargnani is fragile head-case and that Jay Triano baby's his players?

He writes: "Can Hedo Turkoglu, who got a $52 million contract and blew off much of training camp to soothe his self-diagnosed "fatigue," provide late-clock shot creation without the cast of all-star teammates he had with the Magic last year? (Shhh! The dude needs his sleep)."

So Hedo's lazy and making up excuses to skip off work? Is Feschuk suggesting that the Raptors have no interest in healthy, rested players?

The characterizations seem way out of sync with everything I've heard about these players' personalities and smack of a reporter trying glibly to be entertaining/controversial/iconoclastic.

Sorry to clog your blog (hey, that rhymes!) with this stuff, but there's no way to comment on the article page itself. Your thoughts?

[Michel M]

The Italian Stallions tonight for the Raps! Yes Sir!!

[doug]

yes i saw the Cavs-Celts game and I have concerns which i have said before, until the Cavs stop running these one-on-one clearouts for LeBron they are not going to do anything major...the best thing that could happen to LeBron is that he plays under a coach such as a Sloan, Popovich, Adelman, or Jackson to make him into a player....Kobe never understood when he came into the league but after much pleading and cajoling by Jackson he bought into being a team player and look at the results....LeBron hasn't and won't until he is taught to, if I were coaching against the Cavs I'd let LeBron get his 50 and force Brown to coach 50 points out of the rest of the guys.....the Celts were a far superior team last night...the Cavs will under-perform until they get a coach in there that makes LeBron into a basketball player...the baseball anlogy is that right now he is a thrower not a pitcher, a hell of a thrower but he needs to learn how to pitch.....thats why Kobe is my MVP choice over Lebron as he just gets it finally....

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Again Doug:

I just read that Vince Carter wants to coach when he's done playing. He says it doesn't matter if it's NBA, college or high school--he just enjoys "teaching the game."

I can see the first practice. As soon as one of his players gets beat off the dribble, Carter will institute the "fall down and grab your knee" play. And instead of suicides, he'll get them to sit on the bench and do a hardcore series of sulks.

Wouldn't it be great if Carter and Charles Oakley somehow managed to coach teams in the same high school league? I pay to watch that.

AG, Toronto

[Andre]

Congrats Doug...

Can you FEEL the excitement!!??! RAPTORS BASKETBALL IS BACK!!! no more leaf talk ... no more baseball... ALL RAPTORS...

Have you thought about doing a Doug Smith fantasy pool with the readers of the blog? would be interesting and different. And maybe a little prize at the end of the year for the top 3 ? or even a Monthly prize? Just a thought... (there are programs that can set it up for you, so you wont have to do much..)

[Nelson]

Congrats Doug on the 10 mill mark! Your blog is a nice read in the morning. Good to see the Cavs having to face the Celtics before coming over on the 2nd night of a back to back. Hope Shaq's conditioning is bad enough that he won't be able to play much tonight hehe. Go Raps!

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
Congratulations on the 10 million milestone! Did you ever think when you started doing this that numbers like that were even possible?! The daily information, insights and innovation (well done with the stellar debut of GruntTV) you provide to us are very, very much appreciated.

[Nick]

Instead of having to do all that pointing and clicking suggested by JR (not a shot at all JR!, just another solution) just set up this page as a favorite. Takes you right here.
Thanks for all the efforts you put in Doug. You make the people come back....

[Andrew]

Hey Doug,

Thanks for ushering us in to the new season. When the Raptors started out 15 years ago, did the Star even have a website? Congrats on the big numbers, but I do have a bit of constructive criticism to put forth.

I think it's been said, but I need to echo that, with the new website layout, it is more of a pain in the butt to get to your blog. It just seems less convenient. There have been days where I've come to the site, read a few stories and left, only later to realise I didn't check your blog. Maybe the suits would like to know that.

Sorry for the long post. Keep up the fantastic work!