How they might spend the next few days

While sitting here trying to figure out what we’ll do next week to preview the opening of the regular season, a couple of thoughts come to mind.

To wit:

Since the night of the NBA draft, Jay Triano has been suggesting that the best – and maybe only – way to get minutes for rookie DeMar DeRozan would be to start him for six or seven minutes in the first and third quarters and then get into a regular rotation of wings.

Well, now, obviously, that’s not cast in stone, as this quote from Jay yesterday indicates.

“I haven’t really had an opportunity to see anyone beat him (DeRozan) out yet. Now that Antoine is back, I’d say the job is wide open and that will keep our young rookie honest.”

Personally, I think that’s a bit of a shot across the bow at the kid and he’ll end up being the starting shooting guard on opening night.

The kid, shooting woes aside, has shown flashes in these pretend games. He’s willing to go to the rim (although it’d be nice if he’d be a better free throw shooter when he did) and his defence, while spotty, is not despicable.

Work ethic? They say it’s good but the one thing he could improve on is his attention span. It seems to waver during games, a byproduct of being a rookie, I think, but still troubling if it’s still happening with regularity after seven games.

I still think that the best way to ease the kid into the league is for him to get 12-14 minutes a night in that starting role. But, according to the coach, there’s competition now, which means it’d be really, really cool to get into practice and see the scrimmages, since that’s where the battle will be one.

Too bad we can’t. Guess I’ll have to try to get spies to tell me what’s going on.

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The three most important things to work on in these practices leading up to Oct. 28? Well, if you ask me, and I just did, they are:

Play, play, play

Forget shooting drills and shell drills on offence and defence. They need to scrimmage, first unit against second, for as much time as is physically possible, and then go another 15 minutes.

There have been signs that the four key guys – Jose, Turk, Bosh and Andrea – will work well together but there have been a few turnovers created when one guy zigged when another thought he would zag; the necessary familiarity is only going to come through time on the court together.

Get to the line (and you know who you are)

Players, some players, have a tendency to take the free-throw shooting part of practice a little lightly. That can’t happen.

Foul shots are gimmes and they need to be collectively better at them. As a team, they’re only shooting 73.5 per cent from the line through seven games, that’s simply not good enough.

Run, run, run

I don’t have to actually do it so it’s easy to suggest but if conditioning’s the concern, they need to get strength and conditioning coach Francesco Cuzzolin on his game and work these guys hard.

If that means an extra half hour in the gym, so be it. If they have to blow off some weight room work to get some cardio in, do it. Conditioning cannot be an issue when things start for real and I think eight days between now and opening night should be enough time to get ‘em in passable shape.

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A quick question:

When the Raptors scrimmage in practice, do you think each team scores at will?

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Haven’t had too many digressions of late so here we go:

I know Tim McCarver states the obvious far too many times but he and Joe Buck are exponentially better than Chatterbox Martinez, The Other Caray and Whatever Ex-Pitcher it is they have over on TBS.

The TBS folks do basketball well. Baseball? Not so much.

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I don’t think there’s any correlation between pre-season record and what happens in the ensuing regular season. There are too many variables – scheduling and injuries to start the season and pre-season opposition chief among them – but what the heck, maybe this gives you something to talk about:

2008

4-4, 33-49

2007

6-2, 41-41

2006

7-1, 47-35

2005

3-7, 27-55

2004

3-5, 33-49

2003

5-2, 33-49

2002

3-5, 24-58

2001

5-2, 42-40

2000

4-4, 47-35

1999

4-4, 35-47

Or maybe it just bores you and you entirely disregard it.

I can’t imagine which.

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One about the process of gathering stuff and why, over the course of the many, many off-days between now and the start of the season, you may see similar stories each day if you read more than one publication.

It’s pack journalism, pure and simple, because that’s kind of the way things are structured post-practice.

While we’re waiting around to be let into the gym, members of the team’s PR staff canvass the gathered scribblers on who we’d like to speak with, just so that guy doesn’t sneak out before we can horse-collar them.

And those guys are plucked off, one-by-one as they leave, setting up a series of different scrums; I’ll go listen to the guy Faux wanted to talk to, M. Grange ™ will listen to who I want to talk to and the day’s representative of The Little Paper That Shrunk will stop to listen to whoever.

It sets up a series of scrums rather than a series of one-on-one interviews so we’re all privy to what everyone else gets.

And if the player picked by another guy provides the best quotes, or insight, or whatever, all of our ears perk up and he becomes, often, the subject of The Story Of The Day.

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Because you don’t get a whole lot of WNBA news anywhere else around these parts, here’s a story out of Detroit today.

I don’t know what, precisely, it says that a team that’s won three championships in the past seven years and played before soldout houses in the playoffs this season would pick up and move, but I’m pretty sure it can’t be good.

Seriously, where else can you find out stuff like this?

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Best chant of a night watching TV. “Beat L-A, Beat L-A” from the Philly fans.

Stole it from basketball, guess that’s why it sounded good.

Odd substitutions and a visitor from the past

Seven down, one to go.

Yay!

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THREE THINGS I LEARNED

An odd decision

Given that Jay had said before the game that he was planning on going to as close to his regular rotation as he could, I was entirely surprised to see the first sub of the game be Sonny Weems for Hedo Turkoglu and the second be Amir Johnson for Bosh.

The only thing I can think of is that it had more to do with conditioning than strategy because I will be utterly shocked if that’s how it is on Oct. 28.

Then, I expect it to be someone – Antoine Wright, maybe – for DeMar DeRozan.

Checking in, then out

Did you see the moment with about six minutes left when Jose, Bosh and, I believe, Turkoglu got back up off the bench and started to saunter to the scorer’s table to check back in.

The game was effectively over and all I could think of was Jay was thinking about getting them a few more minutes for conditioning purposes alone. He wasn’t ticked at them, there was scant chance of some miracle comeback in a meaningless pre-season game so that’s what it had to be, right?

Yes, it was, but then, in a moment of clarity, he called them back during a timeout.

“I was going to put them in to push their conditioning but when I saw the lineup they had in, I thought why push it against these guys? I don’t know what they were going to get in the last six minutes of the game other than injured.

“We can take care of the minutes and conditioning (today).”

A good call, surprisingly

You may have noticed that I’m not a fan of The Replacements (and yesterday’s fascination with moving screens, along with 54 fouls and 52 free throws, kind of vindicates me, I believe) but hey did get one right.

But it was odd.

It what looked an awful lot like Basketball Dominos, Paul Pierce pushed a teammate into Chris Bosh who tumbled into Sonny Weems, who missed a shot because he was being smacked by his teammate.

(Whether he would have made it had he been left all alone is open for debate, of course).

But The Replacement got Pierce for the foul in the correct call, even if it was a tad confusing.

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And now, for the rest of the story

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M. Grange ™ and I are standing by the bench pre-game when this visitor from the past wanders by, looking a bit worn out, I must admit.

We both do a double take and wonder, ‘hmm, what’s this all about?’

It was Dave Hopla, the shooting guru/consultant who worked here a couple of years ago and is back, he tells me, just for a couple of days to see what’s up and if he can help.

He’d been an assistant in Washington who got whacked when Flip Saunders came in and cleaned house.

Now, Dave’s a good guy but to think he’s going to magically turn Sonny Weems or DeMar DeRozan into Ray Allen is ridiculous.

Those two kids need to work on their shots and the Raptors must think some gentle coaxing from Hopla is in order.

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Here’s what the Boston fellows, or at least one of them, had to say about that affair.

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Wow, a guy agrees with Kobe Bryant on AP and all of a sudden a storm breaks out.

Let me explain my logic, and, as I may have mentioned, call me in May and if I’m wrong I’ll say so.

I believe Shaq will get hurt and miss a bunch of games, I believe he will, at some point, whine about his role in the offence and create a distraction for a game or two, I don’t for a second think he and Ilgauskas will give them more than they got from Ilguaskas alone last year. I believe that Shaq, on a team with a staid, creativity-free offence, will clog up the very area – the paint – that the James fellow likes the best.

AP, on the other hand, provides some things they do not have, and desperately need. Outside shooting, solid if unspectacular defence (and I know this will irk many, but the people connected to the game and far, far, far smarter than you or I think he’s a pretty good defender) and locker room leadership.

And on a legitimate championship contender, I, and many others, don’t have any faith whatsoever in the gaggle or so-so wings on that team. Boobie Gibson? Give me a break. Mo Williams? Tiny shooter who can’t guard you.

Seriously, what was the fatal flaw with the Cavs last year? They couldn’t make an open shot to save their souls (Sasha Pavlovic and Wally Szczerbiak were horrible in the post-season) and they had no old head to get them through tough times.

Around the East? Vince Carter? He’ll have a great year, I bet, he’d be second on the list.

Rasheed Wallace? I’m told he’s semi-retired.

Hedo? Yeah, going from 33 wins to the playoffs – if they get there – is big; AP’s got a chance to help a team get from the conference finals to the finals.

Like I said, I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Talk to me in May.

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Ledes I wish I had written, courtesy of today’s New York Times on one of the oddest happenstances I can think of.

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Having watched DeMar DeRozan for five games now, I firmly believe the Raptor record for assists by a rookie will not be challenged.

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You don’t think coaches like to play possum in the pre-season.

Check out this post-game Doc Rivers quote:

“I actually did like the lineup up Marquis, Ray and Paul with Rasheed and Kevin. It was a very difficult matchup … We didn’t stay with it long because I liked it, so I got out of it.

“What we felt would happen, happened. They had to try to figure out who they were going to put on Marquis and who they were going to play on Ray. We got a couple of baskets before they could do that, so that was good for us.”

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Having seen three of four home pre-season games live, I can only say this:

I hope the game ops people have some new hijinks to show off once things start for real in 10 days.

So far, very boring, very old school, very non-innovative.

Surely to goodness they’ve got something extra to show on Oct. 28.

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Let’s see, off-days to cover today, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday along with next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Hmm, this is a taxing time for a beat grunt, too, trying to come up with stories that are even marginally informative and entertaining.

Wish me luck.

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The Goods On The Game, pre-season vs. Boston

Ready for another big afternoon of pre-season basketball?

So are we.

Let's have fun out there.

Here's a bunch of mail to start your day

Well, we culled a wee bit and got this down to about 60 per cent of what appeared last week. Still lots, though.

I bet it’s more than enough to keep you busy until 3 when the in-game portion of a long Sunday unfolds.

See you then

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Q: There was an article today in the NYT regarding the NBA's launch on its website of a "Video Rule Book". I followed the link and spent way too much time watching video replays (the NBA turned off the audio portion turned so as not to confuse!) illustrating fouls, penalties and all manner of other game violations. Have you had a chance to look at this?

Do you think it is a useful educational tool? Or do you think in part it was designed (and launched at this particular time)to generate some fan understanding of the difficulty of the task at hand for The Replacements Referees?

The article also goes on to say the league has encouraged referees to be "more accessible" to reporters to explain contested calls. Have you ever been able to interview a referee about such a call? Is there any media access to referees post game?

Lorie P, London

A: I have seen it and think it’s quite good, actually. Each year during the pre-season, or right at the start of the season, the referees would hold sessions with the writers and broadcasters in each city to go over the points of emphasis for the coming season, along with any rule changes and what they might mean. We haven’t had that this year – and I doubt we will – but it’s kind of like what they’ve put on line now.

And, yes, referees are supposed to be more available to writers this year but I’ll believe that when I see it. The rule is we have to ask, through the home team’s PR staff, for comment on a rule interpretation from the crew chief. He, or she if it’s Violet Palmer, aren’t obligated to speak but we’re told they are being encouraged to be more open. We can’t, though, as for interpretation of any subjective ruling – like a foul, for instance.

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Q: I am a HUGE Jose fan, and love the dimes and his unselfish play. He is the ultiamte teammate, and use him as an example for many young players to follow. He has shown he can penetrate and shoot. But can the Raps be a contender if Jose doesn't step it up to be a legit 18 - 20 pt scorer like a Tony Parker? Was his preseason shooting just rust, or do you see him maybe taking a step back in scoring?

Marc I, Waterloo

A: This is classic.

Pre-season shooting rust? He’s shooting a high percentage from the field (51.6-49.7), from three-point range (41.7-40.6) and the free throw line (1.000-98.1) than he did last season. We should all be so rusty.

His assist to turnover ratio (if you take that first game in London out of the mix because it was his first game in five months with a host of new and unfamiliar teammates so I’m giving him a pass on it) is 6-1. He hasn’t committed more than one turnover in any of the last five games.

But, no, he doesn’t have to score 18-20 points a game at all, given the presence of Bosh, Bargnani and Turkoglu. They’ll do the scoring, he’ll do what he does best, set ‘em up and run the stuff.

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Q: Hi Doug: Really like your idea to lower prices for exhibition games - it would be so great for many, especially in a city like Hartford during such a hard economic time. Incidentally, Hartford baseball fans divide 50-50 between Red Sox and Yankees with a small nod to Sox. Wonder how those Sox fans feel about Yankees advancing to Division Playoffs.

Q: How do coaches get big name players to feel good about sharing best shot opportunities? The Celtics used "player legacy - win a championship before you retire" - a smart technique for older players - two years ago to get their Big 3 to cooperate. But 2 of our Big 3 are younger: what determines how well they'll share? Coaching? The players character? Winning-losing? What a challenge when players have so much reason these days to seek best personal stats.

Charles N,Toronto

A: I hate to sound crass or something but it’s usually very simple: Money and fame.

Most players are concerned about what they’ll make, what their next contract would be and, on many occasions, if a coach says, “Hey, look, you got your money, now how about winning some games as a team?” it will work. Conversely, some coaches will use the old: “Hey, they don’t pay losers, if you want a good deal, get some wins under your belt.”

That sounds a bit cynical, I’m sure, but I’ve heard coaches use that philosophy.

But it’s also character, personality and chemistry.

If you have good men who realize the reason they play games is to win and it doesn’t matter how that’s accomplished, for if you have a group that likes each other and basks in the glory of a teammate as much as themselves, that goes a long way towards instilling the type of “team-first” attitude good squads have.

It’s a huge challenge for coaches, far more than coming up with some variation of the four or five plays that every team in the basketball universe uses and it’s usually what separates good coaches from not-so-good.

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Q: Doug, good work.

Not sure if you addressed this yet but has BC given you any indication if he would be picking up Belinelli's 2010 option?

I have high hopes for Marco from all of the Youtube clips I have seen of his exploits but I have been somewhat underwhelmed by the little bits of him that I have seen in exhibition play.

Rene L, Winnipeg

A: I spoke to Bryan about this a week or so ago. They do have until Oct. 30 to exercise that option and are currently mulling it over. But because it’s so relatively cheap, $2.372 million, I fully expect they will pick it up. And he has been underwhelming, but it’s only been six exhibition games, I wouldn’t worry too much about it; I think he’ll be fine.

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Q: I was listening to Kobe being interviewed on the Dan Patrick show last week. Dan asked him what the most significant trade was in the off-season outside of the Lakers, and Kobe said it was Cleveland's acquisition of Anthony Parker. Dan challenged him on this, but Kobe was quite adamant that Parker brought a veteran presence into the locker room, as well as the ability to defend his position, and hit the 3 when required. Kobe said not to understate the importance of that on a championship calibre team.

Interesting.

In your opinion, who were the key acquisitions made that could propel teams over the top?

Mark L, Abbotsford

A: I think AP’s going to be a very solid addition in Cleveland, especially now with questions about how much – or maybe even if – Delonte West will play. So, right now, I’d put him as the key addition in the East.

In the West, I think hands down it’s Richard Jefferson in San Antonio and the one that’s flying under the radar is Antonio McDyess with the Spurs as well.

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Q: Hi Doug. This question may have been asked 10,0000 times before. Please excuse me if it has. Are the Raptors practices ever open to the public?

Thanks so much for your time.

Sandra R, Ajax

A: I’m not sure if it’s been asked or not, so please don’t worry about that

The answer, though, is no. The one thing they do – and have already done – is host a Read To Achieve shootaround for kids.

The public, and the writers, never get a chance to see a full practice.

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Q: Hi Doug,I noticed that a number of folks (Matt Devlin, Adnan Virk, Paul Jones, etc) were wearing pink ribbon ties on Sunday's pre/postgame broadcasts on RaptorsTV as part of MLSE's 'Pink Ribbon Weekend'.

Would you happen to know where the ties can be purchased?

Diana T, Mississauga.

A: I’ve asked around and the best I can come up with is if you go to the team’s website and click on the Teams Up Foundation link, there’s a Breast Cancer Awareness auction icon that would be the only place to check.

A slow start to the weekend

Dead slow around these parts at the moment so this might not be up to the usual high standards. But what the heck, there might be a nugget in here and we’re still “engaging” the lovely readers.

Back tomorrow with mail since I don’t imagine there’ll be breaking news off this afternoon’s practice.

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Interesting comment from Jay in a conversation the other day about what’s up for him and the lads now.

With the injuries and schedule they’ve had so far, he remarked that it’s really just the start of things now and he’s got about two weeks to really get things together.

Of course, there’s no Reggie Evans, which is a blow, but with Hedo getting up to full speed, and Antoine Wright seemingly close to returning (I hear he’s going to go full contact today and may play tomorrow) everyone they’re counting on is ready to take part in workouts.

The good thing?

With only two games left and 10 or 11 days of practice (depending on whether or not they take another day off) there would seem to be enough time to get everyone on the same page.

If you ask any coach of any team whether they like to get time in the practice gym or see their teams play meaningless exhibition games, I’d venture to guess 30 would pick practice.

It may not give fans – or even us grunts – much chance to see how things are really coming along but coaches want to be able to work their guys rather than watch them play.

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Stan Van Gundy gets whacked for $35,000 for ripping substandard officials.

Larry Brown’s total is $60,000 for his criticism and antics and Lionel Hollins gets hit for a $25,000 fine.

The Orlando, Charlotte and Memphis organizations have to pay a total of $85,000, too.

All because replacement officials – working because the league locked out its regular refs – simply are not good enough.

The fines, to me, seem a bit excessive but a clear signal the league is going to hammer coaches – and players, dare they be critical – quite hard for speaking out.

There is no way in the world that the folks in the ivory tower in New York aren’t aware of the fact these guys, who are simply trying to make a buck and catch a break, aren’t up to snuff.

But stifling legitimate criticism isn’t going to make the games any better. That’s only going to come when the two sides settle this dispute and it better be before the regular season begins.

Why? Because if The Replacements can’t handle the low-intensity pre-season they are going to be even further exposed with the tempo increases starting Oct. 27.

That’s going to be ugly.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t know for certain whether the league’s being intractable because it wants to send a message to the players about their impending negotiations, or if the refs are simply not willing to take their fair share of the financial hit that everyone’s suffering.

All I know is that this has to get resolved for the good of everybody, mostly fans who shell out huge bucks and deserve to see something other than whistle-filled free-throw shooting contests.

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Sitting in a little Streetsville place I’ve frequented, waiting for the first off-season Mighty Yankees coaches meeting to begin, caught more than a few moments of football glory.

The Black Satellites shocked the world, or at least the part of it paying close attention to the Under-20 World Cup, taking out Brazil on penalties.

Some of you may recall my fondness for the Black Stars (who’ve already qualified for South Africa, I believe) and I’m sure the folks in Ghana, transplanted Canucks among them, were over the moon.

That’s some kind of accomplishment.

Bravo.

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Here’s the thing about the other night and Houston’s other-worldly 13-for-23 night from beyond the arc.

Yes, it was mighty impressive and has caused an in-box flood of concern over the obviously porous Raptors perimeter defence.

Funny, isn’t it, that through the first five games, when teams shot a collecting 29 per cent from long range against Toronto, there wasn’t a single note lauding them for being able to cover the paint and close out to contest shooters.

The defensive system – clog the middle and deny paint penetration -- is not going to change. It will, however, lead to nights where teams get more good looks from long range than they’d like.

And, if teams make 13 of 23 three-pointers, Toronto is going to lose. Pure and simple. Luckily for them, those nights don’t come around too often.

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Friday was the first day off the Raptors have had since the start of training camp up in Ottawa.

A public thank you from a guy who’s been on the same schedule.

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Has anyone noticed that Jose Calderon has yet to miss a free throw this pre-season? Another streak starting?

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Of pressure and who plays when, among other things

A bit later than usual today, the pillow just felt sooooo good.

But it's worth the wait.

Really.

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THREE THINGS I LEARNED

A little pressure’s a good thing

If you saw the second quarter against Houston, you saw them work a kind of full-court-press-trap-where-you-can defence as well as they have at any time this pre-season.

It had Johnson and Jack trying to trap the ballhandler in the backcourt, Belinelli and Weems lurking in the passing lanes and Bargnani anchored under the basket.

It worked well on a couple of possessions, Belinelli had a steal of a hurried pass on one play I remember well.

Jay said it was to change tempo because the starters were lethargic but it is something we’ll see a lot more of this year because, especially with that second unit, it’s a sound strategy.

It’s not done to create steals, per se, but more to scramble the game, put some pressure in the backcourt that runs time off the shotclock and get the game going at a quicker pace.

With guys like Jack, who’s a good on-ball-defender and Belinelli, kind of a “sneaky” defender, it’s very good use of personnel.

Jose’s new home, sometimes

It was one play, I think early in the third quarter, that you’re going see a lot of this year.

Dribble handoff from Jose to Turkoglu at the top of the circle, Jose runs around a screen to the left hand corner. Turk runs pick and pop with Bargnani on the right side, Bosh is on the block and DeRozan’s lifted on the left side.

Turk turns the corner, Jose’s man cheats to the middle to give some support to the guy covering Bosh and Calderon’s wide open in the corner.

Turk hit him with a perfect cross-court pass on the play I remember and while Jose didn’t make the three-pointer on that occasion, that shot’s going to be there all season long.

It’s one of the big benefits of having a ball-handling forward who can make good decisions.

Time to get serious

Jay alluded to this in his post-game debriefing and it’s going to make the last two pretend games at least a bit more interesting to watch.

He said it’s time to tighten the rotation, which means the starters get stretched out, the substitution pattern will be like the regular season and we’ll finally see how this puzzle might fit together.

Me? I start the usuals, the first guy off the bench now is Johnson for Bargnani, then I go with Jack for Calderon, Belinelli for DeRozan and bring Bargnani back for Bosh to start the second quarter, when I also go back to Jose for Turkoglu, giving you Jack, Calderon, Belinelli, Bargnani and Johnson for about five minutes.

Then I go back to Bosh and Turkoglu for Johnson and Jack, leaving four starters and Belinelli to finish the half.

And, depending on the size of the other team’s backcourt, I might leave Jack out there with Jose for the bulk of the second quarter.

(The other possibility, and it would depend on matchups and the inevitable foul trouble Johnson would find himself in is to use Rasho in that backup big role).

I know there no Weems in this little scenario but I’m not sure where he fits; I guess he could get the Belinelli minutes but you need Marco’s halfcourt offence.

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Now, the rest of the story:

Please, anyone out there who’s worried about the outcomes of these games, read these words from Jay.

Carefully.

“In the pre-season, we’re trying to evaluate where guys fit into rotations as well. There’s not a lot of hanging heads right now. Would we like to win? Yes. Would we like to play better? Yes. Would I be playing some of these guys if we were trying to win the game right through? No.

“This is part of evaluation and where guys are going to fit into rotations with our team as well. They have to understand, they’re on trial for where they’re going to fit within this team. At both ends of the floor.”

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I could use some mail but a word of warning: It’s time to cull the weekly mailbag, no more 5,000 word offerings, it’s too much for me and I imagine it’s too much for some of you.

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You know how sometimes I goof around and try to coach? Happens a lot in the in-game blog in a rather facetious way.

Well, sometimes, it seems, Jay tries to write.

(I joke, sort of).

He’s got a new book out these days, called Basketball Basics, How to Play Like The Pros.

Good looking tome, full of instructions and drills and the like. He’ll be autographing copies at the Indigo Eaton Centre at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Tell him I said hi. And to keep to his own gig.

(I joke).

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Legend Lovers Alert!!!!!

The Houston Chronicle says this about that.

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I’ve seen a lot of things in my years around the arena here but last night was a first.

Wandering through the concourse, I saw a woman wearing – get this! – a Chris Garner replica jersey.

Seriously, No. 00, the old white pinstripe jersey.

I imagine it was a game-worn one she got at some charity event because I cannot imagine they ever, you know, made one to sell.

Outside of the little kid I once saw wearing a replica Chicken jersey, the Garner one takes the cake.

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Hey, a day off for them means kind of a day off for me. Knock off this Hedo profile I’m trying to work up for tomorrow’s newspaper and chill. I like this day off thing quite a bit.

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See ya.

The Goods On The Game, pre-season vs. Houston

Tough break for the tough guy

The Raptors are going to have to do with one fewer big man for the rest of the pre-season.

Reggie Evans, who suffered a “left mid-foot sprain” in Wednesday’s loss to Boston, has no return date specified, although all the team’s release says it is “likely that he misses the remainder of the pre-season.”

That would be Thursday night against Houston, a Sunday afternoon rematch with Boston and the pre-season finale a week from Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D., against Minnesota.

It’s just another in a rash of injuries that have hit the team since before camp and if the goal of any NBA franchise is to escape the pre-season healthy, the Raptors have failed miserably.

Antoine Wright hasn’t played yet with a sore knee, Sonny Weems missed a game with a sore knee, Chris Bosh sat out a couple with a hamstring and now Evans is on the shelf.

Evans’s injury opens up more time for Amir Johnson and Rasho Nesterovic in a backup big man role.

Of Pops and Jake and a Villanova love-in

Five down, three to go and it’s almost time to get serious.

Almost.

Until then …

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Three Things I Learned

They could be in better shape

I know a few of ‘em haven’t had a whole lot of practice – actually just Turk and Bosh – but I have to say, the Raps as a whole could use a bit of physical fine-tuning.

There’s a lot of time left, after tonight they’ve only got two games in like 13 days before the season ends, and I’m betting Jay’s going to be huddling with strength and conditioning coach Francesco Cuzzolin to get some of these guys on a fast-track program to optimum fitness.

It’s not that they’re slovenly as a group or anything. It just looks like they could use some oomph or something.

It was really noticeable in the first six or seven minutes of the third quarter when the Celtics seemed to run by them almost at will.

It’s got to be a priority in the next week.

Sign of the times?

No, they didn’t run too many screen and rolls against Boston – it’s such a basic play they all know that it won’t take long for them to work it out -- but what they did run was mildly interesting.

I think about half a dozen times in the first half, and a couple right at the start of the second, the ran post-ups for Bosh, with Turkoglu making the entry pass.

Of the three bigs, it looks like Bosh may be the inside guy, which plays to his newfound strength, actually.

And, no, he didn’t pass out of it very often last night but I wouldn’t worry about that. That game, and the four before it and the three to come, are for working on things and if he’s working on moves – a baseline fade off the left block looks like Job 1 – everyone’s okay with that.

How about KG’s knee?

It’s virtually impossible to get a true read off the Celtics from that game. It was the second of a back-to-back for most of them, Rasheed didn’t play and Garnett, Pierce and Allen only played a bit more than half a game.

To me, Garnett didn’t look hobbled at all but it was interesting that they used him primarily on Bargnani and put Kendrick Perkins on Bosh.

The other two? Allen didn’t make a shot in the first half, Pierce never really got going and it was like an extended workout rather than an intense outing.

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And now for our regularly-scheduled stuff

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Are you guys ready to tear the roof off the joint tonight?

It’s Legend Night at the Air Canada Centre.

As in The Legend Pops is back.

Now, the love for him was hardly commensurate with his production but it was love like there’s been for few others.

My take on Pops, as it’s always been, is that he’s an energetic rebounder who always looks to be having more of an impact on the game than he actually is.

Good guy for the couple of months he was here trying to gain permanent employment – which tells me he knows how to play the game. Rotation player on a playoff team? I’m not entirely sure about that.

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Here’s one to watch tonight. When Houston’s Kyle Lowry’s on the court, make sure Alvin Williams is actually cheering for the Raptors.

I joke, of course, but the bond between the two Villanova guards is strong. Very strong.

Williams spent a huge amount of time last year and in the summer of 2008 working with Lowry, who I think is going to be a very solid player for quite some time.

Speaking of Houston, the notebook from my buddy Jonathan Feigen suggests Rockets coach Rick Adelman isn’t quite in love with the whole idea of this game.

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What’s the first picture a guy sees when he walks into the press room at XL Center in Hartford?

Why a picture of a young Jake Voskuhl setting what looked like a rather nasty screen on someone during Jake’s rather illustrious UConn career.

And then you look around a little more and there’s pictures of entertainers and some pucks and some women Huskies but the only picture representing that storied men’s program is Jake.

No Ray Allen.

No Charlie V.

No Donyell Marshall.

No Khalid El-Amin, even.

Just Jake.

And I imagine he was called for a foul on the screen he was setting.

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Ran into my friend Bob Ryan at the game last night; it was his first foray into the land of Celtics after dealing with the demise of the Red Sox.

Here’s his take from today’s Boston Globe on what unfolded.

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You know the little things that bug the heck out of you for no particular reason except that they do. Stuff that no one else probably even things about but stuff that drives you nuts? I’ve got one for you.

Elevators with floor buttons on only one side of the door.

Just spent two days in the Hilton in Hartford (trust me, it sounds a heckuva lot nicer than it is) and just about every time I walked into the elevator, I turned the wrong way and went to push a button only to get a metal panel.

Irks me no end.

(Now, if that’s not the all-time digression, I don’t know what is).

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In Houston, this is what they’re reading about the Rockets; in Hartford, an old scout friend was telling me he saw them play already this pre-season and while he didn’t say they were terrible, he did say they were small and could be in for a long, long season.

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A face in the Hartford crowd stood out.

Pete Babcock, who’s doing some scouting for Cleveland apparently.

Good guy, Pete. Had a long run as GM in Atlanta but hasn’t been too prominent of late.

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If you’re sitting around breathlessly waiting for some update on Reggie Evans and the sprained foot he suffered Wednesday night, stand down.

With no media after their little Read To Achieve dog and pony show this morning, we’re not going to here any update until dinner time.

If I get a whiff, I’ll let you know but it’s probably going to be close to game time before there’s news.

The Goods On The Game, pre-season vs. Boston in Hartford