Some of this and some of that

That was some weak road trip, no?

I know their heart of hearts they figured a split would be the worst they’d get out of the jaunt to Charlotte and Boston and while the two losses hurt, the manner in which they were achieved hurts even more.

There is lots and lots of work to do, there is no doubt about that.

Anyhow …

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THREE THINGS I LEARNED

Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

I don’t imagine there’s a sane-thinking person in the world who isn’t (a) disgusted or (b) embarrassed or (c) shocked that no one – NO ONE – even bothered to take a menacing step towards Paul Pierce after he kneed Chris Bosh in the groin and then took a second to stand over him and taunt after dunking on him in the fourth quarter last night.

I guess I should add (d) surprised to that list because it’s been a flaw with this team for eons, that lack of toughness.

Now, I’m not advocating fighting or something ridiculous like that but some finger-pointing, yelling, gesturing or just letting him know that kind of punk move is unacceptable would have been in order.

It was Rasho, Turkolgu, Jose and Jack who were on the floor at the time of the play and one of them should have done something and that was pointed out in just about every story after the game.

What I want to see is if all this talk is cheap or not. This kind of thing will happen again, I’m sure, because teams know they can get away with it and I’m wondering just how these guys will react when it does.

Will they cower? Or actually do something to stand up for a teammate?

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A new twist on a pre-game meal

So Antoine Wright’s irked that some of his teammates are eating popcorn and goofing around in the locker room before games when they should, you know, being getting ready to play.

Not sure exactly who he’s talking about because he wouldn’t names with his public criticism – if I had a guess, judging by the story and who spoke how, he was taking aim at DeRozan – and maybe it actually worked.

The game turned out bad – although losing to Boston at home is a rather predictable result – but the Raptors did play with far more verve and energy in the opening half than they had in Charlotte.

Wright’s seems to have become some of the conscience of this team and it’s good that someone’s speaking up. Now, if he was just a tad more productive in the actual playing of the game department, I bet everyone would be a little bit happier.

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The true troubling sign

Yes, defence was an issue in the Charlotte game but one of the more pressing issues of the last two games to me is the lack of offensive production.

Sounds strange, but it’s true. Never mind the 103 points in Boston, the game was lost when they couldn’t score for almost seven minutes of the third quarter, that’s when it got away.

And, believe you me, if this team can’t score, it can’t win. No way, no how.

Some of it had to do with Boston’s defence – at times there were three guys guarding Bosh, one on his back, two creeping in from the sides – and the Raptors were unable to get the ball swinging side to side, which is when they are their most effective.

That’s got a lot to do with the wings not moving it quickly or decisively because the longer they hold it, the more time it gives defence to get into the passing lanes and there were times when everyone looked entirely befuddled.

Unless they clean that up – and I’m sure they will at times because they have scored with regularity against all kinds of defences – they’re in for some tough times.

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And in the other news

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Luckily, to get the taste of that Raptors-Celtics game out of my mouth (and while not totally distasteful, it certainly wasn’t entertaining), a run though the dial found the Thunder-Bucks gamse.

And I will say this again: I really like that Oklahoma City team.

I have no idea how they will eventually pay and keep Durant, Green, Westbrook and Harden but, right now, they are indeed fun to watch.

My early pick for coach of the year was Scott Brooks and I believe I mentioned Jeff Green as a favourite for most improved player and, mark my words, when the Thunders get to the playoffs, I could very well be right.

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What did the folks get to read this morning in Boston? Glad you asked. How about in Arizona? Glad you asked, again.

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Don’t forget, tomorrow’s a mail day and while I’ve got plenty now, guess there’s always room for more.

But, please, no questions like: “Why do they suck? Can they trade this guy or that guy? How about Iverson? When is Reggie coming back?”

Thanks.

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In case you care, I have no idea who’ll win the big gridiron game tomorrow night but I sure hope it’s Saskatchewan.

Two reasons:

Perhaps the best football game I’ve ever covered was the ’89 Grey Cup at the SkyDome when the Riders beat the Tiger-Cats and I’ve had an affinity for Saskatchewan ever since. The passion of the fans knows now bounds, it’s a true community team that provides a huge boost to civic pride.

And, they’ve got fans who wear watermelons on their heads, for goodness sake. They carve out the innards of watermelons and PUT THEM ON THEIR HEADS!

How can you not love a team that has fans that use gutted out fruit as headwear?

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It’ll be nice to get back to a practice today and get some real work done and the first question has to be:

Whither Andrea?

I don’t know if he’s banged up or sick or what but 24 minutes last night and 27 in Charlotte are far below his usual average of about 33 going into the road trip. And they need him to play – and to score – if they’re ever going to have a legitimate chance to win.

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Comments

[The J]

Expecting Bosh to do something after that is unfair, a knee to the groin is not something you bounce up from and then start getting into someone's face.

It was the responsibility of his teammates. And frankly they let him down.

[Ray Ray]

Adding fuel to the fire:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4694898

[Penny]

Interesting comments about Jose not passing the ball to Andrea. The reason whey we got behind in the 3rd quarter and went so long without scoring was because 3 or 4 trips in a row down the floor Jose passed to AB who shot and missed as is his habit on the road. As well it was not the point guard that Paul Pierce was blowing by.

[Ivan Kolev]

Add to the embarrassment - that dunk is number 1 on the Friday's top 10

[LeeZ]

Doug, you're probably gonna hear from people who think that Jay sat Andrea down because of his defence. Actually, I don't think that's the case. He actually played fairly good defence yesterday -- FOR ANDREA, that is -- but I think Jay has maybe had it when it comes to Andrea's baffling disinterest on the offensive end. For the past several games now, he has contented himself with floating on offence for incredibly long stretches at a time. At the beginning of the year, he was pro-active, posting up a smaller player here, establishing inside position there and then demanding the ball, cutting to the hoop. Well, he cut to the hoop a grand total of once yesterday, and the last time he established inside position or posted anyone up was...um...gee, can't remember. I think it's time that Jay start sitting some people down until they get involved in the game, be it on o or d. And the Derozan experiment is over. It is now backwards: Derozan needs to show more offence. He needs to grow his game, and he needs to feel comfortable looking for his shots. It's patently obvious he defers to his fellow starters. Meanwhile, when Wright enters the game, his defensive talents are wasted (relatively speaking) against the 2nd-unit opponents, but he tries to generate offence (ALWAYS a very, very dangerous thing for him to do) because our second unit is somewhat offensively challenged. Meanwhile, our FIRST unit is DEFENSIVELY challenged! I know Jay's logic in starting DD, but it's time for a change. And DD will get minutes if he shows he deserves them. And that's how it should be. Not just for him, but for everyone. If a player allows his opponent to blow by him a few times, his ass needs to get nailed to the bench. It's called accountability. Time for Jay to insist on it. The time for words is over.

[Matt M]

Wow, 'Turkododo'.... who knew that 'sheed had an inner Don Cherry. Next he'll be harping on how much tougher Canadians are than everyone else.

[Chris]

Doug
What should the Raptors have done when Bosh got dunked on. THis isn't hockey where you can drop the gloves after a cheap shot. Our coaches were already screaming at Paul would some of our players shouting at him done anything? Wouldn't it just have escaltated the situation and much like the Brawl in the Palace

[Aditya]

i thought about the exact same thing when i was watching thunder-bucks game that you (Doug) picked Jeff Green to be one of the most improved players or something like that...his facial was certainly impressive since he only took a couple of steps and served a facial on gadzuric and the other guy who was guarding him...
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james harden to me is the perfect fit for oklahoma city....
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kevin durant doesn't pass the ball well either.. (i have no idea what his assist totals are)

[J]

John:

" If not Toronto is going to have a whole lot of cap room in the spring."

Actually no, they won't have a whole lot of cap room. Depending on where the cap is set, they'll be about 3-6 mil below it, and that's ONLY if they keep 9 players and let Amir, Wright, Rasho, Pops, etc. walk.

[Aisen]

hey Doug
i've always wondered, what is Garnett like while on the court? Dude seems SUPER intense, and looks pissed all the time. does he talk stuff to opposite team or straight up shoots f and other inappropriate words

[Aditya]

one thing that has to be cleared is that when bosh got tangled with d12 in a game up here in toronto, bosh talked a little bit to d12 saying it was no dirty play (that's cuz bosh is friends with d12)....... but when danny granger pushed/shoved bosh with two hands with full force last year, i remember bosh not doing anything, not even protecting himself....not even his teammates doing anything........ same thing happens this year with paul pierce and it seems like bosh is scared as well to give a hard foul when he was on the floor after he got hit...HIS TEAMMATES ARE ULTRA SCARED (MINUS CALDERON), BUT bosh is scared to give out a hard foul himself (which should be noted)

Blogger's note: The guy got kneed in the groin and was laying on the baseline in pain. That should be noted. And has been. Thanks

[Dave]

I hate to comment on this at this point. I think some of the readers misunderstand Doug (assuming I do, in fact, get what he means). It's not a matter of resorting to the thuggery that you see in hockey where if you hit my guy (which is legal to do), I'm going to send in my brawler and he's going to punch you in the face. Of course you can't do that in basketball.

However, a teammate running in to see how Bosh is, while he's clearly in pain on the floor and pushing Pierce out of the way on his way through would have spoken volumes. No fights, no cheap shots, just "You're not going to stand over my teammate flexing like some enforcer."

I've seen Jose do this a couple of times in the past, he does have that passion in him, and I assume most pro athletes have that (heck, I do and the most pro I get is the local men's league). Sometimes you DO need to show teams you're not going to be thrown around. I was playing on a team of individuals one year and when we got to the playoffs all the teams thought they were going to knock us out easily because we didn't have the same talent level as them. But we dug in and played some "Jordan rules" defense and knocked guys around a bit in the paint and made a couple of upsets because guys just got taken out of their game. Sometimes physical basketball is called for.

[Ray]

Are you saying that Wright talks the talk but not necessary walk the walk?

[SD]

Chris Bosh's free throw percentage is down 5% from last year. Calderon's is down 20%. Is there any obvious explanation? What are your thoughts on the matter?

Blogger's note: That 5 per cent at this point in the year is no big deal and that 98 per cent was an aberration and will be closer to 90 when the season's over

[B. White]

I really wish that JT had told the guys in the wake of the 'incident', to give whichever of the Celtic Big-3 drove to the basket next, something to remind him of this game during the next week. Sometimes a statement needs to be made.

[SonnyL]

To Tomlin... perfectly said and i 100% agree...

[Aditya]

same thing happens this year with paul pierce and it seems like bosh is scared as well to give a hard foul when he was on the floor after he got hit
Blogger's note: The guy got kneed in the groin and was laying on the baseline in pain. That should be noted. And has been. Thanks
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Aint dumb enough....saw the game...if you read it again, i said he is scared as well to give a hard foul when he was on the floor AFTER he got hit....means after he was on the floor (actual basketball playing time) cuz he was inserted immediately after the coaches/pierce skirmish if you wanna call it that (But I can see it people taking it the other way)

[Aditya]

ok doug, you know how you said charlotte could use better point guard play...i just watched one whole game of charlotte vs washington (yes they are bad at present), and its only one game, but i don't know if it speaks of how bad washington is defensively, but all the passes, screens, play calls was so precise, it was pretty amazing to watch... (chandler, diaw, felton and wallace play in so much sync, its not even funny....and yes, i know its only one game, but they beat cleveland in their last game as well)

[John]

Doug you said earlier that if this team can't score , it can't win.
You know all teams go through scoring holes, but in those situations good teams turn the defensive screws up, because they know that "good defence creates offence". They find other ways to score, via getting stops.
So I find your opinion quite damning of the raps attitude vis-a-vis "I'll only get interested if i can score".
Yes the team lacks a tough "core". Yes maybe Bosh is a good leuitenant, not a general to lead his troops. Yes getting beat at the 1 spot time after time is not good way to start a turn on D. Yes i know we can't heap this responsibility to turn it around on Reggie.

So after years of making excuses about this game/that game have we got ourselves so far down the "finesse" path that it can't be turned around?

How would NBA players react to a coach who made them work their butts off at training? Run suicides endlessly for every time they let their man get past them or not box out. They play like soft kids, treat them like soft kids. Get stuck into them.

In your opinion IS Jay too soft on them? Does he trust them to find their own enthusiasm? I know about great defensive system coach yada yada, but he ain't the HC, and he does not allott court time. What are Jays values re the "effort" parts of the game? Will he bench players who don't try, or are their replacements just as soft?

Blogger's note: No, I don't think he's too soft

[Gary Slippoy]

You could have bet the farm that the Raptors would lose and lose big on Sunday, after their "close call" in Phoenix recently. Anybody who things that Tim Donaghy was the only referee fixing games also must think that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Kind of strange how most games are really close around half time wouldn't you say?

Blogger's note: Wow. This is conspiracy theory run amok to nonsensical levels. You've got the refs or league engineering the result of Sunday's game? Seriously, I thought I'd heard it all.