A visitor from the west signals a sign of the times

Join Doug Smith for a live Q&A at noon Wednesday, as the Raptors prepare to take on the Miami Heat.

What’s this? A “big” game on a Wednesday night in January? Seems that way.

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We’re standing on the concourse waiting for practice to end Tuesday – a few minutes before we saw DeMar come limping out of the gym – when a great visitor from the west came out of the elevator.

Wayne Embry, who remains the guy who started this whole Raptors renaissance in motion by getting the Knicks to take Jalen Rose way back in the day, is in town and it can only mean one thing:

Trade deadline’s coming and all hands are on deck to talk about it.

Along with the presence of Jim Kelly, who we saw out and about Sunday evening, it’s time for those kinds of organizational meetings that happen once or twice a year.

(Trust me, Wayne’s pretty anti-winter and to see him here instead of at his warm Arizona home means it’s a command performance).

With the trade deadline three weeks from today, it’s about time to start figuring out what’s out there in the deal world anyway.

About the only thing of real interest I’m hearing from the Usual Suspects I talk to in the organization is that there is some chatter from teams interested in Antoine Wright but that the Raptors would be looking at an upgrade at the backup two-three spot without a huge financial burden if they were to move him.

The sense I’m getting from these conversations is that there’s nothing huge percolating at the moment and that there’s not a lot of activity being initiated by the Raptors.

But I warn you – and I warn you every year about now – things can happen relatively fast and just because there isn’t anything going on now doesn’t mean there won’t be anything going on Feb. 18 when it comes time to fish or cut bait.

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The first clue was the blue shoes on a couple of guys at practice Tuesday.

Tonight’s a Huskies Night!

Yep, lots of extra pressure on the lads against Miami tonight as they put a all-time unbeaten record in Huskies blue and white on the line.

Forget about the 2-0 this year.

These guys have never, ever, not once been beaten in the throwback jerseys.

They’re 3-0 (opening night, 1996) and if that’s not enough to add to the hype, I don’t know what is.

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Chat today? How about noon? Work for you? It works for me so let’s do it.

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It was rather interesting to listen to Chris Bosh talking about the Miami game and what kind of buzz he expected – if any – for a Wednesday night game in the middle of January for a team that’s having a hard time selling out a lot of games this year.

The thing that got me was this one:

“Any time Dwyane Wade is here a lot of Dwyane fans come out and there’s a lot of hype behind the game.”

Coming on the heels of the Kobe love-fest from a large chunk of Sunday’s game, it seems people do take notice of these things.

I have to admit, I don’t remember any particular time the fans were all about Wade like they are all about Kobe, but I guess there has been some open appreciation showing.

Everyone I talked to about Sunday’s Laker game was uber-impressed with the energy of the crowd down the stretch but there were some eyebrows raised about the number of No. 24 jerseys in the crowd.

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The Heat are starting a stretch of something crazy like 11 of their next 13 games on the road or somesuch and here’s how Ira wrote it up this morning.

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Speaking of Huskies Night, it’s also a night to “recognize” a blast from the past.

Hello, Doug Christie, it’s your time to shine.

Yes, I’m told she’ll be here, too.

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As part of daily session with us – a growing number of “us” these days because they’re winning and all the part-timers are coming around – Jay was asked about Marco and his shot selection and how often he cringes when a wacky one gets hoisted up. Jay surveys the crowd around him and gives us this:

“I don’t think I’ve ever complained about any shot any of our guys have taken. The last time I complained about a shot somebody took was probably when Sherman took one back in the Olympics.”

Of course, Sherman Hamilton, who doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being one of the best broadcasters in the game in this country, is standing right there in the thick of the scrum and takes umbrage.

“I was open when I took that shot.”

And as I recall a lot of Sherm’s shots, I bet it went in.

All joking aside, when Jay added this, his point was made:

“Guys aren’t going to take shots thinking they’re going to miss, they’re going to take shots thinking they’re going to make them. I like to give guys the freedom to be able to shoot the basketball.”

Not only is that music to the ears of players, it makes entire sense because, as we’ve pointed out numerous times this year, offence is not a concern with this team; it’s going to score enough points to win on an overwhelming percentage of nights and if some of those points come on unorthodox shots, so be it.

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Okay, here’s the deal.

The First Annual Winter Celebration And Reunion Of The Mighty Yankees – Parents Only Because There Will Be Intoxicants is taking place Saturday night at a local Swinging Hotspot (first one to get that esoteric lyric reference wins undying gratification) and that’s sure to not only take that evening out of the work rotation but make Sunday morning a tad, um, cloudy.

The results are in:

You people are good; and it's not just Young 'Uns here. Nice to know People Of A Certain Age read this stuff. Well done.

So get the mail in early by clicking here because the usual Saturday night at the desk watching games and answering isn’t going to happen.

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A few of us had a very interesting chat with Bruce Kidd on Tuesday morning before practice; he’s the new chairman of the Team Up Foundation, which is the new conglomeration of charitable groups representing the various Maple Leaf Sports teams.

I’ll get into this a little bit more in the next couple of days but Kidd – one of the most respected educators, social commentators and leaders I’ve come across – seems to think his group can take a lead in helping change some blights on youth today because, as he said:

“We’re facing a crisis of physical inactivity in our society.”

I do think the now-defunct Raptors Foundation, run by a couple of hardest-working in show business, did a very good job with its programs to promote fitness, literacy and other issues and I can only hope the well-respected Kidd keeps that good work going.

Giant corporations like Maple Leaf Sports do have an obligation to do more than take money and disappoint fans and they need to be more active in important social causes.

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Comments

[kathyt]

... with a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot...

She is one of my favourites - Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi (good song)

[George]

Big Yellow Taxi

[Joni]

With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot.

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you got till it's gone. ...

[doug]

Joni Mitchell..Paved Paradise.....plus MLSE and the Leafs deserve a pat on the back for what they did for that one boy and his family yesterday...truly touching...puts a lot of things in perspective when reading a story like that...

[Lorie]

Ha! And if it is indeed a Swinging Hotspot with Generous Quantities of Adult Beverages enthusiastically consumed, be sure you are all driven home in a Big Yellow Taxi! Cheers!

[Mike kovacs]

Doug how many wins do you think it will now take to just make the playoffs in each conference? Thanks.

Blogger's note: 39-40 in the East; 44-45 in the West maybe?

[JR Mac]

'swinging hotspot'

Joni Mitchell, no?

[DougG]

The "legitimate" basketball press in the US is now stating that the Raptors are no longer actively shopping Chris Bosh, like they were a couple of months ago. The fact that none of those old stories had even a tangential relationship with reality doesn't seem to matter. They are now the foundation upon which the new set of unsubstantiated lies rest. However, their "deep" sources inform them that Bosh is still definitely leaving in the summer. This part must be true because why wouldn't Bosh leave millions of dollars on the table, take less money, and lower his yearly increases, so he can play second fiddle to someone else, rather than being the number one option.

[Blake Kennedy]

Doug, I'm pretty sure plenty of people have heard "Big Yellow Taxi". Always nice to hear it referenced, though.

Mad props if you can work in a reference to "Temptation" by Tom Waits (or the superior cover by Diana Krall). After all, on this team there's no lack of opportunity to make reference to "Italian Blue".

[Simon S-G]

Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi. One of my faves.

[Travis]

big yellow taxi, Joni mitchell

[LeeZ]

They Paved Paradise, Joni Mitchell. Come on, Doug, give us something a bit challenging! What does my prize package include? Trip to Paris, with 10 grand in spending money?

[Mike]

I believe the lyric is from Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell).

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Great Blog Doug :)

[Zombywoof]

Ok, then, who can tell us what she meant when she sang "big yellow taxi came and took away my old man"? Hint: it has nothing to do with cabs.

[Peter]

"Giant corporations like Maple Leaf Sports do have an obligation to do more than take money and disappoint fans and they need to be more active in important social causes."

Well said Doug, couldn't agree more.

[Johnny's]

Doug,

Why doesn't Weems get more minutes? Stat geeks will show that the team is better statistically both on offence and defence when he is in the game (82games.com).

Blogger's note: Because stats geeks aren't always accurate

[manap3000]

Doug, the raptors cannot compete with teams that are willing to spend money and go over the salary cap (ie. Boston, Lakers, etc..) will MLSE ever put more money towards the raptors (the leafs cant use it can they)? and if not will this team ever be succesful without taking this extra step (successful in my books is winning the whole shebang, or making it to the finals. This is one fan who is tired of how little success the raptors have had throughout the years

[Lorie]

I have heard two plausible (at least to me) explanations for the "big yellow taxi" lyrics: one being that she was referencing the yellow school buses that would pick up soldiers at various checkpoints across the U.S. who were enroute to serve in Vietnam; another school of thought is that she was referring to the colour of the Toronto police cars (at that time) as they drove off with her then-lover. (We used to identify our boyfriends as "my old man" back then...and of course they now truly are all "old men"!) Anyway, back to work...

[sherry]

To: "manap3000": I think you need to either change your definition of "success" or direct your energy over to following the Lakers. Making it into the playoffs is not success? Winning the Division title is success? (and we're 2nd in our division right now) There are 30 teams out there and only one can win. We're not NJ or Minnesota (thank gawd!) but we're also not LA or Cleveland. We're in the middle of the pack, which is an improvement on last year and that's all we can ask of the team.

[Zombywoof]

@Lorie.... ding ding ding! We have a winnah!! She was talking about the cops hauling off her boyfriend. I read this in some music rag, probably Rolling Stone or Creem or something, and it always stuck with me. Back in the day, as you say, the Toronto police cars were a blinding bright yellow, and "yellow taxi" was a colloquialism of the time. Here's a shot of a yellow taxi that's survived into the modern era: http://tinyurl.com/MTPyellow
At one point there was an alarm about the lead content of the yellow paint, and that's when the cops switched to white cars. Didn't seem to bother the Public Works Dept though, as they began to paint their trucks the same yellow and continued for another twenty years! I guess they got saddled with the surplus paint....:-) Ain't this blog fun? Kill Miami!

[paul]

Sherman Hamilton looks like a nice guy, but he is a horrible, awful broadcaster. I literally try to hit mute when he speaks when the game is on RapsTV..

[GM]

I'd love to go on about Joni Mitchell, but I'll switch things over to, you know, basketball. It's good Jay doesn't complain about shots, but I think he should. If the worst option takes a shot early in the shot clock (ahem, Wright), shouldn't he care? Sure, he might be open (for a reason) and he might take it thinking he'll make it, but that shouldn't be tolerated. Players should know their place and a coach has to let them know.

Sherman Hamilton one of the best basketball broadcasters in this country? Uh, okay. That's damning with extremely faint praise. He's not bad, actually. I just wish he were on radio.

[james]

At your parental event, will you have a little money riding on the Maple Leafs?

[manap3000]

back at Sherry

I wasnt refferring to this season, i was asking a question in regards to the future of the team. Casual fans like you will settle for this mediocrity year after year ... but i for one yearn for the day the raptors dominate the likes of teams who take them lightly have badmouthed them since there inception into the league .

Blogger's note: I deleted the sexist crap you wrote and that'll be the last time you try that, right? RIght.

[J]

manap3000:

What Sherry said, and also you're confusing the salary cap with the luxury tax level. The Raptors are constantly over the salary cap, and going into the luxury tax isn't the simplest matter, nor is it necessarily helpful. Take now for example, if Arenas was waived, the Raptors could still only sign him to the minimum salary, not whatever salary they want. The luxury tax level is largely irrelevant unless it prevents us from using our MLE (it didn't, we signed Jack) or making a trade for better players (that scenario hasn't come up yet).