Some this, some that, some time to take it easy

If anyone deserves a day off, it’s these guys, don’t you agree? That was a tough, relatively gritty win in tough circumstances; not something we usually see here from The Heroes Of The Hardcourt and they deserve a day of rest.

Like I do.

And you do, too.

Let’s all coast today.

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THREE POINTERS

That’s what they were talking about

We’ve seen, and discussed, all kinds of growth in Andrea Bargnani’s game this season, mostly in his post offence, but there were two plays late last night that really stood out to me.

And go to what Jay’s been saying for months, that if Bargnani does “the other things” he’s way more valuable.

The blocked shot on Harrington with 59 seconds left was huge, just as it was for Bargnani to stick with the miss and grab the loose ball.

And the way he defended Harrington the final Knicks possession, closely and aggressively out at midcourt (and I’m pretty sure Bargnani got a hand on the ball at least once) was stuff we hadn’t really seen too often.

In days gone by, Bargnani let his offence dictate is defence and there’s no question his offence was missing last night, in no small part because he was bothered by a sore ankle. (I’m told by people in the know that that was more of an issue than a foot during the game).

But when he couldn’t make a shot, he still made a play and it’s another step for him.

And them.

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It’s what stars do

Can we now, once and for all, put all this crap about Chris Bosh and fourth quarters and not being The Man to rest?

Can we just make it go away? Like forever.

Not only does he make the game-winning basket on a huge, tough, determined drive (kind of like the Philly game except from the other side of the court) but he stays with a tough defensive assignment the next time down the floor and blocks Tiny Nate Robinson at the rim.

It’s been said of a long, long time in these parts that Bosh is truly a great player and a great finisher and all he ever needed was better players around him to let his team flourish and he to be even better since opponents would have to worry about other Raptors.

And with the way Bargnani’s going and the way Jose’s been going and Jarrett and last night, Turk, we’re seeing just how dominant Bosh can be.

We’ve said forever that it’s never about one guy, never has been, never will be and we’re seeing with Bosh how true that is.

He’s getting help, and he’s playing out of his mind.

Pretty nice to watch, isn’t it?

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I was stunned, too

No, I didn’t know Turk could dunk, either.

I figured he could. But three times in a game? One a drive down the lane that was not only powerful but, dare I say, quick?

Heckuva game by the favourite piñata of impatient fans, wasn’t it?

I have no idea where it came from or when it might come back but the sense was he wanted to dominate from the start and did.

I haven’t watched the replay closely enough but it struck me during the game that he didn’t have the ball any more than he usually does, they still ran dribble-handoff stuff through him about 80 per cent of the time, but that he simply did more with it when he had it.

And he made a shot or two, which I always knew he would eventually do.

I don’t think anyone’s ready to pronounce him 100 per cent back but I think even the greatest of detractors would have to admit he’s getting there.

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There are other tidbits, too. Like …

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I see in Dave’s notes that Dino Meneghin, an iconic Italian star, was at the game in his role as president of the country’s basketball federation, trying to convince Bargnani, Belinelli and Gallinari to play for Italy this summer.

Word is that he didn’t get a yay or a nay from any of them and it looks like we’re headed for another summer questioning whether key Raptors should play for their countries or not.

So let’s get this out there right now: Yes, if they want to, they should. Without question.

Just like Turk should play for Turkey, Bosh for the United States, Jose for Spain and if Rasho shocks us by making a Slovenian Comeback, he should, too.

We’ll have this debate a lot, I’m sure, because the whole “they’re-main-obligation-is-to-the-team-that-pays-them-the-most” issue won’t ever really go away.

But it’s really quite a simple decision to me: Representing your country is one of the greatest things an athlete can do; I’m not sure some people understand that, but it is.

And they should.

If they want.

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Ask me what I’m doing today.

“What are you doing today, Doug?”

“Thanks for asking. I’m about to head to York University to take part in their annual Sports Business Seminar and, yes, I fear for the future of higher education if they’re listening to me but they asked and I’m glad to help.”

Seriously, this is now two things in a week for me out among the people (Hi, Ernst and Young!) and the next thing you know, someone’s going to show up with a camera, some pizza and soda and I’ll be truly at the top.

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In New York, one of the local rags wrote this about that big game.

(Speaking of the Knicks, as I’m watching Nate Robinson hang on a rim like it’s the first time he’s touched one, and David Lee preen after the huge accomplishment of making an uncontested dunk, and Al Harrington flick out his shirt like he’d just made a shot to win a game, I’m thinking: That team is far too full of itself for one that’s got such a horrid record. And I’m wondering if there’s a correlation there and I’m thinking, yeah, there is.)

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Getting back to Italian stuff for a minute, I don’t know if this catches on, or if it should, but an Irregular sent an e-mail this week suggesting we refer to Marco’s penchant for zaniness as “tiro ignorante.”

Seems there’s a somewhat legendary Italian national team player, Gianluca Basile (a guy I remember being out of his mind good in the Athens Olympics semifinals) who would take a rather entertaining or ill-advised shot every now and that’s what his offence became known as in some circles.

I guess the literal translation is “ignorant shots” and that’s far from what they are, but it’s an apt, and cute, description.

When I mentioned this to Marco, he was rather taken aback.

Let’s just say he thinks his skills are far, far better than Basile’s, an opinion shared by others in the Italian basketball community I spoke to the other night at the Heat game.

Anyway, no idea if that’s interesting or not, but it’s an item.

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Speaking of items, there’s always room for another mailbag question or two; don’t forget to send ‘em here today because we’ve got an early close this week thanks to the Mighty Yankee Parents Night Out Tomorrow which, if history holds, could be legendary.

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Comments

[Chris]

Hey Doug, I was appauled by the showboating by Nate, Lee, and especially Harrington as well (tugging at the "New York" on his jersey because he's apparently proud to be on a team 10 games under .500). I was wondering did the raptors take notice? take it personally? They won so that's a good enough response but I am curious if they take that type of stuff as a challenge.

[Brian]

I thought your comments about the Knicks' showboating were spot on, Doug. Keep up the good work.

[Johnn19]

To all the people against BB players playing for their Country's internationally.

I'm sure you are also against NHL players like Crosby et'al playing for Canada in world championships, and the past and future Olympic competitions. Why are you not using them as examples to the NBA players?

[Penny]

Nice win by the Raps last night but they have to do something to come out with more energy at the beginning of the game. That's 4 games in a row where they've been down by 10 - 16 points early. It seems that the "second unit" of Jose, Amir, Wright, Weems comes in, gets them the lead and then the first unit comes back in and loses it. Case in point - last night when Jay took Jose out in the 4th quarter the score was 97-92 in favor of the Raps. When Jay finally put him back in, it was now 102-97 for the Knicks. They had some more turnovers and didn't score 1 point while he was out. We need his ballhandling skills on the floor at the end of close games.

[mdc]

Turkoglu's interview last night was meant to convey that his low production up until now is on the coaches and team, not him. Period.

[mando]

Hedo's interview was the best ever, especially in light of the superficial, self serving-serving questions that the players are repeatedly asked for those 10 second sound bytes.

[Mr. Cook]

First, I loved that Turk interview. Then again, I love laughing at awkward situations. Awesome.

Doug, as a member of a law school where we regularly get a variety of speakers from the world at large to come and talk to us, I just wanted to point out how useful seminars like that are. For the students that choose to participate in them it brings home the real world application of everything they're attaining through education. Good on you and good on York.

[CC]

I agree with you Doug about players playing for the National Team. I think most people in this part of the world will not understand that for they usually equate sport with money. If im good playing this sport, eventually i will get rich. They may not admit it but its there. If you say Bosh, Calderon, Nash have made "significant commitments" already to the National Team you make it sound like they are "required" to do it. If they reach X number of commitments they're done. No no no.. it does not work that way, if you Love what your doing, it does not matter whether you do it once or nth time. And please don't tell the athlete they have "responsiblity" for they are paid millions of $. Remember the Team/Owner drafted/signed the players. They did not just suddenly appear in the locker room and the teams have no choice but to pay them.

[Richard]

Hey Doug,

Great take on all that Knick posturing and preening. I couldn't believe it. Maybe they don't know their own record... or thought the game was actually over... or maybe they're just a team full of knuckle-heads. But I'm glad you saw fit to mention it. I can't understand why that team would be so full of themselves. Even when the Raps were down 16 (or 5 with under 2 minutes to play) I wasn't particularly concerned about losing the game. Imagine how obnoxious they would be if they were actually... oh, I don't know... good! Well, I guess we don't have to worry about that any time soon.

By the way not to belabour a point, but since you were watching the broadcast like the rest of us, I wonder if you could see from my perspective (and surely many others who watch Raptor broadcasts) why hearing about the difficulty of back-to-backs gets tiresome. I mean I love Jack and he does a great job, but he must have dropped the back-to-back reference a dozen times by 8pm last night. The game was barely into the first quarter. You gotta admit it's overkill...?

Anyway, another nice gutsy win. They're really starting to show some poise. A key character trait of playoff teams with potential to do some damage.

[James D]

Did most of your readers miss that Turk was hesitant to do the post-game obligatory interview?

Labumbard had to force/usher him back from the tunnel. He seemed less jubilant about the win and perhaps more defiant in the fact that he finally broke out.

Hedo has already voiced needing more touches/being the primary ball-handler. His terse one word "ball" was clearly an attempt to convey an 'I told you so' rail against the Triano offense (which thankfully isnt wholly reliant on a 27% shooter doing ALL the marshaling).

[john]

i am just waiting to hear how Anrea's back is - i have a hunch it bothered him last night - hope its better by sunday

[Peter G]

I didn't think he said, "Ball". I thought he said "Balls" ; (as in 2 of them), which he was saying he needed, to have played the type of game he did. I thought it was a very appropriate comment on his part.

[just a fan]

When hedo .... we do!!!

[Bruce]

Re: Hedo's word of choice

I watched that interview with Jack, and the context of the conversation had to do with being aggressive, taking charge, etc. I fully believe when Hedo answered Jack he said, "BOLD", as in, he made the determination that he needed to be "bold" in his play. When Jack didn't catch it, Turk didn't care enough to correct him. I'm sure if Turk performs as consistently as he did last night, no one will care whether his interviews are monosyllabic or not.

[D.P.]

BALL!

I have nothing else to say about that.

[KD]

Hey Doug;

An off topic question, but when do you think the ACC will host a NBA all-star game?

Blogger's note: No guess. Not for a few years, let's say, oh, 2013

[Ray]

ball

[greg]

i guess that media seminar for the players didnt work lol. Ball Turk Ball!!!

[Chops]

Are you getting tired of these ball comments?

[jim]

Hi Doug,

Great work as always and it must be nice to have a majority of wins to report on for the first time in a while. I'll admit that it is more fun to follow.

Is it not possible that Hedo's 'ball' comment was a reference to the fact that when you play his style of small forward you are highlighted in a way that exposes you to the hero/goat analysis, when in fact you are doing your job for the team whether your own stats are great or not?

Doesn't his unique skill set coming from the SF position mix things up for other teams defenses even if he only achieves his career averages?

I think J. Rose played a similar role on that Kevin O'neil team that was playing well before Rose was injured?

Who else would you say plays or has played a similar role for other NBA teams?

Thanks

[Thane]

Sheesh, it's not like Turk only said that one word, people!

He first answered with a multi-sentence reply. Then Jack asked pretty much the exact same question.

[doug]

no wonder players don't give "honest" interviews look at how on this blog alone Hedo's answer of one word has been interpreted....Jack Armstrong's reaction was classic how many times has Jack been lost for words?....plus shouldn't a GM find it flattering thats let's say 4 players are been considered for their respective national teams? as oppossed to let's say none?...means you must be doing something right....also a key point in luring potential free agents if a organization allows its players to suit up for there national teams, a selling point...i know it would be for me..

[Tony]

The team is gelling. reminds me of how they kept getting better under Sam M first run... This time they are deeper. Have a one star but their second close star in bargnani and hedo(will come) much stronger. And the bench plays defence and gives energy.

Not a team to play in the playoffs!

[Perry]

I'm going to sound like a jerk but I don't care today! I'm adamant on the following point.

Why do they need or deserve a day off? Is that not the first sign of complacency? What is there to celebrate right now? How much would a day away from the gym REALLY help? Are their twenty-something bodies really that worn down that they need a break... or is it that they need to heal their MENTAL wounds instead, the kind that are so often characteristic of teams that underachieve and/or can't handle even modest success.

It just bodes poorly for the future and may explain the past. I don't care that they get days off, nobody works every day. But why does anyone feel the need to ask for them? Or feel they deserve them? For me that's the first sign that something's wrong. The next time a true champion asks for a "day off" will be the first. Why can't we be champions?

Now, I know they didn't ask for anything publicly. I know I'm responding more to Doug Smith's energy than I am the Toronto Raptors'. But I'm just frustrated that that kind of energy surrounds the team. It's such an anchor.

[:)]

DAYY OFF?? THERES NO SUCH THING IN RAPTOR LAND! BACK TO WORK DOUG!