A true pro shows up and a man's unmasked

I can hear it now:

Ra-sho, Ra-sho, Ra-sho

Some night for him, eh? Consummate professional all the way.

Oh, and a pretty funny guy, as you know.

Asked him about the Slovenian Dream Shake move and he says, something like:

“I was saving it. I didn’t want to bring it out too early; you told me the all-star weekend was boring and I didn’t want to go. I wanted the days off.”

Anyway, on to the stuff

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THREE POINTERS

Big finish

End of the first quarter, Nets score with 5.5 seconds left. Raptors inbound the ball, Jose goes 50 feet in a blur, hits Antoine Wright with a perfect pass, Wright takes his time, pump fakes a Net and drills a three-pointer with two-tenths of a second left.

End of the third quarter, Raps have the ball up eight, the Nets have been charging. They move it smartly around side-to-side, Andrea (I believe it was) finds himself on the post with a double-team coming and the clock running out. Instead of forcing it, he kicks it to Jose who pump fakes someone and drills a smooth three with four-tenths of a second left.

This has not generally been a team that finishes quarters like that; quite to the contrary, actually. They usually give up those shots instead of making them (how many uncontested buzzer beaters can you remember them giving up to end quarters?) and that’s what made last night at least mentionable.

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Good one night, not so much the next

Remember way back in, I think, the Milwaukee game, when the Raptors junked it up and played a whole whack of zone defence near perfection in a comeback win?

Well, not so much last night. We saw that zone for the first time (at least in more than one or two successive possessions) and I think the Nets scored on at least the first three – hitting a couple of threes that made the game a bit closer than it should have been.

I don’t know how much they work on it at practice, but if they’re going to pull it out of the bag, they need some more. What I saw was slow defensive movement side-to-side, which is a danger inherent in zones and if they don’t clean that up, they can’t use it.

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No masked man

I look up before the tip and see Hedo fussing with the straps of the mask and then about six minutes in I notice it’s gone and I figure something’s wrong with the strap and it’s being fixed.

Then he never wears it again and I’m like, “oh, oh, this might be an issue.”

Says Turk when I asked him:

“It’s really bothering me because the game’s I’m playing with it, it’s effecting my shot and my game. I’d rather take it off and play without it.

“It makes me look bad, and not just from the look. I’m not worried about that; I look bad playing, not myself. You keep trying to fix it, it slides. You go into a pick and you get hit and hit covers the face. I make that decision … it’s basketball, you never know, but at least I know I’ll feel more comfortable now and try to play without it.”

The best thing everyone can hope for today is that when the doctors get a look at him again they find that the tiny fracture has healed well enough to go sans mask. And, believe me, it must be getting a lot better because there would have been a big issue with the staff last night had it not.

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More? I’ve got a little more.

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You know what’s cool on the road, especially when you’re on the east coast?

You finish writing and have time to relax, head back to the hotel, find a lounge and sit and check out what’s going on in the late games.

You discuss strategy, talk about the players, wonder what teams will call out of timeouts and generally go over and break down the game while letting the post-writing adrenaline rush calm down.

Same thing here Friday with one exception.

Thanks to whatever way-up-the-dial NBC network they had on the corner, a couple of scribblers broke down a narrow overtime triumph for Canada’s plucky women Olympic curlers and I think I’ve found my favourite Vancouver Games team.

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It cannot, at any level, be any fun covering those New Jersey Nets. But you have to write something and here’s how Dave D’s guy summed up loss No. 50.

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Same scenario plays out before games in every NBA arena. About 90 minutes before, some kids or fans line the edges of the stands next to the tunnels leading off the court and try to cadge autographs from players as they head back to the locker room after the warm-ups.

Well, we’re standing there last night as the early work gets done and Alvin Williams is heading back to the locker room.

A handful of kids are along the rail as Alvin jogs by, trying to get his attention. One was louder than the other:

“Hey, Mr. Banks! Mr. Banks! Mr. Banks! Please sign.”

Oblivious, Al keeps going, looking back over his shoulder to see where Marcus was. Marcus was nowhere to be seen, seems the kid was a tad confused and, I have to admit, Al wasn’t all that impressed being mistaken for a guy about five inches shorter.

Got a lot of yucks out of Marcus and him, though, when they heard about it.

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Speaking of stories from other places, the Wizards upset the Denvers on Friday and here’s what the Washington Post had to say.

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Oh, and this’ll be your last shot for mail; figure I’ll do it for Monday ‘cause tomorrow’s going to be really dead with a day off for the lads and, I believe, a Mighty Yankees Coaches Meeting And Social Hour to watch some pucks game.

Send the queries here.

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Oh.

My.

God.

I just heard some Talking Head on ESPN, talking – still – about the golfer dude’s soul cleansing statement yesterday and he said something like (and I’m paraphrasing here because I was too stunned when it was being spoken):

“People will remember it as a ‘where were you when Tiger Woods spoke moment’.”

I swear. He did.

It was a pro athlete confessing sins to save his marriage and his image. Nothing more. Nothing less. It was better than I thought it’d be, actually, but to use that kind of phrasing (and it goes back to the John Kennedy assassination, you young ‘uns) is just plain stupid.

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Anyway, a plane awaits in a couple of hours to shuttle me to the island so I’m close to the arena and can get right to work. Not sure how much I’ll be around here to do comments but I’ll get to ‘em eventually.

Have a nice day.

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Comments

[Filip T]

Hey Doug,
We all know you're not the biggest Air Canada fan, how do you feel about Porter? Must be incredibly convenient going from Jersey to Toronto (the ACC).

Blogger's note: Outstanding.

[J]

Just a minor correction, but wasn't Wright's three ruled a two after the break? Anyhow, point received cuz it was definitely from three-point range.

[Eric]

Hey Doug. Is Bosh going tonight? Or is he taking it easy till wed? Thanks!

[KatTheBadOne]

"Slovenian Dream Shake" hahahahhaahhaha! Doug, you and Rasho should have your own show...

[Ian]

Couldn't agree more about the Tiger Woods paragraph. To say that people will remember where they were when it happened is really laughable. There is only one news moment in my life where I can vividly recall the exact moment and situation when it happened and that was 9/11. Tiger's speech... I didn't watch it since I was at work and not once did I think "Man, I gotta find a TV and watch Tiger". Although kind of typical of ESPN to blow this out of proportion.

[Thane]

Kids in New Jersey know who Marcus Banks is? (well, obviously not, but they know his name) I'm impressed, in a strange kinda way.

[smd]

With Rasho's abilities - shouldn't he be on the floor more? It's hard to say whose minutes he would eat into, but it seems anytime he gets the chance to play he out a solid defense, is a big body that gets in the way and he always seems to put up the points.
Nice to have on the team - It's too bad we don't see more of him.

[Dave]

Doug,

Love the blog - I was more moved than I thought I would be from the Tiger circus...I couldn't help but notice your distaste a few days ago about the whole press meeting - how no questions allowed is a sham and something about golf writers not attending. I've heard others in the media express similar opinions...But then reading your blog you mention how the masses have developed a sense of entitlement to nose into all athletes personal business re: Turk's family issue, and you have no problem not knowing what was/is wrong with Turk's family. I don't mean to criticize or nit-pick toooo much, but it kind of seems contradictory - to want writers to be able to pry at Tigers life, but feel it's unreasonable to pry at Turks...At the outset, I thought no questions for Tiger was a bit of a sham, but after seeing what transpired, it's clear why no question were allowed. I think what Tiger did, he did for himself - as much as the media and fans - as part of his soul-seaching process.

Just a quick thought for you...love the blog...still wish we were wondering how to fit Caron Butler into our lineup, but I'm pretty happy with what we've got...
Cheers!

Blogger's note: Not sure it's contradictory at all. If Tiger Woods wanted to stay in seclusion and keep his matters to himself, I would have been fine with that; when he opened himself to the world, he needed to go the full lengths. And I presume eventually he will.

[coachd]

Did Tiger Woods do something yesterday? I guess I must have missed it.

[graham]

excellent win yesterday for what it showed: Raptors really morphing into a team. Teams win, not individuals. Have to laugh at New York attempting to secure cap space for two max guys: LA had two dominant max guys with Kobe and Shaq at his peak but lost to a Detroit team without any max players -- some very good players, but no hall of fame candidates. At least Cleveland is attempting to surround LeBron with a solid team: Cleveland vs. Lakers will be fun to watch. Glad to see BC stay the course with the players he has: Rasho showed the strength of good team bench players.

[John]

Rasho is hilarious....classic comment.

[SHodge]

You have Bosh and Wade in the discussion along with Anthony (agree whole heartedly, as long as Anthony continues being consistent at both ends...) but what about Durant? Lot of folks talking about him as an MVP contender?!?! Do you leave him out because he needs a couple more years of seasoning before he's consistent enough to be put into the conversation?

Blogger's note: No, he'd be next on the list, that's for sure.