Lots of CIS stuff because it was a fun weekend

How was it? It was good, actually.

It’s the first time I’ve been at a CIS final in a long time and, overall, it was quite good and far better than the last one I was at. It was nice to see a lot of old friends and perhaps make some new ones and it never hurts to just be around to fly the flag.

But the game’s the thing, right?

What was it like?

Well, the calibre of play was good, the games were competitive, the skills were probably a bit better than I had expected.

And that’s all you want, right? Good games played by kids who care and are well-coached and supported by good fans.

I guarantee you the emotion I saw at the arena in Ottawa was as pure and as heartfelt as anything anyone saw in Buffalo on the weekend, for instance.

Now, did I see future pros in action? No, I didn’t. But I bet if I looked at the NCAA brackets really closely, I would be able to safely say I saw as many future NBAers at the tournament I covered than some guys would have at first-round NCAA sites.

But that’s not really the point, is it?

The point is, as I tried to make today in the newspaper, the game in Canada is getting better, the coaching is better (I think the officiating has ways to go to catch up) and that means everyone connected with the game wins.

I also think we need to write more about these kids and the programs and the teams. A one-off appearance was a good thing, I have to do a better job next season of doing more, there are lots of good stories out there that need to be told. Not game stories, per se, but stories about the people who play the game and the issues they face.

The thing I hear often when I suggest things like that – and this is from readers as much as it is from people in our industry – is that people don’t care.

Well, how do we know?

Do they not care because we don’t tell them? If we gave them more stories, would they care? It’s a chicken and egg thing in some regards and maybe it’s time we take the initiative and simply do it and see how everyone reacts.

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This, my friends, is a dilemma.

TV tonight:

Raptors-Timberwolves, DWTS?

Ack!

I guess it has to be the hoops but, man, what I’d give to see Buzz Aldrin trip the light fantastic.

Or just trip.

Anyway, no early favourite, I’m afraid; got to check out the whole crew before starts.

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Speaking of tonight, we will be here to dissect the mighty struggle in Minneapolis just before 8 p.m. but I’m afraid I can’t do questions and answers because I’ll be somewhere on the 401 motoring home at noon, I hope.

Sorry about that but we will do it Wednesday and Friday from the comfort of the Air Canada Centre.

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Me? I’ll probably forgive him. Eventually.

But Super Son, who decided with Dear Old Dad to have Villanova make to the Final Four, might not be the biggest Alvin Williams fan in the world.

And since we had Kansas facing the Wildcats in championship game, I’m fearing our bracket is busted and the e-mail we get from The Biggest Syracuse Fan We Know (hi, David!) will probably have us far down the standings.

They should make gambling illegal.

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I may not have been around the Heroes Of The Hardcourt this weekend but I have been around this machine and found this in the Minnesota paper to set up tonight’s game from a Minneapolis perspective.

Oh, and the pub across from the Target Center is Donovan’s and I’m a bit ticked I didn’t get there or to J.D. Hoyt’s for dinner. Next year, I guess.

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Back to the CIS for a minute and I had an interesting conversation with Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims about the game and the coaching gig and where it’s going.

He brought up a pretty good point about what trying to elevate the game to even more relevance among the general basketball population.

“Coaches are, I think, in a sense being pressured to get their programs up to high levels. There’s been a few guys released, and fired, and you see more and more of that, schools are putting more importance on having quality athletic programs which is good and bad.

“The positive is that events like this continue to grow, and the excitement level and he quality of play continues to grow but the pressure that puts on personnel, you have to be careful about firing people for not being competitive or winning, that’s not a positive thing, I don’t think.”

Generally, I’m told the level of coaching the CIS is quite good and it’s kind of refreshing to see young guys and former national team members like Greg Francis, head man at Alberta, and Randy Knorr, who’s on Kevin Hanson’s staff at UBC, in the ranks.

I think it’s going to be just as important for the coaching skills to improve and the talent pool to deepen than it is for the same thing to occur with the players.

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Here’s something I didn’t know before Sunday night:

Scotiabank Place’s capacity is about 44,000.

Must be, they announced a crowd of 11,000 at the game and the joint was a quarter filled. Even by my stinky math skills, that works out, right?

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One lasting image of the weekend?

Zany, green-clad Saskatchewan fans, which affirms a belief I had from covering a little bit of gridiron back in the day that there really is some level of support in that province that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country.

I love Saskatchewanians – and if that’s not the right word, sorry; it’s the best I’ve got – because they care deeply. It was a hoot to see them.

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Comments

[GM]

I went to four nationals in Halifax. The idea that they support basketball is suspect. Sure, they get lots out when a maritime team is playing, but once those teams make an exit, it's crickets. I'd hate to see what a Saskatchewan-UBC final would have drawn in Halifax.

I've been thinking for a few weeks now why it is that the media is expected to trash bad pro sports teams. They're reporters, there to report. Shouldn't that be done dispassionately? Game reports are essentially reviews, so there can be bad reviews but I don't think there's a need for cheap shots and endless opinion from writers. Sure, it's fun, but is it necessary? The fans can rant and rave, but why is the media supposed to hop on board the roller coaster of emotions that fans go through? They just need to tell us what's happening, find out why it's happening, ask questions we'd want to ask, and report back on what the team said. And we can make up our own minds.

[Tannis]

Doug-

Thank you very much for your CIS coverage. I didn't even know the tournament was on until I read it here; there was nothing in the newspaper about it, and I'm from Saskatchewan! The game between U of S and Carleton Saturday night was one of the best I've seen-including NBA games. Those kids had no shortage of try and they gave their all. Keep up the good work.

[KD]

To all the haters;

The title on the top of the screen says "Doug Smith's Toronto Raptors blog" .
If you find yourself in constant disapproval of his opinions than stop reading, or at least stop posting pointless comments for the sake of being contrarian.

If you are going to criticize find something constructive to say instead of weak personal insults like; "I understand sarcasm and snark but your attitude is getting to be a little too much".

[Steve]

Do you think the Raps will have any interest in Raja Bell if he gets released and obviously if he shows he can play with his wrist.

Do you think he could add some much needed help on D?? Or do you think all the time missed this year pretty much will make him a non factor?

Blogger's note: I would hope and expect none. Zip. Nada. He's hurt. Hasn't played.

[greg]

Doug and Dave have different styles which compliment each other and makes reading the star's raptor coverage entertaining. Doug is an analyst/optimist/realist/substantive while Dave is the fanatic/pessimistic/negative/sometimes vitriolic in his criticisms beat writer. They should go head to head in a debate for our amusement.

If the Raptors as Doug predicted gets 43 wins, I wonder what his critics will say.

Also Feschuk is wrong about Benching, Pro players with their guaranteed contracts may not react the same way to benching as aspiring pro players who play in college. There is a reason why players play their best in contract years. If you want attitudes to change hit them in the wallet.

[Michel G]

Tree comments: "This team, as currently built, is so flawed something has to give." What do you expect is going to happen? What do you think is going to give? The trade deadline is past and this is our team for the rest of the year, for better or for worse. Aren't the Raps a team that's tied in the loss column with both Charlotte and Miami at the moment, so 6th place is certainly attainable. So is 42-44 wins, which is what most prognosticators thought they would achieve. Good lord, does anybody remember how everybody thought in preseason that the Wizards were primed for a long run in the playoff? Now they were flawed. Or that the Spurs were finals bound? Richard Jefferson is having the same kind of season as Hedo. He's having a hard time finding his niche. Stuff like that happens. Maybe they'll both do better next year. Are the Raps finals bound? No. Are they a disaster as some would like the rest of us to believe? I don't think so. If they keep the core together they could be special in a couple of years. But that would require patience, something not in abundance in these parts. As for the rest of this year, maybe they can get their confidence back and get on a nice run and make somebody nervous in the playoffs. I don't see any other Toronto professional sports team having a chance to do that.

[david 998]

I would not trade bargnagi because he's a young big man who is still evolving...brings something new every year.
But he seems to need someone who can light that proverbial fire in the appropriate place.
Do you think that his lack of rebounding,boxing out, etc is simply a matter of effort or is it a lack of ability.?
And it appears certain that colangelo will not move him, at least from what i've read.
So to improve this team what are the options?
They could trade calderon but for whom and is jack really a starting point guard on a contender?
Is Hedo tradable without throwing in even more draft picks, if then?

Seems to me that the second unit ,Weems,Johnson,Wright et al do as well as a second unit can be expected to do?
So what can be done?

Anyway a question...in the NBA can you get draft picks in a sign and trade without matching up salaries and if not can BC refuse to give Bosh or any free agent a sign and trade and just let him go in order to free the team from more cumbersome contracts coming back?

[Tree]

I don't need to wait until the end of the season. My prediction at the start of the season was that this team would challenge the 47 win team for best record. That was obviously wrong. It was based on the Kool Aid I and others drank blindly: namely, that Hedo was a good veteran add to this team and would help the locker room and play of the team. Oops ... I was wrong. See how easy it is to admit a mistake? You're optimism is generally well placed, but enough bashing of people that disagree - it looks like both sides of the argument have valid points. But at this point in the season, it's pretty clear that this team is underachieving for whatever reason, and calling them out for it should not be forbidden.

[Raivhen]

I suspect a lot of the people on this trail did not actually watch the game. You are spot on about the improved calibre. I played in the summer U of S league with Greg and his team mates in the summer of 88 and refereed the college level during that same era. These guys today are consistently better, and more athletic.

The same holds true for CIS football, hockey and the other football (soccer). Having just been out to the Olympics, all I wish is our Canadian pride so evident there would carry over to being fans of the game (whatever the game is we like to watch) and not fan of the production capability of the organizer - although in Vancouver we got both right.

Canadian University Sports is some of the best value for money out there for a sports fan - provided you don't watch just to bet........

[John]

The other difference between the two tournaments (CIS and NCAA) is that nobody in the CIS tournament was good enough to even get scholarship from an NCAA division one school, and only 64 of the almost 350 of those schools get to go to the tournament. Why even try to compare the two! YEESH!!!

[yeah you guys]

For every complainer and whiner there's a thumb to suck on. My bet is these kids reek of the same impulsive cynicism at their schools and don't know what to do with their time. (Bring on the "huff, huff...I'm a well-respected member of the business community...huff, huff,...who is going to cancel my season tickets..huff, huff...and feel it necessary to vent my disappointment at Doug rather than directly to MLSE!!" posts...lol.) Hope you find it in your snarky heart to laugh off most of these whiny posts as impetuous little rants instead of feeling annoyed Doug. Always a treat to read about your opinions and insights, even if the Raptors have been terrible of late.

[stoneman]

To all those who come on this site to TRY to trash Doug's work:
The rest of us come here to hear what Doug has to say (and I am one who loves it when Doug brings the hammer down on a well-deserving yob) and could care less of your particular displeasure with his opinion. Go somewhere, read someone with whom you agree. You won't be missed.
Honest, open discussion is valued, interesting and thought-provoking. Mud-slinging and personal attacks are childish.
Please keep up the great work, Doug.

[basketballbuzz.ca]

More people should tune into Canadian basketball, its growing at a rapid pace and will eventually become Canada's game, I think. The immigration laws will make Canada a huge Multi-cultural country. The next generation of youths will play basketball and soccer, not hockey, i think.

Lots of great stories out regarding some of these kids. we (http://basketballbuzz.ca ) have been covering Canadian basketball at the amateur level for over 10 yrs now. The Nash Effect is happening right now.

[Debbie Gibson]

Hi Doug, I enjoyed very much your article on the CIS men’s basketball tournament. There is however some very good talent that you were not exposed to during that weekend due in part to the structure of the CIS.

Please have a look at www.joshuagibsonbascombe.com. Joshua or JGB as he’s called among CIS fans and writers has played with the Canadian Men’s national development team which won a bronze medal in the 2007 FISU Universiade.

Politics and the continued promotion of mediocrity in the CIS do not always allow its best stars to shine. I am definitely pleased to see comments such as those quoted in your article from Leo Rautins who pointed out that, "Obviously, the best thing for Canada Basketball is the CIS gets bigger, deeper, stronger; because of the fact we don't have a pro league in this country, the CIS becomes that kind of model”.

It will however take the watchful and keen eye of a dedicated writer and contributer such as yourself to hold everyone to very high standards. Without that the talented kids and the many diehard supporters will have long to wait before the men’s basketball in Canada is at a level that inspires our best players to represent.

Thank you in advance for your attention.