And so begins another off-season

At some point over the weekend, Super Wife turns and asks, ‘hey, what are you going to put in the blog now?’

And I’m thinking, ‘I have no idea whatsoever.’

So … here’s what you get:

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Today’s the big Bryan Recaps The Season day down at the ACC and it should be a really good show.

Not a lot of substance, I don’t imagine, so if you’re going to be sitting around waiting for hard news, I fear disappointment will be in order.

I would guess – knowing the situation, knowing how Bryan likes to keep some things close to the vest – that we’ll get the usual

“Yes, we’d like to keep Chris.”

“Yes, we’d like to work with him on a sign and trade so both sides benefit should he decide to leave.’ “Yes, we need to improve a roster that finished 40-42 but I like the group.”

“Yes, Jay will be back, this wasn’t a coaching issue.”

“No, I’m not happy. Any time a team of mine doesn’t make the playoffs, I’m unhappy.”

“Yes, I take responsibility for what transpired, I put the team together; yes, I will work to fix it.”

I’d hope for something of substance but I don’t imagine there’ll be much.

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I notice Kevin Garnett’s been suspended for a game for the elbow he threw at Miami’s Quentin Richardson the other day.

It was the right call by Stu Jackson, it was a rather egregious shot, and it may set the tone for the rest of the playoffs.

As we recall from a year ago, once feelings start to really get hot in the post-season, we’re often caught in debates over what’s a Flagrant 1 foul, what’s a Flagrant 2 and the somewhat subjective nature of the calls can be confusing.

One thing I like is the use now of more video replay to help officials determine what, if any, difference there is between hard fouls and dirty ones.

Yes, it will slow games down more – and that’s my beef with the over-use of replay in some situations – but I guess in the playoffs we have to put up with it.

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Hmm, guess I better start taking Super Son to a Jays game or two, eh?

Sounds like they could use the attendance.

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Okay, here’s what I think about doing in-game blogs and stuff like that in the next little while.

I think following one series right off the bat probably doesn’t work because we’d likely run out of things to talk about unless it became really compelling, like last year’s Boston-Chicago first round one did.

So, let’s flit between various series to start and see where that takes us.

Now, this certainly isn’t going to be a five- or seven-night-a-week endeavour; I do need some time to decompress after a long season and would like a night or two to simply sit and watch games with friends and family.

Let’s do this: I’ll take today to do the Colangelo thing and talk to my bosses about anything they’ve got in store for me and we’ll start anew tomorrow.

How about a Question and Answer thing at 1 p.m. to go over what happens today and then the Boston-Miami game tomorrow night at 8?

Sound fair?

Does to me.

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Speaking of slowing games down, was it just me or did anyone else feel those weekend contests unfolded at a snail’s pace thanks for fouls, timeouts and, yes, what seemed to be longer television commercials.

A check of the boxscores kind of proves my point.

The Celtics-Heat thing went 2:47 and Phoenix-Portland went 2:44 and that’s about 20-25 minutes longer than what you’d like in a regular season game at least.

The quickest was Cleveland-Chicago, which went in a relatively brisk 2:23 while the rest of them went right around the 2 1-2 hour pace.

Gonna make for some late nights, no?

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I had a question in the mail yesterday about the Raptors and their various national team commitments in the summer and who might have a long few months.

Well, no one’s going to be out there for too, too long and there’s every chance that the only guy who will play for his country will be Hedo, who is going to play for Turkey at the world championships in his homeland and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.

Bosh is non-committal about rejoining the American team, Jose hasn’t said anything about going back to Spain after he took last year off and the sense I get right now is that neither Andrea nor Marco is all that enthused about playing for Italy.

Of course, the commitment for Italy won’t be nearly as great as it would be for the others. All Italy has is a tournament with the lesser lights of Europe just to qualify to get back into the European championships next summer.

I will once again reiterate, though, that if players want to go and play for their countries, they should be allowed to and encouraged to. It’s an honour few get and if they want to take advantage of it, well, who are we to deny them.

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You noticed, of course, that the Raptors lost the coin flip with Memphis late last week and now go into the lottery ranked No. 13 instead of No. 12.

That means they’ve got a 6-in-1,000 chance to move up to one of the top three spots in the draft. That means we better start thinking about who the No. 13-ranked kid is in the draft.

Fun? Wow!

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Comments

[Blake Kennedy]

Doug, when you're in your powwow with the general (a little Lawrence of Arabia reference, there), can you ask Bryan to specifically outline what offseason strength and conditioning program Andrea is going to undergo? The one year in the league he showed improvement in the offseason was when he really hit the weight room hard. Is he going to have a proper 12 week full body improvement program this summer, or is it going to be yet another opportunity down the drain?

[chris]

6 in 1000 to get to one of the top 3 spots, or win the #1 spot? I thought it was the latter?

[Mike kovacs]

Doug any idea whether Rubio will be made vailable on the trade market? Is there a feeling that he doesn't want to play in Minnesota?

[Derek]

Hi Doug,
Question for you. I was reading the Q&A section you did on the weekend, and a few people had asked whether or not bringing in a "star" 2 guard would hamper the growth of DeRozan.

I was sort of thinking the other way. On this years team, our best 2 guard this year was probably Sonny (or maybe Antoine). If you believe its Antoine, he's a very different player than DeMar (as he doesn't have DeRozan's physical attributes). Sonny himself is a pretty inexperienced player as well.

Do you think it could/would help DeRozan's growth to have a star 2 guard to learn from and sort of "mentor" him? At least for a year or two? Yes it might mean a few less minutes for DeRozan, but I think it could help him alot more in the long run.

As an example, if the Raps could land a guard like Joe Johnson - a guy who's played in the league for years, been an all-star, and had success in both the regular season and the playoffs - I think a guy like that could be a fantastic mentor to DeRozan, to help bring his game to the next level.

You'd have Johnson in your starting line-up, and DeRozan being the first guard off the bench to replace him. Eventually, you'd hope that within a year or two, DeRozan would be pushing him to take his place in the starting lineup if all goes well. Your thoughts?

Blogger's note: Yes, Joe Johnson would be a good fit here.

[Peter]

Q and A at 1:00 pm? Does that mean that you expect the Colangelo thing to start relatively on time and end well before 1:00? If it runs late, I assume you will too?

Blogger's note: The Q and A is tomorrow

[Tosh]

I really think that Bargnani needs to work on his strength and maybe gain some weight this off-season, I'm worried that playing for Italy will have and effect on this...I also think that there needs to be more accountability for the Raptors trainers and their off season strength programs. It takes 7 seasons for Bosh to get some size? Jose is getting slower while Steve Nash and Jason Kidd seem to be getting faster? I'm worried about the time and effort the Raps put into getting bigger, stronger and faster. As it seems to be an secondary concern for the players. Please Doug, correct me if I'm wrong
Regards.

[steve]

Hi Doug! ESPN is indicating a rumour about Turk being moved. The article is for ESPN insiders only. Any truth to the rumour?

Blogger's note: Sorry. Not reacting to every rumour out there. If something's up, I'll let you know.

[LeeZ]

Have you gotten any sense whether Amir is interested in coming back to the Raps next year? Has he made any comments, privately or otherwise, to that effect?

Blogger's note: Told us late in the year he liked it here and would like to be back. But, am sure that's only for what his agent and he thinks is a good contract

[Hope Caper]

Hey Doug,
Just a comment on the replays. I would think if they are having trouble following the game they add another ref on the floor or at some other vantage point (s) near the court. After watching the first few play-off games and I can objectively put my Raps bias on the shelf I have to stick with my earler assessment that the reffing is abysmal. Games are being changed, results are being changed because of subjective calls that not only appear to be blatantly missed but through replay that confirms the first impression. In a game closely contested this makes all the difference.

[Solo]

Doug newbie question here why does players hire an agent coming into the NBA?

[greg]

speaking of long games, did you here about that MLB game between the Mets and Cardinals. 7 long hours and 20 innings. amazing. Be happy you are not blogging baseball :):)

[dave]

If Hedo is to believed about feeling bad about the year, and he wont be the first player to sign a last big one and take a step back, wouldn't a renewed effort be benefited by a ball focused summer and a shot of passion while playing?

[Mr. Cook]

This may seem odd, but I was sort of expecting a recap of how the MS walk went. How was it?

Blogger's note: I survived, thanks. And helped raise some money for a worthy cause in the name of a good friend.

[doug]

whenever i hear people say that Bargs needs to gainw eight etc...all i can do is think of Camby, that guy rebounds and plays tough...and his body is not exactly Dwight Howard like...he'll gain weight Bargs wil over time just naturally, plus I feel being a true center is not the long term plan for him..

I really respect the way Phil coaches..he is giving these "harder to handle players" such as Rodman who when asked once about Rodmans off-court lifestyle and whats he feel about or does about it, Phils response outside the court his life is his as mine is mine,all i care about is he shows up and plays...which he did....he brought Kobe along from a young, spoiled kid who was given the world on a platter and Kobe is now the consumate team guy, then Odom who was tough to handle, strong-minded and Phil has him accepting being a 6th man where anywhere else he would be a starter and making more money....and now Artest all season long people were saying how the Artest deal was a mistake, Ariza was a better fit so on and so on...Phil just let it be, never ruffled Artest feathers...well yesterday who was the best player on the court (definitely worse hairdo) but Artest..Phil lets his guys just be who they are, no needless headband rules etc...just come and play....and somehow thru all these years and 10 championships later they still all do, he must be doing something right....

[doug]

this is why top coaches are top coaches...no crap like Jay throws out there, we played hard, there was good effort etc. when we all knew otherwise....here is a Popovich quote after yesterdays game this is why he is one of the top 3 coaches in the league..he won't settle or allow his players to..."I think we've got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn," the Spurs coach said. "I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs." ...nothing more needs to be said, thats a winner...

[The J]

What? Now they can't even win a coin toss? But they had a 50/50 chance, and those are better odds then what most were giving them for games down the stretch.

Hmm.. I'm wondering how the coin toss can be Jose's fault. I'm not sure how, but there must be someway to make it his fault.

Funny that this would be Memphis's 3rd crucial win over the Raps this season.

[ray ray]

Hi Doug,

What would BC have to do if he wanted both CB4 & JJ on this team?

Blogger's note: I presume you mean Joe Johnson? Weave huge salary cap sign-and-trade magic.

[vc]

Hi Doug,

Regarding the flip coin toss for the 12th draft spot, why can't they just go to the normal tiebreaking rules that the NBA uses for playoff seeding?

Blogger's note: Nope, they have a separate system for draft slots

[Peter]

I didn't understand what Colangelo was saying about Reggie and having him get evaluated by the doctors and medical staff to see if he can play? Did I miss something there? Can you fill us in on what that means?

Blogger's note: It means he'll see foot doctors again and see if there's any lingering issues

[Mike D.]

Doug, thanks again for an outstanding season. Reading some of the other posts, I'm not sure I agree with the need for Il Mago to gain muscle.....7-0 265 seems like respectable size for a centre to me.....but I do think the club as a whole needs to take a serious look at conditioning. The Raps' relatively consistent late-game collapses really sounds like a team on which the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak. In a related development, the two guys who seemed to play full speed all the time (Amir and Sonny) are also probably the most ripped guys on the team. I would rather see Bargs come back at the same weight but able to go flat out in back-to-back games than have him bulk up to 285, hold his ground better against the power centres, but run out of gas on a regular basis.

[joe]

Doug,

With all the talk about Bosh and a possible sign and trade, I was wondering if the value of contracts coming to a team must equal the value of the contract of the free agent who leaves? In other words, if a sign and trade is worked out with Bosh signing a max, say $20 million per year deal with the Raps and then being trade to his team of choice, would the value of contracts coming back be equal?

Blogger's note: If the team acquiring him was over the cap, yes

[Jack]

Bargnani doesn't need to gain weight. He's got to grow a heart and balls and not play scared. He's got to have the hunger that Noah, Camby and other less bulky centers have but continue to keep fighting for rebounds, challenge shots by anyone, boxing out others on rebound plays, provide screens for shooters.
But I doubt it will happen. Old habits never die.

[WildAce]

Doug, have you ever known a player to get into it with his agent because he wants to sign with a specific team (due to the city, the roster, etc.) for less than what the agent wants him to make?

I don't know if Reggie Miller ever argued with his agent, but he stayed with Indiana his entire career regardless of the fact there were times he could make more elsewhere.

Blogger's note: Agents work for players, I haven't heard of an instance like that.

[Steve G]

I can't remember, but did the Raps pick up Marco's option?

Blogger's note: Yes

[Peter]

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"I didn't understand what Colangelo was saying about Reggie and having him get evaluated by the doctors and medical staff to see if he can play? Did I miss something there? Can you fill us in on what that means?
Blogger's note: It means he'll see foot doctors again and see if there's any lingering issues"
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It sounded to me like BC was wondering out loud if Reggie would be available to play next year, and that the medical staff, along with Reggie's doctor would discuss the issues. Is there any question as to his playing status due to that injury?