And the stuff just keeps on coming

Another day, more blather.

Lucky, lucky you.

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You know how they say timing is everything, right? Well, I’m wondering just how the timing is going to unfold here for Mssrs. Colangelo and Bosh.

And as we know, that’s the only real big topic we have to worry about between now and July (I’m kind of putting the draft out of my mind at the moment) and it’s going to be fascinating to see how it plays out.

But if I’m Bryan (and the closet and bank account remind me every single day that I’m not) I don’t think I should wait around to see what Bosh is going to do as I explore trade opportunities.

With absolutely no basis in fact for this, I would be operating under the premise that Bosh won’t be back so I’m trying to improve my team with that in mind.

That doesn’t necessarily mean trading for a starting power forward or a big – I think they wouldn’t have an issue starting Bargnani next to Amir Johnson next year and I believe they are confident they can get Amir back – but the last thing the GM should do is wait around on Bosh before doing anything.

Bosh, for his part, has always maintained the summer decision process was not going to be quick, he’s never indicated that he’d make any decision the first week of free agency, and, if he’s going, there’s no way Bryan and he aren’t going to take their time exploring sign-and-trade deals

And don’t think for a second the GM hasn’t had that at least in the back of his mind, as he said the other day:

“The other thing that you should know is that there is a whole other universe of teams out there … teams that are over the cap, and would be interested in Chris Bosh and may have assets that we may have interest in.

“Assuming that Chris would rather play somewhere else and he gives us a list of teams with which he would be agreeable to go play then we can delve further into the topic of, okay, what would we want to get back from that team.

“I just have to tell you that that’s being evaluated, it has been evaluated, it will continue to be evaluated and we will try to maximize our opportunity in the event that that’s the course of action.”

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Did you catch the moment in the Bobcats-Magic game last night where they eavesdropped on Larry Brown talking to Raymond Felton?

Larry brings out the old “I love you” line as he’s sending the kid out to get scorched by Jameer Nelson.

It’s an old LB trick, actually.

First time I heard about it was late in Game 7 of the Spurs-Pistons final of a few years back.

The game’s tight, the NBA championship is on the line. Someone calls a timeout, the coaches huddle, come to the bench to give instruction and just before they head back out to play, Larry looks up and says:

“I love you guys.”

No wonder they lost, they probably spent the next 45 seconds snickering.

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If there is one thing I of which I am sure, it’s that they will be crazed in Oklahoma City tonight.

First playoff games have a way of doing that to even the most sedate fans with the collegiate atmosphere that pervades the Ford Center, I thinking off-the-charts enthusiasm.

And then I’m thinking back to the zaniness of the first playoff game here.

You remember, right?

Down 2-0 to the Knicks in a best-of-five series the Heroes Of The Hardcourt come back in such disarray you’d never seen.

Butch had sued Marcus Camby, the players were in almost open revolt against the coach (he’d jerked around the starting lineup and a few of them – Doug Christie chief among them – didn’t like him very much to begin with) and I remember sitting in the vestibule on the way into the practice court the day before the game listening to them kill him.

And then there’s Fire Guy.

Remember that one?

Dude as the halftime entertainment is blowing huge plumes of fire all over the midcourt area, thrilling (and by “thrilling” I probably mean boring) the assembled masses.

Dave D and I are out on the loading dock when it was the fresh air location and we both liked fresh air when who comes wandering out but Fire Guy himself, looking to join us.

“Anyone got a light?” “For you? No way.”

Anyway, we head back in to work only to find the game delayed eight or nine minutes because he’d spilled some lighter fluid on the court. Jeff Van Gundy steamed, the refs are miffed and the folks doing the TV timing were incensed at the delay.

Ended up costing the Raptors some money in a fine, if I recall correctly, and we never saw Fire Guy again.

If he shows up in Oklahoma City tonight, watch out.

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Speaking of, the Laker-Thunder game is the one we’ll go over tonight for the in-game thing if anyone wants to hang around. It’s a 9:30 p.m. start here in the East so you (or I) may want to have a nap sometime this afternoon.

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Oh, and some mail.

Send it here if you want. Figure it’ll give me something to do when Super Dog and I are lounging on the deck sometime in the next couple of days.

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Hey, you heard about this big cloud of volcanic ash that was drifting over Europe for a week or so, right?

How come no one’s asked me what kind of impact it had on the various Raptors who had to travel back to Europe to begin their off-seasons?

Well, in case you were wondering, I’m told the only guy it really affected was Jose, who got as far as Rome to start his journey back to Spain and was locked in Italy for a bit.

The rest of them were sticking around town for a day or two and just got to spend a few extra days here.

No, there is no end to the “who cares” facts we can bring up around here.

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Comments

[chris]

No basis in "fact", but we all saw BC's face when he described Bosh and Bargnani. For this team to be successful one of them has to go, and i very much doubt its Bargs.

You would probably argue that fact (to be successful they need to trade one), but i doubt you'd argue that for Bosh to stay Bargs would have to be traded for a wing (and replaced by a tougher center).....and i just don't see that happening.

Bosh is gone. We all know it. Hopefully he's exploring trade scenarios with other non-playoff teams already.

[chris]

btw - Rob Babcock sure looks good right about now, doesn't he?

[Joe T.]

Doug, do you or any of your readers know where to find an easy-to-read Toronto TV schedule for the NBA playoffs? The Star's TV listing had last night's Orlando-Charlotte game on The Score and I was rather annoyed to discover it was on TSN2 (which I don't get). An at-a-glance listing that covers all the games across all the channels each day would be a very handy thing...

Blogger's note: I usually check NBA.com, which loads a Canadian TV viewing schedule on the right side most times.

[MC_Brad]

Doug, gonna ask again...do you have any thoughts about the idea the raps partied the year away as suggested in more than one publication over recent days?

[Rob H]

Hey Doug,
I'm not sure if this is something you have considered or not, but you might want to look at the channels that the games are being played on. For example alot of the game lately have been on TSN2 or RNBATV, which many of the prospective readers do not have, and so reading an in game blog, while not even being able to watch the game is something that probably doesn't interest alot of people. Personally I use the in game blog for sort of a companion while I'm watching the game at home. I also noticed throughout the year some people would sya things like "Stupid TSN2" and ask you to give more play by play and things like that. I would anticipate some of those guys will not pull up the in game blog if they can't watch the game and the outcome isn't really that important to them.

Also now that I've peaked your interest what do you think of this trade?

To Philly:
-Marcus Banks
-Reggie Evans
-Chicago's first round pick
-Toronto's first round pick
-Demar Derozan

To Toronto
-Joakim Noah
-Andrea Igoudala

To Chicago
-Chris Bosh

That Gives us a team of:
Pg: Jose/Jack
SG:AI/Sonny
SF:Hedo/Marco
PF:Bargnani/Amir
C:Noah/Amir
If Philly insisted we could also just axe Marcus and Reggie from the deal to provide them with immediate financial relief, since we'll be trading away Bosh's contract. But if we do that than I'd want the maximum "Cash considerations" allowed under the current CBA; 3 million.

Please don't comment with something like "Philly needs to fix their coaching situation first" I'm just wondering whether or not it is something you thing is a viable option for each team involved.

Blogger's note: Sorry. If I do one, would have to do 'em all

[Penny]

Hi Doug - How ironic it was for Jose to be the one getting stuck. I'm surprised that nobody's blamed the whole fiasco on him yet.

[doug]

you like to state your of the opinion coaching has little influence...which I agree with to a certain level, but good coaching has a huge impact....and most of the NBA has nediocre coaching...Billups in Denver on PTI said how much they miss Karl and that he has taken over a lot of coaching to help out Dantley....he said Karl is their leader, backbone...thne you have Pops who after the first game called out his players said "they played like dogs" and "maybe someone needs to give a dam", and he did that by stating nothing the players didn't already know and never threw a player under the bus...they responded and won last night....people can believe all they want that coaching doesn't make a difference but their wrong, deead wrong...good coaches like Pops, Jackson etc don't keep winning by accident they know how to keep their guys sharp, accountable and don't lose them as players....

[doug]

plus i see where TorStar may be the leading bidder to take over CanWest newspapers...your column may grow to Montreal, Ottawa, and the National Post and many other papers involved....as their will be almagamation of duplicated services i presume if the bid succeeds....you may be the national voice of basketball in this country in the near future...

[Jack]

The post-Bosh era. The focal point of offense for this team will be Bargnani. That slow-footed, set shooting, always standing outside the 3-point line, doesn't rebound, doesn't hustle, afraid to foul guy.
If Colangelo will not get at least a couple of slashers next year, good luck, guys. You'll need a lot of it.
May the force be with you.

[Anthony]

Rob H... Looks like a nice Starting line for us but you would give up Bosh, Derozan AND a first round pick (plus a couple fillers) to get those 2.... seems like we are giving a bit too much. Plili already has lots of guards.

[joeu]

In the event that Bosh goes and the Raps don't get a "replacement" Big, as you mentioned, is Hedo suited to playing regular minutes at the 4, or was his time there late in the season an emergency manoever on Jay's part ?
If that is a viable option, does it give the Raps more flexibility to bring in a wing player to provide better athleticism/slashing/defending ?

[Peter]

To "chris"
If you think Babcock looks good, you need to check the facts! Unless you're referring to Babcock being a good looking man, in which case, you would still get arguments about Babcock looking good compared to Colangelo.
Colangelo has his faults, but if you think Babcock looks better, you're just wrong. Sorry!

[JJ]

I remember fire guy fondly... good times.

[jhaus]

hey, was that matt devlin i heard doing the bobcats game on tnt last night?

[Pipit]

Doug, I just wanna get your educated hunch on whose team will most likely Bosh ends up if in case he doesn't go back to the Raptors? By the way, the President of Calderon's fans club strikes again.

[nate]

That proposed Philly-Toronto-Chicago trade could only happen if the sixers hired Rob Babcock as their GM, he`s the only person with the moxy and guille to give away a dynamic high-flying wing man for absolutely nothing

[Andre]

Rob H. That is the dumbest TRADE ive seen in years.

[greg]

Fantasy talk time.

Rob H I think the team listed above will be very scoring challenged unless one of the players mentioned has a year they have never had before. The only guy with any hope for that is bargnani and its a long shot he would be that much better, like a 20 - 10 kinda guy.

Defence would still be an issue too.

Noah is good but not that good.

The way Igoudala played in Philly, and the fact that Philly has lost faith in his ability to lead a team, its hard to imagine why he would be any different here. The only difference is that we would be stuck with his mamoth contract. He also can't create his own shots consistently, he reminds me of Caron Butler, a good complimentary player, will win if surrounded by stars, but not a franchise guy.

That game they played last against Toronto just confirmed my doubts about him, poor decision making from a 5 yr vet. Fans in T.O. would give him the Turk treatment.

[J]

Jim: "We're currently about 6 years into this window of opportunity, and we've had 5 TOP TEN picks in those 6 years."

Cough, cough, really now? Might want to work on your fact-checking. Babcock had two top-10 picks in his two years (Araujo and Villanueva), the first of which was particularly damaging to the team. BC has had two top-10 picks in his four years (Bargnani and DeRozan), the latter being too early to tell and the former, though disappointing at times, hasn't been that bad unless you're one of those after-the-fact revisionists (none of Tyrus Thomas, Adam Morrison or even Aldridge have been worthy of being picked first). That's 4 in all, and really, if you're going to call it a 6-year window of opportunity, why not expand it to a 15-year window for good measure? This is the first year fans have had promising young players to be excited about (Sonny, Amir and maybe even DeMar) since we had two youngsters named Vince and Tracy.

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John: "Who was the last power forward to get the MAX? Any idea?"

Love the big deal made over the term "max contract". Fact is, plenty of players have been receiving "max" deals when it comes to amount per year. Jermaine O'Neal, Duncan, and Nowitzki are the most obvious max contracts among PFs. Gasol's contract (not including his recent extension) is for the max 6 years and $86 mil, and both Amare's and Bosh's current deals were for the max per year, albeit not for the max # of years possible. (The shorter duration does not diminish the value of their contracts either; if anything, they can earn more since annual raises are based on the first-year value of the contract.) Even Randolph is essentially making "max" dollars since his deal was $84 mil over 6 years, just $2 mil less than Gasol's deal. Perhaps the better question would be what top PF (not still on a rookie-scale contract, or over the hill) *isn't* making max dollars? Can you think of anyone not named Boozer or Al Jefferson?

[Michel G]

I know they play defense. I know they won 4 more games than we did and they're in the playoffs. But the Bobcats are god-awful boring. I'll take my flawed Raptors any day. If you reply to this post Doug, be nice!

[jc]

Hey Doug,
Maybe you know more so you're not as bugged by this but I'm tired of hearing all these vague chemistry references from the horse's moth (Colangelo). First there was the "outside" influence on Bosh. Now there's the comment that both PG's proffessed to be ok with sitting but that was apparently not the case. Who does he mean? Jack? Jose? both? (i'm giving Banks a free ride on this one) Do you find this too fuzzy also? Either explain it or leave it in the locker room.

[Manale]

Hey Doug, if you had to pay to go see the Raps play at the ACC, would you?

[Vulsar]

Hi Doug, long time reader, I love in Chicago and Chuck Swirsky mentioned "I hate Toronto's media", do you have a response to that?

Blogger's note: No, not now

[Tony]

I was looking for the Star basketball and found what looks like the real gm board ...it's the beginning of the end.