The morning after the season before

I don’t know about the usual Three Pointers thing that we do here because, really, who cares?

So let’s do A Bunch of Pointers and see where it takes us.

Sound okay? Cool.

-

Bye, Rasho.

See ya, Patrick.

I can say with pretty much certainty that those are two fellows – both good guys who’ll be missed in the whole ‘hey, what’s happening’ conversational vein – who will have walked off the Air Canada Centre court last night for the last time as Raptors but it begs the question, who else is gone?

Of course, Chris Bosh is the big question and we all know there’ll be more than enough speculation about him for the next little while that it’s not worth getting into it today.

But how about a couple of others? As I watched Antoine Wright walk to the elevator on crutches after it was all over, I figure that might the last time I see him around the Raptors locker room because he’s a free agent and I’m not sure there’s room for him, as I’ve mentioned a few times before.

But what about Turk? Or one of the point guards? Or Reggie Evans?

Think they’ll all be back?

If I had to guess, and that’s all it is right now, I would think Bryan would want to give Turk another year to redeem himself but I do think he’ll move one of his point guards and I am pretty certain he’ll try hard to move Reggie sometime this summer.

So that’d make another five guys at least gone from the roster and if Bosh goes, that’ll make six. And let’s say they can’t find a contract number that suits Amir Johnson, also a free agent, and that promising young big moves, too.

That’s seven guys gone, almost half the roster, and here we go again with the blowing up.

-

Quite aside from the fact it’ll get some of you all riled up and that’s never a bad thing (I keed, I keed), I am going to say this:

They should not make a move on Jay.

I think he’s a good coach, an excellent guy at Xs and Os and deserves another year. No, he’s not fiery and he’s not the greatest quote in the world and sometimes he comes across as unwilling to publicly criticize his players, to the point where he mouths platitudes that aren’t exactly true.

But there’s some promise there and at some point, you have to let a guy grow into his job rather than pull the rug out from under him too quickly.

I don’t know about his assistants – maybe they need to find some grizzled old screamer to sit next to him – but I do feel that Jay deserves the chance to take another new group and see what he can do. That’s not popular opinion – it was even debated heatedly at our Annual Last Game Of The Year Grunt-o-rama after last night’s game – but it’s what I think.

As perhaps I’ve mentioned a time or two, I think coaches get too much credit when things are going good and too much blame when they’re going bad and to make a change here for little more than change’s sake doesn’t work.

Although, I think I’d find it hugely entertaining to see how long it would take some of you to turn on the new saviour they brought it.

-

One of the more telling things about Wednesday night?

Attendance: 18,333.

Last game of the regular season, kind of important in a ‘man, they better win’ kind of way, perhaps the last game for some players and still they can’t sell out?

That has to be troubling to the suits upstairs, doesn’t it?

And I found it kind of odd, after all the disappointments over the course of 41 games and the non-playoff end to the year that when the final buzzer went, the fans stood and applauded.

Good on them, actually. Odd, though. Quite.

-

So Toronto’s 40-42, Memphis is 40-42 and the No. 12 pick in June’s draft is far from a thing.

What happens now is the league – or someone who works for the league – flips a coin to see who’s No. 12 and who’s No. 13 going into the draft.

That’ll be exciting, won’t it?

-

What’s up now? Well, just to keep you up to speed, and to make sure you know what’s coming, here’s how the next few days will unfold.

After I get Super Dog all walked, watered and fed, it’s time to head down to the ACC for clean-up day. What they do is, after the players get their end-of-season physicals and have their exit meetings with Bryan and Jay, they parade select ones through the post-game interview room so we can grill them.

I’m pretty sure we’ll talk to Bosh, Turk, Jarrett, Jose, DeMar and perhaps even Andrea.

Oh, and Jay, too.

The whole process takes about three or four hours in a mind-numbingly boring day and then we figure out what the story is.

But getting words of wisdom and the state of the franchise opinion from Bryan will have to wait until at least Monday; he’s off at NBA board meetings today and can’t talk to us.

-

They’re dancing in the streets of Chicago now that the Bulls have made it. Or John Paxson and Vinny Del Negro are having a steel cage match.

I’m not sure.

But whatever it is, let’s make one final check with my boy K.C. and see what’s going on.

-

I will point you now in the direction of Rick down in Charlotte where we once again hear from Larry Brown, who I still quite like and respect.

-

Here’s a kind of verbatim conversation I had with a fellow before last night’s game. Him first.

“What about Bosh?”

“I think he’s gone but six week ago I thought he was staying so who knows.”

“Sign-and-trade?" “That’s what they want.”

“David Lee?”

“Sure, and something really good with him. That seems to be what the people want.”

“Makes sense.”

“Tell me about Lee.”

“If you put him out there with Bargnani and Turkoglu it might be the worst defensive front court in the history of basketball. But he’s a good guy.”

“Hmm. That might be enough.”

-

Oh, what’s up here?

Well, the plan is to have a little player-by-player look at the roster in this space tomorrow, maybe a GruntTV wrapup today if I’ve got time or tomorrow at the latest and we’ll keep doing our usual good stuff each morning.

And if you’ve got questions, you can click here and send ‘em because I’ll have some time Friday and Saturday to perhaps sit on a stool and answer them.

-

Comments

[Mike kovacs]

I said at the time but a 'turning point' was when it took so long for CB to come back from his ankle and then it took so long for him to 'get back into shape'. Was it the team and the doctors that dragged that out or was it the influence of 'outside forces'?

[Peter]

Hey Doug,

Life kind of intervened, and I haven't commented in a while, but just wanted to write and say thanks for the great blog, depsite a sometimes difficult and disappointing season, your blog is always interesting and provides great insight into the raps and the league.

I'm disappointed, as most are, that the raps didn't perform better after the all-star break, but I guess that's the way it goes.

[Anthony]

First of all BIG UPS to Doug for giving us hardcore fans something to read/argue about every morning. You have been very reliable with your posts Doug and 9 times out of 10 I believe you have been on point, thank you!
.
My question for the day is, would the coaching staff ever consider moving Bargs to the PF spot if get could get a legit shot-blocking rebounding center. I agree Bargs man on man D has improved but he is is still lacking in the 2 other areas, instead of forcing him to adapt maybe we should play to his strengths? IE- See Dallas, Dirk and Haywood/Dampier.

[DougG]

"“If you put him out there with Bargnani and Turkoglu it might be the worst defensive front court in the history of basketball. But he’s a good guy.”"
.
Why would we want another "worst defensive front court in the history of basketball?" We have already tried that and the result was we missed the playoffs. My guess is we missed the playoffs because we can't rebound and defend. However, that seems to be part of our manager's philosophy, although he did go out and get Reggie Evans. The problem with him is he thinks he is Kris Humphries and is an offensive liability. I have no real idea but I think this team needs to figure out what it is going to be first and then build from there. The pieces don't seem to fit any style at the moment. If we are going to be an offense only team we need a better point guard and greater athleticism. If we are going to play better defense, we can't have Bargnani, Calderon and Turkalo on the same team, or at least, on the court at the same time. If we are keeping them, we need to find some defensive compliments that are not offensive liabilities.
.
They better figure it out because next year there will be even more empty seats in the ACC. My sense is the Toronto sport fan has really had enough. I know we have been saying that for years now but the losing has just got to come to a stop.

[robguy]

I agree regarding keeping Jay - he had a completely rebuilt team, his first full year, a kazillion questions about Bosh' future in every city and had to figure out where each piece fit from scratch. I am sure he would do a few things differently and he should get the chance, otherwise, if Jay is let go, we will have a bunch of new players next year and a coach who has to start all over again.

PGs - Neither are strong enough to go it alone. Trading one requires a good alternative to come back the other way in my opinion. I concede that Jose had a bad year, but I have not heard any argument that proves Jack is that much better and he can be the guy night after night. I think both are fine as a tandem and not good enough on their own night after night.

[ashm]

hey Doug
Joh Holigers 's & ESPN prediction that raptor will finish 9th came true!!!

[Bob]

One thing in last night's game that I found very interesting was them using Rasho ahead of Evans finally.

You look back and Reggie was active for the last 30 games of the season and that's just about the time they started sucking.

Reggie might be the worst offensive player in the NBA from a skills standpoint and you combine that with him seeming to actually think he should be posting people up and forcing shots and I really can't think of a reason that he was on the floor ever ahead of Rasho.

Now Rasho isn't a good match a lot of the time against certain teams because of his lack of quickness but those same matchups also don't favour Reggie. He's just as slow as Rasho, a lot shorter and let's be honest has a way way way below average basketball IQ.

Reggis will hustle and get some offensive rebounds but then when he gets them he does something stupid with the ball. He is not a good man on man defender since he's slow and undersized and he often takes himself out of position on defense running around.

The fact that Reggie was such a part of the rotation and Rasho wasn't to me is a huge black mark on the coaching of Jay this season.

[Will]

"...it begs the question, who else is gone?"

I know you don't like it when your readers lecture you on grammar, but the other day, another reader already commented that "begs the question" actually means "assumes the truth of the thing being questioned" (i.e. in reference to circular reasoning).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begs_the_question

The phrase you are looking for is "raises the question".

Of course, grammar being what it is, a few more decades of people misusing this phrase in this way will lead to the incorrect usage becoming standard, if it isn't already. Then again, many people say "I could care less" when they actually mean "I couldn't care less", but that doesn't make it any more sensible. If nobody cares about formal rules of grammar and original meanings of phrases anymore, we may as well all start using internet slang and text-message-speak exclusively. (And I am young enough to know people who wrote like that in university, but old enough to be annoyed by it.)

On-topic: Thanks for the blog posts and in-game liveblogs this season. I'm sure most fans appreciate the coverage, even if not everyone agrees with everything you write. For me personally, this is the most disappointing Raptors season ever. All of the U.S. media assumed Chicago would make the playoffs after Sunday's win against the Raptors, and they were correct.

[Jack]

Bye Chris.
Bye Jay.
Say goodbye to Marc, Alex and Micah too.
The Raptors are stuck with Bargnani, Calderon and Turkoglu.
The scariest prospect? Bringing that Messina here to take over.
Holy canoli.

[Manny]

on bright the side of raps not making the playoffs, Turk can go clubbing all he wants...

[Tim W.]

I've never understood the desire by Toronto fans to try and get David Lee. If the Raptors are a low 40 win team with a healthy Bosh, how is replacing Bosh with a poorer scorer and defensive player than Bosh going to improve the team?

Please, no David Lee.

Leonardo:
"P.S.: Bargnani disappears in games because for stretches nobody shares the ball with him (here is coach that has to do something: taking him out or run more plays for him)."

Oh, come on. Enough with the excuses! Bargnani doesn't get the ball because he stands there and does nothing most of the time. After four years, I think it's time to stop blaming coaches, teammates and the alignment of the stars and put the blame where it belongs. On Bargnani.

[greg]

not making the playoffs falls on the coach. How you use players, plays called down the stretch, who plays when is all on the coach. Its not as if the team did not have talent and depth. The no shot is a bad shot philosophy is not good either. If the shot makes it or not, a bad shot at a bad time is just that, the team needed to stress the importance of making good decisions like taking high percentage shots, and try getting to the free throw line instead of taking jump shots and 3s with 20 left on the shot clock when you are up 10. This season came down to one game, one more win would have guaranteed 8th seed.

This is just to show how much an impact of giving a guy a break for one night to boost his psyche at the expense of a more in form player, or taking posessions off can impact the outcome of not just the game but the whole season.

Anyway its playoff time, who's your pick to go all the way Doug, still the lakers? If Bynum isnt 100% do you think they can make the run?

[GDS]

Great end to your season! What about Belinelli? Staying or crossing the pond back? I agree that Lee is slightly above average at best, wouldn't solve any of this teams problems. Thanks

[Hope Caper]

Thanks Doug, enjoyed the season, not the result! It was good to read the more thoughtful comments and a pain to read the others. Some good Q&As too. Looking at the season the stumbling blocks seemed to be poor execution by some players more than others. None were perfect but you could say that about any team. To me they have to look at the culprits and work with those under contract and dump who they can.
I agree with you on Jay, and the PGs. Neither of these guys are over the hill and I would give them another year to improve. Bargs needs more work and I only say that because I don't see anybody else out there who has the same talent and potential. Some centers are better but not a lot better and they are not available. Turk should get one more kick at the can, but be a 4 off the bench. Bosh should stay if they can reach a number that is good for both. I'd like him to stay but not at any price because they need a good 3. Sonny could be the guy but somebody has to be there as a consistent 2. That could be DD but they need a better bench guy than Belli. Didn't shoot that well and not much on D.
So don't blow it up, Too many changes too often and this team won't grow. The Cavs have been slow and steady and look to be poised to take it all even with the "soft" Anthony Parker who a lot of poeple said wasn't good enough to be on an NBA team. Seems to be doing alright as a starter on an elite team.
Have a great off season and I look forward to BC's work!

[Pipit]

For this team to be competitive this year, only two major things should be done. There is no need to make it that complicated. Re-sign Chris Bosh unless you can get a LeBron or a Wade. Other than that, all efforts should be made to get Chris back. It's hard to get somebody with Chris set of talents. It's easy to make a case that Chris can't lead this team to win but it's also easy to say that all this time Chris doesn't have the support of other players especially on the wing position. This year's roster is just good on paper but paper and actual games are a whole different scenario. Secondly, let Triano go. A full season poor performance is enough to gauge the capabilities of the coach. If he cannot adjust the whole 82 games, its concluded that he has nothing more to offer. This is a result oriented industry. The team's biggest problem is defense. You can say all what you want about the lack of talent and poor effort on the defensive end but in the defense grand of scheme, it still boils down on how the coach implement a system and push his players to play hard every game. Google Scott Skiles and the Milwaukee Bucks. Truly, there's a reason to fear the deer. Doug, I want to thank you for being patient with us the whole season. At times, we're critical with you but you know that we only made that just to make this blog of yours interesting. I deeply appreciate your hard work and I do like your style, man!

[NH]

So for the people who don't want D Lee, who else do you think we can sign and trade for? Yao (injury prone), Beasley (no thanks), Noah (not going to happen), Brook Lopez (not going to happen, though Devin Harris might be avilable). One can argue that Bosh is a 20/10 guy on a bad team much like Lee, but Bosh is midrange jump shooting PF, while Lee actually plays down low a it and grabs boards.. Its not ideal but best you can get.

PS Doug, thanks for the morning blog. Great job!

[David Sidhu]

Hey Doug,

Thanks so much for all of the time and effort you put into this year, it truly, really, honestly makes the season much more fun to follow.

[BrianV]

The only untouchables on this team are Weems, DeRozan, Jack and Johnson. Everyone else is expendable.

It is my hope that Orlando suffers a 1st round playoff exit. If that happens, they will be asking what the diff was between last years successful team and this years. I think that will lead to a certain pizza-eating Turkish fellow who will remain nameless. The bugaboo here will be whether they can afford VC and the Pizzaman on the same roster.
I said in the summer, after BC made wholesale changes to the roster, that I would not blame him regardless of how this season turned out. The fact that he could get ANYTHING for the dregs we had on last years roster, deserved kudos. Like a riverboat gambler,he rolled the dice. Who knew Hedo would be Hedont in the fashion he was this year.

We have a lot of valuable pieces on this roster that can contribute to a winning team (just not this one) compared to last year. I say if BC can get wine from last year's dreck, he will do very well pulling off some trades this summer. BC get's a mulligan for this year, for being aggressive last off-season. Make us pround this summer BC!

P.S. Thanks for the blog, Doug. I look forward to reading more this summer.

[Tiger]

Let me take the opportunity to thank our Friendly Neighbourhood Grunt, Mr. Doug Smith, for his yeoman's work in making the Raps interesting enough to follow this sorry season. If nothing else, bearing the not inconsiderable wrath of Raps fans before, during, and the morning after every miserable exhibition by the dinos is nothing short of a public service. Plus I have no doubt that his bloggings kept many a discouraged fan from abandoning ship during the (too many) dark days.
So, my hat's off to you, Mr. Smith... thank-you!
Looking ahead, the only question for Mr. Bosh and me is whether the guy in charge can put together a competitive team. And by competitive, I mean more than backing into the last playoff spot just so the teachers can add a few more pennies to their retirement fund.
If Garbo's busted gam was the first leak in the Raps' scow, Horford's whacking of T.J. surely busted it wide open, and nearly 3 seasons of patching and baling have led us to today, ultimately no better than what HWSNBN2 achieved. Maybe CB4 isn't a player you can build a champion around, but neither has BC shown the wherewithal to fix his sinking ship.
Unfortunately, I don't foresee BC giving up on his prized soft players for the makings of a passable defense. It hasn't been his philosophy here, nor was it in Phoenix (where his teams were undone by porous defenses early in the playoffs despite the best efforts of Captain Canada).
In other words, if Bosh wants a chance at the championship, he best look elsewhere.
And WHEN he leaves, it will be a very sad day for this town.

[Ted S.]

Doug: Thanks for a great season of information and entertainment. Your commitment to excellence, work ethic and the new journalism continues to impress.

To the commenters: Thanks for the exchange of ideas and the group therapy.

To the Raptors: ......for the first time, I have nothing to add........be better in 2010-11.

[oliveira]

get rid of the coaching staff. We need someone who will demand better defensive perfomance.
BRing back Amir.
Go after a defensive minded centre in the fa market
S&T Bosh plus Calderon with Houston for Ariza/Hayes and draft picks.
draft the best (hopefully a pg or centre).

See ya POB and rasho and wright.

[Brian C.]

Doug,
I agree that Jay should stay. Letting him go would would just be an emotional reaction - which is never the way to make decision. With a full year under his belt, lets see how good a coach he is. I also think that a S&T won't happen because CB knows that any team he goes to would have to give up its talent to get him! He also knows if he goes it must be to an already good team that needs him as the 'final piece' to get them into contention. Therefore, he either becomes a FA in order to find that 'dream team', or he stays here & lets BC add the right mix for next year. I say the 30 million extra dollars he makes as a Raptor (as opposed to FA) says he stays here.

[Juan]

Hi Doug
First off thanks again for another dedicated and entertaining year.
Another intriguing summer it will be. Very few are likely to agree with this but I'd like to see Turk come back and redeem himself.
Bosh was the team's best player without a doubt, but I think his time is done and it is time to see what the team can become with a lineup that is geared toward the type of ball movement game they would prefer to play.
Kick Turk's butt into shape, tell him to put up or shut up and give him the ball and make him the main playmaker. It cannot possibly be any worse or more disappointing than this season was and it's probably unconventional enough to create some matchup issues.
And if BC can figure out a way to "steal" away Joe Johnson that wouldn't hurt either.
Have a great summer everybody.

[Joe U]

@Will

Even the cited wikipedia article indicates the usage is changing:

"Using the term in this way, although common, is considered incorrect by some usage commentators. ... (Arguments over whether this current usage should be considered incorrect are an example of debate over linguistic prescription and description and the historical evolution of language.)"

On the other hand, I see nothing wrong in applying Aristotlean principles to Doug's blog, and look forward to some day replying in anger ...
"Sorry buddy, I'm calling petitio principii on your bogus assertion that because Bosh hasn't "lead" a team to the championships, that he's not a Max contract."

Ya know, that boilerplate could be used every other post.

[Marcus Rush]

Here is the breakdown that should provide some actual information on the starting lineup that was altered during the season.
The two units on the Raps that played the most minutes together during the season were: Jack, Demar, Turk, Bargs and Bosh---the other unit was Jose, Demar, Turk, Bargs and Bosh.
The results- the Jack led unit was a minus 99 points during their time on the floor together and outscored the opposition only 9 out of 29 times. The Jose led unit were outscored by only 8 points and outscored the opposition 15 out of 31 games. Neither was fantastic but the Jack led group were dreadful. The only change being Jack and Jose. These two groups played more minutes by far than any other group.
One other mystery was the lack of playing time for Marco and I am not in the group that posts on here regularly. I must admit he scares me a bit but when you look at him with various 5 man groups, the group he is in always tends to play better. We still don't know about him. Less flashy than Weems but a better defender.