Of bad luck and good old days in Chicago

All kinds of wild and wonderful stuff here today, have a lovely time going through it all.

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Of all the permutations that could have come out Tuesday night’s lottery, I cannot think of many that would be worse for Toronto than the one that transpired.

Washington at No. 1, Philly at No. 2 and Jersey at No. 3? Ugh.

That’s three East rivals who figure to get better rather quickly, and we all know the Raptors could use all the help they can get keeping conference rivals dead and buried.

You have to figure Washington takes the John Wall kid, and if the Sixers don’t take Evan Turner of Ohio State (although I presume now they will), they could grab a big to help them out and then the Nets take Turner to go along with Harris and Lopez.

Ugly for Toronto, no?

And, what it also does is make Gilbert Arenas far more expendable in Washington and I am sure there are teams out there who might have interest in him and would be willing to give up something substantial to get him, maybe a good scoring big to compliment Wall?

Could that be Toronto? I doubt it since the thing the Raptors have to offer in a significant trade, really, is one of their point guards. And now the Wizards don’t need one of those.

There’s all kinds of time between now and the draft to see what shakes out and what trades or talks may transpire so it’s probably not getting too worked up about at the moment.

But the quick assessment? Toronto lost the lottery, significantly.

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When they go over the decaying carcass of the 2010 NBA playoffs in Orlando, the death blow will be the final 30 seconds or so last night.

First, the guy we don’t name (or the guy we do name by the name of Vince Carter – gotta appease both factions around here today) – makes the right play with a horrible result, driving the ball down three, getting fouled but missing both free throws, and quite badly.

Now, I know how happy that made many of you and it was a telling moment in the game but it wasn’t the one that really killed the Magic – and down 0-2 going into Boston may not be fatal but they are indeed on life support.

No, the big gaffe came on the next possession when Orlando did what it had to do, defend a possession well and force a miss.

For some inexplicable reason, when JJ Redick grabbed the rebound with a shade over seven seconds left, he didn’t call an immediate timeout. The bench was up yelling, Carter was standing there with his hands in the air but Redick dribbled a couple of times towards midcourt before finally calling timeout with less than four seconds left.

That meant the Magic couldn’t advance the ball to the frontcourt hash mark, they lost three valuable seconds and they had to hope a Jameer Nelson three-point halfcourt prayer went it.

Two mistakes: One physical, one mental and, poof!, the season may be over.

If you want to check out what they’re saying in the respective cities, here’s a Bob Ryan homage to Paul Pierce from Boston and Brian’s gamer from Orlando.

Have fun.

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Oh, I read from Jersey the other day that Rod Thorn’s on the verge of signing a new, two-year to remain as Grand Poobah of the Nets.

Wise move, Rod’s a good man and all those folks out there who were dead certain that either Maurizio or Bryan would be going to work for The Oligarch are sure to be writing in today to say they were wrong, right? Seems there was much ado about nothing, as there often is.

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Couple of housecleaning matters. Yes, we will be here tonight at 9 to do the Lakers-Suns (hey, the crowd swelled to four figures last night, thanks for that) and since I’ve got some plans in the works for Saturday, let’s start an early mail call this week.

Click here, type ‘em up, send ‘em in and we’ll see what we can do.

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So what’s next for the Raptors hierarchy?

Well, Bryan and the Henchmen are traipsing off to Chicago today for the NBA’s annual pre-draft camp, where kids get weighed and measured and go through some basic basketball drills.

There are no games – heaven forbid an agent would let one of his meal tickets play against another guy’s meal ticket lest their weaknesses be exposed and their draft status (and salary) diminish – but there is a chance for GMs and the like to meet with prospects and least try to get a handle on what they’re like.

But it’s all basketball people for Toronto this time around.

While Super Son and I were standing in line waiting for the grappling to begin the other night, a Henchman wandered past after finishing his day’s work.

Casual conversation ensued – no, he didn’t tell me what Chris was going to do – and it included with something like this.

“So, off to Chicago?”

“Yeah, we’re all going.”

“Taking a psychologist with you?”

“We’re the psychologists, let’s find out who can play.”

So much for mind games.

Anyway, it used to be, this was a pretty big thing for the media. It used to be held at Moody Bible College in Chicago and almost all the top prospects used to play in games.

There was a balcony that ran around the gym and all the GMs and personnel guys and writers would hang out there, giving us easy access to the guys who were going to be making the decisions on draft night.

It was relatively informal – you wouldn’t bother a GM when he was concentrating but lots of casual conversations would ensue during down times – and it really was a place to be seen.

Now? Not so much. None of the players play in actual games, the workouts have been moved to a private gym with no access for media and they do a mass availability with players in a hotel ballroom.

GMs? Forget it. They aren’t at all and unless you can catch ‘em in a lobby or can get ‘em on the phone, best of luck.

And I wonder why we don’t go any more?

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Favourite moment of that compelling TV broadcast of the lottery?

(And by “compelling” I mean mind-numbingly boring).

Watching Jrue Holiday try to stifle a smile when he found out the Sixers were choosing second and there was less likelihood they’d draft John Wall over Holiday’s head.

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One more Moody Bible College pre-draft camp story.

It had to be 1996 and we’re all there because the Bulls are in the final and we’re in Chicago anyway and I run into Darrell Walker in the lobby of the gym after a game had just finished.

We’re chewing the fat about this and that and which of the unknown kids playing the games was making some noise.

Darrell, bless his talent-judging soul, swears up and down that the relatively unknown point guard on this one team – I think it was the blue team – was good. Never mind that few knew his name, the kid was going to be a very good player for a very long time. I was kind of dubious but, what the heck, Darrell’s must have known what he was talking about, right?

Right.

Kid’s name was Derek Fisher.

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One quick question before I get out of here to write what I hope is a very nice little story for this evening.

When did Kevin O’Neill start coaching offence for the Habs?

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The Goods On The Game, Celtics at Magic, and a lottery bonus

Hey everyone.

Miss me? <>Aw, that's nice

Lots of work to do and some grappling memories

So, Kobe?

Not bad, eh?

Knee drained? Check.

Huge game? Check.

Dominant performance? Check.

Yeah, the dude’s pretty good.

Now, because of other, more pressing matters, I kind of zipped through game on a replay rather than watching it intently talking with some of you but what struck me was how easy it was for Bryant to drop 40 on the Suns, despite not making a shot for almost the entire first quarter.

Yes, he is a matchup nightmare and the best player in the game today but the Suns need to put up some more resistance to his drives if they are going to have any chance at making me look smart.

(And I’m sure that’s in the back of their minds).

You can pretty much forget about the fact Channing Frye disappeared or that the Lakers operated pretty much unmolested in the paint because if they can’t make Bryant work harder to get his numbers, they have no chance whatsoever.

A team can live with a guy getting 40 if it takes him 35 shots to do it; to let Bryant get 40 on 23 shots is ridiculous.

The Suns have shown over the course of the season that they are at least a passable defensive team, the amount of regression they showed in that aspect of the game on Monday night had better be an aberration.

If not? Don’t want to think about how fast this thing may be over.

Now, we all know that a seven-game series is never won in the first game and all the Lakers really did Monday was what they were supposed to do, win the opening game on their home court.

So I offer this as caution:

Neither that series, nor the one in the East, is over by any stretch of the imagination. As has been pointed out repeatedly here, there’s very little “momentum” from game-to-game in the post-season because coaches and staffs go off and make adjustments after each night, giving the next game an entirely different dynamic.

So while it was disheartening for Suns fans on Monday, just as it was disheartening for Magic fans on Sunday, the telling sign will be how both losers react before Game 2. And I figure they’ll react pretty well and both of these series will have some juice before they’re done.

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If you’re looking for game stories and how they played out, here’s the main piece from the L.A. Times and here’s Mr. Coro’s take in the Arizona Republic.

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Oh, I’m not going to mention that Kobe had his knee drained and went off for 40 in his first game back as compared to another guy who may or may not have had, say, an issue with another joint and came up small.

I’m not going to. Honest.

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I’ve only had the, um, honour of covering one NBA draft lottery; it was in Secaucus, N.Y. (which his American for “tiny strip malls off interstate”) and the year LeBron was the big prize.

Mind-numbing?

You bet.

You’re a TV studio audience, the “drama” lasts about eight minutes and then you’d repair to a tent they had set up outside the studio to talk to whoever you had to talk to and then go write.

The enduring image?

Sitting with Glen Grunwald at a table in the tent, sipping a beer after the lottery had all been broken down and the story had been filed and thinking he looked more glum than I maybe had ever seen him.

I wonder if he knew then that the powers-that-be above him had decided KO had the inside track on the vacant coaching job?

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So a guy goes to the wrasslin’ with Super Son and one thing comes to him – well, many things, actually but we’ll get to others later:

The line between Baby Faces and Heels is blurred.

You don’t know who’s a good guy and who’s a bad guy anymore.

This Cena fellow, who looks like a good guy, seems to handle himself pretty well and is the champ, gets a mixture of boos and cheers and I can’t quite figure out why.

Neither can a lot of the fans, apparently, because after he beats up the one guy, he gets mugged by some interloper, is smacked around, challenged to some impromptu match and when he wins that, it’s all cheers.

Entirely confusing.

Maybe it’s just me.

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Back to the lottery:

We all know the Raptors have a snowball’s chance of winning (it’s 0.6 per cent, you ninny Smith) but there was a time …

Yes, we know they came from way back to win in 2006 when they got Bargnani with the fifth-best chance, right? (No, we’re not debating the relative merits of that pick).

Well, hope you all remember that in 1996, coming off a rather below-average inaugural season, the Raptors actually won the lottery but were precluded from having the No. 1 selection thanks to the awful expansion agreement they were subjected to.

Anyway, they end second and choose Marcus Camby and, just so you know, Isiah Thomas has told me often he would have taken Camby at No. 1, despite the presence of Allen Iverson, because the Raptors had that Stoudamire guy to build around.

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Things I didn’t see at the grappling:

No one getting the other guy to submit using the Camel Clutch.

Lord Athol Layton.

Zany “managers” ala Miss Elizabeth or Jimmy Hart (although seeing the original Valet Virgil was kind of cool).

Mean Gene Okerlund.

”Oooooh, yeah!”

A Snake. A Hulk.

Bruno Sammartino.

And I’m sure there’ll be more as the minutes pass and I try to get this done.

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Over and under on HWSNBN’s points tonight: 22.

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A scheduling note: With Monday Night Raw out of the way, we’re back to normal here for the next couple of nights.

I’ll be around right around 8 to go through the results of the lottery for a little while and then it’s Game 2 of Orlando-Boston, which I think is a pretty big “must-win” outing for the Magic.

Wednesday night? Sure, Lakers-Suns at 9 and then a couple of nights off for rest and relaxation, if you don’t mind.

In keeping with our theme:

Dontcha dare miss it!

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You cannot get away from it. Ever. Anywhere.

Some dude named Santino or somesuch is in the ring to open the night’s festivities Monday and he’s prattling on to some Russian dude (who was a modern-day incarnation of Nikolai Volkoff, I figure) about something or other when he says something along the lines of:

“You know, like when Chris Bosh leaves!”

And another expert chimes in.

Great.

The best player has to be the best player or Orlando's done

Okay, another weekend in the books, time to get back to normal-ish around here, isn’t it?

Not sure exactly what that is, but it’s something to strive for.

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How’d you like to be the Orlando Magic? You go through the first eight games of the NBA playoffs with nary a worry, beating up subpar opponents like they were, well, subpar opponents.

Then along come those Celtics, the Magic can’t make a three to save their souls and now they’re almost in a “must-win” situation for Game 2.

Not sure entirely what went wrong yesterday, I will surmise that it was a combination of great Boston defence and cockeyed Magic shooting because it’s never just one thing.

Except this one thing: There is no way Orlando can win if Dwight Howard plays like he did in Game 1.

If the Celtics are going to cover him primarily with one guy, he has to punish them, he needs to keep his composure, take his time on offence and drill them for like 30 points. He has to make them pay and he didn’t Sunday afternoon.

He let Kendrick Perkins push him too far out from the basket to be effective (and there’s the major flaw in Howard’s offensive game) and he let Rasheed Wallace get under his skin.

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, and it’d be a heckuva lot easier if Rashard Lewis could make a three-pointer, but if you’re Dwight Howard, you have to be better.

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Okay, I’m getting to this late (the weekend was taken up with, you know, basketball stuff) and it’s a digression so bear with me.

They cancelled Law and Order?

That bites. Big time.

Sure, they’re keeping SVU but who cares and I don’t care what happens to Criminal Intent and Law And Order Los Angeles does nothing for me. Big whoop to all of that.

This was a show full of classics from Adam Schiff (“ah, I don’t care, make a deal, plead him out!) and Ben Stone (“I don’t care, I’m full of righteous indignation!”) to Jack McCoy (“my father, the cop, would have beaten him senseless!” and Joe Fontana (“look at my clothes, I’m suave and debonair!”), there’ve been some doozies, right?

Personal faves: Abbie Carmichael, The Hangin’ Assistant DA, ranks right up there, so does Anita Van Buren, who’s been there the longest.

Best ever, though?

The late, great Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe. Cool dude, a skeleton or two in his closet and if you can find a thespian who can pull off grizzled New York detective and Lumiere, you’ve got yourself and actor.

(Can you tell I watch a lot of reruns while piddling around working most afternoons?)

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Speaking of television, I’m sure you’ll all be glued to your sets Tuesday night for the draft lottery.

(Yes, this passes as the only snippet of Raptors news at the moment).

As you all know, the Raptors go in with the 13th selection, meaning they have a 0.6 six per cent chance at getting No. 1, a 0.7 seven per cent chance at getting No. 2 and a 0.9 nine per cent chance at getting No. 3.

(You know me and math, sorry)

Oh, and for you half-empty people out there, they have a 1.8 per cent chance of falling to No. 14.

Best thing about it?

If the TV production holds true to form, it’ll all be over in about five minutes and we get on with our lives.

Oh, it’ll be DeMar DeRozan sitting on the stage, I’m told, and Henchman Eversley will be in the back making sure things are on the up and up.

And as you all know, everything’s always on the up and up.

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HWSNBN, with 23 points, was the leading scorer for the Orlandos yesterday. Just thought you’d like to keep tabs on one of your faves.

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Speaking of keeping tabs, in conversations over the course of the weekend, I heard Sam’s name linked to the Atlanta coaching gig and I was also told he could be in the mix in Chicago.

Just thought you’d like to keep tabs on another of your faves.

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So I’ve noticed with some interest over the past few days that both Tony Parker and Rony Turiaf have said they will not play for France in the world basketball championships this summer.

Big deal? Probably not but still worth mentioning.

I don’t think France had a hope in Hades of winning with or without Parker and Turiaf but it might – might – make the first round marginally more interesting as far as Canada is concerned since they’re in a first-round group with the French.

I still think Spain and Lithuania are virtual locks to move out of that round in Izmir (Smyrna to those still living in the distant past) and France remains a solid third. That still leaves Canada fighting with Lebanon and New Zealand to get out of the first round – which should be the team’s goal right now); having France a bit weaker might be something to watch for.

And I wonder how it’ll impact ticket sales for a series of two exhibition games here in Toronto between France and Canada in August, games that aren’t quite finalized yet.

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A little scheduling information.

Super Son’s been kind enough to invite me to a showing of Real (Okay, Fake) Professional Men’s Grappling tonight so an in-game blog thingy for the opener of Lakers-Suns is out of the question.

But we will be back Tuesday and Wednesday to resume festivities and I’ll expect a full report on the half of L.A.-Phoenix that I’ll miss.

Thank you very much.

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Oh yeah, opening day of training camp for the Mighty Yankees was, sadly, so-so. Dang family commitments kept half the team away. But, for a gang of five first day out of the box, we can hit and throw and know where all the positions are. That, my friends, is coaching!

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You know I was kind of bemoaning the fact there were no games on Saturday to pass some time?

Well, I did catch more than a little of the WNBA opener between Phoenix and Los Angeles while sitting around answering mail in the afternoon and, between you and I, it was quite the entertaining game.

I would suggest some of you give it a shot if you’ve got a chance, you might end up liking it.

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The Suns are going to win? Yeah, sure. Now tell us why

A fella picks the Suns in seven probably as much for wishful thinking as anything but there is some rationalization that kind of makes it make sense. Like this little breakdown of the series that starts Monday night:

Point guard

Derek Fisher vs. Steve Nash

Nash isn’t as fast as Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, who killed Fisher in the first round, nor is he as strong as Utah’s Deron Williams, who killed Fisher in the second round.

But Nash is a leader, he can make shots, he can create havoc and he’s as tough pound-for-pound as anybody in the league. Oh, and his shooting is perfect antidote for any decision the Lakers may make to slough off him to cover others.

Fisher’s aging, is hardly quick and athletic; but he’s a streaky shooter and you have to admit he makes big shots at key moments late in close games.

Still …

Advantage: Suns

Shooting guard

Kobe Bryant vs. Jason Richardson

No way Richardson can stop Bryant and you’re going to see Grant Hill covering Bryant for a lot of the time. Doesn’t really matter, though, because Kobe’s Kobe, he has a score to settle with the Suns from years ago and, if his knee holds up, he could be phenomenal, like he usually is.

Richardson can indeed stretch defences with his three-point shooting but since the Lakers aren’t likely to double anyone, those open looks could be few and far between. Besides, that Bryant fellow’s not a bad defender in his own right.

Advantage: Lakers.

Small forward

Ron Artest vs. Grant Hill

Again, this is a matchup in flux since Hill will move around a lot so it’s probably not fair to judge it one-on-one. But whoever said life, or NBA Western Conference finals preview packages, was fair?

Artest’s been pretty good in the playoffs and the best thing the Suns can hope for is that he knocks down a couple of early threes because it gets him thinking he’s some deadly long-distance shooter.

This would be a big edge for the Lakers if Artest actually had to cover someone critical to Phoenix’s offence but Hill’s hardly that. Artest’s biggest challenge is going to come when he’s guarding someone off the Suns bench.

Advantage: Lakers, slightly.

Power forward

Pau Gasol vs. Amar’e Stoudemire

You want to talk about your study in contrasts? How about the smooth Gasol against the power of Stoudemire? How about someone with finesse against someone with brute strength? Fascinating in a lot of ways.

Gasol’s a stud, no question about it, he can finish with both hands, he rebounds effectively most of the time and he’s probably quick enough to recover and catch up with Stoudemire rolling off high screens in Phoenix’s bread-and-butter play.

Stoudemire? Might have been the best player in the league for parts of the second half of the regular season but he’s got a tendency to wander on defence and that’s where Gasol’s going to have a huge edge.

Advantage: Lakers

Centre

Andrew Bynum vs. Robin Lopez

The medics may determine this one, actually.

Bynum’s got some cartilage issues in his knee and hasn’t really practiced hard in a week; Lopez returns after missing more than a month with a bad back. Instead of numbers, they should probably wear red crosses on their jerseys.

But all things being equal, Bynum’s bigger, stronger and more experienced. Trouble for him is the Suns are not going to get a lot of minutes out of Lopez and then it’s matter of finding out what Phoenix backup that Bynum can cover.

Advantage: Lakers

Bench

Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton for Los Angeles; Channing Frye, Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, Leandro Barbosa, Luis Amundson for Phoenix

Remember way back in the day when the Suns had to ride all their starters for like 40 minutes a night because you and I were almost effective as their bench? Um, not so much any more. Phoenix comes at you with waves of shooters and quickness and you never know which one’s going to have some kind of huge breakout game (hi, Goran!). Oh, and Dudley’s going to make one of the Laker bigs come far away from the basket, which is foreign territory for them.

Odom’s the enigma in this whole thing. Sublimely gifted, he can dominate or disappear depending on either his mood, the day’s biorhythms or what have you. The rest of them? Relatively marginal talent.

Advantage: Suns.

Coaching

Phil Jackson vs. Alvin Gentry

Mind games? You want mind games? Oh, Phil will give you mind games like few others and there’s a level of condescension to him that some (hi, Doug!) find rather irksome. Still, the dude can coach, can’t he?

About the only thing many people know about Alvin is that he’s not Terry Porter and that seems to have worked wonders with the Suns.

Advantage: Lakers.

And now the requisite other stuff to think about:

How often are we going to see Kobe Bryant move over and guard Steve Nash? I’m betting it’s quite often and that’s going to have pretty big impact on games, methinks?

So, in his playoff history, Nash had had a gory gash on his nose one year, been hip-checked into a scorer’s table another time and bloodied over his eye a week ago. If he heads onto the court followed by a swarm of locusts, we’ve got ourselves a story.

The series could very well turn on three-point shooting and I’d like Phoenix’s chances in that regard.

The last time Bryant faced the Suns in a playoff game, he absolutely disappeared in the second half of Game 7 in 2006, three shots, one point and accusations he went in the tank in protest of a shoddy lineup around him. I’m betting that doesn’t happen again.

The real burning question: What kind of hair or fashion statement will Ron Artest make for Game 1?

Hands up everyone who really, really, really wants Nash to play for a championship? Thought so.

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More mail than you may be able to handle

Seems a glorious day ahead, which is good considering the Mighty Yankees work out at noon. So have a go at this stuff and, if you’re interested, the plan is to do an in-game blog thingy off the Magic-Celtics at 3:30. 

Sadly, well, maybe sadly, that plan now has to change. Something's come up here with Super Family that I'd absolutely forgotten about so I'm not going to be able to be around to charm (or disturb) you this afternoon. Sorry about that, folks.

See ya

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Q: Dear Mr. Smith. I came across an article this week about Clippers owner, Sterling, and lawsuits brought against him regarding his alleged racism, discriminatory acts and sexist acts. If what is written is true, this seems far, far worse than what some NBA coaches and players have been fined for as of late. It appears there is a double standard and I am wondering why, in your understanding, if such, it is not more of an issue with the players' union and other owners or coaches?

Michelle P-B, Toronto

A: In my opinion, Donald Sterling is a despicable man. It’s one thing to mismanage a professional sports team, it’s quite another to be found guilty of housing discriminating against non-Koreans, specifically blacks and Latinos in a suit brought by the United States federal government.

And while I’m not privy to all the business conducted by the league with its owners, if there hasn’t been some censure or a fine levied, it’s a terrible double standard and sends a bad message.

There may have been something done behind closed doors; I would certainly hope so.

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Q: More a cap/team management question. With a new CBA agreement just around the corner would it be wise for a team to sign a long term max deal (5 years ??). Or would it be better to ride it out a year or two and then pickup the players at a lower rate and maybe not 100% guaranteed ?

Of course the Raptors have already boxed themselves in.

John P, Vernon Hills, Ill.

A: I think that for all but the biggest free agent names this summer, teams would be wise to strike deals for as short a duration as they can. Who knows what the new deal will look like but if history holds, the league will win convincingly. Now, that said, you know that agents will be looking for contracts as long as they can get them so I think we might see some contentious negotiations with second- or third-tier free agents this summer. But if I’m a GM, I hold fast and don’t give out deals longer than, maybe, two guaranteed years to that kind of player.

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Q: Doug, I really enjoy the blog and your in-game commentary.

A question about the Suns-Lakers series. I heard that, to protest the new Arizona papers-please law, the city of Los Angeles has decided to cut off all sorts of financial deals with the state of Arizona (no city employees can travel there on business, cancelled contracts with Arizona companies etc).

Have you heard anything about the Lakers taking part in any sort of protest when the series moves to Phoenix? Should they? How about 'Los Lakers' jerseys.

Jim M, Richmond Hill

A: No, there are no plans for the Lakers to do anything, nor the Suns for that matter. The Los Suns night was a one-off deal to coincide with the Cinco De Mayo celebrations a way to attract attention to a law they – and I – feel is terribly unjust. But it’s over now.

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Q: Hi Doug. As the worries start to mount that Bosh is as good as gone when July 1 rolls around, I have another Bosh-related question for you:

In today's NBA, can your #1, head and shoulders above all his teammates, star player be a power forward or even a big for that matter? Looking at the rosters of the 16 teams that made these playoffs, the best player on most teams is a wing or point guard. And the teams whose #1 is a debatably their PF (San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix) always have a "1A" PG or wing. Even Orlando with Howard is stocked with a whack of complementary scorers... SO the short question is: Is Bosh the guy to build around in today's NBA?

Sean F, Kitchener

A: Yep, with the right cast he can be your leading scorer and top rebounder and the guy who gets a lot of offensive touches. But, and I will say this for the umpteenth time, it’s never, ever, ever, never about “one guy to build around” if you don’t have other talent. If it was, you’d say that LeBron isn’t a guy to build around because he hasn’t won. And neither did Kobe, nor did Wade, Carmelo hasn’t, Jordan didn’t, Kareem didn’t, hell, Bird didn’t.

But there’s no reason in the world to think that Bosh couldn’t be a huge part of a very good team.

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Q: Doug, what do you make of Philadelphia interviewing so many people for the vacant coaching position? Going through an interview requires quite a bit of work preparing for it, especially I imagine for an NBA position.

I know that the team can benefit from seeing this many coaches by getting multiple ideas on how individuals might run the team, or see as undeveloped strengths.

Just how is the team/GM viewed amongst prospects with so many candidates being interviewed?

As always, thanks.

Steph R, Glencoe

A: I think some of the interviewees would find it a good exercise, frankly, with an eye for future jobs. I think going through the process a number of times, to see what kind of questions are asked, to see if the preparation you’d done is enough or if it needs tweaking, would be a learning experience and if teams want to go through a large number of interviews, everyone probably wins.

So I would think a lot of the interviewees would be quite glad a team like Philly seems to be casting a wide net.

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Q: Hey Doug. Love the work you do, please keep it up. Got somewhat of a personal question for you: if the planets ever aligned properly and if your bosses asked, do you think you could ever see yourself give up the basketball gig to follow your apparent second passion and become a grunt for the 'Heroes of the Baseball Diamond'?

Steve T, Ajax

A: First off, let me preface this by saying I love my gig, love my summers with the Mighty Yankees and have absolutely no desire to change much. That said, I did a little baseball for The People’s Wire Service back in the heyday of the early 90s here and I would prefer to go back there rather than to, say, the pucks.

But, truth be told, I’m getting to such an advanced age and Gruntdom is a young mug’s game so my next gig, I hope, involves something other than six- or seven-day-a-week coverage of a team.

Want to know why Orlando wins? Read on, fine people

Forget the usual mundane matters around these parts, let’s take a little deeper look at the Magic-Celtics and see just how a guy can come up with Orlando in seven, shall we?

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Point guard

Jameer Nelson vs. Rajon Rondo

You could make the case – quite strongly – that each has been his team’s most valuable player throughout the playoffs and this will be one of the most compelling matchups of the series.

Nelson has trouble guarding ultra-quick point guards (who doesn’t?) and Rondo’s ability to get in the paint and dish drives the Boston offence an awful lot. But, the imposing presence of Dwight Howard back there will help the Magic.

Rondo’s not as good a jump shooter as Nelson and he’s had his troubles at the foul line despite putting up some gaudy numbers.

Nelson’s a tough, tough kid who seems to thrive in big games.

Advantage: Even and it could be the matchup that determines the series.

Shooting guard

Vince Carter vs. Ray Allen

Carter still settles for too many jump shots on too many occasions (sound familiar, Raptor fans?) but he’s quite capable of going off at a moment’s notice. It’s his first time on this stage, it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts but not having to be the engine to drive his team has to help.

Allen? He’s found some fountain of youth in the last few games and might have been the difference in the Cleveland series. His defensive liabilities might be masked if Carter doesn’t attack him and his catch-and-shoot jumper remains as pretty as any in the game.

Advantage: A slight one to Orlando, especially if Carter’s aggressive on offence.

Small forward

Matt Barnes vs. Paul Pierce

Barnes seems to be one of those guys you hardly notice, until he’s being congratulating on a team victory. He’s pesky and tough, can knock down an open shot and the type of relative grinder that all good teams have.

That said, guarding Pierce is no picnic, even if Boston’s all-star didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the Cleveland series. Pierce has one of the top mid-range games going and he can also stretch defences with three-point shooting.

And it’s not like Pierce should find himself in foul trouble because Barnes isn’t a focal point of the Orlando offence. Pierce could actually get some rest on defence, which will help his offence.

Advantage: Boston by a fair margin.

Power forward

Rashard Lewis vs. Kevin Garnett

Lewis is a power forward in name only; he drifts to the three-point line, likes to finish on the break and really doesn’t have any post-up game to speak of. But what he does is cause big matchup problems by drawing big men away from the basket where his teammate Howard can operate unmolested.

The thing is, if there’s another long, lanky, quick big good enough to step out and guard Lewis, it’s Garnett, who has become rejuvenated in a mightily impressive playoff run so far. And if you thought KG abused Antawn Jamison by posting him up and scoring almost at will, wait to you get a whiff of what he might do to Lewis.

Advantage: Boston but if Lewis knocks down five threes a game, it’s a wash.

Centre

Dwight Howard vs. Kendrick Perkins

There should probably be a third group in this particular matchup: The refs.

Perkins would seem to be big enough and almost strong enough to defend Howard but he’s also got a penchant for fouling and if he’s on the bench a lot, Howard will go nuts scoring.

Of course, Howard’s no shrinking violet in the fouling department either but he seemed to get himself under control in the Atlanta series. Howard’s also got a few more offensive moves now than he’s ever had – a righty hook in the lane is virtually unstoppable – and he’s still a pretty good passer out of the inevitable double-teams.

Advantage: Orlando by a wide margin.

Bench

Jason Williams, JJ Redick, Mickeal Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Ryan Anderson for Orlando; Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis, Michael Finley, Marquis Daniels for Boston.

You want shooters? The Magic has shooters. Almost all of those guys can come off the bench and light you up and Pietrus and Gortat are more than passable defenders, too. It’s one of the big strengths of the Orlando roster, they don’t lose an awful lot when they start subbing guys in.

Not so much for Boston, that’s for sure. Tony Allen did a good job defending LeBron James in the Cleveland series and he can score in transition. Wallace is an enigma, Davis is strong but he’s sure not Dwight Howard strong and he’s foul trouble waiting to happen.

Advantage: Orlando by a wide margin.

Coaching

Stan Van Gundy vs. Doc Rivers.

Both are pretty good at in-game adjustments but the real story here is that both are among the best coaching quotes in the league, it’ll be fun to listen to them.

Doc wins the sartorial contest hands down; Stan’s a million miles ahead when it comes to obvious angst.

Advantage: Even.

And some other stuff to think about and questions to answer in your own minds:

Orlando’s coasted through eight playoff games with nary a worry; how will they handle the first sign of adversity?

Boston’s old, very old, but will they catch a break with three days off between Games 2 and 3? I think they win Game 3, being rested and at home, regardless of where the series is at that point.

Do you want Vince to play for a title? Didn’t think so.

Over and under on technical fouls, combined, per game? How about 1.5. Which side do you like?

Primal screams by KG to get himself fired up? Two per night at least.

Oh, and one quick note to the conspiracy theorists: If the league fixes things, how come it blew another Kobe-LeBron championship series?

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All right, folks, that’s it for today; we’ll be back tomorrow with the same stuff for Lakers-Suns, soon as I figure out who I like in that one.

If you want one last shot at this week’s mailbag (which I hope is a nice Saturday evening on the deck kind of assignment) shoot ‘em off by clicking here and I’ll see what I can do.

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Live basketball Q&A

Doug Smith held a live Q&A with readers today, answering questions about LeBron James, Chris Bosh and all things basketball.

And now the fun really begins

What a night, eh?

Anyway, before I go off to figure out who’s going to win these next two series, let’s take a look at history.

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The repercussions from what we witnessed in Boston on Thursday night are going to be felt across the NBA for months to come, and I think you can make the case that that one single game could shape the league for its next era.

Overstatement? I don’t think so.

(I will preface everything to follow with this: I do not know what LeBron James is going to do as a free agent and neither does anyone else but when he talked about “his team” having a game plan, he was not referring to the Cleveland Cavaliers).

So let’s go on the premise that James is going to leave the Cavs after seven seasons and given the way things ended, and the fact he’s failed to deliver a title, I don’t think that’s a stretch.

His move, should he make it, is going to cause seismic shifts in the league and not only in Cleveland and wherever he next calls home.

For the Cavs, do you think they’ll be anything more than a run-of-the-mill franchise for years to come, even if they get 10 cents on the dollar in a James sign-and-trade. Gone, I bet, are the sellout crowds that gave them a decided home court advantage, gone is any kind of intimidation factor or swagger. They will be no better, or no worse, than, say, the Raptors.

Now, let’s say James throws everyone a curve and doesn’t go to New York (and why he’d want to join that sorry lot still mystifies me). What do the Knicks do with all the money they’ve hoarded? Give it Chris Bosh and hope he becomes a true leader in the biggest media market in the world and does he take it, knowing that he’ll be eaten alive at the first sign of weakness in his play? Do they go after Joe Johnson and let him shine in the regular season and disappear should they even make the playoffs.

And what happens to the team that wins the James sweepstakes? Do they automatically become good enough to challenge Orlando in the East or the Lakers in the West? And how do rivals of that team react when they have to make moves to match the addition of James?

I’m telling you, that elimination – and utter capitulation in the final two games of the series by Cleveland – is an era-shifting moment in NBA history.

And we won’t know for months the breadth and depth of what it’s done.

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Oh and wasn’t it fascinating when the Cavs all but quit on that game, standing around in utter bewilderment in the final two minutes or so, not fouling, looking askance at the bench, seemingly disinterested in even trying to mount some miracle comeback?

That was shocking in itself and an indictment of everyone connected with the team on the floor, the coaches and players alike.

Shocking in many regards.

Kinda looked like they didn’t even want to be there, didn’t’ it?

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Last kick at the mail can, folks. Send the queries here and we’ll take a look this afternoon and tomorrow.

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I’m on my traditional early-morning pilgrimage in search of the morning quad vente non-fat latte (Hi, Starbucks at Hurontario and Harbord!) when news comes on the radio that Sidney Crosby has eschewed an invitation to play for his country at the world hockey championships.

Who’s he think he is, Steve Nash?

I’m sure there’ll a huge hue and cry over that, right?

Right?

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There was a question, or a comment, during the in-game blog thingy last night (attendance well over 700, best of the post-season and thanks for that) about Doris Burke, who was doing the sideline stuff for ESPN.

To me, she’s the best new voice to come on the national basketball scene in years, insight, good questions and an intonation and delivery that makes it easy to listen to her.

And when I made that point, someone asked where she’d come from.

Well, she was a standout player at Providence and is a member of that school’s Hall of Fame and has been working in and around professional basketball on TV since she did WNBA games in New York in 1997.

It’s not real often that we get a relatively new face and voice on national broadcasts who aren’t former NBAers and maybe that’s why she stands out even more.

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What are you doing at noon?

Well, if you’re me, you’ll be here answering questions for an hour or so about the two conference finals and whatever Raptors stuff pops into your little minds.

Feel free to join in.

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May as well get this started now: The Mighty Yankees open spring training Sunday, we hope. I’m sure you’ll all be anxious to know what kind of squad we’ve got after the first workout.

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You know me and speculation about off-season free agency and moves the Raptors should or should not make and how I really don’t revel in it, right?

Well, here’s a change and it’s kind of out there and I don’t think it can happen but what the hell.

One of Bryan’s first calls this summer should be to Ray Allen and he should dangle a three-year, full mid-level contract in front of him.

Guy makes big shots, has been in big games and is precisely the kind of old head I think this team really needs.

Now, there are three rather significant problems with that idea so don’t think it’s going to happen for sure.

The first would be that, given his druthers, I’m sure Allen would prefer to remain in Boston and I have no idea if the Celtics feel the same.

The second would be that to eat up the mid-level exception on him – as opposed to a sign-and-trade deal for maybe a package of Antoine Wright and, say, Jarrett Jack or Reggie Evans – would cut into money available for Toronto to sign other bits and pieces, although there are always trades and draft picks to take into consideration.

And the third is whether, if there’s no real interest in Boston, Allen would have any interest in joining a less-than-glamourous team that’s been out of the playoffs for two years.

Anyway, something for you to think about.

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One last kick at the Cavs?

How’d that whole Shaquille O’Neal thing work out?

Not so well, eh?

Didn’t think it would.

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The Goods On The Game, Cavs at Celtics

And a fine evening to you all.

Hope it was a good day; gloomy and rainy here but whadday gonna do?

Have fun tonight here, though.