On the Hall of Fame and DeMar says all the right things

They did the Hall of Fame thingy on Friday night and I have one bone to pick with the group that went in.

I’m not at all in favour of inducting “teams” into Halls of Fame, I think it should be a place reserved for the great individuals of the game. Yes, the Dream Team in 1992 was something else and the 1960 American Olympic team might have been the second- or third-best ever assembled but to induct them as a group diminishes the Hall in some regards, I think.

It may turn out that each member of those teams gets in (although I highly doubt it) but that’s what Halls are for, individuals.

There are several other issues with the Hall that are very troubling to a lot of people, me included.

I think the selection process is horribly flawed – it’s left to an anonymous group and the vote totals are never made public – and the whole notion of so many categories – builders, players, international players, women, coaches, amateurs – makes it hugely confusing.

I don’t know what the answers are – perhaps a separate Hall for the NBA might be in order but that opens a huge can of worms – but something needs to change for the joint to be taken entirely seriously.

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One last Hall of Fame mention of my friend Jackie MacMullan, though.

The Boston Globe writer was a trailblazer for women journalists in the sport I cover, her work covering the Celtics and the league in its Magic-Larry heyday was exemplary and should be held as the standard to which all young writers should aspire.

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As I’m sitting there watching France-Canada all I can think of is ….

Makan Dioumassi.

Who?

You need some old-school international basketball chops to know who that is and I’m not sure many do.

He’s the dude, a 6-4 guard, who simply beat up Steve Nash for 94 feet and 40 minutes of the Sydney Olympic quarter-final game and cost Canada a shot at the medal.

First off, I can’t believe that’s 10 years ago – a decade goes by a hurry, doesn’t it? – and, second, I can’t believe how vividly I remember that five-point game.

Not sure who the refs were but they swallowed their whistles, as the saying goes, and Dioumassi manhandled Nash almost at will, taking him – and Canada – out of the game.

Now, I did have to go to old friend Arnaud Lecomte of Le Monde newspaper, who was in town for the games, to get Dioumassi’s name and Arnaud got me up to date.

I knew that Dioumassi was hardly a star in France – I’m not sure he played another game in Sydney – but he kind of drifted off into a peripatetic basketball life and the last anyone heard of him was about three years ago when he was playing in Iran.

The other guy?

Nash?

Turned out pretty good.

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I will tell you one thing DeMar DeRozan has been doing this summer:

Getting media training.

The kid – looking a tad geeky in glasses that can be described as “Poindexter-esque” – stopped by the Air Canada Centre on Friday and you wanna talk about saying all the right things …

“It’s a great opportunity to play on an NBA team in another country. I think it can be big if you take advantage of it.”

Anyway, he went on to say he can’t wait to prove people wrong, that they aren’t going to be that bad and all the stuff you’d expect him to say.

Oh, and why he’s in town?

To sign some papers on the place he’ll live in next year and, no, he and Sonny aren’t going to be roomies, they’re not that inseparable.

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Back to Canada for a second.

I had a fellow ask in the mailbag (Hi, Josh of Whitehorse!) and others make comments about the feasibility of playing the game at the Air Canada Centre instead of, say Ricoh or something like Varsity or the University of Toronto or somesuch.

Now, knowing the relationship between Maple Leaf Sports and Canada Basketball, the only place I could see the games being move would be to Ricoh and I’d heartily endorse that idea

A few thousand in that arena would seem to be more than a few thousand in the ACC and there’s something to be said for the intimacy of the venue.

I’ve long thought that Ricoh would be a great venue for a D League team, or even a WNBA team and should be utilized for things like the games against France.

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In keeping with a theme, a mailbag sneak peak:

Q: Hey Doug. In light of the Basketball HOF and the 1992 Dream Team being inducted and all. I was looking at the roster and noticed Christian Laettner. He's not really of the same caliber as the rest of the roster. I know he had a very celebrated NCAA career. And, that before the Dream Team, the men's USA Senior Basketball Team mainly comprised of NCAA talent. But, if you could go back in time, who would you replace Laettner with? I would guess Isiah Thomas. Your thoughts?

Anthony M, Milton

A: Laettner was there because USA Basketball wanted at least one collegian on the team as a nod to the NCAA the first time the NBA guys played.

And, yeah, Isiah probably would have been the guy if I’d been picking, although his so-so relationship with Jordan might have been an issue.

Okay, loads of mail for the morning but here’s one more shot to get something in. Click. Send.

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One last Canada point.

Please, in the name of all that’s good in the world, don’t think that the results of Thursday and Friday will mean Canada rolls over France in the first round at the worlds.

I’ve seen this so many times it’s not even funny, teams play possum early in the summer of a big event, they don’t show their best stuff and aim only at the start of whatever big tournament there is.

I’m sure Canada’s got some other stuff up its sleeve – the return of injured point guard Jermaine Anderson will automatically give them a different look – and I know France does, too.

But, right now, France is terrible.

And gets the Americans in New York on Sunday. Nicolas Batum put it pretty well:

“If we play like this, we will lose by 50 or 60 points.”

I’m thinking 75 or 80.

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Comments

[WhereisBisonDele?]

Interestingly, the debate over Laettner at the time was whether to include him, or a collegiate Shaq, if I remember correctly.

[Matthieu]

hi Doug,

What did you think of Diaw's performance yesterday? No regret to have for the Raps I guess

Blogger's note: Horribly out of shape, embarrassing almost. But he's still two months before NBA training camp even begins

[JHP]

Doug

I guess I'm getting old and grumpy but I think Mr. Bosh should choose his words better. Presently there are 13-15 union members making a great living working for the Raptors and many more in markets that are smaller and in far worse financial shape. I can not see how it will serve the best interests of the NBA or players to continually promote Miami as a mecca and Toronto as the wilderness. I lived in the Miami area for many years and to say the fans are fair weather is an under statement to say the least. So I wish him the very best but wish he would look forward instead of backwards.

[Peter]

I thought your point about teams getting into the hall of fame was interesting. But the flip side is that even you have commented about how basketball, especially at the NBA level was a bit too much of a "Me first" kind of league. I happen to like the idea of at least in some fashion, seeing teams recognized. If the odd guy gets into the hall under the team banner who wouldn't have made it on his own, I don't think anyone views that individual as a hall of famer, but instead views that individual as a small part of a great team.

[adam]

With Regards to the Demar comments.; i think he's actually sincere. The reason i say this is that if you follow him on twitter or facebook his updates are very much in the vein of how much fun he is having in this city all the time, and how he and the rest of the young guns are wanting to take the city and coiuntry by storm.
I wondered why this happend with these guys and i have a couple of theories, not the least of which is the desire to be stars of course. But, i also though that if he grew up watching VC become a superstar; he also would have realized how far his star fell once he got to NJ. Vince was a bigger NBA star in Toronto than he was anywhere else. DD has always said he wants to be Heir Canada etc.. not CB5.

It was great to see him and Sonny at Caribana having a blast in public, and all the stops into shopping malls and chatting with fans, telling them where the guys are gonna be so that people can come say hello. If they can play well, or at least become a really good nucleus that makes the raps fun to watch; then i could see sponsors etc loving these guys.

CB4 was always the shy kid who didn't say much, and i think that was a bit endearing at first, but is probably the reason he didn't get a lot of sponsorships etc. He wasn't a huge personality that stood up and trumpeted his team or his adopted city and that makes a huge difference in how the public AND the sponsors see you. These kids may have it in spades, so long as they play well.

[Cluck Kent]

I think the entire idea of a 'Hall of Fame' for folks who made millions doing what they loved to do is ridiculous. It's not like they made medical discoveries that saved people's lives or invented some which has improved our standard of living. Everytime I hear 'Hall of Fame' talk I hear Bruce Springsteen's 'Glory Days' playing in the background. But I guess that's why fan comes from fanatic.

Even more silly is the idea of broadcaster's getting into the HOF. These people are paid to call or write about the game and if them why not the hard working Production Directors and cameramen, grips and studio types? Who is to say that their contribution to the game was any less than that of the people who garnered some bit of fame out of it?

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Boris Diaw is fat.

Also, I'm not very surprised by the low turnout at the Canada/France games. Before last night's game I ran into some friends at the Real Sports bar who had no idea the Donahue Classic was even being held--and these people all worked for CTV at the Olympics. One of them had just taken a job with the COC. So in those circles word of mouth was sparse. And that's pretty bad.

Also, on the Basketball Canada website they only posted the roster last week, they are using Carl English for advertising and he isn't even playing and if you go to the web-store, they are still selling jerseys with Samuel Delambert's name on the back.

I agree that they should've had the game in a smaller venue like Ricoh. But if you really want to draw attention to your program, how hard is it to update a website?

Still, it was a lot of fun to sit right down by the court and watch some ball in the middle of August...it reminded me of the World Championships here in the summer of '96.

AG, Toronto

[M]

I have to agree with Cluck ( :-) ) Kent. Celebrity worship is a sad commentary on modern life, in the old days, it was called idolatry.

[john]

Jordan gets the credit for not letting Thomas on the team , but in reallity nobody wanted him. Barkely hated him equally as much as Jordan did and who can forget the famous "If Bird was black he would just be another guy" quote that I am sure made Bird a great fan.
For the life of me I cannot figure out how Thomas keeps getting work! He drove the Raptors into the ground, then he bankrupted an entire league. The Knicks have been a disgrace for years after his tenure there. As for his ability at drafting players, its not hard to draft when your team is always in the bottom 5 in the league. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then...

[Patrick Rutledge]

Hey Doug,

A bit of a shameless plug, but if fans want to know how sincere DD is about working and playing in Toronto, they should check out our Facebook page DeMar's Slam Dunk Book Club and see what we have been doing to encourage literacy and character in young boys.

Patrick Rutledge

Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=304058746365&ref=ts

[Mr. Cook]

Using my incredible internetologistic ability I perused quite a few of the lists that you have created regarding the 'greats' in various capacities and I noticed something glaring in its absence: Mention of Larry Bird. In your many tomes regarding the Celtics, or simply amazing basketball players Bird has received nary a mention.

So I ask you this, what context to you put Larry into within the history of the game? How good was he, how much did he mean for the game, etc etc.

Blogger's note: You're right, he does get short shrift and shouldn't. I'd have to have him in the top 10 on his playing abilities and in the top two or three as guys who have made the game what it is because he was the perfect foil for Magic.