A tidbit or two from this morning

Well, we got into see the end of some shooting drills and some stretching and there were no Raptors doubled over in pain so that’s a good sign, right?

First workout was about two hours, Jay said he had to shoo ‘em out of the gym so they didn’t wear themselves out before tonight’s session, which will primarily be scrimmaging.

Teams are allowed only three days of two-a-day workouts and on those three days only one of the practices can be “contact” work so they’ve decided to teach in the morning and run at night.

Only news of remote interest is that Solomon Alabi, who was bothered by a hamstring injury, did the entire workout, much to the surprise of everyone. No word on whether he’ll run tonight or not.

-

Oh, and there were no new faces and I’m told the Raptors are still holding out hope they can entice Erick Dampier here.

And, you know, why wouldn’t he consider it?

Money’s going to be the same everywhere but I imagine he’d start here and he won’t in Houston (Yao Ming) or Milwaukee (Andrew Bogut) and you know he’s got some experience playing in the front court along with the likes of Andrea Bargnani since Damp played with Dirk in Dallas.

Anyway, not sure how hot those embers are but there’s a bit of smoke still there.

-

Jay on tempo:

Paraphrasing: We want to play fast, not stupid and not out of control.

This is not Seven Seconds Or Less, it’s not even Seventeen Seconds Or Less, it’s trying to push tempo but not at the expense of getting good looks.

We’ll see how that all works out because everything has to do with defence and defensive rebounding.

-

Oddest sight?

Leandro Barbosa doing some individual shooting drills.

He’d be on the baseline, maybe 15 feet from the hoop, bouncing on his right foot. He’d bound a couple of times, hop about five feet to his left side and hoist a jumper.

Why?

Seems he got it from Steve Nash and, you know, what works for Steve should work for Leandro and that’s an admirable goal.

There’ll be more on that later because Barbosa’s the story du jour.

-

Okay, conference call with the women at the worlds – hard loss losers by five to Greece – is about to begin.

We’ll be back later.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[The J]

It's funny how we always take the time to say that comparing Andrea to Dirk is not a fair comparison. Then we go ahead and either compare them, or treat them as equivalent players.

[Matty-Pix]

My goodness ... seems like just yesterday that we were wondering how you'd fill the blog for the summer.
Looks like once again we're checking in for relevant behind the scenes tidbits.
Great job pulling us through the dry days ... good to be back!

[Paul B]

not really a comment, but an observation. Had read the few articles on the Heat's media day... many quotes of Wade and James, but nothing on what Bosh had to say. We know Bosh is intelligent, and well spoken, so it's not like he didn't have anything of substance to say. Could be a sign of going from some voice, in Canada, to no voice in MIA.

Enjoy Chris.

[M]

It's funny how we always take the time to say that comparing Andrea to Dirk is not a fair comparison. Then we go ahead and either compare them, or treat them as equivalent players.
Posted by: The J | September 28, 2010 at 01:38 PM
Hardly a comparison, the "likes" of Andrea possibly means that both Dirk and Andrea can shoot from the outside. How are your nits today?

[Doug]

I have not heard MLSE use the word "rebuilding" yet, but that seems to be what they are doing, given their inaction. Would they ever consider lowering the price of tickets while they are rebuilding? Third highest prices in the league for a rebuilding team, lacking even one star, seems excessive, even for MLSE.
.
Paul, contrary to everything he ever said Bosh is now third banana. He ought to embrace his new found obscurity.

[J]

@The J:

"It's funny how we always take the time to say that comparing Andrea to Dirk is not a fair comparison. Then we go ahead and either compare them, or treat them as equivalent players."

Context is always important. It's not fair to either player to expect Andrea to be the next Dirk; there's nothing wrong with suggesting Dampier has experience playing with an Andrea/Dirk-like big. One compares skill and potential; the other juxtaposes styles, and yes they have similar albeit not identical styles.

[chris]

Hey doug -- i guess the folks who mentioned Dirk a week or two ago weren't so crazy after all, huh?

That said - i don't want him here. He'd be a much better addition to a contender. Not really someone i want taking space or good habits away from our youngsters.

[chris]

whoops - meant damp, not dirk

[pain777pas]

The media day was informative and the young guys on the team see this as an opportunity. I will support the team as long as I see progress and effort above all else. I hope that fans will watch games even for the opposing teams coming in. We have a basketball team and I wished I caught some of Jordan's final appearances in the league while he was around. For sure I'm going the Lakers game and Miami games no matter where I sit. Let's see what this team can do we will see growth I hope even if we don't see the W in the win column. Go Raps!!!!!!!

[MJ]

In regards to Dampier, the Raps can offer significantly more than the Bucks or Houston as they are the only team of those 3 that has cap space.

Blogger's note: The Raptors have zero cap space and can only offer a veteran minimum contract

[Fortunato pezzo]

Give the young gunz the oppurtunity to do their thing. They are comfortable playing together which will bring more flow to the game. In regards to bosh, I font even think he's worth the effort we wud put in just talking about him on this blog. I have yo agree with most here; even if we don't get the win, I would hope it will be an exciting team to watch. I kinda like the whole underdog persona this team is developing. Lower expectations, more likelihood of proving many ppl wrong, and a lot more interesting to watch.

By the way, many raps fans may disagree but as much as I love jay, we need more of a Sam Mitchell to motivate this new team.

Oh and as much as thi sounds disapointing, Toronto may never win a championship but it's funny how the organization always teases us in the offseason just enough to keep us tuned to the raps. Quite frankly Im starting to get fed up with it. I say the MLSE starts spending some money to actually win. But why would they want to. There saving and making money at the same time. That's business for u ppl. Nevertheless go raps!