Creative opportunities abound; and a look at some odd shots

It strikes me that there’s a great opportunity for the coaching staff to do something unique with this Raptors team.

For the first time maybe ever – and certainly in the most recent past – there is a level of versatility at two key positions that should allow them to be creative and stretch their imaginations.

I’m talking about Leandro Barbosa and Linas Kleiza, two very key components to whatever it is this team does this season.

I know Jay’s never had that kind of player at his disposal; it’ll be interesting to see if he can maximize the talents they have.

Barbosa becomes the quickest player Jay’s ever coached and has the ability to break down his man from the backcourt spot with pure speed, an attribute that neither Jose nor Jarrett possess. Think of Barbosa as a bigger, better T.J. Ford.

Jay’s already been talking about a lot of dribble-handoff stuff with Barbosa, I’m sure there’ll be some drive-and-kick action but there have to be many more ways to utilize his talents.

Kleiza? He’s big, strong, mobile and can play both forward positions, another kind of player Jay’s never had to coach.

Can he play Kleiza with Bargnani? Kleiza with Johnson? Or Johnson, Bargnani and Kleiza and put the Lithuanian on the block?

The possibilities really are endless and that’s got to be kind of exciting.

No idea how creative the staff will be but, who knows, it might be fun to watch.

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Speaking of Barbosa, as we seem to be a lot lately, I’m sure a lot of you noticed him wearing No. 28 at media day.

Well, don’t go rushing out to grab a jersey yet.

He doesn’t want the number, they’re trying to get it changed (I’m not sure to what, just something different) and they’re waiting to hear from the league.

Barbosa wore No. 10 in Phoenix, which is a non-starter here, but I hope they do something because No. 28 is a stupid number.

(Sorry all you No. 28s out there)

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Hmm.

Fooled a few people with the low talker-puffy shirt thing yesterday, I see by the e-mails.

Good for me.

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List time, sort of.

So, a Low Level Poobah and I were standing around watching the end of practice, when the players are doing shooting drills and over on the other side of the court, getting up some shots (regular ones, not like the ones detailed here).

He’s got a somewhat unorthodox shooting stroke, to say the least, and it leads LLB to ask, “Worst shooting form ever?”

Hmm.

Easy  

Shawn Marion

What the hell is that? Seriously.  

 

Marcus Camby

Let’s say “unfurl” rather than shoot.  

 

Acie Earl

Odd gait, odd stroke, odd fellow.  

 

Matt Bonner

Sacrilege, I know. But the over-the-shoulder heave isn’t in any textbooks.  

 

Leandro Barbosa

Why not add him?

I’m sure there are dozens more and that’s an entirely subjective list rattled off the top of the head.

Anyone got anything else?

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And I could use some early-week mail, thank you very much.

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A digression.

Hey, apparently Cito Gaston’s leaving the Jays?

That caught me by surprise.

(I keed, I keed).

Anyway, I have a wee bit of history with Cito, although it was a long time ago.

Way back in the day, I was something of a seamhead at The People’s Wire Service and did a whole lot of baseball in the ’92-’94 era. The first two years were a circus, team was great, media deluge every night, a lot of fun.

Not so much ’94, of course, with the lockout and canceling the World Series and the ridiculous idea to try to start the ’95 season with replacement players.

I did spring training in ’95, at least a little of it, and it was crazy. We’d go over to the local Dunedin High School where regular Jays were working out on their own (I still remember shagging BP fly balls in left field when they needed extra bodies) and we’d have to make obligatory trips to the minor league complex to see Cito, who was trying to manage the replacement team. It was odd, to say the least.

But some nights, a gaggle of grunts (hi, Bear; hi, Larry) would retire to Eddie’s, a Dunedin hot spot and every now and then Cito would walk in.

He was a good man, loved to talk, possessor of strong opinions but willing to engage in conversation.

Those were good nights and I came to quite like him.

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I don’t know if the folks who run Canada Basketball will read this (I certainly hope they will) but I’m going to offer this suggestion right now:

They have to re-up women’s coach Allison McNeill.

At the very, very least they have to give her a contract that covers next summer with an option for 2012 if they make the Olympics.

The over-riding impression I’ve got since the women’s worlds started – confirming what I’d thought through the years of doing stories on the team every now and then – is that she’s a motivator, tactician and entirely dedicated to the program.

And you cannot argue with her success. This is the second straight time Canada’s been to the worlds after a 12-year absence; they have a chance to improve on the 10th place finish of four years ago and the team is young and improving.

Makes no sense, none, to make a change now.

-

Who knew Michael Bolton could be so bitter?

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We know there’s some competition for starting spots with this group and it is early days but Jay did give a bit of a hint which way he’s leaning after practice Tuesday morning.  

 

“I would think that Kleiza’s probably not as cemented in as Andrea … (but) we have a pretty good idea of where we want to go.”

That would be as I kind of expected all along, that Kleiza would be one of the starters.

 

 

 

Comments

[adam]

Just curious... if Bargnani doesn't have a stellar year this year; do you think he's trade bait?

Blogger's note: A question for a question: If he doesn't have a stellar year, would anyone want him?

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Hard to top Shawn Marion on the ugly meter. Never mind the mid-range shots. Has any pro missed more layups and chip shots than The Matrix? Guess Reggie could compete in that department on a smaller scale (and maybe Ben Wallace).
Great to see Reggie back in fighting form. I recall him saying something about not liking CB4 last fall before they became teammates – looking forward to that rematch! Kleiza should provide some of the same stuff that Garbo brought, too, only on a MUCH more athletic and higher talent level. These guys show some grit and play some D, could be interesting.
And yeah, I spent a lot of time shagging BP (yes, shagging) for the local Double A team way back when. Played a lot of good ball in that stadium after practices, and collected a whack of baseballs and off-loaded bats and gloves. Great times.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Pipit]

Doug, can you give me a logical reason why number 28 is a stupid number?

Blogger's note: No, there isn't one.

[Tom]

I also want to second Derek S's Kudos. I watched Raptors today last night and even I was irritate by the lack of intelligent questions being asked. The only questions I found at all interesting were yours Doug. I'm not try to blow smoke up your bum, but it really does show the lack of basketball IQ with some of the reporters following this team. You can tell the players appreciate different and thoughtful questions and they don't have to give hockey player answers, "We gave it 110%", "it's a team effort", blah, blah blah. Please keep it up, great job.

[craig h]

jamaal wilkes, bob mcadoo, rick barry's free throws...still, none are worse than Marion.

[TLI]

Speaking of Cito, last night's game included remembrances from Devon White (talking to Buck and Pat) about the years of the World Series wins. Relevant to the Raptors situation was his take on the Jays' ability to attract stars like Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris... according to Devo, those teams didn't become winners by recruiting all that big talent. "The team was already here! Those guys wanted to play with us because they could see were doing things the right way..."
If you build it, they will come... even to Toronto!

[J.r]

Hey doug,

if your jay what is your rotation, starters and who is first off the bench and for whom ?

Blogger's note: Too early to tell

[pat]

Chuck Hayes, for worst free-throw and its not even close.

[The J]

Read something funny today from Cleveland's media day that said the competition to fill Lebron's old spot in the starting line-up has mainly come down to a decision between Jemario Moon and Joey Graham. Can't help but imagine Sam Mitchell is sitting somewhere laughing and thinking to himself "i'm glad that ain't my headache no more".

[Lawrence]

If Barbosa is a bigger better TJ Ford, then does he merit consideration for the starting point gaurd spot?

Any word on Damp?

Blogger's note: No, he doesn't; no, there isn't

[ryan]

Raptors: Menke Bateer

Current NBA: Kevin Martin

[Minks]

Noah has an uglier shot (if it can be called a shot) than I've seen in a long time.

[capt kirk]

Eh Doug, do you like the three guard idea?

Blogger's note: Not really, no

[Chris]

"...and Greece only won because they had more points at the end of the game."

I don't want to poke fun, 'cause I get what you meant, but this comment really made me laugh.

[doug]

28 is a "stupid" number as historically in basketball numbers used were 0-5..10-15,20-25 and so on...in fact in the NCAA and some amateur leagues you still can't use numbers outside those numbersets (i am not sure about FIBA).. still ...as it's strictly for communication reasons between the refs and score tables...foul on 13...one hand holds up 1, second hand the 3.....NBA allows them but few players use them as playing high school, NCAA they weren't b-ball numbers...so thats why 28 is a "stupid" number and not one players can equate to...

[Juan]

It's got to be Shawn Marion with his "quick, somebody help me get this hot potato off my belt!" technique.

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
Well, thanks for raising the whole issue (and lower case doug an explanation) about the stupidity of number 28. The whole thing had me stymied until I read the explanation here, which supports the investigative work I had my crack research team perform today on the most popular numbers worn by NBA and ABA players all-time. They are (in order) numbers 11, 12 and 15, which would be easily signalled by the officials. Good Golly! The things you can learn here. (And the number worn the least often? 29! (The only one stupider than 28 it seems.) It was worn by 24 players all-time; 28 was worn but 25 times.)

[doug]

with FIBA the numbers the players can only use are from 4-15...only, thats interesting as well...so Barbosa is a international player so to him 28 isn't a b-ball number...

[The J]

Yeah, the 4-15 Fiba rule is why for example MJ wore 9 on the dream team rather than his normal 23. Makes you wonder, when sports first started using numbers on the back of jerseys they let the players choose the numbers and didn't just number them based on something like rank, position, order of joining the team, etc. That would have been boring but would have made sense. I wonder what the refs used to do with the double-zero players.

[Boko]

Hey, J.r . I'll take a crack at it!

STARTERS: BARGNANI JOHNSON DEROZAN BARBOSA JACK

Subs: Kleiza Weems Calderon

(When Davis is ready, total redo needed ...)

[Bakedpot8o]

Glad someone mentioned Acie Earl. I, too, attended a basketball camp in Ontario where he was a guest speaker. I did not see any half court bank shots. He sat out on the perimeter and jacked up 3s, repeatedly hitting the top and side of the backboard, depending on where he was positioned. I thought "if this is what is needed to get into the bigs, Im a shoe-in". The year before the guest speaker was Curly Neal of the Globetrotters, which was absolutely amazing. He taught everyone several one-on-one moves to create your own shot and then wowwed everyone with trick shot after trick shot.

Yes, Acie Earl has one of the worst forsm of all time. You know who else did? P-EW (Patrick Ewing)!

[Boko]

Come to think of it, a total redo is not that hard to do...

STARTERS: BARGNANI JOHNSON DEROZAN BARBOSA JACK

Subs: Davis Kleiza Weems Calderon

[pat]

Chuck Hayes has the worst free throw shot. He travels since, you can't jump when you're taking a free throw.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Double zeros? Two closed fists.
P.S. I remember a pretty good player from way back when, on that 1965 AA Waterloo (Iowa) Hawks Red Sox affiliate. A fleet-footed shortstop, with a dependable .287 batting average – a 21-year-old by the name of Jimy Williams. Went on to have a pretty good career.
Cheers. Especially to Cito. And go Raps!

[GM]

I second Jamaal Wilkes in the ugly shot category... but it was a thing of beauty. Nothing but net most of the time. One really ugly shot from back in the day was Terry Teagle, but he's excused because he was almost blind.