Of ping pong balls, another Henchman is born and best coaches ever

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Here’s an interesting fact those of you who think this season should be a year-long pursuit of a high draft pick.

Next year’s draft might be horrible.

Here’s why:

Let’s say it’s late May and all the underclassmen who are so highly-coveted put their name into the hat for inclusion in the draft, as they always do.

Now, let’s also say there’s no new collective bargaining agreement in place and it’s looking increasingly like a lockout’s coming about two days after the draft.

Can you hear the college coaches now: “You better come back for another year, you might not be playing anywhere in fall if there’s a lockout.”

Now, I imagine a whole bunch of top level kids might decide, yeah, having somewhere to play for sure isn’t a bad idea and they might just take themselves right out of the draft.

Maybe the season-long tank thing isn’t the wisest idea?

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All right, I guess Modern Family has to go on the list of contemporary comedies to watch.

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Let’s break this one off from a rather heavy mailbag I’m getting ready for Sunday morning:  

Q: Great work Doug, hope you're mentally prepared for a tough Raps year ahead.

Although my question isn't specifically related to the basketball, I've seen this occur for the Raptors as well. I've notice that the four papers we get in Toronto will often print stories with the same storylines, e.g. today 2-3 papers wrote similar articles about Bozek and Kessel's friendship on the Leafs (who cares?!). Is this a function of the team "suggesting" a storyline to run with, availability of certain athletes or all the writers banging their heads together to figure out what’s worth writing about on a slow news day?

Oh... also wanted to say, aren't you glad that you cover the NBA where the players have some semblance of a personality versus the NHL and their bland players with canned cliche answers to every question?

 

 

Shawn T, Waterloo

A: It’s not so much a function of the teams “suggesting” storylines as it is a function of pack-journalism where one guy sees one other guy interviewing someone and joins in and all of a sudden everyone’s got the same story.

Sometimes that’s because of the, um, energy level of the reporters, sometimes it’s because there truly is nothing else going on, sometimes it’s because guys don’t want to hear the boss say “hey, they had a piece on Kessel and Bozak we didn’t have. How come?”

But I know I need to do a better job of breaking away from the pack and it’s one of things on the agenda for this year.

I will say this, though: There are instances, and this could very well have been one of them, where there are so few players available after a practice or a game that you just have to take what you can get.

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Wonder if Alvin has any of those high-collared shirts in the closet?

Not sure if you saw this but Alvin Williams and Marc Eversely got bumps in titles and responsibilities yesterday.

Al becomes more of a front office guy as director of player development and Marc’s now called assistant general manager.

They remain, to some of us, henchmen.

But I was told this week the moves don’t necessarily mean they won’t replace the departed Masai Ujiri in the front office but a move in that direction is not imminent.

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So the women play at noon against Belarus and, as I type this, Australia’s doing the expected and is drilling China, meaning Canada will have advanced for sure regardless of what happens today.

But it’s still a big game under the somewhat wacky format FIBA uses for its women’s worlds.

In the next round, Australia, Canada and Belarus will play three teams form Group B, which is most assuredly going to be the United States, France and Greece.

The records in games among the teams that have already played carry over, which means Australia will start off at 2-0 and the winner of Canada-Belarus will be 1-1 and the loser 0-2.

A win today really does give Canada a big boost if they want to advance out of that second round and into the knockout quarter-finals.

Confused? Yeah, me too.

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Mail? You’ve only got a few hours left; write early, write often

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You know how we’re always saying stuff is cyclical and things eventually even out? If that four-team trade that’s being kicked around happens and Carmelo Anthony ends up in New Jersey, can we say the East is better than the West?

You could certainly argue the point, couldn’t you?

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So, looks like Nellie’s gone in Golden State as of Monday, leaving as the winningest coach in NBA history.

And we all remember how that happened, right?

Not only did Nellie break Lenny’s record here in Toronto, it was the very last time any of us saw Chris Bosh on his homecourt in a Raptors uniform.

Brings back the memories, doesn’t it?

I’m trying to think where Nellie fits in the pantheon of all-time great coaches. I do think he stole money late in his career, kind of retired and didn’t tell anyone but lots of people do that, I suppose.

He will be known, I think, mainly as the guy who made Dirk Dirk and that’s not a bad thing but I also think he’ll be remembered as a guy who junked up the game a little bit.

He did last a long time, though, and you have to give him credit for that.

But a long time isn’t all it takes to become one of the great coaches and I don’t certainly don’t have him in my list of the top 10.

That list, and I’m rattling this off the top of my head and comes in no particular order, would be:

Brendan Malone, Darrell Walker, Butch Carter, Kevin O’Neill, Lenny Wilkens, Sam Mitchell, Jay Triano.

Oops.

I mean:

Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Chuck Daly, Pat Riley, Larry Brown, Jerry Sloan, Red Holtzman, Jack Ramsay, John Kundla, and either Lenny or Pop or Rudy T.

 

 

Comments

[Bill from NS]

Doug,

Great point on the potential weak draft for 2011. I hope the lockout does not happen and is resolved quickly, I am sure we won't tank, but will be in the lottery none the less.

[Blake Kennedy]

I'm not really sure that Carmelo Anthony makes any team that much better, to be honest with you. He's a volume scorer at very, very pedestrian rates of efficiency. He rebounds the ball okay for a small forward; he's not great, he's okay. Defensively, much the same deal. Passing, much the same deal.

I don't see him making any team that much better, honestly.

[Matt M]

LOL, hopefully Triano makes it above Wilkins and O'Neill on your all time list after this season. Not really holding my breath though.

I'm secretly hoping the New Jersey trade doesn't go through. I think the Nets might have a pretty good frontcourt long term there with Lopez and Favors. They could use a pure scorer though. Of course, if the Nets are making any deal contingent on Anthony signing an extension then the whole thing might be a waste of ink anyways.

[Aditya]

I’m trying to think where Nellie fits in the pantheon of all-time great coaches. I do think he stole money late in his career, kind of retired and didn’t tell anyone but lots of people do that, I suppose.
--------------------------------------------
OK, I want to sincerely know the answer as to why you think he stole money late in his career? No, I won't criticize/argue with your answer.....Can I get the answer?

[doug]

I am re-submitting my last posting to many typos, it's a mess quite frankly,,

I am not a believer in drafts no matter what the sport..they are so over-rated, they have become this media circus, show, fans get caught up in them and in terms of returns to the prospective teams not equal to the hype at all......

interesting as i was watching 1981 Eastern conf. semi-finals 7 th game last week... Nelson coached Bucks team against Cunningham coached Sixers, got me thinking thats a lot of coaching years for Nelson this was almost 30 years ago and there he was on the sidelines...

Cunningham although a short career was a successful coach, Heinsohn although a windbag and talking about stealing money as a announcer...was a good coach...I have always had a problem with Larry Brown he is without a doubt a helluva coach, but his transient nature confuses me...

Modern Family good choice...once you get a feel for the characters it's a brilliantly written and acted show...

[DaveT]

Blake, I think the idea is that a volume scorer like Melo attracts a LOT of attention. If Melo has the ball and the other 4 guys spend 20% more of their attention span than normal watching him, they're watching less of their own guys. They can make cuts and shake free a little more.

The defense will either sag a little bit and leave mediocre-to-good shooters with an extra foot or two of space (which turns a mediocre shooter to a good shooter), or help comes and then it's the scorer's responsibility to distribute the ball to the open guy (which, you're right, I'm not sure how good Melo is at that right now).

But I think, offensively, anyway, if you don't give up TOO much then a star scorer can really help the rest of the guys on the team. I worry that New Jersey won't have an adequate point guard, though. Let the Troy Murphy for Jose rumors begin!

[Boko]

What if they do settle on a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and there is no lockout?

If a particular rookie does get drafted next summer, it'll be under the current, known CBA, rather than under a new, unknown CBA of the future.

That same rookie would make more as a higher draft pick because others got spooked and backed out. Then next year, they'll be up against twice as many players at the same level, lowering their pick & their salary.

What's the alternative? The player playing for free again? Toronto fans watching
MLSE team mediocrity in perpetuity? No, thanks!

[Tim]

Nellie didn't literally steal money, I think he means Nellie wasn't really putting in the long hours that NBA head coaches usually put in and didn't have the passion for the game anymore, despite the fact he was getting paid a very large salary. I'm curious to know how unofficially "retired" Lenny was in his last year with the Raps?

[JHP]

Doug

I really hope this team completes. This Raptor's organization for whatever reason does not draft well and saying it's going to be a weak draft 10 months from now does not change that fact. So if they get a high draft pick (top 3 or so) I would not be a bit surprised if they traded down. Some other team will pick a future star and the team would move on.

[LeeZ]

Doug, I sincerely hope you didn't include Modern Family on the basis of its horribly mediocre season premier the other night. Possibly the worst show in its brief history! But normally, it's a wonderful sitcom. And don't forget the Daily Show; not only the funniest thing on television, but also brilliant political satire. As for 30 Rock, I've tried. Oh but Doug I have TRIED to like that show, but I simply don't get it, this despite the fetching and wonderful Tina Fey.

[doug]

to say melo is a volume scorer is hogwash as most top flight players are...any team in the league would take him in a hard beat as "volume scorers" aren't easy to find...he's a quality guy, he's learned a lot thru his time with Karl, Billups, etc...I in fact would take him over LeBron, as i give him credit , he was a young punkish type that he knew it all....but he's learned....

I don't understand a lot of things, one thing I don't understand is this managerial hunt the Blue Jays are on....excellent article by Perkins today....they have one of the best managers in baseball right now...let Cito manage. he treats his players like men without all the macho crap from Gibbons etc....re-hire him....to me it's a no-brainer....

[doug]

"heart beat" not "hard beat"...thats just wrong, I need to start proof-reading..this is getting ridiculous...

[Joe]

Doug,

Good points on the draft. It will be interesting to see who goes into it, considering the likelihood of a lockout next year. Couple of names to watch this year are:

1. Kyrie Irving of Duke. 18 year old freshman point guard, being compared to Chris Paul.

2. Harrison Barnes of North Carolina. SF who is being touted as the potential #1 guy in the 2011 draft.

For more draft info, follow this link:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/Freshmen-dominate-2011-NBA-mock-draft

As for the Raptors, better to play the best they can and see where things go. Right now, no one is picking them to be remotely close to the playoffs but nothing was ever won on paper. As long as they compete and their young players show progression, it's not bad.

[Jacques]

Doug,

now that the Heat have no interest in Dampier, will BC go after him? What are the chances the Nets get Chris Paul as well.

Blogger's note: A call's been made on Damp but unless he wants to play for his minimum, it's not going to happen; Paul isn't going anywhere yet

[john doesrtsyain]

pop a maybe??? rotfl....ask everyone at espn hes on all their lists

Blogger's note: Well, if ESPN says .... Excuse me. :)