So here’s the deal.

If you want to watch any live weekend action from the world basketball championships and don’t have access to ESPN you’re, well, you’re screwed.

TSN2 will have the USA-Russia quarter-final live this morning at 11 a.m. but after that? Squat.

The semifinals, which go at noon and 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, won’t be on TSN2 until 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday night and the gold medal game, which goes at 2:30 p.m. Toronto time on Sunday, won’t be shown until 6 p.m. Toronto time, again on TSN2.

Kinda sucks, no?

Not sure which of the ESPN franchises will be showing anything, the early rounds have bounced around ESPN3, ESPN Classic and ESPN2 although I’m pretty sure the real ESPN will have the gold medal game live.

Looks like perhaps a weekend on a stool somewhere.

-

Cue the spooky music.

It was 38 years ago – to the day! – that Russia beat the United States in the 1972 Olympic basketball final, as controversial a finish as there’s ever been to a basketball game on a global stage.

The final three seconds were played three times, as I’ve mentioned, before Aleksandr Belov made the game-winning shot (click to ‘Gold medla match controversy’ here, it’s pretty incredible) and it is almost a contentious an issue now as it was then.

Anyway, long story short, there was a Raptor connection to that infamous incident (there seems to have been a Raptor connection to a lot of things, doesn’t there?) and maybe that’s why it’s in my mind a bit.

Jim Brewer, an assistant back in the Lenny Era,, was on that team I remember talking to him about it in, wow, it must have been ’02 on the 30th anniversary of the game and I recall him telling me how utterly robbed the Americans felt.

Like the rest of his team, he refused to accept the silver medal and I recall asking him whether he ever regretted that. I got a fast, and emphatic, no.

-

Anyone in the Toronto area notice that it’s, um, brisk out in the morning these days?

Guess that whole summer thing’s done, right? Makes the drive for the 6:30 a.m. coffee and the whole typing on the front porch with Super Dog shortly after a tad cool.

Grrr.

-

So apparently someone out there has assessed the Raptors a ‘D’ as an off-season grade and I’m getting all kinds of e-mails and comments about it.

Let’s see:

In effect, they traded Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Rasho Nesterovic and Patrick O’Bryant for Linas Kleiza, Leandro Barbosa, Julian Wright, David Andersen, Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi.

That’s three starters and a couple of others for a guy who was in Europe last year, a backup guard, a raw youngster, an oldish big who seldom played in his one year in the league and a couple of kids.

Of course it’s a ‘D’ but, you know what, it doesn’t really matter. You can call it an ‘F’ or an ‘E’ or whatever you like but they’re still going to play the games, win some, lose some and when it’s all said and done next April, we’ll see where they are.

And anybody who says she or he can tell you with any amount of certainty where that may be is simply blowing off-season smoke up your butt.

But it’s what we do. Some of us.

Do I think that’s a playoff team? No, probably not. Not today. But, you know what? How many of you thought last year’s team was? See. It’s not an exact science, which is why sports is so great.

-

Spain by 10?

Really.

Kinda like Spurs by 12.

Only different.

Spectacular game, though, wasn’t it?

-

Okay, we’re way, way low on mail, which isn’t surprising given the dearth of, um, issues but if you’ve got something, I’d be glad to hear it. Or at least glad to read it.

You know the drill.

Click. Write. Send.

-

You know, of course, that Milos Teodosic, who hit the game-winning shot for Serbia over Spain yesterday, and Nenad Krstic, who has been his team’s best player night in and night out for the past four games, were the two guys suspended for that pre-worlds brawl with Greece, right.

Not sure what that means but …

-

I hear the kids are back in town.

That’d be some of the Raptors rookies, a couple of assistant coaches and the start of this whole zany grind really is around the corner.

There won’t be anything official or anything for us to write about until camp starts, really. It’s about a month between the start of practices and the start of the season and there’s no way I’m going to blow story ideas in mid-September that I’m going to need in mid-October.

Anyway, what goes on is they work out privately, maybe do a little scrimmaging but, under league rules, there can’t be any structured workouts until training camp officially begins.

But there are some guys here, more will be in over the course of the next week or so and will be going on around the gym.

-

Someone mentioned there’s an NFL game tonight?

Hmm.

Guess it is fall.

Can’t say I’m a huge fan of the gridiron – a Super Bowl party’s always a good thing, I guess – and I certainly don’t get all the fantasy leagues that everyone I know seems to be in. Guess that’s a sign of age, or disinterest, or a lack of knowledge I presume.

Think the last time I was lnvolved in anything like that was in one of those “survivor” pools or whatever they’re called, where you pick a team to win each week but can only pick one team one time over the course of a season.

Had to be about five seasons ago (hello, Four Sagats!) and, as I recall, I was on the sidelines by about 3:30 p.m. on Opening Sunday.

-

Comments

[Jus]

Hi Doug, isn't it funny that the Raptors were the only team, out of 30 in the NBA report card, that got a D , meaning "below the average"... weird average indeed!

Blogger's note: The only team? Well, that makes 'em unique, I guess

[arun]

You said "That's three starters..." mentioning these guys: Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Rasho Nesterovic and Patrick O’Bryant.
I have hard time figuring out which one is the third?

Blogger's note: Wright finished the season as a starter.

[Jim Rootham]

Oh, the No Fun League has started?

[Joe]

In your asessment of the Raptors offseason you say they lost 3 starters , for a guy who played in Europe,etc,etc. Well it is actually 2 starters and some backups.Other than the one Washinton game you can make an argument that Kleiza contributed as much last year as Hedo did. So in effect you are replacing nothing with unknown, An allstar for a couple of hungry kids, and a backup pg. Sure it doesn't look great but the way the allstar played at the end of the year and what the starting Sf gave the raptors it could turn into addition by subtraction but I will wait to see what transpires.

[dc]

I heard through rumour that las vegas odds-makers have projected the raptors to win 27 games in the 2010-11 season. I guessed 29 just looking at the schedule.

Call it a D-team or a push-over for division leading teams. It's probable they make the playoffs if, and only if, everything goes right for the players while everything goes wrong for every other team. The only thing I'm certain of is frequent broadcasts of uncompetitive and uninspiring basketball being offered only to select television service subscribers.

Can't wait of League Pass and interesting Heat games though!

[Yony]

3 seconds of game time.
over 3 minutes of real time
Complete and utter confusion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKn8jTCkTr8

[DougG]

I guess the only thing certain about the Raptors this year is their ticket prices will be close to the top of the league, even if no one knows if they will make the playoffs or not. They also lack even one star, in a league where having three appears to be the new norm.

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
So, for future reference, and just to clarify, when one learns that an international basketball event is being "carried" by say, TSN for example, one should never ever assume this same event will be broadcast "live"? (Do you really think there would be much of a protest if the Powers-That-Be at TSN decided to pre-empt an Opening Weekend NFL Game for the FIBA World Championship Game???) Do you know if the Canadian Women's games from the Czech Republic are going to be broadcast on this same sort of time-delay? Anyway, will you be writing a pre-tourney introduction story about our womens' team, and perhaps an overview of their competition, too? Thanks.

Blogger's note: Not sure of the women's timing and I certainly expect to cover them as thoroughly as we did the men; without actually being there because my pitch to go was turned down.

[pain777pas]

Good read Doug. I have nothing comment really because there is a wait and see approach that we will have to take this season. Kleiza has done well internationally so I'm gonna give the Raps the benefit of 30 games then give my nea or yea. Kleiza could end up a good find if the fans show support and his confidence grows.

[Lavi]

Doug,
When all else fails, www.atdhe.net has been showing all the FIBA Championships games so far.

[Jacques]

Hey Doug,

Have you heard anything around Raptorland since you got back,or do you suspect it will be quite until the Worlds are done?

Blogger's note: It'll be quiet

[LeeZ]

I've been thinking of ways for the Raps to go with a big line-up sometimes (i.e. Amir, Bargs and Davis) and the only way I see it happening is for Andrea to play the three. Now Doug, before you burst a blood vessel and remind me that the Raps have already tried him there and that it was an utter failure, allow me to remind you that that was, what, three, maybe four seasons ago? His on-ball defence has improved considerably since then, and last season, when there were switches requiring him to cover a smaller player (even the pg), he acquitted himself quite nicely. Not great, but pretty decent. And of course, on the offensive end, this would create mismatches for him to exploit. Are you (and the Raps coaching staff, in your opinion) averse to giving this another try?

Blogger's note: From conversations I've had with decision-makers, I think it's far, far more likely you'll see Bargnani surrounded by four smalls rather than him at the three in a big lineup

[AV]

I'm not screwed at all... its called "the internet". Cable companies are sooooooo early 2000's

[O.J.]

Hey Doug,
As it is unlikely anything of great substance will happen before camp, do you think B.C. will be given an extension if this team doesn't make the playoffs?

Blogger's note: I have no clue whatsoever

[TC]

Doug, who do you think is going to win Serbia or Turkey? Argentina or Lithuania?

Bloggers's note: I'd guess Turkey and Argentina, but what do I know?

[D-Mac Ottawa]

How do, Doug,
How's that jet lag treating you? And how's the first week of high school treating Super Son?
Ever the optimist, and ever hopeful that this smoke goes somewhere other than where you'd suggest it might go, why not 33 Ws for our Local Heroes Of The Hardcourt, with an over/under of 2 that I'll be closer this year at 33 than I was last year at 48 (yeah, that and a prayer).
Speaking of prayer, and smoke, why can't this jughead in Gainesville simply be charged with disorderly conduct (or disturbing the public peace? or sedition?) a second or two before he lights the match? Failing that, Gainesville is a university town. How tough might it be to recruit about 500 erstwhile Gators, each with a small box of ripe tomatoes in hand...
Cheers. Peace, love, Dove!

[Lorie]

@D-Mac Ottawa:
I didn't know alligators could be taught to toss tomatoes...but I hear you about this "un"holy dude in Florida! Anyway, gotta run - Go Kleiza and Lithuanian teammates!

[GPB]

Lithuania 50, Argentina 30 at half time, Pressure defense and great outside shooting by the underdog Lithuanian team. Kleiza could be a steal. Any comments Doug?

Blogger's note: None yet, no. I like Lithuania though

[M]

91-69 Lietuva, 3:44 to go.

[E]

I am wondering where would be a good place to watch the World championship games? can anyone recommend a pub or something?

[doug]

I've learned a few things thru life since my youth...and one of them is this, I remember when i was young I couldn't wait to get my S.I. and its "predictions" and how they ranked my fav team, whether it was NFL,NBA,MLB, or hockey....as the years went on I realized these prognosticators had no more a clue then I....so now I give no credence whatsoever to pre-season predictitions...a recent case-in-point is this years Blue Jays, everyone was expecting them to be terrible, from pitching to offense ...well surprise surprise there doing aright....its why they play the games....before I would take people like Mel Kuiper seriously (in his nfl draft "analysis"), now i just shake my head an laugh an do the same towards "fans" that give Las Vegas, or grades of D credence.....also do people realize that Las vegas lines have nothing whatsoever to do with what they think of the talent level at all, it has to do solely to balance out where the money falls...you want a case in point??..look at a Notre Dame football games, its always inflated no matter what as there is so much money that falls on the irish Vegas needs to inflate the line to balance it out...watch the Heat this season, early on they will be in all liklihood easy pickings against covering...so give Vegas little credence it's all about ledgers and balancing it out...

[J]

Doug, seems like as far as international ball goes, it's safe to bet against you. ;)

First Serbia, and now Lithuania... you're just knocking out all our favorites.

[M]

I'm bummed, Russia lost.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Maybe Triano should give up coaching and play this year instead:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Jay-Triano-must-get-very-bored-at-practic?urn=nba-268434

[Mike D.]

That offseason "D" rating obviously forgets that the Raps were shrewd enough to retain the bargain-basement bruiser with the bulging biceps, a/k/a "The Man Who Rhymes with Horsey".