And now for the rest of the mail

Told you there’d be more.

And a couple questions I still see in there that I can sprinkle in throughout the week.

Now, have at this while I try to figure out if there’s enough energy in these old bones for a Sunday night out in Sacramento.

(Where it’s about 19 and not a cloud in the sky, by the way)

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Q: Hey Doug it is Dave from the pregame chat. I was wondering what your starting five of all-time great guys would be.

If I may ask for two lists: Raptors and league wide (last 20 years). Thanks again.

 

Dave K, Richmond Hill

A: All-time Raptors great guys: Alvin Williams, Dell Curry, Matt Bonner, Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa would make my first team and I’m going with Sean Marks, Jason Kapono, Tracy Murray, Rasho Nesterovic and Charles Oakley on my second team, knowing the teams are interchangeable.

League-wide? I have to preface this by saying I don’t see a lot of “other” teams all too often, sometimes only once a season so this is as much from my personal feelings and those of guys who’s opinions I respect.

I’ll give you Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Antawn Jamison, Dikembe Mutombo and Derek Fisher. Now, I know there are others – Steve Smith comes quickly to mind – but that’d be my list.

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Q: Doug. Keep up the good work!

The team travels today (Saturday) to Sacramento. With the Kings playing tonight, I was wondering whether all of the Raptor players will be watching them to prepare for Monday's match up. Is this sort of player scouting mandatory, encouraged or entirely optional?

 

Nick S, Toronto

A: No, it’s not mandatory at all and with a late-afternoon flight out of Toronto, they might not have landed until after the game had begun. Some might have clicked on t it but it wouldn’t be mandatory at all; what would be mandatory is that the coaching staff sees each of Sacramento’s first three games breaks down the video for the players before Sunday’s practice.

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Q: Watching the Heat game Friday night, I was surprised to hear them announce the players not from their college but from their hometown. While it was cool to hear Joel Anthony get announced from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, I don't think I've ever heard another team announce their players like this before. Have you?

Alex Hocevar, Toronto

A: Except for the odd non-North American, I’ve never heard it before, either.

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Q: Doug, NBA teams seem to be easily influenced by these factors: fan support (home court), schedule, contracts and emotion. You see it in all sports but the examples are so extreme in the NBA, ie the Raptors easy pre all star game schedule last year that led to their great start and this years Boston loss to Clevland after humiliating the Heat.

Would the season ever be extended to decrease the number of back to backs? Will Reggie play this way again next year if he resigns? How do you solve these issues? Get guys on your team that are tough mentally and emotionally first, talented second?

 

Frank M, Milton

A: I can’t see them shortening the season game-wise; but I hope someone comes to their senses and knocks at least two, and maybe four, games off the pre-season and extends the regular season by at least 10 days to ease the grind. Look at it this way: The NBA plays the same number of games as the NHL in about a month shorter time.

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Q: Hi Doug. What is the financial impact for the owners of the Heat and other NBA franchises as a result of the Wade/James/Bosh merger? We have heard so much about how much the players had to give up in order for the Team to be able to afford other players but it seems that the ripple is in fact quite a Tsunami in terms of interest in the Heat. Teams such as the Raptors are bundling the Heat games with packages so if you want to see the Heat you might have to see 9 other games. I'm thinking of advertising etc. How much are the Heat and other franchises making off the player driven merger? Do you see this thing happening in the future with other players, other sports? Do you see contracts where there will be player mergers asking for percentage of gate sales?

 

Akiko C, Barrie

A: The players already get a percentage of gate sales, it all goes into Basketball Related Income that goes directly to how much money is allocated to salaries.

But I’ll as you this:

Is it better for owners to know they’ll sellout a Dwyane Wade Heat team and a LeBron James Cavs team or just a Dwyane Wade-LeBron James Heat team. I bet if you asked owners, from a purely financial point of view, are more good teams better than one great one?

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Q: Hi Doug. A while ago you said you would give a trying to twitting (or whatever you call that) and use it as a new channel to inform your devoted fan basis.

If I am not mistaken you last "active" tweet was already two weeks ago, ie, you don't seem to be using twitter in a very active way.

Would it therefore be possible for you to give us a quick feedback on your experience with twitter? Is it too limitative? Too much in addition to the blog and the paper? No added value?

Many thanks and keep up the good work.

 

Matthieu B, Biel-Bienne

A: It is almost too much, to tell you the truth. And you know what else it is? It’s too, I don’t know if this is the right word or not but it’s almost too ego-maniacal, I see it as a good way to deliver quick news and I’m sure I will but I’m also sure no one cares for the other minutia of my life.

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Q: Hi Doug,. Keep up the great work and thank you for being a voice of reason for many fans. I just finished reading the log of the Q & A before the Friday night Cavalier game and thank you for reminding people that it has only been ONE game. The NBA season is an 82 game marathon not a sprint where one game defines the other 81. On to my questions(I have two)

Have you thought up a blog nickname for the former Raptor that "took his talents to South Beach", I am thinking that HWSNBN the Second is infringing a bit too much but maybe something else like the Departed One. I just really get a kick out of all the nicknames like The Chicken and so on. Also, I heard that the Media Guide this year had a joke about any media stating that they were "taking their talents to South Beach" would have their credentials taken away, so it was good to hear the organization is at least having a sense of humour about it.

I know this might cause some angst among the masses but I strongly feel that Bosh leaving and not being signed to max money in Toronto and giving the Raptors financial flexibility moving forward is a very good thing. With the new CBA looming and the possibility of the current max deals being grandfathered in, (Carmelo sure is hoping they are) have you got a sense that GMs around the league are positioning for a much lower cap and dumping salary while others are taking advantage hoping that the cap will not be lowered as much as 33 percent? Or is what we are seeing just circumstance from the 2010 free agent bonanza that half they league tried, to get in on?

 

Sean G, Regina

A: I think because it’s such an unknown that general managers are leery but not driven by what the future might or might not hold. If there’s a deal to be made, most would make it and deal with the consequences later if it was the “one” thing they thought would put them over the top.

 

Mail's early but it's incomplete

As much as the thought of (a) getting up at 2:30 a.m. or (b) staying up until 2:30 a.m. to finish the mailbag was intriguing, I couldn’t do it.

So, please take this for now and know that there’ll be more just after I get to Sacramento.

After all, what else is there to do on a 6:15 flight to Minneapolis to make the connection?

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Q: I've been meaning to ask you to comment on this for a couple of years now: re. 82 game seasons. From a purely physiological & medical perspective, having competitive athletes 6' & over perform at a high level for several minutes in 82 games over a 6 month period is a substantial risk to acute injuries [short term] and shortening their careers [long term]. Also, from this fan's perspective, I barely pay attention to standings until after the AllStar Break anyway...Sooo, why does the NBA have so many games? Thanks!

Katrina W, Toronto

A: To torment you and me?

That’s about the best I’ve got because 82 seems to be just some zany arbitrary number picked out of the sky.

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Q: Top 3 favorite in-game ops?

Bottom 3?

 

Patrick H, Toronto

A: Okay, a challenge

Good

Fan karaoke: just wish they’d find a song here.

Kiss cam: Stumpy and I think it’s hilarious.

The pre-game curtain: They kind of dropped the ball here opening night, you should see it when it works.

Bad

Baby races: They should do some kind of psychological study years later.

Fat guys dancing: Yawn. And it’s got nothing to do with the June Taylor Dancers, I just don’t like it.

Sports Centre moment: If I want pucks and to sap the life out of a night, I’ll go elsewhere.

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Q: Since there has been a far amount of questions concerning the CBA and the financial health of the NBA I would like to ask a money question. Of course the right answer is NOYB but here goes. Roughly what is the amount of the cheque each team receives from the NBA each year? I ask because the Marlins basically lied to the city of Miami about their financial position to get a new stadium and it brings into question the pressure declining attendance actually puts on a team. So if the Raptor's win 1 in 6 games and attendance drops to say 12/13k per home game do they really care. Or is more like we just make less money and tell everyone wait till next year? Noting they still make a profit but just less of it.

John P, Vernon Hills

A: The number is kind of impossible to tell exactly because it varies with the amount of luxury tax rebates a team might get and shared revenue from sales of souvenirs and the like are never dead on.

But if you figure every team gets in the $37 million range every year from the current national television contracts in the USA, I can see it topping $40 million before they sell a ticket.

Or course, there are some heavy expenses involved in running an NBA team but the money each gets from the league is substantial.

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Q: Bird Rights. Do you know the history of the "Bird" naming? I doubt it has anything to do with Larry Bird, but wondering if it was a lawyer or some other entity outside of basketball (the naming of Bosman ruling in footie comes from a ruling on a player named Bosman).

Jason S, Ottawa

A: It has everything to do with Larry Bird since the Celtics were the first team allowed – under the existing CBA – to re-sign their own free agent (Bird) without regard for the salary cap.

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Q: Hello Doug. Watching Jose's reaction (on Wednesday after the loss to the Knicks) to a reporter's query about the absence of Chris Bosh and his somewhat curt reply, it struck me that for the most part the Raptors are very polite, patient and forthcoming with answers to questions that are sometimes repetitive, dopey, if not downright poorly thought-out. (Yours excluded, of course.) After a crappy day at work, I'm not sure how gracious I would be at explaining my performance. And as someone who usually asks questions of others, how much (if at all) do you enjoy being on the other side of the equation? Do you find you always enjoy the Q&A's that you engage in with the readers? Still having fun with the thousands of inquiries you receive during your in-game blog thingys? Has being on the receiving end of questions changed in any way how you ask questions of others, and finally, do you prefer being the "asker" or the "askee"? Thanks, as always.

 

Lorie P, London

A: I will admit, the repetitiveness of some questions does get to me. But it’s a factor of the job: Everybody doesn’t read every day or every word so if one guy asks about Erick Dampier on Monday and I answer, I can’t assume the gal who asks the same question on Wednesday read two days earlier. Get my point?

But, overall, I quite enjoy answering questions, it’s why when I do other media, I prefer to be the interviewee rather than the interviewer; it’s a nice break.

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Q: After having our hearts broken by 3 consecutive American 'faces of the franchise' in Stoudamire, Vince, and Bosh--do you suspect that a Euro-style team-oriented 'share the ball offense' is what we can expect going forward as an organizational plan for the Raptors?

 

Tony B, Baraboo

A: I’m going to turn the table slightly and ask this:

Do you think it’s possible that perhaps the franchise broke the hearts of those guys? Damon was tied to a part-owner who left amid legitimate questions about the long-term viability of the franchise; Vince re-signed a long-term deal only to see changes in GMs, coaches and teammates; Bosh re-signed on faith that a new GM would turn the fortunes of the team around.

So maybe it’s not entirely on them.

But, to your question: I think the team as presently constructed does lend itself to a more group-oriented dynamic and in a lot of ways I think that’s a good idea. It’s not “Euro” more than it is logical given the makeup of this team.

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Q: Doug a while back somebody asked a question regarding basketball shoes. Are some shoes illegal? What makes them illegal? And are there other lesser know rules about clothing of foot wear that the league enforces? What about compression sleeves like JJ wears, there was at one time some talk about discouraging players from wearing them. I know the players shirts have to be tucked in, some teams have rules regarding head bands, anything else that might intrigue us?

 

Steph R, Glencoe

A: The only shoes that have been deemed “illegal” are some new-fangled ones that have some kind of spring in them to artificially aid athleticism. I’m dubious that they work and the league hasn’t ever had a player plan to use them, I’m told. The rules regarding shoes have actually eased this year, used to be that players on the same team had to wear shoes of predominantly the same colour; this year, players can wear whatever they want as long as the main colour is part of the team’s uniform. That’s why Jerrett Jack was able to wear those gaudy red things Friday while other Raptors wore white.

And any compression sleeve or what have you has to be for “medical reasons” and must be approved by the league, which is often little more than a rubber stamp process.

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Q: Hi Doug. Love the blog, man. Your dedication to us starving fans is second to none.

Is it possible for Bargnani to become even a servicable defender? Against the Knicks I saw some flashes of good defence - drawing the offensive foul on Stoudemire comes to mind. Yet time and time again he seems to be out of position on rebounds or switches. This is especially true during transition, when someone will pick up his man and he'll wander around aimlessly. I feel like the ability to find the unguarded man is something that he just doesn't seem to get, no matter how many times coaches will drill it into his head. It's so bad that I feel like he'll never learn.

 

Kent R, Peterborough

A: He’s a “serviceable” defender now. Great? No. Awful? No. He could be a better help side defender and he is improving but I’d definitely put him in the “serviceable” category.

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Q: Hi Doug. I know you hate predictions, but this one might have a special place in your heard ... Over/under on the number of games where Raps fans get free pizza!

I keed, I keed.

Keep up the good work!

 

Mark P, Burlington

A: Too many.

I serious, I serious.

The usual morning after stuff, and a digression or two

Well, there goes 0-82.

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THREE POINTERS

Flash? Give ‘em buckets instead

I can remember a three-on-one break and a three-on-one break with a trailer that turned into nothing both times and while it would have been nice to get one of those “wow” moments you all love so much, wouldn’t it have been nicer to actually have, you know, a basket?

And don’t thing no one’s noticing because the coach is.

“I said there’s no points for style on fast breaks and I think sometimes we’re looking for fancy plays instead of just sticking the ball in the hole and getting back to play defence again.

“I think sometimes we look to make spectacular plays instead of just finishing plays.”

Seriously, I’m all in favour of great plays and spontaneity and the like but I saw attempts at one-handed tap-back passes that ended up in turnovers, lob passes that wound up in the front row and, for one night at least, there was far too much failed style than substance.

Probably one of the bigger downers of the evening.

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Who is this guy?

In two games, which is hardly a big enough sample size but it’s all we’ve got, Andrea Bargnani’s averaged 21 points per game and taken 34 shots and only three of them have been three-pointers.

And I know there were and are all kinds of critics out there who wondered about his ability to work in the post or develop some kind of mid-range game but if you’ve been paying attention for a couple of nights, you’ve seen exactly what you wanted to see.

Last night, the Cavs ran a second defender at him when he squared up at the elbow with a third guy shading over from the weak side (which is 100 per cent the way a lot of teams used to defend that Bosh fellow) and Bargnani was still able to make seven of 13 shots, dish out a couple of assists and lead his team in scoring.

And now I will add this and duck:

Yes, he had one whopping rebound and only five against the Knicks but don’t you think his mere presence on the floor and the attention he draws from the defence has had something to do with Reggie Evans having nine offensive boards in two games? It does.

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That was cold

What Linas Kleiza did to Jamario Moon in the third quarter Friday night was borderline abuse.

They got Kleiza 10 field goal attempts, most by simply putting him in the low block and letting him kill Our Friend Jamario and about the fourth time in succession that Linas got the ball and got any shot he wanted, a thought came to me.

And it was:

Isn’t Byron Scott watching this game?

Really, everyone in the gym knew what was coming and it kept coming and coming and coming.

If they can find those kind of mismatches to exploit with Kleiza, and if opposing coaches remain oblivious to it, the new guy is going to have some monster nights.

There’s a lot about Kleiza’s game to like, we saw another facet of it against the Cavs.

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And, in other news:

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Check out Stevie Boy’s photo blog right here because there’s nothing like a bit of cross-promotion.

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A staff digression, if you will.

I’m not here, and you’re not wildly entertained by coming here (you are wildly entertained and totally educated by coming here, aren’t you?) if it’s not for a fellow by the name of Chris Young, who I hope most of you know by reading our site and paper.

Well, Doctor Young is calling it a career after today, another one who’s getting away too early, and you’re the losers for his decision.

I’m not sure I’ve worked with a better writer at any time in my career and the business is worse off for his departure.

Way back in the day, when he was chronicling the hoops in the infancy of the Heroes Of The Hardcourt, when there was an opening for a grunt at Mother Star, he made some calls and pulled some strings and said some right things that helped get me started on this improbable journey.

For that I will be forever thankful. It’s been a pleasure to work with him and read his stuff (and steal a whole whack of his football expertise over the years) and the world of journalism and the craft of writing are lessened by his departure.

We’ve lost Perk and now CYoung in a very short period and while we’re still a damn fine paper, our stable of writers is way worse off.

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What’d my friend Mary write in the P-D today?

Let’s check right here and see.

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Excuse me a second while I jump on the hobby horse for a minute.

The 100-points-for-a-piece-of-pizza thing might be the single stupidest promotion in the history of sports and we saw last night precisely why.

Less than six seconds to go in the game, team up 18 and what the Raptors should have done is dribble out the clock, wave to an appreciative audience and walk off the court.

But, no. With the fans antsy and everyone knowing what was going on, they had to score again and then explain it, which took a very little bit away from talking about, right, the game, at least for Jay:

“You know, how many years did we watch them dance down there with all the hooting and hollering and everything? It’s a different team so it probably wasn’t the right thing to do to score but our fans come to these games and they’re going to be here to support us for 41 games and we play this team three more times. I’d rather look after our fans first.” Look, I think all you Irregulars know where I stand on this but I’m going to now put 100 per cent of the blame for the whole thing on the bigwigs who run the Raptors and come up with such silly ideas.

It puts the fans in a tough spot, it puts the players in a tough spot and it’s an entirely needless distraction at the end of games.

It’s stupid.

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All right, I’ve got something like a 3:30 a.m. wakeup call to get to the flight to Sacramento through Minneapolis in the morning so it’s got to be an early night.

I will, however, have lots of post-practice time to answer some mail while I sit around so this is your last crack.

Click. Write. Send.

And have a good day.

 

 

 

The Goods On The Game, Cavs at Raptors

Evening, everyone.

With no pucks and no World Series, I expect large attendance.

Have fun.

Live: Raptors pre-game Q&A

Join Doug Smith at noon Friday for a live basketball chat as the Raptors get ready to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Minutes and mail and more on The Regend's role

Given that the really isn’t a lot of division of talent between the two starting wings for the Raptors (DeRozan, Kleiza) and the two guys who back them up (Barbosa and Weems), it should come as no surprise that Jay’s pretty much split time almost evenly the other night.

And until someone takes charge and starts playing well for huge long stretches of time, it’s going to be like that.

“What they have to understand is right now, the minutes are going to be fairly split unless someone is really rolling and really playing well so the idea is, when you’re out there, you go and play those minutes as hard and as fast as you can with a great amount of intensity knowing that someone is going to be coming in for you and if you do well in playing those minutes, you’re going to stay on the floor.

 

“It’s a matter of those guys find a groove and my comfort level with the rotation.”

One of the points he was making is that players who play extended minutes have a tendency to find ways to take a possession or two off defensively to catch their wind. It happens all the time and the good teams get away with it because the other guys on the floor can cover up for the slacker.

This team?

Not so much.

The talent level dictates that everyone play every possession balls-out and the habit of slacking for even one could be costly. Now, not every player – not any player anywhere, as a matter of fact – is going to have the requisite energy and mental toughness to be perfect every time up and down the floor but the habit of coasting has to be broken here.

It’ll be interesting to see if any one of those guys emerges as head and shoulders better than the others and plays himself into a 35-minute-a-night guy.

I’m dubious that anyone will.

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Oh, yeah, the Rangers look great, don’t they?

Turn Matt Cain into Cy Young (although the dude’s been outstanding the whole playoffs) and, I tell ya, watching Vlade Guerrero stumble around the outfield was embarrassing.

I remember when he used to a Gold Glove guy; now he looks like a 52-year-old sportswriter, although I know one who was good-field, no-hit back in the day.

Anyway …

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Coming off the big opening night win over Boston, here's what they're saying about the Cavaliers in the cyber pages of the P-D.

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Early mail to get us started:

Q: Hey Doug. As I stay indoors to avoid the continuous wind of a recent south east Asian typhoon, I ponder the stat line of Hakkim Warrick and I wonder, with Nash at his side, is he capable of being a near 20 and 10 big man?

It makes me wonder if Nash's best ability is perhaps his ability to make others around him thrive. Which leads me to my second question: aside from Jack and Calderon, who* on this team do you think could really thrive if Nash was on the Raps right now?

*note: Of course the easy answer is to say almost everyone but I'm more interested in who would thrive most.

Cheers

 

Josh F, Ningbo, China

A: Since there are only a handful of 20-10 big men, I’m doubting Warrick gets to that lofty plateau but his numbers will surely go up. It’s the Nash Factor.

Anyway, here?

I’m thinking Amir Johnson. Rolls hard to the basket off screen-roll stuff, quick in transition and has vastly improve his finishing at the rim.

Kind of like a poor man’s Stoudemire. Very poor, but you get my drift.

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Don’t forget, we’re here at noon for the Question And Answer Hour (we need to get a nifty new name for that) so we’ll see some of you then?

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Hey, remember way back when I told you about the change in shootaround stuff and how the Heroes of the Hardcourt were going later in the day and that it’d make things slightly less hectic for me?

Yeah, right.

They’re reverted to form now, have the traditional late-morning shootaround with media availability after and it’s like nothing’s changed.

Why’d they go back? One guy says:

“We’re not good enough, we need the work in the morning.”

Probably true, by the time they hold a late-afternoon walk through they can’t go all that hard because game time is coming up so quickly; going 11-noon gives ‘em more time to recover.

For me?

It bites, especially on days like today.

The Cavs are doing their media before they shootaround at 10, Raps going after they shoot so it’s be in the arena by 9:30 to say hi to AP and Jamario (if I get this done on time and traffic’s not too bad), miss the Raps because I’m talking to you and then putter around on work 1-4 before the pre-game stuff really begins

Fun? Wow.

-

Mail?

Please.

Here.

-

So someone asks Jay yesterday about this whole Reggie thing, where Evans’s first reaction after getting any offensive rebound is to look out instead of at the basket.

And the coach had this to say about that:

“If he’s got a wide-open look, we want him to take it; he’s not going to run out with a wide-open look. But, he’s under-sized inside so sometimes its tough to get a shot up. We want him to get us another possession and if he can make a basket on it, we’ll take it; if not, we want the ball.”

-

Hey, anyone got either a good restaurant or a good sports bar in Sacramento?

Halloween in that dreadfully uneventful town will only be made palatable by a good meal or a good seat to watch Game 4 of the series.

Thanks.

-

Speaking of Sacramento, I wonder if Antoine Wright’s found a California Mona and has set up a soiree for his old teammates on Saturday night?

-

 

 

 

A sign of things to come?

You know what I think that was?

Typical of what we’ll see all year.

Not a bad game, close enough, they played hard for the most part, missed some makeable shots, had a chance in the final minute and came up short.

Now, for what we saw:

-

THREE POINTERS

Taking The Hits

I don’t have the exact number in front of me but I can remember at least three charges the Raptors drew and that might have been the most promising thing of the night.

Jose had one in the paint, Andrea drew one on Stoudemire or Mozgov early and Reggie had one, too, as I recall.

It speaks to their intensity level that for the most part, was pretty good and high. If they keep playing like that, they’ll win some games.

The question is: Can they?

It’s one thing to do it opening night when everyone’s jazzed up and it’s a game they can win and there’s some adrenaline pumping through the veins.

I’m wondering about some Monday night in Sacramento or a Wednesday night in Charlotte because if they don’t play hard, there are going to be some loooooooooong nights ahead.

-

And The Regend Grows

Sixteen rebounds, all kinds of hustle plays and only two shots? That’s about as good as you can get from Reggie Evans, who remains the biggest surprise of the season to a lot of us.

But, the one flaw that was exposed is that his utter lack of offence is going to be a problem.

I know he shouldn’t shoot much and needs to keep possessions alive with his work on the boards but at some point, he’s got to at least attempt a put-back or two just to keep defences honest.

A couple of times against the Knicks, after he’d grabbed offensive rebounds, the defenders all turned around the face-guarded their guys and it was difficult for Evans to find someone to pass the ball to.

A couple of times a game, he’s got to go back to the rim just so the other team knows he will. Not every time, but every now and then.

-

A Rotational Tweak?

Not sure if it’ll happen all the time but using Leandro Barbosa as the first guy off the bench is all right with me.

He wasn’t all that great in the first have but when they went to him in the second, he immediately made a couple of baskets, got the tempo up a little bit and energized things.

I think it’s better than making the first sub of a game or half a big man because that doesn’t have the same impact on the speed of the game and we saw snippets last night of what Barbosa can really be.

-

And, in other stuff …

-

Phrase of the night goes to Mike D’Antoni, hands down.

He’s looking at Amare Stoudemire’s line of 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine turnovers and marveling at it:

“A cripple double.”

That’s gold, Jerry. Gold.

-

I need some mail, desperately.

Had what I thought was a pretty good mailbag last week but I’m looking now and the pickings are slim.

Please help me out.

Click. Write. Send.

-

A quick glance up at the out-of-town scoreboard last night showed the Bulls in an epic struggle with …

The Sonics.

And a wistful feeling rushed over media row.

-

So what’d you all think of the grand opening, at least those of you who saw it?

I kind of liked the curtain had they actually shown video on it instead of superimposing a logo and some hokey saying and I fear it was a one-time gig instead of a straight steal from the Lakers.

Too bad, that and some kind of a karaoke thing where the whole crowd sings were the two game-ops adds I’d hoped to see.

-

So we did a new thing with the game story, or game whatever it’s called in the paper today.

You had this, which went on the front with a picture, and then this, a kind of point-form recap of what went on.

Whaddya think? Does it work?

-

Let’s see what My Man Sheridan had to say about that one.

-

What do you think of the Knicks?

Kind of average, no?

Kind of like these guys?

Win some, lose some and one injury away from a surefire lottery pick?

I do like the Chandler kid, multiple positions and he killed Toronto’s bigs with his shooting range and a good guy to come off the bench.

But, after one glance, I will stick with my assertion that after the big three teams and the three mid-levels you can throw a blanket over a whole raft of teams and the Raptors and Knicks are two of them.

Trouble is, games between those teams are uber-important and they just let a home one get away.

-

 

The Goods On The Game, Knicks at Raptors

Hey!

It's the season!

Have fun

Live at 1 p.m.: Raptors pre-game Q&A

Join Doug Smith at 1 p.m. Wednesday for a live Q&A as the Raptors get ready to kick off their season with a game against the New York Knicks.

Now it's time for the fun to begin for real

So here we go.

But before we get into the silliness and the angst, I want to say this:

Folks, it’s fun.

I don’t know whether the Heroes of the Hardcourt will win 22 games or 34 games or 41 games and I don’t care and, you know what? I don’t know whether you should, either.

Sports is supposed to be about fun, isn’t it? Isn’t supposed to be a couple of hours of escape, from the boss and the bills and life? A diversion, a thing to entertain you and make you smile.

Yes, being a passionate fan is nice but to live and die with possessions, to dissect every nuance of every game? That’s too much.

Yes, this team will get absolutely drilled some nights and it will win some games out of nowhere. And in every game you watch – win or lose – there will be a moment, a play, a shot, a dunk, a move that makes you say “holy crap” and that’s what it’s all about.

Who cares whether this guy or that guy says they’ll win 20 games or 25 games or whatever? Does anyone really need to obsess about the predictions of others, or seek validation for their opinions all that much?

I think we all need to take a deep breath and maybe a step back and realize what it is:

A game.

It will be nice, indeed, when they win; it will be a tad less nice when they lose but at the end of the day, it’s entertainment.

Please, enjoy the good moments and quickly forget the bad. There’s enough in each of our lives that we don’t need to feel anger and angst and dismay over a bunch of guys playing a kid’s game.

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Now, that said, let’s dissect them, in a good and bad kind of way:

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Good: They will be more athletic, it seems. Tempo will be a word heavily used this year when chatter gets around to the Raptors because a lot of them like to get out and go. But to think they’ll place racehorse basketball as if Paul Westhead were coaching them is wrong, look for them to try and score in transition but they won’t try to put up 120 points a night. A controlled break is more like it

Bad: Leandro Barbosa is likely to play tonight but he’s got a bad wrist that, according to him and Bryan Colangelo, may eventually need surgery. It’s not imminent but if it gets worse and he needs to be cut mid-season, it’ll be a big blow. It may not affect his shot, though. Someone asked the other day if he had hurt his shooting hand and it was pointed out that he really doesn’t have a “shooting hand” since he releases the ball with both of them.

Good: You’ll never really know who’s going to be the No. 1 guy each night. Might be trouble on the nights no one plays well but you have to admit it’s going to be more fun that knowing one guy’s going to get 25 shots and the ball at every significant moment.

Bad: There will be nights when no one plays well and they get killed. Be prepared, it might happen more than a few times.

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And some more stuff

The East is loaded with bad teams. You’ve got three very good ones in Orlando, Boston and Miami, you’ve got Chicago, Milwaukee and Atlanta in a second tier and then what?

A bunch of teams with holes and question marks and hope.

Toronto’s season is going to be determined by how it does against the New Yorks, New Jerseys, Charlottes, Detroits, Washingtons and Indianas of the world, not the others.

Best thing that can happen for this group:

The Magic, Heat and Celtics each win about 68 games, sweeping every team in the East while Toronto holds its own against the other dregs and steals a couple at home against those middle three. That should keep the Raptors around the periphery of the race at least; and add some juice to the second half of the season.

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The one guy I’m most interested in watching this season is Jay.

He’s got a chance to really coach this time around, to be creative rather than “forced” to feed the ball to his top player. I think at times last year he felt he had to satisfy Bosh and wasn’t sure how to handle Turkolgu and it killed them.

This season? Not an issue and when I asked him the other day whether he was excited about having a chance to experiment, he quickly said yes.

“Absolutely. More creative and less predictable.

“Last year, if … if we didn’t run a certain play late in the game, it was like, ‘why would you pay this guy this much money and not give the basketball.’

 

“Now, it’s an opportunity that we can disguise a lot of things and we can change up who we go to when the game’s on the line.” And that might be fun to watch.

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A number?

I don’t really have one, to tell you the truth.

I can see them winning 25 games, I can see them winning 33 games, I can see them doing a lot of different things.

But, I’ll go back to what I said at the top, it should be entertainment and if it’s a fun night out and something good happens to take your mind off the real world, that really should be good enough.

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Torn, folks. I’m torn.

Rangers? Giants? Giants? Rangers? Do I care? Don’t I care?

And I’ve come to the realization that, yes, I care.

And I’m all about the Rangers, for a couple of reasons.

First, one of the best memories I have of watching baseball with Super Son – and those are the memories that count – is sitting out one night watching Josh Hamilton hit homer after homer at the all-star game in New York and it was a great night for a dad and a kid.

And way back in the day, and I’m talking way back in the day, I was hooked up with a great, great bunch of Tillsonburg Red Sox, glorious OBA Senior D champions in 1984 believe it was, a spectacular come-from-behind win in a double-knockout provincial finals in some tiny town out east of Whitby as I recall) and our replica hats were the Texas model, with the ‘T’ emblem on the front. It may have been conflicting fashion – Boston replica jerseys, Texas hats – but it provided me with some of the top baseball moments I’ve had.

So, go Rangers.

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We’re here at 1 p.m. East, right? Questions. Answers. Fun. Frivolity. And then again for the game? You’re going to get sick of me.

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Total aside:

It shocks me every time I see Erik Spoelstra as head coach of the Miami Heat to think about the kid I used to talk to in various Marriott concierge lounges when he was an advanced scout making it so big.

Very cool.

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This quote from Chris Bosh dismays me. A lot.

“Really, it’s all about being on TV at the end of the day. Seriously. A guy can average 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), and nobody really cares. If you don’t see it (on U.S. national TV), then it doesn’t really happen.”

Doesn’t that sort of sum up what’s wrong with so many of our athletes today?

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