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.

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Mail?

Please.

Here.

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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.”

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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.

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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?

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Comments

[Boko]

Judging by the first game, Amir NEEDS Steve Nash NOW!

How about 'This Minute has 22 Hours'? (I had to come up with something!)

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
Hmmmm...a name for the Q&A Thing...well, you could invite us to join you for Grub at the Grunt Grill? Maybe not? Give me some time...it's early yet...and was it centre, right or left field?

[Jason]

Bit of a drive from Sacramento, but speaking of California sports bars, I watched Game 2 from the Old Pro in Palo Alto before heading home on a red-eye last night. If you haven't been there, I recommend it. Easy to become a Giants fan in a place like that.

[Mark L]

Say hi to AP and Jamario...what about Joey?

[eman]

For the Q&A hour:

"Her Majesty's Question Period"

"Doug's Old School Barber Shop"

[David]

Who would thrive with Nash? I'll go a bit out of the box here. Ed Davis. He's potentially a nice combination of a defender with a good touch finishing on offence, who would benefit immensely from high quality setups where he's rolling to the basket. Nash would accelerate his career development.

[Geoff Read]

Hey Doug,

Good stuff as always. Have you seen Lebron's new video where he muses about the fallout from "The Decision"? Could this guy be any more self-involved?

[Kelsey]

Good day, Reggie is the real deal...

Did you all catch the Bosh interview. He was straight forward and gave what seemed to be honest answers.
Im glad that Chris offered to come on Toronto sports Radio and discuss his exit and comments.
So all of you people living in your hater world keep living it.

He gave his reasons for leaving, HE WANTS TO WIN TITLES!!! and to be honest I love Raptors but there is now where close to any type of being a playoff threat.

You fans thinking that he could stay here and build, where the heck is the players that management brought in to help him!!

Most people dont listen they hear what they want to think they heard!!

[Eddy]

I'm glad Bosh clarified that he did not leave Toronto to be in a bigger media market, this morning. Given that he went to Miami, a sort of Winnipeg with palm trees, that would make him look like he is stupid, as well as being a liar. As everyone knows, Toronto is the third largest media market in North America and I'm not sure if Miami is even on the list.
.
No, Bosh left because Brian Colangelo and MLSE will never put together a winning team.
.
Thanks for clarifying things Bosh, not that anyone cares.

[pain777pas]

Morning Doug,

I am trying to understand what Jay meant by get rolling. You have to decide whether a guy is good enough or not based on their work ethic in practice and in games. I wish that he just decided on a core that we can build with and stick with them. Give the starters 37 mins a night and let Barbosa, Weems Johnson, Dorsey and Jose float positions. Doug, Derozan will never get better unless he's given the chance to go 8 for 21 like Andrea which despite his hot first half was not a good shooting night. Same goes for Kleiza. Amir is going to be the biggest problem for this team because potentially effort wise he could be such a boost but he can't keep his hands off players. Doug, don't you think that making a decision on who is who and what you want them to do is better than game in game out tinkering and riding hot hands. You want to know who is going to be a hot hand every single game.

[scottie_k]

Doug,

Do you think we will see more situational substitutions a la last year when Weems came in on D for Calderon late in games and then Triano went right back to Calderon once the Raps got possession back?

Some suggestions:

"The World According to Doug"
"Dimes"
"The Pre-Game Post"
"Helpside"
"The 13th Man"

Thanks

Blogger's note: We've seen offence-defence subs for years; yes, it will continue

[Kelsey]

I have leave another note.....

If you its not working with your wife or girlfriend and they decide to leave, of course your going to wonder why. So I get you so called Raptors fans who question Bosh and how, why he left...But before you go onto the radio or post a stupid blod note think.

I said this 100 times if you worked at a company that is slowing down and not growing, what would you do stay with sinking ship or go with a new company that is sure to be prosperous!!!! Wait ok dont Lie now!!

Who cares what his reason was..Raptors have NO GOOD PIECES TO REALLY BE A GOOD TEAM. Why would he stay, he alreay signed a extension before. Its not like he went to Philly or Memphis..He went where Wade and Lebron would be...Grow up people and flippn get over it..

Im so sick of hearing people say Bosh couldnt say anything right to make you people happy anyways...

Blogger's note: Seriously, we get it.

[sam]

Kelsey,
You continue to defend, and inturn tear down everything that isn't Chris Bosh...I haven't seen this kind of fan devotion since last season and James Online obsession with Marco Belineli.
I'm not sure anyone really is terribly upset that Chris is gone or has intense problems with the way he plays the game.
It's the way he left, the decisions he made and the inane things that keep popping out of his mouth. It appears the team has moved on from the Bosh years -

[Kelsey]

@Sam...I dont love Bosh nor was he my favorite ever player. But which other high paid player on this Raptor team could a fan defend? Jose? Bargnani? Last year Turkaglou? Who.. I love the Raptors! but who!!!

Bosh 7 yrs didnt get past 1st round (yes he cant be #1 option) He didnt bring the team to high levels and wasnt going to with the way team was heading.

I will tear down everything as it should be. Why get ride of Sam Mitchell to only replace with Jay Triano, the whole coaching staff should have been let go and start fresh, The team takes on the attitude of Coach, Jay soft! Team soft!

Colangelo continues his run to bring in faulty parts and resign players that have no motor.

So...

Who was the 2 guard on this team in last 5 yrs (name them)

Who was the centre's in the last 5 yrs (name them)

I have not moved on as it hurts to watch a team headed for the draft....

This team needs freshness...3 things...Colangelo Triano and Bargnani...Rap them up and ship them out!!!

Deal with it

[CC]

Chris Bosh left because he knew he was not good enough to take the raps to another level but blame others for this... and @ Kelsey the company was slowing down and not growing for their "star" player can't make others around him better. CB was a smart guy.. i guess he realized that....

[TLI]

Wow! Is Reggie Evans becoming the new "Face of the Franchise"?
Didn't see that coming...
But, you know, there's some upside to it. Hope someone gives Reggie's daughter a few of the press clippings he earned this week!

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Yo Doug,
Name time? How about maybe...
"Doug Smith's Irregular Scrum Hour"
or "Raptor Chat: Dribbles and Slams"
or just plain "Nooners"
Cheers. Go Raps!

[drew]

Scotty K or Geoff read...man shut up! Spell check and beat it. Go to the "I love Bosh" web site and sign up. Can we stop talking about Bosh please adn lets move on with the team that we currently have. They are not going to be killers this year so lets just watch the games and enjoy the entertainment, and for the people who cry that they pay good money for seats then please...sell them if you don`t want to go anymore. Its very simple

[sam]

Hey Kelsey, Bosh is gone - He doesn't matter anymore, He isn't relevant but you keep bringing him up - Holding him up as a beacon of what is wrong with today's Toronto Raptors. One game into the season Andrea has 22 points - and 6 rebounds - and some view that as a failure because he was quiet in the second half and he didn't do what many thought he should or could do.

The Raptors aren't perfect and very much a team looking for an identity - Bringing in Kleiza - and trading for Barbosa were broad strokes to increase the entertainment/competitive value of the oncourt product. As a unit they have the potential to be a fairly solid team - pretty deep with different options.

[Andrew C]

The Pre-Game Post. Gotta give it some love. good effort @scottie_k

[Paul B]

Doug, what time to you normally eat lunch? was reading the Q&A and noticed that the snark really started about 12:30, and got progressively worse from there..., until the usual thanks at the end. Were we cutting into lunch, or did you get yourself something 3/4 of the way through?

[Paul B]

anyone know if the Magic Heat game is on Toronto tv tonight?

[DaveT - Ottawa]

Haha, Nooners, I love it.

[Angelo]

Doug, will tonight's Magic-Heat game be televised in Canada?

Blogger's note: I honestly don't know. Consult your local listings?

[GM]

It's so perversely entertaining to see the rush to judgment of teams after one game. Last year the Raps beat LeBron and the Cavs in their first game. Did it make a difference? No. You win some, you lose some. Prior to the season, a lot of people were saying they'd be happy just seeing effort, win or lose. Did you not see effort against the Knicks? I did. And it was entertaining. They are who they are.

While I like riding the hot hand, it is problematic, I think. Players need time to get a rhythm. If you send them into the game knowing they have to outdo the other guy at the position, you're going to see players forcing things, trying to get their stats. That's never good.

I watched Once Brothers the other night. What a fantastic documentary. I remember feeling bad for Petrovic when he was a Blazer and it was great to see him become a star in New Jersey (he should have been an all-star that year). But it got me thinking about our friend Belinelli. I know he's no Petrovic, but the point is he can play. He just needs the minutes, as he's getting in New Orleans. In the doc, guys like Drexler and Ainge, who played ahead of Petrovic in Portland, were saying Petrovic should have played more. Ainge knew Petrovic was better than him. But coaches get a bug in their head about a player's ability and it's hard to change that. Petrovic didn't get better when he got to New Jersey; he just got the chance to play through his mistakes.

Kind of like coaches get a bug in their head about sixth men. Barbosa isn't necessarily better suited as a sixth man, it's just how it played out in Phoenix. So that has now unfortunately labelled him as only that. If he's a game changer off the bench, it stands to reason the game would be changed another way when he goes to the bench.