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.

 

 

 

Comments

[doug]

why don't you just let the pizza thing go??....you go on and on about it, we know your opinion, your thoughts ...let it go.....serenity now....alos on a team with young guys, guys trying to impress your going to get circus type shots on occasion plus what better game to do it then in a game your in total control of...what happened to yuor pre-season diatribe of "it's just a game ,sit back and enjoy"...what the raps win in solid fashion and all yuo do is complain...not your best effort today...and please for the love of god or whoever, let the pizza thing go...and in regards to Perkins he seems to be writing more for the Star now then he did when he was a employee, plus he is on Connected quite often...he's more "out there" now then he was before...

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Are the Raptors the only organization in the Association that run a nightly promo if the team scores 100 points? With Parker and Moon on that team, the lads from Cleveland knew exactly why the Raptors scored the last bucket. With this in mind, and following Jay's thoughts of "taking care of our fans" this really makes the Cav's look like whiney babies, more than it makes the Raptors look bad by "running up the score" by scoring 2 measly points so the fans can have 'za.

Cheers amigo!

[Tiger]

Here's a fix for the 100-points pizza thingy: free pizza for holding the other guys to under 100 points.
That's worth cheering for... maybe...

[Chi of Steel]

I caught the 3rd quarter on the radio and Jack did something that made Triano livid and was subsquently yanked. Any insight into this? Was it simply blown defensive assignments?

Blogger's note: Yeah, a couple in a row.

[DougG]

Nice to see so many empty seats in the ACC. Boycotting this organization until they decide to put a winning team on the floor is a great idea Toronto.

[Michael]

Doug,

The Cavs are all multi-millionaires. If they were offended by the Raptors scoring that last basket then perhaps they should go home and cry in their mansions.

I'm impressed with what the Raptors said about it after the game. They are looking after their fans, and that is what they should be doing. They should not give a damn about the Cavalier's feelings.

I think a family that brings their children to a game would very much appreciate the free pizza. Not all of us are wealthy. I am a university student, I pay $10 000 per year in tuition fees. I know for a fact, every student that goes to games loves the free pizza promo.

[Mike kovacs]

I was at he game and I'll say this and duck too: It was the third quarter, cavs had made 2 threes in a row and the lead was cut to 6. JJ had not had a good 3rd quarter. In comes Jose - things get settled down and the lead is back up tp 13 very quickly. Although his shot is still off he got the offense back on track. Oh and his D was fine too ( as was AB's ).

[Ben]

Gotta agree with Triano on the pizza issue. Teams have run over the Raptors in the past without the courtesy of stopping at 101.

In a world where fans are charged tons of money to see a game - and with MLSE you're never sure if winning is even their #1 priority - I think it's great that they put the fans first for once. Good on Banks and the Raps - the fans went home happy.

[Paul]

of all there is to talk about, the first comments are about pizza...love it.
scoring two more points at the end of the game because of a pizza promotion isn't running up the score. In fact, I'll say this: you can always tell the raptors are not running up the score if Julian Wright is on the floor.

[Peter]

I think the pizza thing should be kept, but tied to their defensive performance instead of their offensive performance. I'd MUCH rather see the crowd cheering at the end of a game to get a stop instead of cheering to get a needless basket.

Although I guess that's when people would get injured too. You get one scrub from the other team trying to get his 2 points per game average, when one of our players goes needlessly out of his way to stop him in a game that we would have won anyways...

Ok... scrap the pizza thing.

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
I agree with you that the Pizza thing is pretty dumb. I've often wondered how many people actually go and get their free slice of pizza. I do, however, like the idea of the team hitting a target score and having someone benefit from it. I do recall sitting at the ACC during a pretty good drubbbing and the only excitiment in the game was cheering the team on to score the 100th point. So, my suggestion would be that instead of giving out free pizza slices, the sponsor could make a donation to a worthwhile charity. Now, that would be something to cheer for.

[Craig]

Anyone who supports the pizza promo or the classless two points it took to get the slice is an idiot. Plain and simple. Each time the crowd cheers for that garbage it solidifies the low level of 'basketball IQ' the Toronto fan base has. Don't let it get lost on anyone the next tim a star chooses to play elsewhere

Follow the lead of an organization who has some class - the Lakers - and award pizza for holding the opposition under 95 points.

[sal]

I think im falling in like with Linas. & +1 for the whole just get over the pizza thing . We get it already, you dont like it. But knowing you were going to complain about it b4 I even started reading this is equally annoying as the fans cheering for the 100th point.

[AT]

after put up my comments, I came across this regarding "Pizza-Gate' from 2007.
.
http://raptortalk.com/2007/12/04/the-great-raptors-pizza-controversy.aspx

doug your opinion is expressed there too...

[DaveT]

I have to agree with Doug's idea for a promo: Put out boxes where you can drop your ticket stub (that's how you claim your slice, right?) rather than throw it in the garbage or on the street on the way out. Then, they take all of those ticket stubs and walk them over to a food bank and then a lot of people who don't have the means to eat properly get a greasy piece of cardboard and cheese. Ok, so it's not the healthiest of meals to give, but a little piece of comfort food given to someone who just eating anything is bliss, more than comfort, can't be a bad thing.

And just a quick comment to DougG about boycotting the team: Did you watch the game to notice the low attendance? Then you didn't boycott the team. And if they end up 41-41 and make it in the playoffs is that at least a start for you? They probably won't do it, but hey, they're 1-1 now and my crystal ball is in the shop.

[JHP]

Doug

I hope you get good weather on the West coast. I see both sides of the pizza debate but feel Jay's comments were kind of spot on. When they are playing the Lakers next week do you see them sitting back and letting off the gas. I suspect not. I'm enjoying the win and preparing not to get to upset over the upcoming road trip.

[mattmelanson]

Looks like Dampier signed in Houston.

I for one am glad, he's got a lot of work to do to catch his aging body up to younger kids who actually completed training camp.

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
Collectively The Chicken, The Dance Pak, The Music, and So-Called Schtick all enhance the experience of attending the games: they do not detract nor dictate the manner in which the game is played, nor its outcome. And that is one of the two big issues I have with the PP Promo: I see it as corporate interference and misguided motives. Generosity to those who can't afford to feed their families (and seriously, did I read that correctly - it's only a single slice, not even an entire pizza?) would be far, far more ethical. A donation to one of those organizations that provides free breakfast before school to children would be one of my preferences. And Cheers to Chris Young! Does this now mean you will be picking any resultant slack in the Star's CFL reporting? Have a safe trip to the West Coast and isn't it strange: Celtics beat Heat, Cavs beat Celtics, Raps beat Cavs...what does it mean???

[David]

Dampier to Houston? Must be for the free pizza or chalupas or burgers or tacos or whatever Les Alexander does for his fans, because we know it's not for the few minutes he'll play.

[Sharkey]

Sorry to see that CYoung is gone. However as an aspiring sports journalist that means you have openings, doesn't it. To whom could I apply? (I won't steal your job, just Griff's ;)

[John]

So i guess that Cavs don't mind losing by 18, but 20 is just an insult? Please. What really burned them was that the fans loudly cheered with a few seconds left in a blowout, where they normally would have left with 5 minutes to go and let the Cav's just play it out and leave the court in quiet shame.
My lord, let the people who pay your salary win a $3 slice of pizza, get on your private jet and get over it. They should be more ashamed of their effort than the fans getting a free gift.

[511]

As pizza is the topic of the day, I have to say that while I’ve agreed with your take on it in the past, Doug, that wasn’t what I was thinking when I saw your thoughts -- yet again -- on it this morning. So ... go Raps and go pizza! Like someone here said, the extra two points isn’t ‘running up the score’ and for the fans who were good enough to pay their hard-earned money to see the game, to then walk out with a free slice was, to my mind, more an act of respect to the fans than one of disrespect to the Cavs. And if the Cavs didn’t like it, well too bad for them. Go Raps. Let’s get Sacramento and kick the road trip off right!

[JW]

Hey Doug, great article on Colangelo this morning. I really enjoyed it. As for the Pizza Promo, it's easy to see both sides of the argument and it really doesn't warrant this kind of discussion. Let's get back to columns and comments on basketball!

[Juan]

I'd rather the pizza was based on defense but that would probably defeat the point of the promo for the sponsor so I don't expect it will change. I see a lot of people do what I do with my ticket though, which is to give it away to people outside the ACC who are looking for help. My own personal policy is to not give money, and this way I know it can only be used for food. Most of the recipients appreciate it. It's a dumb promo but some good can come from it.

[Striker 77]

Hey Doug, long time since I ve commented... always reading...

I have three comments...

First is the pizza thing...

The only positive I see of this, is if all the people who win a slice of pizza because they are at a game that sees 100 points, gives their ticket to a homeless person, who could really use a slice of pizza... Obviously, people who can afford to watch a raps game, can probably do something like this, no?

Secondly, Kleiza....

Whats not to love about this guy? I was happy when I heard last season that Colangelo was interested in him, and disappointed he went to Europe instead very glad he ended up in Toronto. Who knows how many great players there are in this league, who just DO NOT get a chance to play because of which team they are on. Kleiza is a great example... You cant blame Denver when you got Melo as a starter, obviously. Now he will play, he will score, and we rap fans get the benefit.

and finally Chris Bosh...

I know its really early, but, how soon till Bosh starts getting a little shegrined about the fact that its really the big 2? So far, that is what it is looking like. Bosh may have looked goot during the pre-season, but that was of course when Wade wasnt playing. With Wade back in their first two games, it looks like the scoring will come from outside in, from either James or Wade... Wade and James are much more elite than Bosh, I think, and its already starting to show... Will be interesting if this continues how happy Bosh will be. Not that anyone around here should really care about his happiness though... He will get his face on espn, but seriously as a third wheel... Unless, either James or Wade get injured.