Time for a change, and the best Montreal has to offer

All right.

Way, way late thanks to some interweb and computer issues.

Sorry.

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Change is afoot, apparently.

Yes, Jarrett for Jose seems to be a done deal – it’ll be confirmed at shootaround in an hour or so – and I guess it was inevitable.

Jose, as we’ve said for days, really seems to be struggling offensively and what seems to be a crisis of confidence has reached a point where change is absolutely necessary.

As one guy said to me yesterday, maybe playing against backups – at least to start his run each game – will allow him to get back to where he was.

Now, I know there are all kinds of you who won’t agree, but when his game’s going, he’s an excellent point guard, a shooting threat from anywhere on the floor, he is still the best guy they have for running an offence effectively and, with the right rotations and help, he’s a good enough defender. Great? No. Good enough? Yes.

What I’m interested to see tonight and for as long as this goes on, is how Jarrett handles the starting role.

He’s prone to turnovers, and sometimes gets a little “me first” in the offence and while he does play at a good tempo, I’m not sure it’s a perfect fit with guys like Kleiza, Bargnani and Evans.

I guess what it comes down to now is that Jay has to find a way to win more than anything else and while this is a gamble, it’s one he has to take.

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Okay, so there was a guy in the comments yesterday who asked about the top players from Montreal?

Well, after much consideration – well, okay, some consideration – here’s what we’ve got:

Stewart Granger

Dwight Walton, who’s here and looks like he could still get 20 and 10 for Canada.

Bill Wennington

Wayne Yearwood

And I guess it’s a tie between Sam Dalembert, Joel Anthony and I guess Juan Mendez would make the top 10, too.

Have at it, Montrealers.

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Hey, whoever it was who gave me Brutopia on Crescent needs a public thanks.

After a long train ride, a nice locally brewed IPA and a bite to eat was entirely welcome.

What deli do I do for lunch, knowing I’m near the Bell Centre or whatever they call it.

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I’m sure we’ll touch on this subject again before the season starts but it’s a quick mailbag thing today:

Q: Hey Doug. Long time reader, first time writer. Thanks for keeping us up to date on this team through the highs (1999-2002; 2006/07) and the lows (every other year?).

Since all of the pre-season prognosticators are saying that this team will win only 22-25 games this year, I wanted to know if you could give us a sense of the mood inside the locker room? Have they resigned to the fact that it'll be a tough season, or do they look/sound like a team that might play with a chip on its shoulder?

Meraj D, Toronto

A: I’ll tell you this about every single pro athlete I know:

They think they can win every game they play, they are supremely confident no matter what the “experts” say and there is no convincing them otherwise.

The mood is like it is everywhere: They presume they will always win and a lot of them – the vast majority – pay no attention whatsoever to what people say.

Some will pay lip service to the issue and suggest they’ll use it as “motivation” but if you truly need the ramblings of writers and broadcasters who are making guesses left and right as motivation, you might be in the wrong business to start.

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I’m told everything should work well courtside tonight so don’t forget that we’ll try one of the in-game bloggy thingies and I would expect a large turnout.

See you at 7 or just before.

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So it truly is about them.

When we were talking to Jay the other day about playing the Knicks tonight and then again on Wednesday when things matter, the conversation got around to not showing all their stuff and the like.

Seems it doesn’t matter.

“We’ve been playing and coaching for our team and we’re going to do that. We’re going to try to get better and we need the game to do that; it’s not like we can hide one thing going into this game.

"Going into our game on opening night, they’ll have watched all eight of our pre-season games and they’ll know everything we have.”

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Sometimes one word speaks volumes.

Someone – I think it was M. Ganter of The Other Paper – asks Jay about Andrea’s help defence and whether it’s gotten any better.

No.

And the conversation ended because it was pretty obvious the coach wasn’t interested in talking any more about it.

It wasn’t a “calling out” or anything; it was the coach being miffed and not wanting to expand publicly on his feelings on the matter.

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Remember that mailbag thing from a few paragraphs ago?

You, too, could see your name in lights by clicking here.

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I presume a lot of you have seen this update about the collective bargaining talks and how David Stern and the owners would like to cut salary costs by a third or so.

Seems a bit of an over-reach but there is no question that the financial outlay to the players is going to be the central issue in the talks as they progress.

I remain pretty confident that saner heads will prevail and they’ll get a deal done without any work stoppage and I guess having a number out there at least gives the public some idea of where they’re starting in the inevitable to and fro of negotiations.

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Comments

[kelsey]

@Kevin

Im not usually a full stats guy in terms of play. But that was excellent brakedown.

I watched 7 games at ACC last year and I cringed 5 of those games when Jose was out on the floor for extended period of time, I watch every game but not as close as Doug...EVERYONE knows take it to Calderon..Its so blatant.

There is no argument on PG's Jack is better leader for the team, better starter and sure to have a more positive impact..

Lets Go Raptors...Bench who needs to be Benched, Trade BC if you can who can be traded, lets make positive steps forward!!!!

[Paul B]

Geez Doug, with comments like these, my best friend would be Stella too.

Thanks for your insight and comments, even those I sometimes disagree with. All are appreciated. Oh, and have yourself a great weekend!!

[Nilay]

@ S - Where is it written that you have to defend Doug like he's your little brother..who are you? I think Doug is smart enough to defend himself rather than have someone who goes by the letter "S" do it for him on his own Blog. So Mr or Mrs "S" ...keep it shut!

[Nilay]

sorry that last rant was meant for the letter "M" not "S" ....my bad.

[Nilay]

@ Robert

I really dont care what Jose has to say on his website and if he is letting the determination of roles affect his play he isnt a professional in my opinion. How about Jose understand that he makes 10 million a year to play basketball not to define a players role on this team ..thats the head coaches job! I am getting realy tired of all the Jose backers making sorry excuses for him like "the failed trade to the bobcats must be bothering him" ..."he still doesnt know his role" blah blah blah ...he needs to suck it up and except whatever role he is asigned and be happy he can keep cashing that 10million dollar pay check!

[DanH]

@Kelsey: Wow. A truly opinionated person you are. "I'm not usually a stats guy" but as soon as some stats back up your opinions, you're all over them.

[doug]

to make a baseball analogy...Jose reminds me of a pitcher who doesn't change or adapt, or a batter who when he first comes up is a fine hitter, then he doesn't learn to hit a breaking ball, and his career stagnates or goes downhill ...Jose's game hasn't changed, he's just so predictable and as a opposing coach easy to defend...he's methodical to a fault, won't penetrate very often and hasn't changed his game...he needs to change, find a new wrinkle...without his outside shot he's just that much more of a liability...I give Jay credit because if your going to make players responsible you have to do it more by actions then words....I admire this quality of Jay's, and I think it's one fans confuse....he won't call out his players in the press (which isn't good for you as far as quotes go) or in public...but fans see and hear that and think he doesn't do it, when in fact he does it where it should be done the gym or locker room.....it's professional and i am sure respected by the players...

[jheff]

Jose will play better with Barbosa anyways, this was obvious the moment the Raps signed the Brazilian. Barbosa can handle the ball more than Derozan which will allow Jose to be a shooter in the corner. Thank you Triano for finally coming to your senses.

[M]

@ S - Where is it written that you have to defend Doug like he's your little brother..who are you? I think Doug is smart enough to defend himself rather than have someone who goes by the letter "S" do it for him on his own Blog. So Mr or Mrs "S" ...keep it shut!
You skin your knuckles dragging them on then ground?

Blogger's note: Okay, each of you have had one; we'll keep the personal stuff out, all right?
Thanks

[J]

"Get over it Doug and start calling it as WE all see it Jack is playing better than Jose and desereves to lead this team!
Posted by: Nilay | October 22, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Where is it written that Doug has any obligation to agree with you. Who are you?"

Better yet, how do people get so full of themselves that they think their opinion is representative of all Raptors fans? Last I saw, fans were split 50/50 on the Jack/Calderon debate (according to the Toronto Star poll), so perhaps what Nilay actually meant was "Get over it Doug and start calling it as HALF of us see it (rather than the other half)."

@Robert:

"He has almost identicle assists numbers as Jose this preseason and all of last year (last year off by .9 an assist per game)so if Jack is "me first" then I guess so is Jose"

First, for the love of all things, who cares about totals from eight pre-season games? It's worst than if Calderon fans compared the first 8 games last season to make a case for him last year over Jack (and yes, Jack's numbers were horrible, but look where he ended up?).

Second, if you're going to compare assists, at least compare apples with apples. If you look at their assists per 40 minutes (pace adjusted) for the last fours years, you get the following: 9.5, 11.1, 10.3, 8.8 for Calderon; 6.4, 5.8, 4.7, 7.3 for Jack. Even comparing Calderon's worst assists year with Jack's best, there's a considerable difference. Yes, Jack had a great year, perhaps the best of his career, but I seem to recall something about relying on career bests, hmmm...

More importantly, it's not even about assist totals; it's about playing style and there's simply no denying that Jack does look for his own shot more often than Calderon, who doesn't look for his own shot enough. Jack generates opportunities for others this way, so why do you need people to say he's no more "me first" than Calderon?

[J]

@doug:

"to make a baseball analogy...Jose reminds me of a pitcher who doesn't change or adapt, or a batter who when he first comes up is a fine hitter, then he doesn't learn to hit a breaking ball, and his career stagnates or goes downhill"

Just a tiny correction, but I agree with the rest of your analogy. I think it'd be erroneous to say he's a pitcher or batter who doesn't learn to adapt; in fact, he wasn't that good when he first came up. It was because of his work ethic/adapting that he became a good shooter and floor general, but everyone has a ceiling and he has hit it, probably sooner than expected due to injuries robbing him of his quickness. Even good hitters become bad ones when they lose their wrist speed.

[sam]

Well Said J !
I'm not sure why there is a feeling that one is better than the other when together they could be pretty special. The PG debate seems to be on going - First Jose and TJ - and now Jose and Jack......

[JHP]

Doug

I kind of feel sorry for jose but Jay should do what is best for the team. 0-6 is rough to handle. But let's hope he works hard and makes everybody better.

[G]

I completely disagree on the need for motivation thing from Doug. Some of the best athletes use perceived disrespect from others for motivation. Look at Michael Jordan. He may not have mentioned it when he was playing but everyone was surprised when he admitted it during his HOF speech. Look at Tiger Woods when he was winning--I remember reading stories that he cranked up his game after hearing disparaging remarks from his opponents.

[doug]

Jose was a excellent floor general when he came up, and still could be...whether you want to see it or not he is talented...but first off his perimeter shooting needs to be there for his skillset to maximized...but right now it is suffering as well as the fact that his game has stagnated...and yes he did /does have talent...he has to work thru it, and redefine himself...its plain and simple..