Time to kick off the week with some mail

There are questions and answers and lists and maybe some information in here that should get you through the morning. And I see some left over that we’ll parcel out during the week.

And don’t forget, we’re back the usual grind around here, a Question and Answer thingamabob at noon, the in-game thing at 7 and the usual hijinks post-game and tomorrow morning.

Enjoy.

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Q: Hey Doug. You've mentioned a fair bit about the locker rooms at various arenas lately, so I was wondering - how about a top 5 of the best/worst player accommodation arenas around the league?

Ryan M, Ottawa

A: The worst are horrible. Too cramped, no room for the equipment guys to set up, no room for people to mill about and they are, in no particular order, Detroit, Sacramento, New York, Minnesota and Cleveland.

The best? Atlanta, Houston, Golden State, Charlotte and Indiana. They’ve got room for people to spread out a little bit and not get in each other’s way. Oh, and they’re good for us working stiffs, too.

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Q: Hi Doug. Just curious if, when you started the daily blog or even in the Nothin' but (Inter)Net days, you thought that the comments section would have such traffic. Do you find reading, posting, replying to comments takes up a similar amount of time as actually writing the blog itself?

If you could begin again, would you close the comments section and just have the mailbag? Or is it worth all the time and occasional abuse?

Cheers!

 

David T, Ottawa

A: I don’t think any of us had any idea what they would become, actually. And there are times I rue the day the first “Blogger’s Note” was published because it opened something of a floodgate. I could conceivably write a note on every post but there is no way I have the time or inclination to do that. So I am selective but that’s the way it’s going to be.

I will tell you this: I’d say 80 per cent of my time is doing strictly internet-related work. The blog, the mail, the Question and Answer Hour, the in-game bloggy thingy. And no one – especially me – saw that coming.

Is it worth it? Like everything, there are good and bad points but I do think the good out-weighs the bad.

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Q: Doug, with this week’s squabble between CV and KG regarding trash talking, where do you think this might go, if anywhere? It was inevitable in my opinion that something like would happen with the advent of mass instant messaging.

Could the league institute an idiom on trash talking? Will the players, or players association try to police themselves? Will teams come up with there own rules about what can be said or used in content regarding trash talking? Or am I making too much of this incident?

You have some of the best seats in the house most nights and see more basketball then any of us. How much trash talking do you hear? How much crosses Doug Smith’s imaginary line? How much can fans hear? Who are the best trash talkers, keeping clean in mind? Who are the worst, most offensive? And how does the fan, who hears a lot of this going on not feel entitled to go off themselves?

As always, thanks.

 

Steph R, Glencoe

A: I don’t think there are going to be any repercussions over that one specific incident and I don’t think there’s really anything the league can do about a ‘he-said, he-said’ issue.

Truth be told, even with our good seats, we don’t hear an awful lot, it’s usually just an aside between two guys and generally away from our prying ears.

I’m going back to my good friend Potter Stewart and suggest that I don’t know where the line is but I know when it’s crossed and if Garnett did refer to Charlie as a cancer patient, he crossed it.

And I’m going to vow this now: Having lost two in-laws to that disease within three months of each other about a year ago, I’m done using that phrase in a sports context.

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Q: Hey Doug. I was always a big Belinelli fan but recognize for whatever reason he wasn't a good fit here. Now he is the starting 2 on a 5-0 NOH team. Is it simply the brilliance of CP3?

On that note, it seems this is something of a golden age for NBA point guards. You could argue there are over 10 All Star calibre PG (Williams, Paul, Rondo, Rose, Nash, Westbrook, Evans, Parker, Billups, Kidd, Wall, Davis, Nelson, Harris).

Who's your top 5 PG in the league right now?

 

Matthew M, Toronto

A: I think Paul being back at an all-world level sure has helped Marco get off to a torrid start, that’s for sure. Guys like Paul have a way of doing that.

And I think I could live with a top five of Williams, Rose, Paul, Nash and Rondo right now.

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Q: Hey Doug. Quick question. Stuck doing work, I was watching the game play-by-play online. There were a few "team rebounds". What's going on when they put this on the stat sheet?

Jeremy S, Toronto

A: Things like a ball being knocked out of bounds without anyone gaining clear possession are considered “team rebounds” because the rule of thumb is that every missed shot has to be rebounded by someone to do the basketball equivalent of “proving” a boxscore.

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Q: Doug, I know you understand the game better than anyone I read, but I have a little beef to pick with you. You're always so hard on the Toronto fans, mocking us for being quick to turn on teams both within a game and within a season. Without getting into the dynamics of whether fans owe teams anything or blaming you for being too close to the team to understand a fan's perspective, let me ask you this: what have the Raptors done to earn our loyalty? Name me 5 teams that have delivered a worse product over the past 10 years. When we boo and moan, its not being ungrateful. We don't really have much to be grateful for.

 

Ray S, Toronto

A: Um, okay. The Clippers, Knicks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Wizards, Kings. That enough?

Look, I don’t care whether they win, lose or draw or what you think of them. As professionals, they owe you consistent effort and whether that brings success is impossible to predict.

Boo, cheer, turn away, it’s really a personal choice and nothing I – or anyone – should sway you.

The thing I love most about fans – in an entirely humorous way – is the penchant some show for getting so low one night and so high the next; I’m far more a middle ground kind of guy and think we let it play out and not over-react on a nightly basis.

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Q: Hi Doug. Two questions about journalist writing with athletes: we often seen athletes write autobiographies "with" someone, e.g. Magic and Bird's "When the Game was Ours" was co-written by Jackie MacMullen.

First, what does (or must) an athlete do to garner a writing credit? If the athlete merely tells his or her stories to a writer, how does this differ from a biography written by an author with access to the subject from that of an first-person autobiography?

Second, when the writer in question is a journalist (and there have been many who have partnered with athletes to write books), are there perceived conflicts of interest when the journalist returns to the context of writing for his or her newspaper and may have to judge/be critical of the athletes conduct in the future? If so, how are these conflicts mitigated?

Thanks

 

Diego S, Toronto

A: I think the main difference, to your first question, would be the level of involvement of the subject. If they’ll sit for extended interviews, or be fully involved in the process of gathering information, or take part in promoting the finished product, that’ll get them writing credits.

And I think readers can distinguish between authoring a book and daily coverage; the first is much more in-depth and big picture and I don’t know that having done something on that scale would prevent a writer from critical analysis of a game, season or player in the daily grind of covering a team.

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Q: Hi Doug. Love the blog - helps me keep up with all things Raptors from the far side of the pond.

I recently moved to London, UK from Vancouver and was excited to hear the announcement that the Raptors would be visiting London in March. Was not so excited to hear that it was against the Nets, but maybe that translates to a win for the Raps! I went Stockholm to watch the kickoff of the NHL season between the Sharks and Blue Jackets, and to the 49ers vs. Broncos game at Wembley last weekend, both were great. It got me thinking - how do the NHL/NFL/NBA decide which teams will play in these games?

Obviously it results in one less home game for one of the teams (a much bigger deal for NFL), but wouldn't you think the NBA would like to have a bit more of a high profile game than Raptors vs. Nets to spread the NBA excitement to London in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics? I know the Lakers were here in pre-season, but Kobe played all of 5 minutes in the game.

Anyways, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the process for selecting teams, and if you have any insights to the reaction of the players when they have to do the extra travelling and all the promotional events that come with a game like this during the season.

Thanks Doug - will we see you here in March?

 

G W, London

A: I remember asking the commissioner specifically about choosing the teams when they made the announcement back in August and he said it was because both teams had expressed interest in being considered for the first games. Are their sexier matchups? Of course, no question about it but finding teams that want to do such things is a bit more difficult than you’d think, especially in the regular season, so it was left to taking those who wanted to go.

And, actually, it’s two fewer “home” games for the Nets, who are the nominal hosts for each game. Makes sense in that that they pay rent in their new Newark home and taking two games off the tab isn’t such a bad idea.

The players? Some of them mind because they here “London” and think it’s the other side of the world and some scary place, not realizing it’s probably as short a flight as one from Toronto or Jersey to San Francisco. Others see it for what it should be, a chance to spend some time in one of the world’s great cities.

And I don’t know yet whether you’ll see me but if you don’t, I will be major league ticked off.

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Q: Doug, as our Heroes of the Hardcourt go down fighting out west, I notice an increasing discussion in the media about "have", and "have not", teams (with the HOTHC being firmly in the latter category). Well financed, big market teams like the Lakers and Heat will continue to do well in the coming years, whereas the days of small market teams competing most nights with the prima donnas, go the way of the Pistol (Pete Maravich). This does not bode well for the game, attendance or TV ratings. But, and it is a big but, is there anything the league can do about it, other than posturing with empty words, as the Commissioner did recently.

 

Frank K, Orillia

A: Other than put into place through the collective bargaining a system that allows smaller markets to compete economically, there’s not a whole lot the league office can do. It comes down to individual teams being willing to spend – and most importantly spend wisely – to cut into the disparity. We’ve seen with examples like San Antonio and Detroit that champions can be bred that way.

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Q: Hi Doug. Two questions about Toronto fans.

What fan base would you say is most similar to Toronto's and why? I ask because of your retro-blog reference to Utah fans and how they cheer when their team was down, while Rap fans would most likely boo. Are we a unique entity in the NBA.

Given the Bills game in Toronto ... if you were to supplant any losing team in the NBA (I'm thinking Minnesota makes a good comparison) to come here for a game (assuming the Raps weren't here) ... what do you think the response would be?

 

Mark P, Burlington

A: Unique? No. It happens in other places (hello, Philly) but I do think there is a tendency to hype-criticism here; or being quick to think in absolutes.

To the second point? Hard to say given the far-fetched nature of the speculation but I’d guess some small level of curiosity would be present.

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Q: Doug do you know what the current plan is for the Raptors? Is the team in another rebuilding phase or are they trying to win now?

 

Derek S, Toronto

A: The current plan – as it should be 1,000 per cent in my mind – is to win every game they play and to improve nightly.

And since cannot and should not deal in absolutes, let’s put it this way: Like every other team in every city in every other sport, rosters are trying to get better. My, even the Lakers didn’t stand pat coming off two titles.

So let’s put it this way today and forever: The Raptors are “evolving.”

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Q: Hi Doug. One of the "knocks" on Colangelo has been his overhaul of the roster from year to year. Some of this has been because he had to keep making moves to attempt to put pieces around Bosh or to move an uncomfortable contact (Turk). I think the biggest move thats hurt us for the future has been dealing away Roy Hibbert. It was a short-sighted patchwork move that gave away a promising centre which we desperately need. Your thoughts? Can you give a list of your top 5 short-sighted raptor roster moves?

 

K W, Vaughan

A: Yeah, Roy Hibbert’s having an okay first five games with a marginal team in a weak conference. Look, sometimes you have to take shots and see what happens.

Almost every move every GM has made can be defended, it’s silly to sit back months or years after the fact and say something was “short-sighted.” It’s an inexact science at best.

Was JO short-sighted? Marion? Turkoglu? Sure, you can say that now, I don’t think too many did at the time.

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Q: Hey Doug. Is it possible to gage fan interest in the Raptors by the amount of e-mail you receive during the season? I would assume that during the long winter months, there will be a significant decline if the club struggles to stay afloat.

 

Kristian B, Toronto

A: You might think so but my history suggests there are a lot of people out there who only come out of the woodwork to rip and call for firings, benchings and trades and a bad stretch suits them perfectly. In fact, I’ve found it quieter when things are going well.

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Q: I remember reading a question posed a few weeks back re: Reggie Evans...someone asked if the HOTH could win with Reggie being in the starting line up...You graciously reminded them that Reggie is a legit starter and dude's been around the league long enough! Not sure how you deal with such 'negative' fans but kudos to you!

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Reggie. If he continues to be a rebounding force and another team comes calling, is he worth more to the team for his D? More as a tradeable asset? Re-signed next season? Also, what’s your take on Amir? I’m sure he’ll come around but wondering about the ‘slow’ start.

Thanks and keep up the great work!

 

Jason T, Milton

A: I think Reggie is becoming quite attractive to teams that may need an energetic rebounder off the bench but let me ask you this: Can this team, right now, afford to be without him? I can’t see them doing a thing until they find out what, if anything, Ed Davis may give them.

And I presume the 12 and 15 night that Amir hung on the Lakers might have answered the second part of your question. I think he’ll be fine.

 

 

Comments

[Chris, London, U.K.]

Dampier to the Raptors?

[Barry Ward]

The question about journalists as co-authors reminded me of the time when I was volunteering in the library at my son's elementary school. I noticed a copy of Toronto Raptors: The Official Book on the shelves. It was published to mark the team's initial season in the NBA. Flipping through the book, I noticed the title page had "John Bitove" in very large type. Below in, about half the size, was the name of the actual author, Doug Smith. Whoever donated the book to the library managed to snag the signature of one of the early Raptors. Can't read the name but the initials are clearly D.W. Depending on when the book was signed, that could be Dwayne Whitfield or Donald Whiteside. It's unlikely that added any value to the book.

[GMan]

Hey Doug, thanks for being the beast of Raptors Blogging. This is probably a mail bag question but I was wondering if you get punked by media guys from other teams for working for the Raptors. Do you have to deal with that whole 'Nobody wants to play in Toronto" thing?

Blogger's note: Probably better for mail but the basic answer is no.

[Kevin W]

Any news on this dampier to Raptors story that's out there again? Personally, I'd rather have the kids in the lineup stinking it up and learning than having an old guy who's looking to showcase himself for one last contract. Isn't this year supposed to be about development?

Blogger's note: Not as much a "story" and an obvious leap of faith given his deal fell apart in Houston. It'll be something I check later

[pain777pas]

@Kevin W

This team should sign no one. They should play hard and continue stinking. Raps should get a high draft pick and continue rebuilding this team. Doug, that is the best approach right now?

[Boko]

Dampier, NO. Davis, YES. Gasol next summer, YES. Bye, bye EVANS.

[JT]

Doug,

I like the Raptors and they play a fun to watch style of basketball. However, after losing Bosh and with the Raptors over the soft-salary cap, all of a sudden, they look like a team who has a bunch of overpaid middling talents. They can use the trade exemption but can't outright sign a free agent and with the draft lottery, I'm not sure they can get a top 3 pick from the draft who can be a star player and make an impact.
Do you see them becoming the basketball version of the Leafs, a team who pays their players very handsomely; doesn't have the top tier talents most other teams have to truly compete; but isn't bad enough to get a top draft pick?

[fg]

man, when are we going to stop the mediocre talk about the raptors. oh it was ok to lose on the west coast becuase we never win attitude. when are we going to say we must start winning on the west coast period.... that attitude will lead to change, not the status quo...

doug please stop with the "homerness" and buddy buddy with the raps players and call them out.. Mr. Brotherston seems to have it right, he even said that "one thing that Triano isnt afraid to do is,.. whatever B colangelo tells him to do" lol priceless. pricelesss ... Triano is a puppet lol, we know he cant coach NBA and not sure BC can GM nba... +

about time someone has guts to say it, also these raps players are playing hard but it just gets annoying how there is no coaching, Barbosa doesnt even think twice he has never seen a shot he doesnt like, I think he hurt the raps but just zoning out his teamates... And as for Jack... bad and Calderon... worse, but i would still have jack in at the end of games, not Calderon.....

well this is going to be a tough season , and I will be the first to say ESPN has always had it rigth... Its just the Raps fans refuse to beleive anytime someone says there team will be BAD.. Kudos to ESPN, there analyst are correct more then not, even if they ruffle some feathers... DOugs analysis equals homerism.

[Michel G]

Doug, didn't the Raps draft Hibbert for the Pacers? The worst part of the Raptors' fanbase is its inability to let anything go. Even when a player was never actually ours. It could be worse. You could be Brian Burke who's going to asked about the Kessel deal until he leaves his current job.

[Lorie]

I, too, would prefer not to have Eric Dampier just "parachute" onto the Raps' squad; I like the kids we have, and I see some improvement every game. In fact I'd rather see the entire cast of "Kids in the Hall" (well maybe not Bruce McCulloch, I think he barely clears 5'5" - and that's in heels) join the team than Dampier. At the very least, this might ratchet up the hilarity quotient for Raps' beat grunts, (Hey, maybe they could be asked to do the halftime schtick.) and the Canuck quotient at the same time.

[Adrian]

Here here, fg! I'm still waiting for the Raptors to use the Bosh exemption and go into the tax. I wonder what excuses are being cooked up behind the scenes. Still got 7 mos to think about that one. "We came so close BUT..." Love the buts. Tell me more about the tenor of the market. Until then they're evolving. I'm glad the ACC is looking emptier according to reports, hopefully that continues tonight and throughout the season. The fan's only hope for a brighter future. You CAN support the team without being taken advantage of.

[doug]

my thoughts on Dampier are tw-fold...one the way Reggie and Amir ar eplaying I really see no reason to sign him...yes he is more a true center but there's still only so many minutes to go around with a team ...also something stinks , why was the deal rescinded, why did the Rockets change their mind??...those questions need to be answered, plus what kind of game shape is he in???...not much as game change is far different then people's perception of being in shape...I would hope the boat would have sailed on , on this transaction we need a shooters more thne anything...Stuckey is on the outs in Piston land, i always liked him let's trade either Jack or Jose for him...

[sam]

It looks like Adrian has found a soulmate in fg....spreading the collective joys of their everything is crappy sentiments. It might be remotely interesting if their message wasn't the same each and every time they bless us with thier thoughts/opinions. The glass isn't always half empty guys....

[GM]

Face it, Adrian, you can't quit the Raptors, even though you *promised* you would. Even without your beloved Bosh, you still have a thing for the mighty Raps.

[Leaf fan in Van]

Isn't tonight the game that we get to say we got squashed in because we just got back from the "gruelling" west coast trip? Will JT have the guys ready to go? Doubt it. Tonight the boys lose by 10...

Blogger's note: Then you can take the night off, right?