Working hard and keep the streak alive (no, not that one)

Hey, look at it this way.

They didn’t lose last night. Makes today an easier day around these parts, too.

-

The theme of yesterday’s practice, and the theme of the entire season to date as a matter of fact, was the need to work hard and play hard for 48 minutes every game.

No slacking off for a few minutes here and there, no easing into games, 100 per cent intensity for the get-go.

I guess it was Cliché Day as well as Signing Day.

Anyway, it does get to a point that a lot of people have asked about lately and raises a question for which there is no logical answer.

Why?

Why do athletes – and it happens to every team in every sport in every city to some degree – seem to waver in their intensity every now and then?

Can’t say. Can’t be explained. It just is.

And to all of you who write in asking about it, I can only offer this: Do you have great days every single day at your job?

Do you work consistently hard every second of every day at the office or the factory or on the road?

No way.

You may think you are, but you’re not.

But to suggest these guys aren’t “trying” is, frankly, ridiculous. They may not be successful, the other guys might simply be better but it’s a disservice to suggest they don’t care.

I know that sounds entirely defensive of athletes and perhaps it is but I’ve been around them a very long time and I can assure you they do try and do care.

They don’t always win and they don’t always do the right thing and they make glaring mistakes and lose games but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.

But to think it’s lack of effort is wrong.

-

That said …

This team is not very good at the moment, there’s been some defensive slippage and I’m still not sold on the theory that the offence is good enough and if they don’t smarten up, the entire season could be in the toilet two weeks from now.

And then all we’ve got to look forward to are those “wow” moments in every game and the entertainment that a night out gives us.

Oh, wait a minute.

That should be enough, right?

-

Ed Davis Update

(And not since the never-ending ‘When Will Reggie Be Back’ flood a year ago have we spent so much time dispensing little or not information)

Anyway, he did a little three-on-three yesterday that was about his first semi-serious work.

But if you’re looking at timeline, look way down the road.

The kid’s going to need more than a few practices to get up to even close to speed and with the way the schedule breaks down, there’s not a lot of time.

I’m guessing – big guess, too – that you’re looking at two, maybe three, weeks at the earliest.

And, yes, I’ll answer this again next week. Promise.

-

So I see the Heat lost last night to Utah because Paul (not Ronny) Millsap went berserk and it’s pretty interesting, what’s going on in Miami.

There’s no question that team is great – you can’t have James, Wade and Bosh and not be really, really, really good – but there are some huge flaws, most notably in the paint and at the point.

Let me ask you this: If Pat Riley calls you, do you make a trade with him? No way, right? He’s got nothing you want, he perhaps helped orchestrate the biggest free agent coup ever and if you think some rival GM is going to help make that team better, I think you ought to think again.

Kinda cool, no?

-

Time to talk about the streak.

No, not the three-point one, that’s a fun one that gets mentioned once a game because the Irregulars like it.

Jarrett Jack’s streak; he’s at 295 straight games and counting and as he kind of limped out of the gym after practice Tuesday, he had this to say about his prospects for tonight:

“I’m definitely going to play. Still stiff but I’ll be out there. I’ll give my team 10, 20, 30 minutes. I’ll give them whatever I have.”

Jarrett’s third among active players on the Ironman list; Andre Miller’s at 620 and Derek Fisher’s at 420.

-

I swear, if Bristol is the DWTS winner (and she’s a semifinalist), there should be a federal inquiry. I’m torn, conflicted, confused as to whether the kid Kyle or The Lovely Jennifer Gray should win but it’s ABB. (Anybody But Bristol, in our love affair with acronyms).

-

Charlotte?

Here’s what Rick’s saying about the Bobcats, who are scuffling along almost as badly as the HOTH.

-

Let’s do a quick one out of the mail, shall we:

Q: Hi Doug. I know you don't get to every game in person. Wondering which assistant coach you think gives the best halftime interviews. I've been impressed with PJ's candour, and Jim Todd was always good.

Your favorite and why?

 

Jeff I, Toronto

A: You’re right, I see so few games on TV I probably don’t have as informed opinion as I should but I do see some and I do get to listen to some of the interviews when I’ve got the front row seat at home games.

And, because I’m as much about voice and inflection and style as information, I was huge fan of Jim Todd and like PJ’s style this year.

But, truth be told, I’m not sure there’s a lot of earth-shattering information that’s shared in those chats. They always have to defend better, rebound better, turn the ball over fewer times.

-

Now, I do see some good ones over there in the mail slot (I’m trying to whittle down a list of five favourite steak joints) but there’s always room for more and you know how to get there.

Click. Type. Send.

-

Sorry to disappoint any Irregulars out there but we can’t do a Question and Answer thing today, too much to do like banking, packing, writing, hanging around shootaround.

We’ll see if we can fix something up for Friday from sunny Orlando.

-

 

 

Comments

[noname]

Hey Doug,
It has just been reported on the Fan590 that Richard Peddie is in the process of stepping down and being replaced (although his departure is not immediate). Do you believe this will this have an affect on BC's contract extension?
If I was being interviewed to take over Peddie's position, I might want to have some influence(if not the final decision) on one of the key roles reporting to me in the organization.

Blogger's note: No idea, sorry.

[capt kirk]

Eh Doug, tonight the bottom feeders will battle for the least in the east who wins? At least #23 is not playing to screw us another time. This has to be a great chance for Jose to show what the Bobcats missed out on. Utah has the best frontcourt in the league right now and they will get better. Is Barbosa a go tonight?

Blogger's note: Barbosa's out.

[Jacques]

Doug, if Richard Peddie is in deed stepping down. Is this a position that BC can do as well as GM?

Blogger's note: Not in my opinion, no

[capt kirk]

Eh Doug, who is the next President of MLSE? Burke perhaps.

Blogger's note: Cart waaaaaaaaay before the horse here.

[Paul B]

Doug for President of MLSE!!!

[Cluck Kent]

They play on average 25 minutes of each of 82 games which means they 'work' 34 hours per year. Say you count practise as 'work' - and when I say 'work' I actually mean a game and one they all profess to 'love'- so you could add another 82 hours of practise as work. I other words, the average NBA player 'works' about 116 hours per year or less than 3 weeks the average of a regular working stiff. I can assure you that if I only had to work 3 weeks per year, I am quite certain I could give it my all. If you paid me 25 -50 times what I currently make working 48 weeks per year for working only those 3 weeks per year, I definitely assure you I'd give 100%.

I really enjoy your work big guy, but seriously NBA players should be expected to work hard for those 25 minutes 3 times a week for 32 weeks if they're expect to earn crazy amounts of money. Anything less and any excuse for less, is simply a cop out.

[CC]

hey! to all who says these NBA players and athletes in general only "work" a few hours a week... think again. This people started working while they are still 5 or 6 or 7 years OLD! Thats when most people who work 9 to 5 are playing marbles or their playstations in their basement... pleeeaseeee...

[Dave M]

Speaking of working hard and giving our all every minute on the job - how many of us are reading this blog at work?

[JHP]

Doug

I have no answers but I'm very confused by the slow strarts? Oh well it always generates some form of comeback. Anybody headed to the D league ?

Blogger's note: D League season starts next week, I fully expect Alabi to spend some time there; maybe Davis eventually

[Aditya]

Mr. Smith - Please explain why you said that the Raptors need to limit their possessions and play more half court offense in your Fan 590 interview with Bob McCown and Jack Armstrong? It makes no sense whatsoever, but I would pay money to hear your response....

[d]

Doug,

Two GM' made this all possible for Pat Riley:

1. Bryan Colangelo traded JO to Miami to essentially allow Miami to use that money to sign Bosh in the following offseason. Brilliant move BC, brilliant.

2.Sam Presti who took Daquan Cook's contract for nothing just before July 1st, freeing up the last bit of cap space needed to land Big three

Both moves allowed the Heat to get the Big Three. Now you say that trading with them is not really an option for other teams? Umm, it was other GM's that created this monster by assisting Riley in dumping contracts in the first place.

Essentially, for all of BC's moves in the last 24 months, we lost a franchise player so that we could get our 1st round pick back for 2010/2011. Might I also mention if there is a lockout, we wont see that draftee until at least 2012/2013.

Sad. Sad. Sad. Oh yeah, pathetic as well.

[J]

@ Rob V:

"Are you suggesting we do nothing, or trade for more mediocre talent. I suppose we could finish last in the league this season and hope we win the lottery (crapshoot if you ask me). [...]"

No, I'm definitely not suggesting that. I think we should *always* be trying to make moves to make the team better, either in the short-term or the long-term. Since we're not the Bulls, Jazz, or any of the other actual contenders, short-term moves only promote long-term mediocrity and don't make sense to me. If a long-term move results in short-term gain, then even better. I certainly do *not* believe in intentional tanking; it only promotes a losing culture and even if you finish last, you're not guaranteed the top pick. We should always try to win as many games as possible, with a high lottery pick as a potential silver lining rather than a goal.

Yes, I would have been okay with extending Bosh. The reasons are probably too long for this post, so I'll just say that I don't think the current Arenas is worth Bosh's money. The last time he was an All-NBA player was 2006-2007? That's simply too long ago in my book to risk tying up that much money for so long, and his bone-headed stupidity just cannot be under-estimated.

Regarding the "Steve Fruitman" side of business, as you call it (haha), I need to point out a few things:

- We can't move our TPE credit with Calderon for Arenas. If we could, *and* they threw in at least their 2011 and 2013 1st round draft picks, I'd consider it, but it's just not possible.

- I never liked the Hedo deal, but I was fine with the JO deal because it was a good risk IMHO. We thought we were an actual contender, and JO was a short-term move that had a nice safety net in the form of its expiration before the big summer. Plus, even though his contract value was huge, we maintained similar enough cap flexibility by moving Rasho's and TJ's contracts. JO was a one-year risk plus a potentially valuable expiring second year; Arenas' deal is simply too long and the expiring year too distant to be labeled the same way. Expiring deals are only valuable if teams have a reason to throw in incentives like draft picks and good young players just to dump salary (big free agent off-season) and not enough teams have them. Since we can't say that with any certainty, we have to call it what it is: a 3.5-4 year risk that ties up cap flexibility.

- Ignoring actual player value, we can maintain similar cap flexibility (or lack thereof) by dealing Calderon + Bargnani or Calderon + Amir + Kleiza for Arenas. Any other package would either have us dump DeRozan/Davis or would leave us in a much worse cap position. I think it's safe to say that if we made either of those deals, we'd end up a poor man's Wizards.

- Perkins would be nice, but I just don't believe he'd sign with us for the MLE, even with Arenas. Dampier, sure, but that's not really uplifting.

- Banks and Evans are coming off the books, yes, but Barbosa isn't. Plus, with how Evans is playing, do we keep him until the off-season and let him walk? If he continues to play well, either we'll want to keep him or at least use him as trade bait. Either way, his salary probably doesn't come off the books, or at least not completely. Weems will need a raise as well. If we don't waste the TPE, that's more salary there.

TL;DR version: Everyone is expendable, but we should focus on long-term only moves, unless we can get someone like Steve Nash, who would be a value add for our team and our youngsters. Anything else would just be wasting money for more mediocrity.

[J]

I'm sorry, but this job analogy re: effort is silly. I'm glad so many people here are so hard-working, but it doesn't matter if you or I ramp up the effort when needed. I'm pretty sure none of us have jobs where our performance can be directly compared, side by side and in HD quality, with someone else doing the exact same thing, at the exact same time, and if that someone else does well, it's likely at your expense. Most likely, if you're even competing at all, it's something more long-term and your counterpart's performance doesn't directly affect yours. Ever had your job-place perform layoffs or go bankrupt because of not landing a valuable project/contract/client? Well, I guess that means your effort was lacking at some point.

Billups and Carmelo gave up 54 points in the 3rd quarter to the Pacers, guess they're worthless bums. Steve Nash hasn't taken the Suns to the finals? Guess his effort is lacking too. Fact of the matter, even if you were to try your best in every game, you're still going to look very silly when an opposing player just outplays you, and that's the reason we even bother to watch games, is it not? Sometimes it's a difference of talent, and sometimes you're just a step slower that day. How much you're getting paid has nothing to do with it.