A rather dull affair to send them off for the holidays

Well, that was a dud, wasn’t it?

I’m tying to think if there was a “wow” moment and I can’t come up with one.

You?

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THREE POINTERS

Just worn down

Not sure if it was the cumulative effect of a lot of games, the nagging injuries or extended minutes but you could see some of the HOTH just wear down as that one progressed.

Jose, especially, struggled – the eight turnovers is his career worst game – and I think it’s directly attributable to the absence of Jerryd Bayless to give him some rest and the sore foot.

Jay had to use both Calderon and Barbosa on the court at the same time for far too long than he would have wanted and you could see play deteriorate as the game went on.

But since Jose was coming off two games where he had 20 and 12 and 14 and 15, I’m giving him a pass for a clunker.

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Stopper? A so-so night

Julian Wright continues to do a pretty good job in his limited role as the defensive specialist on the wing and you all saw Jay go to him as soon as Tracy McGrady got going in the first half.

Didn’t work great – Tracy had 17 and was a huge factor – but it’s a role Wright should get more often, I think.

He’s got a way of being around the ball and making things happen when he’s on the court and I think they need to sacrifice some offence every now and then to let him go.

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Someone coming?

Seeing the lineup decimated like it is, I’m wondering if Bryan might not be wise to go out and fill that 15th spot on the roster with someone.

Not necessarily a guy who’s going to come in and play regular minutes right away but someone who can at least help them have enough live bodies to practice and someone who can be available when games get out of hand to allow guys who need minutes off to get them.

I think I’d find someone and have him meet them on the trip that’s coming up.

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And just a little bit more before I start the whole Christmas shopping process.

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I see by Rick’s story here on the departure of Larry Brown from Charlotte that there is no mention of our man Oak.

But I was told last night by a couple of people pretty well connected o Charlotte that yes, indeed, Oakley is expected to join Paul Silas’s staff with the Bobcats.

That could be interesting in a “be careful what you wish for” situation for Charles. I wonder if the Bobcats – or any player in the league today – will take to his rather unique style. They don’t make ‘em like Oak anymore, I wonder if he’ll be able to get his points across without alienating anyone.

Hope so.

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All right, I’m not sure if I’m doing a service or a disservice here.

But for all you Irregulars out there who wanted to get their hands on the Jack Armstrong-Eric Smith holiday crooning CD, here’s your chance.

I’m told if you click here, you can order it on-line and, yes, the proceeds are going to the Raptors foundation.

Best of luck. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening quite yet – I think I’ll wait until the original rush of orders is done, but am told by Jack that “it’s so bad, it’s good.”

Hmm.

Is that a good thing?

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This is what the story says in Detroit this morning.

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Kinda funny sitting in the stands before the game chatting with Darrell Walker when Tracy McGrady walked out of the locker room.

Those were a couple of rather strong-willed personalities back in the day when Darrell coached here and Tracy was a teenager quite full of himself.

Seems they get along all right now, both might have mellowed just a tiny bit, but it was one of the most difficult relationships around team for a long time.

Darrell’s a tough guy, he’d rant and rave back in the day, and a young McGrady didn’t take kindly to it.

And I love that Tracy takes his shots – verbally – whenever he can.

He thrives on the booing (and if that isn’t tiresome, I don’t know what is) and will always make his opinion known, as he did after the game.

“It’s not like I was like Chris Bosh in selling out the city like the city was horrible or something, making crazy comments about the city.”

Now, all he did was go home to play and, really, why would anyone blame him? He didn’t like the cold and had a chance to play around family and friends.

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So, what’s everybody do for Christmas? Any really good traditions out there?

Not much here, actually. Super Son has a propensity to get up crazy early – although now he’s a big shot high-schooler I’m kind of hoping he sleeps ‘til 7 or 8 – and then it’s gifts, a big old breakfast that Dad cooks up and then, well, most years there’s a flight and since there isn’t one this year, it’s off to Niagara we go.

But other than that, nothing really special goes on here.

How about there?

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Seriously, folks, the mail’s a bit low and since I’m still unsure what we’re going to do in these parts over the next few days, you better take this chance to click, write, say hello and ask away.

But there is this one:

Q: Two questions for you Doug:

With the plethora of technology available today, why do NBA coaches still use the clipboard during timeouts to draw up plays and show the players what is going on. Can they not use a small laptop, iphone, etc. to show the players what is going via up-to-date video or do league rules prohibit them from doing so?

Unlike the NCAA, I don't see too many offensive nor defensive team systems being run in the NBA. On defence, it's man to man with some zone thrown in and on offence, it looks like it's just isolated match ups and pick and rolls or pick and pops. Why is that the case?

 

 

 

Joe D, Mississauga

A: Coaches I’ve asked simply say a clipboard or dry-erase board is easier. Scribble plays on it, everyone can see it and you don’t have to worry about anything working slowly or anything like that. They do make use of video at halftime sometimes but, generally, that kind of technology doesn’t work courtside in the heat of a game.

And there are systems – watch away from the ball every now and then – but they unfold far more quickly than they do in the college game.

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Comments

[chris]

It was Wilkins. Butch was fired after that playoff run (and losing his mind, which is too bad b/c he seemed like an awesome coach). Wilkins was hired that summer and was part of their free agent pitch to TMac.

Though maybe TMac wouldn't return Butch's calls either.

Also weird that Chicago was supposedly in the running. I remember him hating the cold.

[The J]

TMac was too long ago, and too minor (comparitively) an issue to care about now, let alone boo. I'll save my Booing for Bosh and Hedo. I'm not even sure I would bother booing Vince anymore. He's still on the top of the list of villains (still think what he did was MUCH worse than Bosh), but it's been a long time and why give him any fuel to burn us with. He typically has two good games a year now, both when he plays TO. Somehow I would love to see the fans greet him to complete silence. Or somehow get 20,000 people to give him a loud "m'eh" all in unison. Probably will never happen but I guarantee his Boos will be pretty quite this year.
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Speaking of traditions, on this the very special day of December 23rd, I wish you all a happy Festivus! Don't forget to air your grievances (oh, on this blog I dont think people often forget), and prepare yourself for your the feats of strength (maybe the Raps shoud have done that yesterday. There I go with my airing of grievances).

[Rob]

I think the big problem with Bosh and TMac leaving was that they both got our hopes up. We thought returning to Toronto would at least be a consideration, and then we later find out that there was no chance of their coming back. Made a lot of us fans feel pretty stupid for cheering and hoping - not a good feeling. And we let it out by booing.

Would it have been more fair to let management know that they weren't coming back and at least let Toronto try to get something in return via trade?

[Aditya]

i know you always thought that ron artest would falter last season in the lakers uniform because, well, he always does........ care to comment on how he's a changed person and a good dude overall?

on another note, people just seem to name dwight howard as the defensive player of the year.... to be honest, i've probably seen 10 laker games this season (on TV - super sports pack baby!) and i've always thought that ron artest knew the opponent player's tendency perfectly each time...he induced the opponent into a turnover quite a few times.... in my opinion, ron artest should be given heavy consideration for defensive player of the year....people don't appreciate how good he is on defence......

[Ryan]

Doug it's a sport so you can't blame fans for being irrational really.

So when a player like T-Mac leaves, just before he blossomed into a superstar, Toronto fans rightfully boo him for it. It's not personal, but we like our Raptors. We want them to win. Here we could have had one of the greatest 1-2 punches in the NBA and no, it doesn't happen, for whatever McGrady's reasons were.

As fans we want to see a winning team out there. McGrady leaving made this team not as good, and who knows how good it could have been. Sorry if that makes us boo him for the rest of his career but we're cheering for players who run down the court and put a ball in a hoop.

Forget rationality when it comes to fans; we're already irrational to begin with. And that's not a bad thing.

[Androo]

If you'll allow me to be a wee bit sentimental for a moment, but nothing special at your place? Opening presents, eating breakfast and spending the whole day with the family is the absolute definition of "special" if you ask me.

I hope you, and your family, have a great Christmas.

[Penguin]

Wow, some fans are tough and unreasonable. Yes, last night's game was tough to take. But, for heaven's sake, if ever a team desperately needed a break of a few days to heal, it's the current Raps squad. I know that every team, as the season goes on, gets banged up, but the Raptors are beyond the usual. What are you expecting when: No Weems; No Evans; No Bayless; Jose toughing it out on a bad foot and playing too many minutes because the team needs him to be out there; Johnson playing with back spasms (any of you ever try that at even an amateur level?); and Bargs with knees and ankles issues and now a strained calf muscle. You could even add the pains that Barbosa has been playing through all season. They need more than a few days of rest, but only get about four before a back-to-back situation on Tuesday and Wed. next week. I sure hope we beat Memphis on Tuesday, because I wouldn't want to bet the house on whether they'll be able to play tough on Wed.

[doug]

plus to all a merry xmas and i genuinely mean that...to me i absolutely dread the 36 hours from xmas eve at 6 o'clock to all of xmas day...I wake up Boxing day a happy man i know I only have 363-4 days to go...thats my holiday tradition...

[Ian Murray]

Fans definetly need to move on with McGrady. Yeah it sucks that he left and him and Vince would have been great to watch together, but it's been ten years!!! He was a young guy who thought he would have been a Pippen to Vince's Jordan if he stayed. When a player starts saying that the booing doesn't bother them then I think it's probably time to stop. And also considering his playoff track record let's not assume we would have gotten anywhere further than we did without him! Let the guy finish off the twilight of his career in peace!

[Keith Wagar]

Interesting about UCONN women being 88 straight wins. Google the Edmonton Grads --- a ladies team in the early years which had a record of 114 and 3

[Art Holloway]

Doug - don't know whether this made it or not so I will send it again!
My Christmas story!
My ex and I split up about 15 years ago when my daughters were in Gr 1 and kindergarten, but the last Christmas we had together was great. My daughter Jean had a tour of a organization that collects food and Christmasy things and dellivers hampers for those that need it. This had quite an impact on her.
She last a tooth on the 23rd of december and the Tooth Fairy delivered a loonie.
Christmas eve we finally got them in their PJ's, and got the cookies and milk out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and were trying to get the girls upstairs to bed when Jean slipped down and slipped her Loonie on Santa's plate. When asked she said that she wanted Santa to take it and give it to someone that needed it.
The next morning the cookies were gone (trust me!) but Santa had left a note beside the Loonie telling her to ask her dad to take her to a shelter on Christmas day and give it to the woman in charge. She would know what to do with it.
We headed to Crossroads church in the core of Winnipeg that had a Christmas day feast for the homeless. The people there were wonderful, but a bit frazzled as only the truly overworked can be. I found the nun in charge, pointed Jean with her loonie in the right directionb, and told her to just tell the woman her story.
I watched this frazzled nun completely melt, wrap her arms around my daughter and burst into tears.
Probably my best Christmas present ever

Blogger's note: A wonderful story. Thank you