Before the shopping, the mail

All right, I’m going to cut you all some slack for the relative lightness of the mailbag because of Christmas and the weekend and all that jazz. But you’d better be back to normal next week.

Hope everyone survived the holiday – it was very cool here, especially when Super Son had learned King Of The Road as a special saxophone recital gift – but now that it’s over, let’s get back to some semblance of normalcy here.

After a Toronto-Chicago-Memphis flight lands me in Tennessee just in time to hit BB King’s for some good barbecue and solid music, we will get back to our regular routine.

Merry Boxing Day. Good luck with the crowds.

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Q: Here's some for the mailbag on officials. Do they work as a crew for a number of games (ala MLB), or are they put together for one game. Also, how many games/week do they work on average? Do officials work back to backs? Do officials have to fly the day before, same as teams, or can they fly same day? Do they work regionally or are they all over the league? Do they fly biz class, or can they cash in their tickets and - oh yeah, never mind :)

Do you cross paths with officials in various Marriott lounges? Any good stories?

 

Wilber L, Toronto

A: Hmm, lots of different ones here.

Let’s see: Basically, there “pods” officials from which the three-person crews are determined for each game but they do not work as a “crew” like they do in baseball, a ref could work with two guys on a Wednesday and two different guys on a Friday.

Generally – and injuries and travel play a part – refs work anywhere from two to four games a week and they try not to have back-to-backs.

They try to get into a city the night before and that’s generally the case and, yes, they make their own travel arrangements subject to league guidelines.

I’ve seen many an official in a lounge or lobby bar after a game and have had some fun conversations but never about a specific game or play we’ve just seen. It’s more catching up on friends in common and family; when we run into each other, the last thing either of us wants to do is talk about the job.

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Q: Hi Doug, love the blog. I noticed that it was Ben Wallace's 1000th game the other day against the Raps. Can you give us some perspective on the significance of this accomplishment, especially given his rather focused role in the NBA (and his undrafted status)?

Thanks

 

S G, Kingston

A: I believe Ben was the 95th player to reach the 1,000 game plateau but only the third was lasted that long after going undrafted coming out of college.

The other two were Avery Johnson and Moses Malone, although Moses was an ABA draft pick.

I think it’s a huge credit to Ben’s ability – all defensive, that is – and his willingness to embrace a role that the 36-year-old lasted this long.

Must have something to do with that Virginia Union University training, the same school that spawned Charles Oakley and Ed Davis’s dad, Terry.

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Q: Merry X-mas Doug to you and yours. I noted the request for mail so I thought I'd send you a "seasonal" question. What goes in the turkey stuffing at Casa Dougs Anything special. My mom (Austrian) used to put in some eggs, and the liver mashed (after being simmered), parsley and garlic. You'd be burping the stuff hours later. Case Doug must have a unique twist to stuffing

 

Frank K, Orillia

A: Ah, the secret’s in the savoury. Maybe it’s the Newfoundland in Super Wife’s heritage but that’s the key ingredient. A little garlic, some chicken stock maybe, as much pepper as you can handle and, voila, we’re good to go.

Of course, if you wanted to maybe take some sausage out of the casing and fry it up before adding it to the bread crumbs and various spices, you’d be doing all right, too.

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Q: Hey Doug. Just have a question about blocks, when a player swats the ball, most of the times it looks like they are so high that they can come down with the ball instead of swatting it. My question is would goaltending rules still apply if a player just comes down with the ball? Why don't coaches work on the players coming down with the ball instead of just swatting it? Sure it looks nice and all, but your just giving the ball back to your opponent.

 

Benjamin L, Richmond Hill

A: As long as it’s not goaltending, it doesn’t matter whether you catch the ball or knock it away (goaltending being defined as a shot that’s on its downward path to the basket).

And while it’s all well and good to suggest that coaches “teach” catching the ball or even blocking it inbounds (a trait that made Bill Russell so effective) things happen at a such a fast pace during the game and reaction time is so limited, it’s not that easy to do.

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Q: Hi Doug,. Thanks for the great job on the blog. I've recently watched the HBO documentary on Magic & Bird. In it, there were interviewing Bird about one of his championships and he said (paraphrasing): "I happy that we won, but I'm more happy that Magic is suffering in the other room"

I agree with you that I hate all the hugging and high-fiving I'm seeing between opponents recently. What happened to hating to lose? Wanting to destroy your opponent? Our "everyone's a winner" attitude (and the AAU) is depriving us some of the competitiveness of the 80s & 90s. Will we ever have that back?

 

Albert F, Milton

A: It’s easy to blame the money and the fellowship and the fact many of the younger players have played with and against the same guys for years and years so that’s what I’ll do.

And, no, we will never have it back again.

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Q: Hi Doug. As 2011 approaches, so is the date of my annual trek to the ACC to catch the local HOTH. Now, other than including industrial strength earplugs this year - oh and wearing mustard-resistant clothing - will there be anything different I should take note of while visiting the city? New restaurants, bars, bistros in the vicinity? How's the roadwork situation around the Air Canada Centre? (Hey, when does Oak come to town with the new team??? That'd be a good one to see!) And, seriously, you often tell us that when we go to the games, what we should do is pay attention to what happens away from the ball. Assuming you don't mean monitoring the shenanigans of you and Stumpy, what specifically should I be looking for? Thank you.

 

Lori P, London

A: You know what? Aside from the new MLSE-owned bars and restaurants on the west side of the joint, there really isn’t a whole lot new and me, being a creature of habit, rarely venture to that side of the building.

And, seriously, I think if the seats allow, fans should always try to watch a little bit of action away from the ball to find out how these guys tend to get open; how screens are set, how players move and how defences rotate and react. A lot of it actually does happen by design and is part of the reason you see so many good plays.

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Q: Think the Raps should take a chance on Antoine Walker?

 

Struan S, Moncton

A: I’m trying to think of the right phrase here and it’ll come to me in a second, I’m sure.

No, no, no. A thousand times, no.

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Q: Hi Doug, first off, best wishes of the season to you & yours and a little levity for the old mail bag:

Reading that Kobe Bryant takes a helicopter from home to the Staples Center to avoid LA traffic got me thinking.....if you could be any NBA player for 48 hrs -- yeah, one of those "Freaky Friday" sorts of things where you change bodies but keep your brain -- who would you choose?

And can you imagine said player's reaction when they wake up to discover they've been transformed into Doug?

 

Peter L, Kingston

A: Oh, keep my brain? Guess that takes my first choice – Steve Nash – out of the equation. How about Vince? Or maybe Turk? (That’s just to keep it local).

Transformed into me?

The reaction?

Noooooooooooooooooooo!

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Q: Hi Doug. After last night's awful game, I took a look at Toronto's roster, and besides Bargnani (1/1) and DeRozan (1/9) all the other players have been drafted 1/11 and under. I thought that that may be an indication of a lack of talent in this team, and an explanation for their terrible playing. Then I took a look at the 3 top teams. Shock! They are not much different than Toronto! Some of the best players have been actually drafted much lower that one would think: Jermaine O'Neal 1/17, Kevin Garnett 1/5, Paul Pierce 1/10, Manu Ginobili 2/57, Tony Parker 1/28, Caron Butler 1/10, Dirk Novitzki 1/9, Jason Terry 1/10. It looks like a lot of the draftees between 1 and 10 are underachievers. Care to comment on this? Also, can you please provide a few examples of players drafted highest and having the lowest results and vice versa?

Thanks

 

Cat R, Toronto

A: Doesn’t this just prove my point that the draft is a relative crapshoot? Yes, there are gems to be found late by teams that get lucky and see something in a player that no one does but it’s really as much good luck and good management.

I’ll give you Manu and Parker as two gems found late but Rajon Rondo (21st) and Carlos Boozer (34th) would be on that list as well.

Drafted high with no return? In this era, it stops and starts with Adam Morrison (3rd) and Kwame Brown (1st) but you’d have to give some consideration to Michael Olowokand (1st) and Nickoloz Tstkitshivili (5th), too.

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Q: Doug - I look at the Suns deal to acquire Marcin Gortat and I wonder if they are finally wising up to the fact that there are some very successful teams who thrive on "thuggery" - case in point, the Boston Celtics. These teams seem to play so physically that refs end up letting them foul more or less constantly. And when a "ballerina" team like Phoenix plays them, the Suns are pushed off the court and lose badly. I see this also happening with the Raptors, and yet they continue to acquire scrawny, yet skilled players, who are pushed and fouled and intimidated to the point of surrender. Examples here are Bargnani, DeRozan, Bayless. Do you not agree that the Raptors lack sufficient "NBA bodies" to compete in the physical Eastern Conference? I hope and pray that in next year's draft we acquire men, not boys.

 

Wilf T, Aurora

A: I don’t think anyone thinks Marcin Gortat is a “thug” by any stretch of the imagination; what the Suns did is trade for some frontcourt size and, yes, I’m sure it was a realization that they needed to get bigger.

And, yes, I think the Raptors realize they need to get a bit bigger but I think they also realize that two of their main frontcourt players are 21-year-old Ed Davis and 23-year-old Amir Johnson and they could easily grow into the “men” you’re talking about.

But here’s the thing about drafting men and not boys: If you’re taking teenagers or early 20-somethings, that’s what you get.

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Q: Doug. Wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy holiday season.

Is there any chance that Andrea could be chosen as a back up to Dwight Howard on this year's all star team?

He is the second highest PPG centre in the league and is having his best season thus far.

 

Shane S, Thornhill

A: I’d be surprised, actually. He is having a good season on a bad team and coaches tend to look to teams with good records when they fill out the all-star backups. Al Horford, who knows what happens with Joakim Noah, maybe Andrew Bogut have to get consideration, don’t they? And because coaches have great latitude when filling out the all-star front courts, there are going to be a raft of others under consideration as well and a couple of them are named in a question coming up.

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Q: Seasons Greetings Mr. Smith! Your post today was great (Dec. 24), I especially liked that you actually said "Merry Christmas". Anyways, since this is the season of giving and whatnot, I think that going forward, the hatred is going to stop. As a believer in karma (or whatever you want to call it), I think all the negativity we've showered on Vince and Chris has really been a disservice to the Team. It's hard to watch people move on, and it sure is easy to pile on the vile with this here interwebs. So to Chris Bosh and Vince Carter, all the best going forward and Merry Christmas to the both of you and your loved ones. Toronto is a pretty classy place and it's time to start showing that again. As we move into the new year, let's put away our angst and make sure we give Chris Bosh a round of applause when he comes to town, and yes, give one to Vince too. He almost had us in the Finals (guarantee we beat the Bucks), we can never forget that.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the Irregulars and especially too you Mr. Smith and your family.

 

Shawn L, Bowmanville

A: I’ve got nothing except “well said.”

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Q: Hi Doug, do you think that Chris Bosh will be picked by the coaches as an all star reserve? I personally think he doesn't deserve it due to his reduced role on a stacked team, but what is your opinion?

 

Chris D, Leeds, England

A: After watching him Christmas Day I most certainly think he should and I am pretty confident he will be. But there is a lot of time between now and the time to make the selections in mid-February, it’s impossible to say. Ceding the starting spot to Kevin Garnett, you’ve got to look at the likes of Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer who moved from West to East and could take a spot generally reserved for Bosh.

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Q: Doug. Further to your comments on Tracy McGrady, I was wondering whether in the summer before his last year in Toronto, McGrady was ever offered a maximum contract extension by the Raptors, and if not, whether doing so would have resulted in him signing with the team instead of testing free agency?

 

Mark S, Hamilton

A: It was a different world back then, a different CBA with different restrictions and rules but I know the Raptors would have made as good an offer as they could. What that number is, I don’t know, but I don’t think it would have made a lick of difference.

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Q: Doug. Love the blog and it is where I start my daily read. I was wondering are there other blogs or columnists that you read on a daily basis as part of your research or just for interest? Of course we will continue to start with your blog but am interested to see what the master considers worth reading too.

All the best to you and Super Family for the holidays. Hope Mother Star lets you take a day off (we will still look for something to read but will manage!).

 

Dave M, Puslinch

A: There’s a laundry list of guys I read on a regular basis, it’s hard to come up with a consistent list. But you’d not go wrong if you took in Marc Stein at ESPN.com, Steve Aschburner at NBA.com and Marc Spears at Yahoo.com. But, really, I troll the web a lot every day and see what strikes my fancy depending on the events of the day.

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Comments

[Eddy]

If there is any justice in the basketball world, Chris Bosh, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will all end their careers with no championship rings, having missed their best chance of doing so, by staying together in Toronto.
.
All three of them deserve the hatred they get, when they return to town.

[striker77]

To Shawn L from Bowmanville...

Its good to see that there is a little class left in this town... I wish there were more that thought like you do. I have never really agreed with the notion of "I pay the money to come to games, I can boo if I want to.." I am not going to tell people what to do, that is not my right.. but, if you think about it, it is more classy to not act that way. Look at the laughing stock the leafs have become in the NHL with the waffles... i mean seriously.. Toronto fans are something else.
Want to show dissatifaction? dont pay the ridiculous bucks to watch mediocre, or crap teams... Dont complain when you go and watch crap... no one forced you too...

Shawn L, I know that lots of people will not agree with us, but they can not disagree that having some class can not be a bad thing... Happy new year.

[doug]

this is the part that confounds me..why do fans take players actions personally??..I have opinions and feelings but quite frankly I could care less if a player leaves town..it's a business, etc.and nothing I can control....so I am not going to "hate" a player just because he has moved on , all NBA players do at one point or another, Kobe,Pierce is the rare exception ..it's a way of life in the NBA I tend to admire the talent, the ability, the game and leave the business side out of it as well as not taking things personally as they aren't part of my personal life...

speaking of talent, this kid has a truckload of it, he's one of the most unique players i have seen come along in a long time..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/blake-griffin-alley-oop-rockets_n_800723.html

[J]

"If there is any justice in the basketball world, Chris Bosh, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will all end their careers with no championship rings, having missed their best chance of doing so, by staying together in Toronto."

Yes, had Tracy re-upped with Toronto, we would *obviously* have finished the same way the year before Bosh's draft. Why aim so low? Had Carter and McGrady stayed, maybe we would have gotten LBJ, Howard AND Durant as well. Psh.

@Wilf: It's very easy to assemble a team full of thugs. What people (including you) are missing out on is that the Celtics are not only a team of tough players, but very skilled ones at that. You make it sound like all-around players grow on trees.

[Eli]

It doesn't start and end with Adam Morrison. It starts and ends with Darko Milicic. Pistons could have had Bosh or DWade.

Blogger's note: Overall? Sure it does. Darko's at least still in the league.

[Ian]

It's a business and people move on. They all had they're reasons and they all did what they could to help the team when they played. If people don't want to cheer than at least stop the booing. All it does is fuel the players egos and help them have a good game. Unless of course it's more fun to boo and watch your home team lose because the ex-player wants to stick it to the "fans". If you're a fan of your team than you probably want to do want's best for them. I remember when A.J. Burnett played his first game as a Yankee at the SkyDome and a huge amount of people showed up just so they could boo him. Bosh played out his contract and chose to move on. Nothing wrong. Try and remember that when you get a higher paying job offer and chose to take it. Or when you get the opportunity to work in a situation that makes you happier.

[Joe]

Hi Doug,

It was great to see Bosh have a real nice game against an elite team like the Lakers, on national tv, to boot. Last time, I remember him having a great game in a marquee match up would have been game 5 against Orlando in 2008. Anyhow, Doug, what's been the biggest factor in the Heat's turnaround? Also, what's up with the Lakers? They looked terrible against the Heat and they didn't look to good against an undermanned Raptor team last week. Burn out? Too much basketball over the last 3 years? Thanks.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

A relaxing Boxing Day afternoon, and getting my first chance to see Blake Griffin in action. OMG!! Clips look good! Griffin looks other worldly!

[Lorie]

@ Shawn: I truly believe there so many of us who feel the way you do. Sadly, though it's the scurrilous few - shouting vulgarities and other graceless behaviours - that seize the attention. (Not sure why, but your question brought to mind a saying that Bill Stephenson, a sports reporter, who many, many years ago on radio station 1010 CFRB used to sign off his broadcasts with: "You don't have to play a sport to be a good one.") So, yes, let's keep the vibes good and positive around our local HOTH, and as fans demonstrate a collective decency of behaviour towards certain former Raptors, because karma can be a bitch. Especially when she comes back to bite you in the ass.

[chris]

Re: the McGrady question -- rumors back then were that the raptors did NOT offer him a max deal the summer before. He wanted one, they wouldn't give it (not really all that surprising considering what he had showed to that point) and that the raptors almost traded him to Chicago that summer (sometime around the draft, i thought).

By the time they offered him a max contract it was too late....he was mentally checked out.

[Heath]

It doesn't start and end with Adam Morrison. It starts and ends with Darko Milicic. Pistons could have had Bosh or DWade.

Blogger's note: Overall? Sure it does. Darko's at least still in the league

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And doesn't Darko have a ring?????????