Good carols, bad distractions and Reggie's trip to Florida

In the absence of anything big, some little things to get you through the day.

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I guess there is no real answer to one of the dilemmas that’s kind of bothered these guys the last two seasons, one that came up yesterday when we were talking to Jay and Linas about the decision to put Kleiza back in the starting lineup.

A lot of his woes early in the year, we’re told, came from poor health, his Achilles tendons were acting up, and it limited what he could do, according to the coach.

“He had no bounce to him. Tendonitis in both Achilles, a long summer and just had no bounce at all. If you have no bounce in the NBA, you’re going to be in trouble, guys are going to exploit you.”

The part that caught my attention? The part about the long summer and the impact of playing for Lithuania at the worlds and how it contributed to the slowish start.

But there seems to be no one answer to a situation that always pops up.

Last year, as we know, they let Turk off the hook during training camp, he got out of shape and never really recovered.

This time around, they rode Linas as hard as anyone during camp and the pre-season and it caught up with him a couple of weeks into the season.

I guess it’s always going to be a case-by-case situation and no one can know how anyone is going to react. And if you’re looking forward to next fall, remember that the European championships are in Lithuania, they are as big as any tournament anywhere in the world at any time, and there are going to be a couple of Raptors who’ll likely be involved.

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Oh, from our department of “Where Are The Injured Guys Now?” we bring you this: Reggie, I’m told, is down in Pensacola, Fla., are the Andrews Institute, the same training facility he spent so much time at last summer when he got himself into the best shape of his life.

He’s still really early in the rehabilitation process – he only had his surgery on Dec. 1 and they said it might be eight weeks at that point – but the fact he’s familiar with what the Florida people do and saw how much success they had with him last summer makes me think he’ll do a good job coming back from this injury.

So that’s why you didn’t see him on the bench the other day; not sure when he’ll be back, either.

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I’m going to steal this one from the list of lists I’ve got stored away for a rainy day:

Q: OK, list of the moments of an NBA game you could easily get along without.

(Although maybe we've already been there, I don't remember)

Giuseppe C, Vicenza, Italy

A: Oh boy, this could be fun.

Here’s five:

Music during play

It might be the single most dreaded part of the “entertainment experience” and drives me batty. Let the game be the damn game.

Timeout “contests”

Some of them might be marginally entertaining every now and then but, truth be told, most of them sap whatever energy there is in the crowd right out of it.

Hugs. Too many dang hugs

Yes, I get that teammates like each other and want to encourage each other and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But seriously, it’s like some Pro Sports Receiving Line when they take to the court and it’s mind-numbing to me.

Pre-game dancing

Look, I’m all in favour of the June Taylor Dancers, they do a good job, add something to the night and seem to be generally nice people. But the whole routine of player introductions and then a little dance number? Over the top.

The Script

I honestly think there needs to be more flexibility in game-ops; there never seems to be enough spontaneity to the game and what goes on when and I think fans are short-changed because things have to be done in a certain order.

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Okay, I’m only concurring with a guy who brought this up one day recently when we were standing around talking about broadcasters so it’s not my great comment but it was reaffirmed when I was listening to the Heat game last night.

Don’t you half expect the Miami play-by-play guy Eric Reid to introduce a Tea Time Movie with The Matinee Lady?

One of my favourites:

The Waltons Rip Off A Welfare Office

Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Nolan Ryan, Lloyd Nolan, Nolan Bridges and Upchuck The Nosey Tapeworm.

I tell you, if there’s a Slauson Cutoff in Miami, that’d be a classic.

(First in with the name wins a nifty prize, or at least my enduring respect).

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You know how banged up these guys are, right?

No Amir, Sonny, Jose, Andrea, Reggie or Peja at work yesterday and Linas only made it through half the workout.

No wonder, then, that when we were finally ushered into the practice facility – where normally we’d see ‘em all working on drills spread out over the entire floor – there was one single solitary guy on the court.

Andrea working on free throws and stationary jump hooks to save his knees and ankle.

It was comical. I know there were other guys in the weight room lifting and some were getting treatment and bunch of them did practice but to get in and see one lonely guy on the whole court was hilarious.

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Hmm, Christmas seems right around the corner (it must be, I saw huge traffic headed into the mall parking lot last night, am sure it’ll be cleared by the time I go Thursday) so that must mean music.

And if you’re looking for a fivesome of old, traditional carols to listen to, I don’t think you’d go wrong with these:

White Christmas.

Silent Night.

Joy To The World.

O Come All Ye Faithful.

And if you don’t listen to Bing Crosby and David Bowie do Little Drummer Boy, you may have Irregular status revoked.

Tomorrow? The “untraditional” ones.

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Best line of Monday comes courtesy of E. Koreen.

They’ve got this nifty new backdrop, in front of which we now need to conduct post-practice scrums so that the corporate masters can be served, and it just goes with the whole “sponsorship synergy” thing that seems to make the world go around.

So as we wait for someone to walk over and stand in front of it so the TV cameras can get look in their background, Eric suggests, in reference to some over-hyped corporate contest designed solely to promote the MLSE night club:

“Why don’t we just do this in front of the Mancave?”

And I’m sure right now someone in marketing is thinking: “Hmm, not a bad idea.”

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Comments

[Guest]

through a google search, I found the link to your list of best basketball books...

http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2009/12/weekend-mail-on-a-monday-morning-what-a-wacky-world.html

Blogger's note: Thanks so much, saves me some time this morning. Much appreciated

[The Man Who Rhymes With Horsey]

So, would you say Wednesday night might be an opportunity for certain healthy frontcourt players to lose the "undersized" label?

And equally importantly, does Jason Maxiell also qualify as "undersized"?

[Steve B.]

I've never heard the Miami broadcasters, though I've heard their play by play man had a stereotypical "slick and unctuous pitchman" voice. Guess the Art Fern comparison is a propos.

Blogger's note: There's the first one in with the name!

[sam]

I realize bumps and bruises are part of the everyday life for a real professional mens basketball player, but have you ever seen a time when so many of the HOTH are listed as gametime decisions?

I didn't see too much of the game last night, but Orlando seems to have some work to do. Apparently no practise time was afforded the incoming trio with thier new team mates. Van Gundy, whom I generally like, mostly for his mock turtle necks, and candor in interviews - (Ther Bosh Lapdog comment still makes me smile) has a few more oversized ego's to put in place. I wish him well -

Blogger's note: I remember one night they played with 8 guys and 3 of 'em were on 10-day contracts

[Mr. Cook]

Speaking of Bing Crosby, David Bowie, Will Ferrel and John C Reilly (what?), I don't know they did this, but it happened, so you may as well see it...
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6f62088f27/peace-on-earth-little-drummer-boy-with-will-ferrell-john-c-reilly

[Mich G.]

I'll chime in with my story of a coming together of a traditional christmas album with a non-traditional. Growing up my parents had a dubbed cassette tape with Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' christmas on one side (great traditional album) and for some reason on the other side they had Boney M, and not even their great christmas album, just a random collection of songs. So to this day I still think of Rivers of Babylon a great christmas tune.

[Geoff Read]

Couldn't agree more with your list of annoying moments in a basketball game - I noticed the music during play thing the other night watching the Raps/Nets game. So irritating.

I would add (and I've ranted about this before) something else that was on full display in that game: the way time outs are used to suck the life out of the final 2-3 minutes of every marginally close game. Notably, the two non-basketball fans I forced to watch the game both stated this was the #1 reason why they didn't follow basketball.

A pre-emptive non-traditional Christmas song strike:

The Ramones - Merry Christmas I Don't Want to Cry Tonight
The Kinks - Father Christmas
Robert Earl Keen - Merry Christmas from the Family
John Prine - Christmas in Prison
John Lennon - Merry Christmas (War is Over)

[Ian Murray]

@Geoff. Burning through timeouts and "extending" the clock at the end when you're down by 6 or 7 points is really annoying. I'm too lazy to search through game logs, but what percentage of times does this work?! I've talked to non basketball fans and some of them say they hate how the last 2-3 minutes feel like they last a 1/2 hour. Oh well, still an awesome sport!

[511]

Re 'Slauson Cutoff', I saw five comments and half-expected to see "Johnny Carson" five times, but ... none? Ok, then ... Johnny Carson. (ding?)

[Nathan]

Spice up your columns Dougie!!!!! We want gossip and more outing for players coaches.

Blogger's note: Yeah, I'll get right on that because mindless gossip and whatever "outing for players coaches" means is what I do.

[Gene]

Best Christmas song ever " Fairytale Of New York " The Pogues

[Al]

Worst NBA game parts: Great list, agree with #1 especially. For me, the worst part of the NBA are the ticky-tack fouls. A couple in a row and I often turn the channel.

Best 'untraditional' christmas song: Feliz Navidad! Even reading it now I'm humming it to myself....

[Pipit]

Too many basketball unrelated stuff in this blog. Let's get it going a little bit. Doug, in line with the present trade involding three teams, what do you think the main reason why in Raptors history that the team is not involved in blockbuster trades, in acquiring superstars (not wash-up superstars) or even superstars calling out that they want to be traded in Toronto. Is it location, tax schemes, mismanagement.... Damn, its been 16 years and the only way we get superstars is to draft them, develop them and afterwards see them go. Doug, just one reason, why?

Blogger's note: Sorry, too busy working on Christmas lists.

[Joe]

Good points about what needs to be fixed in the game Doug. Timeouts are really annoying. They should limit each team to 3 each half.

Another point about so many of these nagging or serious injuries. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that these guys play too many games in a compressed period of time. Taking a peek at the Raptors schedule, you'll see that most weeks they're playing 4 or 5 games in 7 days. One day there in Toronto, next day they're in Miami etc. That has to take a toll on them physically and mentally. When I was at the game on Sunday, you could sense fatigue in the Lakers too who were just finishing an eastern road trip. Kobe looked gassed at time. So, why doesn't the NBA change the schedule? Reduce the preseason to 4 games from 8, start the season 2 weeks early. Have a 26 week season with 3 games/week for each team. That way they can get in 3 practice days and maybe one off-day per week. The players would be healthier and the quality of play would also improve. You have a 78 game season plus a few days off for the all-star game thrown in. Doug, is the union looking into making this an issue during the upcoming collective agreement negotiations?

Blogger's note: It will be far down the list but it is a concern

[Nick]

@Joe w/ the NFL looking to lengthen their season and with the sheer number of games in an MLB season, even if the union made a priority of decreasing the number of games it probably wouldn't get passed the owners in a CBA.
To add to the point of ingame music it is made exponentially worse by the holiday season. I couldn't help thinking during Heat/Mavs last night that the organ carols being played during play had to be a distraction to everyone, even the players.

[Matt G]

@Mr. Cook -- Reilly and Ferrell were creepy-awesome. Always did enjoy listening to that way more than watching that awkward duo.

[Steph]

Gortat says he's looking forward to playing with Steve Nash. Is Nash the most popular point guard for bigs in the NBA?

From yesterday's movie list I would include the Family Stone, great cast, good story, and it has some Canadian content.

And your response to pipit was classic, thanks for the laugh....

Blogger's note: I believe Nash would be, yes.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Yo Doug,
Music and game ops indeed! I attended just one game last year, and sat way up in nosebleed territory. I thought my ears might bleed too! The noise level was outrageous!! Honest to god, I saw two babies in the crowd wearing industrial-strength ear protection – as in the type you see the groundcrew wearing on aircraft carriers. What does that tell you?! (It would have been criminal if they weren't...) Is it just that all of that noise travels up into rafters and then bounces around for an extra week or two up there? Or is it that loud down at floor level too, Doug? (I don't remember anything that crazy painful from my earlier years in Toronto, when I'd spring for platinum viewing a couple times a year.) Are the sound levels far more "shock and awe" than they used to be, or have you lost enough of your hearing to not notice the difference? And why aren't you wearing aircraft carrier ear and head gear? I'm sure you could coordinate those to not overly clash with your svelte mauve attire.
And now back to our feature film: Woody Harrelson, Woody Allen, Woody Woodpecker, Woody Herman, Herman Munster and Dumpo the Wonder Pigeon, in Heidi Suffers an Estogen Avalanche...
Cheers. Go Raps!

Blogger's note: It can get pretty deafening where I am; but I suspect it's louder upstairs

[Penguin]

LOVE your list of five things/moments you could do without during games. By far, my number one is your number one. I guess that I am old school. I HATE the playing of music while the teams are running up and down the court. It's annoying, distracting, and suggests that the entertainment value of the game isn't enough. Unfortunately, I doubt that it will ever go back to the way it was. But, if I had another Christmas wish, that would be it.I'd even go so far as to say that it is one reason I am less eager to go to games. Guess the market research people have found, however, that it's necessary to attract the younger folks to the games.

[Johnn19]

Doug:
Re your article on Kleiza, and the Calderon Factor, it may not just be Kleiza, that has been helped as the team is 5-6 when Jose has started, and 5-12 when someone else has started at PG.
Seems that BC has agreed with your assertion that Jose was the better PG in moving Jack out the door even though he was the self confessed team leader and father to the young ones..

[Penny]

Doug - since the HOTH do not play between Wednesday and the following Monday, are some of the players going home for Christmas?

Blogger's note: Most, if not all.

[Boko]

If you don’t listen to the top Boney M Christmas Carol "Mary's Boy Child", you may have Irregular status revoked.

[vank]

So...who was the lone player in the gym?

Blogger's note: Andrea

[Mike kovacs]

'Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses

[sam]

Let me add my 2 cents to the Christmas song list -
I spent some time as an on air guy at a Radio Station -
Christmas brought a whole list of very unlistenable tunes - including Sir Paul McCartneys - Wonderful Christmas Time - Some Stand out's were anything by the Carpenters - Beautifully produced and performed -
And it isn't Christmas until you hear Burl Ives Holly Jolly Christmas, and Nat King Coles version of Mel Torme's Chrismas song - It makes me want to roast chest nuts.....

The Calderon Factor that some one mentioned earlier - I really struggle with those who don't see what he brings to the table - He's a joy to watch - and its been shown he can lead this team - with out telling you he's the leader....I'm hoping Bayless watches and learns from this guy. It would make for a pretty good one two punch for a few years.