Hello from Dallas, where the TV choices abound

Better late than never?

A guy can only hope. So, after an entirely uneventful flight, the kind that are most appreciated, here you go:

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THREE POINTERS

Tricks are for kids

Or coaches. And Jay pulled out a few of them last night; none worked in the end but you have to give a guy credit for trying.

One came on Memphis’s last possession of the first half and was kind of interesting to see.

The Grizzlies got the ball back with about 25 seconds left and were dribbling out the clock as the Raptors were in man-to-man defence. Jay’s right in front of us, yelling “10 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds” and as the clocked got to that point, it was “orange, orange, orange” and we all know what that means, right?

Yep, I’ve seen them switch between man and zone on alternating possessions, now I’ve seen them do it during the same set.

Didn’t work, they fouled Zach Randolph on the play, but it was interesting to see.

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The next step

Ed Davis spends a lot of time post-practice and before games working with Alex English and Amir Johnson and there’s one lesson he has to learn from Johnson really soon.

That’s rolling hard to the basket after setting a screen, a second-nature move that gets Johnson all kinds of easy baskets.

Davis? Not so much. On a handful of occasions in Memphis, he set a screen and kind of drifted instead of heading to the rim and the point guard – generally Jose – couldn’t find him.

It’ll come, Davis seems to have not bad basketball instincts, but the sooner, the better.

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Amir’s tough night

You know, you have to give Amir Johnson credit.

The kid’s hurting, no doubt about it, yet he trotted himself out there for 29 minutes. It was his first scoreless game of the season – he missed all four shots he took – but there was all kind of effort.

Now, he wasn’t putting himself at any major risk, and when the back tightened up he sat down, but that kind of effort does not go unnoticed by a coach. Right, Jay?

“He tried to play for his teammates but he’s not even close. You can tell the way he runs the floor and the way that he’s limited in his jumping ability trying to rebound the basketball. It’s tough but he played because he knew we only had three bigs.”

Hope his teammates noticed.

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More? Here’s a little.

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Memo to hotels

You can stop blaring Christmas carols any time now.

Thank you.

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Clicks galore.

Not cliques, mind you.

First, this one from Memphis.

And then this one from Dallas.

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Speaking of Dallas, did you know the Raptors have lost 10 straight games there, a streak that dates back to Dec. 30, 1999?

Yep, more than a decade.

But there’s more to that last win, too.

It marked the first time I was offered a ride home after a game on the team charter.

Check out that date and you’ll be able to figure out why.

On Dec. 31, 1999, when the two grunts on the journey were supposed to fly home, the world was supposed to end with the arrival of Y2K and instead of making us fly home through Chicago, and brave the carnage that was to come with the end of the ‘90s, Butch let us sit in the back of the plane and we were home to spend the arrival of the millennium safe and sound with our families.

Y2K? Talk about a flop, eh? After New Coke and Ishtar, it might be the biggest ever.

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What’s gone in Dallas?

Well, let me tell you.

History made

If at any point tonight the Raptors lead by 24 points (all together now: Hahahahahahahaha) please don’t turn the TV.

They’re more likely than not to blow the lead.

Yep, it’s happened twice/

Feb. 25, 2006, when they led by 24 in the third quarter and ended up losing in overtime.

Nov. 20, 2007, when they led by 24 in the second quarter and didn’t need the extra five minutes to blow that game.

Those two games still represent the biggest blown leads in franchise history. Wonder what wackiness awaits us late oneer tonight.

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P Time

It’s the pre-season in 1999, we’re on a dreadful Edmonton-Colorado Springs-Dallas-Milwaukee road trip and there’s at least one moment of levity.

Late in the game in Dallas (they’d go on to lose by two), some pop culture/basketball fans start a chant I don’t imagine I’ll ever hear again:

We Want P, We Want P, We Want P.

And since I can’t see a washroom anywhere close in the old Reunion Arena, I figure they must be clamouring for the one and only Percy Miller, he of Master P rap fame.

And Butch, to his ever-lasting credit, gave them what they wanted, using Miller in the final few minutes.

I have no idea what he did but I’m sure it involved a lot of dribbling and shooting ‘cause that’s what P did.

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A nice walk

Way back in the day, they used to play at Reunion Arena, an old antiquated building a couple of miles down the road from the American Airlines Center.

It was a bit of a dump but it had one thing going for it:

Close proximity – like a 10-minute walk – from Dealey Plaza and for a guy of a certain age, standing in the school book depository looking over the Kennedy assassination spot is something else.

There are some perks of the job and that’d be the one about being here.

Now, I don’t know if Oswald acted alone, I suspect he did, but it was pretty cool to live the history.

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Here’s the funny thing about the 10-game road losing streak the HOTH have against the Mavs.

It’s not their longest current stretch of futility against an opponent.

Oh, it is by time – not having won there this century is pretty unique – but they’ve dropped 11 in a row in Cleveland.

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Seriously, a guy checks into a Dallas hotel, flips on TV and goes around the dial and what’s he find?

TJ Hooker!

Man, there are waaaaaaay too many channels.

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Comments

[Dave in BG]

TSBD and Dealey Plaza. Also had the pleasure of visiting there, and yes, it gives you a few goosebumps. If you ever have the chance, go see it. Maybe surprisingly, the TSBD has not been turned into a huge, bizarre museum/side show. A little understated, and that is how it should be.

[Joe]

Hi Doug,
Sounds like you're having a "fun" time in Dallas. Do you plan on having a best of 2010 blog sometime this week? I thought I might get it going by thinking back to the game of the year. For the NBA, game 7 of the Celtics vs Lakers final on June 17. That 4th quarter was one of the best I've seen. For the Raptors, I'd say the Jan. 24th game when they beat the Lakers at home 106-105. Lots of us thought that might have been the turning point for a successful season. Didn't turn out that way but it sure was a great game.

[jimt]

doug do you watch the jump on nba.com on tuesdays?
doug did you vote for bosh for all star?
doug can you covertly kidnap most of the mavs so we have a chance 2nit,thx
P.s 3yeses get u free courtside seats at the brooklyn2toronto concert:)

[Rob.V]

Dude, guess you get to live the high life down there with all that "good cable"... thinking of taking your talents to Dallas are you??.

[Lorie]

Hey Doug,
Y2K did have us all abuzz and atwitter for awhile didn't it? Sure seems silly now. (As does my recalled anticipation for "The Gong Show - The Movie!" and the premiere of The Chevy Chase Show.) But, as far as film disasters, didn't "Heaven's Gate" nearly bankrupt an entire studio? Now that's a Big Flop! TJ Hooker? It was sort of entertaining, (and a bit of a Rat Pack connection: did you know that Bill's co-star in the series, James Darren, is godparent to Frank Sinatra eldest grandchild?! There's some useless trivia for you. ) but I think Shatner's greatest TV performances were delivered on Boston Legal. With the role of Denny Crane we were offered up his piece de resistance. A question about the Dallas School Book Depository: are you saying that one can stand at the actual place, at that window where Oswald stood? I don't think I can even imagine how affecting an experience that would be.

Blogger's note: I don't remember exactly how close you can get but I seem to recall it's right at the spot.

[vank]

Dead laughing @ Ishtar. We can only hope the 2012 Mayan thing and that Fockers movie work out for the better.

[Pipit]

Boring game. Boring article.

Blogger's note: Boring comment. Yawn.

[Rob.V]

Okay, heres the thing. I'm really a very positive person, REALLY, I am... but this road trip is probably the beginning of the end to this season for the Raptors.

Which really sucks on a couple of different levels because A) I really want to see our players do well, it's frustrating to see them lose, and B) I personally do not enjoy stomach cramps... while watching them lose.

Yep, sometimes the return on the Raptors investement just doesn't pay dividends.

Mr. Colangelo, is there anything I can do to help? No remuneration required... I'll work for free. Looking for another henchman to run things past? Yeah, we really should have traded that Bosh fellow, you know. I'm guessing we could have gotten at least one starter and maybe not one, but 2 1s round picks!!! Or since we appear to be in complete "tear it down mode" this season anyway... maybe we could have given that 6-9/10 Beasley kid a look at SF for us, no? I mean, couldnt we use a taller/ longer SF??. But hey, who needs another 2nd overall asset?... you're right!. We can just be a horrrible team and draft just as bad players next off season.

And the season?

Well, I've got Ed Davis becoming a full blown starter by February 1st - which means the Raptors record will probably be somewhere in the 15-35 range... or... well you get the picture!.

It's bleak folks... bleak!

Hope I'm wrong - but unfortunatley, I don't think I will be.

So, I guess I'll sit through another blown season and try to enjoy some of the other NBA happenings. Man do we miss Regend. Colangelo has got to get it right next off season!! Listen, he's forgotten more about being a GM than I'll ever know however there is one thing I am 1000% certain of:

If you play 20 year olds... YOU. WILL. LOSE!!!.

GOD couldn't coach this team to 30 wins.

Okay, now back to my Anothiny Robbins CD. Faaawk!... I'm going to need him for the rest of the day!!!

[HopeCaper]

Hey Doug. The Raps are a dog's breakfast right now and the NBA season, like mother nature, can be very humbling. At the pre-season we heard much about the depth of the team but just throw in 4 or 5 injuries and there goes your depth. From Jay's comments it sounds like he could use another 20 point a game guy on the team. What was it Bosh scored per game again? Yeah.

Enjoy the weather (wish I was there) as we just got dumped on here by the Bay of Fundy. Talk about autumn and winter weather being of Biblical proportions. First the flood now the freeze.

[Mark]

Hi Doug! great blog. you know what i´d like for xmas? A big shot-blocking starting center, allowing our favorite italian to keep scoring from the 4spot and giving us a twin-tower front line. I´m liking Nene, JaVale McGee and Roy Hibbert. What do you think the likeliness is of Santa Colangelo coming through with a late xmas delivery?

Blogger's note: Um, Denver, Philly and Indy seem to, you know, like those guys, too

[ditch dickinson]

Re: an earlier comment on depth, there aren't many teams in any sport who can succeed with 4 or 5 injuries to its starting line up. Therefore, No great surprise that the Raps are struggling (bravely, I believe).

Doug, did you say Oswald acted alone????

Yikes. Are you a buddy of Earl Warren or Earl Camembert?

[jc]

Hey Doug,
Watching some holiday basketball over the weekend, I couldn't help notice this guy in Orlando who was playing defence. He went by the name of Turkoglu....is he any relation to the guy we had? Maybe we should try and sign him. He had a pretty good nationaly televised postgame interview too (I guess "ball!" was too sophisticated for ABC)

[ditch dickinson]

You put my name on the wrong post, Mr. Dunahee!

[ditch dickinson]

I apologize. You did not put my name on the wrong post. My bad. A man with time on his hands and a computer can make many mistakes Sorry Doug. I will go and stand in the corner.

[Mark]

Hi Doug. Re: my shot-blocking center xmas wishlist from yesterday.

i realize Hibbert might be asking a lot, and Nene too unless denver is looking to clear some salaries post-melo. But how about washington´s JaVale McGee? At 23 years old, 7'0 and 2.5 blocks/game, he could fit in well, and word is he might be available!

"After suspending Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee one game for an altercation outside of a club, league sources say that the Washington Wizards will consider trading either Blatche or McGee in the coming weeks. The team will gauge interest around the league and after shopping the players, decision whether or not a trade would be the right move for the franchise

Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18309#ixzz19VL6Vsyw"