The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Rockets

Howdy, pardners!

How's everyone?

Highlights, lowlights and New Year's Eve memories

So, do you look back today or forward? Recap or predict? Remember or resolve?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Maybe look back today and look forward tomorrow?

Sounds good to me.

And herewith are five rather memorable moments, good and bad, of the calendar year that’s wrapping up.

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The last shot

For all the good stuff that Chris Bosh did for his seven years in Toronto – and surely we can all agree he did an awful lot of good – the fact that his final moment at the Air Canada Centre as a Raptor was that missed tip that would have won the Golden State game in such dramatic fashion is a shame.

Seeing him lying on the court in frustration, watching the Warriors celebrate Nellie passing Lenny and the Raptors losing a crucial game was tough, wasn’t it?

Now, we didn’t know he’d break his face in Cleveland a couple of nights later and never wear the uniform again but in hindsight, that was a tough way to go out.

Ball

‘Nuf said?

Not really. The whole Hedo Turkoglu saga was one that made 2010 memorable on a few levels.

He had some good nights, lots of bad ones, and the “ball” post-game interview with Jack Armstrong will be the enduring memory of a good signing that went terribly wrong, awfully quickly.

A feel good win

Raptors 106, Lakers 105

Toronto gets a good whistle with seconds left, Kobe misses at the buzzer (I swear it was going in from my angle) and it was the most electric the arena was in the calendar year.

The non-trade

Remember the excitement everyone felt in the summer when Jose and Reggie were off to Charlotte for Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw?

Well, would you do that trade today?

Would everyone be comfortable with Jarrett Jack as the starting point guard, no Jerryd Bayless, no Reggie and a rather portly Diaw and Chandler providing interior defence perhaps at the expense of Ed Davis?

I wonder. Not sure I would.

The one no-show

Biggest game of the year, as it turns out. Playoffs on the line, a chance to salvage a terrible last half of the season, huge home crowd wanting something to cheer about.

Bulls 104, Raptors 88.

Season over.

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Oh yeah.

Remember I told you about the crazy deadlines that forced me to write an early plugger story on Fridays and meant we had more than a few papers published without the game story in them?

Well, they’re gone. Back to normal tonight and barring anything crazy, the gamer will be in every edition.

You’re welcome.

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My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who gave me Pappas Brothers Steakhouse and St. Arnold’s.

Well done.

Or medium rare, I mean.

Oh, you know what I mean.

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Hey, how’s that junior pucks thing going?

None of my hotels have ESPN18 so I can’t see a highlight.

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Speaking of:

Q: This may have been covered before, but I'll give it a shot. I grew up playing many sports and gained an appreciation for all of them. While I enjoy watching/following some (hoops) more than others, you seem to show nothing but disdain for the pucks. Why is that? Perhaps you could compare the two sports to each other in light of clarifying your love/hate perspective of the two?

Dave M, Calgary

A: I don’t think it’s “disdain” as much as it is a desire to mock. You have to admit, the media sometimes goes, you know, over the top with its love for the pucks and its desire to bring every miniscule morsel of information breathlessly to the public.

And I love the fact a team that hasn’t sniffed a Stanley Cup in almost half a century can evoke such passion; it’s crazy.

For the game itself? I don’t understand the intricacies of it well enough to offer any comment on the various styles and skill levels of the players or teams so maybe it is a case of mocking that which you do not know.

But it’s fun.

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I guess the only thing approximating news with the HOTH (that’s Heroes Of The Hardcourt for all those who ask) was that Jose, Jerryd and Sonny all sat out practice yesterday in Dallas.

Can’t see any way that Sonny suits up tonight against the Rockets, the other two will most likely be game time decisions but we’re going to wander down to shootaround later this morning to see what’s up.

Go to the twitter thing and check later, I’ll put up any news I get.

Oh, if neither Calderon nor Bayless can go, it’ll be Leandro Barbosa as the starter and, Jay keeps telling us, Julian Wright as the backup point guard.

I’d kind of like to see that.

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Speaking of Houston, here’s what Jonathan’s got today in the Chronicle.

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I’m trying to think which of the three New Year’s Eve games these guys have played was the most memorable and it was easy.

We’re in Washington in ’97 for what should be a dull night except that before the game, Darrell Walker says Tracy McGrady, then a rookie, better smarten up or he’d be out of the league in three years. Yikes. News to write. Ugh.

So we do, work a bit harder than expected and there’s a concert going on in the arena after and I can still remember sitting in the media room listening to Gladys Knight (sans Pips, as I recall) warble Auld Lang Syne.

And then it’s back to the hotel to ring in the New Year except – get this! – the lobby bar is closed and 1998 was welcomed with two Miller Lites out of the minibar. Livin’ large!

The other two New Year’s were rather ho-hum.

New Orleans in ’07, a quick walk up Bourbon Street was something everyone needs to see once. Just once.

Home to Denver in ’09. Boring.

And that’s it, a rather ho-hum New Year’s Eve history.

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A series of unrelated items for your enjoyment

A hugely quiet day, interrupted only by a torrential downpour, Texas-size replete with thunder and lightning, and a throng of zany Baylor and Illinois college football fanatics that turned my lobby into a frat house for a couple of hours.

And more of the same today, I imagine. Except that the Baylor people have skulked back to Dallas and the Illini are whooping it up going home.

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You get your help wherever you can.

And it’s nice to know people in different cities.

With a couple of Raptors having back woes – Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson are really troubled these days – getting treatment is a huge part of their day.

And while the Raptors training staff is a good one, and fully capable of doing what’s necessary to get guys healthy, they got some help in Dallas from an unlikely source.

Seem one guy knows a guy who knows a guy and suddenly an ex-Texas Longhorn lineman, NFL draft pick and practicing chiropractor Jay Humphrey was there to work on Johnson enough so that Amir could play against the Mavs while also trying to work on the kinks that have left Sonny on the sidelines for more than a week.

Must have been a rather intimidating therapy session, too. Am told Humphrey goes about 6-6, 300 pounds and having that kind of bulk work on back must have been something.

That’s kind of how things work in the world of pro sports. A guy knows someone in some city who knows someone else and services are offered an accepted.

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Remember Peja Stojakovic?

Guy they got in the Jarrett Jack trade, likely just a rental until the February trade deadline?

Well, I’m told his knee’s better – he’s spent some time in New Orleans with doctors and therapists there – and there is a chance he’ll be back on the practice court next week.

Now, I don’t think for a second he’s here long-term – if he shows he’s fit, some contender will want him down the stretch – but in these days with the injuries killing the HOTH, there are sure some minutes available for him.

I also don’t know what they could possibly turn him and his expiring, $15 million contract into but I do think he’ll be gone by the end of February.

But it’s nice that he might be back for a bit before that.

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Airport rant:

DFW’s American Airlines terminal might be the least efficient place in the transportation world.

At one security point, as the line grows longer and longer, the lone TSA agent checking Ids (dude who bears a striking resemblance to Barney Fife) is so slow he doesn’t even notice the dude shutting down one of two X-ray machines because, well, apparently because he just wanted to since there were about six colleagues sitting around lollgagging while our line extended down a hallway.

I swear, it’s not the consistent diet of bad basketball or the ravages of age or the whims of a boss that’s going to drive me out of this business. It’s going to be when I suffer a bout of travel rage, make some inappropriate comment to some TSA buffoon and get banned from travelling.

End o’ rant.

Thank you.

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Hey, you gals and guys did a tremendous job filling the mailbag yesterday and I’m going to have a lot of time to maybe sit on a stool later today and Saturday when I get back and bluff answers.

You’ve still got some time to click, write, send and here’s one plucked from the pile:

Q: Hey Doug. Love the blog. I read it every chance I get. One of my pet peeves is when sports channels are reporting the scores and comment something along the lines of "Raptors blow a 10 point lead". In my opinion, a 10-point lead in the first quarter is much different than a 10-point lead, say with 3 minutes left in the fourth. My question is how big does a team's lead have to be before you would consider it "blown" if they ultimately lose the game? Maybe you could give a number for each quarter?

Thanks.

 

Derek L, Mississauga

A: If there’s one thing we all should have come to realize over the years is that no first-half “lead” should be considered blown unless it’s more than 20 points. It’s a game of runs and if you’re up 18 with four minutes until the half, it doesn’t mean squat.

If I had to put numbers on what’s considered “blown” let’s go with this for now:

10 with three minutes to go.

15 with five minutes to go.

18 with eight minutes to go.

And 20 to start the fourth quarter.

You cough those up and you’ve blown it. Of course, that’s all subjective but you asked.

A 10-point lead in the first or second quarter? Yawn.

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There is no news on the various Raptors ills, sorry to say.

The lads had yesterday off to laze around the Dallas area – and for the first time in seven years a trip there didn’t include a team dinner put on by Chris Bosh’s mom – and they won’t practice until late this afternoon.

But it won’t matter anyway.

I know these guys and I know how they think and they’ll wait until tomorrow night to find out which, if any, of them can go.

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So we’re in the cab going to the airport in Dallas and there’s a directional highway sign that says:

President George Bush Turnpike.

And a guy wonders:

Which one?

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So I mentioned the HOTH are practicing in Dallas today, right?

Well, they were supposed to work at SMU (they practice there any time they have an extra day in Dallas) but had to move to the arena after the Mavs and Spurs have their game-day shootarounds because of some big bowl game in Dallas today involving the Mustangs and some service academy.

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Hey, thanks for the Houston tips, I’ll get to check out a lot of them today at some point since it’s a hotel/writing/sticking close to home day around here.

And as I look out over the Galleria malls and see signs for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, I figure there’s not a whole lot of shopping I can afford on my measly pittance.

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Doesn't that prove that sports really is a wonderful thing?

Okay, all together now:

That’s why they play the games.

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THREE POINTERS

Rebounding well

No, not grabbing missed shots, mentally rebounding.

The thing that might have been most impressive about the win was how they handled the inevitable Mavs run and there was an early one that stood out.

Toronto goes up 25-15 early but here come the Mavs, rattling off 10 straight points to tie it with about nine minutes left in the first half.

That’s about the time you kind of expected the beaten up, tired Raptors to fold up, kind of like they did in Memphis the night before.

But noooooo. They go on an 18-6 run, lead by a dozen with three minutes left in the half and it was as bold a statement as they made.

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Where was Ed?

The first half was as good a stretch as Ed Davis has played all year and I know Jay was getting killed by some Irregulars in the third quarter when he left the kid on the bench for almost 10 minutes.

Why’d he do it?

“It was just a matter of when we were going to get him in in the second half because (Monday) night, Memphis scored four straight times on us to start the second half.

 

“We talked in the locker room that we need to get stops, we played well in the first half but we have to get stops right away here. And Joey did a great job and it was like, ‘I have to run with these guys even though Ed’s having a great game.’”

And it turned out all right, didn’t it?

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Making his case, again

Once again, Julian Wright didn’t put up the greatest of numbers – scoreless with only four rebounds in 25 minutes – but once again, he had a big impact on the game.

He defender, he ran the floor, he moved the ball on offence and he was quite good.

Which leads me to this question:

Is he rendering Sonny Weems moot?

Seriously, since I’m still unconvinced that Weems and DeMar DeRozan can both function effectively when they’re on the court together, I wonder if Jay shouldn’t just give some Weems minutes to Wright on a regular basis even when Sonny’s ready?

It seems to free up DeRozan to have the ball on offence more, which can only help him and it puts Toronto’s best perimeter defender on the court more often.

Make sense? Does from this angle.

That’s not a knock against Sonny, who has some skills that Julian doesn’t but, on this team at this moment, I don’t think it’s a bad idea.

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Anyway, a little more:

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All kinds of questions post-game on where that game might rank all-time and I have to admit, given the circumstances, it’s got to be pretty high on the list.

Now, I don’t like to compare eras and the win in Washington back in ’03 when an eight-man team with three guys on 10-day deals beat the Jordan Wizards was good, as was the first-year win over the 72-10 Bulls at the Dome.

But when it comes to dissect the great gritty performances by an over-matched or under-manned team all-time, that one really has to be in the conversation.

Now all I have to do is remember it when it comes time to compile that list.

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You know it’s been a good night for someone when you wander outside for fresh air with a coffee at 6:15 a.m. and there’s a half-empty glass of red wine on a little table in the tiny courtyard by the hotel front door.

And New Year’s isn’t until Friday!

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Hey, people.

Remember the mail?

The place where you send me little notes and say hi and ask questions?

Um, could you get to it, please.

Pretty much empty over there, which means it’s time to click, write and send. Really: Ask, say, tell anything you like.

Thank you.

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Mr. Sefko, a fine post-game host and a heckuva fella, reports things thusly in the pages of the Dallas Morning News.

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Right, I owe a guy an explanation.

Some Irregulars might recall the really good line someone dropped on me about mid-way through the fourth quarter last night:

Leandro plays point guard like Curly Neal.

Anyway, someone asked me to explain and here it is: When Curly was doing his magic with the Globetrotters, he was a dribbling maniac, skittering hither and yon, and just killing the Washington Generals.

Well, didn’t you see a bit of that in Leandro down the stretch, in a good way?

Wasn’t this the best play the Raptors had in the last five minutes:

Let Leandro dribble out 18 seconds off the 24-second clock and then see what happens?

Not a bad play, given the circumstances.

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Hmm.

It’s 6:45 a.m. here and I’m clicking around the dial and there’s not a single bowl game on TV.

Someone’s dropped the ball on that one.

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Hey!

I just found two files stored on this machine that’ll give me a couple of days of work. It’s more lists, and here’s one:

Q: This one might require some serious thinking, but it gets discussed often in forums and I'd like your thoughts:

What's your top five rules in the NBA that you believe deserve some tweaking for the betterment of the game?

Thanks for your time!

 

Alex K, London

A: In no particular order, let me give you these:

Timeouts: I give each team two per half that can’t be carried over. I guess TV needs one per quarter but that’s it.

Kicked ball: Leave the shotclock where it is, don’t re-set it to 14 if it’s below that when a ball is kicked.

Timeouts II: Know what I’d like to see back? If a player has possession of the ball and is falling out of bounds, I’d let him call a timeout. It usually happens at the end of some hustle play when it happens and I think a guy should be rewarded. Or at least have the chance to be.

Goaltending: The more I think back to the worlds and Olympics, I’ve seen, why not let defensive players knock the ball off the rim if it’s bouncing around.

The charge circle: I’d shrink the semi-circle under the basket a little bit, give the defenders a better chance to contest shots at the rim.

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I need some help.

Because of this zany schedule, we’ll be in Houston long enough to get citizenship, I think. Arrive Wednesday afternoon and don’t leave until Saturday morning and that’s an awful lot of time in a city I don’t particularly like because it’s so spread out.

So what I need is a couple of dinner spots that should be somewhere close to the Galleria mall (locals or those with Houston knowledge will know what I mean) because there a couple of nights to kill. I’m sure I’ll find a local to sit and sip and work on mail and year-end stuff but a good, relatively inexpensive joint or two would be nice.

Thanks.

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The Goods On The Game, Raptor at Mavericks

Hello from Big D.

This might be, um, an adventure, depending on who plays.

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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It's too early to type, here's a synopsis for now

You know, the plan to get the 3 a.m. wakeup call to rise and shine and finish off the morning missive sure sounded good about the middle of the third quarter Monday night.

But then reality – and sanity – took hold and the allure of the extra 90 minutes sleep was too much to pass up.

So if you’re here for the daily dose of what passes for insight and entertainment, you’re going to have to wait until sometime around noon Eastern time when I’m firmly ensconced in the Dallas hotel room.

Trust me, it’ll read a little bit like this:

THREE POINTERS

Memphis bad, Toronto beaten up, saw result coming a million miles away

And in other stuff:

Fun, frivolity and a trip down memory lane.

That’s the Cole’s Notes version (they still have those?) and the real stuff will be up later.

Enjoy breakfast.

 

 

 

 

The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Grizzlies

Hey, welcome back everyone.

Set to go here?

Everyone's back and ready to go

Miss me?

Anyway, we’re on central time for a week with some awful travel (the 7 a.m. flight out of here to Dallas to complete the back-to-back sucks, having three days in Houston isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen because I’m not a big fan of the city) so I have no idea when I’ll get this done every morning.

But done it will be, like it is now:

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So, what’s up with the post-Christmas HOTH?

Nothing good.

A brutal schedule – six of seven on the road, the lone home game against Boston, Andrea’s not on this trip – could have them dead and buried shortly after 2011 starts.

Of course, we know “that’s why they play the games” and who knows what actually transpires but man, things seem bleak, don’t they?

I know they’d had four days off after the Detroit game but it looked like the same old banged-up group here Sunday night.

Amir Johnson was wandering around like the 2,000 Year Old Man (and he was …) with ice on his back after practice, I asked Sonny how his back was feeling and got an expletive as a one-word answer and things didn’t seem a whole lot better than they were after the Detroit game.

But, on the bright side, seems everyone had a happy holiday.

Chef Solomon Alabi was relatively pleased with his first attempt at a nice chicken and rice stew (“It was okay, only good for me, I’ll be better next time), Amir got his gumbo (“ate great and slept, a nice break”) and the rest of ‘em seemed quite relaxed.

I do think the mental break was almost as important as the physical respite they got; they were stumbling along, playing poorly, with game piling up one on top of the other before Christmas and getting away from the game – and each other – probably wasn’t a bad idea.

And since they’re about to start a stretch of seven games in 12 days, being mentally fresh is significant. They don’t have good physical health but at least they seem mentally rested.

Wonder what that’s worth?

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One of the big surprises of walking into the Grizzlies practice facility to catch the final few minutes of the Raptors workout Sunday night?

Everyone was there.

Well, almost.

Alvin got stuck in that blizzard that was raging in Philly yesterday morning; Micah was in Indy on Sunday night scouting the Grizzlies but, other than that, everyone who was supposed to be there was.

There have been guys – hello, Mo Pete! – who historically had travel woes getting back after the Christmas or all-star breaks and missed the first practice (their wallets were lighter for it) but this entire roster arrived on time.

And that includes Leandro, who made a quick trip to Brazil, and Sonny, who came from across the Mississippi.

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What’s up with the Grizzlies?

Well, they knocked off the Pacers on Sunday and here are the gory details.

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Speaking of Memphis, I don’t recall a whole lot of extraordinary things happening at games here (they did get drilled here a year ago that really exposed them as physically unable to compete some nights) but there have been a few stories that create trips down memory lane.

Like …

Rob’s excellent idea

It was late 2005, I think, when the Raptors had an off-day here during a road trip.

Rob, bless his heart, arranged for a second bus after the team plane landed to take whoever wanted to go to the Civil Rights Museum for a private tour.

A great, great idea to show the players and coaches a bit of history they should never forget – and that many of their parents and grand parents lived – and it was one of the best things he did.

The fact that about three players and a couple of coaches were the only ones to take advantage of the offer says more about them than anything.

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A memorial work place

The media room here at the FedEx Forum always evokes memories – some sad, mostly good – when I arrive there.

It’s named after Don Poier, the long-time radio and television voice of the Grizzlies here and in Vancouver. Don, who also did some EA Sports work and kids would know his voice for sure, died of a heart attack in January, 2005, in Denver during a road trip.

I know it gets to Jay a little bit, too; they were broadcast partners and it was always a gas to do a game in Vancouver and hang out with them.

He’s missed to this day.

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That’s Mr. Mayor to you

You remember KO, right?

Well, after his rather short and unglamorous stint in Toronto, he did a bit of work as an assistant here in Memphis.

Now, if there was one thing KO knew, besides how to sap all the excitement out of NBA offence, it was to know a place to decompress after a bit after a game.

I remember the year he worked here and we were coming; the Grizzlies where headed out on a trip right after the game and when they were in Toronto earlier that year, I remember asking Kevin for a post-game recommendation and wondered if he knew of a good place on Beale Street.

“Know a place? I’m the Mayor of Beale Street.”

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Oh yeah, you might want to grab up the Raptors No. 12 jerseys.

At least all you Ronald Dupree fans; he’ll wear that number in honour of Donald Whiteside maybe? Or the Big Kitchen? Or Skip To My Lou?

Wait!

Rasho!

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This is why I kind of like just chatting with Jerryd Bayless.

Stopped by his spot after practice to see how he was feeling after what was a really bad bout of stomach flu that floored him for almost a week.

He’s better, no question about it, got home to Phoenix for the holidays, but said he was throwing up a little bit even when he got there. Then, kind of sheepishly, he adds: “And I was going to bathroom a lot, of course.”

Don’t know why, but I found that kind of funny.

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I’ll tell you, there’s nothing quite like sitting upstairs at BB King’s, eating catfish and hush puppies and listening to live jazz.

A nice Sunday night.

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Okay, we’re back to some semblance of normalcy here, everyone have a good week.

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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.