Back to normal with the Sunday morning mail

Okay, really, now we can get back to normal, right?

Holidays over, new year rung in, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And what’s more normal than some Sunday morning mail?

Have at it; see some of you tonight.

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Q: A question highlighted by the current health issues of Amir and Sonny. Why do so many NBA players develop back problems? A quick scan of the NFL injury reports suggests it's less common among NFL players than NBA players, which seems counter-intuitive given the more frequent physical contact in pro football.

Mike D, Toronto

A: I’ve actually asked a few people about this over the years and the answer keeps coming back the same.

A combination of the twisting and stretching that goes on with almost every leap, the accumulating pounding a back takes from the impact of jumping and landing and the physical nature of play under the boards is the combinations of reasons I’m given.

It’s very seldom one “incident” that causes the trauma, it’s the cumulative impact.

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Q: Hi Doug. Just wondering whether the NBA has any control over comments made by team media personnel? I watched the Lakers-Spurs last night and Sean Elliot was doing colour for the home team. Now in addition to being awful (like, really awful), I thought he was unnecessarily critical of the NBA and the types of calls that are made. Nice player in his day, but certainly the worst colour guy I've heard in a long time. He's a bigger homer than Heinsohn, and that's saying something.

 

Dave J, Oakville

A: That is saying something indeed.

But, no, the NBA has no say over local broadcast content. Now, I’m sure there are conversations that take place about crazily and consistently critical analysts or play-by-play guys but nothing “official” can be done.

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Q: Hey Doug. Thanks for the good work on the blog. My questions have to do with some of your other work. I heard you recently on Fan 590 where you did a great job.

Are these "paid" appearances? Do you often get called by stations in other markets? Any plans to do more radio work like some of your brethren grunts do? Hopefully none of these questions are too nosey.

Keep up the good work and all the best to you and the Supers in 2011.

 

Dave L, Kitchener

PS - ever find out where the 20-second time out signal originated from?

A: Some of The Fan appearances do include an honorarium but not all, that’s for sure. I do some of them because friends ask, because I know the host and want to help out. I don’t do an awful lot of “out of market” radio but, again, I’ve struck up some friendships over the year (Indiana TV is one of them at the top of the list) and if they ask, I’m glad to help out.

As for doing more? A regular gig might be nice, as long as it included that honorarium I talked about and it fit into an already busy schedule.

And I’ve asked a bunch of people and no one can figure out when, or why, the 20-second timeout signal began. Sorry.

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Q: Hi Doug; first hope that 2011 is a great one for you. Continue to the love the Blog. Thanks for doing it.

That was one of the best victories in Raps history. Certainly never been a grittier win and they left it all on the floor. Amir was amazing given his back issues.

As I looked at the bench late in the game believe that there were only two players left at the end. That got me wondering, is there a minimum number of players required to dress by league rules? If so and if a team was short, would D league be the only place to go on short notice?

Dave M, Peterborough

 

A: Yes, league rules stipulate that eight players must dress for every game and if there’s a problem with a team not being able to fulfill that mandate, they would have to go out and sign someone to make sure they had eight bodies. And the D League would be one place to look, so would the unemployment roles.

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Q: Hi. I have noticed that you occasionally offer the coaches advice on your blog.

Is there any evidence that they ever used your advice like I wished they would?

Do you suspect they ever remotely consider your suggestions?

Do any players ever say..." you know Doug, I think you got a great idea there." LOL

 

Dave B, Cape Breton

A: Let me cut and paste here.

Hahahahahahaha

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Q: Doug you must have forgotten to answer my questions for the mailbag. As you said you would....(my heart was broken as a big fan of your work!)

Basically the questions were:

What happens if a player refuses to go to the city he is traded to? Does he get paid? Can he sit out the remainder of his contract then become a free agent? Any examples of players that refused to go and took the loss in wages. Thanks and have a Happy New Year

 

MC C, Winnipeg

A: No, he wouldn’t get paid, he would be suspended, he wouldn’t be able to just sit until the contract expires. He could, I suppose, retire officially, but that would cost him the money remaining on his contract and his rights will still be held by the team that obtained him if he wanted to come back.

What you sometimes see – as we did with the case of Marcus Banks and New Orleans – is that a player and team will come to some kind of buyout arrangement that means the guy doesn’t have to report. But that’s a mutual understanding.

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Q: Hi Doug; happy new year. There's been a lot commentary about a perceived chemistry between Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson, and to a lesser extent, between Leandro Barbosa and Bayless. But it seems to my eyes that there's actually quite a "connection" between Calderon and Barbosa. Not only do they appear to play very much in synch, but I also notice a unity between them in terms of encouragement, demonstrative passion when one makes a good play, etc. It seems much more genuine and heartfelt than the camaraderie I observed between Jose and Jarrett Jack.

Do you pick up on this, too, or is it just my imagination? If I'm not imagining it, doesn't this bolster the case for keeping these two around longer-term (experience, talent, and character notwithstanding) as the Raptors rebuild around their young nucleus?

 

Kevin R, Winnipeg

A: Not to diminish your point – because I agree the talents of Calderon and Johnson mesh quite well because Amir’s tends to roll hard to the rim after setting screens – but I think you could find moments were almost any two players have good “chemistry” on the court.

The thing you might be noticing about Calderon and Barbosa is, as you say, similar personality traits and they exist in a lot of combinations.

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Q: Hi, Mr. Smith: My name is Benjamin, and my dad calls himself an Irregular, whatever that is. Since Dad got Raptors tickets for Christmas to see the Bobcats and Pacers in March, I and my friend Devin, 9, are going to our first Raptors games.

My Dad says you know everything that's important about the Raptors, so how, when, and where should I try my best to get autographs from Sonny, Demar, and Andrea?

We'll be wearing our Steve Nash Youth Basketball jerseys, and dad says we'll try and say hello if he sees you.

Thanks.

 

Benjamin O, St. John's

A: Your dad is a wise, wise man, young fella.

Some players stop in the tunnel leading from the court to the Raptors locker room right after their pre-game warmup; that’s probably the best spot.

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Q: We finally saw (or read on the in-game blog or heard on the radio for those of us still holding out on SportsNet 1) the sort of game we have been looking to come from DeMar all season. He says all the right things and seems to get it (need to be aggressive, draw fouls, hit free throws(!) and step up when his team needs him). So why do we not see glimpses of this type of performance even occasionally? Would sure lighten the load on others to score.

All the best to you and Super family for the New Year.

 

Dave M, Puslinch

A: All I can offer you is that it’s because he’s a 21-year-old kid in is second year and he’s still learning to develop the professionalism that allows him to do it more nights than not. It takes time and he’s not had enough yet.

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Q: Hi Doug, keep up the in-game blog, it's great.

I'm on a road trip from Halifax to Mexico, via Vancouver and San Francisco, and I was in Houston last night to catch the HOTH. I was sitting beside some of the folks who were razzing Dorsey, and I asked one of the guys why. He said there was no particular reason, just that he is the only player on Toronto (since the Bosh exit) that he knows that name of. I'll let you take from that what you will.

I have a question about money. I saw that Jerryd didn't come back for the second half -- I'm guessing with ankle problems? On Tuesday you mentioned that he had x-rays in the middle of the game. I'm wondering if there is an unlimited budget for that type of thing, and whether the team, the league covers it. Do the teams/players with more money get better medical attention?

 

Jeremy W, Austin, Tex.

A: It’s actually a reciprocal arrangement with no money changing hands. Most, if not all, facilities have X-ray machines on site and it’s just a matter of going into the room, snapping a few pics and having the team doctors of the host team – franchises only tend to travel their own physicians for playoffs – make a quick diagnosis.

But there are no bills sent when the process is over.

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Q: Hey Doug. Do Rookies get any media training? If not could you please write him a new answer that he can use instead of the same one he has used since draft night. I am thinking it is time that start a Ed Davis Cliche-ometer for every time he answers a question with the same answer... blah blah what coach says, help team, defend blah blah...

I remember in his rookie year, TMac received special "Public Relations training" through the Raptors for that kind of thing, is that an individual's choice, team choice or NBA mandate?

 

Rob N, London

A: As part of the league’s mandatory rookie orientation process, all of them get a little bit of media training and some teams augment that with their own programs.

Most of it, however, is stuff like, be dressed when you talk, look the questioner in the eye, remember names if at all possible. It doesn’t teach them to have personalities.

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Q: Happy New Year, Doug!

With the mention of Curly Neal the other evening in the DSIGBT, it started me thinking about the Harlem Globetrotters. Most of us have seen them at some point, and have enjoyed the display of innovations they've introduced to the game: the alley-oop, the behind the back pass, and the slam dunk were all Globetrotter creations and now I read they've introduced the 35-ft. 4-point shot! (from 12-ft. beyond the NBA's official 3-point line).

Do you see this, like their other creations, making it into the NBA? Do you remember the first time you saw The Globetrotters? And to make this sort of Raptor-related, can you name a former local HOTH who had the necessary skills and personality to be a Globetrotter? Thanks! And here's to a Very Good 2011 for all!

 

Lorie P, London

A: And a Happy New Year to you, too.

The shenanigans of the Globetrotters (that I first saw back in the old Buffalo Aud in the Meadowlark Lemon days) probably don’t translate into “real” basketball but it’d be cool if they did, no?

Now, I don’t know if they had the personality or the skills to become regular Globbies but both Oliver Miller and Jamario Moon spent time with them. Moon, I could see; Oliver, not so much.

And I’d bet Jerome Williams would have had ‘em in stitches, given the chance.

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Q: Let’s assume for a moment that you were an owner of expansion team and you could steal any general manager to run your new team that is currently a GM in the league, who would you pick and why?

 

Mario A, Toronto

A: You’d want a guy who could build a perennial contender with good salary cap management and the ability to find gems either deep in the draft or in free agency.

I’d say you’d want R.C. Buford from the Spurs, wouldn’t you?

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Q: Hi Doug, thanks again for the daily blog. Doug Smith with my morning coffee either before heading to the office, or first thing once I'm there ramping up for the day.

My buddy just had his first child (Gary Jr. Jr.) at the kid's hospital in Toronto this morning, and it's got me a little introspective. I'm 27 now and only began paying close attention to pro basketball when I was early to mid teens, though I played it as a kid. Now I'm noticing all my ``heroes'' when I was young are getting to be either elder statesmen of the league or are retiring (a spectrum from Penny to C. Webb to Shaq to Vince Carter).

Do you get those moments that hit you when you're talking to a nearly middle-aged guy now about his wife and kids, but seemingly not so long ago you were covering just out of high school?

It really hits me when people say things like, ``Gilbert Arenas is getting a little long in the tooth''. Really???

Keep it up, Doug. We appreciate it.

 

David T, Ottawa

A: Oh, yeah, all the time. You talk to guys like Vince, who has a daughter almost school age, I think; or Tracy McGrady, who is indeed an elder statesman and someone I remember as a raw teen and it really hits home. I can vaguely recall covering games that Terry Davis played in and now I’m writing about his son? And don’t get me started on Stephen Curry.

So, yeah, it hits home pretty hard every now and then. But it’s just the inexorable march of time.

Congrats to your buddy, it’s the best – and hardest – thing that’ll ever happen to him and his family.

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Q: Doug, not a basketball-specific question but why are some franchises representative of a state but others represent the cities in which they play (Minnesota, NJ, Utah versus Toronto as an example). I can't imagine the raptors ever having been called the Ontario Raptors though that may have given them more national if not provincial appeal.

Thanks in advance for answering!

 

Felix T, Loughborough, UK

A: Mostly for marketing purposes in smallish markets to allow teams to “brand” themselves as a regional entity. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but, then again, I don’t live in Minny, Jersey or Salt Lake.

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Q: When Kleiza got called on the technicals, TV showed Bayless yelling at him and making hand gestures to use his head. After the game Bayless is quoted as saying the technicals were unnecessary. How does this go over with the more experienced Kleiza?

 

K J, Toronto

A: There were no repercussions, as there shouldn’t have been. I know Linas knew put his team in jeopardy, sometimes emotions get to a guy; and I also think many connected with the team felt ref Bob Delaney had over-reacted. All part of the stuff that happens over a season.

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Q: A pet peeve and an attendant question. It has to do with the knee jerk reaction of every NBA coach and the conventional wisdom of sitting players with X number of fouls at specific times. You know the drill...2 in the first quarter, or 3 in the first half, and the player sits. Question: Has this really been thought through and analyzed for its effectiveness? I understand the motivation., you don't want your players fouling out, and players with fouls might play tentatively or be picked on by the other team. But what of the obvious downside? Players (sometimes your star players), spend great chunks of the game sitting on the bench, usually ending up completing the game with only 3 or 4 fouls. Points, rebounds, assists and blocks count the same whether they come in the second quarter or the fourth. Play him and he may or may not foul out. Sit him and he is out of the lineup for sure.

Your take?

 

Wallace H, Toronto

A: I think a lot of coaches over-react or do things “because that’s the way we’ve always done them” and I don’t know that there’s any empirical evidence to suggest the traditional ways work.

I think more coaches should judge each on their merits that night – how quickly the fouls were amassed, what the matchups are, how much time is exactly left – before making the traditional move.

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Q: Doug, when a player is injured during a game of soccer (well I'm finding it hard to say injured, say acting injured) the opposing team intentionally kicks the ball out of play. When play resumes the team with the injured player gives the ball back out of courtesy. Why don't basketball players do the same? There is a competitive advantage to play 5 on 4, but with all the hugging going on it's kind of disingenuous to let an injured player go unattended.

As always, thanks.

 

Steph R, Glencoe

A: What you see most of the time is not a team throw the ball out of bounds but the team with the injured player committing an immediate foul to stop the clock. And then they take their chances on the ensuing possession, which is fine with me.

It’s really a case of apples and oranges, no?

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Q: Hey Doug, technical rule question. When a shot is attempted and a shooting foul is called does the basket count as a field-goal attempt? Example: Andrea drives and makes a layup while getting fouled, is he now 1-1 from the field? If he misses the layup and gets fouled is he now 0-1 from the field?

Thanks

 

Jay H, Toronto

A: Yes, the field goal attempt counts in the first instance and not in the second.

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Q: Merry Christmas Doug. I've got a basketball 101 question for you. What is a team-rebound?

Also, when there is a rebound which is tipped from one player to another on the same team, who gets credit for said rebound?

Lastly, is it just me, or does Joey Dorsey look like a smaller version of Dwight Howard? They have the same body type, and the same smile.

Anyway - hope you can find space to answer my question.

Thanks!

 

James S, Toronto

A: A team rebound is one in which there is no real “possession.” It occurs in such incidents as when a missed shot is knocked out of bounds without being touched and after desperation heaves at the end of quarters and halfes. Now, for the second part …

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Q: Hey Doug. Happy Holidays to you and your family. My question: does a tip in count towards not just the point but a rebound? Also, does a lose ball knocked/tapped out by, for example, Amir Johnson back to the point to Jose count as a rebound to Amir?

Thanks Doug!

 

Manny T, Ajax

A: There’s a bit of subjectivity involved in that case. If, in the eyes of the scoring crew, a player is deemed to have control of the ball, he’d probably get credit for a rebound on that kind of play.

But it’s not cut and dried and could change from scoring crew to scoring crew.

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Q: Hi Doug. Is it an NBA rule that the starting centre has to take the tip-off? Given Bargnani's lack of hops and Amir's abundance of hops, why does Bargnani always take the tip?

 

Normiyuki H, Toronto

A: No, there’s no rule at all. Any player on the court can take the opening tip

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Q: Hi Doug. In the last few years there have been rumblings that the Raptors were looking to purchase a D league team similar to what San Antonio and the Lakers have. I know that MLSE being up for sale it's going to be unlikely that this happens but as we have seen with Solomon Alabi and Ed Davis the way the system down there in Erie is setup, it doesn't work. So I just wanted to know if you had heard anything with regards to that?

 

Nelson S, Toronto

A: That ship has sailed, as the saying goes. They did do some investigating of the possibility of doing a D League team either in Toronto or maybe Hamilton with another group of businessmen but the economic downturn – and maybe the need to get into the bar, condo, restaurant biz – put an end to the thought.

And I haven’t heard a peep about it in a couple of years now.

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Comments

[Dan W]

There was a quote from Josh Smith complaining that Serge Ibaka dunked the ball after the Thunder had already won as the clock ran out. He claimed it was disrespectful. Maybe I'm mistaken but didn't Josh Smith do that to the Raptors twice.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

One of your letter-writers asked about the large number of back problems reported by NBA players. As a 6'7" guy I can tell you that the back problems come from having really, really long backs. Pretty simple physics. The bigger the body the higher the strain. Similarly, as big a fan of Yao Ming as I am, I am not surprised in the least that his body is breaking down. How do you maintain a clean bill of health with such a large body in a regular state of aggressive activity?

It makes the longevity of Shaq all that more amazing...

AG, Toronto.

[RyanS]

My guess for the origins of the 20sec time-out signal is that it is the inverse gesture of the full timeout - Arms elevated to shoulder level and completely extended.

[doug]

form the time I was approx. 18 to 25 I had bad back problems, like I thought this was it for my whole issues, I never equated it to playing b-ball as i played all sports a lot..but around 25 I moreorless quit playing serious b-ball and my back problems went a way (touching wood), it's just a demanding sport on the back there were some days i couldn't move....they had a list of the top funny videos of the decade on Huff Post...those 3 I have seen butt here just funny...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/02/best-sketches-of-the-decade_n_802516.html#s216819&title=%22Jimmy%20Kimmel%20Live!%22%20-%20I%27m%20F***ing%20Matt%20Damon

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/02/best-sketches-of-the-decade_n_802516.html#s216830&title=%22SNL%22%20-%20Natalie%20Raps

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/02/best-sketches-of-the-decade_n_802516.html#s216802&title=Funny%20or%20Die%20-%20The%20Landlord