Bad game, good job and some Vince for good measure

Next stop: The Riverwalk in San Antonio.

But first …

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THREE POINTERS

Slow, slow motion

One play, fourth quarter, that pretty much sums up one of the worst games Andrea Bargnani’s had in some time.

He gets the ball out beyond the arc on the left side with, I believe, David West guarding him.

Bargnani waits, and waits, and waits. He makes a head fake and a jab step and goes nowhere. He can’t decide whether to shoot or drive or what. The seconds tick off the clock, I think I might have dozed off for a minute or two and, finally, you can almost hear him say, “screw it, I can’t figure out what to do” so he passes the ball back to Jose, who has to fire up about a 27-footer at the shot clock buzzer that misses badly.

Terrible possession late in a very bad game and if he’s playing like that, they’ve got no shot to win.

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Helluva job

Let’s say you’re an NBA head coach and you’re on the road and your team’s playing its third game in four days against a pretty good team.

You look down the bench and see:

Ed Davis, rookie; Sundiata Gaines, still learning the names of his teammates; Joey Dorsey, game but under-sized; Solomon Alabi, rookie.

There are no shooting guards or small forwards. No experience, no shooters, no nothing.

And someone your team is in the game until the final seconds?

I tell ya, they should have fully guaranteed the third year of Jay’s contract last night for the way he managed that motley crew.

“We tried to keep it as ugly as we could.”

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Knowing your opponent

First Toronto possession of the game, Andrea – when it looked like he might be okay – gets the ball on the left baseline, makes a move on David West, who’s the only guy covering him, and draws a foul.

While Bargnani’s at the line, Hornets coach Monty Williams finally gets the attention of Trevor Ariza, who is guarding Julian Wright and makes sure Ariza knows it’s okay to go double Bargnani when that situation arises again.

Bargnani never really got a clean post up again and the Hornets knew that Wright wouldn’t kill them.

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A wee bit more.

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Have to say: A piano, a clarinet, a bass, a drum kit, a couple of friends and an Abita or two makes for a lovely Bourbon Street evening.

Fritzel’s, if you’re ever here.

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Ah, Jarrett.

Caught up with the familiar face on the bench before the game and he seemed quite content.

No harsh words for the Raptors (although he said he was disappointed with how the final day in Toronto unfolded) but overall he sounded like, as they say, in a happy place.

“It’s a peace of mind just knowing what it is. There was a lot of, I guess, things that were unspecified when I was in Toronto, I didn’t know if I was going to play 40 minutes or 17 minutes or 20 minutes. Here? I pretty much know what it is.

 

“I mean, would I like to play more? Who wouldn’t? But it’s the situation and you have to know it’s bigger than you and you have to go with it. It gives you some peace of mind when you know what it is every single day when you step on the court. You know when you’re going in, you know when you’re coming out. It kind of relaxes you in a sense and that kind of relaxation I didn’t have in Toronto my last year.”

Pretty valid point, I guess.

And then he goes out and has 17 points just to make his point, I guess.

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Oddest sights from a couple of nights on Bourbon?

The seven or eight rather, um, beefy fellows, obviously over-served, walking up the street on a quite cool Sunday night wearing nothing but jeans and aprons.

Ugh.

A wedding procession of about 40, led by bride and groom and a horn player, walking up the middle of the street, making us all feel like wedding crashers.

They didn’t seem to care.

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Here’s what Jimmy Smith had to say in the pages of the Times-Picayune.

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I don’t know if it was just for us but the trumpet player who did O Canada in New Orleans was named Glenn Hall III.

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Got this out of the mail and more than one of you pointed it out:

Q: Hey Doug. I was shocked to notice today that Vince Carter scored his 20,000th career point, making him 37th on that list. Now, I am not suggesting VC is a Hall of Famer, because I personally believe to be a Hall of Famer you have to win something or be pretty darn close. Of the 36 people ahead of him, only Mitch Richmond (#35) and Tom Chambers (#36) are not in the Hall of Fame. (Of course the likes of Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Payton will be in there eventually). I can't help but look at that stat and just dwell on what could've been? Not what could've been of Toronto, but what could've been of Vince Carter. He had the skills to be one of the greats and I can't help but seem disappointed by how is career turned out. I feel like he had all the talent in the world to be in the Top 15 of all time, but he did not have that desire that MJ or Kobe or even LeBron has. With that said, when VC's career is over, what would you take from it? What would you remember him for?

 

Dave R, Markham

A: My first reaction:

Wow.

20,000?

That’s a lot of points, wonder how many I saw.

Anyway, there is a phrase I use to describe Vince that I’ve been using for quite some time and it’s this:

He did not take responsibility for his greatness.

I mean, that kid could have been special but he just couldn’t come to push himself to the absolute limits of his abilities because he wasn’t strong enough of mind, or interested enough in maximizing his talents or what.

And when his career is over, I will be left with an empty feeling when I think of what he was as opposed to what he could have been. I feel a bit cheated. I also feel very lucky to have seen him when he was pushing himself – and he did at times, just not often enough – and the few moments of jaw-dropping moves and dunks will have to do.

I do know this: There are people in the game – players who had more desire but not as much talent, coaches who saw so much untapped talent – who are angry that he wasn’t more than he was.

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Here’s a travel Did You Know

Did You Know that you cannot fly from New Orleans to San Antonio without stopping somewhere? Seriously. Two major centres, pretty close together and you either have to change in Houston or Dallas to get from one to the other.

Yep, long day ahead pour moi.

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Hey, you want to do mail, or say hello, or whatever?

Do it here, make my day.

Comments

[kyrie irving]

are you kidding me?? Im talking about DEFENSIVELY, the raptors ask Andrea to play against other teams bigs lk Okafor, Chandler, SHAQ, HOWARD, etc. When the hell do you see the mavs do that with Dirk. All the points you made were on the offensive side of the ball which just further proves my point that Andrea should be used DEFENSIVELY!!!! the same way guys like Dirk are used. U DON'T GET IT. & I think you are just mad that I pointed out WHAT A JOKE it was the way raptors media made the win against the mavs to be the best win in franchise history. I know i'm right!

[J]

I love how Jack digs deep for a silver lining, and people manage to turn it into a reason for more Triano hate. I don't think Triano is anything special, but seriously. If Chris Paul wasn't the starting PG, do you think Jack would really take guaranteed (and lower) bench minutes over starting? Don't think so. There would be more of an argument if Jack actually played well in New Orleans. Aside from a handful of games, he's been either horrid or invisible. But as long as he's at "peace".

Oh, and this just in: Banks was heard echoing Jack's sentiments. "I agree it gives you some peace of mind when you know what it is every single day when you wake up. It’s a peace of mind just knowing what it is. There was a lot of, I guess, things that were unspecified when I was in Toronto, I didn’t know if I was going to play 5 minutes or 0 minutes or 2 minutes. Here? I pretty much know what it is. Being able to stay at home is much more peaceful than all the anticipation waiting for minutes on the bench."

[Robert Bertuzzi]

Jose appears to be a wonderful human being and perhaps there is a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in his future but he is not a top-flight point guard. Come on people, he is averaging 10 and eight for the season which are around his career totals.

If he and Andrea were as terrific as professed, at what are arguably the two most important positions on the floor, then this team would have more than 13 wins at mid-season.

I can recall Andrea having an amusing quip about having to not only box out his own man but the Regend as well before he could grab a rebound. Well the Regend has been gone for weeks now and the 7-foot centre is still averaging under six rebounds a game.

[Eddy]

I thought Bosh moved to the US to expand his brand, not make it disappear? The only time I see him mentioned in the media now is if someone in Toronto brings him up. Who is doing his brand management for him, the guy from BP or the guy who hired the strippers to perform at the Republican convention?

[doug]

you know there is one thing I try to separate as I watch sports and that is just to recognize talent and appreciate it as what's here today may be gone tomorrow...whether Vince lived up to everyone's dreams is immaterial to him, and should be to us as he brought us pure talent...could he have been better yes, should he have been, he's wired like he is, but he was one of a kind...I was reminded of that fact watching the funeral for the slain T.O. police officer today...they played a song that got me thinking of all the renditions of a song I have heard it's not only the most beautiful, it's just pure, it's just talent, that needs to appreciated as you will here nothing better...could she have been better, more popular who's to say, but in terms of talent, and just a pure voice no one can hold a candle to her...watch this, and then watch the crowds reaction afterwards, a awards crowd for the large part, smug , etc...but even they realize they've seen and heard something special...that's how i remember Vince...he was a special talent to me that's all that matters let others debate the rest...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=related

[Lorie]

"Diabolical casualness of his career". Wow. Quite the statement. And resonates with others we've mentioned here today, too, wouldn't you say? This blog is quite the place, isn't it? Yes, Chet's voice was raspy, gravelly and certainly attested to some of the excesses that were a sad part of his life. But, he kept overcoming and coming back. (Remarkable that he was able to make such significant adjustments to his embouchure, too. Not easily done as anyone who has ever played a wind instrument will know. I understand he had to be fitted with dentures after his front teeth were knocked out in a street fight which apparently was the result of a drug deal gone bad.) WIth so many singers relying on the production tricks of editing and modifying their music, his was honest and real. And the older I get, the more I appreciate that in many things. @GM, you saw him? I will be eternally envious. @doug, thanks for the kd lang performance. What do you think of Jeff Buckley's performance of that song? Many say it is their favourite, but I prefer kd's.

[GM]

@Lorie, yep, I saw him. Here's the deal, though. I hadn't heard of him prior to that. I wasn't yet 20 but I liked jazz. My dad said I should go, so I went. It was during his comeback, so all I saw was this grizzled old guy (who wasn't all that old, actually) who didn't sound very good (new false teeth, new embouchure, etc). And then, every couple of tunes he'd play a run that was fantastic and I, in my ignorance, thought, "That guy was probably really good at one point." After that, I went back and discovered just how great he was. My problem with his voice wasn't that it was raspy or gravelly (I like that), but that I thought/think it's weak.

[J]

@Robert Bertuzzi:

"Jose appears to be a wonderful human being and perhaps there is a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in his future but he is not a top-flight point guard. Come on people, he is averaging 10 and eight for the season which are around his career totals."

I agree on the first bit (as in by no means should his jersey be raised), but if you're going to quote stats, at least quote his stats as a starter. 12 and 10, with excellent percentages to boot, and I recall people attributing his high assists to the presence of one Chris Bosh. That's certainly not the case. He might not be a top tier PG, but he's certainly in the tier just below.

"If he and Andrea were as terrific as professed, at what are arguably the two most important positions on the floor, then this team would have more than 13 wins at mid-season."

I don't know who thinks Andrea is "terrific", but if the Heat can lose four games in a row, simply because they've been without one of their Big 3 for the last 3 games (Bosh once, LBJ twice), then what does that say about a team with two plus players and three minuses, much less one plus player, one maybe break even and three minuses? I'd take two of Miami's pluses over our "two" any day.

"Well the Regend has been gone for weeks now and the 7-foot centre is still averaging under six rebounds a game."

Again, if you're going to quote stats, why don't you do it properly? During the 15 games alongside Evans, Bargnani averaged 4.7 boards/game. During the current 20 games without Evans, Bargnani is averaging 6.6 boards/game. I'm not saying he's a good rebounder, but at least be accurate; Bargnani *is* doing substantially better without Evans. If you expect him to be up to 7 rebounds/games while you continue to count Evans' games, you're deluded. He'd need to average almost 9 rebounds/game in the 20 games without Evans in order to achieve that, or in other words, be an above average rebounder, and he's certainly not that.

[james]

There are two quintessential Vince moments:
1. The Dunk contest; 2. The Olympic high jump over France's centre.
Of course, his career may not be over, as the geriatric Suns start a push for the playoffs. Watching him play for Phoenix recently, he almost seemed arthritic.