Of new kids, new coaches and a record benchmark

Seriously, folks, it’s almost getting too hard to do snark here; the Groundhog Day nature of this season is beating me down. I either need a break, a win or something so crazy that it gives me days of material.

Until then …

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THREE POINTERS

Welcome to the league

So much for having to know the offence to run it.

It might have been in his first minute on the floor when Trey Johnson finds himself with the ball, Jerryd Bayless is pretty well covered and can’t get a pass and you can see Johnson thinking “hmm, what do I do now?”

So he decides to call a play, even if he’s not sure what it is or if the Raptors have it in their playbook.

He surveys the scene, yells out “floppy” (a play involving a series of baseline screens that every team in professional basketball runs, just about) and starts acting as a point guard.

Can’t remember if they scored, but I do remember the look on Johnson’s face being “I’ve got to do something, hope they know what I’m calling.”

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Deserves some props

No, Sonny Weems didn’t have a particularly good game or much of an impact when he was out there but I think you need to give him some credit for playing.

He says his back is better but I wondered when I saw him go in all alone from about midcourt after a steal and lay the ball in instead of dunking it.

Kind of a telling play, no?

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In dubious company

You know me and the willingness to do all kinds of research, right?

Well, here I am all ready with my Handy Dandy Media Guide (not a Handy Dandy Notebook for those with tiny kids) ready to scour the fine print and find out the last time these lads were an uninspiring 20 games below .500.

KO year?

Darrell era?

One of the bad Butch years?

The 16-66 torture?

Well, that didn’t take long.

How about March 16, 2009 when they lost to Charlotte and fell to 24-44.

Ah, the glory days.

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Now, here’s more.

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I can’t wait for a year from yesterday to see what the world does when the hockey guy turns 51.

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If there is one thing that’s going on with these fellows it’s that young DeMar is garnering at least a wee bit of attention around the league.

A spate of 20-plus nights will do that, so will be invited to the dunk contest and so will some pub on the interwebs.

My Man Asch was the latest to weigh in; here’s what he came up with.

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So, did everyone see this story in Forbes (not sure how many Forbes readers live here but some must) that ranks the NBA teams by monetary value and puts the locals at No. 10? Now, I’m sure the people at Maple Leaf Sports will either dispute or ignore the numbers (it’s a privately-held company and no one knows where the stacks of $1,000 bills is stored) but I’m thinking people at Forbes don’t blow these things too often.

What’s it mean?

That MLSEL is a good business venture and it makes money hand over fist. Does it pour it back into its sports teams? Probably not enough to satisfy many of you but on the basketball side they do okay in the payroll area.

I’ve always contended its not simply a case of spending money that turns a franchise into a consistent winner (if it was, we’d have seen far more Knicks-Blazers-Mavs finals than we have) but it’s spending wisely that works.

And that’s what the Raptors have to do more than anything else, use their resources to spend smartly, not just spend.

Can they do it?

Who knows.

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What’d the say about that one in the pages of Philadelphia publications?

It reads something like this.

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I’m pretty sure we’ve got a Haligonian or two around these parts, don’t we?

I need a favour.

Some of you have to go to a Halifax Rainmen game in the next little while, find your way down courtside and tell Mike Evans congratulations from an old friend in Toronto.

Yeah, the former assistant to Sam got the gig as the head coach of the minor league team (it’s in something called the Premier Basketball League) and he started this week.

Mike is one of the true good guys I’ve know a bit over the years, he’s been around the game forever and it’s good he’s getting a job after living in Denver and running camps since he left the Raptors.

I remember the day Sam got whacked in Denver and I’m told they wanted to fire Mike at the same time but didn’t and he handled the rest of that year like a pro.

So go see him, watch a game and if you get a chance, tell him I said hello.

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This high school stuff’s getting to me and I don’t understand teens.

Super Son’s all done first semester exams, has a few days off and isn’t he supposed to sleep until noon every day?

Why is it just after 7:30 a.m. and we’ve got a DVD of old Get Smart shows playing?

Not that I mind, it’s a classic show and I used to have a huge crush on a young Barbara Felton but, really.

I think we need a Cone Of Silence around here.

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Let’s get a quick, short one out of the mail.

(And you did very well yesterday, congrats. But being the greedy sot that I am, I’d like more. Here, please).

Q: Hi Doug. What does Ajinca's arrival mean for Alabi's tenure with the team? Can we expect a trade with Denver to send Alabi over to his mentor's team? Is this move part of a chess game by BC for further trades? If so, the options are not readily apparent to me.

Mark L, Abbotsford

A: Good question.

I don’t think it means an awful lot for Alabi, actually. They know he’s not ready to play yet, at least Ajinca has a modicum of NBA experience and they feel more comfortable throwing Ajinca out for five or six minutes a night than they do Solo.

Long-term? Well, if Ajinca shows anything they might try to keep him around a little bit and Alabi’s got another year on his contract so it could very well be a case of them being the two bigs at the end of the bench season.

But they are still willing to sit and wait and see if Alabi develops and there’s no desire to move him anywhere.

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Comments

[Eddy]

Of the teams ahead of Toronto in the standings how many spend less than the Raptors? Why does everyone focus on one or two examples where spending didn't work when there are so many showing it does. MLSE is cheap and greedy. They are now going to make Raptor fans sit through years of rebuilding, while still having the third highest ticket prices in the league, on the faint hope that this current group might grow into world beaters. When MLSE looks out at the city all they see are people walking around with "Sucker" written across the back of their shirt and if the fans keep supporting this hilarious incompetence suckers are what they are.

[Curious]

Hi Doug. Just read the recap of the game and came across some comments from a 76er's player that they exploited a hole in the zone for an entire quarter -- a hole that they saw from watching a tape of the Spurs game. Does this 'hole' mean a specific player? If so, do you know who the 76er's were talking about?

Blogger's note: Not a specific player, a way to attack an area of the zone

[Eric]

HI, Doug,
My wife Phyllis and I will be the first to volunteer to pass on greetings from you to Mike Evans this Sunday at a Rainmen's game. The game is a Christmas gift from my wife, who is also a basketball fan (and called a Hi to you as you went through the tunnel in Washington a couple of years ago).
We live on the South Shore (in the beach country of Lunenburg County), but have gone into Halifax for the good minor league teams there over the years and also for the regional and national university tournaments. As you know, this is basketball country!
- Eric
P. S. We look forward to having a semi-official reason for being at court level for a minute or two on Sunday. - eric

[CARLoS M.]

it's my birthday today and I expect the same level of attention that some pucks player got yesterday. way over the top for a 50th b-day, don't you think?!?

Blogger's note: Over the top concerning the pucks? Didn't think it was possible

[Jim]

Hi Doug, About the Forbes article, who knows how reliable it really is. As a chartered accountant who does a lot of auditing, I've seen many companies make all kinds of absurd estimates. This is just a magazine, with limited access to financial info(most/all? teams are private), that has no shareholders or regulators to respond to.

Just my 2 cents. Keep up the great work love your blog!

[Jack]

Season-killing Raptors slide
"There are extenuating circumstances, of course. Andrea Bargnani was less than 100 per cent as he fights the flu"

Yawn..

[Lorie]

Morning Doug!
Ahhh...Get Smart - the Real One - with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon written by the incomparably zany duo of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. A classic of the Golden Age of TV. Do you remember all the great people they had do guest spots on the show: Bob Hope, Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, Shelley Berman. Even Johnny Carson made not just one, but two appearances. And one was in that classic episode that was a parody of The Prisoner of Zenda. (I'm going to sound old and cranky here (not that there's anything wrong with that) but do you even understand how the remake of the old Hawaii Five-0 TV show is so popular??? It's absolute crap!!!) And, I've no doubt this season is taking its wearying toll on a grunt's health, but, Doug, I'm worried about you. In your plea for more in the mailbag you referred to yourself as a "sot"??? I hope you meant "sort", but if not, there is good news on the horizon: the PGA season has begun.

[Mike D.]

I know someone is going to bring this up (and get shot down), so it might as well be me: I see rumours that the Wizards are considering trading Rashard Lewis as part of a house-cleaning. Your views on the likelihood of the Raptors being able to get Lewis for, say, the TPE plus Reggie's expiring contract plus picks? Lewis at the 3 with the rapidly improving DD at the 2 might be fun to watch on offense.

Blogger's note: They wouldn't have any interest financially

[yertu damkule]

i have to second eddy's point - spending a lot of money on payroll in any sport does not guarantee success; however, NOT spending money almost certainly guarantees a lack of success. the media tends to pay attention to the 'little guys' who do well with a limited payroll, or point to certain franchises as being competitive without a high payroll while ignoring the hows/whys that's the case (like OKC this year - competitive team, a likely dark-horse in the W, but a fairly small payroll (comparatively), but ignoring that there a slew of great young players on scale contracts.

oh, curious...if you're trying to bait doug into 'naming names'...good luck with that.

[Lorie]

Oh, and a quick basketball (!) question. I think the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship draw happens sometime today in Argentina. Will you give us your thoughts on Canada's placement when it's known? Thanks!

Blogger's note: Will indeed

[doug]

ok to these people that are saying the Raps need to spend money,,,,first off what a bunch of hypocrites, when they do spend money on Turk, (and if anyone thought he's be as big as a bust as he was their not being honest), they signed Calderon, Amir and had money to sign Bosh...but yet when they do spend money they are criticized for doing so in the case of Turk,Jose and Amir...and secondly who do you want them to spend money on??...it's easy to criticize or make generalized statements, tell us who you want BC to go out and sign???....at the same time remembering that the player you want to sign maybe just maybe doesn't want to sign here or has other complications involved....armchair GM's gall me as they think it's just a matter of waving money around, or trading guys or unloading contracts that are expiring..their are 29 other teams out there with many of them in the same position ....get your heads out of the sand and look around, I could list all the teams with money, teams looking to deal expiring contracts etc..and the list wouldn't be a short one....so surprise,surprise the raps are in competition and not a island unto themselves...Get Smart loved that show, "missed it by that much"...classic tv...

[Vener Cruz]

As we know now, I am not sure if signing AB to a 5-year $50M contract was in line with "spending resources wisely" when a far better young player could be had at a cheaper price.

Blogger's note: Who? And how?

[Mos High]

Good day to all...

Forbes list accurate or note, Im sure we all feel that MLSE is a money making machine, cant fault them for this.

I'll stick with Basketball, another 10 day player, well Raptors need it as injuries have been unreal. I thought Sundiata was too much like a Jarred B, more a scorer than a pure point.

Ah man I know Bargnani is banged up some, but the lack of defense, boxing out and rebounding hurts this team every night. He is a amazing talent but just terrible as a #1 option. This team can use him as a 3rd option. He just cant do the things outside of scoring that leads a team to WINS!!!!

I like DeRozan confidence, but dont want it to shatter on this soft team

RAPTORS KEEP PLAYING HARD!!!! Sounds bad but searching for a stud draft pick to help this teams young core!!

[Pipit]

Nice to see Demar hitting jumpshot after jumpshot and some of them with the opponent's hand on his face. He's freethrow percentage is going up to. If the team is trying to build a franchise player, Demar should be the one and not Andrea. Don't know if Jose is not a 100% last night but there were a lot of defensive breakdowns that started on him with the rest of the team trying to recover on Calderon's inability to stay on his man. In fairness, he's been good the last few games defensively. But last night, the team should have played Bayless more since Williams and Holiday had been penetrating more and also based on his stellar play against Memphis.

[Eddy]

"armchair GM's gall me as they think it's just a matter of waving money around, or trading guys or unloading contracts that are expiring..their are 29 other teams out there with many of them in the same position ....get your heads out of the sand and look around,"
.
I didn't see anyone blaming the GM. MLSE is not the GM. When was the last time they spent LA, Boston, Orlando, or Dallas money? If they want to put fans through another 4 years of losing, don't charge LA, Boston or Dallas rates to go see a game. I also don't know where you get your information. If you read the same rumours as everyone else, there are lots of players available.

[doug]

MLSE is the corporate entity..they hire BC to be the GM, MLSE has nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of the Raptors nor do they have any say in what goes on...so yes it is about the GM and yes as he has said he can go to the board and ask for more money, which he would have done if Turk had worked out and re-signed Bosh, with Barg's Jose etc...if that unit had worked out as he hoped then yes he would have went and asked and received more money...rumours are just that rumours, plus even if these "rumours" are true do you ever notice when writers state "rumours" they don't mention what the other team wants back in return??... many players on many teams are available that's not the question, the question is what does the other team want??...BC could have some new players in a heartbeat, you want T.J. Ford back BC we don't want him , here give us a draft pick, or Troy Murphy, sure Nets would love to dump him, or Wilson Chandler from the Knicks or whoever else you want to mention, but what do we have to give up for these marginal players?...were fine as we are, it's fairly clear to me to see what BC's plans going forward are...he just unloaded Peja as he doesn't want any marginal players in return...so he just bought him out when he could have received something back what he received back would have been on the books and BC can fill our needs presently with 10 day contracts...he wants either picks or young building blocks...not marginal players that don't serve any long-term use...money at this stage of the game is irrelevant...

[Ben]

Great news about Evans Doug!

I try to make it to all of the Rainmen games, and the organization actually does great job (they probably average between 3 and 4 thousand fans, and had over 8000 for the pre-season home opener when a pile were given away), so hopefully it's a great chance for Mike to show what he can do!

[J]

"Of the teams ahead of Toronto in the standings how many spend less than the Raptors?"

Ah yes, how did I guess this little tidbit would come from Eddy yet again. Not that I think he's actually interested in an intelligent debate -- seems like he just has a bone to pick -- but I'll play sucker to the question. The answer is 14. 14 teams ahead of Toronto in the standings spend less than us. 12 teams ahead of us spend more than us. Not sure why you bothered to ask that question though, since almost every team is better than us right now.

"Why does everyone focus on one or two examples where spending didn't work when there are so many showing it does."

Why don't you ever offer concrete examples of where and how you'd like that money spent? You seem to think stars grow on trees or the salary cap is merely a polite suggestion. I'm no MLSE booster; I actually hated how the Leafs were managed. But I'm rational enough to see that the same doesn't apply to the Raptors. Why not? Probably because we've never been in that situation, where we had the chance to do something but turned it down due to money.

And yet, all you seem to care about is that we add payroll. If we were one of the elite teams in the league, I'd say go bonkers. Add whatever you can under the limits of the CBA. But not to this team. It isn't enough that we have the 13th highest payroll, yet own the 4th worst record? Right now, we need to make good moves, not more bad ones.

[drew]

Doug
If possible pass on to Derozen that it would be great to see him dunk in a replica compton jersay from high school!! He would kill on the votes!!

[J]

@Mike D:

"I know someone is going to bring this up (and get shot down), so it might as well be me: I see rumours that the Wizards are considering trading Rashard Lewis as part of a house-cleaning. Your views on the likelihood of the Raptors being able to get Lewis for, say, the TPE plus Reggie's expiring contract plus picks? Lewis at the 3 with the rapidly improving DD at the 2 might be fun to watch on offense.
Blogger's note: They wouldn't have any interest financially"

Not only that, but as far as the Wizards and the Raptors are concerned, it's impossible to use the TPE to trade for Lewis. We'd need to come up with 16+ mil worth in salaries to send the other way.

[joeu]

@lorie

There are only 2 explanations for the new H50

1. You don't have the opening from the original taped and available for leisure viewing.

2. Beefcake ( so I am told ).

[Eddy]

"BC could have some new players in a heartbeat, you want T.J. Ford back BC we don't want him , here give us a draft pick, or Troy Murphy, sure Nets would love to dump him, or Wilson Chandler from the Knicks or whoever else you want to mention, but what do we have to give up for these marginal players?."

Unless you work for MLSE why are you so worried about how they spend their money? They have no problem getting fans to spend their money. I also don't understand why a team that has lost 9 or 10 games in a row gets to look down on all the other players in the league. Those marginal players can't be worse than what we have now. Unless, of course, the object is to lose as many games as possible without admitting that is what you are doing. Who wants to spend a fortune to see another guaranteed loss? You may think Bargnani, DeRozan and Calderon will be ripping the league apart in 3 years, but some of us aren't as sure.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

At least you get paid to watch this dreck. I am a long time, hard core fan of the Raptors and even I am losing interest. Were you there for this quote from Marreese Speights (17 pts. in one quarter!) last night?

"It was pretty easy. The zone wasn't really that hard to break."

Man.

Do you ever hear if any other teams call Coangelo asking about Bargnani? He's got an unwieldy contract, but I could see him as an effective sixth man for a championship contender. Not too many people could spring off the bench and heat up as fast as he can. And I think when the final book is written on Bargnani, it will say he was a far better role player than team leader.

This season is lost and Bargnani can score, but so what? The Raps keep losing. Maybe planning the future should start right now. Dumping Il Mucko's contract would give Coangelo even more flexibility after the lockout.

AG, Toronto

[Michel G]

Vener Cruz comments @ 11:18 am: As we know now, I am not sure if signing AB to a 5-year $50M contract was in line with "spending resources wisely" when a far better young player could be had at a cheaper price.
Blogger's note: Who? And how?
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It's comments like Vener's that makes it hard to read the comments sometimes. It's an asinine statement. Of all the players from the 2006 draft that have become starters in the league, Andrea's is the cheapest contract (cf. Gay, Rondo, Aldridge, etc.). And Vener, can you answer Doug's question and tell us which young player could have been had at a cheaper price. Please enlighten us.

[John]

Doug areas of the zone are supposed to covered by a certain player or players. if there is a glaring hole, you can definately put the blame on someone or someones. Jay Triano and yourself choose to ignore that.

Blogger's note: Can I choose to ignore stuff like this, too? Thank you