And another return comes and goes

Glad that’s over?

Not nearly as bad as it’s been – I actually saw a few people standing and cheering when Bosh came on the floor, which nice – but it’s nice to have that night out of the way.

What I wonder is when – or if – we’ll feel as much energy in the building supporting the home side as we did in the fourth quarter.

Anyway …

-

THREE POINTERS

Trying whatever it takes

We all know that no one outside of Andrea or DeMar could make a shot to save their soul and Jay spent a lot of the night trying to get something going.

And that included playing all three bigs – Bargnani, Davis, Johnson – for a stretch of the fourth quarter. Didn’t work, but it didn’t kill them, either.

“We tried different guys in there, even tried going big to see if we could get one more scorer in there or at least get rebounds if we weren’t going to get that scorer.”

Not sure it’s going to be a regular thing, and I still don’t think it works for any extended period of time but desperate times called for desperate measures.

-

Bad math

If Jay had wanted to spend some of his hard-earned salary, he might have made the following point forcefully in his post-game media session:

In the fourth quarter, the Heat shot 17 free throws and the Raptors shot two.

I don’t think the officiating determined the outcome of the game but that’s a wide, wide, wide disparity that’s hard to believe, especially when the Raptors weren’t being predictably passive on offence.

-

And, finally …

One last Bosh-crowd thing, and it was bush league.

Knowing that the fans were going to boo, and having heard them boo when he ran onto the court, why in the world would whoever handles such things instruct the scoreboard video cameraman to take a close up of him during the playing of the American national anthem?

I’m pretty sure the guy singing really appreciated it.

-

Why would a guy who drives a plane do this?

Why would be sitting there on the plan about 20 minutes from departure time and listen to him say there’s one mechanical glitch that has to be looked at and that the mechanics would be over in 20 minutes to take look and then tell us an hour and 50 minutes later (after we’d de-planed and re-boarded) that we were ready to go.

Would that be because (a) he was making it up; (b) there’s a different time system in Indiana or (c) there were a lot of broken planes at the airport?

Anyone got a guess?

Anyway, given all the travel hell with me and Hoosier-land this season not having to go back is a good thing, methinks.

-

Not sure what they expected but there were a lot more uniformed police officers in the arena last night than for a usual game.

And I’m sure a whole bunch of undercover dudes.

But, all in all, it was a rather calm crowd in the vitriol department. And that’s good.

-

What’d they say in Miami about the comeback game?

This.

-

Now, I was probably never going to stop by the D League all-star game out in L.A. this weekend – I think I’d rather eat nails – but it’s cemented for sure now that I’m not going.

Because neither is Trey Johnson.

He told me last night he’s taking the weekend off to go home and see his family instead of playing in the game and I wonder if last night was the last night we’ll see him around the Raptors.

His second 10-day has expired, it’s time for the Raptors to either sign him for the rest of the year or let him go and I think they’re best suited with keeping an open roster spot until next Thursday’s trade deadline in case Bryan finds some one-for-two deal out there.

Not hearing too many trade rumbles – that’ll like pick up this weekend when a bunch of people are out west – but the flexibility is important.

And having watched the Raptors Not Named Bargnani go 1-for-8 from three-point range and realizing that they remain dead last in the NBA in that skill, if Bryan’s got even a wee tiny deal cooking, it’s got to be for someone with shooting range.

-

Here’s one from the mail that gets to a pet peeve of mine, too.

Q; Doug, dude, it bothers me to see guys hugging and shaking hands of opponents before tipoff. Is this beyond the coaches control or do they condone this? Is there any team that doesn't participate in this ritual? I have no problem with players being friends but think that pleasantries should be exhibited in private, not on the battlefield. It just looks wrong.

Mike S, Rexdale

A: I suppose some hard-ass coach could forbid his players from fraternizing as openly as they do but that might be counter-productive and tick them off unnecessarily and coaches have bigger issues to worry about anyway.

But it was interesting to hear Jose last night after the game. He’s probably Bosh’s best friend on the Raptors and someone asked him if he’d talked to Chris before the game.

“Just wished him good luck and maybe now I’ll talk to him a little bit. I think maybe it wasn’t the moment at the beginning of the game.”

I think that’s the way it should be done.

-

Wrote about this during the game but for those who missed it, a classic moment unfolded about a row or two behind us.

There was this kid just killing Bosh, about how soft he is and that he sucks and he should retire and it was incessant.

Kid was really loud and ticked off about Bosh’s mere presence.

Might have been taken a little bit more seriously if he wasn’t wearing a Bosh No. 4 Eastern Conference all-star jersey when he was screaming at him.

-

Speaking of mail, I’d appreciate some.

Thank you very much, hit the button here and do your stuff.

-

All right, I wonder what Air Canada will have in store for me today? Check with later this morning before the noon flight to the fun and hilarity that is all-star weekend.

-

 

 

 

Comments

[Blake Kennedy]

Not a single mention of the defensive game that Amir had? Five blocks (should have been six if he hadn't angered the league by cleanly blocking LeBron James, which was penalized with a foul) and two steals in 26 minutes, as well as grabbing about 23% of the available rebounds while he was on the floor? That deserves some credit, no? It's all well and good to talk about the Raptors' shooting struggles, but when a guy puts up a line like that it deserves to be talked about. Nobody's saying boo about it, though.

Blogger's note: All kinds of other things happened that no one's saying boo about; it's the way things work

[Matthieu]

Good morning. Just FYI: Mr Mensah-Bonsu has just signed a contract with ASVEL, a French team: http://www.lequipe.fr/Basket/20110217_131703_mensah-bonsu-vers-l-asvel.html
Thought it might be of interest to a few of the Irregulars ;)

[Kent]

The raptors played much better than I expected, although I never got the sense that they would pull it off. But gotta give credit to the team for trying. But let's not go as far as to say the future is bright and all that stuff. Cleveland beat LA last night; how many player off their roster would you like?

[joe]

Doug,

Any thoughts on Bosh blowing kisses to the fans at the end of the game?

Blogger's note: Not his brightest idea

[AT]

I think that was totally the appropriate reaction to Bosh.. Enough boos to let him know that how he handled his departure was wrong but as the game played out, the hatred seemed to diminish.He said and did all the right things and time for the fans to move on and like it has been said many times, it was probably in the long run, a win win win situation for the raptors, heat and bosh.
Doug, are you encouraged by the play of Andrea, Demar and Davis lately? If BC can pull off one or two key acquisitions at the deadline or off season, 2011-12 is going to be a good year for this team.

[Jacob D]

I was at the game last night and had a great time - however the reffing and Miami's attitude toward the reffing was disgusting. The raps were whistled down for EVERYTHING and ANYTHING even close to the big 3 - yet get no calls. However the Raps didn't whine and complain to the refs they just kept working hard on defence and fouling harder because the call was coming regardless. Now Miami was the opposite - they got nearly every call and when they didnt they would all (especially James) whine and complain and make obvious motions of disgust. I thought the refs were trying to do away with this ... I guess not for the "stars." It took way too long for them to give him a Tech. It is just disappointing to see the reffing impact a game so heavily. I'm glad Toronto players have more class.

[Matt M]

I don't mind the Bargnani at small forward. Sure he might get killed defensively but he usually does against the mobile bigs anyways. And maybe a simpler defensive position would help Bargnani's focus on that side of the ball. I don't know but it appears that Jay is getting desperate to get Bargnani to become a scorer that doesn't hurt them too much.

[Penny]

Very disappointed in the reffing last night. It seems that the so-called "better" teams get the benefit of all the close calls. This leads to the big disparity in the foul shots which leads to the "lesser" teams having very little chance of winning the game. This has happened to the Raptors many times during the year so far. As Jack said on the air last night after Amir's clean block on LeBron which was called a foul, it is starting to turn fans off watching. We see DeMar going to the basket and being fouled a lot with no calls. Even Blake Griffin got the benefit of questionable calls on Sunday and he is a rookie!

[TLI]

re: "I think that’s the way it should be done." That seems to be Jose's strongest suit, doesn't it! Understanding 'the way it should be done' on and off the floor. A great reason to keep Jose in a Raptors jersey.

Thanks to Blake for pointing out Amir's play last night. Amir was one of the few bright spots last year and he's quietly breaking out even further this year. It's really been fun to watch him grow.

[Andre]

I'm happy its over. Bosh and his comments were horrible. But it would be nice to see the raptors beat miami (that was a good one). I'll feel good when Boston beats them.

[MJ Walk]

Doug: In your opinion or in your discussions with the powers that be is there a possibility that the Raps would have interest in Demarcus Cousens at the deadline? He did not handle the recent episode with the Kings overly well but he is playing with Evans who is a noted ball hog and after the fall out he is probably on the block. The Raps have not had an intimidating force for some time and this guy sure has the body to be that player. Brain wise who knows.

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
Did you hear the very sad news that Len Lesser passed away? He gave us so many hilarious Uncle Leo moments. However, I think my favourites were in the episode where after his eyebrows were burnt off opening a package of Jerry's, Elaine drew on some fake ones that gave him a permantently angry expression. "Leo, I don't like your demeanour."!!! Still makes me laugh. RIP Len Lesser. An original and a classic.

Blogger's note: Oh, no. Sad day, indeed. But the shoplifting rate in bookstores may go down

[Steve]

I think the fan screaming about Bosh might of had something negative on the back of the jersey, unless you saw otherwise Doug.

[Peter]

Late in the game, Bargs came down with a couple of rebounds that he actually went and GOT. He even jumped I think! It seemed like down the stretch, he really wanted to win the game.

This strikes me as both a good thing (Bargs does have a fire inside of him) and a bad thing (that fire is not present often enough).

I hope last night was one of those galvanizing moments for him, where he realizes that if he goes after it, he could really make some noise.

Thanks for the blog Doug!

[JHK]

After watching last night's game which probably had the most intensity out of all games played this season, I can say that I saw the future.
Keep: Bargnani, Demar, Amir, Ed Davis, Jose (yes, Jose)
Part ways: Bayless, Weems, Reggie

Jose will be a quality back up who can settle the tempo and not force anything. We draft Irving and have Jose as a back up, that's a deadly PG combo.
Bayless is a TJ Ford + Will Solomon (remember him?).
Weems is a Jamario Moon without the rebounding... absolutely not needed on this team.
Reggie is too one-dimensional, beside we've got Amir and Ed who does better.

[Paul]

Doug, if you haven't already, check out last week's episode of 30 Rock - they take a number of liberties with and jabs at airlines and airline pilots- given your posts this week I think you might get a kick out of it.

[Rob.V]

Bosh got off easy compared to HWSNBN and TMac (which is probably apropos).
-
Interesting point. My buddy I was with last night mentioned the exact same thing about the camera as it was unfolding however I believe they do that during every game (however you're right, someone should have had the forsight to see that coming).
-
Personally there were some weird emotions for me last night. Well not for me, more for Chris: I felt bad for Bosh during the anthem, then felt we let him off too easy during the game (that was suppose to be the fun part)... then felt really bad for him again when he saluted the crowd (after the game) and everyone remaining bood him again... now that was bush league! I truly felt that it was a sincere "thank you" to the ciry of Toronto.
-
Listen, by all accounts Bosh always seemed to be a good kid and he competed when he was here. He was drafted here, he played 7 years here, he grew up here, he's said nice things about Toronto... it was a sincere thank you and we could have been better in that moment. But now it's time to move on!

[sam]

That was a fun game to watch last night - I was proud of the boys. Some pretty good performances by the HOTC -
Amir and Ed Davis played a pretty solid defensive game - Jose did an admirable job of distributing the ball to DeMar and Andrea. I think last nights game was an idication of what the current core of the team will eventually be. A few more pieces with a little toughness and some swagger a good trade or two and good draft might do the job - - - - -

[Chi of Steel]

Re: Mike S's comment, it's actually one of the redeeming things of pro basketball. I've always admired the camaraderie of NBA'ers, like when they help up fallen opponents. God forbid they turn into the goons of the NHL where headshots, crosschecks, and general thuggery is the norm.

[511]

From a Raptors fan’s perspective, I wonder how one who intently watches each and every game could NOT believe that the officiating in the NBA stinks and is maybe even a little bit crooked? It just happens too often, too regularly, seeing calls that shouldn’t have been -- against the Raptors -- and then (often, right after, like last night in the fourth quarter) calls that should’ve been but are not -- against the Raptors’ opponent. I don’t much care what anybody says to argue this; I see it for myself with my own eyes, so nobody at this point, could convince me otherwise. They let us have a team in their league, but they then, so very often do NOT call the games that the Raptors are in, fairly. I’ve watched closely and I’ve tried to see it impartially, that is, from what might be their perspective and ... there’s little question in my mind that the refs are very good at slanting things just enough to make it (even more) difficult for us to win. And watching other games, with other teams - other than the Raptors - (and I watch many) I very rarely see the similar kinds of bias that the Raptors have to just swallow and play on through. The so-called ‘home advantage’ that there has been much talk about lately, with even a book written on the subject that I’ve heard discussed on the radio, does not often play out at the ACC, for the Raptors. It’s like we’re (almost) ALWAYS the visiting team. It stinks bad, in whole slew of ways and on a number of levels.

[dave]

Then he (Bosh) elaborated: “It’s sarcastic to all the naysayers, and it’s real to all the good supporters . . . If people don’t support you now, they never supported you at any time . . . If things can change that quick, they were never with you in the first place.” I read this a few times and now I'm just confussed. Does he not understand irony, can he only see the world from his point of view, or was this a pointed comment at someone and if so who? I figure you were there and could add some context to this. Thanks

[Rob.V]

Also, anyone ever wonder how you become the season "seat holder" of the game.? You know, what is typically thought of as a cheesy 5 second camera shot of some dude sitting there in the stands. We'll, it turns out that it's not so cheesy at all! (but thank goodness they've done away with the 5 second "face time" thingy).
-
Basically, it's a small tour behind the scenes which is really quite nice. You get to sit behind the Raptors bench during shoot around... and if you're lucky you may even get a chance to shake hands with our very own irregular Mr. Smith (nice to meet you dude!). Coach Armstrong (if you read here) is always a gentleman as well.
-
They let you walk out to center court... now, being the very cheeky bugger that I am, I was very (no VERY!) tempted to ask Bosh (while he was hoisting pre-game jumpers) if it was too early to boo him?... but the "right" side of my brain said let the kid warm up.
-
Anyway, you get to see the media scrum and they took us to this room they call the "Board Of Directors" room I believe. It's where the U2's, Bon Jovi's, and other big celebs of the world hang out during the games so I'm thinking maybe I'll run into Tannenbaum... or at least get to swap trade proposals with BC (lol) but unfortunately the only guy I noticed was Russell Oliver (the jeweler).
-
T.O locals will know him. I swear someone mentioned shrimp and he let out an ... Ohhhh yeaaah!!... and here I thought it was all schtick??
-
Anyway, a very nice tour (a nice thought by my rep) and a different angle bringing you inside the "circus" of the game so I thought I would mention it here in case any others season seat holders might want to inquire about it.
-
Dude, never having been to a media scrum before I'm guessing that yesterdays was pretty big... there seemed to be a ton of people hanging around the corridor there. Is that typical of every game?

Blogger's note: Nah, that was four, maybe five times the usual amount; I want my nice peaceful life back

[Dan W]

That Bosh Jersey thing is hilarious.

[Eddy]

The lack of intense hatred directed at the liar Bosh was very disappointing. Perhaps it is a sign that this city is just losing interest in a game and league -- where there is one set of rules for whiners like James and a different, more stringent set, for lesser lights -- and simply don't care any longer. It is also a league now devoted to 4 or 5 places that the so-called stars all want to end up in. I'm not quite certain if anyone outside those favored few destinations will support this league, like they have in the past, unless something is done about egomaniacs like Bosh, James, Wade and Melo trying to dictate who wins and who loses.

[Gene]

I was not able to watch the whole game, but what I did watch ( part of the 3rd
and all of the 4th) showed that Andrea had no problem scoring when guarded
by Bosh. And all we seem hear about is how bad Andrea's defense is while Bosh's defense last night looked quite ineffective.