Good game, good weekend, good stories
Told you I’d eventually figure out the time zones. Sorry I’m late and figure things will be messed up the East for a day or two, too.
Anyway …
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Heckuva game, no?
As expected, it was an exhibition for about three quarters – although there was a bit of an edge to it at times a lot earlier than usual – before it got down to real competition.
And I tell you, watching Kobe and LeBron go at each other down the stretch was something to see. James was in full-on attack mode and there’s nothing quite like seeing him go full throttle and Kobe was Kobe, trying (successfully) to dominate the game and he was like an alpha dog all game, clearly intent on making sure everyone knew where they were (his house), who he was (the defending NBA champ) and what he wanted (his fourth MVP).
And as he sat in the media room after the game doing his interviews, the overwhelming sense that one got was that he’d sent a message to the fans and the league and the other players:
“I’m me, I’m not done yet and I’m still better than all of you.”
He’s right, too.
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What was the weekend like?
Very good, as a matter of fact. Good crowds, not bad events, very good game and the requisite celebs everywhere you looked. There were about a billion of them at the game and at every timeout they’d flash them on the screen. Me? I knew a lot of them but someone has to answer the following:
Who, or what, are Neyo and Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte?
I swear, when they put them on the screen, my mind was blank.
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A guy runs into Rick Fox in the corridors of the Staples Centre before the game – I think he’d just come off the Magenta Carpet (guess that’s red, only better) and after the niceties of “how you doing, how’s the family, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” the conversation goes like this:
He: “You think your guy got robbed in the dunk contest?”
Me: “Oh yeah.”
He: “Me, too. He had the best two dunks. Should have at least made the finals.”
Guess it’s not just us who think that.
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The nights always end with hospitality suite visits at things like this, the league puts on at the media hotel; it’s a pretty good time to catch up with old friends, sip a drink, eat a deep fried brown thing (a wing, a hunk of cheese, other unknown things) and decompress.
Best story of it last night’s an old one, but a good one.
The rooms, back in the day, used to stay open pretty late, or at least a lot later than they do now and there was a fellow who was, um, a regular there.
He gets back to his room, finally, after the game and he’s got a relative early flight and has to wake up.
The call goes, according to legend, like this:
He: “Hello, operator? I need a wakeup call.”
She: “Of course, sir. And what time would you like to get up?”
He: “I need a call for 6 a.m.”
Extended silence.
She: “Sir?”
He: Yes?”
She: “You just missed it.”
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Carmelo gone?
I sure hope so.
But, to recap:
Through most of this weekend, we’ve been inundated with blatant lies about meetings, or no meetings, or who’s pulling what strings while one of the NBA’s top players is conducting de facto job interviews in the middle of the league’s showcase event.
Yeah, that’s got to help the profile of the league with the general public an awful lot.
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Okay, sometimes we, as the media don’t cover ourselves in glory trying to search out good stories with interesting angles. In fact, there are those among us who don’t mind putting words in people’s mouths and taking stuff out of context.
Happened last night and gave Kobe a chance to break up the media room.
He’d gone on early in his media session about how playing with the young kids like Durant and Westbrook had given him a boost of energy. It was entirely about praising the kids and dealing with the specific aspects of Sunday’s game.
Well, that didn’t stop one local from wondering if Kobe was sending a subliminal message to Lakers management about wanting to get some younger guys on his team, as if Kobe wouldn’t just go and tell them anyway.
Well, it sets Bryant off, in a good way.
“Wow. That’s a stretch. You know what? That’s a bikram yoga stretch … Good job. I’m not even going to answer that. That’s just silly.”
Of course, I’d say about 75 per cent of the media room crowd immediately Googled “bikram yoga.”
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Oh yeah, one more on Anthony.
If, as reports suggest a Knicks deal is being held up by the inclusion or exclusion of Timofey Mozgov, someone ought to get fired.
Last I saw, Mozgov was/is a backup centre best known for being dunked on by Blake Griffin and if you shake a tree, six Mozgov’s fall out.
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Speaking of trades, the deadline’s Thursday, I’ll have to spend the rest of today trying to find out what’s going on with the HOTH and here’s one from the mail:
Q: A rainy day question. What becomes of Reggie? Do they showcase him for the rest of the year (get a couple wins) and wish him well. Or do they limit his minutes and let him mentor (I'm not sure who) some players and hope he resigns for the next season.
John P, Vernon Hills
A: Actually, it seems to be a pretty nice day out here in L.A. but I know what you mean.
My thoughts, and the indications I get from people I’ve talked to, is that if they can’t get a draft pick (and the less protection on it, the better) in some deal for Reggie, he’s going to be here for the rest of the year.
And I don’t think any team is going to really offer anything for a guy who hasn’t played in two months so I think moving him for some kind of asset would be virtually impossible.
Next year? Well, barring any other transactions, he’d be the fourth man in a rotation of four bigs and it might be a question of whether he wants to come back more than if they want him back.
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Oh yeah. A full mailbag tomorrow but it’s really empty over there right now so while I’m either on the Air Canada flight or waiting out the inevitable delay, I need some good questions about stuff so please, click here and send them along.
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See you back home.
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Hi Doug,
Like you, I'm pretty tired of the "Melo"drama in the NBA lately. I've always been a firm supporter of the players getting as much as they can. After all, they're the ones I pay to go watch. But, it's getting tougher and tougher to be on their side. I just hope that the SPURS are rewarded with another championship this year, because they seem to be the only team that's doing it the right way.
Posted by: coachd | February 21, 2011 at 11:50 AM
I thought the "wanting it more" debate was a dead issue. Though you never responded yourself to my comment that it wasn't cool yelling at some kid "no, no, no, a thousand times no" to the question he posed, you chose to keep it alive with a rather snide "joke" in yesterday's IGBT, so I'll take another run at it. That kid was probably asking a question that is relevant to him because he's had coaches trying to pound into him that you have to "want it more" than the other guy. Having played many sports in my day, and coached two (basketball,baseball), I'm willing to bet almost every coach, in every sport, has tried motivating kids by using that line. Some, as the kid that wrote that question, seem to have understood the nuance of the expression's meaning. Somewhere in North America, some sportswriter uses that same expression just about every day. As a writer, I would expect that you're quite aware of a word taking on a more broad meaning in a certain context, particularly in sport. Why so much difficulty with this one? Are you suggesting that all those coaches are contributing to the confusion of the kids that don't get it?
Blogger's note: I'm suggesting coaches are using trite cliches
Posted by: DMcCalgary | February 21, 2011 at 12:56 PM
to me this whole Melo thing has nothing to do with him, he's a impending FA, so Nuggets have declared they want to get assets for him as their likelihood of re-signing are slim...the fault and it's a large one in fact utterly comical if it wasn't so serious a breach of contracts and trust, lies within the NBA allowing this all to happen...Stern's credibility is shot,he implements technical fouls on players for disrespecting the game...well his actions or lack thereof have been far more disrespectful to the game...there is a saying, along the lines of, there is no such thing as bad press, which is the truth when it applies to individuals in the limelight...but not corporations as the NBA is...Stern confuses all this media attention around LeBron, Bosh and Wade and now Melo as positive press...it's not, from Lebron's announcement to this whole debacle the NBA has lost whatever credibility it had left...just sad, Stern shows he doesn't care about the integrity of the league, someone somewhere needs to start or it's no different then MMA or the WWE.....the NBA has a major leadership vacuum at present...
Posted by: doug | February 21, 2011 at 12:58 PM
I love basketball, but I really an geting tired of all the big egos. What a collection in LA this weekend. Is it me or is it just the NBA that has these guys?
Blogger's note: "Just the NBA?" No.
Posted by: Binder | February 21, 2011 at 02:01 PM
Hey Doug, did you hear the report about Jarrett Jack getting arrested for DUI ?
What do you think ? What would have happened if the incident was while he was still in Toronto? And what would happen to him now?
Blogger's note: Same thing that happens to any schmoe who gets busted for DWI
Posted by: Omar | February 21, 2011 at 02:25 PM
Omar, there was once a Raptor who was pulled over on the Don Valley and eventually charged with drunk driving. Same thing happened to him as every other person out there. Interestingly, it's still one of the leading cases on racial profiling in Canadian jurisprudence.
Posted by: Mr. Cook | February 21, 2011 at 02:52 PM
Hi Doug,
Happy travels back home. My question for you is do you think Toronto will ever have the chance to host an all-star game for the NBA? Is MLSE pursuing it? Thanks.
Blogger's note: I highly doubt it
Posted by: Joe | February 21, 2011 at 04:56 PM
What I meant was what would the team and organization do ? Would he be suspended or fined ? Or the organization will just pretend like nothing happened and let him deal with it privately ?
I personally don't think that the team and organization needs to get involved and such things should not be put out on the news, it's the player's personal life.
Blogger's note: Sorry. He'll get a suspension from the league (probably one game) if he's convicted; that's routine
Posted by: Omar | February 21, 2011 at 05:50 PM
Last I saw, Mozgov was/is a backup centre best known for being dunked on by Blake Griffin and if you shake a tree, six Mozgov’s fall out.
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Clearly you watch the highlights and don't watch who Mosgov is....You need to watch some games....don't go by his pts per game either..... the guy is skilled, DEN is pushing for him, they got 3 more days......(clearly as Melo said "you cant be mad for DEN asking for everything and the kitchen sink")
Posted by: Aditya | February 21, 2011 at 07:10 PM
Don't really understand all the complaining about the NBA. If you didn't like the show Kobe and LBJ put on yesterday, you will never like the NBA. The league has always been about the superstars; in Kobe, LBJ and Wade, this is the best collection of stars we have seen since MJ, Magic and Bird. Sure, they have big egos but that's what makes them interesting to follow. If I wanted to follow boring athletes who never have anything interesting to say, I would just watch the NHL.
Posted by: Kent | February 21, 2011 at 07:35 PM
Think you mean Julian Wright, not Antione in your article.
Posted by: Ben S | February 21, 2011 at 07:54 PM
Thanks for the explanation of "The Dougie". Yikes.
Next time you get some camera time on one of the broadcasts, is there any chance we will see *you* doin' the Dougie? I think you could pull it off.
Give Jack's singing some competition. What do you say?
Posted by: ditch dickinson | February 21, 2011 at 08:15 PM
Hey Doug, in your "Smith: All’s quiet on Raptor trade front" article, it mentions Antoine Wright isn't a marketable commodity. I agree. Hard to market someone you don't have anymore. ;)
(Likely Julian was meant I imagine. :-) )
Posted by: SS | February 21, 2011 at 08:27 PM
Just between you and me, okay?
Man, I thought I was a stubborn grumpy old man. To dump on a kid, pretty harshly, for equating "want to win" to "will to win" (not a big stretch), because it's a tired old cliche. Oh well, to use a term I've seen around these parts, some people kids. Dude, wt...... never mind.
Posted by: DMcCalgary | February 21, 2011 at 08:52 PM
I have commented in the past about the league intervening with the Melo trade talks. I still don't know why Stern has allowed this to keep going on the way it is. It's time to put a stop to it. Letting his situation become a story during the all-star weekend is not good. Maybe it wasn't an issue at the actual venue, as I wasn't there, it did seem to appear on all the sports sites. As you said, if Mozgoz is the reason than WTF are the Knicks thinking?!!
Posted by: Ian Murray | February 21, 2011 at 09:25 PM
Kobe was showing his professionalism in acknowleding Lebrons full-on attempt at stopping him. That's what mature athletes do; they love the competition and embrace players that go at them with designs on besting them. Kobe did the right thing .
Posted by: Atlanta Roofing | February 21, 2011 at 09:57 PM