Dangerous times and you've got to love those Spiders

Missed practice yesterday because of the drive so there’s a dearth of anything really new here but it doesn’t mean it’s not interesting nonetheless.

Really.

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Had an interesting chat with Bob McCown during a stop on his show Thursday that touched on one topic we don’t get to very often here.

Whether there are still many of you who actually care what’s going on with these guys.

There is no doubt that there is a level of apathy that’s setting in, a troubling sign for any team, and that’s probably the one thing they need to be worried most about.

Yes, there are still very many of you who care passionately, which is a good thing for them, but the sense I’m getting here and during games and anecdotally just hanging around is that so many of you don’t really care as much what happens, that it’s more about what’s going to happen in June and July that’s at the front of your mind.

They are destined to have the lowest attendance in franchise history, they could very well be headed to a lockout that would bring any summer interest to a screeching halt and there are signs that the interest that’s waning will be hard to get back.

I’m not sure what they can do to create any kind of buzz or to get back the fans they’ve lost over this season but they need to do something.

The worst thing that can happen to a team is that it becomes somewhat irrelevant in its market.

I don’t think we’re to that point yet with the Raptors but we’re closer than we’ve ever been and they need to hit some kind of home run between now and the summer to get some juice flowing again.

Best of luck to them.

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Hey, how about them Spiders?

Not bad for a dude who has no clue about NCAA basketball, eh?

Didn’t see a whole lot of the tournament on Day 1, a long drive and an important appointment will do that to a guy but I guess it was pretty good.

That’s probably the best thing about the drama of last-second elimination and I’m glad that’s part of it because watching teams run three-man weaves for a shot clock that’s about five minutes long before missing a three-pointer is pretty hard to take.

Anyway, since I’m channeling my inner Al McGuire, keep a close eye on Marquette today.

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One from the mail? Sure.

Q: Hey again Doug, hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day. I don't remember mine :D

Was just wondering... To rack up an assist, does the person receiving and scoring the bucket have to score within a certain number of seconds? Certain number of steps?

I ask this because I notice a lot that yes, an assist is counted when the scorer makes a basket less than a second or 2 after getting the pass, but I also notice that sometimes even after 2-3 seconds and a hop-step, or even a dribble drive and a score that an assist is still counted. Please enlighten me with your logical information.

Thanks again, peace man.

 

 

Sky D, North Bay

A: St. Patrick’s Day?

Dead quiet, actually. Got a wee bit of Irish on but it was a work day most of all; I tend to see the day as almost as close to Amateur Hour as New Year’s Eve but with a bit more legitimacy.

Oh, and it’s Super Dog’s birthday (she’s five) so that kind of dominates home.

Anyway, there is no strict rule on assists except that the pass is supposed to lead “directly” to a basket. Doesn’t always seem to work that way and there is some subjectivity to it but those are the guidelines.

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What’s up in Washington?

Let’s check with Michael Lee and find out that the Wizards seem far worse off today than the Raptors do.

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Back to the tournament for a second.

Do you think the Butler coached designed a play where a dude fell down into a buzzer-beater?

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So, the road trip that’s coming up is a bear – Thunder, Nuggets, Suns, Warriors, Clippers in seven days – and you can almost count the games left in the season on the fingers of two hands.

Oh yeah, we’re in for a big finish, aren’t we?

Kind of makes tonight’s game pretty important for their collective psyches, no?

They haven’t really played a good game since beating New Orleans here what seems like an eon ago and I wonder what they’ve got in the mental tank for the Wizards.

I’m not suggesting this game will be season-defining or any huge benchmark but it might be a late-season measure of mental acuity; they need to play well and they need to play hard.

It’ll be interesting to see if they can.

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Interesting stat.

(Or not)

In 10 games as a Raptor, James Johnson has 14 blocked shots.

The other two players who’ve started at small forward, Sonny Weems and Linas Kleiza, have combined for eight all year.

And that, folks, is a big reason why it makes sense that Johnson starts and factors largely into the team’s future plans.

As I wrote today, there are still parts off his game that need improvement – shooting being the primary one – but if he gives them that kind of defensive presence, I can live with the odd missed jumper.

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Nice calm drive back, if you care.

No snow, no wind, no nothing and I don’t know what kind of scenery it was – I’m pretty sure the 402 and 401 aren’t lined with Eucalyptus trees – but it’s not that bad a journey when the weather’s good.

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Want to send in some mail and say hello?

You can do it by clicking here, telling me your innermost thoughts (well, within reason, please) and sending it along.

Since the journey tomorrow from Toronto to Oklahoma City is rather circuitous (you try getting from one place to the other in a direct line), I’m going to have some plane time to get it done.

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Comments

[Lawrence]

A homerun?

A homerun would help the Blue Jays.

The Raptors have to win basketball games. They have to win games, make the playoffs, make noise in the playoffs and contend for a championship, and we're all right there - really interested.

[Bob (Mississauga)]

This is the first season I didn't go to at least one game. The lower ticket prices they announced may get me back next year.

But I really need to see a system where all teams are more competitive. I don't get a sense there is any way a GM in Toronto could win it all under the current system (not a fact, a feeling and one that many others appear to to have). TV might be up watching Boston/Miami/LA but there are empty seats all over the league. The owners have a pretty good argument this off season that something needs to change.

[doug]

I'm not worried to much about the fans, it's mostly non-basketball fans or casual ones that think the market is going soft...the Raptors are no different then any other business, whether it's a restaurant, a clothing store or whatever...its the product it sells that makes it successful, the Raps start winning the joint will be hopping again...and quite frankly I don't want "buzz" this franchise has always gone for the "buzz" element from marketing Carter,Mcgrady,Bosh being franchise players and then having them leave and starting all over again...so leave out the "buzz" moves and just build a solid nucleus with depth that isn't contingent upon one "star"...look at the Nuggets, 9-2 since Melo left and just a solid team...for me that's the "Buzz" I want....a team, not stars......also as a Raptor fan be glad we aren't Knick fans, they raised ticket prices 49%, for what??...I watched the NCAA for about 15 minutes yesterday and this is part of the whole thing that bothers me, announcers never,ever question coaching decisions or moves, and every play is a great play as opposed to just a bad one on the oppositions part, case in point in the game I watched for a bit, there was just over a minute left, a 4 point game, the team losing 2 times in a row, was just over half-court and tried a cross court bounce pass to a teammate with a defender in the way...both times intercepted for easy lay-ups, announcers say what outstanding defense, and rave about it...r u kidding me??, it was a brain cramp by the guard and a pass no one dares make in the NBA or high school ball for that matter., but it's all peaches and cream, with the coaches never getting questioned on anything...it's one big NCAA love-in...your thoughts on the drive home would be different if you crossed in Windsor, that drive from Windsor to London on the 401 seems interminable, oh and also long:)....

[Eddy]

"I’m not sure what they can do to create any kind of buzz or to get back the fans they’ve lost over this season but they need to do something"
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How about show that you care about winning by spending some money and putting a decent team on the court, rather than just ripping your fan base off.
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The NBA isn't helping itself by allowing the star players to congregate on 4 or 5 US cities either.

[Matt M]

There is a way to get interest back fortunately. A good young team with the potential to be great would be a good start. Sort of like Oklahoma has had since they got Durant. It might take a couple years to build though and nailing this years pick would be a good start. Tossing the fans a bone by ditching Bargnani might help too.

[sam]

It's an interesting thing - It's not been a great year for the HOTC - but for some reason, I've enjoyed this season more than any in recent memory.
The emergance of a few guys like DeMar, Ed and Amir certainly help - but I think the biggest thing is there seems to be no baggage -

No Hedo - No Bosh saga with the will he stay or will he go - No point Guard debate - Should we care - Heck ya....

[mike kovacs]

Doug, i gather that you go to the pistons games via port huron?

Blogger's note: Oh yeah, far easier than Windsor and up.

[Blake Kennedy]

If the Raptors want people to take more interest in their games, THEY'RE going to have to start playing as though the games are actually important first. How are the fans supposed to act all interested when Andrea Bargnani consistently stands there in the paint like a slack-jawed slug, watching as opponents drive through the lane with zero resistance? How interested can we be when we know that at any time the opponents will get the easiest scores they could possibly want with a simple 1-5 ball screen? Losing is predictable with this squad: they play absolutely no defense, and guys like Ed Davis who do defend quite well don't get to play because Jay is under some delusion that Reggie Evans helps us more. In reality, Reggie Evans serves one purpose: to be a crutch for Andrea Bargnani to lean on. Time to raise the interest level by getting rid of the crutch and the guy who needs one and putting actual basketball players on the floor - then, and only then, will the fans be interested.

[Derek S]

Morning Doug,
Unfortunately I have to include myself in the "disinterested" group. I've been a huge fan of this team since they got the franchise, and I've been a season ticket holder for 4 years now. Normally I'd RARELY miss a game on TV (when I'm not at the games).
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In the last couple of months though, I've missed several games on TV (and not cared), or put a game on and ended up flipping the channel before half-time. I've been at some games this year and found myself more interested in checking the hockey scores on my phone than I was interested in the game on the court in front of me.
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At this point, winning a game here or there isn't going to make a difference to my psyche. I'm past the point of getting my hopes up in trying to look for "signs of growth" from some of the young guys from one game to another.
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I know all the reasons why they're bad - lack of experience, lack of depth, questionable talent, etc., but the bottom line is that as a fan of this team, they're not fun to watch. If I hadn't cared so much about this team for so long, I might be able to watch them get crushed by a good team and just appreciate the talent level of the opponent - the way I do when I watch two "marquee" teams play in which I don't have a rooting interest in either team.
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I feel like the season already ended a month or so ago. The Raps are a "dead man walking". We know a bunch of these guys won't be back next year, so you disconnect from alot of the players as well. Am I supposed to get excited when we lose but Sonny Weems has a good game, knowing he'll be elsewhere next year?
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I honestly don't think there's anything the Raps could do at this point to "recapture" my interest this season. Although I've given up on this year, I'm still trying to hold some level of optimism for next year. Still hoping for a good draft pick who can contribute, still hoping for some promising off-season moves, and still hoping for a changed CBA that looks like it'll create more parity among all the teams, so we can hope to be relevant in the future.
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I'm also hoping that if all of the above don't work out, that I'm not feeling the same way I do now a month into next season.

[Paul]

As long as Bryan Colangelo is giving his pet project (Andrea Bargnani) a big role, this team will end up, year after year, at the bottom of most defensive categories. Doug knows it, the announcers know it, Triano knows it, but no one dares say it.

When a new GM comes in and cleans the deck, then "stories" (like the ones about Vince Carter and Chris Bosh) will start floating about Bargnani and his Godfather.

[JT]

Doug, these late season games where it doesn't matter, the Raptors really need to get some promotional stuff going. In previous years, they've have 2 free tickets with the purchase of X from Pizza Pizza so they need to go back to something like that. I've tried looking for tickets under $20 for about 10 games (and not all of them were against good teams) and none had them so I gave up on trying to find any tickets period.

[Michael]

You are right about fans losing interest. They were televising a game last night from 2000, Raptors vs Magic, those were the days.... I used to look forward to every Raptor's game day, but now I am actually disappointed that Sportsnet One is televising the Raptors game rather than the tennis doubles match featuring both Federer and Nadal. I am sure that will be much more entertaining than a Raptors vs Washington game....

[JHK]

Just a reverse thought here...
So JJ blocked 14 shots... that is equivalent to a minimum of 28 points turn-around, or maximum of 42 points (assuming he blocked 14 three pointers). Let's take the latter for the sake of argument, that is 4.2 ppg he 'saved' in 10 game span. Add that to the 7.8 ppg he scores, that is 12 ppg.
Let's take any 10 game span of Weems or Kleiza... I don't have the numbers but it is probably higher than 12 ppg, plus the 8 blocks they combine adds up to some value as well.
Not trying to take anything away from JJ, matter of face, I don't even like Weems or Kleiza but my point is that I'm not sure if that 1.4 blk per game really means much..

I guess this is why stats people came up with that PER thing.

[Kerry O]

Contrary to what some others have posted, I don't think the Raptors need to win to field good attendance. I think they need to give the impression that they could win. That was tough to do with the departure of Bosh and the prevailing sense (accurate or not) that Bargnani isn't a top tier player in the NBA.

Hopefully the emergence of DeRozan and Bayless, Johnson's continued growth and some canny off-season moves by Colangelo can turn the tide of negative opinion. It would be a shame if the NBA folded in Canada for good.

[Neil]

I stopped caring about the raptors just before x-mas and havent really missed much from looking at the record and attendance. Which genius in MLSE or raptors managment decided it was a good idea to put most of the Raps games after all star break on Sprotsnet One which i refuse to pay for on top of my 200$ a month TV bill. Why would i pay to watch a team that is horrible with 18 wins. I usually go to about 10 games a year before but this year i have been to one game and we got blown out with little effort and now I cant even follow them on TV i see more heat and lakers games then I do Raptors. No big deal lucky playoffs are around the corner and i can watch real teams play basketball.

[David]

I believe that some of the apathy of the fans is about the apathy of the players who are not in the Big 8 teams. The fans are tired about the incessant player whining when they are not on the said 'Superteam'. The Decision and the Carmelo trade galvanized this fan disinterest in the 'non trendy' cities especially since the non trendy fans pay the same over inflated ticket prices as the fans in the trendy teams. May the NBA lockout be long to fix this problem.

[Sump]

@Neil: I totally agree with you. It's ludicrous that we have to pay obscene amounts of money to watch a losing product and then on top of that they want us to pay more to watch it at home on our TV's?!?! And then on top of all that we have to hear Matt Devlin? This team is going downhill and it needs a shake up badly. Trading Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderone would be the first step in the right direction. Giving DD, Bayless and Ed some wiggle room would be ideal since the game consists mainly of Andrea stepping back for a 3, Andrea putting his head down driving, Andrea stepping back for a 2, etc. I know it's really awesome that he can score 30 points on 25 shots. So can Kobe and he has 5 rings.

[CM]

Fans are just tired of the losing and the weak interior D. Fact is, the team will never be a playoff team with Bargnani as the center. Doesn't matter who plays power forward. What they do with Bargnani will determine how fast they become comeptitive. If someone like Perkins was the center and Bargnani the power forward that might (no assurance) work. But since you've invested in Ed and Amir something has got to give. Pieces still don't fit, at least on D. Pretty frustrating.

[Neil]

The best thing that has happened to this organization this year is that RAPTORS TV became NBA TV Canada because no one watches that channel for the horrible Raptors ..I know I dont. I pay for that channel so I can see other teams play. What a joke of a franchise.

[A.G.]

The short answer is, 'No, I don't care about the Raptors right now.'

This season has been over for a long time now, so aside from a bit of player development, primarily DeRozan, there's not much about this team that is compelling.

But that's okay. Because this season has always been about next season and beyond. In fact, every time I look at the box score and see an 'L', I'm happy. The Raptors immediate future is the draft. This draft is purported to be a historically weak one, so if we want to find any value then we need to be selecting as high as possible.

I still care about the Raptors. They're still my team. And come next Fall (or winter or whenever the league returns) I'll be back, cheering them on. But right now it's about playing out the string and 'losing well'.

Finally, I disagree with you, Doug, that they need to 'hit a home run' this summer. To me, that statement implies that they need to either (a) make a trade for a big name player, or (b) sign a big name guy through free agency. The problem is that when you try to make a big splash - hit that home run - you too often strike out. The Raps in particular have a history of bad 'big name' signings/trades (J. O'Neal, Turkoglu, Olajuwon etc.).

I do agree that they need to make a good pick and some smart player moves. In particular, let's see some concrete steps that will address what has long been the Raptor's achilles heel - their defense. But let's see Colangelo build this team the right way and give us something to be excited about with progress through youth - not by swinging wildly for the fences.

[jc]

have you got any stock tips?

[jc]

and are you modestly leaving out Jimmer's 32 points?

[Chris]

A good comparison can be made between the Raptors and the Blue Jays. The buzz is gone for both teams. They have trouble competing for top talent, they are both in constant rebuild mode, and they are both sports that are not in the hearts of the average person in Toronto. A lockout will really hurt the Raptors, just like the strike in MLB hurt the Jays.

[John]

Why is it that everyone has such a hate on AB? I really don't get it. He's averaging more points, and its not a factor of volume shooting cause his percentage is up as well. Everyone who complains about his defence should be reminded that he is NOT a center and plays out of position most every night. This a team that is rebuilding, not re-tooling, but rebuilding and the way they are put together, and if things stay the same, they will not be in the playoffs next year either.
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Fan interest is a direct result of the league, not the Raptors. The league has to do something about parity that allows teams to keep their talent and compete without being development teams for the other cities. The whole sign and trade shenanigans where the player gets his money and choses the team/city he wants to play in has to be changed. If they want the money, they stay where they are, if they want the location it costs them. The Bird rights are great to allow a team to keep its drafted players and keep teams together, however those contracts should not be allowed to be traded for a period of time, or the contracts should count towards a hard cap to prevent teams from going over the cap by acquiring Bird rights players from other teams. If the Bird rights contracts could not be traded for one year it would give teams a better chance at holding onto the players they want, instead of players playing for the teams that they want while still under contract. Players have free agency which gives them complete control of where they want to play, they should not have this control while still under contract with another team.

[Leaf Fan in Van]

I can't understand why people would stop watching when we have the obvious choice for COTY! I am in absolute shock that with the kind of coaching this team has recieved for the past 3 years we aren't winning championships already! Doesn't everyone see the improvement in Bargs/DD/ et al - especially on the defensive side of the ball??? Isn't all of Toronto excited about this coach coming back next year to solidify this franchise's lot as worst defensive team ever???