Don't forget the other end of the court, too

Finally, the interminable NBA pre-season comes to an end for the Raptors.

(Oh, wait; that’s every other year).

Anyway, guess the question is what to look for – or expect from – the HOTH here in Boston tonight and, frankly, it’s not going to be too much.

All they want, at least all that Dwane says he wants, is more of the same from Sunday night, consistency and intensity on defence, guys being in the right place and doing the right thing, and the incremental improvement that, really, only coaches can see.

What do you look for?

Well, I do think it’s time to see some fluidity to the offence – it was way too herky-jerky for most of the game the other day at home – and I wonder just how good this collection is going to be at that end of the court.

They don’t shoot it particularly well – neither their starting shooting guard or small forward is remotely a three-point threat; if they stay with a “centre by committee” two of them are offensive liabilities – and that has to be at least a little bit worrisome to the staff and fans.

And one thing Dwane pointed out during our daily chinwag Tuesday was that he needs to see better reading and reacting from the guys on the floor, the kind of instinctual play that comes not only with experience but with familiarity among the players on the floor.

“We know how to get into a play but defences are going to there, give you an obstacle, so now we’ve got to know how to get out of a play out of our sets.

“Know our reads, know our options, know our counters out of what we already have in.”

So, yes, defence continues to be a priority – it will be for the entire season, a mantra that will never go away – but it’s almost as important that they get things figured out offensively, as well.

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Hey, Tankers:

I think Dwane put as well yesterday as I could ever have:

“I still look at all the guys as young guys, young players, everybody needs that playing experience.

“But, again, not at the expense of just going out and walking out and giving away a game, I’m never going to do that. Guys are going to have to earn their minutes, the guys who are out there – young, old, middle-aged, whatever you want to call it – everybody’s going to have to earn their minutes … guys will determined the amount of time they’ll have.”

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Can you feel the excitement?

Teenage pucks soon!

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Seriously, why in the world would they hold something called the Beef O’Brady Bowl and why in the world would I be watching it for even 40 seconds while sitting on a stool?

If there’s one thing I don’t get in all of sports, and there’s lots of things, it’s the proliferation of American college football bowl games.

The Beef O’Brady Bowl?

Have we given up as a sporting society?

(Oh, yeah, Marshall won)

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Oh, we’ve had some obscure ones in our Walk Through Odd Christmas Songs.

None more obscure than this, I don’t think.

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So my good friends over at the NBL Canada had a little chinwag with commish John Kennedy yesterday.

I got a report second-hand (dang flights and HOTH) but if you want a bit of a catch up with the league, here goes:

Things are moving along as expected, some teams are doing quite well, there are a couple of trouble spots (Quebec’s in a very small gym and that’s hurting them, Oshawa’s in an extremely tough market and that’s a troubling situation) but the league isn’t ready to abandon them quite yet.

They’d like to add some teams, specifically in Ontario, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea at all.

If you were to find people to put teams in, say, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor and maybe even Hamilton, you could probably increase media awareness in the province, get some real rivalries going and grow sponsorship province-wide. Not a bad a idea at all, as long as they go slowly and prudently.

One of the hallmarks of the league has been intelligent ownership, not trying to hit home runs but to build small innings; that’s the way they have to continue.

Oh, on the court?

You’re getting a bit of separation with London and Quebec at the top and Moncton at the bottom; the other four teams are relatively closely bunched, which is another huge plus.

Again, this league is a good idea being implemented well, if you get a shot, go see a game, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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Right, the mail. Better get started by jotting down your innermost thoughts and sending them along here. I have no idea what the weekend schedule’s going to be with Christmas and all but, believe me, there will be mail.

Oh yeah, know what else there will be?

An IGBT!!!!

Yeah, we'll see if it works tonight here, and see if we remember how to do it.

They're set up now by the big shots back home so you might have to actually go to the paper's website and sports section to find it, but it's certainly not that hard.

See you then, right?

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How good a day was yesterday for some old friends.

Hump gets a gig with the Nets and Reggie Evans agrees to go to the Clippers.

I will tell you this: The Clippers got a great, great deal in Reggie; just about perfect for what they need. Seeing how I saw a tweet thing early yesterday afternoon that they were considering Alexis Ajinca for the role (yes, I scoffed; incredibly), how much of an upgrade is a guy who’ll get you five or six extra possessions every night?

I don’t know how it ultimately works out in the end for the Clips – there are some holes in the roster like outside shooting and the bench and I do have questions about the coaching – but Reggie Evans is a great add.

Good on them.

(Speaking of Hump, Gumby and I are in a 7-11 in Boston last night and on the magazine rack, one of those trashy celeb things NO ONE SHOULD BUY has a headline that says something along the lines of “Humphries To Write Tell-All Book. Might knock To Kill A Mockingbird off the must-read list).

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Yu Darvish.

(Figured I’d throw some baseball in just to keep this from being a total baskeball blog)

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Comments

[doug]

the thing I want to see and it will help me judge Casey better, is how he coaches our offense, by this I mean games where we need points and how he changes the rotation, or last 30 seconds of a game and see what plays he runs and what guys he goes to, you can preach defense and make it a priority all you want, but it has to be balanced, some coaches can coach offense, some defense, the good ones coach both...speaking of coaches, this one guy has having a bad go of it lately, Kobe, without all the rest going on in his life and with the team, imagine going from Phil Jackson as your head coach to Mike Brown, it would be like taking advanced calculus, and then having to sit thru a grade 3 math class..and a sign of the apocalypse ...Sterling is actually putting together a team out there, he still has to find a way of blowing it ..doesn't he, he has to ...

[Steve M]

Hi Doug, great blog once again! Question for you, do you know which network will be providing the game tonight?

Blogger's note: None, won't be on TV or radio. It's like it's not happening

[john]

Hey Doug! Asome Blog!
A perfect mix of basketball and "other" sports!

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

I'd love an NBL team in Hamilton. Here's my problem now, and it's simple: I live in the west end of Toronto and the thought of heading across the city to Oshawa during rush hour is enough to kill any an ambition I might have for taking in a game. Meanwhile, London is too far. If they can get one or two teams in the mid-size markets you mentioned (and maybe Markham? I hear tell they are getting a large new arena there) they can draw from all corners of the city. This is the hotbed for hoops in eastern Canada and I know lots of fans who would go if the home court was reasonably close by.

Meanwhile, is there any talk of a team in Montreal? A few good players have been known to come out of there, too. Good bball community.

AG, Toronto

[sam]

Good for Hump and good for Reggie - It's hard not to like some ex Raptors. I hope the HOTH will keep up the defensive intensity tonight and show the great unwashed that Sundays display is what we can expect from the team this year -

[Lorie]

Hello, Doug!
So the time away from covering the game has impacted you I see. You've clearly forgotten all you once knew about Living the Highlife as an NBA Beat Grunt On The Road! You're in Boston and spend the evening on a stool (they've got stools in 'em down there?) in a 7-11??? Not at The Harpoon? Sipping a Sam Adams? Eating crabcakes? Good Lord. Well, at least you refrained from reading one of those tacky tabloids while perched on that stool slipping your Slushie. Hopefully you were scanning The Globule. Thanks for the NBL mention. Our team here in London is not only doing well in the standings, but the attendance is a solid 2,400 on average per game, the team is frequently out and about in the community working to build their fanbase and the local sponsorship seems sound. It would be great for the league, though if they could get the same sort of commitment that TSN gave the CFL way back when to give it wider exposure and make this league part of the national fabric. I know it's early days - but you've got to dream big even while taking baby steps to get there. Cheers! And Go Raps!!!

[Matt M]

No! YU Darvish

[ikonn]

Hi Doug, I think you got the basketball balance right today and I hope you continue in this direction. After living in 4 countries over the last decade, one of the things that I have kept the same is thestar.com as my home page primarily because of you and your Raptors blog. Ok, also because of Jim Kenzie and Wheels.

Please do not give up on the thousands of followers that you have developed due to your insight, knowledge, wit and occasional crankiness. You are one of a kind when it comes to bball and that's why we come. Sure you had to fill some space during the lockout and yes, it was off-season, but judging by the # of comments, readership plummeted. When the lockout was ending and you began to write about bball again, comments have shot back up to the 30+ range. Keep the essence of your bball blog alive Doug and please do not try to deviate too much from what made you successful.

[ikonn]

Doug, you've really got me thinking about this bball vs sports blog thing. So unless you are doing this just to build controversy and if my previous post was not compelling enough, consider these 2 cases:

** Case 1: Tall Foreheads at Coke decided that they needed something different. Welcome New Coke which resulted in a complete failure. Unless you believe that they did it for PR reasons, by replacing Good Coke completely, they deviated too far from their core strength and ignored the wishes of their loyal followers. Two bad strategies.

**Case 2: Tall Foreheads at Porche decided that they needed something different. Welcome the Cayenne SUV. Despite heavy criticism, they expanded into a new area very successfully by introducing a good new product while keeping their true sporting essence which lives within the 911.

You have something very unique Doug, but if you and Mother Star want to branch out then go for it but please find a replacement for the people that want to discuss Raptors basketball in the Sports section.

Better yet, why not do some research. Post a survey with the following: "Would you prefer a blog with (a) 90% Raptors/NBA content or (b) 60% Raptors/NBA content?"

Now I have to go because just thinking about svelte Doug Smith and a 911 in the same sentence made me laugh so hard I wet myself.

Blogger's note: There were 1,055 words or so this morning; I'd venture to say 850 were specific to the Raptors. That's a pretty good percentage considering, you know, the season hasn't even started for goodness sake

[LeeZ]

Doug the poster made a good point about not sacrificing offence on the altar of defence. The last (only) defensive-minded coach we had had this habit of breaking lamps and being, well, let's call it a little frosty with the media. But he got an incredible defensive performance out of players who had never played defence in their lives (see: Carter, Vince). Still remember that time that Wince went down in the offensive end as though shot in the heart by a bazooka. As the play transitioned back down to the other end of the court, there was K.O. jumping up and down, furiously gesticulating for Vince to get the hell up and run back down the court. At that precise moment, had I been at the game, I would have run over to K.O. and kissed him on the lips (not that there's anything wrong with that...). It was, and remains, the SINGLE GREATEST MOMENT in Raptors coaching history. But I digress. Doug, is there a lead assistant in charge of offence (an offensive "guru"), or is Dwayne handling both ends of the court?

Blogger's note: Kind of "offence by committee" at the moment; no clear distinction for any of them

[SheikYurbouti]

The Clippers would seem to be a great spot for Reggie. You just knew he had to land somewhere and he should have a good time in LA. Good for him!!!

I sure hope Casey stays the course all season long regarding accountability on defense. It's the only way he changes the mentality.

GO RAPS!!

[Alan C.]

Doug, thanks for the NBL mention -- I, too, find it rewarding basketball, in spite of the fact that our Power have hit a bit of a rough patch. Still, they have four Canadians who are earning their time, including starting point guard Tut Ruach.

@Lorie: congrats on a great Lightning season so far, in the stands and on the court. I hope our 401 series remains tight and hard-fought.

@doug: do you think that Sterling has finally learned his lesson, and is letting his staff, you know, do their jobs?

[Emily]

That clip is utterly spooky. The look in her eye... the mash-up (I hope/assume?) with the tranny backups... This is going to haunt my dreams.

[Peter]

I'm glad for Reggie. Reggie or Ajinca? Good call on Reggie! When you have an end of the bench guy on your team, would you rather have a guy who is top 5 in the NBA in one category, and pretty bad in everything else, or a guy who is well below average in every category? Seems like a no brainer, LA is going to like him!

[JimT]

Wowsers did Reggie hit the lottery by the balls or what! Gets to live in LA,keep Blakes seat toasty,gets to watch CP3 courtside every night and has the last laugh on the Kman.All this while making millions.Why did hump only get a 1 year?Dude busts his hump for the nets and gets offered 1yr?If i was hump id ask for an annulment,lol.Oh about the poll im in for 95%basketball all the time and Doug Travel stories the rest.(thx tall foreheads for listening).---end of rant :)

[Rob.V]

Blogger's note: Kind of "offence by committee" at the moment; no clear distinction for any of them.
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Yup, it sure looks that way too, doesn't it. But it's way early, so I'll bite my tongue... sort of!
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Have to agree with the other posters dude. It's like that old saying in show business "give them what they want" (is that really an old saying in show business?).
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Anyway, if the people buying the tickets to the movie want to see plenty of gun fights and car chase scenes, why offer them Chocolat.. or Knotting Hill?... just sayin.
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I'm fine with this space as is however the idea of a poll for your "phoobas" might not be a bad idea. I'd say 90% come here for what Hedo?... Ball!!!

[Cluck Kent]

I can't speak for the rest of the 'tankers' but I agree with Casey's comments. I hate seeing the team lose and I agree with you that losing breeds losing. But I think it's clear that the Raptors braintrust has positioned this team to get a high draft pick at the end of the year and that means lots of losses. There is no doubt that the Raptors only chance of getting a real top 10 in the league talent is through the draft - none of the top 10 guys in the league would ever consider playing with the Raptors current roster - although getting a high draft pick doesn't mean you will get a top 10 talent (see Bargnani, A).

@Lorie, thanks for the link. I think real music cuts across all vintages, although not all brands come from the finest vines.

[Lorie]

@Emily!
Yes, Doug's taking us on a musical Walk On The Wild Side this Christmas with each day's Yuletide number being even more...ummm..."obscure" than the previous day's. Between Twisted Sister yesterday and Eartha's very interesting backup singers today, I can barely wait to see what he delivers here tomorrow. Most come for basketball; a few for baseball. Me, I enjoy the culture (shock). Or something like that. :)Cheers!

[Penguin]

Good to hear about Reggie and Hump. Too bad that the Clips won't be playing in Toronto this season so we can welcome Reggie back. Any news on T-Mac? Signed, signing or done? Thanks.
Oh, and heard to believe that tonight's game isn't even being telecast on the Raps TV.

[Dave, Cornwall, ON]

To Doug and all the Irregulars:

I will be heading to Lorie's neck of the woods tomorrow to deliver my old TV to my daughter and then back to the big Smoke on Friday to spend Christmas Eve with my London Daughter and my T-Dot daughter and back home on Christmas day. My London daughter is working Christmas day and my wife works boxing day. Therefore, I will have to read the "Sports" blog when I get back home.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you, your family the irregulars and their families a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or anything you may be celebrating. Best wishes to all of you for a Happy, Prosperous and most of all, Healthy 2012.

Thank you for keeping us entertained and sharing our opinions even if they are all very different most of the time.

[James]

Can't even watch the game (Raps/Celts). For some reason they're not airing it. I'm done with these guys.

I'm finding darts quite compelling.

[parker]

game is streaming on firstrow sports

[Aditya]

I don’t know how it ultimately works out in the end for the Clips – there are some holes in the roster like outside shooting
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I dont read much, but from what I see, CP3, Billups, Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Brian Cook...... hows that for outside shooting (for every position except the 5).... maybe the clips can trade for bargnani for a 2nd round pick

Blogger's note: Maybe you should read more; write less. Deal?

[Aditya]

here's what some experts think about where (seeding) the clippers might end up at the end of the regular season
http://hoopshype.com/predictions_2012.htm

[Peter]

Camouflage? Really? They don't need uniforms to ensure that nobody will see them. The losing should take care of that, no?