DeMar watches as Bargnani dominates; it mean anything? Nah

Okay, early one day, late the next day, early the next day. I’m really keeping you on your toes through this trek, aren’t I?

Anyway, I’m on a plane this morning early to do this all again in Utah, have fun.

Oh, and in case you missed it, here’s last night’s gamer, the second version after a somewhat choppy file-at-the-buzzer job.

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THREE POINTERS

Where was he?

I’m pretty sure you all noticed that not only did DeMar DeRozan play a season-low 23 minutes, scored a season-low four points and he was on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.

Message?

Not so much.

It was simply a matter that Leandro Barbosa was giving Toronto what it needed offence – if only as a diversion driving through the lane to create movement among the defenders – while not hurting anyone at the defensive end.

Yes, DeRozan was uninvolved for a lot of his 24 minutes but it’s got to be on him to be more assertive than he has been. It’s not going to be easy with Bargnani and Calderon dominating the offence in screen-roll but DeRozan could learn a lesson in getting open and creating stuff by watching how Barbosa plays.

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Just what they needed

James Johnson gave them one of those relatively quiet, understated good games – 18 points and 10 rebounds along with solid defence – that makes you wonder why he can’t do something like that every night.

He hasn’t been able to – scouts refer to his “permanent” potential but if he does …

Well, if he does it solves a big problem because what they need from that spot is solid, not spectacular. The three isn’t a key cog in the offence now, and won’t be if Bargnani keeps going like he has but that kind of rebounding and defence is huge. Coaches notice that kind of thing and it’s why Johnson’s entrenched right now in that starting role.

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Sneaky good

Yeah, that was a potentially crippling turnover in the dying seconds off the in-bounds play that allowed the Suns to get within two.

How’d it happen?

Well, it happened because Steve Nash made a nice veteran move to grab a handful of Jose’s jersey. Sure he got away with it because it was discreet and sneaky and one of those plays some of the Raptors need to learn to do – and get away with – as the season progresses.

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And …

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So we’re off to Salt Lake City, probably in the air as some ofyou read this and how about Things I’ve Done In Salt Lake City that may surprise some of you:

Had great sushi.

Watched a Grey Cup.

Not at the same time, mind you.

Was invited to a great sushi place just off the downtown core by Mike Weir one night and was entirely surprised by the calibre of the food in what has to be considered a non-traditional raw seafood area.

The Grey Cup?

Quag 1.0 and I (you have to have a long memory of fellow grunts to get that one) stumbled upon a saloon one day that not only had the Grey Cup on but allowed us to turn up the volume in one of the booths to listen to the dulcet tones of Chris Walby.

We were, of course, forced into a booth after a couple of patrons went berserk when the barman turned a New England Patriots game off one of the big screens hanging over the bar. Let me tell you, there are folks in Salt Lake who get downright ornery if you switch the NFL to a Grey Cup. Shocking, I know.

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Anything happen in the State Of The Union address I should care about? Kinda missed it.

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You know how sometimes cab drivers can just be chatty for the sake of being chatty, right? Droning on about nothing in particular as tired patrons in the back grunt at every utterance rather than become engaged in boring conversation.

Well, sometimes it’s different.

Get into a car after shootaround and the dude says, as a lot of them to do:

“Where you guys from.”

“Toronto.”

“Oh, you ever hear of a guy named George Chuvalo?”

“Duh!”

“Well, I used to spar with guys who sparred with him, great fighter, could take a punch but I heard he’s still got all his faculties.”

“He does, very cool that you know him.”

Later on, Chatty Cabby says:

“I used to work with an old ball player. Maybe you’ve heard of him.”

“Who’s that?”

“Ellis Valentine. Used to play in Canada, worked with him refueling planes at Sky Harbour Airport until his pension kicked in.”

Yes, a not bad trip at all.

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Mail? Sure, why not? Do it here. I’ll have all day Friday in Denver and a lot of Thursday to putter around on it and make my weekend easy.

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Wow. Nine years and $214 million for Prince Fielder?

I’ve got to get his agent on staff, in a hurry.

He’s 27, hardly in the greatest of shape, will have to move to a full0-time DH role in, my guess, two seasons, maybe three and is now the third $20-million-a-year guy on the Detroit roster?

Yikes. I guess Octogenarian Owner Mike Illitch is serious about wanting one of those World Series things but now they’ve got to get Miguel Cabrera to move to third and I’m pretty sure Fielder won’t be winning Gold Gloves over at first.

But with Victor Martinez out for the foreseeable future with a torn ACL, it does prove that the Tigers are willing to spend, even if they might not have been bidding against anyone else. I wonder, however, if this isn’t one of those big-splash signings that looks really good now but will be an albatross in a season or two.

I’m betting it is.

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Flip Saunders gets whacked and all I can say to that is:

Lucky guy.

Seriously, that’s as dysfunctional a team as exists in the NBA today. Zany bigs like Andray Blatche and JaVale McGhee whose opinions of themselves far out-weigh their, um, abilities; a former No. 1 pick in John Wall who has yet to reach anything close to his potential; and a front office that just can’t seem to get it right no matter how hard they try.

Seriously, sometimes firing a guy can be doing him a favour and now Flip can go away from a few months, get the stench of the Wizards off his suits and come back and coach a more structured team of grownups next season or the season after.

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Comments

[Henry]

The highlight reel shows Calderon yelling at Butler. I didn't watch the game so I have no idea what happened. Can you please tell us more? What was Calderon yelling at Butler for?

Blogger's note: Animated discussion over the botched in-bounds play

[Matt M]

We need to start a free John Wall campaign as his potential is going to waste on that team. Kid has at least three black holes (ball goes in, never see it again) to pass to on that offense. I'd imagine that who you pass to makes as much a difference as the pass itself to a point guard's development.

[Matt M]

Someone needs to show the third quarter of this game to McCown the next time he suggests that Bargnani only scores because this is a losing team. I turned on Bargnani myself last year, but it is now very clear that every single Raptors win this year has been because he has been borderline dominant and opposing defenses have to respect that. He could start on every team in this league.

[JHP]

Good Morning. Spent a summer in Salt Lake City and hope you enjoy the day. Watched the post game interview with the coach and he looked pretty relieved to get the win. Moving forward I suspect DD and Davis will need to work harder to get minutes. Hopefully they become part of the solution instead of part of the problem but it appears the coach is leaving it up to them to decide their fate. May be a lot of new faces next year.

[Tom]

I think I might have mentioned this before, but George Chuvalo's brother is a cab driver in Buffalo and drove my wife and I to the airport on our honeymoon. Great guy, great conversation and one of the most momorable cab rides I've ever had. Great game as well last night and it was a lot easier on the retinas.

[511]

@Matt M re J Wall - I’d be all for that. Don’t know who we’d have to give up for him but as long as it wasn’t Bargnani, what a dream piece that would be. ('Dream' likely being the operative word there.)

[Chris C]

Bargnani was great last night. He was lights out on offence and grabbed some key defensive boards, and he actually had a few solid box outs. I dont think we should be surprised to see that performace becasue its what we have known he has been capable of all along. Some credit has to be given to the teams staff for not rushing him back from that injury becasue other players this year have come back too soon and are now facing longer injuries. I like the leadership of Casey. These guys are young and need to know they are not all that. Nothing sends the message like splinters. I love the passion of the assistant coaches too. At one point yesterday all of them were standing up and screaming. Not sure how much the players are hearing with so many voices all at once, but its nice to see they still care so much when I know a lot of us (myself included) have checked out on a lot of nights. But really when the GM is talking about next years draft in the pre season press conference, maybe this season is all about fluffing the rock.

[sam]

Last night we learned a couple of things from the HOTH. The team works better with Andrea on the floor and Casey is not afraid to sit a couple of the core players in search of a winning combination on the floor.
Andrea's return couldn't have come at a better time. I assume the first play of the game with DeMar going hard to the basket was to get him going and give him some confidence. It appears it didn't work, either that or Nothing sadder than hos expression sitting on the bench in the dying minutes of the game.
JJ and Barbosa were pretty solid too. A couple of high scoring games for JJ in the last week. A new trend I hope - he looked good.

[FPB]

If you missed it, the Black Stars won their first game with Botswana by 1. Scored by the captain John Mensah from a corner kick. He later got a red card and sent off the game at the 66 minute mark.

Blogger's note: Thanks!

[Ron S]

I agree with Chris C and sam. No starter wants to be sitting on the bench in the dying minutes with the game on the line. Didn't mean anything? Riiiight. I'm sure that's what DeMar's sullen and confused look meant during the closing minutes. Great move by Coach Casey though. Slumps will happen. But you can't let that affect your overall effort. This goes for every player...not just Derozan. What scares me the most is how little enthusiasm and passion he had while his teammates were making baskets, stops, and turnovers during a close game. Demar is a good player, but I'm wondering if Me comes before Team? Telling sign? I hope not.

[Beans]

Why am I not seeing 6 lobs a game from Jose to Demar/Amir/JJ? The Jose/Ibaka lobs this summer were a joy to watch.

[doug]

Casey's coaching style last night reminded me of one of the all-time great hockey coaches...Scotty Bowman coached with this philosophy, first period everyone played, normal lines, shifts etc...by the second bench got shorter by the 3rd those who were playing their best were getting the shifts whether you were a first line or 4th line center...also he had a eidetic memory which helped as he knew exactly down to the second , who had played and against whom...Casey coached the same way last night and to me it is how every coach in every sport should coach, players learn to not take it personally as their will be night Barg's sits, a coach just has to be consistent with it and not play favorites or then all hell breaks loose...have to be a strong individual to do it consistently which Bowman was/is....but kudos to Casey.....in regards to Utah on one of my "freestyling "road trips I decided to tour thru Utah and I have to say geographically it is one of the most beautiful places I have been thru and so diverse, from the mountains to the salt flats to Bryce Canyon it is a visually stunning state, some of those images are still ingrained in my brain, it gets press for a lot of different reasons if anyone wants to go on a hiking trip, or family camping trip, Utah is the place...I should work for their tourism board. plus I could have 6 wives oh wait never mind...cheers and safe flying...

[Paul B]

how long before DD demands a trade?? Sad, but potentially true, based totally on a generalization of young players... be a man DD, accept the challenge.

[Mr. Cook]

SOTU: Shorter Obama, "Mitt, I'm watching you." Longer Obama highlight reel: Buffet rule should be in place, close all loop-holes and off-shore tax advantages available to income earners over $1 million. Adjust the way that some capital gains are determined (specifically targeted at Mitt: The corporations his hedge fund owns, that he is a part of through his blind trust still, pay him administrative fees for services rendered--which is the exact definition of earned income--but because of yet another loophole he only pays it as a capital gain because the tax code has somehow declared that that is a long term investment--even if you only own it for 15 seconds. He did a pretty good job of keeping it simple on how this is not divisive and class warfare (Democrats are typically not good at this) and he largely stayed away from foreign policy and social policy. Made a few comments about each here and there but it was an obvious post-Occupy America framing of the 2012 election. Axlerod's strategy, it would seem, is to let Mitt Romney run on his strategy of showing that he knows how to be successful in the American economy while Obama simply paints him as exactly what is wrong with the American economy because his success exposes systemic problems. It's a win win for Obama, demonizes the opponent while highlighting policy goals. Not bad for an election year SOTU. On the other hand, muted compared to what some social progressive groups were vying for.

[L Graham Smith]

all I could think when I watched the Raptors when they played the Wizards this year was that for all their troubles, I'd rather be a Raptors fan than have to watch or cheer for the Wizards. What a bunch of over-hyped, immature and selfish...well I can't find the right word, certainly not men, players or dudes even.

Have to think Flip is glad they fired him. Good coach, will land as an offensive assistant somewhere and get to the NBA finals probably.

[Abbey]

Hi Doug. I'm just curious what you meant when you spoke of scouts' referencing Johnson's 'permanent potential'?

Thanks.

Blogger's note: That he has bouts of inconsistency

[David T (Ottawa)]

I don't think the "Free John Wall" campaign means "Bring John Wall to Toronto". I think we've got Calderon in a system where he can thrive again (he needs to go back to `turning the corner' again, but otherwise he's normally extremely solid) and I don't think Wall's youth will add much to this team. And you can't bring John Wall off the bench like you can a Jerryd Bayless (or whoever his replacement is next season).

I agree, get him off that Wizards team, but move him somewhere he can thrive like Golden State for Steph Curry.

[Hope Caper]

I've watched Bargs compete before and show some passion but for me this was the first nite when I saw him take over a game. Every time the Suns looked like they were going to pull away he would find a way to make a difference and stop them.

[jc]

two things.

Casey lived up to his motto....it's not a democracy.

It doesn't seem too long ago that Bargnani would be sent to the bench in close late game offence-defence switches. Nice evolution.

[doug]

@pipit you have to be joking right??...all we hear on here from some people is that the raps should tank to get a high draft pick...what you get in Ed Davis and Wall (worse shooter in the NBA percentage wise by the way) is exactly what we will get in the draft...Davis is far from a bust, he missed training camp last year, short one this year, he is a kid....you don't judge him until 4-5 year mark.....I would say all-time maybe 2% of all drafted players are ready for prime time in the NBA, Davis is the norm, he will be fine....

[Keith]

My question is what was Butler even doing on the floor at that time and that situation? Yes he is a good defender, but Raps had the ball so offense is needed! He is not a particularly good free throw shooter, and it has been obvious that his ball handling is sub-par. Why not Bayless?????

[Tim H.]

Hi Doug:
Can you please remove pipit's comment - I thought language like that was not allowed here.
Thanks!

Blogger's note: Done, don't know how I missed it the first time. My apologies

[Wilf]

Nice to see a win at any time.

But if Bargnani has to score 36 and we have go 23-25 from the free-throw line and 8-15 from 3 to pull out a squeaker win, well, let's just say 20 wins could be optimistic.

This team seriously lacks talent, and physical strength. If they are not worse than everyone else but Washington at the end of the year, we have proof someone is tanking.

When will the abysmal draft record (GM, Euro geniuses and scouting staff) of this organization be made accountable.

[Dave]

Bayless belongs in the D-League, that's why.

[Rob]

Doug, a question for you more than a comment, and feel free to move to mailbag if its better suited.... we often hear of elite players (and in particular 2-guards) putting up shots after a tough game. We've heard of Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, etc. all working hard post-game, pre-game to get out of their shooting slumps. It would seem to me that DeMar is in the same type of slump. You are with the team more than us... are you seeing an Allen or Bryant type extra-effort out of DeMar? Is he putting in 3x more effort to get battle out of the slump? Or is he just arriving and doing what the coaching staff asks of him?

This is likely a controversial topic, but the fact is, it really gets to the internal motivations of a player -- is DeMar internally driven to be a star? Or is he more of laid-back player that does what he is told, but not much extra, in which case he is more likely destined to be good, but not great?

My bias from seeing video of him, Sonny Weems, etc. is that he is probably more on the laid-back side, than on the 'killer instinct' side of things, and is likely "waiting for his shot to come around" rather than putting in an incredible number of extra hours.

Blogger's note: I think he works harder on skill development and puts in more time than you might think but I'll ask specifically when I can over the next couple of days.