I hope the story never ends; and Canada gets its Olympic task

Okay, we got Linsanity out of the way, now it’s time for the real party.

All set for Bonnerpalooza tonight?

I am.

Until then …

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THREE POINTERS

So, Lin

Okay, if there’s a better story in sports – now or in the last half of a decade or so – I sure can’t think what it is.

As we’ve been saying all along it’s one of the great tales of our time and last night just made it even greater. I hope the kid never wakes up.

(Oh, and no one – NO ONE – got Joe Boyd or bothered to mentioned it yesterday? For shame)

Anyway, Lin as a player?

Dramatic, no question; fearless, without doubt. Complete? Not quite.

Can’t, or won’t go left, and a huge defensive liability but who really cares. Shot’s a bit flawed, kind of flung over the shoulder; and, as I mentioned, he couldn’t cover you last night.

But who cares that Jose abused him for three quarters until the Knicks got wise and shifted a bigger, stronger defender on to him?

Who cares that he almost had a triple-double of points, assists and turnovers?

Who cares about any of that right at the moment?

The kid’s got stones – that game-tying and-one drive was a man’s play, the shot to win it was stone cold – and he’s writing one of the greatest scripts I can imagine.

I don’t know how it will eventually end and I’m not entirely sure I care how it will eventually end because Jeremy Lin is providing us with a great, great narrative that’s all about what’s good in sports.

He seems to be a very nice fellow, appreciative of his opportunity, self-confident enough to know what he means to his team, respectful without being dismissive of the sometimes-fawning media that’s turning him into something extraordinary.

He seems quite likable and that’s probably part of it: If he was a knucklehead people might be hoping he’d fail.

He’s not and anyone who doesn’t like this story needs to re-examine his or her outlook on sports.

This is that good a story, he seems to be that good a kid and his playing limitations don’t mean a thing.

If Jack Buck was there last night, the words would have been ringing in our ears: I don’t believe what I just saw.

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Odd matchups

Give Dwane Casey a bit of credit for looking past horrid defensive matchups to get his best players on the floor.

At one time, third or fourth quarter, I think it was, I looked up to see Linas Kleiza guarding Amar’e Stoudemire and in the whole list of things that Kleiza can do, guarding a big, strong power forward is way down the list.

But necessity being the mother of invention and all, Casey needed to do something and his defensive system is good enough that even undesirable matchups have a way of working out most of the time.

Don’t imagine it’s something they want all the time and if Amar’e had any lift left in his legs – I was astounded at how often his show was blocked and how easy the Raptors blocked it – it might have been troubling but, for the most part, it worked well.

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That final play

Should Jose have been up closer to Lin, taking away a jump shot we knew was coming as the seconds ticked off?

Yeah, probably. He did a good enough job taking away Lin’s right hand – there was no way he was going to be able to get to the rim – but crowding him a bit more in the final five seconds might have made it a bit harder to get that shot off.

Doesn’t matter, though.

No way the kid was missing it. We all knew that.

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A wee bit more

(And sorry I’m late, apparently sleep is a good thing we need every now and then).

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You can have your Beebs or Biebs or whatever; I’m sure there have been other big name celebs at games, too, who are more famous or whatever but, I tell you, Steven Van Zandt made the night.

Check out the solo in this E Street clip.

Oh, and I was trying to find a Sopranos clip for his alter ego Silvio Dante but the, um, use of the language kinda precluded it.

Oh well.

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So, the draw’s been done and Canada now knows its road to the women’s basketball tournament at the London Olympics.

Canada has been put in a preliminary round group with France and Mali at the 12-country event that starts in late June in Ankara, Turkey as they chase one of five spots in the Games.

The top two teams after a group round-robin advance the quarter-finals and the four quarter-final winners get Olympic berths and there’s one more that the four quarter-final losers will play for.

Not quite sure of the relative merits of their first round opponents – I need to do a wee bit more homework over the next little while – except to know that France is pretty good.

The cross-over quarter-final group is Croatia, Korea and Mozambique and I’m sticking with what I’ve said all along:

I really like this Canadian women’s team, they aren’t particularly big but Alison McNeill coaches ‘em really well, and I fully expect to be covering them in London.

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Here’s a treat.

Stevie Boy was the shutterbug on duty Tuesday and here are some of the pictures he produced.

Yes, he is quite good, isn’t he?

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Mail? May as well start it.

Go here, do your thing, keep me busy.

Thanks.

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I got a closeup look at the Dallas Mavericks championship ring before Casey and Tyson Chandler had their little pre-game ceremony last night and …

Wow.

It’s huge, diamond-encrusted, looked like platinum or silver to me and, believe it or not, hardly ostentatious.

I figured, and I’m sure some of you did, too, that Mark Cuban would come up with something gaudy and over the top.

He didn’t.

If a $40,000 ring can be understated, these ones are.

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Comments

[Leonardo Tapino]

Hi Doug,

I was very surprised when the crowd was cheering in the end for Lin. As a fan this is not acceptable. Impressive Lin's last shot. But in the end, the game went on the Knicks way because of our players mistakes. Amir foul with conseguentely 3 points play by Lin. Derozon, in the last minutes, taking a shot without looking at the clock. Barbosa drive and air ball. Calderon's turnover and the usual calls from the usual referees. Nobody is perfect but........

[Phil A]

Everyone has to admire what Lin has done in the past week or so. He's a fearless player and plays with passion. I find myself rooting for him to succeed in the league but last night, I wanted him to fail. In typical Raptors fashion, they blew a 17 point lead and allowed the Knicks to go on a 13-1 run to end the game.

I still believe the turning point of the game is when the Knicks put Shumpert on Calderon. In the first 3 quarters, Calderon was killing the Knicks defence and he was getting any shot in wanted. Shumpert disrupted the Raptors flow on offence and this is when the Knicks started to go on a run.

If anything, it's the Raptors lack of execution on offence in crunch time that lost them the game. Lin should never have had an opportunity to nail the game winning shot had the Raptors ran efficient offensive sets in crunch time. This one really hurt.

[Patrick]

@LeeZ casey had no chance for a defensive substitution. Barbosa miss, Knick rebound, Shumpert miss, Chandler rebound, Lin for the win. The lineup he had out for his offensive possession was forced to play D cause D'Antoni never called timeout.

[Thane]

Doug, the thing that got me about those last 20 seconds, wasn't Jose's coverage on Lin (that was fine) but why they didn't foul immediately after the Knicks made that rebound.

Stop the clock, go down by at most 2 points (and with the way Lin was shooting FTs, possibly less) and have 15-20 seconds to tie or win the game on your own terms, rather than hoping for a stop.

Regardless of how what they actually did turned out, what are your thoughts on them not fouling at the end?

[Moshigh]

The worst thing to come out is this talk that Raptors had discussed bringing in Lin for A Carter.. WHAT!!..

Nobody knew he would be this good. But A Carter is useless on the floor, maybe locker room guy or future assitant coach, but truthfully he shouldnt be playing ball. What happened to G Forbes time and point. Come on Raptors no more Anthony Carter, should be in warm ups every single game!!!

[Rob. V]

LeeZ makes a good point dude (and was exactly what I was thinking last night as well).
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Did anyone ask Casey in the post game why he didnt insert a defensive substitution (JJ) for Calederon on the last play?

[David in Oakville]

What a great game! On your feet, last possession win, does not get any better... okay, better would be a Raps win.

Observations from last night's game.
I agree, Shumpert on Calderone was the game changer Shumpert's pick was especially brutal. This guy was like Sean Avery in the fourth, pestering and hectoring Calderone from the back court. Full marks for his hustle.

Not a fan of Ed Davis... is he hurt? He sure plays like it.

Not impressed by A. Carter.

Leandro and Linus are the proverbial "black holes". Demar to a certain extent as well. Raps offense really sputtered in the fourth. Not at a lot of ball movement once one of the three above got their hands on the ball.

I agree with Doug, if Bayless is available, totally different game.

Officiating.. average is being generous. they had a hand in last night's result as well.

Lin... WOW! He looked human in the first half and took his game to another level in the second half, especially the 4th quarter.

Calderone looks like the goat.. but his game was solid.

[LeeZ]

@Patrick: Yes, all true. But JJ should have been in the game EARLIER, not just the last play. José had an otherwise stellar game, but his late-game turnovers and one HORRIBLE failure to box out Lin (José stuck his rear end out at him, and Lin simply sidestepped the Spanish derrière and waltzed in to get the rebound and put-back) really cost the Raps this time. Too bad, cause he played a great game otherwise.

[sherry]

"The ring bezel features “World Champions” flanked by 10 round-cut diamonds on each side of this 14 karat white gold ring. The prominent Mavericks logo is set against a custom blue stone encircled by 31 princess-cut diamonds – one for each year the Dallas Mavericks have been in Dallas and the NBA."

[g.t.]

the ACC sold out for the first time since the season opener. Who do you think they were there to see ? The bottom 5, lottery team Raptors? Of course they cheered when Lin made the final shot, thats what they were there to see. What the raptors should have done is kick the Knicks butt and shut them up.

[Chris]

Derozen seriously needs to hit the gym. There were so many times he just got man handled and looked like he studied astrophysics at Harvard. He had too many plays last night where he drove and then threw up junk because he was scared to get blocked. What happened to no props needed? Go and dunk it on people.

[J]

@Moshigh:

Obviously, neither one of us truly knows what it's like to be in each other's shoes. I'm glad I don't get treated like a criminal, automatically, but there are other racial inequities other than just not being taken seriously in basketball. Every now and then, I get treated like I don't belong -- like I'm not a real American/Canadian. As someone born in Canada, you can imagine how jarring it might feel being told I should go back to _____, a country I've never been and have no allegiance to. Two radio jockeys in NJ basically called Asians non-American, and that anyone who voted for an Asian-American candidate for office was being unpatriotic. I don't think they even had to issue apologies. Had they made that assessment about an African-American candidate, I'm sure they would have been canned. So while I do feel for the unfair treatment of blacks, I find myself envious of the strong political clout they've gained over the years.

The moral of the story, anyway, is that discrimination exists everywhere, and the sad thing is, I often find minorities "discriminating" against each other. I was constantly harassed by young African-Americans when I lived in Newark, NJ. I would have a female companion with me, and they'd grab at her jacket and sweater and make inappropriate comments about us. Meanwhile, I find my youngest brother and his Asian high school friends saying things like, "I didn't know you were such a Mexican," "don't be a Jew," and other comments involving the N----- term. You can imagine my disappointment. Now, I have to try to show him it's inappropriate to say things like that, without also losing his ear. Why can't we just all love each other???

[Peter]

Hi Doug....sorry, my man, just can't get on your side about Lin being such a positive, good story. I think its quite obscene. Here we have a guy saying his success is a result of a "miracle from God", and yet on the front page of this very newspaper's website is a headline reading, "5 children die every minute from malnutrition". So we're to accept that God provides a miracle so this guy can be successful, and yet that same God turns his back on starving, neglected and abused children? The concept is disgusting and all media should feel ashamed for the gushing nature of Lin's coverage.

[RK]

If Lin couldn't guard "you" last night....

Jose can't guard anyones grandmother any night!...

but I guess since he is a Raptor and since you are fond of him... you won't ever say that about Jose

[Stavros]

Too bad the Raps lost but the Jeremy Lin story is the closest thing I've ever seen to a real life example of Roy Hobbs. I'm with you, hope it continues!

[Patrick]

@LeeZ Yeah I was just answering your question. There is definitely an argument to be made for JJ in the line-up earlier but if I'm playing keyboard coach I would guess his thought process is score, knicks call timeout and then he can make his defensive sub. Personally I prefer JJ in that closing lineup to barbosa but barbosa was abusing lin on the offensive end for most of the fourth. Hindsight is 20/20.

[James]

This is a disgrace - to have people cheers against the Raptors (including the Media) in this game is a plain and simple disgrace.

Why does Lin matter now all the sudden that he is success - where was the support when Lin was in the D-league or crushing JWall in summer league or getting a triple double in Erie.

And surely, it is not right that we use race now - what he has overcome is amazing, but we like Obama, Tiger, Oprah and Eminem because of their talents and while their race made it much more difficult, we appreciate they are not apologetic about it and still want to be the best.

Furthermore, why don't we start cheering against team Canada when an Asian plays in hockey, or against the leafs if the rangers were to pick up something. While I really want Lin to succeed, cheering against the raptors like that is a plain disgrace - people are forgetting the maple leaf, and what it means.

[macaque]

to be fair, it was asian heritage night at the acc. they TRUCKED in hundreds..possibly thousands of asians. most of the groups that were acknowledged on the jumbotron were taiwanese business/community associations of some sort. i'm sure there were also dozens of bus tours from the ny area filled with knicks 'fans'.
regardless, i was thoroughly disgusted as a raptors fan when the applause was louder for the visiting team than our raps. yeah, lin is a great story but he's not a raptor so i could seriously care less. one of the worst games/4th quarter chokes/dives i have ever seen.

[LakeSimcoe]

When Sun comes, we all cheer for Steve Nash. Some Boston fans cheer for Matt Bonner, some LA fans cheer for DD. This is exactly what NBA wants, nothing wrong when they skip the home team (if not just for 1 game).

Surely, Lin is flawed. There are lots of room for him to improve. But people forget that BBall, particularly winning, is about team work rather than acrobatic stunt, or "Pops" hustle. There are just too many Sir Charles KYD (aka Kiss Yao's Donkey) (especially in NCAA) that look only at shortcomings while ignoring more important traits (and skills that never come overnight).

The buzzer beater is an obvious example. Its just calm, cool, precise, and perfect execution. I am pretty sure that he had been in similar or even worse situations before (and quite frequently). Imagine your team is losing (big), your coach is so-so (inept to derive any winning game plan), your team mates gave up, you standout in your skin color, and became the target to attack by the host's audience (remember the student riots in Penn. State U?), you must have to develop a big heart to get it through.

The one thing that Lin improved this season is his shooting...all you guys should know it very well now....

So let the Feb. Madness march on....

[Mickey Watters]

Hi Doug,

I was wondering maybe if you could ask the star editors/managers/grand fromages if they could dedicate a few more columnists to write up stories on this Justin Beiber-Lin sensation.

I clicked on the star's sports link today and see 7 different stories with his name attached in the headline.

Thanks

[Thomas]

OK-OK...This is becoming fun!

"Jose abused him for 3 quarters"....Jose didn't score a point in the second quarter, so for two quarters Jose produced - a half of a game in other words. Jose went 0-2 in the fourth quarter "0 FOR 2", pathetic! He attempted 1 three pointer and missed and one jump shot and missed, no free throws and he could only muster 2, count 'em 2 shots all quarter! Jose had 4 turn over’s himself (half of Lin's - which was too high I agree…4 is no better than 8 when its that high), but you’ll split hairs if you think it makes Jose look better. So lets split: Two of Jose's four t/o’s came in the last 2:30 minutes of the game - how's that for timing Doug!? 2:22 left in the game, Shumpert steals the ball from Jose when the game was 86-82 Raps. ALSO, Jose than goes out for an encore and turns the ball over to his Boi – Shumpert (again) with 1:37 left in the game, Knicks score on that play the score was 87-82 now is a three point game thanks to the turn over. So if Jose ‘abused” Lin, and Lin finished with more points and his team won, than what did Lin do in turn to Jose??? Lin is very young, he has the upside and potential to learn defence and fine tune his style - if after 7 or so years in the league and your still not playing D (like Jose) than it becomes sad and laughable especially if your making 10 million per year (being paid to play like an all-star), refusing to learn or play defence and handicapping your team so they cannot improve under the cap because of your contract your not living up to. When you’re young, just learning the game at the NBA level making under a million per year…then your right, who cares! Who cares about his defence, he wins – and Jose don’t! So Raps fans had enough of seeing Jose get scored on every game and our team lose with him QB’ing it all while making 10 million per year. To answer a readers inquisitive notion/observation about the offensive in last night game “why didn’t Jose just do what he did in the rest of the game and shoot pick and rolls in the 4th quarter”? Your All-star (according to Doug) PG, choose to shot the ball only twice and not to drive to the rim at all to get to the free throw line in the fourth quarter instead. Jose should been able to fight through a 1st year player’s defence, and use the pick and roll and his veteran Basketball IQ and skill to his advantage on the rookie and failed to do so. Casey doesn’t call every offensive play, Jose should have been calling that play and choose not too, giving the ball up to often (on non-assist plays) DeRozan and Barbosa instead. Whether, Jose fights thru the rookies defence one on one or through effective passing and play making to his other players, he needs to do it so the Raps have a chance to win and play at the “great” (Doug’s assessment of him being an All-Star) level that he is paid and expected to do. He was their big scorer in the 1st and 3rd quarters when he was hitting (open uncontested) jumpers from the elbow off the pick and roll. So, in the 4th they focused on him – it was up to him to fight thru it and he didn’t. Numbers prove it, stats prove it and the loss proves it! What doesn’t show up in the score box is his bad decision making in the 4th quarter, not calling for more pick and rolls was upsetting to watch. Players making around Jose’s money or less like Nash or Kidd, Rondo or Ellis would have found a away around the Knick’s rookie playing “D” on them, enough to involve their team so they could have maintained their lead. Another glaring stat that has been failed to be explained in this blog, is that Jose had ZERO count ‘em, ZERO assists in the 4th quarter, once again this stat was not mentioned by Doug and does not show up in the box score – BUT, when it mattered it was “No-way Jose”!, again!. Doug’s solution, “if we had Bayless, Calderon could have played off the ball”. Number 1, if we had Bayless, Calderon could have played on the bench he wasn’t touching that ball in that situation unless it was an open look somewhere. Plus to add, if Bayless played that night, Jose wouldn’t have had the ball enough all game to put the numbers he did. Secondly, the answer is to not take the ball out of your PG’s hands unless you’re putting it in Kobe or Wade or Durant’s hands that are playing the SG position and they are running the play…that is what your PG is supposed to do, call, run and score the plays especially the final one(s). What didn’t also get mentioned in the blog and is another glaring number that stands out to me is Jose’s rebounding – it was awesome last night 7 in total 3 defensive, two coming in the 4th quarter when it mattered. All and all it is the same old story Jose’s team loses and his counter player who he needed to defend when it counted the most shot the ball straight down José’s gullet! The next day Doug is taking shots at someone else (Lin’s style and lack of “D” in this article) to make Jose look as good as he does too, Doug and super son!

Blogger's note: Yawn. One trick ponies bore me

[LeeZ]

@Patrick: yes, hindsight is 20/20, but with regard to having JJ be inserted into the lineup late in games to act as a defensive stopper, I've been "saying" this for weeks now. And when I say "saying this", I mean, of course, screaming at my tv. Don't believe me? Just ask my Sony. He'll back me up on it. And he's Asian!
(lol)

[Robert Bertuzzi]

With Joseph and Bonner in town tonight excited about the future of Canadian basketball.

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With regards to that excitement, would anyone on here happen to know where the Huntington Prep v. Next Level Prep game is taking place Friday night? I know Huntington Prep is play MacNab H.S. of Hamilton at MacNab on Saturday.

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I would just really like the chance to see Andrew Wiggins play, along with Negus Webster-Chan and Stefan Jankovic who are both going to the University of Missouri next year. I am aware that it is exploitative and dangerous to hype high school kids like this, but I don't think Canada has ever produced a phenom of Wiggins' stature. Kentucky has already offered and he is only classified as a soph.

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If anyone can help out with this it would be greatly appreciated. I can't seem to find info anywhere. Thanks a bunch.

[sam]

@Thomas. The problem with long posts are most people lose interest while reading them. Please consider that I got a quarter of the way through your recent missive a victory of sorts. To be honest, I felt like knew where you were going - Jose makes too much and doesn't compare, a defensive liability, blah blah blah. It's the same arguement that every other Jose naysayer has preached over the last couple of years. Only they were able to express themselves in fewer words.

[Hope Caper]

Lin Shmin. Lets recognize the real sizzle here. It's NY the center of the universe. HWSNBN would be a star there if he were in a hot streak and we know what he's like. NY like any other city loves a winner. It just has more hype than the average bear. As for women's BB, I would rather watch paint dry. I get it that some would have liked Jose to t/o 4 more just so they could slag him. However saying that 4 t/o are the same is 8 is quite a stretch. While the Jose slaggers lament his late t/o they should also keep in mind the game would have not been close without him and if the Raps had better bench they win walking away.