What's new with the NBA? Not a whole lot

So, whither the NBA as the league gets to the halfway point?

Sure, there have been some surprises and disappointments – did you check out NBN this week – but what about the league as a whole?

Is it better off for the lockout?

Worse?

The same?

I don’t really think there’s been all that big a change at the moment and everyone who figured back in December that the league had routed the players should probably take a deep breath and re-think things.

Seems to me we’re still hearing about players bolting at the first chance they get – and I have no issue with a guy who has fulfilled his contract finding a new place to work if he so wishes – and the contract extensions we’ve seen signed are still astronomical and tend to reward future hopes than past accomplishments.

Now, this could all change in the next couple of years when a stricter tax plan comes into place but I even wonder about that. I know owners and I presume some will have no concern about blowing the bank account, which kind of defeats the purpose of the league locking players out for almost six months to level the financial playing field.

On the court?

Well, there have been more abominations of games so far this season than ever, players are too tired, too banged up, too unable to work on their games in practice because of the horrid schedule.

Yes, there have been some good games, like there always are, but I would suggest there have been more true dogs this season than ever before.

And both sides are complicit in that. The league wanted to maximize the potential for revenue by jamming 66 games in 124 days and the union went merrily along because it meant more money for the players, who are getting pro-rated shares of their salaries.

It was a two-sided cash grab with little or no regard for fans who have to shell out good money to watch bad games.

So, whither the NBA?

About the same place it was in July at the moment and they need to get this aberration of a season over with, take a summer so everyone can collect their breath and come back with some semblance of normalcy next October.

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Better get this out of the way, given where we are and all, right?

Good theme song bring back any memories of Those Of A Certain Vintage?

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No, HWSNBN never got back to me to let me know what time to show up for the big Obamafest at the house, the bum.

But I know.

I know because Barack’s plane landed about 15 minutes after ours last evening and the resulting hubbub and security concerns closed a lot of the taxiways and ramps an infrastructure at the airport and while our plane got to the gate before things were shutdown, it screwed up the luggage delivery and it had to be 55 minutes before any of us saw our suitcases.

Thanks, Barack.

Thanks, Vince.

But The Prez is a fashionably late dinner guest; he couldn’t have arrived at the posh Islesworth house ‘til almost 9 p.m.

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Why I had Air Canada, Vol. 1,290,572

Waiting to board a full jet down here, about 25 people get to walk down the ramp to the plane and all of a sudden the process comes to a screeching halt.

We wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Had to be 25 minutes, maybe half an hour, no one’s moving, one Air Canada guy’s on a phone, an Air Canada lady is on a walkie-talkie and we’re all getting impatient.

Wouldn’t you think one of the other three or four Air Canada people milling about would have grabbed a microphone and let us know what was going on?

Noooooo.

As a guy once told me, the official motto should be:

“We’re not happy ‘til you’re not happy.”

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I guess it’s all well and good that Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun won his appeal of the drug suspension, everyone I’ve ever spoken to who knows the game speaks of him in high regard.

Me?

I’d be far more impressed if the reason he had his 50-game suspension overturned was because of faulty science rather than some technicality in the handling of his samples.

But that’s just me, I guess.

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Hmm.

Tough night in Linsanity, wasn’t it?

He was 1-11 from the field with eight turnovers as the Heat spanked the Knicks and while I still say it’s a great, great story and I hope the kid makes a billion dollars over his career, I think we can stop all the talk about all-star status, can we?

I think more troubling for the Knicks – Lin’s a solid NBAer but that’s going to be about it – is the fact Amar’e Stoudemire looks horrible.

We saw it in Toronto when he had about half a dozen shots blocked and you could see it a bit again last night: His athleticism seems to be waning and, frankly, you take that away from him and it’s trouble.

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Last shot for mail, please.

Not sure how much time we’ve got today to do it, though. There’s a 9:15 a.m. bus to the media availability for the Kids Game tonight, a bus about 11 a.m. over to a Hall of Fame news conference to announce the finalists for next year’s class, a noon-2 media session with the players in Sunday’s game and then a bus ride back to our hotel to write.

And if any of you knows Orlando, you know it’s one of the most spread-out cities in the history of civilization, there are theme parks and amusement parks and highways, so intimacy is not a hallmark of this weekn.

But if the rain holds off, it might be nice to sit outside and type.

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Raptors?

Nary a snippet of news (no, nothing on Chandler) and this is the first weekend in the history of the franchise that they won’t have a single soul here to do anything.

Kind of refreshing; won’t have to chase HWSNBN or Bosh or some rookie or sophomore or dunker. What’s a fellow to do?

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Hey! Look what's back

Go here and see who you see. You won't be sorry.

Oh, maybe you will be, but not that sorry.

And if you wanted to hit the "like" button, my friend Jenni, who does all the work, will be happy.

And it's her birthday so ...

Thanks

 

The pursuit of Chandler is a complicated matter

Okay, here we go, another five days off between games. Nice! Sure, there’s a rather busy weekend ahead with stories to write and people to see but no games and that’s not a terrible thing.

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THREE POINTERS

My head hurts

Spent more than a few minutes trying to figure out the cap machinations that would make it possible for Wilson Chandler to sign here this season – if, in fact, he’s not simply using the Raptors for leverage – and I’m glad they invented Tylenol.

All the Raps can do this year, most likely, is get to about $4.3 million in cap space, get Chandler to sign an offer sheet at that number and then grumble when Denver matches so you can probably discount that.

Let’s put it this way: There are three best-case scenarios that have to happen for a signing for this year to occur:

If – BIG IF – they can find someone in the next couple of days to take Leandro Barbosa off their hands for nothing in return they can likely shed the $7 million or so to make an offer that at least makes Masai out in Denver go “um, er, ah” and gives Toronto a chance. But – BIG BUT – finding that team is virtually impossible because none of the teams with cap space right now to do it probably have the desire to make the deal.

That leaves …

Hoping Chandler and the Nuggets can’t figure out a long-term deal and he signs for just the rest of this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent in July, when Toronto will have oodles of money to spend on him, or someone else.

Of course, the other hope is that Chandler could decide to sign here for the rest of this season using some of Toronto’s approximate $2.5 million left on the mid-level exception and use the final 33 games or so as a mutual get-to-know-you period.

What happens?

I wish I knew.

I do know Toronto put on the full court press with Chandler yesterday, squiring him around the city and the arena, letting him meet with poobahs, Henchmen and players and making him feel at home.

Whatever happens, I’m hearing, is going to happen quickly, this should all be resolved by the middle of next week at the latest.

We know Chandler’s a good basketball fit, a long wing shooter who would instantly become one of Toronto’s key pieces.

The Raptors have liked him since the summer, they may know by Sunday whether that feeling is mutual.

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Getting what he wants

All season, Dwane’s been talking about getting the Raptors to up their toughness quotient so teams around the league have more respect for them.

Well, Detroit might.

That was the toughest game they’ve played in a while and at moments, Pistons coach Lawrence Frank was incensed.

You had Jerryd Bayless putting a shoulder in to Greg Monroe and getting a flagrant foul; you had Jamaal Magloire horse-collared someone under the basket (might have been Monroe again, Dwane was blocking my view) and the Raptors generally comported themselves as a gaggle of crankypants.

No idea if it’ll be a consistent trend – it hasn’t so far – but for last night at least, they were tough guys. Good to see.

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Give him credit

About midway through the first quarter, DeMar is crossing the lane to take a pass and Ben Gordon buries a shoulder into him, knocking DeRozan back about six steps and almost knocking him right over.

Now, it’s not a good thing that a guy as smallish as Gordon could so easily knock DeRozan so off balance (the kid needs to live in the weight room in the summer and become physically stronger) but DeRozan’s reaction was heartwarming to his coaches.

I know they feared that would be enough to make DeRozan shy away from contact for the rest of the night but he didn’t, he was as aggressive in the lane late in the game as he was early in it and, yes, it’s a small step but an important one.

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And now, the rest of the story, as the man used to say:

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This would be apropos of nothing but since Bob Seger made a special guest appearance in the IGBT last night, why wouldn’t we pay homage to the other Detroit music genre.

Is Marvin Gaye’s Heard It Through The Grapevine right at the top of the best Motown songs ever list?

I could make that case.

Whaddya think?

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No, the game story did not include a quote from Leandro Barbosa, nor did he do any TV or radio.

Simple reason.

Dude had a plane waiting for him and a scheduled 10 p.m. departure for all-star weekend back home in Brazil.

He was in such a hurry that he was about halfway up the tunnel to the locker room when the final buzzer went; if you think he moves quickly on the court, don’t think I’ve ever seen him go as fast as he did to get out of there.

He’s a huge family guy and I guess if you’re going to another continent for the weekend, no sense wasting any time.

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Mail?

Yes, please.

Here would be nice, give me something to putter around on during the flight this afternoon.

Much obliged.

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So, I hear Barack Obama’s having a little $35,000 a plate fund-raiser down in Orlando tonight which in and of itself is hardly a big deal; guy’s gotta make some cash to combat those other fellows who seem to be spending the entire pre-election period debating each other, which can’t be a wise move since people tend to watch those debates.

Anyway …

Get this: The fund-raiser is AT VINCE CARTER’S HOUSE!

Yeah, old HWSNBN runs in some big-time circles it seems and all I wonder is how come Canada Post didn’t get the invite to me in time.

Bit stressed this morning by having to a rent a tux before my flight but a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do, I guess.

(I keed, I keed).

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The Goods On The Game, Pistons at Raptors

Hey folks.

Welcome back, it's been a while.

Raptors do a little bit of free-agent wooing

The Raptors are doing a little bit of mid-season free agent shopping.

Wilson Chandler, who just completed one season in China, was in town Wednesday being wooed by the Raptors, who covet the versatile forward.

Chandler, it should be noted, also visited this week with his former team, the Denver Nuggets, and there is nothing imminent brewing although it won’t be long until he decides where he’d like to spend at least the rest of this season.

Chandler, who averaged 12.5 points a game for the Nuggets in the 2010-11 season, is a restricted free agent. Denver also covets him but with the Nuggets having already made a substantial commitment to Danilo Gallinari and with a bloated payroll compared to what the Raptors will have to dish out next season, the financial ramifications are unclear.

The Raptors have coveted the 6-8 Chandler since before this season began but once he was committed to spending the entire season with the Zhejiang Lions in China, the interest cooled just a little bit.

But with an offensively-challenged team, adding someone with Chandler’s skills would be a huge boost to Toronto’s fortunes.

Chandler would still need to get a letter of clearance from the Chinese league and FIBA before being able to return to the NBA but that’s seen as merely a formality now.

 

 

 

Halfway home on an expected journey

At least the message is consistent.

The enduring theme as we hung around the HOTH on Tuesday discussing the impending arrival of the halfway point of the season – yeah, tonight is Game 33 of 66 if you can believe that – was that the biggest need in the second half of the season is a level of consistency from individuals and as a whole.

Duh.

Not playing down to the level of the opposition would be nice; playing as hard at the start of the game as at the end would be nicer; playing the same every night out would be nicest.

Not possible, though; not yet and not with this group that is still learning what it takes to win in the NBA on a regular basis.

As we mentioned last weekend in the report card thingy (go here to relive it in all its glory) there are only a handful of players who are living up to, or exceeding, expectations, let alone over-achieving.

But that’s the thing with this group, especially without its best player in Bargnani.

Last year, guys like DeRozan, Davis and the Johnson twins – and to some extent Jose and Andrea – were very much learning how to play in the NBA.

This year, those same guys have a bit of an idea how to play, they’re now learning what it takes to win.

We’ve seen some good signs over the first half and some bad ones but nothing entirely unexpected.

We knew – or should have known – that this was a season of discovery and no one said all the discoveries were going to be good. We can see how much work remains to be done with several players, we can see faults and promise in almost equal parts.

But you know what?

These guys are believers because they are pro athletes and they truly and honestly believe that they can, and will, win every game they play.

It’s a wonderful attitude to have, actually; you want that sense of optimism and confidence in the team you cheer for, don’t you?

DeMar:

“We’re not that many games off the playoffs, all we need is a little winning streak, start beating teams we should be and we can play with any top team in this league. Once we start doing that, we’ll be fine. There’s nothing to panic about because we know we can come out and we still got a chance.”

Is it possible? Nah, likely not. But wouldn’t you rather he think that rather than wallow in some kind of despair?

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I’m crushed.

A pretend football game between a team from another city and some other team won’t be played in Toronto this summer, I hear.

Drat.

Whatever are we to do?

Seriously, though, the fact the Buffalo Bills have decided to blow off the year’s exhibition game here is probably welcome news because it won’t separate people here from their hard-earned money. If there’s anything worse than pre-season football in the whole scheme of exhibition sports, I don’t know what it is.

Basketball can provide you with a wow moment, regardless of who’s on the floor; spring baseball games provide the unique opportunity to see pitchers get their running in across the outfield while the game’s going on and who cares anyway, you’re sitting outside watching. Pucks? Well, aside from the fact they play about a million of ‘em, it seems, must be some endearing quality although I will fully admit I have never watched an NHL exhibition game start to finish and feel quite proud of that fact.

Football? Treble yawn.

Best thing about the news on the Bills thing? There’s something super-secret perhaps coming to the Dome about that time of the summer. No one’s saying what it is and it’s apparently not finalized but a guy can dream, right?

Isn’t that about when Bruce Springsteen’s back from Europe? How cool would that be?

(That is total and utter hope and guesswork on my part, by the way)

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Please, some mail.

Thanks.

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I swear it wasn’t two weeks ago that I heard or read how the Leaves were getting good enough goaltending to make the playoffs for sure.

Today?

Not so much.

Poor Monster and the other guy; it’s going to be feeding frenzy time.

Good thing we can operate in relative obscurity over in the other part of the building.

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Is this tanking?

The San Antonio Spurs, already without injured Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter, gave Tony Parker and Tm Duncan last night off and the results were rather predictable.

No, not Spurs by 12.

Blazers by 40.

Gregg Popovich made all the salient points when he was explaining: It’s been three games in four night, whatever number it was in whatever number of nights and it just time to give the two older guys a full night of rest.

No sense in trying to give them short minutes – in the flow of a game that never really works because coaches and players tend to get caught up in the desire to win – so a complete night off it was.

Of course, it wasn’t “tanking” in the Toronto-centric meaning of the word because there was nothing to be gained by losing.

But it still rankles me an awful lot.

It is, without question, disrespecting the game, the opponent, the fans, your team, to simply sit the two best players you have available because they “might” get hurt or might be tired.

The Spur are off tonight, they play Thursday and then the all-star break hits with a weekend off for Duncan and, I’m sure, plenty of rest and no stress for Parker, who can coast through the game and the Saturday night shenanigans quite easily.

At some level, I can understand what Popovich did; at some other level I find it a bit off-putting.

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Speaking of pucks (and, yeah, two pucks things in one day) …

It was this date in 1980 when this happened:

Remember?

I vaguely do.

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Trade chatter's simply a part of life in the big leagues

I read with great amusement the past couple of days all the dispatches that have to do with trade rumours and the impact they have on some teams.

Specifically, of course, it begins with Kobe Bryant ripping Lakers management for the speculation surrounding Pau Gasol and how Bryant wants – I’m not entirely sure how – GM Mitch Kupchak to either tell Gasol he’s not going or is going or something.

Here’s the latest story from Los Angeles that has the specifics of Bryant’s whining and Kupchak’s response and you need to read the home run that Ken Berger hit about the dysfunctional nature of the Laker front office.

There really is no answer, though.

Sure, Bryant’s ticked, I imagine Gasol is too but general managers have to do what general managers have to do and if that leads to a month or two of speculation or a couple of uncomfortable weeks leading up the deadline, well, that’s the way life is.

Now, no one would really like a trade if they’re not unhappy where they are. No one wants to be told you work here one day, you work in another city tomorrow, here’s your hat, what’s your hurry, thanks for the years of service but that’s the nature of the business and everyone pulls on a uniform knows it.

Sure, it’s disconcerting and it is disruptive to life but to suggest there should be some unequivocal statement that nothing – or something – is going to happen is, frankly, ridiculous.

I think you know I have nothing but admiration for the way Bryant plays basketball; he is a joy to watch every night and one of the very best to ever play. But in this case, he’s dead wrong and firing shot across the bow of the front office can do no good whatsoever.

Reading the Berger story lays out one of the wackiest front offices in all of sports, to be sure, and perhaps that’s what has led to Bryant’s frank and open discussion of what’s wrong above him.

But trades – and trade speculation and rumours – are part of life as a pro athlete; you need to find the strength of will to play through it, keep your head down and do your best and see what happens when the deadline arrives.

It’s not an easy situation for anyone but that’s just the way it is.

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Oh, I know there’s far better stuff out there than this but it is Fat Tuesday and I wish I was at Mardi Gras and that makes me think of Treme and the best theme song on TV today:

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Wow, we did well yesterday.

Funny thing about this place is that every now and then something happens that evokes comments and reactions and a wee bit of debate.

You folks did tremendously well yesterday and if you’re an Irregular just catching up, go back and read the comments.

Makes a guy feel good to be able to facilitate that stuff every now and then.

Wait ‘til we do Pucks Trade Deadline Day!

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Could use some mail, folks.

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So, it was nice to get back to the gym yesterday and talk about some real basketball stuff with the lads and as the daily tome suggests, there was a lot of discussion about one of the fatal flaws with this roster.

When it comes time to get a basket, one play to win or tie one game, there are so few individual options available to Dwane Casey that it truly has to be a team effort.

Now, maybe he could just give the ball to Leandro Barbosa, clear everyone out and let him beat an opponent with pure speed, and maybe he’ll eventually be able to give the ball to Bargnani at the elbow and see what transpires but those are far from sure things. I’m not entirely sure Leandro handles the ball well enough I’m not entirely sure Bargnani is quick and determined enough.

That means there has to be a screen, or two screens, or something off the ball to get them a really good look and, so far this season, that hasn’t happened to often.

Oh, the thought is there: We’ve seen the play at the rim a couple of times and if DeMar had ripped the ball through forcefully at the end of the Lakers game instead of making a weak move and fading to the sideline, things may have been different.

But they weren’t and until Bryan finds some kind of stud wing who has the skills and temperament to make the right move, it’s going to be a “go-to guy by committee” and that’s a dicey proposition.

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Everybody taking down all the Family Day decorations today?

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Oh yeah, you also read, I’m sure, that Andrea isn’t going to play until after the all-star break and while no one is even speculating on whether he’ll be in Houston on Monday night for practice, I’m wondering if we’ll see him before the first home game after the break.

I know they’re being extra cautious about the calf and giving him all sorts of time to rehab but I’m thinking it’s about time he at least got on the gym floor to find out what he can do.

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You read this very nice piece in our section today about the ex-pitcher turned author and his books that chronicle his life in the pen.

Sounds like a good one, I’ll be interested in reading the one about his time with the Jays but …

Ball Four’s still the gold standard.

Isn’t it?

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A sorry comment on our craft; and a brilliant combination of holidays

Everyone have a nice weekend?

I’d like to thank Dwane for giving us Sunday totally off, was a nice day of rest in a long stretch of Days With No Games.

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This arrived Sunday and I’m sure it’s a question on a lot of minds, and a perfect way to get into today:

Q: Doug, how, really HOW, could the racist slur by ESPN re Lin happen? How many eyes must have seen the headline? I cannot imagine this appearing in any of our regular newspapers. What do you think it means? Is it a commentary on the seemingly impossible task of erasing racism in sports (see recent events in British soccer ); is it a commentary on certain kinds of journalism in an electronic age?

Charles N, Mexico

A: Obviously I don’t know the specifics of how it happened since I’m not privy to ESPN’s staffing and editing system but it does suggest to me one of the true failings of our craft these days at so many levels I’m not sure where to start.

First, it speaks to the fact papers, and websites, and whatever, have cut staffing levels to the bone so much that there is no true sense of checks and balances anymore. We often let too many people with no true sense of the business work unedited, all too often we leave them to their own devices and, in this case at least, it was one person with no brain or true measure of common sense working on something that would be seen by potentially hundreds of thousands of people. If we’re going to rush to get things up or get them published somehow, there have to be senior editors, people with experience, to vet everything. That’s the shame of our craft today.

But the bigger problem is why anyone – senior, junior, male, female, what have you – would think to write, or even say, something as obviously racist and blatantly hurtful and stupid as that, especially someone purporting to be a journalist, someone who should be in tune with the times in which we live.

I am cynical enough, if that’s the right word, to realize that things haven’t progressed as far as we’d like because there are far too many people who don’t see the blatant racism in the use of such phrases, either in the search for a “tee-hee” moment or in lashing out in anger, as happens far too often in the heat of competition. It is wrong, it is not explainable but it is, sadly, still too much a part of society; we’re better, we’re just not entirely good at the moment and that’s a shame we all have to bear.

Journalists -- and that goes for me and other writers to editors at papers and people who work the graveyard shifts at websites – have a huge responsibility to think about the impact of our words, on the people they are about and the people that read them.

Sadly, sometimes too many of us don’t think before writing something and it diminishes us all.

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Happy Family Day to those living in Ontario, and Alberta Saskatchewan, I believe; and happy Monday in the other provinces.

(Oh yeah, happy Washington’s Birthday to our American friends and, sadly, I don’t think our European Irregulars have anything to celebrate today; not sure about the folks from the other continents)

Think I’ve missed every other Family Day going because it’s always been the day after NBA all-star weekend and there’s been a flight somewhere.

Anyway, since it really has no traditions – nothing that’s been around as few years as it can should have any “traditions” – not sure what to do to celebrate it here.

So …

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It’s not too often I’m able to simply lie around for hours watching NBA games on TV, any idle time I have is usually reserved for other pursuits.

But, I tell you, watching Oklahoma City and Denver on Sunday night – Durant with 51, Westbrook with 40, Ibaka going all Mutombo all over the place – was as much fun as I’ve had watching a game this season.

It was, of course, an aberration. Most nights the play is so ragged, the players so tired, so many injured and not even around that the league and union – which is complicit in this stinky season -- should be ashamed of themselves for foisting 66 games in 124 days (actually 120 because four are dead for the unnecessary all-star weekend coming up) on a ticket-buying and TV-watching fan base.

But that one was truly fun to watch, great players doing great things in a game not decided until overtime.

Kind of restores some faith in the season; right until there’s some turnover-filled, 40-point rout that bores the crap out of people forced to watch it.

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Milos Raonic wins the big tennis tournament in California?

Good on him.

Wonder if they played O Canada at the end?

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Hey!

Hang on a sec.

It’s amazing what ideas can pop into a fellow’s mind at 6:45 a.m. while sipping coffee (and it’s Costa Rican and thanks to the Irregulars who suggested that) and figuring out what to put in here.

Since we have no true Family Day traditions – no trees, no cards, no carols, no flowers or chocolates or anything – why don’t we petition the Tall Pucks Foreheads to move Trade Deadline Day to the third Monday of February?

That way Moms and Dads and sons and daughters can sit around as a family glued to the TV at 8 a.m. watching people make stuff up and talk into their phones while checking their e-mails and BBMs and tablets. And by 11 a.m. the family’s collective eyes will be so glazed over and their level of boredom off the charts that they’ll run screaming from the TV room like their hair’s on fire and really go and spend some quality time together.

Man, we need to make that happen, don’t we?

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The Question of the Day queue is somewhat bare over at Inbox Central and my friend Jenni who does the Faceoff thingy will be getting antsy if I don’t have stuff for her later this morning to fill out the week.

Help a fella out, would you?

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A little bit more of the weekend mail

Found it, or at least most of it, I think.

Enjoy, talk to you in the morning.

(Oh, I need some Questions Of The Day for the Faceoff thingy where Grunt TV lives; send 'em here. Thanks).

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Q: Doug - When he became an EXPO baseball player Carter took French lessons (!) thus endearing himself forever to the Montreal and Quebec faithful. This act by a professional athlete was, and is, pretty rare.

Today "community involvement" by players is staged and organized by the employer. Our heroes are itinerant, their loyalties tied to the next contract. Ties to THE CONTRACT appear most often to come ahead of ties to place (neighbourhood, city, province, country). Maybe that's why, in our hearts and minds, our "heroes" are not quite what they used to be and why fans turn on them when they leave.

In your experience who are, or were, the exceptions to this trend? I think of a youthful Willie Mays walking around his NY City neighbourhood, loving the kids and interactions. Which Raptors players have "loved the city"? Can we hope to ever again see players like Carter who worked to made a fuller life out of the community where they earned a living? Or do the soul-searing dynamics of modern sports "celebrity" rule out our seeing such relationships ever again?

Charles N, Mexico

A: I love the thought of player truly embracing the cities where they work and give you not only Gary Carter but, before him, Rusty Staub. And while I wish it were still that way still, those days are gone for various reasons: The pull of home and friends; extended family demands and the like.

With the Raptors, it’s generally been coaches who have “taken” to the city and even they blew out when they had a chance. Sam used to love to walk along the water and through Yorkville; Alex enjoyed the dining, Brendan Malone was a big walker.

The players? Not so much and not surprisingly it was the older ones – Oak, Rasho come quickly to mind – who seemed to get the most of living here.

The young ones? They have their haunts and locals but the greatest amount of interaction they have with the people in the city is through social media. And that’s not nearly the same.

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Q: Doug. With your answer on Lin, you stuck to your guns, and said may not be a good fit in TO (at least compared to New York's system.)

What is the top five "didn't see that coming" list Of Doug Smith? Things that you thought no way, and were not right. (not a snarky question, just for fun)

Bruce M, Winnipeg

A: Oh, there has to be dozens and if I know there are folks out there in readerland who can come up with a more comprehensive list that I will. But here are three and I’ll let others chime in:

(A disclaimer, a lot of things people “don’t see coming” are basically opinions; and that’s fine with me, opinions by their very nature are neither right nor wrong)

I thought Hedo Turkoglu would be a very good fit here; a ball-moving big man who’d excel in pick and roll with Bargnani and Bosh. Guess not.

I thought it would take a lot longer than it did for the Boston Celtics to mesh back in ’07; figured they’d get there just not as quickly as they did.

I wondered if Roy Hibbert would be anything more than a run-of-the-mill NBAer; I didn’t see all-star coming at all.

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Q: I love the Jeremy Lin story, I truly do. He seems like a really nice kid, and there appear to fewer of those these days in the NBA - and who can resist the against all odds, undrafted PG story. However, there was a readers poll on the Star website where 50% of responders found this story more inspirational than the Terry Fox story (13%) Muhamad Ali and Jesse Owens stories (both 3-4%). All I have to say is get a grip people. Put what these men did in the context of there times and situations and reconsider how you get inspired. I moved to this country just as Terry was making his run and I still find it hard to choke back tears anytime I see footage of him running in front of that cop car in the rain in Northern Ontario just before he had to stop the run. I love the Lin story and I really hope he continues his success, but Terry Fox he is not, and I bet if you were to ask him he'd agree wholeheartedly with me.

Cheers

Damian L, Toronto

A: I believe any right-thinking person would agree with you and I respectfully suggest you take those little polls for what they are: Totally unscientific ways to engage readers and let them have a little fun with some hot topic du jour.

Nothing more, nothing less.

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Q: Hi Doug. The goal of any team should be to win every game at every possible cost.(and I know you share this view)

That being said, with the "this season is not about this season" approach that the club has taken could the recent losses be considered a good thing??? Competitive and entertaining games... yet the Raps record stays in the lower sphere of the league??

Jeff M, Saint John

A: A good thing?

I see where you’re going with this and I suppose there are those who think that – not understanding fully the blind luck of the lottery and the crapshoot that is the draft – but I’d rather my team learn to win close games rather than lose them to give themselves a couple more ping pong ball combinations.

So, sorry, I’m can’t possibly get behind “good thing” although I fear I might be in the minority in that.

Sort of the end of the weekend mail

I’m not sure how but I seem to have lost an entire file of questions. I’ll get ‘em back together from the inbox later on and get them answered.

Sorry about that.

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Q: Hey Doug: Have you ever, knowingly or not, been given a piece of information that you 'went' with, only to find it was totally inaccurate? Did you have to write a retraction/apology? Or, did you learn early on that, no matter how 'good' the source, you won't print anything unless it is confirmed by at least two sources?

Thanks for all your hard work and effort!

Tim H, Windsor

A: Not that I can think of outside of a couple of times where I’ve got information from a couple of people on something that “could” happen but I’m usually careful enough to couch such reporting in “possibles” and explain that it’s a maybe rather than a certainty.

And if it’s something huge or seemingly outrageous, it always leads to verification from at least one other sport.

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Q: Hello...Have you ever been tempted to have an electronic cigarette?

If you were to hand out the exploding cigarette to say the five biggest jerks in sports history, who would be the recipients?

Since BB is still on tour...How about The Thrill is Gone?

Bob E, Kanata

A: Hahahahahaha. No, electronic smokes – even the ones guaranteed not to literally blow up in your face – are not something I’d ever consider.

But if I had to give some away – and this is a quick list off the top my head – how’s a fivesome of George Steinbrenner, Art Modell, John Rocker, Mike Tyson and Bobby Knight grab you?

And why not ...

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Q: Doug, another Valentine's Day has come and gone, so on the topic of love and dating and all, I thought I'd throw down the gauntlet and challenge you and the Irregulars to come up with your funniest and/or most cringe-worthy stories from the dating world. I just started the ball rolling today in the comments section, regaling the readers about how a Lavalife date of mine discussed her period (in some detail) before telling me she was a vommitter, all within seconds of meeting me, but I'm sure this PALES in comparison to some other stories out there. And surely, Doug, before you met Superwife, you must have gone on some real stinker dates in your time, no?

Lee Z, Ottawa

A: I’ve got nothing.

Or nothing I care to share.

Irrregulars?

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Q: Hello Doug! Well, I can only think that the timing of the return of (the fabulous and dearly missed) Grunt TV is a sign that you're ironing out technological wrinkles to give us an Entire NBA Draft Deadline Show. Now, the NHL's been doing this for years with the multiple person panel in studio thing, but let's face it, I think your particular talents are more suited to the type of (not always!) subtle mockery and humour similar to what Mr. Onrait does over at TSN. And you wouldn't HAVE to appear on camera in your bathrobe, (unless it's fabulous and you want to show it off) the way Onrait does, but I think a more relaxed setting in, say, Casa Doug with Super Dog at your side, Super Family wandering in and out bringing you lattes and muffins. And maybe old friends and colleagues dropping in to say hello, and offer their opinions, witicisms, insight - (Can you see it? Smitch! Perk! Butch! Kevin O'Neill! (hide your lamps) Cathal! Jay!) not to mention all those stories and anecdotes. I think this would be a major must-see hit. At least among Your Irregulars. So, is our favourite Grunt ready for his All-Day Close-up? Is this A Happening Thing? Cheers! With Fingers Crossed!

Lorie P, London

A: I’m guessing it’s Trade Deadline Day and I’m, thankfully, be on an airplane from Jersey to Memphis mid-day to catch up to the HOTH and work the hilarity that is the deadline. And I’m virtually sure you don’t want video of me sitting around a hotel room typing and e-mailing. That said, it is a Thursday and that seems to be when we do video now so … who knows what we might have in store.

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Q: Doug. Some Jeremy Lin questions (surprise, surprise).

Where do you see him eventually settling ability-wise as an NBA point guard? Simmons says somewhere between JJ Barea 2.0 and Nash-lite.

Even though he's in his second year, he's basically a rookie based on previous playing time. So how does he stack up against the other rookie point guards like Irving, Walker, and Knight? (Did the Knicks get lucky and end up with the best of the bunch? Kind of like winning the lottery without even having a ticket.)

Which leads to the last question... Is he as good as the other elite, young point guards - Rose, Paul, Rondo, Westbrook, Williams?

Joe S, Kingston

A: I haven’t seen Knight but he’s not nearly as good – in my opinion – as either Irving or Walker and I wouldn’t put anywhere near Rose, Paul, Rondo and Westbrook and I can probably rattle off four or five others, likely more, that I’d take over him. Rubio, Lowry, Wall come quickly to mind. And that’s not even going anywhere near Nash, Parker and those of that ilk.

Look, he’s a pretty good player with a flawed jumper and a shocking propensity for committing turnovers. I thing when it’s all said and done, he’s closer to Barea than he is Nash.

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Q: Is Jonus V's season officially over now, and if so will he be brought over to get climatized to what goes on with the NBA? Also, not sure if you ever talk trades, (I know E Smith never does) but considering the level that Jose is playing at as of recently, has his trade value ever been higher? There is a point guard in Phoenix who might be available next year... free agent, home country discount.... thoughts?

Matt D, Dorchester

A: No, I don’t expect to see Valanciunas anywhere near Toronto until just before training camp next season. He’s got some of his season left, a EuroCup to finish out, he’ll have national team duties right away, a final Olympic qualifier in the summer and then maybe the London Games. Toss in the time needed for some rest – he’s been going steady since last season – and there’s no reason to bring him over.

And you’re right, I don’t do trade stuff unless there’s a snippet of legitimacy to a story.