Taking a shot and a very big TV anniversary

Isn’t that strange?

I believe I just saw Jeremy Lin rescue a kitten from up a tree.

And there were a dozen breathless New York media guys chronicling it.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Anyway …

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THREE POINTERS

Trying different things

There’s no way Dwane Casey’s going to let his team lose without trying everything at his disposal to make things right.

Look at some of the matchups he tried last night:

He had Jose on Carlos Delfino to start because he thought Jerryd on Jennings and DeRozan on Livingston were better; he used everyone from Kleiza to James Johnson to DeRozan on Dunleavy when he got hot. He played a little bit of zone – it’s like some hybrid matchup thing with zone principles – for a while and he even went to a bigger, slower Magloire in that horrid first half to add some – and I hate this word – physicality to the proceedings.

Nothing worked particularly well but at least there were all kinds of schemes and different looks used primarily to throw the Bucks off.

Oh, wait. I guess one thing did work: Jennings was a total non-factor for most of the night, they always seemed to have a second guy waiting for him in the paint, they played him well on the perimeter and it was the other guys who they couldn’t get stopped.

But for defensive creativity, I haven’t seen a better Raptors coach ever; and I saw KO for like 75 of his 82 games.

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Time to bulk up

I said this in the IGBT but if Ed Davis and DeMar DeRozan do nothing these next few months than live in the weight room, their games are still going to improve.

Saw at least three instances where Davis was stripped of the ball under the basket because he wasn’t physically strong enough to take it up and through a defender and DeRozan got knocked down a couple of times because he couldn’t withstand contact any NBAer should be able to.

I’m not saying that’s the only flaw in either of their games – Davis needs major reconstructive surgery on his jump shot – but the Bucks are neither the biggest nor the strongest team in the league yet they pushed around the two young Raptors too easily.

I know the coaches have noticed – it comes up in private conversations – and last night there were a couple of glaring examples of what needs to be fixed. And fixed as fast as possible.

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It was going well

We have no clue how long or even if Jerryd Bayless will be out after leaving the game with a sore left ankle in the third quarter but he had been showing a fair amount of improvement in some key areas.

A couple of times against Milwaukee, and a handful of times in the Washington game, he’d made one of his forays to the basket along the baseline only to find a couple of rather imposing gentlemen waiting for him.

In the past, he’d have a tendency to leap in the air with nowhere to go, flail his arms and throw the ball somewhere. Last night, I can think of at least two times where he simply kept dribbling along the baseline, came out the other side of the basket and made a smart pass.

Just a little thing, but a better decision and a sign of at least some growth.

Now, I still think his future is as some combo guard who comes off a bench to provide some offence to his team but he’ll enhance his chance at sticking around by making those kinds of smart decisions.

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More? There’s some.

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Everybody pumped for the big Davis Cup tie betwixt Canada and France this weekend? Thought so.

If there’s an event that lost its lustre more than the Davis Cup over the years, I don’t know what it is.

It’s all well and good that Canada gets to play with the big boys finally – that win over Israel last year got them back in the World Group in the rather confusing world of Davis Cup but it’s still an individual sport being pumped up as some big team competition and, frankly, I think it elicits more yawns than enthusiasm.

Wish ‘em luck, though.

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Hmm.

Zambia 1, Black Stars 0 in the African Cup of Nations semifinal?

Grr.

But I can almost handle losing a team known as the Chipolopolo, or Copper Bullets, and they shall now become my team in the final against Ivory Coast.

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What were you doing 48 years ago tonight?

Now I was just a wee toddler and the memory is very, very vague but I can sort of remember sitting around that Sunday night with a whole bunch of people glued to the TV.

Why?

The Beatles.

First time on North American TV and if that wasn’t reason enough to watch Ed Sullivan that night, not sure what was.

The boys could sing a bit, no?

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Oh yeah.

I like Mark Heisler an awful lot, have admired his work for years, and am a big fan of My Man Sheridan’s website where Mark’s doing some work these days.

But he caused me a wee bit of angst yesterday with a throwaway line in his weekly power rankings about the HOTH thinking about adding Jonas Valanciunas sometime in the next little while.

The chance of that happening?

Less than zero.

Not only is Valanciunas’s season still got some legs – there are a couple of Cup competitions still to go – but the last, the very, very, very last thing they want to do is to bring him over and blow a year of his wildly affordable rookie scale contract for the sake of a dozen or so games in a somewhat lost season.

Not going to happen. Please cut and paste this little item for future reference. Thank you.

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Got some mail? There’s some room in the in-basket if there’s something on your mind or if you just want to say hi.

You know the drill.

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Boy, am I ever glad the hype is going to start today for the big outside hockey game in Michigan next year.

I was wondering what the biggest story of the day would be.

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Comments

[Peter]

Thanks for clearing up the Jonas thing. That seemed like I really odd place to make that kind of announcement. I knew that you would be able to clarify things and put them into perspective.

[Jeff S]

I have a small problem with your use of the English language in today's article. "but the Bucks aren’t neither the biggest nor the strongest team"? Double negative? It reminds me of the non-unsportsmanlike technical foul. If an unsportsmanlike foul is considered a negative thing, then a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul, should be considered a positive. I guess the Bucks are the biggest and strongest team?

Blogger's note: Fixed. Thanks

[LeeZ]

Doug, any chance JV comes over this year instead of next?
:)

[LeeZ]

Re: that Liverpudlian band you speak of. Brought back memories of this wonderfully cute movie about these kids trying to make it into the Ed Sullivan theatre to catch their legendary performance. Called (aptly enough) I Wanna Hold Your Hand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw1lI6vcMTc

[LeeZ]

Re: DD getting stripped of the ball, my friends and I started a drinking game earlier this season: every time he gets stripped of the ball, drink a shot. By the time the game is over, we're completely soussed. Both he and Davis are "cut"; no flab at all, well defined muscles. Particularly in DD's case, do you think he has the type of frame that can add not just more muscles, but bulk? I know Bosh was successful in adding bulk; not sure that DD can.

Blogger's note: Not sure much bulk is needed, just strength

[Mike D.]

You don't like the word "physicality" to describe Magloire's game? That's probably a good thing: dictionary.com defines "physicality" to mean "bodily preoccupation" and provides "animalism, animality, hedonism, fleshliness, carnality, sensuality" as synonyms.

While "physicality", as defined above, on defense could certainly prove distracting to opposing bigs (and would undoubtedly demonstrate Casey's willingness to experiment on D), I agree that it doesn't seem like an accurate description of Magloire's style. "Brutality" might be a better term, if only because it would describe both his D and his free throw shooting. :)

[LeeZ]

Bulk, muscles, strength...all potentially helpful in avoiding being stripped of the ball. But some good ol' common sense would help too. Just watch JB: one really good thing he does is once he starts his drive, he cradles the ball much like a running back in football, and only exposes it again once he's ready to shoot. DD carelessly holds it out in front of his body right from the start of his drive, basically just begging for it to be stripped. Doug, next time you're talking to DD, can you tell him to adopt JB's anti-stripping technique? Much obliged.

[Sharkey]

Dougie, Mr. Cox wants you to cover the big pucks event for him! You have to let him down gently

[511]

Your Jeremy Lin opening made me lol. Funny.

[tman]

baseball has more yawn than tennis...

[JT]

Is Barbosa still having ankle issues? He really looks slow.

[Thomas]

Niice shut-out for the greatest ACT to ever walk the earth, Doug! They saved Rock'n'Roll in the early 60's when it was just considered a fade. By '62 when The Beatles cut thier first album, rock 'n'roll was hated among most outside of 21 years of age and was just in its infancy, only 7-8 years old. What is known as the first ever "commercial" rock song (Rock around the clock) was released in 1955. Early rock artisits were fading - Jerry Lee married his cousin, Chuck Berry went to jail (on taxes - I beleive), Elvis went to the Army, Little Richards homosexuality leaked out, Carl Perklins follows Johnny Cash into country music as thier staple of sound. All that was left were the Everly Brothers, cheesy corporate covered songs by inocent looking white teens and the start of Motown (mostly women groups and Phil Spectors wall of sound). Then groups like The Beatles, The Stones, The Animals to name a few came over with a new "electronic guitar focused" sound - The Beatles sound was diffrent then the others in England so much so they all started following The Beatles when it was becoming the sound all the kids wanted to here. It was faster, it followed "rock'n'roll" contants from thier hero's (Chucky Berry, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Little Richrad, The Everly's), they gave us a new sound of rock, they could play ballads, they could sing, they played diffrent instruments to expand thier sound and style, they had the magic to make a crowd listen with thier energy and humour. Thier live shows were all about braking lose and having fun to some good energy rock'n'roll. The Stones, The Animals, The Kinks (love 'em) but they were slower, more about "blues" than Rock, even though they were inluenced by American rock artist, they had a bluesier sound. The Beatles showed the world that Rock'N'Roll was here to stay and still alive. They were the first (group) to play thier own intsruments and write thier own songs, they way they lived thier rock'n'roll lives was all new to everyone, the industry, the scene, the exceptance of "music of rock" players in a time where Hollywood was the biggest draw. The Beatles made themselves bigger and paved the way for everyone else that followed, including generations today. As the 60's progressed so did The Beatles, continuously offering new sounds, artisitic progression, beautifully written and played ballads, and stright up rock'n'roll.....that people stil copy to this day. No one has pushed the bar further than The Beatles all in a 8 year span. Not 50 yrs like The Stones....8! here we are 50 years later and we STILL know clearly who This little band from Liverpool England did us all a great justice....which was give us great music and saved Rock'n'Roll.

[David in Oakville]

Given our large Taiwanese/Chinese population I am sure the Rap's Front Office is grateful for any added hype seeing as Jeremy Lin's New York Knicks are in town on Valentines Day.

Any chance you will be bringing Mrs. Doug to the game in an effort to be captured on the kiss cam?

[LeeZ]

As for the Davis Cup Tie eliciting yawns, the event sold out weeks and weeks ago, and the prices aren't cheap. It features two of the best and most charismatic players in the world in Tsonga and Monfils, and an up-and-coming star-in-the-making in Milos. What's more, interest/participation in tennis in this country, while not something one would ever characterize as strong, is increasing at a very steady clip, according to a number of surveys (no doubt at least partly attributable to Raonic). And if Canada somehow manages to win this tie (not completely out of the realm of possibility, since we have in the person of Daniel Nestor the world's third-ranked doubles player, and Pospisil has beaten some top-25 players recently), that interest will explode! Alright, perhaps not "explode". But still.

[Mike kovacs]

Doug I don't think that you have commented (much) on the intro song this year. After my 2nd game now I think it is about the worst. It iis slow, unintelligible and does not pump anyone up! It is also far too long. I post this here hoping that those responsible will take notice. I am sure you must agree. ps Why at the start of the anthems do they keep asking Jose if he can see?

[sla]

RE: Raptors Bulk up - This is what happens when you hire a "director of sports science" rather then a real strength and conditioning coach. Made up titles can't hide a lack of competence

[Tim]

Looks like Wilson Chandler is going to end up with the Nuggets, according to Yahoo! Sports.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgdhNZCblPYX_ZAf4qYfFFq8vLYF?slug=mc-spears_wilson_chandler_nuggets_nba_020812

So much for that.

Blogger's note: Not necessarily; what if he only signs 'til the end of this year?

[Tim]

"Blogger's note: Not necessarily; what if he only signs 'til the end of this year?"

Ahhh... good point Doug. Thanks for that.

[doug]

don't know who caught it but BC was on McCown's show yesterday, and he was talking the draft, said it is a deep draft, and that when watching the Kentucky/NC game there were about 11 players on the floor that could be 1st rounders and there is one player that is heads and shoulders above the rest, a no-brainer, a "can't miss" type of guy...he couldn't say who as player hasn't declared but Anthony Davis is the guy and he really does have it all athletically, he's young, so who knows how he will pan out...but for draft info that is it, him followed by a lot of others in a strong draft class...supposedly....

[JHK]

I know Lin was something when I saw him in Harvard and in the summer league going up against Wall.
Not sure why we didn't grab him when GS waived him.
... and got AC instead.

Blogger's note: Bet they're asking that question in about 28 other cities because everyone connected with the game saw a guy waived by Golden State and Houston and sent to the D League by the Knicks having this kind of three-game stretch.

[Michael]

Disagree about your take on the Davis Cup. Obviously it's not comparable to the World Cup, but it is still of great interest to average tennis fans. Perhaps it seemed boring in the past because Canada did not have many good players. It also seems to mean a lot to the players (Djokovic's Davis Cup win in 2010 seemed to trigger his amazing success in 2011).

[david]

BC can make up for not getting Jeremy Lin by getting Steve Nash instead. Right now, this team needs a soul, something to give fans a reason to watch for the rest of the season.

[JHK]

@david
Agree on giving fans reason to watch but getting Nash will be like giving morphine to a gun shot wounded patient. He will be a walking museum by next season. But you are right. We could use some morphine right now.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

@Thomas, wow, most excellent! Really well captured historical synopsis there. Thanks. Well done!
Pound that Rock! And keep it coming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR2S1Yv6eSw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f831LG6pr9E&feature=fvwrel
And if you liked that one, check out Jonny Lang's cover of "Paint It Black": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvyEhFCAuqo&feature=related
Cheers. Go rock!

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:
Did you hear there's going to be some huge hockey shindig across the river from me. You going?

Blogger's note: Think I have something on; I'll try