A day like few others, and the ride could continue today

The word for today:

Beware.

(Most of you know what I mean, right?)

-

Holy crap

What kind of day was that?

I wish I could tell you what the latest is with Dwight Howard and whether or not he’ll sign the paper that’ll keep him with Orlando next season but I can’t because I’m typing this at about 6:15 a.m. and it’ll probably change twice before I post it around 7:15 a.m.

But I will say this, for a league that’s had The Lockout and How U and The Decision and The Compressed Season From Hell in the last 12 months, this might take the cake.

(How about this: Howard signs the waiver, the pissed off Magic trade him to Charlotte anyway, the Bobcats win a few games so they don’t get the first pick and Jordan plucks some Kwane Brown-Adam Morrison clone in the draft and Howard’s rich but miserable for another year; how cool would that be?)

Anyway, the whole thing really was amazing and shows, yet again, how much of a players league this is and shows, yet again, what kind of waffling Howard has been doing for almost a year now.

I don’t know what you can do about him wanting to leave – if he does – because he’s earned that right and this is employment, not servitude. I do think we can take some kind of solace that he’s not looking to leave some horrible team to join forces with a couple of great teammates; he wants go from Orlando, which is 26-14 now to apparently join New Jersey, which is 15-19 and while Deron Williams is good, he’s not that good and that team’s still years away.

But what the whole exercise showed – and I followed it closely bored in a hotel room – is that, again, the rush to publish causes unnecessary angst and allows far too much misinformation to get out there.

First, he called a team meeting after shootaround to say he was staying next year and then the tweets and stories said, well, maybe that’s not what he said. Then he was going to tell the Magic that he and his agent had the paper and would sign it except that, well, maybe he wouldn’t.

Then he was going to leave and now overnight he’s going to stay and perhaps the most fun I had was watching my good friends in the New Jersey media pull their hair out at each turn because his indecision made their lives miserable.

It was one of the great days in over-reactive media – and bless their hearts, they rushed to publish what they believed to be true – and a hoot to watch unfold.

-

Raptors?

In a second.

How about our Lead Up To Saturday Musical Interlude with this group – Celtic Woman – I first discovered at Christmas.

Man, these ladies can croon.

-

Right.

Now.

THREE POINTERS

Nothing’s going on

As we mentioned in the bottom of the game story, no movement expected at the trade deadline this afternoon, which is consistent with what we’ve heard all along.

Talked to a few players in the locker room before and after the game and none of them had heard from their agents that anything was percolating and none of them seem overly worried.

But if you know Bryan, and you’ve read about his deadline deal days in the past, the sneaking suspicion is he won’t be able to stop himself and at least something small will happen.

Maybe it’s Fred Jones for Juan Dixon big or Juan Dixon for Primoz Brezec big; something’s coming, I can feel it in my bones.

-

Shots will be there

Not sure how many times I saw it last night but if the Raptors keep running a play where the small forward sets a side screen for the point guard and Andrea drifts to the sideline, the other big is going to be wide open in the paint because teams are cheating a second defender to Bargnani consistently.

And that’s going to mean a lot of little 15-footers for guys like Ed Davis and Amir Johnson and once they get a big lug like Valanciunas in there, things could get good.

-

Time for toughness

It was Dwane’s big issue post-game, one we’ve heard before:

“We took three steps ahead last night in Cleveland against a team above us and we took three steps back tonight with our … physicality. Our fours and fives in the paint have to be physical, strong and that’s where Humphries went to work.”

Not sure how many times we’ve said it but these guys have to get physically stronger, or get men in there who are and that’s the biggest job ahead of them this summer.

-

I swear to whatever Supreme Being is In Charge Of All Things that in my next life I’m coming back as a hotel room designer and I am making sure there are enough wall plugs so that I don’t have to be jammed into a tiny entry hallway with the iron plugged into the wall in the bathroom.

End of rant.

-

You saw this, right? Me and my boyz Cathal and Barack and a little fun with the brackets?

Seriously, I have no real idea why I picked half the games I picked but pick ‘em I did.

And, yes, everyone could go with the chalk and it would probably all work out in the end but what’s the fun with that?

Now, I’m not entirely sure I could name you a list of Sweet 16 players let alone the teams that will advance that far but put ourselves out there is what we do.

And we’ve done it.

Now, go forward and mock.

-

The cesspool that is the Knicks – and you have no idea how bad I feel for my friend Glen Grunwald for being caught up in that, even if some of it was his own doing – is classic, isn’t it?

No one saw D’Antoni quitting coming this soon – and I still think it might be simply a matter of semantics and hush money that drove him out – but it was another great chapter in a great, gruesome story, wasn’t it?

I think you all know how I feel about the Knicks and I don’t know that Red Auerbach himself could fix it this season but to get Dwane’s take on it was quite interesting.

Of course, he didn’t talk specifics about what they do, but he did talk about coaches and the lives they lead when we chatted before the game.

“The hardest part is the speculation … (more) than the actual firing because all of us are grown men, I’ve never gone into a job being afraid of being fired.

“My thing is you do the right thing, as long as you do the right thing and coach for the right reasons, you can always sleep at night and you’ll always be employed at some level.

“It’s just the speculation and the talk and for all but one person it’s fun. But, again, and I know Mike D’Antoni coached for the right reason, he had his principles and all of us, as long as you coach for the right reasons you can sleep at night and let the chips fall where they may.”

Here’s one thing, though:

The Trail Blazers have dead quit on Nate McMillan, anything that happened in that game last night needs to be couched in those terms.

-

Okay, folks.

Off to the airport soon, land about noon Memphis time and will hit the ground running with whatever trades have happened.

But if it’s a slow day – and it could very well be – I’ll need something to do before the barbecue evening at Rendezvous so get me some mail, will you.

Click. Write. Send.

-

 

 

 

Comments

[David T (Ottawa)]

You're such a soothsayer today, Doug.

[The Supreme Being In Charge of All Things]

Sorry Doug, but my Master Plan (a) does not require you to have crisply-ironed shirts, and (b) involves bringing you back in the next life as a "7-footer with a lot of potential", so you can maximize your NBA earnings without having to try too hard.

[Heath]

Ides?

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Tough night for the HOTH, but it was fascinating to watch Gerald Green put in a Kobe performance and Hump go all Kevin Love. As a Rap, Hump was a keeper, I thought... great energy and quicks for a big.
In the IGBT, someone threw the name Ilyasova out there as an interesting free agent. Sure is. So's your suggestion, Doug, of Nash, and how about Dragic and Batum? For all the talk about the deep draft this year, the free agency pool is way deeper. It's going to be one busy, interesting summer.
Holy croondom, Doug, that Celtic Woman clip is aces. Another rendition of Danny Boy that's always floored me was this kid, who I think lost his kid magic as a crooner in later years, but sure as shinola nailed it as a 9-year-old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h03iH-Bsvj8
Cheers. Go Raps!

[BartB]

Bet the Magic wish that Dwight would just go on ESPN and tell them where he is playing, at least that would only last 30 minutes

[LakeSimcoe]

Didn't see MD quit....are you kidding, Prof. Doug?
Its player's league...and also boss league.
Now you need to worry about GG, as now everyone accused him giving up too much last year (such that NYK lost more after acquiring a supers...)

[jwss]

Definitely a players leagues as you say Doug. Melo wins his turf war in New York and I read that the mutiny in Portland is due to Nate ripping Felton and Crawford during a film session and this upset the poor boys.

[Diego]

On the Dwight Saga: what is it really a matter of "over-reactive media"? So I definitely agree with you that generally, the 24 hour news cycle (in sports and in 'real-life') is bogus and downright weird sometime. But in this case there was actually news to report: Dwight flip-flopping worse than John Kerry (that was an intentional and gratuitous use of a 24 hour news cycle catch-phrase, dated though it is). I found myself feeling a bit sad for Chris Broussard yesterday, something that doesn't happen a lot.

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

"Now, go forward and mock." I would love to start mocking your bracket, but I can't - it is eerily similar to mine! About the only differences are where we chose to pick our 'upsets!'

[jc]

Can we blame last night's game on pre-ides? Agree with you on the hotel outlets..whatever ones there are are hid behind immovable furniture. But back to sports. When will everybody realize you have to play a full season? Burke recently defended the leafs season saying they had 3 great months and 2 bad months..so really they just have to get a bit better. All the greatness that was the Linsanity 8-1 strech involved wins against Nj, Utah, Wash, Lakers (fine), Minny, Toronto, Sacramento and Dallas (and a loss to New Orleans). All the horror of the Return of Melo included a 2-8 stretch with losses to NJ (fine), Miami, Boston, San Antonio, the Bucks, Philly and Chicago. The triumphant beginning of the post D'Antoni era? A win against the dysfunctional Blazers. Forget Lin, Melo or D'Antoni....the real drama queen here is the schedule maker.

[sam]

I don't understand Dwight's thinking - He plays for a team that always has a winning record - plays for a coach that is well respected in a community that supports him, plus he makes huge money - What's not to like? Perhaps not being part of something like the Wade LBJ Bosh trifecta comes into play. I've read in a few places that he has new representation, and that may come into play as well. I'm certain if and when he moves on, at some point he'll be clicking his heels together chanting theres no place like home.

Following Dwight's Indecision - makes you appreciate a guy like Kevin Durrant.

The Raps came out flat in the second half last night in a game they should have won. Hard to understand the psche of the team who played pretty well one half and buried themselves in the 3rd quarter.

[Peter]

The statement that you made about taking solace in the fact that Dwight isn't looking to join a good team could change if he ends up in Dallas!

[jc]

Here's my two cents on Dwight and I am being generous by suggesting they are worth that much. Everything I have seen of this guy from scripted moments on tv to candid moments being a few feet away from him on the practice court (more of the former than the latter), suggest that he is a sincerely good guy. I think he would be happy to stay in Orlando but the machine that is espn, "the decision", miami, new york et al make him think that he's supposed to be reaching for the green on the other side of the fence. And there's my defence of a guy who will look like a hero by staying on a sunny beach and earning millions more than he could elsewhere (but then again, if I was being coached by SVG for so many years, I might leave too).

[Bill]

Can someone remind me why we gave Amir Johnson all that money while letting Humphreys walked? Hump played lights out since he left and Johnson is still trying to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. This has to be one of the big mistakes of BC during his tenure.

[Steve]

It is a somewhat cruel irony that the day D'Antoni resigned the Knicks shooters (particularly Novak and J.R. Smith) hit their stride again from the 3, which of course is exactly when his offensive system works its magic.

[doug]

so Barbosa is gone for a 2nd round pick....not a fan of that deal at all, Barbosa should have been signed long-term as he'd be a good piece moving forward, more cap space, hope they spend it wisely .....in the last few years all we have heard about is first LeBron, then Melo last year, then this Dwight circus, the total amount of rings all 3 have ...zero,nada,zilch...sort of sad really, guess it isn't all about winning to some people...

[David in Oakville]

Wait... What?

An old school, ink stained wretch, newspaper man ironing in his hotel room. Were you meeting the President Doug?

Hmmmm... it seems you were right about BC... but all things considered, no damage done so far.

My take on Howard, he has a desperate need to be loved. He is like the wife in the bad marriage who loves her kids, loves her house, loves the neighbourhood and neighbours, loves her in-laws and loves her life, except her husband. She no longer trusts him but does not know if she wants to be the bad guy, upset the family and kids and leave.
Deep down Dwight knows he has it almost perfect except... Otis Smith and SVG are likely not going to lead him to a ring.
You only waffle like this when you know what the right thing to do is but you don't yet have the courage to take the flak for doing it.

[Steve]

Seeing some rumours that Barbosa got traded to the Pacers for a 2nd round pick. Any chance of confirmation one way or another (I guess there will be an official announcement from Raptors HQ sooner or later if it's true)?

[Parker]

Hey doug. Barbosa only gets us a second round pick from the pacers?

[Alberto]

Leandro Barbosa has been traded to the Pacers for a 2nd Round pick. What are your thoughts Doug? I think this is an indication that they are fully committed to next year, and look forward to the draft. I will miss Leandro's speed and circus shots.Good luck and farewell.

Blogger's note: Absolutely for next year; eased $$$ burden early

[Peter Rendulich]

Marc Stein reporting Raps have sent / are sending Barbosa to Indiana. Any word Doug?

[Ren]

Leandro out - to Indiana, for a second round pick, says Yahoo.
Any truth?
Yikes. If so, they have thrown in the towel. Who the heck is gonna score now?

[avinash]

Farewell Brazilian Blur! Thanks for all you've done for us. :'(

[Dave B]

RealGM is reporting that "Raptors Trade Barbosa To Pacers For 2nd Round Pick". Any truth to this? Seems to be too little for Raptors for Barbosa?

Latest twist is that Dwight is staying. Is it possible that he Opts in, gets to finish this season in Orlando, gets his big bonus from Adidas and gets traded in the summer?

Blogger's note: Just landed; hear it's true and it's fine, no future $$ commitments and a guy they were unlikely to bring back. Summer came early

[joeu]

Bones don't lie !