Good passes, good music and, finally, a good cab ride

Man, it’s going to be nice to get back home, been a long week trip thanks to an eternity in Orlando. And being back in the regular time zone for a long time will help, too. Not the body clock but the blog clock; takes too much effort to try to hit 7 a.m. when you’re an hour or two behind.

Anyway …

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THREE POINTERS

He’s like Brazilian Magic

We’ve ragged on Leandro a few times for his unwillingness to pass an awful lot but he made one last night that was a game-breaker.

Late fourth quarter, he’s on the wing in front of the New Orleans bench and Kleiza’s in the corner.

Kleiza passes up shot to give it to Leandro and you’re sure he’s going to either hoist a three or drive the ball.

But, no.

He makes a little fake, steps in and you’re really, really sure he’s going to hoist a shot or drive the ball.

But, no.

Back the ball goes to Kleiza in the corner and with the shot clock running down, he calmly drills one of his five three-pointers and Raptors are up eight with about three minutes to go.

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Amir’s big night

The one I remember best came when the game was decided, an emphatic swat of a Grievis Vasquez shot with about 10 seconds left, Toronto up 10 and the game over.

It was the fifth of Amir Johnson’s five blocked shots in the game – ties a season high, two off his career high – and he looked as active as he has in weeks, even after going over on his ankle in the third quarter.

Sure, there were only seven points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes but there was a presence we haven’t seen often enough this season.

He banged with Kaman and chased him to the elbow and had to deal with the athleticism of the Ayon kid and generally had one of his better games.

Now, stringing together four or five of ‘em in a row would be nice but …

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A contrite DeMar

I’m sure you all read the gamer with the stuff about DeMar and the tweet and his public display of frustration after the Houston game.

Yes, he knows he was wrong, he realized when he took it down after a couple of hours but it’s the bigger picture that kind of intrigues me.

I’m not about to suggest teams have the need – or even the right – to demand players have a long cooling off period after games before they do any social media shenanigans but the inherent danger of tweeting is becoming obvious with each passing day.

And kids need to learn: What you put out there is out there; someone is going to see it as soon as you do it and no matter how quickly you hit the delete button, you cannot put that genie back in the bottle.

Yes, it’s raw emotion and that can be a wonderful thing but in a team dynamic, raw emotion is best dealt with internally.

Now, what DeMar did was hardly earth-shattering or big or significant in the big picture; he was ticked and lashed out.

And perhaps the best thing to come of this is that he, and others, might take a deep breath before the next time, when they might do something they truly regret.

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What else is up?

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May as well go three-for-three on my sudden fascination with Mary Chapin Carpenter but this one, as an Alert Irregular pointed out, includes the legendary Beausoleil of New Orleans and you gotta love the Cajun sound, right?

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This is a day late but I didn’t have a chance to chat with you after I got here yesterday. If you do nothing else today other than spend time here and read the game story, you have to read this Grantland piece by Jonathan Abrams about the NBA brawl in Detroit. Please.

Funny. I had dinner with Jonathan on Sunday in Orlando and when we were discussing his new gig – he used to be with the New York Times – he failed to mention that he had the best piece of long-form sports journalism you’ve read in years coming out in a couple of days.

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Tales From The Cab Rides

(And haven’t had too many good ones, lately)

Gentleman wonders where his fare is from and when he finds out, it clicks that the Raptors are in town and the guy’s a big basketball/sports fan.

You want to know what one local thinks of Chris Paul?

“He’s no Drew Brees. Drew Brees is a leader. Drew Brees is a guy who can carry a team to a championship. Brees saved the Saints. You always thought Paul was going to leave.”

Think they have long memories here? This guy was a fan of the old New Orleans Jazz.

“Won’t ever go to Utah. It’s sacrilegious. There’s only one city in the world that should have that name.”

Yeah, dude saw the New Orleans Jazz play. That has to be cool.

“I had an ex-girlfriend – don’t see her no more, wonder whatever became of her – who worked for an ad agency that did the Jazz stuff so we used to get tickets all the time, go to the parties. Pistol Pete Maravich? Could watch him all day. Imagine him today with the three-pointer? You couldn’t stop him.”

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You know what two weeks today is, don’t you?

NBA Trade Deadline Day.

Clear your calendars.

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What did the newspaper readers in NOLA find out about that game? This.

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A digression.

And a Monkees story.

Way back in a former life, I used to do some work for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum when it first opened at Ontario Place.

Well, one of the perks of the job – and it certainly wasn’t the wages – was working there in the summer; it was nice to be around crowds making Canada’s great baseball history known and it was nice to be around the shows at the old Forum.

I’m going to tell you this: I don’t remember what year it was exactly, I want to say 1985, maybe ’86, but the single biggest and most raucous crowd I saw for an Ontario Place show was the one for the Monkees. The boats were lined up, the people were lined up and I recall it was a zoo.

RIP Davy, I’m sure there are Women Of A Certain Vintage who remember you more fondly than, say, I do.

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Daily mail plea. Thank you very much.

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Comments

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

I wonder if you would comment about the concerns of the 'political correctness' of some of the things surrounding Jeremy Lin, and if the playing of "Ole, ole, ole" when a player of Mexican background doesn't border on the same edge of being politically incorrect. Where does one draw the line?

Thanks!

Blogger's note: I will; an interesting point

[Rob. V]

Casey's a wise man.
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I dont think any of us were worried about a Calderon sitting through the 4th quarter in Houston however one would wonder where Derozan's head would be at.
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What does Casey do after sitting him the previous night (and the conversation)?... plays the kid 40+ minutes!. Smart!!!.
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Bench looked great. Does anyone have stats on where the Raptors bench stands with repsect to points vs. the rest of the league?.

[Mike D.]

Kudos to Casey for defusing the DeMar tweet issue by distilling it back to its root cause and making it into something of a positive. I am more and more impressed with our head coach.

[joeu]

Hi Doug, I read the Jonathan Abrams piece while following the IGBT last night. I really liked the way that he stuck to individual narratives, and still managed to tell a big picture story, but from a completely human perspective.

[Nick M]

Doug,

Thanks for the link to a great piece on the 'Malice'. Not sure if you can post this but here is a link to a video if irregulars, like myself, need a refresher or a video compliment: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-169695640295285298#

[grits]

What about the TeenageHead riot at Ontario Place, you weren't there for that?

Always thought the trivia about David Bowie changing his name from Jones so he wouldn't be confused with the Monkees singer was interesting. Then of course there was that classic episode of the Brady Bunch where Marcia gets Davy Jones for the prom, or something like that.

[doug]

good game last night, just as players have good games and bad games so to do coaches, Casey and his combos last night were dead on, the previous game I thought he rolled the dice with AC and lost....Kleiza and Barbosa are so valuable to this team moving forward and they need to be part of the long term plan, they are solid vets who not only provide scoring but also gives Casey options and security when we start slow (as is our way it seems lately) he knows he has some quality guys to turn to....DD works better with Bayless, Kleiza and Barbo, they have a chemistry.....so March 1st means no signing now of Chandler and also teams can now trade players they signed in the off-season., some movement will start occurring, instead of rumours maybe some action...cheers...

[Moshigh]

Nice to see the Raptors win last night. I must say majority of the nights this team just tries hard and does as much as they can with there talent. Casey hands down a solid coach for this franchise. I know Doug Triano is your friend or aquaintance, but he was just full of excuses.

[Peter]

Hi Doug,

I think DeMar regrets his tweet after the Houston game, but on a positive note, I saw two thigns Demar did late in the game that made me think he's a player with a good head on his shoulders:

There was a play late in the game where New Orleans sent a swing pass to Belinelli in the corner and DeMar had his hands up in the passing lane and deflected the pass and probably saved a three pointer. Small thing, but playing the game the right way.

Also, late in the game, tv cameras are showing the raps in a huddle during a timeout and Jose is talking to DeMar, obviously giving him some pointers and direction, and DeMar is nodding and at the end clearly says, "ok, yeah." I know it's a small thing, and probably speaks to Jose's leadership as well, but the night after he supposedly lost his cool, DeMar is in the game taking advice from a more veteran player with no attitude about it. He just knows Jose (and the coches) can help him get better.

So yeah, should he have tweeted what he did after the Houston game, no. But did he come back the next night and play pretty well, and not let it become a habit to be sour, yes. Seems like he's got his head in the right place, and that counts for a lot.

[JHK]

I don't want to be a punk but people should realize winning at this point doesn't help the chance of landing Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond or Harrison Barnes at all... we need a homerun on this one to be a competitive team for YEARS AHEAD.

Blogger's note: Do me a favour? Find out what position in the final standings in the last 20 years ended up winning the lottery. And then try to handicap where you would like them to finish and how they should get there. Okay? Thanks

[m]

"I wonder if you would comment about the concerns of the 'political correctness' of some of the things surrounding Jeremy Lin, and if the playing of "Ole, ole, ole" when a player of Mexican background doesn't border on the same edge of being politically incorrect. Where does one draw the line?"
I would think that the difference is fairly obvious. The word used in the notorious headline is a word that has always been used in a pejorative sense. There is a word like that for people of Spanish descent too. Since Jose is Spanish, Ole is only cheering him in his native tongue, how can that be offensive? Jeremy Lin is an American so I'm not sure how many generations he has been an American so he may not even speak Chinese so "Huanhu" may mean nothing to him anyhow. Either way, cheering them on in a language foreign to you is not pejorative, so why would it be offensive?

[Binder]

Raps may be losing on the court but oh my how they are covering. On a roll.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Thanks, Doug. That was one hell of a read. It truly is a minor miracle that no one was killed or seriously maimed that night. I come away from reading that and it seems equally unreal and familiar, if you've ever found yourself in any sort of a similar situation (I was in a bar once when a full-bore brawl broke loose; a cop ended up being thrown through a plate glass window, out onto the street... and I sat there like The Invisible Man while all this s**t swirled around me, sipping my beer, waiting for things to tone down a tad, like it was just another Friday night in the old hometown... which it was, actually). And sad. Just plain sad.
Stirs up a lot of stuff... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScsRJJ6Zssg
Cheers. Go Raps!

[LeeZ]

What? No one has asked you yet your thoughts about the Celts shopping Rondo? Gosh. Well then, let me be the first: think there'd be a fit on the Raptors? Factors: Rondo's supposed bad attitude. How he would adapt to being a leader (if not THE leader) on this team, after playing fourth fiddle being three HOF'ers. A wrist injury that people are whispering might be chronic. A horrible jumper, and the fact he'd be surrounded by a team that is not blessed with good shooters. And so on. So. Think there's a fit?

Blogger's note: While your case is compelling; I'm thinking not.

[Phil A]

Wow that was a fantastic article that you posted.

[Lorie]

Hello Doug,
Thank you for the Davy Jones mention. I'm one of those Women Of A Certain Vintage for whom The Monkees were - for a time - Everything. Now, musically they weren't The Beatles, (Now here's a little-known fact, Davy had the misfortune of appearing as part of the cast of Oliver! on the same episode of Ed Sullivan in 1964 where The Beatles made their debut.) but they had that enormously entertaining weekly TV show where we could watch them perform their songs (not a common occurrence in the days before MTV) and we sang and danced along and imagined we were Marcia Brady and Davy Jones was our prom date, too. Yes, Davy - for millions of us young girls, you truly were The One.
http://youtu.be/_nLPO-Dhe7s

[james]

I find myself agreeing with poster Doug (as I often do) about Kleiza and Barbosa. I hope they manage to hang on to both these talented, versatile players. They are excellent complements to their younger teammates.

[Mike]

Almost as good as Abrams piece was George Dohrmann s take on the downfall of UCLA basketball, up on SI.com. It's been a good few days for basketball writing.