Same mistakes are a troubling sign

Seriously, I’m getting this whole Groundhog Day thing going on here without Andie McDowell and it’s really starting to tick me off.

And, as we know by now …

Anyway.

(Gottta love the chance to put in a picture of Andie McDowell regardless)

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THREE POINTERS

Some prolific scoring

Not sure if you’ve noticed but young DeMar’s been on a bit of a scoring roll, including his 23-point night against the Magic.

That’s now 20 or more nine of his last 14 games and what I’m more impressed with is the way he’s scoring. He’s not entirely settling for jump shots – he still shies away from contact a bit more than I’d like – but for the most part he’s been quite aggressive.

Of course, blowing the late layup last night leaves a bit of a question about his finishing capabilities but that’s another story for another day.

The big thing, however, is how he’s going to react when Andrea comes back (and before you ask, it’s looking increasingly like that’s going to be Saturday). Will he still drive the ball? Will he still assert himself? Will he defer?

As we’ve seen, these guys are not good enough to win regularly with just him going well and dare I say they’re not good enough to win regularly with just Bargnani going well.

How they interact is going to be a very important thing to watch and you can be sure that Bryan’s going to keeping a very close eye on how his two best offensive players get along on the court for an extended period of time.

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A couple of tough nights

Linas Kleiza’s got a lot of gamer in him, he’s a tough kid who can play through pain and discomfort, as we saw for a large chunk of last season.

And we might have seen it the last couple of nights, too.

Even Dwane noted after the game that something seemed “off” with Linas, who was 1-for-6 with one rebound against Orlando after being 2-for-9 with three boards against Houston.

We’ve seen how valuable he can be when he’s fully healthy, a tough-minded smart player who can be a stretch four or a big three depending on the matchup.

No one’s saying he’s hurt and Casey said after the game it might be fatigue and they need to watch his minutes but there just seemed to be something “off” with him the last two nights.

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Same old, same old

We all know the problems this team has with making big – or even small – plays at crucial times (it’s mentioned somewhere in the game story) but it’s not only that.

It’s the egregious nature of the momentum-killing turnovers that have to be driving Dwane Casey batty.

It’s Jerryd Bayless throwing a cross-court pass into the seats; it’s James Johnson trying some wraparound pass that ends up in a photographer’s lap; it’s DeMar hoisting a three-pointer when it’s time to drive the ball.

Those are, frankly, stupid plays, not the kind of physical miscue most coaches can live with and until the collective Basketball IQ goes up, there are going to be far more nights like last night.

When Dwane or anyone talks about “winning plays” it’s as much about the mental aspect of the game as the physical and these guys, collectively, don’t have that nearly down pat enough.

Can they get it?

You can only hope so but 37 games into the season, they’ve shown no proclivity for doing it on a regular basis. And that’s the scary part.

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A wee bit more?

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Hmm.

A cyborg, eh?

Well, guess the secret’s out, keep me oiled up and I’m all set to go.

Thanks, Cathal.

Oh, and since now we might have to split some of the more wacky things going on in the world, I get all things Grace Kelly, okay?

And when it comes to busting on the pucks, that’s mine, too.

Carry on.

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Hey, look!

Another photo album, this one from Mr. Madonik, who was the shutterbug on duty last night.

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Get used to hearing the name Andrew Nicholson; he might be the next Canadian kid picked in the first round of the NBA draft.

The Mississauga native just finished a stellar year at St. Bonaventure by being named the Atlantic 10 player of the year – this after being named conference player of the week for a month – and last scout I talked to thought the 6-9 forward, who might have to survive as an under-sized four in the NBA, could be a strong workout season from creeping into the bottom of the first round.

More people I’ve talked to think he’s a second-rounder, and some wonder if he’ll get picked at all, but there’s no question he’s had a great year.

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Well, this is a birthday worth celebrating.

Oreos are 100.

I’d have to put them right at the top of the list of cookies, at least of the store-bought kind, just edging out chocolate chip ones for first with digestives coming a distant third.

Agree?

But Grandma’s white icing cookies – a basic cookie with a white sugar-based icing – will never, ever be duplicated.

Man, I miss those.

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My man B. Schmitz was in town and he chronicled that one like this.

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So they are getting down to the conference tournament time in the NCAA – a couple of automatic bids have already been handed out – and the troubling note arrived from one of the Tall Foreheads last week.

It asked whether Mr. Kelly and I would like to do a couple of brackets for all to see – and I’m sure mock – and, like a fool, I agreed.

Better actually watch some college ball this weekend, I guess.

Have to take Carleton, right?

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Comments

[drew]

The fans should of gotten a few loonies to throw at the referees when they left the game so they could of pocketed more money! Man that was horrible. Before the beginning of the game on TV all I saw was Magic players having deep conversations with Bevetta. Whats this all about? Is there a thing where they need to kiss a bit of Butt and blow smoke up it so he calls in their favour? Does the guy have that much pull? Personaly I don`t like the way the guy works and favours some players. Blatnant disrespect for the game.

Blogger's note: He had as many "deep" conversations with Raptors and reporters. Nothing to see here, move along

[kent]

@doug. Great insight on the NCAA. "Big East teams are overrated as last year proved." Yeah, UConn only won that little thing called, um, the championship and they are from that stupid little conference called, um, the BIG EAST. Do you feel like they have achieved only success at success, but not yet success at success at success?

[doug]

@kent...I am talking bracketology, the Big East were brackets killers last year, big time bracket killers (and not in a good way), they had 11 teams advance to the tourney ,only 2 made it to the sweet 16 and one past that.....so for a major conference that is suppose to be a b-ball powerhouse they had a absymal tourney overall....here's some further facts for you and your welcome for my insight, this phrase comes to mind "before you go shooting off your mouth make sure it is loaded"

The Big East had one #1 seed; one #2 seed; two #3 seeds; one #4 seed; one #5 seed; three #6 seeds; one #9 seed and one #11 seed.

they were as I said the bracket busting league last year and not in a good way....cheers unreal at times...

[doug]

@kent here is a article from last years tourney on the Big East and their epic fail as a CONFERENCE and as bracket killers... and this year will be no different, I stand by what I said their a over-rated conference...and again will be bracket busters

http://soxanddawgs.com/ncaa/men-s-basketball/big-east-big-dog-in-2011-ncaa-tourney.html

[doug]

I meant to link two stories just so kent could get educated, the first which I did was how everyone was expecting the Big East to dominate last year...the second which follows is the reality....cheers

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/sports/ncaabasketball/21bigeast.html

[john]

@doug, I laughed at your comment about the Big East as well.
You previous post did not contain the word "bracket" or "busting" in context or out of context with your comment on the Big East being over rated.
Now that you put your words into context they all of sudden have some meaning.

To prevent being laughed at in future, perhaps the old adage ‘say what you mean, don’t mean what you say’ carries some weight?

[doug]

@john whatever context you want to put it in is fine with me...all I said was the Big East is over-rated...you want another link??...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/641106-ncaa-tournament-2011-the-big-east-chokes-in-the-tournament-again

[john]

@doug, while your passing out links...

http://www.say-it-in-english.com/Lessons.html