Bad uniforms, bad decisions and a couple of big losses

A series of unrelated notes and things because I pretty much coasted for a bit of yesterday and nothing sticks in my mind, or my craw, this morning.

Well, a few things do …

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I remember talking with The First Lady Of The Beat, who also dabbles in the soccer and the track and a handful of other sports, and she’s telling me about some fancy-schmancy sports-fashion thing she was at to unveil the new Canadian soccer strips.

Was a good time, apparently, and she’s kind of impressed if I recall so before the NBA game, I decide to check out the Canada-US friendly, not in hopes of seeing a goal (far too much to ask) but so I can see what the lads look like.

Funnily enough, the guide says the games on Sportsnet but something must be wrong because I recognize the Yanks but who’s that team in blue?

Can’t be Canada, right?

Canada is red. Or Canada is white. Or Canada is some combination of red and white.

Right?

Wrong.

Blue.

Blue!!!

Look, I don’t really care all that much about colours of uniforms or styles of uniforms (I kind of miss the old baseball flannels but realize time marches on) but there’s one thing about which I’d dead certain.

A Canadian team, in any sport in any competition in any venue at any time, needs to be decked out at least partially in red. And don’t give me the little red flag on the shoulder of the jerseys, it doesn’t count.

Red is how we are, it’s what we are.

I don’t know if Sunday was a one-night abomination but I sure hope so. (It was, thankfully; whew!) Because not since I was up in Ottawa eons ago and the women’s hockey team showed up in hoary clichéd pink did a national team uniform miss by so much.

End of rant.

Good game, though. The lads may not have scored but they didn’t give one up, either. Imagine that, a 0-0 soccer draw.

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So a couple of best-of-threes in the NBA?

I’m okay with that.

If you stayed up to watch the end of the Heat-Celtics, I hope you were like me and totally put off with the way Miami handled the last two possessions of the overtime, where they had four guys stand around while Dwyane Wade tried to figure out a way to get a shot off.

At no point in either of them did it look like he even considered the other four Miami players on the court, he was going to get a shot come hell or high water and it ended up that a 29 per cent three-point shooter took some twisting, off-balance three-pointer to win and it was entirely fitting that it didn’t go in.

Look, I love a team with a guy on it who can break down his man and make a play and win a game. But sometimes breaking down a man and making a play means precisely that – making a play for your team and not for yourself.

Hero ball, as it’s called in some circles, is all fun and games and it makes for nice highlights with a game-winner but, in many instances, it’s just stupid.

Sometimes – often times – you need a screen, you need to have someone set a screen for someone else, you need to look at all your options and then make a play that gives your team the best chance to win or tie.

Wade did none of that and his coach, Erik Spoelstra, completely abdicated all responsibility by simply saying: “Throw the ball to Dwyane, he’ll do something.”

Yes, stars win games and you want stars with the ball in their hand in those situations; but you also want stars to do what’s right for their team and that’s making the right play.

Wade didn’t. He coach showed no imagination in that final possession.

Looks good on them.

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The West Wing remains one of the greatest television shows ever made and Mrs. Landingham was a very cool.

RIP.

Other dramas that I wish were still around on some way up there channel of constant repeats?

Lou Grant.

Had a crush on Billie; knew a handful of photogs like Animal; who didn’t love Lou. Classic.

White Shadow.

Sure, lots of cliché characters but Salami made me laugh every now and then; can you make the case it was Friday Nights Lights Lite?

Six Feet Under

Totally under-rated; a story about a funeral home run by a weird family? They don’t make ‘em like that any more. Sadly.

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So I’m sitting at Mickey Mantle’s the other night (the OKC restaurant, not his house) and there’s two guys a couple of stools down.

They look up to see Hubie Brown and Kevin Calabro walk into the other part of the restaurant and the dudes are like two starstruck kids.

One says:

“He knows more about basketball than anyone alive.”

Close.

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Big-ish week for the HOTH coming up for all those who need to know the minutia.

The NBA’s pre-draft camp starts Wednesday in Chicago, top 60 prospects get weighed, measured, psychologically probed in private meetings with teams and do some drills.

Nothing gets decided, that’s for sure, but lists are certainly narrowed.

And that’s all I’ve got to sate your appetite for all things Raptors.

Sorry.

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Now, when we’re going down the list of old time sitcoms, you know Hogan’s Heroes was near, or at, the top of that list, don’t you?

And Newkirk, while now Klink or Hostetler or even Hogan or Schultz, as pretty good.

RIP.

Tough weekend, no?

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Now, I know I picked San Antonio in seven games in what I still hope turns into an epic Western Conference final and that remains a distinct possibility.

But after seeing two games in person – and it was like watching basketball on amphetamines considering what the Eastern Conference has to offer – I’m wondering about the wisdom of that selection.

I wonder if, as the series goes on, that the Spurs lack of athleticism and relative age doesn’t get to them. The Thunder can run through you and over you and passed you if you let them and the longer this thing goes, I now think the better their chances are.

One things is for certain: It is truly delightful basketball to watch most of the time; hope I can stay up late again after a long, busy day to watch it.

(And, no, not IGBT, there’s a bit of a reception I have to go to this afternoon and who knows what it’ll turn into.)

And having seen first Thabo Sefolosha come out of nowhere and help win a game and then seeing Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins go out of their minds offensively and win a game, I’m kind of excited to see which role player rises to the occasion tonight.

Matt Bonner, perhaps? I’d like to think so but the Thunder are just too long and too quick to give him the room he needs to operate so we can take him off the list, I’m afraid.

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Comments

[Brian]

Hey Doug, love the blog and agree that hero ball is a scourge on our great sport. But I don't think Spoelstra is to blame here; it's got to be on Wade. Chalmers (their best three-point shooter) ended up getting open behind the arc off some cool downscreen action from Haslem and Battier, a clearly designed action. But Wade wasn't even in his zip code and it looks like he blew it up to take the last shot.

Bad play, bad result and another ugly mark on the game courtesy hero ball. But I'd blame the hero, not the coach.

[John]

It was a celebration of 100 years of (sucking at) soccer last night - I'm pretty sure the jerseys were throw backs are for this week only - along with a chance for the CSA to sell a few more shirts.
The boys, and the girls, are still red at home, white on the road.

GO CANADA! Let's end 28 years of futility and show up for the big dance!

Oh, and Matt Bonner hitting a couple of crucial three's at some point down the stretch would probably make this year's playoffs go down as the best since the HOTH were involved!

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

How about a poll of which of the final four teams left in the NBA playoffs people would like to see - whether possible or not - play for the title. I would bet the winners would be - hands down - OKC and the Spurs. I think the dislike (or stronger) for both Boston and the Heat would make them distance third and fourth place teams.

[JHK]

Those blue soccer jerseys are surely hard to look at but I still think Raps current red (not to mention the camo) are not that pretty to look at either.
Need. Purple. Back.

[Steve]

As mentioned above Doug, the CSA is celebrating 100 years, so the blue jerseys were meant to mimic what they wore during their first ever game back in 1912. Its a one time thing to celebrate their centennial game. Keep an eye for what they wear on Friday during their World Cup Qualifying game against Cuba in Havana at 2pm. Then you'll see we're back to normal.

Blogger's note: Whew! Thanks

[Ray]

Red was never Canada's colour until the Liberal government managed the flag debate in the 60's. It was a political decision to attempt to brand Canada in their colours and I see no reason for it to stand.

Blogger's note: Because the 60s were half a century ago; it's tradition and even the Red Ensign had, well, red.

[David in Oakville]

Isn't Miami all about Hero Ball? That is their thing.. 2.5 heroes and a bunch of others guys to set screens & gather rebounds. It seems Doug, that you are criticizing a leopard for choosing not to change it's spots. No question that you are right, but in the end, Miami played the way they were built to play (with two of their spots sitting on the sideline).

It's not really fair to say the other 4 guys were standing around, Battier did set a good screen that allowed Wade to break coverage from Rondo to Daniels. What I was wondering is why Wade didn't try to drive the basket after the mismatch with Daniels happened. Why try for a three? It would have been interesting to see what might have transpired if Rondo had abandoned Battier to double Wade.

[prizby]

Doug, pretty ignorant to blog about the Canadian jersey without doing any research about why

All it would have taken was to go on the Canadian Soccer website, read one of the recaps of the game where you would have seen in the last sentence it reads:

"To celebrate the Association's 100th anniversary, Canada wore a special Umbro blue kit (with a red maple leaf) reminiscent of the Canadian blue kit worn in 1925 for the first home Men's International Friendly against USA."

Look up what the Canadian flag looked like in 1925 - (or pre-1965), and I'm sure you will see/remember their being blue in the flag.

Interesting you don't criticize USA for their 'Where is Waldo' look; thats how they played last night; confused and lost.

Blogger's note; Gotcha; the "ignorant" is truly classy. Bye

[Kent]

The final play was a wade/battier pick n' roll, not a 1-4 clear out. It didn't work. So what? The second last possession ended up with a wide open corner 3 for Battier. So I don't know what you are talking about. Look, if you are harsh on everybody, that's fine. But you are only harsh on players and coaches you don't like/ dont have to cover everyday and you make excuses for your raptor buddies. And that's what makes you a fake. Jay Triano never got anybody to even think defense for 2 years and he never got a paragraph like you gave Spoelstra today. Yeah, I know, yawn, go somewhere else, etc.

Blogger's note: And yet you don't.

[Lorie]

Hello Doug!
I'm lucky enough to have grown up in The Golden Age of the Afternoon TV Game Show. Whenever I skipped - or rather, school was dismissed really, really early - I'd catch up on the hijinks. Lots of good ones, but my absolute favourite was The Match Game! Oh, to be on that stage trading witty quips and naughty innuendo with Gene Rayburn, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson, Bert Convy. Wonderful fun! And, did anyone else (of my vintage) notice in the film "The Hunger Games" that Stanley Tucci's inspired portrayal of Caesar Flickman was in large part an hommage to the marvellous Richard Dawson and his spot-on performance in "The Running Man"?
http://youtu.be/xStvfbIddM0
(Love the final lines: Arnold to Richard: "I'll be back." to which Richard coolly replies: "Only in a rerun.")

[KBall]

whoa lots of anger in the comments today about some pretty trivial stuff ... must be a monday thing. But no sense of criticism can deter the good feeling buzz you provided with the sweet childhood memories of watching White Shadow after school ... dang that was a good show. Now I'm wasting good work time cruising youtube for episodes.

[jb]

"At no point in either of them did it look like he even considered the other four Miami players on the court"

Doug, the last play was designed for Mario Chalmers(a 43% 3-pt shooter) who came off a screen and was wide open for a corner 3. Look at the video of the last play again. Wade decided to ignore the play call b/c he wanted to play hero after having a terrible game again. There's nothing Spo can do about that when your egomaniac player decides to break off the play for hero ball. Spo knows Wade is only a 27% 3pt shooter. But of the coach will get the blame for that. Funny thing is...if Lebron was still in the game, he would have made the pass to Chalmers and gotten criticized for not taking the last shot even though it was the right play.

[AT]

Doug, just curious if you post all comments that people write here or do you toss some in the garbage? If someone to come into MY "house" and call me IGNORANT, I would toss 'em out the door!! I get it you don't cover soccer and the statement about the uniforms was just a thought/opinion, perfectly suited for a blog type setting which this is, and most of the regulars that come here also "get it"... but obviously not all people get it.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

I could maybe see Kawhi Leonard as a candidate for a role player having a big impact game like Sefolosha's had — Leonard is one fantastic first-year player (he's no longer a rook) — but I can't see anyone having the incredible kind of out-of-body, in-the-zone-the-entire-game experience Ibaka had. That was sheer magic, and I'll bet he's been too juiced to sleep for the past couple of days...
Matt Bonner's playoffs have been far from good, and his numbers are going south as the playoffs progress... it's a good thing it's not a contract year for him.
Care to put a little meat on that "bit of a reception" bone you threw out there?
Cheers. Go BCo!

Blogger's note: National women's basketball team send-off; they're going to Europe.

[Rob.V]

Here's the thing with Wade's shot. If he were more like LBJ and made a play for someone else then the entire Basketball community (world?) would be criticizing for not taking the shot. Headlines: He's not a winner, he doesn't want the ball at the end of games, or he doesn't have the killer mentality.
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If you make the "right" play, you get killed in the press for 2 straight seasons (like LBJ). If you take the shot, you get killed for it not going in... sounds like a lose lose no matter what you do (when you play for the Heat).
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Look, that ended up being a wide open 3 by the best player on your team to win it at the buzzer. What more could you ask for?. I'm not sure you could ask for better shot than that.
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Is it just me or does it feel like the winner of tonight's game in San Antonio will eventually be crowned this years champion?.
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I'm going to say this again if you're reading here BC. We really, really need to consider KG at $10 million for the next 3 years this off season. KG + either Lowry or Dragic (for the MLE) + JV + draft 8th pick or something of a net in a trade of this draft pick will catipult us to the top of the Atlantic division next season.
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KG is "not" the next JO. He was a freak of nature when he came into the league and he's still a freak of nature at 36. What he does night in night out is not just on par with the likes of what Nash has done (at this age) I would argue KG's been more impactuful given the physical nature of play he has to endure each night.
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This guy would be a huge, HUGE pick up for the Raptors alongside Bargnani and JV. 3 years at $30-$35 at least puts us in the conversation (although Boston would be silly to let him go).
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So a couple of years ago I picked up the complete box set of the West Wing (based on reputation of the show- and someone told me that it was produced or written by the same dude that created The American President - a Movie with Michael Douglas years back which I really liked). Anyway today's scene was the very first I have ever watched of that show and I already like Mrs. Landingham. Looks like I'm gonna have to finally get to that show this summer during some down time. Thanks for the preview.

[jb]

Rob V

...and what will picking up KG in the off season do except take away Val's playing time. We might make it to the playoffs and lose in 4 games to either the Heat, Pacers or Bulls.

So what then, we get a mediocre draft pick and continue to get into the playoffs and exit the first round until he retires in 2 yrs.

When he retires, the raps will most likely not make the playoffs and get a mediocre draft pick and continue the cycle.

KG will not make Barny tougher, instead he'll just bark at Calderon b/c he can get away with it.

Also, he's never coming to the Raps unless you over pay him by an obscene amount which will bring you to the cap limit.

I rather get young talent that has potential than over pay old dudes on their last run.

Also, there is no way the raps can compete for a championship in the next 5 to 8 yrs(b/c miami - 5 yr window and Thunder - 8 yr window). We just can't get that kind talent to compete except in the draft (with some luck).

Blogger's note: Those are some gargantuan bay windows you've got there

[Raptors fan]

The definition of ignorant:
1. Lacking education or knowledge
2. Showing or arising from lack of education or knowledge
3. Unaware or uninformed.

So actually (reader AT) reader: prizeby was right – opinion is fine and Doug gave that, but at the same time Doug was uneducated and or uniformed of the facts. As an Canadian I did not know that, know I do and glad that “prizeby” informed us. I see that he is an educated reader both with the information and the use of the word “ignorant”. The fact is Doug didn’t not due his due diligence and educate himself before he spoke leaving his readers uninformed. So I guess if someone is in your house and your talking ignorantly out you’re a$$ and they call you on it – sure you can kick them out. Still leaves you ignorant!!!!
So you take the “education” road and back off your ego and learn something – something valuable OR you know-it-all and act like a phsyco to massage your ego.
as a reader can I ask you...do always send your readers away?

[Rob.V]

Massive!! windows indeed.
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I'll say this. The NBA is unlike most other Sports, you can turn things around rather quickly. See: Clippers.
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In fact Boston is a prime example of this (and why teams like Miami followed suit). Danny Ainge went out and brought in KG and Allen and they "immediately" won the championship. I'm not suggesting that this happens in T.O however adding someone like Garnett could shape the franchise for years to come. We've been the Clippers (East). This is a big off season and a great opportunity to set us on the right path, theres no time to be bashful about where we are going.
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For arguement sake. Lets say they pick up KG, and traded for a All Star (like) wing player. Add Bargnani, Derozan, JV, Bayless. Do they win 50 games in the East? I think so.
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Young talent? We have enough young talent... and what have the Raptors done with it? Exactly, squat!
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We need winners!!!
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In my opinion Basketball players and Basketball programs are like young newly planted trees. If you put the stakes in beside them they grow straight. If you don't...they grow sideways. The Raptors have been sideways for oh about 13 seasons now. We need some solid stakes to turn this franchise in the right direction. Dwayne casey was certainly a good start however more stakes are needed. Enter KG.
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KG can play the 4 or 5 so when Bargnani's out he plays with JV (or vice versa). In coach Casey's system he would be a perfect compliment to AB, perfect!!!
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Is he as good as Chandler? I'd argue he's better. More of an offensive game so he spreads the floor. Much better passer who facilitates the offence. At the very least he's every bit as good as Tyson Chandler. What, $10 - $13 million?, on a short 3 year deal.. sounds like a discount to me when comparing him to this years defensive player of the year.
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You may not like him however you'd be hard pressed to find a better defensive (team) player than KG. He'd instantly be the best big man this team has ever had in my opinion.
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Yes, he's an old relic!. But other than this, we'll have to disagree.

[jb]

"Blogger's note: Those are some gargantuan bay windows you've got there"

Yeah I know.

Doug, in your opinion, do you think the Raptors will be able to assemble enough talent in the next 5 or 8 years to compete with the likes of the Heat and Thunder(assuming both keep their core and injuries don't come into play) for a championship?

Blogger's note: Heat, yes.Thunder, who knows.

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Has school let out up there yet? The Lunatic Fringe --aaahh there's a song from the past! A little Red Rider...Tom Cochrane before Life was all a Highway--usually starts rearing it's ugly head right around the time the school lets out, or at least it's felt like that here in years past. Civility goes right out the window for a couple of months...and we all hope for Labour Day to hurry it's ass up...

Take deep breaths mi amigo, and enjoy what summer you have with Superwife, Superson, and Superdog when you can. It'll be over before you know it!

Ciao amigo,

marc in panama

[chili]

"The West Wing remains one of the greatest television shows ever made and Mrs. Landingham was a very cool.".
A very cool what?

[J]

Friendly comment @jb:

Funny thing about sports is nothing can be predicted beyond the next two seasons, if even. Boston was looking pretty mediocre for 14 years before the blockbuster deals turned them completely around. Bet nobody could have predicted that even the year before. Two years ago, Raptors fans were lamenting Milwaukee's rise in the East and acting very envious of GMs like Hammond and Otis Smith. The very next season the Bucks regressed back into the lottery and I haven't heard Hammond's name in connection with smart team-building since. And Otis... he's receiving blame for Orlando's current plight. Anything can happen in a season or two. Injuries. BFFs falling apart. The inability to pay everyone. We should worry only about building our team.

[Steve B]

The blue soccer jersey's were a re-creation of the blue kit worn by Canada at their first international match in 1925. Keep in mind this is 40 years before we adopted the red and white Maple Leaf flag. But that would have entailed a Google search and eight seconds of research. Rather beyond Doug's capabilities.

[TLI]

@"Raptors fan": We had two posts bringing us up to speed on the soccer uni-s. One of them was "ignorant" -- not in the sense of your definition, but in the sense of the rude or crass tone conveyed by the context.

The other was welcome contribution.

[Scunny]

Blue is HARPERLAND's colour, eh?