The start of the weekend mail

Well, this is a pretty good start with a fair amount of London and other stuff hanging around for tomorrow before I finally get ready to get on the plane Monday night.

If you want to get in on the fun, give it a shot here.

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Q: With Acy signed the Raps now have 3 rookies coming in next year in Val, Ross and Acey. What are some of the challenges the rookie situation might create for the team? How do you expect the rookie learning curve to affect team production? Do you think NBA life will be easier for the rookies because there are three of them going through the same thing?

Thanks!

Jeff M, Saint John

A: The biggest challenge I’ve seen, aside from having to compete against men every night in games and a depth of talent they are totally unfamiliar with, is the adjustment to the lifestyle.

Unlike college, where there might or might not be classes and study halls to attend, NBA rookies need a lot of self-discipline to do things like handle downtime responsibly, eat well, get some rest and act like professionals. Teams help – they have nutritionists that can be consulted, for instance – but it’s a big leap from student to employee and some kids find it hard to handle at first.

That said, I don’t think having three will be either a detriment nor a bonus to the Raptors next season.

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Q: As a person who travels pretty frequently at work I really enjoy your little travel tidbits throughout the season. Whenever I'm away from work I find myself staying up later, eating a lot more and having a few more drinks than normal. How is it even remotely possible to stay healthy when you're travelling so much as you bounce from city to city (and country to country at times)? Please share lots of little London stories. Cathal's daily Euro minute was extremely interesting reading. Looking forward to yours.

Jeff M, Chatham

A: I can feel your pain, I think if you averaged my travel over the last five or six years, you’d probably be close to 125 days in a calendar year and that’s a bit.

Now, I’d love to say it’s impossible to stay totally healthy but that’s probably not true because a number of my colleagues can. But I don’t have the level of self-discipline needed to eat right, sleep well and get exercise on a consistent basis. Did go through one stretch where I dumped post-game chicken wings; it lasted about half a season.

And I’ll get you as many London stories in the usual morning fare as I possibly can; might not be as well-told as Cathal’s but they’ll be mine.

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Q: Hi Doug. I think I know your answer. Would you rather trod the damp links of a British Open or be stuck in a gym riveted to summer league in Las Vegas?

Would the newspaper provide you with proper rain gear for the golf, or do you have to provide your own?

For all those wet golfers...Dee Clark...Raindrops?

Bob E, Kanata

A: I’d rather live in a wet bunker and let guys land balls on my head at the Open than be stuck in a Vegas gym in July. But that’s just me.

And we’re on our own for stuff like rain suits and the like, no clothing allowances for anything built into our deals.

Dee Clark? This Dee Clark?

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Q: Greetings, Mr. Smith. Just wondering if you could consult Mr. Webster and Mr. Colangelo and explain to us a little better just what the heck "organic growth" means for an NBA basketball team. Thank you, sir!

David M, Ottawa

A: I actually once did ask Bryan about “organic growth” and got this, not verbatim but a close approximation.

You get a group of young seedlings, water and handle with care as they grow, fertilized with consistent coaching and a constant message, and hope they blossom.

Mixed metaphors aside, that’s the best I can do.

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Q: Hi Doug- If we lose Jose we need a second and 3rd string guard. The Kings may have to many and the Jimmer (Fredette) is a 3 point shooter that we could use. Why didn't they swap JJ for him instead of a second round pick?

Doug L, Toronto

A: Without having been in on the negotiations, I would offer these two ideas:

Maybe the Kings don’t want to give up on the kid.

Maybe the Raptors want to get someone better somewhere down the line and had no interest.

Maybe they should have asked for Cousins.

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Q: Hi Doug. Yesterday you made a mention on how it’s odd for Melo to comment on a fellow player's contract as "crazy.”

I'm wondering your take on BC's comment that he over paid a bit for Fields in order to get him... I don't have the exact quote in front of me but he mentioned something about overpaying for Fields. Is this not an odd thing for a GM to come out in say?

Thanks!

Jeff M, Saint John

A: Not really. I think Bryan might have alluded to it before, to coax a player away from existing team you might have to up the ante a little bit; it’s not a Toronto thing, please don’t go there, it’s pretty much league wide. To say it publicly? Don’t think it was terribly new, or a problem.

The first step in the summer process is over

So, Summer League is over for the HOTH, they go 2-3 (I guess co-coaches Nori and Hughes can keep their jobs) and if you want a quick assessment from afar, this is what we got from talking to a people:

Terrence Ross is a keeper, he’s a basketball player more than an athlete, good shooter, hard-worker, still raw but he may surprise a year or two down the road. It’s going to take some time, but there’s promise there.

Ed Davis is a bit bigger and a bit better and he logged an awful lot of minutes as something of a focal point in the offence. Because it’s summer league and the calibre of the opponent is often suspect, we can’t say for sure how much better he is but his shot’s far more smooth and the summer has just begun.

Quincy Acy barely played after taking a fall and bruising his back, no real clue about him.

The one thing that stood out in a text conversation I had with Dwane yesterday, though, is that he came away impressed with how this group gets along.

I guess there was a big dinner, with the two rookies, Ed Davis, Amir Johnson, Kyie Lowry and Landry Fields and the coaches after the two new guys got out there and Casey said he thinks it’s going to be a bit of fun working with these kids.

“Guys you enjoy being around as a coach,” is how Dwane put it.

Now, I don’t know how that translates to on-court success but it’s a pretty good start.

And now the real work continues; Casey and the coaching staff are going to fan out to go see players and work them out at their homes over the course of the next couple of weeks, making sure the players are staying with the plans and regimens they were given at the end of the regular season. This is when relationships are forged, it’s when coaches can see just how diligent the players have been – a huge indicator of commitment – and when things that will be put in place in camp can at least be marginally addressed and worked on.

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This day, 1969.

Remember?

Never mind the people who think this happened in some movie studio somewhere; this was one cool event in our lifetime, wasn’t it?

Of all the things that man has done – for the good, that is – I can’t think of a parallel. The space shuttle is pretty neat and the space station is kind of significant but if you can remember what it was like at that time, it has to be a moment forever etched in your mind.

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Oh, these are tough times for the Mighty Red Tigers.

Drilled two nights in a row, we’re 4-7 and scuffling.

Maybe it’s the coaching?

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Last call for mail, please. At least for Saturday but I need to get an awful lot of it out of the way.

Seems a long baseball practice is in order Saturday morning and then I have a sneaking suspicion there could be a coaches meeting.

Click. Write. Send.

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Dwight Howard hasn’t been traded yet.

Just keeping you up to date.

But since he seems to be in the news a little bit – well, not him as much as “sources” close to him – here’s one thing to remember about this never-ending mind-numbing saga.

Everyone – EVERYONE – who is used as some anonymous source in any story out of any city at any time has an agenda they are trying to advance.

Sometimes they want to float things in the media that also affords them plausible deniability, sometimes they want to get things out there in an effort to spur the other side to respond, sometimes they just want to deflect attention from what’s really going on in private discussions.

It’s the way the game is played. Sucks at some level and I’d really, really, really, really like to go back and use a year-long scoreboard to see what eventually was right and wrong but it is the way the game is played.

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Went to very nice soiree for the women’s Olympic basketball team last night at this very cool spot on King Street (I’d highly recommend Spice Route just west of Spadina if you’re looking for somewhere to hang out).

And there was one thing Allison McNeill brought up that folks should probably remember during the Games – and not just about the basketball team.

There were a handful of parents at the event, at least those who are close enough to Toronto to be able to get there, and when the coached thanked them for the sacrifices they made so their daughters could have every opportunity to do whatever they could with the talent they have, it resonated.

All those lessons, all those trips, all that cost in time and money is substantial but it’s vital. Parents make sacrifices every day for their offspring it’s often forgotten or chalked up to parents doing what parents do but it was nice to hear some public recognition.

Way to go.

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How the heck did I miss this?

The Emmy nominations came out and we haven’t talked about it?

Yeesh.

Trouble is, with all the work of a compressed season and now the pre-Olympic stuff (think I was out 23 of 30 days from mid-May to mid-June) I haven’t seen nearly enough TV to be, you know, an expert.

But if the comedy nominations are The Big Bang Theory, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, Modern Family, 30 Rock and Veep, I’ve got to rank ‘em:

Modern Family.

It might be the best multiple storyline comedy ever and it’s cool they found Ed O’Neill a character after his star turn on Married, With Children.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

I wish I could be more like Larry David, I really do.

30 Rock

This has everything to do with my longstanding crush on Tina Fey.

The Big Bang Theory

A bit whiny at times but still pretty consistently entertaining.

Veep

Never seen it but Julia Louis-Dreyfus must make it okay.

Girls

Never seen it, don’t imagine I ever will. Tell me about it, please.

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It's the reality of the situation that makes Open week so special

This is enough the warm the cockles of an early-riser’s heart.

And that’s quite aside from it being one of the single best sports events on the calendar.

It’s The Open Championship week (that’s it’s name, it’s a tad pretentious but it shall forever be thus) and even for a guy whose interest in golf has waned considerably over the past few years, it’s a can’t-miss competition.

More than the U.S. Open, where they tend to trick up the course in an intentional attempt to make the best players struggle; more than The Masters, where the sap flows too incessantly, I get that azaleas are nice, I just don’t want to hear Jim Nance breathlessly tell me that 40 times an hour; and way more the PGA, which is pretty much just another Tour stop with a bunch of club pros providing some Thursday-Friday fodder.

So what is it about The Open?

I really think it’s the natural feel to it, it’s always on a golf course that’s “there” and not one that’s been “built”; it’s generally not a pretty track, it’s hard to follow the flow of the course, it’s golf reduced to what golf should be, in my opinion, a test of skill against the land with very limited messing around from humans.

It’s just got a more “real” feel to it than any other Tour event, the elements are always a factor, you’ve got these silly little bunker-potholes that pop up seemingly out nowhere and who can almost feel the wind and cold.

Because so many of us play golf, or purport to play something akin to golf, we want to see the best in the game battle real challenges presented by nature rather than some course architect.

We want holes in the ground rather than finger-shaped bunkers, we want windswept hay rather than six-inch rough. We don’t mind sideways rain and toques in July and argyle sweaters instead of logo-dominated shirts.

We, or at least I, appreciate The Open because it’s so damn unique; it’s not cookie-cutter and maybe that’s its greatest allure.

Plus, it’s on TV when I wake up, that’s never a bad thing.

Oh, one other thing: The Open always seems to have one or two guys you’ve never heard of stick around until late Saturday or Sunday. Some European Tour guy from some Scandinavian country who has some cool back story. It sure beats six hours of Tiger Woods walking from the carpark (I’m already into the British lingo, it would seem) to the clubhouse and then seeing every shot he strikes on the way to a 10th place finish.

Oh, and sometimes this happens:

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So, John Lucas III?

Guess there’s worse third point guards – not sure anyone connected with the team thought Ben Uzoh really was a practical full-timer – because Lucas can shoot it, he’s been a third guard before (Chicago, behind Rose and Watson) and they can get him relatively cheap.

Not sure it does anything to tilt the balance of power in the East (or the Atlantic, for that matter) but a good pickup for what it is.

And I’m told by friends in Chicago that he’s a great kid and a good interview and you can’t have enough guys like that around, even if he might not have great impacts on too many games.

Plus, he’s got to be a bit familiar with the team and the organization seeing how his dad worked here for half a season or so trying to coax TJ Ford back to full health and confidence.

Now, for all you linear people out there who think one step leads to the next step without fail, you got James Johnson for a season and a half for what turned out to Norris Cole and then you dealt James Johnson for what turned out to be John Lucas III.

No, things aren’t linear but that’s how it breaks down. Discuss amongst yourselves.

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Not sure why Super Son decided to find it on sale and pick it up with his Buggy Boy weekly salary but listening to him sit upstairs at 6 a.m. howling at one of the discs in Season 9 of Seinfeld does a father’s heart proud.

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Rest easy.

Raptors win in Vegas yesterday, I’m told; they’re 1-3, finish off the Summer League season this afternoon and life can get back to quasi-normal.

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Mail?

Could use a bit more, don’t be afraid to branch out, folks.

Click. Write. Send.

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You know, at some point you just have to shake your head at the fates.

They’ve got the best pitcher on the staff on the shelf, the closer’s about to have surgery, the supposed ace is having a crisis of skill and apparently confidence that’s shocking and the best hitter and best defensive outfield on the team wrecks his wrist taking a freaking swing.

And now Hobbs goes down doing what Hobbs does, going all-out to make a play, unworried about any consequences despite the circumstances.

And if Brett Lawrie, who banged himself up tumbling into a photographer’s bay chasing a foul ball at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday is out for any length of time, it might be the one, final, crippling blow to a season that is not yet in the toilet, shockingly given the circumstances.

I love the way Lawrie plays the game, balls-out every play, every at-bat, every time he’s remotely involved in the action and his crash yesterday was just typical, given his intensity and effort.

But, man.

I don’t know who pissed off the Baseball Gods but this is a season like we’ve never seen. Hitters, starters, relievers going down almost every day, a steady parade to the DL that’s entirely unexplainable. It’s not this guy’s fault, it’s not that guy’s fault; it’s one of those season of confluence that just cannot be described.

That they are some still within stiffing distance of that second wild card – and sure there are a handful of teams to leap over but they are definitely still in the race – might end up making this one of most interesting seasons in the last 15 or 20 years. For reasons good and bad, obviously.

I’m almost afraid to watch tomorrow or on the weekend for fear some other calamity will occur.

And if someone gets hurt or sick today on the off-day in Boston? Well, wouldn’t that be typical?

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Good for Hump but the money is staying crazy

We will never begrudge athletes for getting paid, if they can command big salaries all the more power to them.

But sometimes you just have to shake your head a little bit and wonder where things are headed.

Kris Humphries, a pretty good NBA player who had a couple of solid years on gawdawful New Jersey Nets teams – no playoffs, no contention, no fans, nothing really special – is going to earn $12 million in each of the next two years after getting free agency contract done yesterday.

I like Hump quite a bit, as you may recall, but, come on!

Twelve million?

That’s about a $4 million-a-year raise on the one-year deal he got last fall; somewhere close to a 50 per cent increase in salary. Crazy.

So, no, I don’t think anyone can complain about the Landry Fields salary or the third year of Jeremy Lin’s contract or anything else being signed these days.

Obviously, the price of average has gone through the roof.

Good for players, shame on the owners.

We spent most of last fall without basketball because the nitwit owners shut the game down over financial matters, they wanted to be saved from themselves, it seems, fully on the backs of the employees who were doing nothing other than going out and finding out what the market would pay.

And if the market’s going to pay Hump $12 million a year or Roy Hibbert about $14 million a year or Nic Batum almost $12 million a year or pick one of the other “ridiculous” contracts out of the air then why in the world did the game get shut down a year ago?

This is about owners and GMs doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t do, spending like drunken sailors (my apologies to drunken sailors, it’s the only old-time cliché I could come up with) and rewarding people who’ve really done nothing in their careers with contracts bearing no semblance of sense.

And when this CBA is up, or the first time you hear some owner crying poor or a GM lamenting the cost of player, remember these last couple of weeks and know where the blame should be placed.

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These are my people.

An e-mail arrives and it’s simply titled “commit to memory.”

Done.

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I can’t really recall which of the various tip sheet things I use – twitter, the newspapers, the radio, what have you – pointed this out to me but today is the anniversary of Billie Holiday’s death and, no, they don’t make singers like they used to, do they?

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Well, we’ve got at least on television network in this country that can find scheduling time for some basketball these days.

And by basketball, I don’t mean Summer League and the house organ that’s NBA TV.

The Score is going to broadcast the final three exhibition games for the USA Olympic team – Thursday at 2 p.m. against Great Britain, Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against Argentina and the biggie, Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against Spain.

We’ll do more on the Olympic tournament next week when we get settled over in London but I’m really wondering if the Americans are big enough to win the gold.

Talented? No question. But so are Spain, Russia, Argentina, France, Brazil. Maybe not as talented one through 12 but there are only five guys on the court at a time and depth in a one-game quarter-final or semifinal won’t matter all that much; in 40-minute games, starters can go a long, long time.

Anyway, haven’t looked all that closely at the other rosters and haven’t even seen the Americans or Spaniards play yet so we’ll have to wait a bit before there’s any wild prognostications.

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Couple of more full-page features on Olympians to go before I can go into some kind of semi-shutdown mode to get organized for a 3 1-2 week trip. And that means if I want to cool it a bit this weekend, I’m going to have to get started on the mail.

Help a fella out, would you?

Drop a note, say hi.

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I’ll tell you this, not sure exactly how Kyle Lowry and Landry Fields are going to play, but they do give a good press conference.

Not that it matters but they were kind of engaging, entertaining, honest and genuinely happy to be here when we got to chat with them yesterday.

Now, let’s see what they do in the thing that really matters: Playing.

Bryan did hit on an interesting point when he was going over his summer and the team that’s here now when he said the biggest thing is that there’s going to be genuine competition at pretty much every position.

“There’s things happening with this roster and competition in practice leads to performance in games.”

You’ve got Calderon-Lowry, DeRozan-Ross, Fields-Kleiza, Bargnani-Davis and Valanciunas-Johnson-Gray and at least that means there should be some good sessions in the gym.

And it reminded me of a thing a guy said to me the day they had Ross and Quincy Acy in to say hi right after the draft.

We were having a private chat about their potential and what they would bring and while no one expects Acy to jump and grab significant minutes as a rookie, the guy I was talking to made one very valid point:

“He never quits; he’s going to kick Ed’s ass every day in practice. And Ed better be ready.”

That’s not a huge knock on Ed Davis by any stretch, it was simply a statement of fact. If a young, hungry, physical guy fighting for his professional life can make things miserable for someone in the practice gym, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

And seeing how they’re going to have about 10 times more practice sessions this season than they did a year ago, it’ll be interesting to see how everyone handles it.

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The lack of civility in the stands can be troubling

I really, really, really don’t get some sports fans.

Sorry.

We were in Ivor Wynne Stadium on Saturday – a couple of Dads and a couple of Super Sons – and, let me tell you, in some respects it was like nothing I’ve experienced in quite some time.

Look, I’m fine with over-the-top support of the home team, or any team, even if I don’t have the level of passion that many do.

I appreciate, even if I don’t quite understand, painting ones face, wearing a jersey, going all out to show support that players can’t really hear.

I understand Argos-Ticats and the rivalry; I get that it’s a team representing a city, with bragging rights or something on the line.

That’s cool, it’s part of being a fan, I guess and to each their own.

But what I saw was a level of aggression, a bit of stupidity, people itching for confrontation rather than a good game or a big play and it was, in some ways, troubling.

Tell me why a kid in his 20s – sober, by the way – would greet every significant play for the home team but standing up, looking directly at a group of supporters a row down and a few seats away and swearing at them? Like, I mean letting them have it with both barrels. Entirely to provoke them, it’s not like they knew each other anything. This was unnecessary provocation and it quite easily could have escalated.

Of course, it didn’t because, finally, someone challenged the loudmouth and momentarily shut him up and for a long time, it was a far more enjoyable evening.

That doesn’t even touch on the impact of beers and liquors to increase the level of testosterone. It doesn’t touch on the guy who shed his shirt for some reason known only him and whatever secret sauce was in the plastic cup he was drinking from.

We understand the influence of booze to make someone feel bold, to take away inhibitions, to somehow make it okay in a muddled mind to challenge others rather than just have fun. That’s going to happen, it detracts from the night but isolated incidents are inevitably going to happen.

Whatever happened to simply cheering? Loudly, at appropriate times, with the odd boo for a bad call or something like that?

What happened to civilized behaviour where you interact with the people you’re with and those around you as some kind of brothers-in-arms, not as friends, exactly, but as like-minded sports fans?

Used to be fun to go to a game, and I’m sure in many instances it still is. But with idiots who try to make it personal, rather than a shared experience, I can’t imagine it’s nearly as much as it once was.

Too bad.

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So most of yesterday was spent figuring out what the hullabaloo would be like if the Raptors got rid of a guy who mattered.

Seriously.

People need to relax.

James Johnson is a fifth-year player about to be on his third team who doesn’t quite seem to “get it” often enough.

I have nothing against him personally, he was always cordial and willing to chat and a nice enough guy. But, folks, if you’re worried that the team you cheer for can’t absorb the loss of James Johnson, the issues go waaaaaaaaaaay beyond James Johnson.

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What else with the Raptors?

They played a summer league game last night, I’m told. They’ve got a buntoss meet-and-greet with the new guys here today. That’s about it.

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So it’s about 30 C outside when I walked Super Dog about 6 a.m., thick with humidity, it’s supposed to get to 36 C, feel like about 44 C and I’m a tad fed up.

Luckily, I’m hearing from One Of The All-time Greats that it’s 15 C, cold wind, rain lashing the windows in London and I’m thinking, “bring it on.”

End of rant.

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Yeah, kind of figures with the way things have been going all season that Jose Bautista would screw up his wrist on a swing.

Not a hit by pitch or a dive after a line drive or a slide at some base.

A swing.

Man, that sucks. Here’s the best team player in Toronto, biggest star any of the teams have, he’s helped carry a team devastated by injuries to pitchers to at least some level of competitiveness for the post-season and then, this.

Sucks, eh?

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In case you missed it – and I can’t imagine how you did – today’s the day the Knicks have to match an offer for Jeremy Lin or let him go for nothing.

Big decision, financially and otherwise, and no real indication which way they’ll go.

I’ll say this again about Lin, whose story you have to be more than familiar with now: He is an intriguing player who was a far better story and marketing piece last season. He may turn out to be very good, he may turn out to be quite average, I don’t for a second think a 25-game stretch is a bit enough sample size to say definitively either way.

But if I’m the Knicks, I match. I don’t worry about the third year because you’ve got two years to figure it out and that’s eons. And I don’t want to hear a whisper about the contract being “untradeable” because none are. If we’ve learned nothing over the past few years, it’s that anyone can be dealt no matter what they’re being paid. That’s can’t be an issue; I think it has to come down to whether New York thinks he’s going to be really good, or a bit above average.

Tough call.

The “poison pill” aspect of the deal and why it’s so bad probably hasn’t been explained here well enough and I’m sorry for that.

If a player joins a new team after signing an offer sheet, the cap hit is the average of the three seasons regardless of the annual salary – which is why, for instance – the Landry Fields deal here is about $6.3 million a season over three seasons.

But if the player’s original team matches, the cap hit is under terms of the deal; that is, if the Knicks would have matched on Fields, they would have been dinged about $5 million in the first two years and somewhere near $9 million in the third, when a far more punitive tax system will be in place under terms of the new CBA.

Same thing with Lin, it averages out if he lands in Houston, it’s a burdensome third year tax-wise if he stays in New York.

 

 

And another fan favourite is heading out

Well this ought to get a few of you going.

While I took the night off, it seems they’ve agreed to send James Johnson to the Sacramento Kings for a second-round draft choice. The deal’s not done but it could be today and it will come as no surprise whatsoever.

Hardly a windfall, right?

Now, I know Bryan is looking for whatever financial relief he can get – even miniscule like the $2.8 million or so that Johnson was due to make this year – so maybe he could have gotten a player back but that wasn’t the plan.

I’m going to put James up with Julian Wright, Antoine Wright and maybe even Pops as guys who fans tended to like an awful lot more than coaches.

As we mentioned a couple dozen times last year, James would have a tendency to go rogue, especially on offence; he had the bench episode with Dwane that resulted in a de facto two-game suspension (they didn’t actually suspend him because they didn’t want to take money away from him, which is an honourable thing to do in many ways) and, frankly, his effort – according to people who saw him in practice every day and watched games more closely and analytically than you or I – was too inconsistent.

So he’s gone, or will be in the next few hours, and while many will lament what could have been or what he did, they don’t seem to have nearly the same opinion.

Maybe they’re wrong, I believe they’re right and the departure does nothing to swing the balance of power in the East. Nor does it lessen what this team is or will be.

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Things that happened on the weekend that we missed:

Woody Guthrie would have turned 100 and who didn’t sing this in some school music class way back in the day when (a) they had music classes in all schools and (b) teachers were able to embarrass everyone into singing.

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Okay, Tuesday ends the amnesty period and if Bryan uses it – and he continues to say it’s a last resort and there’s no plans right now – I’m thinking it’s a big mistake.

Especially if he does it for Jose, which, according to the last time I spoke with Bryan, was not in the cards.

No matter what you think, Calderon is an asset as much as anything, a solid guard with a big contract and to limit your moves with him – if there are moves to be made – by giving him away for nothing makes no sense whatsoever.

It leaves you with no backup point guard and there aren’t an awful lot of proven NBAers floating on the market; there’s no indication there’s a $10-million player out there that they’re interested in adding; why not wait, use the player in the season to see what’s up for trades and, at worst, have that money next summer.

No, it’d be the dead wrong thing to do.

Other candidates? Not sure there are any. The Kleiza piece was interesting but now maybe there’s a role for him at the three; I think if you need to divest yourself of either Amir Johnson or Ed Davis, it’s better to explore trades than giveaways.

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In a moment of entire weakness, got home from my gig at the ballyard on Sunday (this and this came out of a relatively easy day) and Super Son’s got the Raptors-Heat summer league game on and I figure I’d watch some.

In that game there were 61 fouls called in 40 minutes, the winning team shot 32.4 per cent from the field, the losers shot 35.3 per cent from the field and teams combined to go 4-for-28 from three-point range.

I resisted a terrible urge to stick a pin in my eye but when it was mercifully over, the vow was made again to never, ever watch a summer league game. Even if means painting a wall somewhere and watching it dry; that’d be more entertaining.

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This is classic.

In an interview yesterday about Jeremy Lin and the back-ended “poison pill” offer sheet from the Houston Rockets, these words tumbled out of Carmelo Anthony:

“It’s not up to me. It’s up to the organization to say they want to match that ridiculous contract that’s out there.”

Now, I’m not sure about the levels of solidarity between members of the players association but shouldn’t one guy want his brother in arms to get as much money by whatever means as possible?

Isn’t that the deal? Maximize your value, rightly or wrongly or however it impacts one team or another?

Look, sure it’s a big, potentially arduous contract that Lin might sign off a career that’s spanned all of 25 starts or so. But he got it, not sure I’d want a potential teammate to be telling everyone how ridiculous it is.

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So I’m a Seamhead for one day and it’s a big one since the iconic Bob Elliott gets to throw out the first pitch and I am really, really glad I was there to see it.

Big Boy, as he’s known in some circles, gets the J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown next weekend and Sunday was the last Jays home game and they decided to honour him with the first-pitch thing and a video tribute before the game.

Now, I’m not sure how many of you know Bob but if there’s a more connected, respected, hard-working beat grunt in North America, I’d be surprised.

He is the epitome of what our craft should be: Fair, even-keeled (I don’t know that I’ve read him “scream” in a column in the almost 30 years I’ve known him) and readers would be far better served if more of us were like him.

He is a baseball guy – sandlot, national team programs, minor leagues, major leagues – and he treats the game and the men and women in it with respect.

He helped me along this path an awful lot of years ago when I was first breaking into the big leagues of beat writing and I’ll never forget it.

Not a better guy in the business and even if he bounced the first pitch into the right-handed hitter’s batters box, it doesn’t matter.

Fine tribute to a fine man.

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The end of the weekend mail

All right, there’s far more than you probably want here after a long night waiting for the Fields decision and sitting at Ivor Wynne watching the Argos-Ticats with Super Son.

(More on that in the morning).

As for Fields, it was a drawn out process; the Knicks took their sweet time letting everyone know what they were going to do but, in the end, the Raptors got a guy they wanted.

Is he the answer? Not entirely but he’s an intriguing player that can guard two positions (or so the coaching staff thinks) and, I believe, is far closer to the guy he was his rookie year than the guy he was in his second season. But I guess we’ll have to wait until October to find out who’s right on that.

Where’s he play? Well, I would imagine he’ll get every shot to win the starting small forward spot and he’ll see some time at a suddenly-packed two-guard position. One thing I like, though, is that now there’s competition for minutes and it gives Dwane a hammer if some guys under-perform. And that’s not a bad thing.

And now, the mail:

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Q: Doug, it was great to see your Help Section articles on improving your short game but how about a little something for those of us who are beyond help? I have the profanity down pat, but could use 2-3 family-friendly phrases for each of the following common situations: (a) slicing a drive deep into the woods, (b) topping pathetically with an iron from a decent lie on the fairway, and (c) from an uphill lie or a bunker, chipping straight over the green and down the other side or into another bunker.

Mike D, The Deep Rough

A: Oh, that’s easy

“Well, my fellow playing partners, I certainly struck that one amiss, didn’t I? Drat.”

And

“Just need a bit more club!”

And

“Get in the hole!!!! Oh, and where's the cart person?"

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Q: Hi Doug, wondering if you could elaborate on why you think team record is more arbitrary than an all-star game. Especially in baseball where one game is almost completely random it seems like a very unfair way to determine home field advantage. Consider last year where the Rangers won their division by 10 games but didn't have home field vs the Cardinals, who only made the playoffs (on the last day) because of an epic collapse of another team. Anyway, love the blog, just don't quite get your thoughts on this.

Chris W, Toronto

A: Basically, it’s this (and I can probably be talked out of it and certainly see other points):

The regular season scheduling disparity – especially when it comes to relative merits of the teams you play in inter-league action – is so big, I’d rather have the best players in the game try to decide it rather than hope my American League team draws a bunch of weak sisters from the National League, or vice versa.

But I do see your point.

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Q: Mr. Smith, I notice Bryan Colangelo seems to be referencing analytics in the media much more frequently than he has in the past. So, I have 3 questions:

Does this reflect a greater focus on analytics on the part of the organization (do they have an analytics department)?

Are they developing their own proprietary models for evaluation/valuation of players or do they use consultants?

What is Doug Smith's opinion on the use of analytics in the game?

Evan G, Thornhill

A: Not sure how much “greater” it is, they’ve had for a couple of seasons, two fellows on retainer to analyse data for them; Bryan just seems to be speaking more publicly about it these past few weeks.

They have consultants now – I can’t say for sure if they are employed by other teams as well – but Dwane did mention last season that he’d like to have them in-house but I am not sure where that stands and nothing is likely to be done in that regard until much closer to the regular season. And, sadly, they don’t the depth of the information with us so I can’t say what, if any, is proprietary.

Me? I think they have a place in the game but are not in any way, shape or form the be all and end all that goes into player procurement. Or player rejection for that matter. Other things, like “fit” of personalities and raw skill for players who don’t have a lot of baseline analytical information are just as important.

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Q: Hey Doug, I'm curious to get your take on the Raptors letting Bayless go. I'm wondering because of the ongoing Lowry-Calderon drama. Now I guess they were going to trade Calderon anyway since they got Lowry. With Bayless signing for only $3 million in Memphis (I believe that's the number, correct me if I'm wrong) why wouldn't the Raptors have tried to bring back Bayless on a cheap contract like that? Then, you could still trade Jose for a needed piece and you could have a Lowry-Bayless young combination at the point guard spot, and that would be excellent to watch. Personally I would have done that, but then again I don't know Lowry too well and maybe his game is very similar to Bayless but contrasts well in a tandem with Jose. I guess that's why I'm not the GM!

Your thoughts?

Simon S, Toronto

A: First of more than a few Bayless questions, you’ll see others shortly.

Timing was everything with Bayless and, who knows, after they finalized Lowry and got an answer on Fields they might have made a call; financially, they had to wait.

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Q: Doug - good morning - I guess the Lowry trade is a good thing - B.C. knows more about b'ball and players than I - and likely you and I put together - ( and multiplied ??)

I know stats aren't everything but could you tell me why he is a better point guard than Calderon?

Like you, I feel Jose has been greatly underappreciated, what improvements can we expect with Lowry?

Bill W

A: From what I’ve seen and been told, Lowry is probably a more aggressive player at both ends of the court. A bit stronger and more gritty defensively and probably better at getting to the rim on offence.

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Q: Hey Doug: Here is a partial quote from an SI story about Houston's attempt at getting Howard:_"...it’s fine to rant about how Howard could still “force his way to Brooklyn,” but you better be able to explain exactly how that is going to happen under the league’s cap and trade rules."

Reading that article, it does seem as if the cap/tax/trade rules are, as you often refer to them, 'arcane.' With that in mind, your answer earlier this week to a commenter's question was that you would have to wait until Monday to figure out what cap space each team has.

In order to do this, do you have access to a capologist? Is there one of the Henchmen who will help you out?

Thanks again for all you do - I can't wait to read your articles/blogs from Merry Ol' England!

Tim H, Windsor

A: Not full access but there are people in the organization here who will explain things in an unattributed form so that correct information is getting out there as it pertains to them.

And you just do a lot of reading and figuring out, ciphering and asking questions; it does take some time.

The start of the weekend mail

Okay, things – like a trip to Niagara to a really cool buntoss I’ll tell you about next week – got in the way so not nearly enough mail got done.

There’s this, though, and lots more tomorrow.

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Q: Doug: I've been following the Jonas saga with interest, and hope that he can be the real deal. But what does the brain trust see that makes him a standout. I see a tall, thin, Camby, which is not bad in itself. However, please give your faithful readers some insight that would've made him a potential 2nd overall pick this year.

Ken B, Matheson

A: They see an athletic young 7-footer with a good work ethic, a bit of mental toughness and skills that can be developed.

And if he looks like a tall, thin Marcus Camby right now, that’s not a bad thing, at all. Marcus, a second overall pick, has had a tremendous career. Don’t imagine Valanciunas has the same defensive skills as Camby but he does have a more polished offensive game right now.

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Q: Hey, Doug! I've got two short one's for you. Any word about the plans with Tomislav Zubcic? And when will next season's schedule be announced?

Keep up with great work and have a good time in London.

Toni H, Zagreb

A: No real plans for Zubcic yet, other than to leave him over in Europe for at least one more year and I don’t know any particulars of his contract or buyout because there was no sense exploring it from the start. I think right now they see him as some kind of stretch four but it’s far to early.

Schedule? I believe drafts are being circulated among the teams now, I’d guess an early August release, which will give me something to do when I’m in London.

But here’s the thing about the schedule people need to keep in mind: Because TV demands as many marquee matchups as it can get, especially on Sunday afternoons after Jan. 1 and for Turner on Thursdays, the league likes to wait to see who goes where in free agency before deciding. I can assure you they were waiting for any possible resolution of the Dwight Howard saga so his new team could get as many national TV dates as possible.

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Q: Hi Doug. In a dream world if on July 1st you could have had (forget for a moment who was available) a stud point guard or a stud wing player, which would you have chosen? Personally I think the Raptors most pressing need was a wing player and that is why I am very disappointed in the Raptor moves so far.

Thanks Doug, enjoy London. Lots of stools over there me thinks!

Freddy W, Washington

A: Personally, I probably would have tried to find a stud wing but with the free agency crop played out – Gerald Wallace staying put, Nic Batum being matched at whatever by Portland, Ilyasova getting a lucrative offer in Milwaukee – I don’t think there was any chance to make a huge splash there. Too bad, but sometimes that’s just the way it is.

And given that, I have no qualms with them going hard after Nash and going quickly to Plan B with Lowry when that didn’t work out.

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Q: HI Doug, follow your blog daily, thanks. Is it possible that a team made up of non-stars, like the current Raps, can jell and win a championship, like the most recent NHL champions? Has it ever happened in the NBA?

Don P, Brighton

A: It’s highly unlikely, I think you need that one seminal talent but there is a chance. I will hold up as evidence the mid-2000s Detroit Pistons, who didn’t really have a lot of star power but somehow won one championships and got to Game 7 of another NBA Finals.

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Q: Not so much a question as a statement. I really hope that we, as Raptor fans, give Jerryd a big round of applause when he returns with the Grizzlies. The man loves Toronto and, perhaps more than any recent Raptor, played with a real chip on his shoulder and left everything out on the floor each night. As a fan base that respects blue collar players, we should give it up for him.

Matthew M, Hamilton

A: I would presume Jerryd, as much for his professed love for the city as for his play, will be warmly welcomed back whenever that is.

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Q: Hi Doug. This seems like quite an active off-season? How does it compare to the famous summer of two years ago when Lebron/Bosh and Wade were free agents?

I had another question regarding the Raptors and it appears to be very difficult to build a strong playoff team as many free agents, if opting for less money are signing with strong playoff teams. Many of our stars have left for other teams. I know you mentioned that if you have a winning team it will attract free agents. It seems like we are in a catch 22 (hard to attract NBA All Star free agents and historically keep our own star players). Do you foresee this changing in the near future with our Raptors?

Thanks

Monty M, Toronto

A: This has been a busier summer but with fewer “stars” in play; that LeBron-Bosh summer was truly unique.

I don’t have a clue what the future holds but I think you need to remember this: When they were good or at least okay, they kept all their free agents and got some to come (Dell Curry back in the day) and, frankly, the one summer they had money, they chased the guy considered the most lucrative free agent on the market and got him. Forget that the Turkoglu experiment didn’t work, he was a high-priced, coveted free agent and he chose Toronto. It happens.

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Q: I think the Raptors still owe a game to St. John's, correct? What a great time to do that if they have their Training camp in Halifax.

Dave B, Cornwall

A: It would be a wonderful idea and one I would fully support and have been advocating for about seven years. The trouble is, the pre-season is etched in even before the final season is over so the logistics of doing it this year make it virtually impossible.

But if they are truly an organization that wants to do things “the right way” they had better schedule one as soon as they can find a willing travel partner.

I need my Water Street and a stop at the Narrows.

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Q: Doug, could you do a quick sign-and-trade guide for dummies? During the Nash saga, some media reported the Raptors 'lost' Nash as soon as the Knicks and Suns talked sign-and-trade, but doesn't any UFA have the final say?

Nick M, Winnipeg

A: Yes, he does. And sometimes that final say means getting former teams involved to make deals possible.

So, no, they didn’t “lose” when the Knicks and Suns started talking, that was predictable to get Nash more money; the tide turned when the Lakers came hard to the table on the Monday night/Tuesday morning.

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Q: Hi Doug. Two totally unrelated questions (feel free to ignore one or both, of course):

You mentioned, and it makes sense, that no GM will pull an offer made to a RFA prior to July 11th because no one would then want to deal with said GM or team (e.g., Landry). So why the difference with qualifying offers with members of one's own team (e.g., Bayless, Weems). What's the difference that I'm missing? (BTW, I don't particularly care about Landry, Bayless or Weems per se, just using them as examples.)

What do coaches, GMs, scouts look for during summer league games?

Thanks!

Diego S, Toronto

A: Qualifying offers are just cap placeholders in a lot of ways, prudent business moves that are not promises of anything; offer sheets are a firm commitment to a player; huge difference.

Summer League? Coaches look for skill development, footwork, shooting form, defensive awareness; scores of games and point totals are moot.

An expected process is unfolding as it should

Not sure this should come as any big huge surprise given the circumstances and what we know but Marc Stein’s reporting Jose’s agent and Bryan are working to find some deal that’s amenable to both sides.

Now, it doesn’t mean anything is imminent – although we all should know how quickly things can change – but it does make sense to explore all avenues.

If nothing happens, nothing happens. But after listening to Bryan the other day talk about “multiple teams” that called about Jose in the wake of the Lowry trade, there could be some fit somewhere in the league.

Would suck a bit. Despite the bleats of so many of you, Jose’s a fine NBA point guard, he’s given six solid seasons to this organization and I think a point guard combo of he and Lowry would work just fine.

Have been trying to reach Jose directly but he’s with the Spanish national team getting ready for the Olympics and a bit preoccupied. I wonder how much of this might be an agent trying to drum up something for a client, which is what agents are paid handsomely to do and which is just good business practice.

As soon as the Lowry deal was leaked, ears perked up around the NBA about the possibility of a Calderon departure and if I know one thing about NBA general managers it’s that when they smell blood in the water, they go all low-ball with any offers. It’s part of the dance.

But of this we can be certain: There are talks going on -- how serious they are no one knows -- but I also know Bryan isn’t going to do a deal quickly just to do a deal and if this goes into the season before other teams decide they have a point guard need, so be it.

However, if something happens, you have to be certain that Bryan gets a point guard in return or is looking at someone in free agency.

A Lowry-Calderon duo, or Calderon-Lowry, would be a position of strength; a hedge against inevitable injury with two proven NBAers and a tandem with a difference in styles that would change game.

I don’t think any of you would be as confident in, say, a Lowry-Ben Uzoh combination, would you?

I don’t know what the eventual outcome to this will be – my spidey sense says status quo for a little bit – but if it happens, it’ll be a tough day; we’ll chat about that then.

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Thoughts are with all you triskaidekaphophia sufferers out there.

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So it’s about 30 C last evening, not a cloud in the sky, the Mighty Red Tigers are ready for action.

And we get rained out.

Yep.

Somehow, the zany folks who program the sprinkler system for parks here decided that 5 p.m.-6 p.m. would be a good time to water the infield and that 6 p.m.-6:45 p.m. would be a good time for left field to get some sustenance.

Dopes.

Kinda reminds me of this, even if it is rather low quality and doesn’t have the best line of the scene:

“I can get us rainout.”

But what the Mighty Red Tigers aren’t is …

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You guys are good.

It wasn’t 10 minutes after news leaked out that the Houston Rockets were going to use the amnesty provision on Luis Scola that I got the first question about him here.

And, after some of my own due diligence, it’s not happening.

While they’re lots of love for his game – and I’m a huge fan – it’s not really the best fit for this organization as this time and they’ll take a pass. The combination of money, years left, roster composition and where they are in the building process means there’s a lack of interest.

Sorry.

But you guys are good.

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You know, sometimes there are benefits to doing this gig.

One of my sort of branch-out jobs this week was to be part of the paper’s “Help” series and I was able to piggyback on a golf thing to get some tips myself.

Turned out to be a not bad story, and a pretty good video that’s here and Bradlee Ryall (his website’s here) up at Braeben here in Hazelville (New motto: Home Of Inappropriate Sprinkler Time) is one outstanding teacher.

If he can massage our subject’s swing and make it seem so logical and sensible to a guy watching, I can just imagine what he’d do with a full range of lessons.

“Great athletes come to me for golf lessons and they’re robotic. They’re great football players or basketball players or hockey players and they’re just a different animal over the golf ball. You have it in you to be great, it’s just how can we get that out of you.”

We probably weren’t at the practice green for more than 45 minutes and I came away with a far better understanding of what I need to do around greens thanks to Bradlee and Steve.

And trust me, after scuffling it around the last time I played – barely able to hit it out of my shadow – I could use an hour or two of intense instruction since I’m not getting nearly the weight I should in The Friendly Nassau Matches.

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Hey!!!!!!

Summer League starts for the HOTH today!!!!! Pumped?

Anyway, the roster finally got released last night – it’s here for your reading pleasure – and I caution you, as I do every year, with these words:

Summer League doesn’t tell you who can play, it tells you who can’t.

Best thing I ever saw at Summer League: Hoffa getting 10 personal fouls in one game (you can’t foul out of Summer League games, sadly); it was a classic moment.

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Mail, please.

Haven’t heard from some Irregulars in quite a while.

You know the drill.

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After an update, there's still some summer work to be done

An interesting chat with Bryan on the conference call yesterday after they finalized the Kyle Lowry deal, kind of a wide-ranging conversation, full of the predictable lauding of their summer acquisitions and a bit of frank talk about Jose, as you can read here.

Was nice to catch up and get some insight and confirm some stuff we all had been writing thanks to chatty friends but it was what it was, an update rather than a definitive statement about what next year’s team will look like.

It is far too early to figure out how they stack up against everybody else, really. Rosters are not at all set, there are free agents out there still looking for gigs and we really don’t know who’ll be where and doing what when November rolls around.

But how is the process unfolding to this point, how are they doing in the pursuit of more talent, more athleticism, improvement at all levels?

Guess it depends a bit on your perspective.

If nothing changes – and it surely will so this might be an exercise in futility – I think you can agree they are deeper at point guard (Calderon-Lowry beats Calderon-Bayless in my opinion), they are deeper in the front court (Jonas Valanciunas is an upgrade, no matter what rookie struggles he has in his first six weeks or so) and if they get Fields to along with Terrence Ross, you’d have to think they have a bit more depth at the wing.

Upgrades? Sure.

Is it enough?

Don’t know.

Bryan kind of shrugged off the absence of a small forward acquisition, a priority going into free agency, by saying he could see Fields there to augment Kleiza and James Johnson but I still see that as a bit of a weakness and it’s going to be an issue.

You’d think they should be able to shoot better, they should be quicker and a bit more athletic and they should be a bit better defensively if for no other reason that the lessons Dwane taught last year will have sunk in more and he’ll have more time to teach with a month of training camp and exhibition games at his disposal.

The danger, of course, is to sit pat now, to think they’ve done some business and let’s see how this all works out in the wash.

Can’t do it, and I don’t imagine Bryan will.

They need help at the three, it’s plain and simple, and while it might not have to be some $10 million a year guy, you can be sure Bryan’s looking to see who might have fallen through the free agent cracks.

It is forever thus, there is a big rush to get guys signed right out of the box and then teams stand back and take a look at their rosters and figure out what else has to be done.

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Can you imagine doing anything for a living for 50 years?

No, I can’t either.

(Although Super Grandpa worked at the same gig for almost that long, in the same office building, driving the same route to work for about 35 of those years and if that’s not old school, I don’t know what is)

Anyway, the point is that today’s the 50th anniversary of the first Rolling Stones concert – it’s been all over the airwaves – and the one question to Irregulars Of A Certain Vintage is this:

Stones or Beatles?

Remember back in the day when you pretty much had to be one or the other? Did you listen to the Stones and their somewhat edgy style or the Beatles and their more popular brand of world-changing music?

My memory is a bit vague – seems to happen when you reach this ripe old age – but there was a feeling you had to be one or the other.

Me? Probably more Beatles than Stones, at least at the start. Sure, now you can appreciate them both for what they’ve done, for the catalogue of quality performances they produced and for mere fact they are somehow going strong lo all these many decades.

And, like the Beatles, it’s impossible to come up with even a top 10 list of songs, isn’t it?

Let’s go with a typical one.

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Mail one more time, please.

Click, write, send, say hello.

Thanks.

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So what if the Knicks match the offer on Fields, which was signed Wednesday afternoon, making Saturday the big day and I’m sure it’ll be resolved sometime in the middle of the Blue Jays game when I’m reprising my role as a Seamhead Scribbler for a weekend?

Bryan put it as a 50-50 proposition yesterday – there’s been no indication from Glen what the Knicks are thinking – so there’s a chance Fields might not be in Toronto after all. It’s a change in the generally held opinion of what New York might do but, as we know, things change.

Anyway, it will free up just over $5 million in cap room to see what else is out there but I don’t know in this day and age just what you get for $5 million.

It will, however, put them back in play for a little while and that might make next week busy; don’t these people understand I have to go to London a week Monday and need some time to prepare?

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Wonder what we’re going to do here tomorrow?

Is this the slowest night of the sports year ever?

I’d say so.

No baseball, no basketball, no pucks, no football and I don’t imagine the TFCs (glorious victory last night, lads) play back-to-back so there’s not even that.

Thankfully, the Mighty Red Tigers are back in action, full report coming.

The rest of you? Have a nice quiet night.

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Hey, did you hear?

Dwight Howard didn’t get traded!!!!!

Of course, all this means is we’ll have to do this all again – likely three or four times – before someone does the admirable thing and puts us all out of our misery by acquiring him.

Sooner, please, rather than later.

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Oh, what the heck,

It’s long but it’s a favourite and would be near the top of a personal Stones list.

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