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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Comments

[Joe]

Hi Doug,

Couple of questions:

1. With all of the Raptor coaches heading off to visit the players to check in on whether they're keeping up with their off-season regime, who gets the lucky assignment of going to Italy to visit Andrea...must be nice.

2. Can Orlando not just suspend Howard for the entire season? After everything he's put the organization through, it would serve him right to sit out the season until the Magic could work out a suitable trade.

Blogger's note: Don't know; and no

[Mike D.]

Just imagine how much more Dwayne will enjoy being around these guys as a coach after the Raptors sign Andray Blatche!

[Chris]

Veep is very good. 2nd behind 'Modern Family' in my opinion.

[Ali]

"Community" is under rated and "Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia" has its own bizzare charm. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is the best though.

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Read somewhere else that with Julia Louis-Dreffus' nomination for Best Comedy Performance, she ties the legendary Lucille Ball for most nominations ever. Nice company to be in.

Ciao amigo,

marc in panama

[honestfred]

Veep is great.

Girls captures the angst of post university transition to adulthood. I would love to see a live blog of the Grunt's take on (the show) Girls.

[Moe]

If you get a chance, watch The League on FX. I'm sure a lot of you will relate to this show.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Hey Doug, wasn't there some weekend bun toss you were going to regale us with?
T Ross is looking promising, isn't he? Seems he's D Casey's guy, who's had him on his radar since last fall, during the lockout: http://www.hoopsworld.com/raptors-terrence-ross-is-learning-the-ropes
Cheers. Go Gose!

[gdr]

Doug, while watching some pre-Olympic Dream Team action last night, I couldn't help but wonder if GM's have a silent code that they wouldn't trade anyone playing in the Olympics till after the games are over (specifically Iggy & Jose)?

Blogger's note: Probably don't want to do deals then, no.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

You know, the 2nd Amendment had its time and place – a couple of long hundred years ago. Now it's working hand in hand with new generations that are so wired on electronic crap they can barely distinguish between reality and a video game. Not a very healthy combo. And of course the NRA will say, "See, this is why you need a gun these days..."

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Looking forward to watching the lady hoopsters in action this summer. Not sure if they'll bring back a medal but it doesn't matter. I like the way the game is developing, especially here in Toronto. I've been helping out with my daughter's team--she plays for Toronto Triple Threat, which is headed up by local cager legend, former Olympian, former St.Bonaventure Bonnie and all around great guy Norm Clarke. I think the rise of club basketball is the single most important factor in improving the talent in this city. On the boys side Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph, among many others, were products of club basketball. When I was a kid it did not exist. Basketball got coached in public and high school but whichever teacher wanted to run a team. Now there are more and more adults passing their coaching levels and spending countless hours teaching kids the right way to play basketball--skills before flash, responsibility to teammates, hard work, etc.

The All-Ontario club system finals run for three months in the spring, at venues from Sault Ste. Marie to Chatham to Ottawa, for kids from 8-18, both sexes. There are powers in Caledon, Brampton, Toronto, Hamilton--all over. My family has only been involved for a few years, but I am amazed at the skill level and commitment. And the National teams are taking notice--Rowan Barrett's job is to keep track of the rising club stars and make sure they know they are welcome at Basketball Canada. We've come a long way since the days of Donahue and the national teams as a closed club.

If you get a chance this winter, have a look. It would make for a great story.

AG, Torono

[LeeZ]

Veep is hit or miss. When it's good, it's very good, especially when JLD has a chance to do physical comedy. When it's bad....ugh.
Girls is quite possibly the best thing on tv right now. The writing is out of this world good, and you don't have to be a female to appreciate this show. It takes a few episodes to really get into it, because it is so unlike any other show that it's jarring. The creator/writer/star is incredibly brave in portraying her character as narcissistic and full of warts, yet you still end up rooting for her. The guy who plays her bf, named Adam in the show and first name in real life is Adam as well, is INCREDIBLE. How they could have kept him off the list of best supporting actors nominees is one of the great mysteries in life.

[Lorie]

Hey Doug: "Girls" is an amazing, important, breathtakingly good show starring a very talented young cast and absolutely brilliant writing. You must watch it when you have time. And did you know that Katey (Peg Bundy) Sagal is still doing impressive work? Try and catch her in the series "Sons Of Anarchy". And @D-Mac, don't you think that, as one supposes the NRA would suggest, if all citizens were armed, then everyone in that theatre would've been killed? Not feeling the "Cheers" thing today; instead I'll say Shalom.

[SEAN H]

Unfortunately there is a lot more proof that the moon landing didn't happen than proof that it did. Many documentaries made on it, which doesn't mean it's true, but the points made are very very strong and some that can't be denied because science won't allow it.

Other than that, Go Raps!

[Jamie]

About Neil Armostrong walking on the moon: If he was the first man to step on ground of the moon then I need to know - how (or who) set up the camara that is at a distant aiming towards the latter to film the shoot? Who ever it was (becuase there wernt robots doing that sorta of stuff then) wouldn't they be the first people to actually step on the moon???

[Mike kovacs]

I agree that Girls is well done but there are absolutely no characters on the show that have any redeeming qualities. For me that makes it hard to watch. Then again I do love Curb Your Enthusiasm but it is just so much funnier.

[james]

"I wish I could more like Larry David, I really do."
Do you mean you wish you could BE more like him, or do you wish you could like him more?
Thanks to Andrew Gregg for a most illuminating post (and I assume his daughter and her teammates will be glued to the Olympics following the Canadian women). For some reason, the math teachers always did the coaching back in the paleolithic era of my schooling.
One overriding impression from the summer league yesterday: the Knick broadcasters are sorry to lose Landry Fields who is quick with the witty quip. Local beat grunts may fall in love with this guy.

Blogger's note: Be

[LeeZ]

@Mike kovacs: No redeeming qualities? I beg to differ. They ALL have redeeming qualities. They're all mixed-up kids, they all think they're the centre of the world (as all kids do at that age), and they all have their myriad faults, but they're all vulnerable and sweet in their own way, and that's why I root so much for them to figure it all out.
@Lorie: Don't even waste your breath talking about the whole gun control issue. It's a non-starter down there. The mother of all third rails. Too depressing to even think about, far less talk about.

[Ryan]

So the NBA has approved ads on uniforms.

I guess it was inevitable. We'll start seeing uniforms in every league tarnished now.

Hopefully this means no more TV timeouts (yeah, right). I really wish they would just call them "TV timeouts" though at least, rather than "officials'" timeouts. They should be called what they are.

[Andrew Gregg]

@james: grade 10, Mr. Boychuk--math. Knew nothing about basketball but he tried hard.

AG, Toronto

[doug]

to me one of the reasons Modern Family is so good is that it is the first sit-com I can recall that has the kids as not only a integral part of the storyline each week but they portray the kids in a realistic way...they have some classic lines they do and and the episode in which the 3 found their parents in a compromising position was just classic tv....I am enthused to see Ross play as he seems to be a natural scorer and knows how to play defense by all accounts....and no one had heard of this name a couple days ago, Thorbjorn Olesen as you mentioned earlier only at the British Open...cheers

[Mike kovacs]

@LeeZ - I hear what you have to say but they are all adults and are just so self-absorbed and inconsiderate of anyone else's feelings that it overwhelms all.

[Mr. Cook]

As a 28 year old male, Girls is hands down the best show out of the nominees.

[doug]

a politician in the States has to grab some cajones' and stand up to the NRA..yes we have our own problems I am not disputing that....but this tweet at 9:20 a.m. was and is disgusting....and to say they never knew event in Colorado hadn't occurred is bogus, everyone knew by then..

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While the nation wrestled with the aftermath of a shooting in Colorado that left 12 people dead, a Twitter account for the National Rifle Association had this to say:

"Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?"

That tweet was posted at 9:20 a.m. ET on Friday by an account for "American Rifleman,"

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unfriginbelievable...talk about a sick organization...