When everything old becomes new again

Yeah, I’m way late, like an hour late, hope no one was waiting.

Confluence of 90 minutes sleep coming out OKC, a long day Wednesday and a post-game meeting with an old friend brought solid slumber.

We’ll be better next trip to the central time zone.

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THREE POINTERS

Ah, Vince.

He’s like the ghost that haunts the franchise or something, right? The curse?

But I have a question to ask since I’m hearing all this stuff about how he didn’t want to leave and how it all ended when it finally ended and I’m thinking one thing:

Is this 2004 or 2012?

Seriously.

The stuff about him going to the staff the day before he got traded and telling them he wanted to make it work and would do whatever it took to make that happen is so old, it’s become new again.

It’s been written here for years and years; it was the day before the trade went down, in a conversation with a coach in the Nordstrom’s at the Circle Center mall in downtown Indianapolis in which he said he’d do whatever it took to make things work – come off the bench if necessary, work wherever in the rotation best suited the team – and that was conveyed all the way to the top of the food chain.

The next day – the very next day! – they panic and do the worst trade in franchise history.

So, yes, there is more than enough blame for that debacle to go around, but to think it’s “news” is dead wrong.

Two more points:

No, I don’t for one second think they should even consider retiring No. 15, Vince was the most gifted player in franchise history and he put the team on the map and was responsible for its greatest success.

Maybe there is a way for them to honour him with the 20th anniversary coming around, maybe there’s a Ring of Honour or somesuch for Carter and, perhaps, four others as the top five of the first 20 years.

But retire the number? No way. Shouldn’t even think about it.

And this whole thing about him coming back somehow to end his career with the Raptors?

Well, what did you expect him to say but yes? If he wants to play after this deal is over, and he will have reached his 15-year goal at the end of this (you can read about that here) but why would he limit his future possibilities by saying no? That would make no sense.

Look, the guy can still play, we saw that last night. But I don’t know if next season he’s a good fit in Toronto, it’s a nice thought that I cannot imagine becoming reality.

And now we will leave Vince until the middle of next month when the Mavs come to Toronto and we dredge up something old as new again, again.

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Wither Ed?

Well, since you asked, I asked Dwane about Ed Davis and his limited role last night and it was, as I should have known, nothing to do with him.

“Amir had it going, it had nothing to do with Eddie … Andrea and Amir had it going and I wanted to ride with them.”

That’s hard to argue with, actually. Johnson had basically his best half of the season in the second half and so, too, did Bargnani and that’s why Davis didn’t see the court after halftime. I might have been convinced to give Davis the four minutes that Acy got but that’s not my decision to make. And it wasn’t the deciding moment of the game, the deciding moment of the game was the first 12 or 15 minutes.

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Wither Andrea?

Yes, it was a solid second half and some pretty good numbers (25 and 9 on 20 shots but five misses on five three-point attempts) and on the whole he wasn’t bad at all against the Mavs.

But his lack of hustle and intensity in the first quarter bordered on shameful and was a huge component in the HOTH being so far behind so early.

There’s probably not one solution to that issue – and I am in no way advocating taking him out of the starting lineup – but I think it might be a good idea to run two or three of the first three or four plays for him every night since he’s always been a guy who wants to get involved early and if he gets going offensively, his defence and overall effort perks up.

I know that’s kowtowing a little bit but I’m okay with that, they need him to be better more quickly and, most nights, you’ll find out early what you’re going to get and can react accordingly.

Worth a try?

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More?

There’s a bit because I’ve prattled on too long as it is.

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Once more to the Dallas tunes, if you don’t mind.

They don’t make ‘em lke T-Bone Walker anymore, do they?

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This is just off the heart of downtown Dallas and perhaps the Parking Gougers in downtown Toronto would take note?

Nah, didn’t think so.

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Mail’s really down for this point in the week, can you help a fellow out, please.

Click. Write. Send.

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Two things I’ve come to hate with, as a wise woman once said, the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns after a few days on the road.

People who get off an escalator and stop dead in their tracks.

Next time, I swear, I’m running right through you and knocking you asunder.

Then I’m going to step over your prone body and hope your luggage has spilled all over the floor and everyone can see your private bits.

And I’ll giggle.

People who talk – loudly – on their phone in the airplane the second it hits the ground.

Text, people! Or e-mail! We all know the flight was fine and we really don’t give a rat’s bum that you love your loved ones, are glad to be home and will meet them at the usual place.

Silence sometimes is golden.

And get off my lawn!

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Comments

[Kate C]

OMG! We are the same person. Your "reach the top of the escalator and stop" rant is something I've been saying for more years than I care to admit. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Kate C

[John D.]

Could giving Bargs the first few plays also then lead to more lacklustre play and a hanging head? He misses those shots and as we've seen his defense goes with it. Does Dwayne then yank him? Does Bargs have the mentality to come off the bench? Maybe when Lowry returns so Calderon can play with a big time shooter opening up the floor and the likes of Davis or Johnson get things started with some energy.

[Alan C.]

Reprising Vince is like idly picking at an old scab because there's nothing better to do. Except there is. Move on.

[LeeZ]

Republican Senator Lindsay Graham famously (and prophetically, it can now be said in hindsight) remarked earlier this election cycle that the looming problem for the Grand Old Party is the shrinking of their core voting constitutency, to wit: angry white men. Well Doug, don't be surprised, in light of your angry rants this morning (every one of which I agreed with, mind you), if you start getting inundated with emails and phone calls from the GOP, BEGGING you to move to Ohio or some other battleground state in time for 2016! Now, if you added racist and xenophobic rants to your repertoire, you'd be every GOP recruiter's wet dream!
As for Il Mago, yes, I do think you're kowtowing a bit. I think Casey needs to sit his ass down for a game or two (i.e. not start) and make no attempt to hide the fact that it's because his effort to date has been lacking. The problem of showing an organization and a fan base that you can play the game with heart and effort (last season until injury) is that people come to expect that on a regular basis. Last night, in addition to all the slothenly play, there was one play where he came from the top of the left side of the key all the way to the bottom of the right side and snagged a highly contested rebound. Doug, I nearly fainted and/or did a spit take! It looked like the ghost of Reggie Evans! So it's not like he can't do it.

[avi]

The rant is hilarious! And true. Well put!

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:
" four others as the top five of the first 20 decades." I guess some days, with some of the Raptors teams you've had to cover, your gig does seem like it's dragged on for centuries. ;>)

[Penny]

Hi Doug
I think part of Andrea's problem is learning how to play with JV. Note how he played much better with Amir on the floor last night. He has to learn where JV is going to be and JV has to learn when to get himself and his man out of Andrea's way.

[Arlene]

Do you think Casey should start Kleiza ahead of Fields? Tougher guy up front and a better shooter, at least at present. Might open up floor a bit for others.
Guys have played together before.

Blogger's note: Might be something to consider but Linas is a defensive liability

[Sharkey]

The Vince thing was started off of two interviews he did Tuesday, on each of the sports radio stations in town. They wanted to drum something up I guess, and boy did they ever. I'm one of those who will boo Vince while he's still in the league. But when he retires, the page will be turned and he should be welcomed back with open arms. Remember, without Vince the Raptors might not even be here today. He's that important to the franchise and to sports in this city. And like him or not, he's also the second most important figure in Canadian basketball history, a very distant and obvious second to Steve Nash. Yeah, it was bad how he left. But once he retires something has to be done to honour him in Toronto. A Ring of Honour is a great idea Doug.

[David in Oakville]

Good Morning Doug,

A couple things,

I am surprised that you did not drive from OKC to Dallas. I was sort of looking forward to a story similar to Not Grace Kelly's adventures during the World Cup with threats about taking a car from Oklahoma to Texas.

I admire anyone who has managed to watch these games on TV. Not sure if it is me, but I fell asleep before the end of the first half. At no time after the first quarter did the Raps have a chance to realistically come back. Rick Carlisle and that team are too smart to allow it. I know the final score makes it seem close, from what I saw, it never was.

Can't for the life of me figure out people who think the Raps can trade Jose and hope to get by with Lowry and Lucas. From what I saw, I wouldn't trust Lucas with more than 5 minutes.

Can I add "people who stop in doorways and people who hold meetings in narrow hallways" to your list of those that we can justifiably run over.

Vince... glad he was a Raptor and thankful for the good times.. but no way should we retire his number and having Vince retire a Raptor?... won't be on my Christmas wish list.

Safe travels Doug.

[AT]

Thanks for clarifying the rumblings about Vince. Sam Mitchell himself said yesterday that he spoke with him the night before the trade and didn;t want to go but at that point Babcock was too far down the road to turn back...(which is baloney he just didn't have what it took to say, "I changed my mind)"
Not sure why Amir doesn't get more love from DC. what he did last night his what he has done since he got here to the raptors."
No real excuse for Andrea last night not boxing out, he could have had a half dozen rebounds more just by hustling a bit instead of just watching the mavs grab the rebounds in front of him.

[joeu]

Canadian author Donald Jack has a series of novels ( The Bandy Papers ) where the central character is a WW1 pilot, and one of the ongoing gags is that when he uses a telephone, he instinctively shouts into it as if projecting his voice across the actual distance separating the callers.

I think of that every time I experience someone shouting into their cel phone .. "People, the mic is right there in front of your mouth"

[sam]

The inconsistency of the HOTH can be a little trying.
Perhaps a little energy boost before they hit the floor is in order to fire them up.

It goes to show you that pre season stats are deceiving. John Lucas III isn't nearly the scoring threat and energy off the bench he was since the games started to count. I'm not sure he would be a solution as a primary back up if the head honcho's decide to move Jose.

I heard a bit of the Vince interview on the radio, and read the story - Apparently HWSNBN can be named now.

[Rob.V]

When does Casey make lineup changes?
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Now, I know full well "our" patience threshold is generally 5-10 games ahead of a coach's however I'm beginning to wonder if starting Jonas hasn't been a mistake.
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We all want the kid to learn however wasn't this year about winning games and not worrying about developing players?
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The reason it might have been a mistake is how do we take the kid out of the starting lineup now if we have to without deflating him?
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Look, we need to be more physical. Not just in the middle however there seems to be a sagging hole there right now at the start of games.
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I'm not going to deflect everything away from the guards however you cannot have a virtual "lighted" pathway all the way to the rim to start the game.
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Guard a yard. Whatever you want to call it.... STOP.THE.BALL!
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We need a NO.LAYUP rule. The Raptor bigs are going to have to start laying wood on the opposing teams players who come into the lane. No one said winning ball games was "easy" work.
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Maybe they start Amir AND Anderson and tell the kid it's just about trying different lineup combinations however coach is going to have to come up with "something" to ensure these guys are ready from jump ball.
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We've arguably given away 2 winnable games. Indiana, and now last night's game.
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We won the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters and still come away with the L... what a wasted effort!
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The game against Philly on the weekend is now Uber important.

[JHK]

Would you really want to live in a world without VC drama?
We would have nothing to talk about especially in these time around!

$2.50 all day?
Wow..

[Dave B.]

I agree with your curmudgeonly comments as well as those of @David in Oakville. I heard that Virgin Airlines are allowing people to use their cell phones during the flights. I hope the common man's airlines never decide to allow it. I also think people are generally too connected to their cell phones. I see people walking around with them and are constantly texting. I also have a friend who is older than you and I that will not go anywhere without his cell phone. Even if we are getting together for dinner he will check his phone several times. I find it extremely rude. If we have guests, we won't normally answer our home phone and let it go to the answering service. There is nothing in our lives that needs our immediate attention. If it is our adult children who live in other parts of Ontario, we may answer to see if it is important and then call them back later.

I think we have lost something as a society when we can't disconnect for a couple of hours.

[Rob.V]

How about: Bingo card purchasers at convenience stores! (during high morning traffic times).
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I'll just cash in this big $2 winner, pick up another $2 card, scratch that one... play another ticket... scratch that one... pick up another one... scratch that one.
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Dude, really?!!. Faaawk!... are you not aware of the "other" 45 people in line are going to get fired for being late when they get to work in 20 minutes!.
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Please!... could you not buy and scratch your Bingo cards when the "convenience" store is a little less empty?
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I mean where is the "express" line?.
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All I want to do is quickly pay for these smokes so I can get on with the business of killing myself for the rest of the day, and damn it!...you're holding me up!!!
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Arrrgh!

[D-Mac Ottawa]

I'm in full agreement with @Rob.V on starting "Amir AND Anderson", but the deficiencies in game starts are not at the 1, 2 or 5. They're at the 3 and 4. And that leads to a standing O @Lee Z and the sleeping Bargs: "sit his ass down for a game or two". Amen, brother.
Sure, he ended up with 25, but at the point he had 19, he'd also thrown up 19 shots (that's been his pattern). He's just not playing efficiently, or starting games with any hint of fire. Kowtow to him at the end of the first quarter, two games from now, and let's see if he might have gotten hungry by then.
Chemistry can't begin to happen until there's at least some level of confidence at work. I don't think anything but a little short-term tweaking is required to get these guys cooking. Look, Bargs had 9 boards, 3 assists and a couple of steals to go along with his 25. Fields had 4 boards and an assist. Lucas showed what he can do in pre-season and last year with the Bulls. It's not like there's no hope here. And there was no point in the second half, until the final minute and a half, that a full comeback was out of the question (and wouldn't that have done wonders for confidence and chemistry...).
This team has the luxury of depth. A little tweaking can only help. It can't hurt a thing when it comes to starting a few games, until a few people round into form. So, I'd be all over AA for Fields and Amir for Bargs for a week or so. Let JV keep plugging away in there. He's giving full effort and working the learning curve just fine. Fields just needs to get comfortable. And Bargs needs to get serious.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Lorie]

Good Morning, Doug!
Just saw some 'breaking news'. Florida has just declared Obama the winner. Wait. Over McCain? What the what? Never mind. Stay tuned....(Wonder if it's Boca Del Ray that's the reason for the delay...?) Cheers! And a safe - if not a mellow - travel experience. Try listening to more Gregorian Chants. You may not stop pushing your way thru crowds and over prone bodies, but you'll now do it with an almost beatific demeanour. And a bubbling bliss.

[Moshigh]

All I know is that Babcock should have never been allowed to be near another basketball team after that trade. Every time I think about it, just makes me sick to my stomach. Eric Williams and Aaron williams + pick that became I believe joey graham. Oh my!!!!!!

Bargnani is gifted but this story is too damn old, if this team wants to make a full change, honestly he needs to go, Im sorry. Everynight he does the same mess. Cant box out at all and doesnt want to play defense. Its hurts too much because you know he is talented.

This team goes nowhere as long as he is a starter. Im sorry, he will never play decent defense, never box guys out and will always average low amount of rebounds. That is a formula for a loosing PF in the NBA. HE WILL NEVER CHANGE!! NEVER!!!

JV and Fields have to be on a shorter leash as well, give Amir the minutes, I dont why I let this team hurt me so much. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[extensions for everyone]

The Raptors will never win anything of significance with Andrea Bargnani being a key component unless it's for some scoring punch off the bench.

I thought this team was a defensive minded tem? That Casey was trying to build a solid hardowrking team based on defensive performance first and foremsot.

You can't call yourself a defensive team and have Andrea Bargnani starting at the 4 playing 30+ minutes epr night.

Colangelo does not know how to build a team. He thinks he does and the media and fans give gim the benefit of the doubt but the results from his tenure in Toronto speak volumes.

[Tom]

In regards to the cell phone talking, I read this quote the other day and couldn't believe how poingnant it was. Albert Einstein: "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of IDIOTS."

[Lorie]

Ummm, yes. Speaking of idiots. I couldn't remember it. Jerry Stiller couldn't say it. Altogether now: Del. Boca. Vista. Sigh.
http://youtu.be/8H7eiJDbXEI

[S.R.]

Forgetting the fact that he was formerly HWSNBN, can you honestly tell me Vince even at this stage of his career is not an upgrade over Fields in the starting line up as our SF?

Fields is getting worse by the game. That fumble he had on the fast break last night was a disgrace.

[Cluck Kent]

Good morning sage scribe. I couldn't agree more with you regarding your Vince thoughts. I would say, however, that I wasn't closely following Basketball during that period and yesterday was the first time I ever heard that Vince had back tracked on the trade.

I'm sorry to say this, but I'm getting really tired of trying to figure out the enigma that is Andrea Bargnani. It would seem he is still eniging. Where and when will it end? I know I care too much about wanting this team to win basketball games, but golly, it is frustrating to watch him. At some point someone is finally going to say, enough, and that will be the end of the AB experiment. I get it that he's got a unique skillset but if he can't translate that into baskets after all these years... I mean seriously, it seems to be alot more about his excuses than his stats. Without continuing to belabour the point, I must admit that watching him on the team is making the team less fun to watch for me.

Things that bug me besides AB? Sports writers who feel they are the story or can determine what the story is. I'm thinking of several pucks guys.

How about people driving slowly in the left lane that speed up when you go out of your way to pass them on the inside and then slow down again when they've caught up to the next vehicle so you can't get in front of them.