Good plays, good moves, good weekend

That was some weekend, wasn’t it?

Everyone feeling at least a little bit better?

Here we go with the last full week before Christmas (yikes!!!); hope the malls aren’t busy.

Anyway …

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THREE POINTERS

A loud game

Dwane made a very interesting point in a pre-game chat about what’s made the HOTH a bit better of late.

“You can hear good defence.”

Well put, no?

And sure enough, even from the second row (one row behind the legendary Mr. Wu and The Lovely Katrina who run this website that you should all look at and show around) we heard more chatter in that game than any I can remember this season.

And it’s not long conversations, it’s just like “hey, behind you; watch the screen, shooter coming through, get up in his face.” All things that should come naturally but often don’t even for good teams; all things that make sense but need to be hammered home every day.

It’s working, the question now is whether it will continue.

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Going big

Game’s on the line and in doubt, Rockets have the ball after a timeout, we’re all wondering how they’d get an open look at the three they needed and what do the Raptors do?

Play maybe their best inbounds defence of the season thanks to something we haven’t seen all year, I don’t believe.

Dwane put Amir Johnson on Jeremy Lin inbouding the ball, a long, tall active guy to disrupt passing lanes and it worked to a ‘T’ because Lin was bothered so much he almost panicked and threw the ball away.

Was a subtle, effective move we’ll see more of, I’m sure.

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Speaking of …

We have all seen first-hand the trials and tribulations these fellows go through at times simply trying to inbound the basketball late in close games.

So, yeah, there were some nerves, I’m sure, when they had to do it with about 12 seconds left, clinging to a three-point lead.

And then Dwane went to his bag of tricks.

For the first time I can remember, he spread the floor; put Amir and Jose in the backcourt to run some screen action and had Alan Anderson and John Lucas in the frontcourt to do the same thing.

The ball? The ball was in DeMar DeRozan’s hands and I don’t ever remember that happening.

Worked to perfection, there was room for everyone to see, there was no traffic near the ball as is too often the case and Anderson did his job to perfection, setting a screen for Lucas and then flaring to the near corner. He was open, got the ball, made the three-point play to seal the game and it was a moment of an excellent play and excellent execution.

Haven’t seen much of that.

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The rest of the stories?

Sure.

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Man, can’t wait for them to renew the Bills in Toronto thing, eh?

Not only have games been basically atrocious, the atmosphere, I’m told, has deteriorated since any original buzz and excitement.

The Bills players certainly don’t seem to have any desire to come to Toronto; their fans can have the usual tailgate boozefests that might take away the sting of having to watch the crap on the field and organizers couldn’t give away tickets at the end.

(And do you think that’s going to play next year when the poor saps who paid full price three months ago are asked to pony up again?)

Nope, even as a one-off deal that was suppose to fun, this whole exercise seems to have devolved into a boring disaster that no one gets truly excited about.

Can’t wait to ignore it next year.

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Okay, I have a question and I absolutely do not know the answer.

Let’s say you’re a dad and you’re out somewhere with your daughter, who looks about three, could be four, might be two but she’s in that neighbourhood.

The wee lass has to use the facilities, as kids – and grownups – do.

Do you take her to the men’s room and hope anyone in there is cool? Do you ask someone you’ve never met to watch her when she goes to the women’s room? Tell her to hang on, you’ll be home soon?

Saw a Dad – at least I presume it was a Dad – with his small daughter – again, I presume it was a daughter – in the men’s room of this joint I was in after the game Sunday night and it got me thinking. Is that what you do?

And since I’ve never been in that spot, I have no idea.

Whaddya think?

(Yes, we continue to break new ground here; it’s what we do)

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This is very cool.

I can recall Darrell Walker, who was a relatively young, exciteable coach when I was dealing with him on a daily basis, telling me a lot about African-American art and his education and things like that back in the day and as I told him last night in some texts, he should be very proud of what he’s done and I hope some young players around the league take notice.

Yes, it took a long time to get a university degree and in no way does it help him in his career, but he did it. And that’s a good signal to send.

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We were in the presence of greatness and if you don’t believe, take a read of this and see what a young kid thinks about an older gentleman.

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And, finally …

I often find it difficult to explain just what I want in a leader – of a team, of a club, of a country.

I think it often comes down to a “presence” and a style and a powerful ability to make points and make those feel that, yes, there is someone in charge that you want in charge, someone in whom you can great faith.

I don’t have an abiding interest in the minutia of American politics, I have beliefs and I’m sure others do to, but I do know when the leader of that country does something so special everyone should sit up and take notice.

Like this:

I know the proof of his words will be in his actions in the future about the scourge of senseless gun violence that is seemingly never-ending.

But that speech ….

Wow.

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Comments

[Steve]

"At what point do the American leaders stand up and say, things have changed, people have changed, we should evolve. What once was simply should no longer apply if we want a (somewhat) civilized society."

The problem ultimately is that while it requires the politicians to stand up and take ownership of the issue, it also requires the people to follow. I sincerely doubt that there is enough support from the American people for any large reforms in this area to be forthcoming in the near future.

The Republicans may by many measures be obsolete but in many ways it's because they know exactly which side their bread is buttered on and they've stuck to it.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

There is no "defence" for the "we need guns for defence" argument. Period. You may have noticed how the reports after all of these endless senseless massacres are quick to point out that the "weapons were legal". Okay... maybe there's a problem there? A sort of a flaw in the "system"? Perhaps?

The idiocy that goes into believing that everybody needs a gun "cuz we have to defend ourselves" is the same idiocy that screws its head into believing that the "enemy" is... well, absolutely everybody. Why? Not because there are criminals out there (and we all know of course that only criminals have "illegal weapons") but because everybody... your neighbours, your family members, your fellow drivers out on the roads, your drinking buddies, that weird looking mook who lives down the street, and especially anybody and everybody you don't know... they're now all armed to the teeth, ya idjit, and some of them are even twitchier and more paranoid than you! Great strategy.

Let hunters have their licensed, legal, registered scoped rifles and shotguns. Bring back the assault rifle ban. Duh. They're freaking "assault" rifles! Then ban handguns. Period. When was the last time you saw someone hunting wild turkeys with a Glock?

And I think it would be sweet if the United Nations could get together and declare the NRA a terrorist organization. (It can't and won't happen from within; but it could from a global perspective.)

Cheers. Go Raps!

[Jeff R]

Here's Super Reporter hard at work on Sunday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_ross/8281897374/in/photostream

[DC]

is it true dwayne casey went back to basics and actually went over basic team drills that are usually part of learning to play high school basketball? because it looks like thats what was missing from some players . Kudos to doug smith for noticing an increase in chatter during the game. it's what professional teams do to play well. I am really impressed with the language and execution of jose calderon. 2 triple doubles in a season after never having one before is very difficult. his quotes for the media were a nice showing of 'big time spanish onions'.

its great to see such a marked turn-around for a squad that was deeply flawed, but one has to now wonder just how valuable a player like bargnani really is. Does his ability to 'space the floor' ultimately outweigh his relatively weak rebounding for a 7 footer? if derozan can become a better 3pt shooter, and they get better production from the small forward position, do they even need a 'stretch 4' to get better spacing? Will they ultimately have a better chance to win without him than they do with him? great drama from a 6-19 team. pound the rock.

[Alan]

Without question, you bring your daughter to the men's room. You also bring your daughter to the men's room if you yourself need to go (and you beg and plead with her to not go near anything in the men's room since men tend to, shall we say, miss the mark).
Besides, most men will pee anywhere (hence the number of athletes arrested for public urination); what man cares if a girl is in the bathroom?
You only stop bringing your daughter to the men's room when she is old enough to insist that she will not go in the men's room. At that point, you ask another woman nearby to keep an eye out for her in case she needs any help.

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
This is my second post of the day. (A first for me) Sometimes the answer to a difficult problem is quite easy. There's lots of chatter about the gun-issue in the US. Here's how I would solve the problem. Let everyone have as many guns as they like. Guns don't kill people;But bullets do. Just make it illegal to have or buy bullets. There may be a 'gun lobby', but I've never heard of a 'bullet lobby'. So give the gun lobby their "Right to Bear Arms", but nowhere in the 2nd Amendment does it say you have the "Right to Own Bullets".

[Geoff Read]

On an unrelated note, basketball fans, how 'bout those Blue Jays? My lord they're having quite the offseason. Let's hope the real season is as exciting.

[Mike kovacs]

Doug would you agree that Lowry is not the best pg for this mix of players and system? I also think that AB would have done better with Jose as the starter. What I don't understand is why Jose has not done as well coming off the bench as he has in the past.

Blogger's note: I think Lowry has skills but bad habits he has to break

[GM]

Looks like it's unanimous. Kids in the wrong washrooms is fine. I actually never even considered otherwise. I'll go even further: grown-ups in other washrooms are fine, too. On at least three occasions in my life, I've turned around to find a woman there, because the women's washroom was busy or something. And not once did I care. It's not like guys are walking around naked. There are stalls. And the women aren't at the urinals.

Great two wins. And some easy games coming up which should mean... heartbreaking losses. We'll see what this team is made of. In past years, they always struggled when the easy part of a schedule arrived. I assume the team collectively eased up a little, thinking they were better than they were and believing they could coast for a good portion of the game then turn it on when they had to because the opponent was inferior. Here's hoping that doesn't happen this week.

[Chris C.]

I spoke with some American aquitances about this over the last few days and their reaction is pretty much all the same.
"I keep my guns locked and safely stowed -- I'm not the problem."
"I need my guns to protect myself from the pyschos who manage to get their hands on a gun."
"The fact that everyone has a gun keeps crime down because the criminals know that they could get shot." (Yeah, I don't believe it either.)
It seems like there's a nasty catch-22 where nobody will want to be the first to give up their guns because they're afraid that only law-abiding citizens will and then the criminals will have such an advantage that you won't be able to step outside your house without being held up.
And I actually had one person say "They can take my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hand". I thought that was just a cliche -- but somebody actually said it to me (while being totally serious, too).
So, despite the best intentions of some, I expect that this will happen over and over until a high-ranking politician's child gets murdered and then and only then will there be any chance of change.

[Steve]

"So, despite the best intentions of some, I expect that this will happen over and over until a high-ranking politician's child gets murdered and then and only then will there be any chance of change."

I'm not even sure that would be enough, after all a senator was shot in the head at a public meeting at a Safeway last year and that didn't seem to move the needle on this issue either.

[AT]

HI Doug, I heard your interview with Tim and Sid today,.Agreed that Jose is better suited for KC and this team In hindsight, would you still trade for Lowry?

Blogger's note: At that point in time, at that cost, yes.I would have

[doug]

it's to late for any radical change in the gun laws in the States, there are what 280 million firearms out there in the States...that cats out of the bag, I did find it interesting that Connecticut has one of the best gun registry systems in the states....they were able to track down the guns and who owned them in a sec, although our gun registry was flawed the kinks should have been worked out as the police etc never wanted to dismantle it, the Conservatives did and its gone....we shouldn't worry about the states we have to watch our own, as gun laws change very slowly, and before you know it if we aren't vigilante in making our government accountable, we will be down that road....ok have a good one...

[sportschic]

Obama is definitely an orator for the ages. The age of the victims in this case is what marks this as so awful; every mass shooting is terrible, but this one just fills me with sadness. Unspeakable.

[Lorie]

Good Evening, Doug -
A most eclectic blog here today, where we can weigh in on the etiquette of kids and parents in public washrooms (never entrust them to a stranger, I say), degrees of Darrell Walker (bravo!) and a wee bit of Raptors stuff too. (And did you hear one of Tim Micallef and/or Sid Seixeiro describe these Raptors as the most interesting 6-win team in NBA history? I think it was meant as a compliment...!) And finally - and most significantly - Sandy Hook and its (and our) most unimaginable sorrow and a President who gets it. Yes, it's a typically diverse day at Doug's Blog where Different Is Cool. And encouraged. And celebrated.

[Matt M]

Congrats to the Jays on getting RA Dickey. There hasn't been this kind of buzz around a Toronto Sports team since the Raptors got Hedo Turkoglu

[J]

I love the unanimous opinion regarding daughters and restrooms. I wholeheartedly agree that if I had a daughter, I'd be taking her to the men's room until the day she refused to be seen around me. Then I'd just give her some mace. I'm not taking any chances.

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@Rob V: I think the right to bear arms was less because it was a wild time, and more in response to how America gained its freedom, not unlike the right of free speech. In case an oppressive government took hold, guns and free speech would be the tools for defending liberty.

That said, some people are clinging onto the literal wording of the Amendment instead of its intention, while substituting silly excuses (like the ones Chris C. mentioned) for how it's still relevant today. No, it does not prevent crime at all. When I go out, I don't assume anyone has a gun on them, even though they might legally be carrying. I doubt a criminal would be anymore aware than myself. Sometimes, I can understand the need for a gun for home defense; I'd feel a lot more sure of my ability to protect my family if I had something that could put someone down in a heartbeat and from a safe distance. However, I realize it goes both ways and would rather have a chance against someone taking me by surprise. And assault rifles? I'm sorry, but there is no excuse for anyone legally owning a fully automatic assault rifle capable of unloading a thousand rounds a minute. Even semi-automatics are unnecessary. With the apparent popularity of deranged individuals firing into crowds, at least give the victims a goddamn fighting chance! Thinking about my kids needing to survive anywhere from one to twenty rounds per second makes it very easy for me to side with gun control.