All of the weekend mail on a Monday

 

Yeah, sorry I’m late with this. Baseball coaches meeting took me out of the loop Sunday night and I got caught up on some sleep.

Take care tonight, folks. Be safe and happy.

See you in the New Year.

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Q: Johnson firing. Doug, we hear it so often: "We ALL have to get better". Coaches say it about themselves. But HOW do coaches actually get better? It seems unlikely DURING a season. Maybe, for coaches, we should be asking, "Get better at what?" Keeping star player happy? Keeping top brass happy? If you were advising an NBA GM and team owner what 5 things to look at when evaluating a coach mid season, what would they be?

Charles N, Toronto

A: I guess the easiest way to put it is they get better at managing, basically by trial and error, through the course of a season. They improve in managing specific game situations, they get better by figuring out which combinations of players work best together and they get better at handling the various personalities in their charge.

Some more than others, of course.

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Q: Doug, a question about the really good pass-first point guards: what role do teammates' personalities (or lack of same) play in ball distribution decisions? We've seen Jose make some great feeds to Amir and to Ed Davis that allowed those guys to make massive dunks, and in each case they've visibly acknowledged the good pass on their way back up the floor. If their reactions had consistently been more self-centered (pounding their chests for the camera, etc), would Jose (or Nash, or Rondo) feel less inclined to set them up for the highlight reel next time there was an opportunity? Or do the floor generals just look for the highest-probability scoring opportunity every time up the floor, regardless of how the recipient reacts?

Mike D, Toronto

A: We have seen familiarity, for sure, between Jose and Amir mainly, kind of like Stockton and Malone, only different.

But it’s not personalities, per se, it’s more about style of play and consistency. Jose, for instance, knows to look down the lane after Amir sets a screen, just like he knows to look behind the three-point line for Andrea or in the lane if DeMar’s coming off a weak side screen.

I think that’s it more than personalities.

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Q: Hello Doug! Well, today's breathless reports on the NHL lockout seemed more optimistic than usual and maybe - just maybe - this nonsense is really over and all those millionaires and billionaires involved have found a way to share the wealth - ensuring, of course, that the rich will keep getting richer. But my question for you isn't about the owners and players, it's about the members of the media, who might have to now shake off the dust, the rust and the crumbs and get back at it. So, as someone who's been there and done that - and just about the same time last year - what advice do you offer to hockey reporters to help them 'hit the ground running' and quickly get back into game shape? Bearing in mind, of course, the added challenges/pleasures/pressures of a shortened season! Hopefully you haven't exorcised all of last season's fun from your mind! Thank you.

Lorie P, London

A: Kiss the family goodbye and tell ‘em you’ll see them in April. Seriously. What I remember most is the frenetic pace of games, you can’t really prepare for it other than to get ready to write a lot of game stories in a hurry. But one thing I would tell them is to never, ever quote a manager or a player or an agent suggesting they’re sorry for costing part-time workers months of employment and bars and restaurants tons of cash while they played their petty economic game. People don’t want to read it and I would not believe them if they said it.

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Q: Over the years, there have been amnay Raptors players with the same last name. In fact, the Raptors have had many duplicate names at the same time. Watching the Raptors NOLA game, I was struck by Anderson/Anderson matchups and Davis/Davis matchups in the same game. So, which team has the most potential for name on name matchups for the Raps? To make it more difficult, was there ever a 3 Williams' team that could have matched up against the Raps?

Sheila C, Ottawa

A: Wasn’t there a time when there were three Williamses here? Aaron, Eric and Alvin? Or was Alvin done by then, I can’t remember.

And a quick glance at the rosters – very quick – makes me think New Orleans is the best match for this group. That was pretty cool, wasn’t it?

And didn’t New Jersey or Atlanta once have three Williamse’s? Maybe it was two but it happened about four or five years ago.

Gimme a day or two and we’ll get this in the regular blog with more research.

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Q: Hi Doug. I wanted to ask you what you feel is the best way to teach young basketball players how to play offence. I coach a group of 13-14 year old boys and often find that once they gain possession of the ball, their natural instinct is to run. Often times they get caught in 1 on 3, 1 on 4, and 1 on 5 situations and try to do everything on their own. I've tried to implement simple isolation plays and pick and rolls along with simple offensive systems but I find they often forget what they need to do in the midst of the game and revert back to old habits. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

Joe D, Mississauga

A: My opinion? Teach them every facet of the game. Teach them all to pass and shoot and dribble and make them aware that the fastest way to move the ball is by passing it.

Tell them you don’t want a shot taken until four or five passes are made and stick to it.

Oh, and point out that spacing the court is huge; that they can get open on the weak side with one fake and a move. It’ll be easier for them and perhaps more fun.

But what you want to do more than listent to me is to go to basketball.ca and see what kind of coaching tips or clinics my friends over there have for you.

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Q: Hi Doug. Sorry about your Christmas travel adventures, I hope the new year goes really well for you.

I am going to pull a reverse Jeopardy and ask a question in the form of an answer. On the tank issue I decided to look at the record and find teams that drafted number one who then won a championship with that player still on the roster. I started semi arbitrarily the year after the ABA stopped playing (1977).

I found 4 teams out of the 35 champions: Portland with Walton (drafted while the ABA was still running), Lakers with Magic and Worthy (picks acquired by trade), Rockets with Hakeem, and the Spurs with Robinson and Duncan. Nobody since then.

Did I miss anybody?

There are several players (Shaq, LeBron) who won after changing teams.

I would suggest that this is evidence against the idea of tanking.

Do you have any thoughts on why the results look like this?

My thought is that winning requires management competence that's incompatible with winding up at the bottom of the league.

James R, Toronto

A: Good research, I cna’t come up with any others.

And it is as I’ve said a zillion times: It takes good drafting, good free agent signings, astute personality management, solid scouting skills and an awful lot of luck to put together a championship team, a single draft – even with the No. 1 pick – is a small, small, small part.

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Q: Morning Doug. If you're Casey, what do you do with Bargnani when he comes back? If history holds (Fields and Lowry), he should go to the bench. Did you ask Casey or anyone connected with the team about it?

Paul C, Mississauga

A: I haven't asked specifically because we are weeks and weeks away and who knows what the situation will be then. It's not worth asking at the moment, to tell you the truth. But you're right, if history holds Bargnani will come off the bench.

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Q: Hi Doug. As well as the Raptor's have played this month, they're still 9 games under .500 on the season. In fact, they're only .500 for the month of December.

Seeing as the 8th seed usually needs to have about 41 wins (or a .500 record) what does this do for Bryan Colangelo?

In order to get to .500 for the season, the Raptors will have to win 70 percent of their games between now and the end of the season. For perspective, they will have to finish the season with the same winning percentage that the Knicks have started the season.

Does management honestly believe that's possible with this roster?

My real question is, if you're the GM, do you begin planning for next year or do you go into the trade deadline continuing to try to make the playoffs this year?

Thanks!

Peter L, Acton

A: It doesn't "do" anything to Bryan except validate his long-stated opinion that this group is capable of growth and challenging do for the final playoff spot in the East and would mean he continues to make the moves he things will move them further close to that goal. If anything, the recent spate of success would suggest they are on the right path.

As for the win totals and what they need to get to, I bet the eighth spot will go to a team below .500 but we have no idea.

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Q: Hi Doug. This is the first time I've posed a question for you, even though I've read your blog daily for over 3 years. I recently read about DeMarcus Cousins' latest antics in Sacramento and the team imposed suspension. The few times I have seen him play, I've been extremely impressed with his talent and potential (although his maturity level is clearly not up to par). It seems to me that both him and Bargnani are in need of a change of scenery (even though I'm all for giving Andrea another shot at working within the new found team system the raps have shown the last few games). Do you see this as a potential trade?

I am of the opinion that with the right mentorship, Cousins has All-Star potential. I believe Sacramento has had enough of his attitude, and they would welcome an established scorer in Bargnani. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for your time and insight.

Andi K, Toronto

A: I'm sure you know I rarely deal with rumours but this thought needs to be squashed and believe me, you are not alone in this suggestion.

First, not only doesn't the money work and there's not much else in Toronto that Sacramento would want back, I will ask you this question:

What does Bryan value more than anything, perhaps even talent at some level?

Character. And Cousins has been questionable even before he got to the NBA. At this point, Cousins has shown, at times,abundant talent. He also shown an equal abundance of disruptive behaviour.

Tales from the game and tales from the road trip

We now have no games outside the Eastern time zone until early March and I don’t have a multi-game road trip for almost two months and after this trip, you cannot imagine how happy I am about that.

Here we go …

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THREE POINTERS

Doing what they’re supposed to

Even before the season, when everyone was getting all excited – almost too excited – what I figured had to happen for these fellas to have a good season was pretty simple:

They had to beat up on the other suspect young teams (and there are a lot of them), take care of things at home and steal a win out of nowhere against “good” teams and they’d get to where they should be:

Hovering right around that 38 to 41 win range that would put them in post-season contention, which is where they want to be.

So?

In this stretch they’ve beaten Orlando twice, Cleveland, Detroit and New Orleans – all games they need to get to get where they want to go – and have surprised Houston and Dallas at home.

Yes, a few got away from them early – Charlotte, Detroit, Philly, Indy -- and that may ultimately cost them but, to this point, they’ve done pretty much exactly what I thought they’d do.

And with the way the schedule is and the way their confidence in blossoming and the way the rest of the league is shaking out, I think we might be in for a fun few months.

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Classy kid

I didn’t get to run into John Lucas III after the game – something about having to go write – but just the fact that I could have was pretty significant.

It has to say something about a young man that he’d get back to his team after attending his grandmother’s funeral that afternoon, something about his personality and about the strength of a team, as Dwane alluded to before the game.

“I told him, ‘hey you don’t have to make it back, just take your time,’ but he wanted to get back and be with his team. A lot of times when you’re in those situations, it gives you a little solace to be with your friends and teammates and be around basketball. He was close to his grandmother and he felt like it would help him to get back here and be with his teammates.”

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Shared feelings

Know how I was talking about Dwane realizes there’s still all kinds of work to do and they haven’t done very much at all in this morning’s game story?

Well the message seems to be getting through, as Jose noted after the game.

“I think right now we just have to take it game by game. We are still 11-20 so it’s not like we’re back. We still have a big losing record and like coach said we have more to do. Don’t get too excited. It’s a step by step, game by game thing.

“Don’t think too much about what we’re doing. I think we’re playing great and it’s fun and nice to see everyone happy and doing the right thing but at the end of the day it’s just one game.”

That’s going to be Dwane’s biggest task in this coming homestand, making sure these guys don’t get too full of themselves.

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Quickly, some more from the three-city, seven-flight (I hate United!), six-day journey?

Sure.

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I’m sitting in a couple of airplanes – and seats 32B and 41D are as delightful as they sound – and Super Family is wandering the French Quarter and run into this fellow filming a scene of something.

Antoine Batiste is one cool dude.

Just watch.

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And …

Want some snippets from the road? Here are some highlights or lowlights, depending on your view:

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THREE (non-traditional) POINTERS

Anyone home?

We’re in San Antonio and arrive at the arena to pick up that night’s credentials. There’s a gentleman of Even A Greater Vintage Than I sitting at the desk and he doesn’t have our passes.

So he brings out the old flip phone – yes, they still make them – and calls someone from the Spurs to bring them up, leaving a message for the obviously busy staffer.

We’re waiting and waiting somewhat impatiently – we have our league credentials, sure they can just write us new Spurs ones – when the dude’s phone rings.

I swear, he picks it up, starts screaming “Hello? Hello? Chris, is that you?”

Nothing out of the ordinary except …

THE PHONE IS STILL RINGING!

He’s got it to his ear, hasn’t actually answered and the thing rings about four times while he’s yelling hello.

Reminded me of this classic from the latest Three Stooges.

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A Family Affair

It’s 4:45 a.m. when I walk out of my room in New Orleans to check out and get the first flight of the day and I come around the corner of the hallway, another door opens and this pajama-clad young woman, has to be in her 20s, walks out of her room with a baby – can’t be more than four or five months old – on her shoulder.

I figure maybe the baby’s a bit cranky and she’s going for a walk down in the lobby so her husband or whoever can sleep a bit.

We ride the elevator in silence, we get to the lobby and there’s this guy at the desk—and he has been major league over-sold at the bar – and he’s hot. Yelling and slamming the desk top, demanding the police in his slurred words (I heard “yeah, I’m a bit effed up but that doesn’t matter) and I’m thinking, ‘wow.’

Seems the guy had been in some bar fight or street fight, had either been charged or arrested and he wants the cops back or something – I really couldn’t quite understand him – and he’s making a big time ruckus. The poor young woman, with her baby and slippers and pajamas – it’s 4:50 a.m., mind you – is just standing there, looking sad. Drunk Dude finally gets calmed down and stumbles to the elevator; the woman stands there for a few minutes and walks back towards the room.

Sickening at some big level.

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A Helping Hand

Another NOLA story.

I get to the airport on the off-day, walk out to the concourse to take the escalator down to ground transportation to meet Gumby Of The Sun when this porter, pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair, motions me over.

I’m just about to tell him that, no, I’m not with the woman when he says:

“Sir, can you help me out? Can you ride down one floor with this woman, I’m afraid of elevators and don’t want to take her down the baggage claim.”

Um, okay, sure.

So I push the lady to the elevator, help her in, ride down one floor push her chair back out the door and there’s the porter waiting for us.

I have no clue what the woman thought of the situation, we didn’t speak, but I figure that was my good deed for the trip.

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Yeah, it was a helluva road trip, indeed.

Time to come home.

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The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Magic

Hey, everyone. What's new tonight?

A different kind of ending to a close game

Aside from the stress hell of the writing process – the first edition thing written in about 90 seconds while the IGBT went on should be forever banished from the ether and print – that was a pretty solid night.

Good game, some good plays and, if you’re a fan, the fact they pulled it out after blowing a late lead had to stunned you.

Dwane, however, seemed to know what was coming, as he told us after the game.

Anyway, as I sit at NOLA International, waiting for another leg in a Road Trip of Sleep Deprivatin, here we go …

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THREE POINTERS

Mr. Tough Guy

Alan Anderson may have scored 16 points – and that’s nice – but what he did at the other end to Ryan Anderson was a thing of beauty.

He got up in the taller three-point shooter, gave him no space to operate, chased him around screens like he was attached to him and that was the kind of defence Dwane Casey appreciates more than anything.

Ryan Anderson may have made seven shots and rattled in that game-tying three but Alan Anderson played him almost perfectly for as long as he was covering him.

It didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, Jose Calderon singled him out.

“I think Alan (Anderson) did a great job on defence and offence and I think he got everyone going.”

Having one guy who can guard one guy pretty well alone is a luxury Casey’s seldom had. Now, no one expects Anderson to do it all himself every night but on night’s like Friday, that’s a huge factor for this team.

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Live and learn. Still.

Of course DeMar should have driven on that final possession of regulation time, everyone in the gym expected it.

Most of all his coach.

“That’s why we run that play: Take, rip, and go attack the rim, put the decision in the referees hands. When you fade away, you let them hook. It’s something he’s got to learn to do, he’s been told but he made some big shots, got to the free throw line throughout out the game and made the big three that was huge.”

DeRozan’s game has grown quite well this season but it will still be lacking something until he gets it through his head to force the issue in situations like that.

Everyone knows he can barely go left, and that’s where the middle was, but he needs to try to get around the corner going right instead of driving straight to the baseline and fading to the sideline instead of going to the basket.

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The kid’s going to be good

I’ll tell you right now, Anthony Davis is one impressive rookie.

Sure, he’s got to get thicker and stronger and more savvy in the ways of the NBA but he was as good as anyone on the floor for most of Friday night.

He’s got a far better mid-range jump shot than I had expected, or heard about, and if he can make that and develop his ball-handling skills a bit more, he’s got “unstoppable” in his future.

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Okay, so what else?

Well, I went to the airport at 5:15 a.m. to go New Orleans-Atlanta-Orlando (yes, the Lewis and Clark Travel Agency got me again) but wish I was going to find this guy.

Never enough Kermit Ruffins in the morning, is there?

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Things That Irk Me, Vol. 13,205,691:

People who chew gum loudly. And people who chew gum loudly in crowded elevators. And people who chew gum loudly in crowded elevators at 9 a.m. when some of us are tired and a bit cranky. And people who chew gum loudly in crowded elevators at 9 a.m. when some of us are tired and a bit cranky and then proceed to ignore the death stare being aimed at the back of their heads.

That is all.

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The Miami Heat is one easily offended organization, isn’t it?

Dwane Wade boots Ramon Sessions in the groin – and no matter how you look at it, that’s precisely what he did as you can see right here – and he gets a one-game suspension, totally warranted.

And Heat get all ticked off, put out a somewhat scathing news release defending Wade’s history and character and all miffed about it.

Then Erik Spoelstra gets all defensive about how the Heat are victims of hard fouls all the time and how unfair it.

Pul-eeeeze!

Ever seen LeBron James goes down like he’s been shot at the slightest of contact, Wade’s been rolling around on the floor on more than one occasion and Chris Bosh? Well, let’s just say … ah, you know.

The Heat needn’t whine, Wade – who has some sneaky dirty in him if you ask other players – did indeed boot the guy in the groin and he should suck it up and take the punishment.

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One last shot at mail, okay?

Figure I’ll do regular stuff tomorrow and a night bonus mailbag and do the usual fare Monday morning.

Click. Write nice notes. Send.

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The David Robinson story, forgotten the other night and I might have told it before, anyway.

You know what I think of Robinson, right? First class gentleman and athlete, just an excellent guy. Saw him at the game the other night and he’s shaking hands and signing autographs and giving everyone a smile and a look in the eye.

Comes as no surprise.

It was after the last Spurs championship, whatever year that was, and you know the organization was celebrating as well it should. Robinson was at that game, front and centre with the execs when they get the trophy and very much a part of the party.

Well, it’s about 6 a.m. the next day, a Gaggle of Grunts have dragged their sorry butts to the airport to get home and we’re tired and grumpy and not all the communicative.

And who do we see at that ungodly hour?

David Robinson, standing among the mortals in the regular check-in line, waiting patiently with his son at the security check (like he should have to go through security?) and shaking hands and speaking with anyone who wanted to.

You know how many athletes of Robinson’s ilk would have (a) blown off where he had to go at 6 a.m. the day after his organization won a title or (b) would have insisted on a charter or (c) would have hidden in some private enclave?

How about almost every single one of them.

He didn’t.

Kinda cool, no?

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Okay, Delta Airlines willing, we're back about 7 tonight for the usual IGBT, right?

See you then.

 

 

 

The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Hornets

Good evening from rainy NOLA.

The times we live in are tough for coaches

No, I don’t think Avery Johnson deserved to get fired in Brooklyn, I think it was a bit of an over-reaction from ownership who had placed unrealistic expectations on a roster that is, in my opinion, good but far from great.

It’s forever thus, though.

Should anyone have been surprised, really?

As we mentioned in Nothing But Net, once the CEO started apologizing and the players started openly questioning strategy and each other, it seems Johnson was doomed.

Is he a bad coach?

No.

Is he a great coach?

No.

I wasn’t a big fan when he was in Dallas, there seemed to be some level of “control” he exuded that made me sit up and take notice but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t do the job. It meant that he needed to work on his craft and get better.

Was he? That’s really not for me to say but I think he was done in by the failings of the roster and what people thought he should do.

Dwane brought up an interesting point when we were talking about Johnson yesterday. Not surprisingly, he came to the defence of the fired colleague.

“It takes time, I don’t care who you are … when you put a new team together full of superstars, it takes time. Put a young team together and build it, it takes time. That’s nature of our business.

“I know Avery will bounce back, he’s a very good coach, whoever coaches that team is still going to have the same issues, that team’s not going to change, they have one of the highest payrolls in the league and a lot of a talent, it’s just going to take time. It’s unfortunate but it’s our business.”

He’s right, of course, but time is a luxury few will give in this age of instant gratification. Too bad, but it’s the world we live in.

“That’s what happens when expectations are out of whack. It’s unfortunate but I think Avery’s a very good coach. You put a team together – it’s a lot like Miami, I mean Miami struggled the first year and everyone was calling for Spoelstra’s head. They stuck with him, they won a championship.”

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You know, the first time I came to New Orleans, and I don’t remember exactly what season that was, I wasn’t a fan.

I found Bourbon Street – at least the bottom down by Canal – too much, too loud, too dirty, too Caligula-like. It was over the top like I’d seldom seen over the top and, frankly, I couldn’t wait to get out of here and on to some other place.

And, yes, it’s still dirty and loud – we were out there one on New Year’s Eve and it was crazy – but now I’ve come to appreciate the other parts of the city, or at least the downtown, and it’s pretty much a “don’t miss” when the schedule comes out.

You can dine at a lot of hole-in-the-wall places that are great, you have to see the show at Preservation Hall if you can and if you walk far up Bourbon and find Fritzell’s, you won’t be disappointed. I’ve been there twice now – introduced to it by Stumpy’s sister who lives here – and seen the same house band.

You tell me if they’re any good.

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We’re driving back from practice and someone notices the Sugar Bowl logo on the Superdome that’s next door to the arena (Florida against Louisville for those who care) and we start chatting about days we’ve been in the States around bowl time.

And I know I talked about guys with pigs heads on cheering for Arkansas at the Cotton Bowl that year but I’d totally forgotten the one time we were in New Orleans around Sugar Bowl time.

Had to be the mid-2000s, I’d guess around 2005 and Hawaii was playing. I tell you, you have never seen anything until you’ve seen a bunch of out-of-place Hawaiians wandering up the bacchanalia that is Bourbon Street in their Rainbow Warrior garb.

It was like they’d been dropped on another planet.

That was the same year the Timmy Chang kid was the all the quarterback rage and the next time I heard of him, I was writing an Argo story and he was the backup in Hamilton.

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All it took was a mad dash concourse to concourse at O’Hare after a delay at Pearson that caused some major angst but Super Wife and Super Son got here mid-afternoon.

Their bags, of course, got here about 2 a.m., well after the shopping spree for replacement clothing had taken place.

Thanks, United.

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Okay, test time.

How many of you, despite history suggesting otherwise, have looked at the schedule and started adding up the wins.

New Orleans, Orlando and then six straight at home against

Portland, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, Philly, Charlotte and Milwaukee.

Come on, be honest.

Some of you see six wins, some I bet ever see seven.

Oh, you sillyheads.

As we all know, or should, games are games unto themselves, teams jump up and play well out of nowhere, the Raptors can play poorly at the drop of the hat.

There are no “sure” things and no one knows what more than Dwane Casey.

“We’re a work in progress, we’re a rebuilding organization, we’re building, trying to get there and there’s no team where we can look at the schedule and say, ‘hey, that’s a W.’

“Teams may do us that way but we are not in a place to say that. We have to play as a desperate team. If we don’t play desperate and play hungry, like somebody’s trying to take something from us, we can’t survive.”

Heed those words as the next couple of weeks or so unfold, would you?

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Way late but I need some mail, please.

Not sure what the schedule will be with the odd Saturday night game (is anyone else been screwed up all week with what day of the week it actually is) but there will be mail.

And knowing you all, there’ll be a lot of it.

Click. Say hello. Send.

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Okay, it’s 6 a.m. when I start this, I’m about to tuck into this $30 breakfast buffet here (sorry, boss) and the people are still blaring Christmas carols in the lobby?

Cease! Desist!

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Might a subtle change be ahead

Well, does a 58-1 finish to the season tickle your fancy?

Guess that’s what it’ll have to be.

Funny what happens when an okay team plays a very good one that’s rested and playing at home?

At least it wasn’t another 12-point loss.

Anyway, sorry I’m late; figured 45 more minutes sleep to get it to a four-hour night was more important. Knew I could get this done on the layover in Houston.

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THREE POINTERS

Change coming?

No one’s saying it out loud, nor are they really hinting at it, but I can see Landry Fields back in the starting lineup in place of Mickael Pietrus by this time next week at the latest.

Nothing against Pietrus but he was always a stopgap and he really isn’t giving them anything at all in the scant few minutes he’s playing these days. And you figure on those wonky knees it’s just a matter of time before he needs a night or two off.

And the way Fields played in San Antonio – typically solid if unspectacular – why not let him start the first and third quarters and see what you get. Dwane was kind of impressed with Fields.

“I thought he picked us up in that one stretch where we were kind of lagging a little bit … he gave us great energy, ran the floor, loose balls. Playing out of position a little bit at the three-four but I was wanting to get him a little burn and to get him back into the fold.”

It’s not like Pietrus is some integral part of the future, or even an asset to be dealt. He was a last-gasp shot at plugging a hole when Anderson and Fields were hurt; now they’re healthy, why not use them?

So do you do it Friday in New Orleans or Saturday in Orlando? Or do you wait and let them get three more practices in and do it next Wednesday at home?

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Setting them up

There weren’t too many memorable moments – in fact, there were none, really – but there was one Amir Johnson move I thought was interesting.

Came with about two minutes left in the third quarter when he got the ball about a metre behind the free throw line. Instead of unfurling his shot – which had been smooth most of the night – he drew a respectful defender (I think it was Duncan) to him and then drove by him for a layup.

It wasn’t a pump fake, per se, but Johnson’s shot had been effective enough that they got right up on him and if he can do that and get by his man, he becomes a far more dangerous offensive player.

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Makes entire sense

Am sure you all saw the Casey statement that Calderon remains the starting point guard when Lowry returns and, really, it was a no-brained of a decision.

Yes, Lowry has skills the HOTH need - primarily his ability to get to the rim - but why in the world would Dwane mess up something that's going so well?

What I think we might see is less of Calderon and Lowry on the floor at the same time because those minutes when one of them is playing off the ball are now better spent with Terrence Ross on the court. They were reluctant to do that early in year because Ross had that "deer in the headlights" thing going on but that's dissipated a lot now.

No, Ross did not have his greatest game in San Antonio - there were a handful of defensive lapses - but he's shown enough.

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More?

Not sure how much more there is, the 4 a.m. wakeup call has me a wee bit tired but what the heck …

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So the cabbie taking us back from the game was a de facto tour guide, a former cop turned film worker turned part-time cab driver (yeah, quite the career arc).

He drives us by the Cameo Theatre where they do live productions now; in the past it apparently was one of the homes of heavy metal music in Texas.

I’m a bit taken aback that groups like AC/DC or Guns N’ Roses would be popular in these parts and he says:

“They say there are three Gs in Texas: God, George Straight and Guns N’ Roses.”

So …

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How's this for technology.

(And you know me and technology, this is going to take some getting used to)

Thanks to Santa, I've got one of these nifty little iPad mini things and an app that let's me type far more comfortably on a packed plane.

So I'm jammed in this window seat for the quick flight over to Houston and I can work on this, e-mail it myself when we get to Houston and hopefully get it all done before that flight segment.

Cool, eh?

And I’m sure there are all kinds of other tricks with this thing that I can do; any advice greatly appreciated.

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Hey, heard there was some snow back home?

In Canada. In late December! Go figure.

Did the army get to Toronto yet?

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Caught up with the first Bowl game of the season in person. Our hotel in San Antonio was home to the Texas Longhorns, who’ll meet the Oregon State Beavers the AlamoBowl on the weekend.

Was a rather sedate group last night – didn’t see a single drunken fan in the hotel when we got back to decompress – and it’s a far cry from the most raucous group we’ve seen in person.

That was one year in Dallas and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bunch of pig mask-wearing Arkansas Razorback fans snorting around the lobby of the old hotel we used to stay in by the old Reunion Arena.

Sooey, indeed.

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The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Spurs

Hey, folks. Back again.

Whatever happened to basic common sense?

You know, I’d love to tell you about a nice night with a good dinner at some cool San Antonio joint that was open …

But.

Damn United Airlines came up with one of the all-time worst customer service situations of all time and I don’t know what’s happened to that face to life but no one seems to have the least of common sense and I’m sure you’ve all shared something like this, which is as much a part of this rant as the specifics.

We get in the 1:30 p.m. flight to Houston – no, you cannot get to San Antonio directly from here and who wants to go near O’Hare – and about 4:05 p.m. we get bundled off because some computer part wouldn’t work.

Now, I can totally understand mechanical issues with planes and have no problem with delaying or cancelling them, it happens.

But when the full plane unloads – I’d say 80-90 customers already pissed and many with connections – to find one – ONE!!!!!! – customer-service rep to re-book everyone, it was stunning to me.

Surely in the nearly three hours we waited someone could have alerted someone that a whole bunch of people were going to need help, quickly, if they were to get out.

But, no. Soon there were two of them – one arrived an hour later to board another flight – and it took almost two hours for them to suggest we should go back and clear Canadian customs and head up to the ticketing counter to find out what they could do for us.

If I’d had those two hours, perhaps I could have found another connection – through Chicago or Dallas or even Denver – that might have made it possible to get to San Antonio. I don’t know, but I never had the chance to find out.

And when I mentioned – 15 minutes into our wait – that I’d go to another gate to see if anyone could help me, the little dude who was obviously talking just to hear his voice because he made no sense at all told me, and I quote, “there no other agents available, they’ll be here soon.”

Nearly 90 minutes later, I ripped the kid for the blatant lie and all I got was a blank stare.

Like I said, specifics suck and show a total disregard for the paying customer, the fact no one in the five hours we spent on the plane and waiting to rebook had the common sense to think, “we need to get some people here and in a hurry” is stunning. What ever happened to people using their brains?

And after I take my 6 a.m. flight Wednesday to Washington to get to San Antonio right after shootaround ends, you can be sure I’m changing every United flight I have booked to some other carrier.

They don’t care about me, I won’t give a rat’s bum about them.

Merry Christmas.

End o’ rant.

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The guy enjoyed a beer every now and then and he hung around at the ballpark and the racetrack and lived his life precisely they way he wanted.

His desk looked like mine and his room did, too; at his heart he was a pretty good guy who had great friends and treated everybody pretty well.

And if you don’t think Oscar Madison wasn’t a role model for me … well, I’ve failed.

RIP, Jack Klugman.

But you know what? Before he was Oscar, he was pretty good. And this has to be on the list of top movies, right?

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Oh yeah, the Raptors?

Talked by text and e-mail to a few folks last night, still no timeline or news on Valanciunas – figure they want to go over the situation as a staff.

As soon as I get to see someone in person in San Antonio, I’ll let you know.

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So, hands up everyone who’s going to a mall or some shopping area today?

Are you nuts!?!?!?

Have fun but, man, I don’t quite get it. Isn’t even more crowded than before Christmas as there’s no real deadline facing you?

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Who liked those monochromatic uniforms?

Nah, me neither.

Guess I could almost handle the Oklahoma City blue but when I saw video of those hideous New York jerseys I was kind of taken aback.

They didn’t strike me as particularly orange, nor particularly nice, and I imagine there were hundreds of truly casual NBA fans who were watching their first games of the year going “who’s that?” an awful lot. Regular fans could tell by body type and playing style but I bet there were some confused newbies watching games.

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You know, the whole travel part can suck big time (the 200 people waiting to get into a closed customs hall at 4 a.m. was delightful) and then you run into Danny (and I hope I spelled that right) who is a Silent Irregular and he says hello at the gate for a pleasant conversation after the Starbucks was procured and the day’s not too bad.

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Oh yeah:

Ugliest Christmas Day uniforms had to be Houston’s. Silver does not translate well onto TV.

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Time to keep making a move?

If you look at the HOTH and the next three weeks, you have to see some reason for optimism. After all, after this three-games-in-four-night trip they are home for a season-high six-game homestand, no back-to-back, a nice rhythm of Wednesday-Friday-Sunday-Wednesday-Friday-Sunday that should give them some time to practice and catch their breath.

The worry?

I know this sounds silly but if they start looking ahead, they’re dead. They are not good enough to look past any one game and what lies ahead of them – if they start paying close attention – is fool’s gold.

Not sure how easy it will be but Dwane has to keep on them – hard – so they don’t look past the very next game.

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Words to live by

A hope for the future

 

Peace on Earth

Goodwill towards men (and women)

 

That about says it all, right?

 

Talk to you on the travels; have a wonderful day