Raptors at Jazz, game-day Dino-bytes

The usual post-shootaround, game-day fare setting up tonight’s Raptors-Jazz game.

 

TORONTO (4-15) at UTAH (10-10)

Energy Solutions Arena

TIPOFF: 9 p.m.

TV: TSN; RADIO: FAN590

 

Probable starters

Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Mickael Pietrus, Andrea Bargnani, Jonas Valanciunas; Utah: Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Marvin Williams, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson.

 

Key backups tonight

Toronto: Ed Davis (comes in off one of his best games of the year), Terrence Ross (need his energy and shooting); Utah: Gordon Hayward (averaged 13 points per game), DeMarre Carroll (had been starting for injured Williams).

 

Season series

Utah won an epic 140-133 triple overtime game last month in Toronto; Raptors are 4-12 all-time in Utah.

 

What happened this morning

Same old, same old

Dwane Casey said he’s not making any changes to his starting lineup tonight.

“That’s always a possibility but we’ve discussed it, it’s not panic time,” he said. “We are where we are, we’re a work on progress and it’s a process. That’s always a possibility to change the lineup but now is not the time.”

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However …

Linas Kleiza is back and available, Casey did say. We forgot to ask him if Kleiza would go back in the starting five at the expense of Mickael Pietrus and the coach didn’t offer that information.

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Remember when …

Most memorable Utah moment?

Then coach Darrell Walker flipping off the fans as he walked off the court following one game here. He was fined $5,000 for his antics but it was quickly backpage news because it happened the same day Latrell Sprewell choked P.J. Carlesimo.

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Banged up Jazz

Al Jefferson (back spasms), Derrick Favors (plantar fascitis) and Mo Williams (gastric distress) are listed as game-time decisions.

Word from some people close to the team is that Jefferson is the least likely to play.

And, yes, that’s the first time I can remember “gastric distress” appearing on an injury report.

Here’s the details from this morning’s Salt Lake City Tribune.

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A long night ahead?

If history serves, it will be.

Aside from the three-OT marathon last month in Toronto, the teams played a double-overtime game here last season.

That was the game, as you recall, that Andrea Bargnani re-injured is calf and effectively called it a season.

Raptors won that game, after winning in Phoenix the night before in what might have been the high-water mark of the year.

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A few similarities with a couple of young kids

I knew there’d be a day when a major sleep-in and a forgot-to-set-the-phone-alarm would happen.

It was today and now I’m like three hours behind. Grrr.

Anyway, a bunch of little things today if that’s all right?

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You know who Ed Davis reminds me of a little bit?

DeMar DeRozan a year ago and if you want to chart the progress of a couple of young Raptors, I think they might be mirror images in some way.

Davis is young, he’s a tad inconsistent but you can see so much promise you have this feeling that he could be pretty good.

Now, I like Ed, a lot. Good kid, very personable, works hard and you see an awful lot of promise there.

But the youth is the thing, isn’t it?

His first year was delayed because of knee surgery (and you’ll notice none of these kids spent the summer going out to find open gyms with the people) and his second year was screwed because of the lockout that robbed him of summer league, training camp and the pre-season.

But now? Now you see so much promise it’s not even funny. He’s got good instincts on the defensive end, he’s growing into his body quite well, an emerging offensive game and I see him with great possibilities in the next couple of years.

Yes, he has all kinds of things to develop in his game – his jump shot is far from smooth, he still gets pushed off the block too easily, he needs to get some kind of go-to move – but I think he needs to play a lot and see where he goes with his raw talent.

I think he could be tougher mentally and bring his ‘A’ game every night but watching him on those nights when he’s ‘on’ you see so many possibilities it’s not funny.

He’s not there yet but he’s getting closer and if I’m Dwane as this season progresses, you need to find as much time as possible for him.

Davis played a season high minutes the other night in Sacramento, I hope they stay about that level for the rest of the season.

I think he’s one of those kids that if you let them play, they’ll surprise you.

We saw it a bit with DeRozan, they let him go and he kind of figured it out as he went along and now he’s pretty good.

I think Davis will eventually get it and he just needs the time to show that.

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I wonder whatever happened to my 10:30 a.m. flight from Sacramento to Salt Lake yesterday.

Yeah, we’re going to have a travel woe or two over the course of the season and no one really gives a rat’s ass but the 10:30 plane never got there, we were standby and eventually shut out of the 1:30 flight and ended up on the 4:25 flight over to Salt Lake.

So remember when I told you the Sacramento airport was new and way better? Well, after having to sit there for EIGHT FREAKING HOURS I can’t tell you how thankful I was for a nice waiting area and easy wireless.

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Best line of the entire airport/airline ordeal?

We’re right at the start, when we think the original plane might get there, and an obviously agitated woman gets in the line at the podium.

She’s all stressed out that it’s a small plane – a regional jet that hold about 50 – and is getting kind of antsy. She says, to no one in particular but I was the closest:

“I’m glad I took that Xanax, that’ll help.”

I nod in some kind of agreement because it seemed the right thing to do and I was a’scared of her anyway. It only seems to encourage her:

“Oh, and a couple of beers. Those were good.”

I skedaddle, she gets shifted to another airline so she could make a connection and Lord knows how her day turned out.

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Yes, there might be a bad word in here and for that I apologize and warn you but …

(And I think you all know me well enough to know I am not in any way making light of a disastrous moment in world history that occurred today and the Pearl Harbour memorial is as touching a one as I've ever seen).

But …

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Kids these days and their zany lingo.

Ed Davis wanders past us one day early in the trip – it might have been Monday morning in Denver, which was an eon ago – and being the polite small-talkers we are, we ask how he’s doing.

“Pimp-tastic.”

Slack-jawed, I mumble, “um, good” and about two days later I finally run into him again and ask what on earth “pimp-tastic” might mean.

Seems it means you’re having a really good day.

Of course it does.

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Hey, a question.

If you jam your thumb on a bedside table and you wake up in the morning and it’s swollen about twice its size and it’s killing you, is that a good sign?

Didn’t think so.

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How about the pucks?

Having a wee bit of recent experience in the area of sports work stoppages, I can offer this from afar:

It sure seems to me that the season is toast, I’m not even hearing any of the conciliatory phrases and words we heard at the same time in the basketball lockout a year ago.

And it gets to this, as it always does:

No matter what they say, they don’t care a whit about the fans or the workers in and around arenas who are getting killed by this lockout.

These are petulant billionaires and millionaires try to get even richer and if a few little guys get beaten down by their squabbling, who cares.

I just hope – and I fear it won’t happen – that the fans stay away in droves if this thing ever gets settled.

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Change, of some sort, might not be a bad idea now

How’s everyone today?

That good, eh? Cool.

All right, still the crack of dawn here so it’s a new day, new challenges, new fun.

Here you go.

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THREE POINTERS

Change coming?

Just doing some tea leaf reading and no one has suggested this anywhere near the record, on or off, but I don’t think it would be a surprise if you saw Amir Johnson starting and Jonas Valanciunas coming off the bench. Maybe as early as Friday.

Now, please, for the love all that’s good in the world, do not take this as some huge slight at Valanciunas, he is still good and going to very good and he is not personally to blame for what’s going on. And even the harshest critics would admit he’s had a lot of quite good games for a kid 19 games into his career.

But he’s also learning and maybe it’s easier to learn against second unit guys now.

I still think it was right to start him from the beginning to see what he had and to throw him right into the fire; some nights it worked, some nights it didn’t.

But they are at a crucial juncture of the season and I think maybe it wouldn’t be that bad an idea.

It might be tough for Dwane to sell to his bosses but that’s part of the job. It’s not like Valanciunas won’t still get his 25 or 28 minutes or whatever it is, they’ll just come later in the game.

And it’s certainly not a done deal but I think it’s something they should consider.

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But why not the other guy?

Oh, you mean Andrea?

Two reasons:

Whether you like it or not, they need his offence, or at least the threat of it, out there as much as possible.

You may not believe it and, yes, he’s had some dreadful shooting nights, but teams do pay major attention to him, still.

It should have been no surprise to any basketball person that Kyle Lowry benefited greatly from Bargnani’s mere presence on the court late in that Sacramento game.

Dwane even mentioned it when the discussion got around to Ed Davis’s role in the Kings game.

“We needed spacing for Kyle to get to the bucket; Andrea would space the floor for us. Eddie would have been our next option but with (Bargnani’s) three-point shooting, it would space the floor for Kyle to get into the paint because he had it going.”

Tell me that doesn’t make sense. You can’t.

And, if you want your second unit to provide some energy – and all good teams do – I don’t see how Bargnani coming off the bench does that. It doesn’t.

And the next time he goes for 25 or 30, you’ll agree. For a night at least.

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A slashing three?

Michael Pietrus gets the ball on the left wing just after halftme and we all figure a three-pointer’s coming, at best.

Whoah.

Two or three dribbles, he’s in the paint, up in the air and dunking. With some authority.

And someone asks when was the last time we saw that from a Raptors small forward.

Vince?

Might have been. Now, Pietrus isn’t going to do that every time, or even every game, but if he can at least be an attacking threat, it’s got to help, right?

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A tiny bit more before the cab comes to go to the airport to continue this journey.

And the fact we’re only two games into five is a tiring thougt.

But, first. Mail. Please. Give me something fun to read. Thanks.

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So, I’m told by the great Scott Howard-Cooper that, no, we weren’t in the “new” terminal at the airport here and that the luggage in that picture was leftover/forgotten from the old terminal and that there is an even newer one that houses some other airlines.

Don’t think we get to it this trip but I like new airports so hopefully next year.

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Hey, Super Son?

I know you’re reading this because you read it every day, right?

Well, there’s this guy named Dave Brubeck and I don’t imagine you’ve ever heard of him but …

Go tinkle the ivories a wee bit and do some sax practice. Listen to this and I’ll be back Tuesday night to check it out.

Love,

Super Dad.

RIP, Dave Brubeck.

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So me and Quag arrive in Salt Lake City one year on Grey Cup Sunday and like all good Canadians, we’re trying to figure out where to watch the game.

I find us a spot with a lot of TVs, including about eight that hang over a very nice bar. I sit down, ask the person pouring if it’s possible to see a game from Canada, he checks and says, sure.

And then he changes one of the TVs hanging over the bar to the Grey Cup and takes a New England Patriot game off.

A woman wearing a Pats jersey, breaks the land speed record charging up to the bar with malice aforethought and I’m banished to a tiny booth with about a 10-inch screen to watch the game.

Nice of them to do it, though, and it’s made me go back there every time we’ve been in Salt Lake City since.

Just can’t remember the dang name of the joint.

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Oh yeah, one more thing.

Bryan? You’re accountable.

There, that satisfy some of you?

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So Kobe goes over 30,000 points for his career, only the fifth player to do that all time and loads of people are making a huge deal of it.

Yes, it’s a significant accomplishment and good for him but this is one of those fake milestones, I think.

Don’t get me wrong, Kobe is a brilliant player and will go down right near the top of the greatest of all time lists when he’s done, I’m sure.

But these kinds of cross-era milestones leave me wanting a little bit. Kobe plays in the era of three-pointers, and guys like Oscar Robertson didn’t. Kobe plays in an era where hand-checking on the wing and guys in the past could be physically impeded from getting to the basket.

Yes, 30,000 points is tremendous but it’s also a product of the times, too. That can’t be forgotten.

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The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Kings

Good evening, everybody.

Hope all's well.

Raptors at Kings, game-day Dino-bytes

Our usual post-shootaround look at tonight’s Raptors game.

 

TORONTO (4-14) at SACRAMENTO (4-12)

Sleep Train Arena

TIPOFF: 10 p.m.

TV: Sportsnet One; RADIO: FAN590

 

Probable starters

Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Mickael Pietrus, Andrea Bargnani, Jonas Valanciuinas; Sacramento: Aaron Brooks, Marcus Thornton, John Salmons, Jason Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins.

 

Key backups tonight

Toronto: Jose Calderon (coming off a so-so game in Denver), Ed Davis (will need to be physical on defence); Sacramento: Jimmer Fredette (coming off 0-6 night), Isaiah Thomas (tiny backup PG can create havoc).

 

Previous meeting

First meeting this season, Raptors are a miserable 2-13 all time in Sacramento. Teams didn’t play in Sacramento in lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.

 

What happened this morning

Not an awful lot, actually.

Was one of those mornings where nothing new had happened since the last time we saw them so it was more gathering stuff for early stories tonight.

The only thing remotely interesting thing is that Alan Anderson has started doing some work on the court. He’s not ready to go at all but he’s closer to resuming on-court activities.

And that’s a good thing because they’ll need another small forward, Linas Kleiza has a bit of a strain in his hip and won’t go tonight. No one’s putting a timetable on a return, though.

Oh, and Mickael Pietrus, the only legit small forward healthy, gets his second start.

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Resistable force, meet movable object

This is not game of the giants. The Kings have lost nine of their last 11, Toronto’s dropped seven of the last eight. And with Sacramento averaging only about 12,000 fans – over 5,000 short of capacity – don’t imagine they’ll be filling the seats this evening. Sacramento does have home wins over the Lakers and Utah, though.

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Don’t look for passing

The Kings are dead last in the NBA in assists per game – averaging about 18 per game.

“They’re 30th in the league in assists so usually your man, when he has the ball is going to try to score,” said Toronto coach Dwane Casey.

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The whistle-blowers

Ran into Dick Bavetta at the hotel here when we were checking in so he’s one of tonight’s officials. The others are Kevin Fehr and Ken Mauer, for what it’s worth.

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What’s in a name?

The arena here is now known as the Sleep Train Arena, making your own jokes at that one.

It used to be the Arco Arena and for a while it was the HP Pavilion, neither of which inspired the mockery and snide remarks that Sleep Train does.

And it's so new, they still haven't got the signage all done.

 

Keeping it together mentally is the difficult task

Warned you I’d be late one day this trip thanks to time zones. The Pacific one got to me.

Anyway …

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Of all the things Dwane Casey has to do, trying to keep up the spirits of the Raptors might be the most important, not to mention the most difficult, too.

Especially now, with the end of a disastrous stretch of schedule almost upon them, the losses piling up, the future looking bleak and, so far, he’s doing quite well.

Not sure if anyone will believe this but these guys aren’t in the doldrums, they aren’t sniping at each other and the mental toll of the first 18 hasn’t beaten them to a pulp.

Yet.

But they all know they need some wins to (a) keep their long-term goals in mind and (b) to validate what they’ve been doing in all the games they’ve been close in.

The way Casey is going about it is, to me, the right way. He is not ranting and raving and running them into the ground because I think that’s the way to turn everyone off and it’s too early for that.

He is cajoling and supporting and teaching, with the message always the same.

“I’m getting on them, pushing them in the right way because the worst thing you can do right now is have an amputated spirit. Right now, our spirits are good, even thought were not getting the Ws, the end results we’re looking for. Our spirit is good and it’s up to me to keep ‘em up, keep ‘em going, teach the right way. Teaching to get better more so than putting them down, putting them down like ‘you’re not winning.’ Those things are things that I’m trying to do to keep them going and keep a group consistently performing.”

Yes, there are major flaws with the team at the moment. There is no anchor to the defence because a 20-year-old rookie doesn’t quite get the speed of the game yet and a defensively-challenged power forward will never get.

That’s the biggest defensive issue right now, there is nothing to dissuade opponents from getting into the paint with no compunction; there are not meeting resistance because Bargnani is too slow to cover up (remember when he was okay defensively last year? It was on high screen-roll, not in the interior) and while Valanciunas is going to be very, very good eventually, he’s still trying to figure out what he can do defensively in the paint.

But those are the technical issues that they face and they are correctable in time; the mental aspect is where Casey might be doing his best work.

No one’s tuned anyone out, they still think they can win every game they play and, right now, that’s extremely important.

“I told our guys, we’re four games out of the East, of knocking on the playoffs door so it’s not like everything’s lost. We’re at the toughest part of our schedule, keep the hope, keep the faith, keep working and keep believing in each other and I think that’s the most important thing.”

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I would so like to be back there if someone had a Leonard Cohen ticket to pass on.

That’s as good a gravelly voice as you’ll ever hear, isn’t it?

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Let’s start the mail, shall we?

Lots of time on my hands over the next couple of days; it’d be good to have something nice to read.

Click. Write. Send.

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Hey, did you see the note yesterday that the New Orleans Hornets might change the name of the team to the Pelicans as early as next season?

That would be so, so, so cool.

The Peiicans?

Excellent.

And, no, I don’t know about any movement to have the Raptors petition the league for a name change but I could certainly go for a switch to Huskies or something like that and do it for the 20th anniversary in two years.

Sound good?

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Want to know where all your lost luggage goes to?

Apparently it’s part of some art thing at the newish terminal at the Sacramento airport, as Gumby and I saw when we landed yesterday morning.

Not sure it sends the best signal to travellers looking for bags but it was still kind of cool

And since this is my first trip here in a while, and I think the last two times I was here we stayed in San Francisco as part of a Golden State-Sacramento trip it was nice to see an airy terminal, the old place was like a desolate bus garage.

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Seriously, hands up everyone who thought you might find a good sushi place in a strip mall in Sacramento?

But a tip of the chapeau to Oshima Sushi, which is about a 25-minute walk from the arena. Have the shrimp tempura and the California roll, a couple of Fat Tires and relax while typing a little bit. I recommend it.

Would have hung around the hotel area except it’s in a desolate area outside the city a bit and the best thing about it was running into Dick Bavetta when he was checking in at the same time yesterday morning.

And why there is not a full-service Marriott anywhere in a state capital is a mystery to me and has been for the 15 years or so I’ve been coming here.

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So we’re in the joint finishing up some dinner and watching Nets-Thunder and seeing the scroll show the Wizards beating the Heat.

And the guy a couple of stools down, right after I said something like, “that’s why they play the games” chimes in with:

“If I was a Heat fan, I would kill myself.”

A tad over the top, no?

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A new way to lose and an awards debate

There’s about three minutes left, maybe less, and Matt Moore of CBS Sports.com leans over from his seat next to me and says:

“Have they lost a tough one like this before?”

And I’m thinking: Triple overtime, double-overtime, at the buzzer, sometimes by one, two or three points but, no, not ever by gamely fighting back only to their hearts ripped out when a rally falls just short.

So, you can put that one on the list, too.

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THREE POINTERS

Good Kyle, finally

No, the first half was not kind to Kyle Lowry at all, he looked slow and a bit out of sorts, kind of like we’ve seen him in the past week or so.

The second half, I’d think almost anyone would agree he was exponentially better. Not super quick attacking but more determined and he ended up the night with 24 points and, most important, a season-high 11 free throws.

Yes, he may have looked a bit selfish but, to some degree, that was by design, as he told My Man Gumby, who bailed me out with some locker room quotes after I listened to Dwane.

“The past few games I have been trying to find my teammates and myself and I realized I had to be more aggressive for me to play a little better individually.”

And that may be the way he has to play to be successful.

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Make or miss, it’s the way of the world sometimes

Nuggets are clinging to a one-point lead with about two minutes to go and Ty Lawson hits a big three from the wing.

Raps come right back down, Terrence Ross misses an open corner three that would have made it a one-point game again.

Both good shots; one goes in and one goes out and sometimes it is just a matter of a make and a miss.

Ross, though, was good, again. He had 12 and 6, didn’t get lost too often on defence and was on the floor during the big comeback because he had earned the right to be out there.

He’s eventually going to push DeMar for minutes and if they can get away with using DeRozan at the other swing spot for a few minutes each night, I like the look of both of them on the court at the same time.

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Amir Miller?

No, there was no way they drew up that three-pointer for Amir like it unfolded. There were too many guys too close to each other for anything to make sense and it was an entire panic job.

And it was far more a “heave” than a “shot” but it went in; just don’t think that means he’s got any kind of green light to shoot them more often.

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And now, as the man used to say, here’s the rest of the story.

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I guess I have no real quibble with LeBron James being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year yesterday. His basketball accomplishments were second to none, his transcendent skills are shocking. He had a year for the ages, of that there can be no doubt, silencing most of the critics who had railed at him for years.

But …

(And you had to know a “but” was coming)

It strikes me as a rather North American selection, and one that cast a long, loving glance at the professional sports that dominate our pages and our television sets. And that’s fine, Sports Illustrated knows its audience, knows what it needs to do to entertain, educate and, yes, placate them sometimes.

Me?

I don’t have a vote in any of those end-of-year awards things and that’s fine.

If I did, however, and was after a Sportsman of the Year who transcended pure athletics, achieved a rare status from unique circumstances, I’d have made a strong case for Great Britain’s Mo Farah.

His athletic accomplishments cannot be ignored, winning the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres is stunning.

His story, Mogadishu-born, barely conversant in English when he moved to Britain, his rise to sporting excellence is a great story of perseverance and skill.

He is an inspiration in a way that LeBron cannot be and Fara’s year was incredible.

But so was Usain Bolt’s and so was Lionel Messi’s and I would imagine some non-North American-centric publication will honour some of those people, too.

But, as I said, I cannot quibble with the selection of James, he is a singular talent who had a year for the ages.

But I can present at least one alternative and isn’t that what these awards are for: To stir debate and discussion and good natured arguing that gives people an outlet from the stuff they usually argue about.

However, one more question:

Who in the world gives out Sportsmen of the Year awards on Dec. 3? I can see Dec. 25 or Dec. 31; this is way too early, a rush to sell magazines and memorabilia and whatever. It is more of the too much, too soon life we’re subjected to.

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So I see they’re selling the old Vancouver Grizzlies practice court for a nifty $13,000 or so. Imagine they’ll get it – I know the people who run the Molson Centre in Montreal should buy if they have any hopes of attracting another pre-season game because the one they used this season simply wasn’t good enough.

But the story caught me by surprise because I hadn’t realized there was any old Vancouver Grizzlies stuff lying around.

Now, $13,000 is a bit out of my snack bracket but if there’s other stuff around, I might be interested. Stuff like

A copy of Big Country’s $65 million contract.

Seriously, how good would that looked framed and hung in some position of prominence so that every time someone says, ‘so-and-so just got the worst contract ever, I can’t believe they paid him that much’ you can point and say, “son, back in the day …’

A picture of Brian Winters smiling.

Seriously. Just one. Okay, not even a smile, I’ll go for a grin. Or even a rueful look. Please.

Michael Heisley’s purchase agreement

Just to see how bogus it was; and to see if the word “relocation” was in there at all.

And, of course, this would be special, too.

 

 

The Goods On The Game, Raptors at Nuggets

Good evening, everyone.

All's well, I hope.

Raptors at Nuggets, game-day Dino-bytes

Our quasi-traditional, mid-week, post-shootaround look at the Raptors.

 

TORONTO (4-13) at DENVER (8-9)

Pepsi Center

TIPOFF: 9 p.m.

TV: TSN2; RADIO: FAN590

 

Probable starters

Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Andrea Bargnani, Jonas Valanciunas; Denver: Ty Lawson, Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Kosta Koufos.

 

Key backups tonight

Toronto: Ed Davis (will have to match Faried’s quickness and rebounding), Terrence Ross (his three-point shooting could be huge); Denver: JaVale McGhee (mercurial big man has potential to score), Jordan Hamilton (shooting almost 40 per cent from three-point range).

 

What happened this morning

Maybe a change forced upon them

Linas Kleiza was a no-go at the shootaround this morning because of a sore hip.

They’ll re-evaluate him tonight and if he can’t go, Mickael Pietrus will move into the starting lineup.

It’s going to be interesting in another couple of weeks when Alan Anderson and Landry Fields get healthy and they have a glut of small forwards to deal with.

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Season series

First game of year between the teams; Toronto has lost eight straight at the Pepsi Center.

Yes, it was Dec. 30, 2003 that the Raptors last one a game in Denver.

Check out the boxscore from that one and see what names jump out at you.

Yes, that is the one and only Lonny Baxter who shows up.

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What they’re reading

Here’s this morning’s offering from the Denver Post.

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So, how about those Nuggets, Dwane Casey?

“They’re a typical George Karl team. They play fast, they’re small, aggressive, they play hard every possession and his style fits Denver, the altitude and all that stuff.”

Kind of like every Denver team?

“That’s been the history, whoever’s been the coach here and his team fits that style of play. He was that way in Seattle when we were there, play fast, play up tempo, defensively they do a lot of different things.”

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Odd stat of the day

Courtesy of the Raptors crack PR staff:

Lowry and DeRozan have combined for 10 or more rebounds in six games this season, including three of the last four. Together, they rank first in the Eastern Conference in total rebounds by a starting backcourt.

Not sure what that’s worth but …

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A team of streaks

So far this season, Denver has won three then lost seven, won four then lost three, won four and have currently lost three in a row.

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The guys with the whistles are ..

James Capers, Olandis Poole and Sean Wright.

-

 

 

A couple of questions that really can't be answered

I think I need some help here.

All last week, and actually for a few weeks, I’ve been told that this guy or that guy (specifically Bryan Colangelo and Dwane Casey) need to be “feeling the heat.”

What does it mean?

Especially about the GM.

Do you think he’s not trying to make moves to make his team better? Like he’s not making calls and seeing what’s out there?

Does it mean every single story ever written on these guys has to point out the last five years? That’s kind of boring and repetitive and, frankly, not something I feel like doing.

Sure, we write every day than things aren’t good, their record is in every game story and I think the tone of the most pieces would echo the fact they begin this trip 4-13.

But “heat” is such a strange and vague term it’s almost wise to ignore it.

Should we somehow be urging him to do something every single day? Like that’s going to force him to make a move? Should we call for someone’s firing once or twice a week without any suggestion of what a replacement might be?

No, not a chance. Sorry. We continue to point out how things are, what the problems are, how they might be fixed.

That’s about all the “feeling the heat” you’re going to get here, or really should anywhere.

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I absolutely forgot to mention this on Saturday and then yesterday was the mail so I’m doing it now.

Good work on not firing off confetti after the win over the Suns. Glad someone came to his or her senses.

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Yes, you can certainly see the rockies all around you out here and, yes, they are high.

Hmm.

Rocky Mountain High.

Don’t mind if I do.

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So I run into Yogesh and Sophie and Lina and Steve the other night after the Phoenix game and they seemed to be quite good moods. Guess that’s what wins do for fans, right? I’ve run into people after losses who are morose, was nice to see people actually enjoying themselves.

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It’s always amazed me to see how many football fans – or baseball fans or pucks fans or even basketball fans – wear the jersey of the home team to games.

Is it to feel part of the club? To get a closer connection to the men actually playing the game? It is just a desire to fit it?

Guess it’s part of all of them although I don’t think I’ve ever owned a jersey of a specific player and I don’t imagine I ever will so not sure my opinion counts all that much.

But I do know Super Son has had a couple and he’s vowed never to get any more because I believe the three he owned were Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and Roy Halladay and they collect dust.

And I guess the guy I saw wandering around downtown Denver with the Tebow jersey on feels kind of foolish or something.

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Oh, right, the Raptors.

Guess the most interesting thing was that they came out here a day early to get a practice in at altitude but I don’t imagine that’s going to be nearly enough.

Now, I have no first-hand knowledge of how the thin air a mile above sea level effects an athlete; I’m able to walk around and not feel it but I don’t run or anything like that. I have, however, had players tell me in the past that they get far more easily winded out here, a burning sensation in the lungs and the muscles come quickly.

So one workout, short that it was, might help a wee tiny bit, Dwane was telling us:

“I’ve been told it takes like four weeks to really get acclimated with your body but it (a practice out here) does help, with that burning sensation, a game isn’t the first time it hits. Get one practice in and get used to it; at least it won’t be the first time we’ve felt it.”

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I don’t for a second think they should have played that football game in Kansas City on Sunday after the Chiefs guy killed his girlfriend and then himself on Saturday.

I get the whole “sports is an escape” part of the argument for going ahead with the game but I also think there has to be some kind of passage of time to let things get back to some semblance of normal before we ask men to play games and fans to watch them.

But the harsh reality of it is that sports is business and business goes on but I ask those who render that argument as the reason for going ahead this question:

If a normal run of the mill guy, say a factory worker or a reporter or teacher, had killed someone and then themselves in front of the bosses, do you think that company would ask its workers – the bosses – to show up for the job the very next day?

No, I don’t think so, either.

To play was, to me, the wrong decision.

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Yeah, I am a bit late with this today; not sure how the rest of the week will unfold, either. First time we’ve been way west in a very long time and I can’t remember how we’ve done things in the past.

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It was about 20 C here the past couple of days and it’s supposed to be the same today so of course some of the good folks of Denver took some time out to go for a quick skate.

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Yes, we’ll do the usual IGBT tonight, game’s at 9 p.m. East, have a nap if you must but show up if you can.

Thanks.

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