An important win for a variety of reasons

Hey, Cathal? Sorry.

(Tee-hee)

Overtime one night, buzzer-beater the next night after a boring game-day drive from Miami to Orlando and I think you told me you had an early flight back.

Hope you got to the $1.50-a-pint-of-Yeungling pizza place on Semoran to decompress.

I owe you.

Anyway …

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THREE POINTERS

No, it wasn’t great

That was without doubt a clutch shot by DeRozan to win it at the buzzer, fading away in the left corner, high-arcing toss over two defenders that got nothing but net.

Clutch, no question.

But good?

Probably not.

I don’t know if it will imbue him with a sense of confidence – and maybe that’s why he’d been somewhat ordinary the past three or four games – but I will tell you this:

When he drifted to the corner, I guarantee there was some hemming and hawing on the bench; they’d much rather he’d stopped, spun and gone down the lane.

But it was a helluva shot and coming at the end of a 14-point quarter in a tight game under tough circumstances on the road, maybe just what he needed to really kickstart a run of good games.

After all the failings these guys have had late in games this year, it was kind of nice to see one go their way, even if it wasn’t exactly what they wanted.

Did you miss it?

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A solid assessment

So, I’m stealing this line for Cathal’s gamer (yeah, I owe you more) but it’s Dwane and he hit the nail right on the head:

“Everybody’s questioned our toughness. Anybody who doesn’t feel like we’re in this to win it, they’re totally wrong.”

That was without a doubt a less mentally tough team would have spit up – and these guys may have folded a bit earlier in year, now that I think of it.

Tough emotional loss the night before, a rested opponent at home they’d beaten three times already this season (and it’s difficult to beat any team four times in one season) and they hung in.

I’m not all that big on day-to-day momentum, I don’t think it carries over a lot, games come and games go and you just go out and play.

But confidence is another thing entirely and hanging in when Orlando made that fourth quarter run, getting the lead back and then winning like that has to help, doesn’t it?

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Oh oh

Yeah, the quotes from Amir Johnson (they’re down the bottom of Cathal’s gamer here) about yet another rolled ankle are troubling, for sure.

I can’t tell you how impressed I am with that kid’s ability and willingness to play through pain and he did it again last night.

I know his teammates notice and hopefully it gets in their heads a bit because if Johnson can go out there and fight through stuff, they should, too.

I’m not saying anyone needs to rush back – the medical people still have to clear them and their opinion is the one that counts – but if someone gets banged up in a game, they need to look down at Johnson and just keep playing.

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More? There’s always room for more, right?

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Robbie Burns Day?

Right, it is.

(You know he wrote Auld Lang Syne, right?)

And, no, haggis is not a good bar food.

But this is pretty good music and all the McAteer and Barr ancestors from Glasgow and Edinburgh will be looking down fondly on me today.

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So, Super Son and I are on the stools about to tuck into a plate of delicious chili-covered nachos (hello, Jack Astor’s at Square One!) and watch the first half of the game when it strikes me:

Best bar food for watching sports?

Well, if I had my druthers, it’d go …

Nachos

Lots of cheese fully melted (nothing worse than the bottom of the plate and congealed cheese) with beef or chili. No chicken and whoever thought of vegetable nachos doesn’t get the whole idea of bar food.

Wings.

I prefer hot over mild, dry over saucy with as many drumsticks as you can get.

Stumpy used to order them dry with the sauce on the side and I guess I can live with that.

Irish nachos

See above, only substitute potatoes for tortilla chips; the ones at The Kells in Portland were particularly good.

Pizza

Pepperoni and hot sausage, please. If you have to do mushrooms, I can live with it.

Fries

I know, a tad boring.

But hot, fresh, lightly salted and peppered, not cold and taken from some bin where they’ve been sitting for 40 minutes.

Deep fried brown things

Mozzarella, jalapenos, mushrooms, doesn’t really matter, does it.

Veggies and dip

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Fooled you, didn’t I?

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Football picks this week, since I nailed all those playoff games?

AFC over NFC.

And if any of you dare to watch even a second of the NFL’s Pro Bowl, we’re going to have issues.

It is, without question, the worst “all-star” game of any professional sport. No debate.

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Hmm, let’s see:

Me, East all-star reserves

Holiday, Irving, George, Noah, Chandler, West, Horford.

Coaches, East all-star reserves

Holiday, Irving, George, Noah, Chandler, Deng, Bosh.

Deng and Bosh over West and Horford? I guess, but I still like West better but can’t really argue.

Me, West all-star reserves

Westbrook, Harden, Aldridge, Duncan, Curry, Marc Gasol, Ibaka

Coaches, West all-star reserves

Westbrook, Harden, Aldridge, Duncan, Lee, Parker, Randolph.

Hmm. No Stephen Curry but David Lee? Okay, that’s a bit tough to take for me but Parker and Randolph over Gasol and Ibaka I can live with.

But even if I got some of them wrong, Nothin’ But Net’s awards are bang on, trust me.

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We’re in the process of switching over our mail system for the weekly mail so I’m not sure what’s going to work when.

And I could use a few more questions because after the haircut today, there’s time to work.

The old usual way might still be operational (and you know how I love to hear from you) and supposedly a new e-mail (askdoug@thestar.ca) is up and running. I can’t access it yet but that should get worked out this morning.

Thanks for your patience.

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One last little thing.

I think they absolutely nailed the Pelicans logo; it's got some weird tinge of voo-doo to it, don't you think?

Can't wait to get there next season and see the stuffed animal they come up with.

 

 

Comments

[J]

@GU:

I'd be happy with just one replay review request per team per game. There will always be questionable calls, but at least this way, each team can contest a call they deem to be particularly egregious (they'd be forced to pick their battles), and the game doesn't get bogged down with video replays.

[Lorie]

@Mike D: Ha! Wouldn't want to be predicatable or anything, so whatever makes your boat float...but I was thinking about that pub and with the name being "The Tilted Kilt" kinda thought those servers might be comely in a more masculine sort of manner. But maybe I'm overthinking it. :) So, Doug, DeMar's shot was surprisingly successful and not only won the game for the HOTH but won him something else, too. A kiss from Coach Casey! Did you see that? Now it wasn't a Grace Kelly-Jimmy Stewart Best Kiss Ever Kiss, but my goodness. Splendid stuff, Dwane. See it here: http://youtu.be/UVq3InM2Ni8 And on Robbie Burns Day, a tune from a Glaswegian band I've long been partial to...http://youtu.be/kd4QMN_lErc And as Belle and Sebastian suggest, let's stop the world for awhile, enjoy a dram or two of Glenlivet served with that perfect of all bar foods: a generous serving of poutine topped with (lots and lots of) cheese curds, gravy and bacon.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

@James, wow, that may just be the best video music selection on this blog, like, ever.
Oh, and, recognizing that all eel may not be created equal, let me qualify my bars. I'm talking Dublin. St. Stephen's Green. Browne's Brasserie. Eel. Live it up.
And because one great tune deserves another (DC and DeRoz's new theme song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo7OKwi9Cx8
Cheers again. Go Raps again!

[sportschic]

I missed last night's game -- which is probably why they pulled out a late win -- and the burning question on my mind has nothing to do with the shot, which I watched on replay today. No, the burning question on my mind is: "Why are the Raptors wearing blue warm-up gear?"

Blogger's note: It's NBA Fit week, a marketing gig to get people active

[doug]

any game winning shot that goes in is fine by me I don't care if it is one of those back to the basket shots we tried in H.O.R.S.E.,,,as there have been instances where we have had good looks and nothing to show for them...so i am not looking a gift horse in the mouth....fav pub food for me is wings first, wings second and wings 3rd, anyway,any style.....now nachos aren't bad but they are a sociological experiment onto themselves, with 2,3,4 people eating them, watch who takes the biggest mass of cheese, who takes the last one, who takes the biggest ones...I won't eat them with my brother for instance as he is a very selfish eater when it comes to nachos.....Pelicans logo love it can't wait to get a white t-shirt with that logo on it, not a huge one just a nice smallish size upper left area of shirt...my fav scotsman my grandpa he was a kewl dude....ok cheers....

[Ted P.]

Do you think that the Tall Foreheads might cover the cost of this for Casa Doug if a Beat Grunt were to expense it? Think of all the travel costs they'd save. It might not work so well in the Great White North in winter, but wouldn't this be great as the playoffs drag into June? Imagine Durant posterizing LBJ on a 201" screen, on a couch not a stool, in the sunshine, with your favourite beverage ...

http://www.cseed.tv/design/movie.html

[Steve]

This wasn't to win a game (end of the third) but not bad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZB52qnyMl8

Obviously doesn't have the same meaning/emotion as a game winner though.