No Gay now, price too steep; and the road finally beckons

Well, that had to be a thoroughly disappointing day for many of you, didn’t it?

Big lead – and, yes, we did learn that it is truly a game of runs – turns into a tough loss and the homestand is over.

Thankfully, lots of time left for angst and joy, anger and happiness and the trade deadline.

Can’t wait!

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THREE POINTERS

Nothing coming any time soon

Not game specific, that’s for sure, but according to a highly-placed source, any chance of the Raptors picking up Rudy Gay in a trade are diminishing rapidly and it’s less and less likely something will happen.

The reason?

The asking price is far too high.

As I mentioned last week, the players most coveted include the likes of Jose Calderon, Terrence Ross and one of the young bigs – and I know Valanciunas’s name has come up in conversation – and I would suggest Bryan should have no interest in that kind of chatter.

Gay’s a good player – he’s a definite upgrade on what they have now – but if it’s such a steep price that it robs you of your assets, it’s not worth it.

All it does is make you different, and not necessarily better.

So you can put the chatter on hold for now; I’d say it’s 5-95 at best that they even have more serious discussions.

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Gotcha

You knew – and if you didn’t you should have known – that the thin frontcourt situation would eventually jump up and bite the Raptors in the bum.

I don’t care what anyone thinks of Bargnani and Valanciunas but they need more big men; they can’t keep playing Johnson and Davis forever. Eventually they’re going to wear down, eventually they’ll come up against a team that’ll eat undersized small-ball fours and rookie backups.

Johnson and Davis were very good yesterday, no question; they also looked dead tired when the Bucks finished with impunity around the rim in the final minutes.

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Revert to form

I think this team operates far more smoothly with Jose as the starting point guard – and a 34-point first quarter yesterday and a 10-4 record of late proves me correct – but for the 18 or 20 minutes he’s on the court, Kyle Lowry has to be more like himself.

He cannot pound the ball at the top of the circle waiting to make the perfect pass as the shot clock runs down. He has to move the ball more quickly or get into the paint and get the defence moving; if he doesn’t, his effectiveness even as a backup is diminished.

I know the coaches see the same thing, I know his teammates see the same thing. He’s got to see it.

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What else?

This is what else.

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Okay, so it’s not quite the Naismith Cup, which I’m sure is in someone’s house holding potpourri or something, but those zany media relations guys from Toronto and Milwaukee have something on the line when the teams play.

Because J. LaBumbard of the Torontos is from Wisconsin (a Wisconsinite, Winsconinonian, Cheesehead?) and because his Milwaukee counterpart has a sense of humour, there’s a copy of the sheet music to The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald at stake every time the teams play. The PR director of the winning team gets to keep it and since the Raptors haven’t beaten the Bucks in eons, it’s permanently stored in Milwaukee.

So …

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Glad we finally found a way to run this about The Other Dream Team and since some of you have asked, you can get a DVD through the documentary’s website and I understand you can rent it through iTunes beginning tomorrow.

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Hmm, let’s see.

Flight today, game tomorrow, flight and game Wednesday, flight Thursday, game Friday.

Yeah, all this home time has come to a screeching halt.

A quiet night in Brooklyn sounds like a good idea, no?

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Told you the football winners would be Denver, Green Bay, New England and Seattle, didn’t I?

What? It’s Baltimore, San Francisco, New England and Atlanta?

Never mind.

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The homestand?

Has to be a bit disappointing, which is entirely surprising given how the season began, but when the six games started, they really were thinking at least four, and hopefully, five wins.

They got three, were exposed a couple of times for lack of size without the two injured seven-footers and maybe that does calm down expectations a bit.

There are 45 games to go – that’s an awful lot of games – and they are pretty much where we figured they’d be: Scratching and clawing out of the early-season hole.

They aren’t as good as 10-4, not as bad as 4-19; they are somewhere in that middle and now that things get back to normal schedule-wise, finding where in that middle they fit will be interesting.

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There are a couple of creative types lurking in the back rooms, it appears. Not sure it’ll stick, but my boyz Paulie and Travis (you don’t know them but they are among the hardest working guys in showbiz) tell me they’ve come up with a nickname for young Mr. Ross.

Not sure it’ll stick, not sure how to spell it, but given his talents and the franchise, it kind of fits.

Yeah, Terry-dactyl. Or should it be Terrence-dactyl?

And does it work?

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Got to spend some time at Glendon College on Saturday afternoon (I think you’ll see the fruits of my labour in the paper tomorrow, it’s a super secret gig) and, man, did the memories come flooding back.

It’s a tiny gym stuck in a small campus in the middle of the city and, back in the olden days, it’s where the Raptors practiced before the Air Canada Centre was build and when the SkyDome wasn’t available.

And it made for some interesting times because the team was very much an interloper and an inconvenience to the school.

How much of an interloper and inconvenience?

Well, they had the gym from, I believe, 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and they were sticklers about it.

At about 12:55, the girls volleyball team would show up with the poles for the nets and the balls and everything and at the strike of 1 p.m. the gym was theirs. If the Raptors wanted to go long, tough noogies, it was volleyball time and the NBAers had to vacate the premises.

Ah, the good old days.

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Comments

[sam]

Ed and Amir have the benefit of youth, but man, they are logging a lot of minutes. They do work together well, and when you combine thier efforts with Jose getting them the ball, its not surprizing they are putting up some points.
The familiarity between the three works to thier advantage. I'm certain Kyle will benefit by playing more with the guys, but right now he looks a little unsure.

[Hope Caper]

Well the Raps had more going on than just big guys out. Two of their regulars were playing injured and their minutes were less effective as their mobility was reduced which hampered the ability to get back in the game.

A lot of burn on Lowry but look at his supporting cast. Not much happening there. Acy has enthusiasm but not much else, Gray has a lot of experience but not enough foot speed and MP has filled in for Fields who is filling in for himself right now.

So this team is 3 or 4 players away from really competing. Of course that is hoping for consistency in their newer players which realistically is a year or two away. Being an optimist this team is two years away from being a competitive team. So Brian is making moves in the right direction. This team right now is not relying on anyone person and that is a good thing. Keep building and they will come.

Got a big kick on the flying dino and if I may be so bold to suggest to the creative minds. The Raptors have a chance to do something no one else can do and that is a dino for every player. Why not? Adds some character to the team and gives the fans something to buy because you know that has got to leak into merchandising- hats, sweaters, bobble heads, food, shoes. Jonas is a T-Rex for sure.Thanks Doug, good stuff.

[Lorie]

I like the Terry-dactyl nickname, but I also think T-Rex has great potential. And, if not for Terrence Ross, why not assign it to DeMar, with a slight adjustment in spelling in recognition of his preferred (and Doug, can you spike Earl Grey???) pre-game beverage. We'll call him: Tea-Rex. And your comment about our undersized bigs always reminds me of this film - and then this scene specifically - when Mule Skinner gives sage advice to General Custer. And perhaps Dwane thinks of it too as his men head down the court... :)
http://youtu.be/xWGAdzn5_KU
Cheers. And safe travels. And have a jazzy New York State Of Mind evening.
http://youtu.be/DZq5hy2RsvM

[Matt G]

Was reading Peter King's MMQB and chuckling at his misery flying into Denver. I find the same thing flying into Kelowna every time (I don't fly real well). This maybe one for the mailbag but do you and fellow grunts spend the odd occasion trading travel horror stories?

[Boko]

T-Rex is best, so far, but premature ... (Still waiting for a season of magic from Il Mago!)

If I'm BC, trying to get to a playoff series this year without hurting the future of The Core 5 (Jonas, Amir, Ed, Terrance & DeMar), I try to keep José, with an extension, trade Kyle cause he doesn't make the players around him better, and trade Andrea, decided by a process of elimination ... Amir is playing better, and younger, Ed is playing the same, but younger, and Jonas has the most potential (although he has a long ways to go still). We need an optimal substitute PG, and a starting Swing to complement DaMar & Terrance, pronto. Future first rounders are worth giving up for players that fit & are 24 or 25.

[doug]

was sent this today...Will Ferrell and Kristen Wigg at the Golden Globes...this is just hilarious stuff although Tommy Lee Jones thinks not...Kristen Wigg now there is one funny and good-looking woman....never saw game so no comment, but a tough loss by all accounts...ok cheers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5jvY8opknU

[Michel G]

@Boko 4:47 PM: "Future first rounders are worth giving up for players that fit & are 24 or 25."

Lowry's 26 years old, so we've already tried that. I don't think you can trade first round picks two years in a row, so the conditional lottery pick we traded away for our backup point guard probably puts restrictions on Colangelo? I don't know all the rules. Maybe Doug does.

If we want to bring talent in, talent's going to have to go out. That includes Ross, DeRozan, etc. I'd rather stand pat, and work with what we have unless Memphis gets desperate.

[Boko]

Michel G, can't we trick someone into wanting Alan, Mickael, Linus, Landry, John, Aaron or Quincy?