Pretty doesn't count, winning does

Well, that certainly wasn’t pretty (the urge to stick a pin in the eyes was omnipresent as the game unfolded, actually) but I don’t imagine anyone connected with the team really cares.

It was a game they pretty much had to have and they got it by hook or by crook.

And since you’ve all already read the game story here (right?) here’s the usual fare, a tad late but still here.

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THREE POINTERS

Minute management

Worried about throwing a rookie out there in what was a pretty important game and knowing there was no matchup that would have even given Aaron Gray half a chance at making a contribution, Dwane had to roll the dice with his only two healthy big men.

And he did a masterful job, I think, especially in the third quarter when the Raptors actually took control of the game.

In that quarter, he used both Ed Davis and Amir Johnson for the full 12 minutes, the only quarter he did that in, and they avoided foul trouble, anchored a defence that held the Sixers to 44 per cent shooting and helped an offence that shot 63 per cent from the floor.

Most importantly, Davis didn’t pick up a foul in those 12 minutes and Johnson only had one, assuring they’d be able to go in the fourth as well.

It’s not something they can plan on getting away with too often – nor should they try – but Casey managed it well for one night when it really mattered.

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Those little moments

You know how Dwane – and every NBA coach – seems to harp on those little moments when clarity is needed on the court?

Teaching moments.

Smart basketball plays.

Well, at the end of the first quarter, the Raptors had one, blew it and, yes, the coach was ticked.

Sixers got the ball with about 12 seconds left down five; Toronto had committed only two team fouls to that point. Everyone in gym should have known they’d take a foul to disrupt the Philadelphia possession, probably with about four or five seconds left in the quarter.

Dwane’s screaming “zebra, zebra, zebra” (that’s the code word for “take a foul you ninnies” and I’m not sure why so don’t ask) and what do the Raptors do?

Watch Evan Turner dribble the length of the floor, get into the paint and make about a 10-footer the buzzer.

Didn’t mean much in the long run but it was a bit of a brain fart good teams don’t usually have.

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The shot

No, it’s not all that big a deal and please don’t make too much out of it but, yes, Jose tossing a lob to Fields with 15 seconds to go in a game that was over was not the right thing to do.

Like I said, it’s no big deal but getting the ball back with about 27 seconds left they should have dribbled just over halfcourt, pounded the ball while the fans left and tossed up a 40-footer with three or four seconds left.

I imagine next time, they will.

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And, in other news …

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I never had to deal with Brian Burke on a daily basis, in fact I don’t think I ever interviewed him, but I did know him a little bit through introductions and conversations with Bryan and I recall one day having a rather lengthy chat about NBA reporters’ travel while standing on Bay Street outside the arena with Burke and Maurizio.

To me, he was bombastic, a bit loud, opinionated, friendly, a bit brash and I’m sure a huge pain in the ass to deal with if you covered his team.

Big whoop.

He was not at all corporate, it seems he held grudges and, no, he didn’t seem to fit the MLSE “brand.”

Did he deserve to get fired on the eve of a bastardized season? Probably not. But one of the best reads about the whole thing comes my friend Rosie and it hits the nail pretty much on the head, as far as I can gather from being around that building an awful lot.

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Oh yeah, the headline.

The Philadelphia Daily News can be a bit cheeky when it comes to the city’s sports teams – it works for the fans and we know how they can be.

Might have told this one before but for some reason I cannot remember, I ended up in Philly on an early basketball off-day and was somehow assigned to cover an Ottawa Senators-Flyers playoff pucks tilt.

Senators win, take the series, the Philly goalie plays like me and we awake May 5 to see this headline:

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Speaking of Philly, and I can’t believe I remembered again, here’s how that game played down there in the papers this morning, courtesy of my man Bob Cooney.

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So I wander into the press room at the arena about 3:30 yesterday afternoon B. Arthur (not to be confused with Bea Arthur) is doing a live standup TV hit, there are camera people everywhere and the place is thick with stressed puck scribblers. And I get to thinking: Man, it’s fun to cover the most stable of the three main franchises the MLSE collection.

Think about it. How classic is that.

But since Bryan Colangelo go here, the HOTH have been in the playoffs twice and the pucks zero time and the TFCs? Well, they should be buried again this season by the time the guy they hired to maybe coach the team sometime in May if he can get out of his professional contract and doesn’t have to fly monthly to New Zealand to play national team games.

Since Bryan Colangelo got here, the Raptors have had, um, one general manager; the pucks have gone through John Ferguson Jr., Cliff Fletcher, Brian Burke and now Dave Nonis. The TFCs? I have no clue but the number of men in charge is large.

Since Bryan Colangelo got here, the Raptors have had three coaches – Sam, Jay and now Dwane – and the Leaves have gone through Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice, Ron Wilson and now Not Rick Carlisle. The TFCs? Don’t get me started.

So the next time someone holds up the Leaves as the model of the organization, pardon me if I do a spit take and laugh uproariously.

The pucks can only wish they had the recent history and stability that the basketball does.

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Comments

[john g]

Hey Doug,
Do you think the 'zebra zebra zebra' thing could refer to the rather stripy guys running around the court slowing the game down?

Blogger's note: Except that's an old pucks reference that not many connected with the NBA would have ever heard

[GK]

Hi Doug,

I read this morning that Lowry skipped out on interviews yesterday after the game and may be a tad miffed now that he's not the starter. Have you sensed any discord on Lowry's part?

Blogger's note: Nope. He left early with his 16-month-old son.

[Peter]

Zebra, stripes. Ref, stripes. That's my guess too. Just because these guys don't actually have stripes probably doesn't matter. Doctor's don't wear white lab coats anymore either, but try finding a kids book that doesn't show a doctor in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck.

[David in Oakville]

Good Morning Mr. Smith...

Jose is one classy guy... a player's player and I am thinking a great friend to all who know him.
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Given the "DS Jinx" and your innate ability to predict the opposite, I am not sure that Bryan is entirely comfortable today with you waxing on about the relative stability in the Raptor's front office... just saying.
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And when was the last time we had a blog post without a music/movie/popular culture reference with a link to YouTube?

Blogger's note: Yeah, kind of fell down on that part this morning; got a late start and rushed too much

[Geoff Read]

Hey Doug,

Didn't see the game last night - my own super wife's currently in the hospital and with three little ones at home I'm plenty busy these days.

Quick question I'm sure others are asking: what does Burke's firing mean, if anything, for Colangelo? My take is this: I suspect that Burke's dismissal is as much about his abrasive personality as anything and his unwillingness to sell his plan (assuming he had one) to the corporate suits in corporate-speak. Colangelo, on the other hand, is as smooth as Molgen Golson and I suspect he does corporate-speak very well. Paradoxically, therefore, I think his job might be more secure than it was before the change in ownership because of his ability to operate in this new world of corporate ownership. What do you think?

Blogger's note: Your point is valid

[Boko]

My math tells me that in order to get into the 8th spot at 41-41, we need to win 59% of our remaining games. That's a level only the Heat, Knicks, Pacers, Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, Grizzlies & Warriors are exceeding. Everyone else, we have to beat, whether we're playing them at home or away, unless we beat one of the big 8. Then we can afford to lose to one of the rest.

[john]

New owner of business fires incompetent GM because, on top of being incompetent, he is also not very likeable.
Wow. What a shock.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Morning, Doug. I know it's probably a by-product of running an 8-man rotation, but how rare is it to see three double-doubles by one team? And ED was just one board short of making it four.
Which got me wondering: Has DeRoz ever had a double-double (outside of Tim's, that is)? And is the SG position in general the least likely to generate those?
Finally, you've mentioned the Knicks as a likely candidate to start heading south. Just wondering why. And what's your take on the Hawks (handled by the Cavs last night, 4 straight losses)? Is the East one big grab bag, or what?
Cheers. Go Raps!

Blogger's note: DeRozan at least one, had 33-10 in a game against the Knicks in 2011; Knicks will fall to age, too much reliance on the 3 I think. Hawks surprise me, totally

[Bob]

Leaves? I'm pretty sure its Leafs when referring to the team.

"The Maple Leafs" are a name.

[Barry Ward]

A tabloid headline that has always stuck in my mind was in the Ottawa Sun when the Tiger Woods scandal broke: Tiger's A Cheetah!

[Jay]

Re your little comment from last night's game blog about there being a Jack Morris doppelganger. Maybe he is in town interviewing for the vacant Jays broadcasting position (now that Ashby has gone to Houston).

[uncalum]

What I found amusing at the Puck's press conference yesterday was that the corporate guy running the show was the same guy responsible for TFC. The same guy who, I assume, approved the hiring of a coach who has absolutely no coaching experience, captain's the last place team in the EPL and the national team of a country that lives and breathes rugby. Oh, and the coach isnt' available until at least two months into the season.

Toronto sport's teams may not win much, but you can't say they don't entertain.

[David in Oakville]

@ Jay

Thanks, I missed the news that Alan Ashby has resigned from the Blue Jays / Sportsnet so he can return to Houston to broadcast for the Astros. Can't fault him for wanting to return home. He will be greatly missed. I really loved what he brought to the booth / game. You may be right about Jack Morris interviewing for his job.

[Peter]

Interesting stat of the day. The Lakers have only two more wins than the Raptors right now. Meaning that you could make a legitimate case that Steve Nash could have won more games by this point in the season if he had chosen Toronto over L.A. Now I know that his kids were a huge factor in the decision, but if a chance at winning was on his mind when he chose L.A., the Lakers current record has to hurt. I feel bad for Nash. But seriously, if anyone had said that the Raps would start the season 4-19, and by this point in the season, would have just two fewer wins than the Lakers? You'd be called mad, or rich. Depending on if you put your money where your mouth was!

[john]

@boko, they don’t have to win any 'percentage' of games. If you consider that they just have to win 5 more games than Boston does over the balance of the season (which is not half over yet) and they have 3 games left against Boston it doesn’t seem quite as daunting a task now does it?

[james]

After the game, Calderon headed up the runway and straight into the Sixers' dressing room, presumably to apologize for the lob to Fields. If nothing else, that seems like good politics for the upcoming return match. The game was certainly ugly as you note, but it was also novel to see them win when they had to, a sign of progress perhaps.

[Keith Wagar]

So, has anyone else noticed that Jose has provided some very competent defense against two elite point guards in the last two games? Apparently the OKC web was praising the job he did against Westbrooke. Always said he was being sold short. When you turn your check into the help defense which does not show (Andrea) then yi=ou are the one looking bad.

[LeeZ]

@David in Oakville: I hate to be a differ begger, but I beg to differ: Alan Ashby will NOT be missed, at least not by me. The guy would never...shut...up!!! Most radio guys filling in on television broadcasts make that mistake to some point, because of the need to avoid dead air on the radio, but he was PARTICULARLY guilty of this. And his voice just got on my nerves! He would repeat the same things over and over. And over!

[Steve]

@Boko: RIght, but at the same time that percentage for all it's worth was looking a lot worse only a couple of weeks ago and they've been catching up on it quickly.

It's still interesting to look at, but ultimately doesn't mean much particularly given in the East more often than not 8th place ends up being under .500 anyway over a full season. Keep in mind the Celtics had a particularly tough time of it with the Raptors last season.

[Willy Wonka]

"Leaves? I'm pretty sure its Leafs when referring to the team.

"The Maple Leafs" are a name."

You're obviously new around here.

[Rob.V]

Zebra, zebra, zebra... Alpha, Tango, Bravo!. How about Give.The.Foul... but that's just me and my uneducated (non Basketball mind).
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This got me thinking of other Military Jargon so here are a couple, maybe coach can incorporate these too:
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Sin Loui - Sorry About That (My Bad!).
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Di di mau:- Hurry Up
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... and somehow in my twisted head this got me thinking about one of the best movie scenes ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3Jez7RdfU (language).
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Raptors? Could be injuries however this team just doesn't look right at the moment. Maybe they lost some confidence with the losses on the weekend however they'd better pick it up because they really need the next 2 games.
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I don't follow pucks a lick however that Rosie can write.
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And seeing how the Leaves get the same amount of exposure as Obama does when he is addressing the nation it's (unfortunately) impossible to avoid the pucks in this town. On this note, it got me thinking of Richard Peddie. Does anyone else miss Mr. Peddie?
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I have to say, I actually enjoyed listening to him speak.
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I always recall this one line I heard him say in an interview once: "we've planned the work - now we have to work the plan"... good one!

[David in Oakville]

@LeeZ Differences of opinion and perspective are why we are here.

In this instance I won't beg to differ because I have not watched much Blue Jays baseball on TV lately.

I can only speak to Alan Ashby's work alongside Jerry Howarth (who I think is another gem that the Jays are lucky to have) on the radio broadcasts or when he was called upon to offer an opinion on PTS or the Wilner show. I thought AA always offered a thoughtful, measured opinion based on his experience (very much like our sometimes grumpy HOTH grunt).

Broadcasters like wine are often an acquired taste who do not appeal to every palate. Personally, I love Buck Martinez as a Blue Jay but much less so as a broadcaster. To each his own.

[GM]

I think it's wise to actually think about why we do things, rather than just because that's why it's done. So I'm at a loss as to why scoring (adding 2 more points to what would have been a 16-point game as it was) is such an egregious act. Do you think Doug Collins has a valid reason why it's disrespectful or poor sportsmanship, or is it just ingrained in him that it is? At the end of a season, no one's going to remember point differentials. A 1-point loss is the same as a 40-point loss. These guys play so many games, I highly doubt two more points along the way make any real-life difference at all.

[Gerry Tanner]

As far as Calderon and Fields goes, good for them for apologizing, but I also agree with Bill Parcells of the NFL. He said to the effect that if the other guys are running up the score on you, and you don't like it, don't complain. Stop them. Play some defence and just stop them.

[Mike kovacs]

Thanks for remembering Doug!