A little toughness goes a long way

Hey, guess what I have in my hand?

A BOARDING PASS!!!!

For a real, live flight back home. Hopefully by the time some of you are reading this, I’ll be somewhere in the air headed home.

Or not.

Anyway, my good friends at Champions at the Indy downtown Marriott have a good enough satellite system so I could watch the game, which kept me away from the Grammys, and a bit more sober.

So …

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THREE POINTERS

Showing some grit

Know what I like best about Jonas Valanciunas?

He doesn’t give a crap.

The kid just goes out there and smacks people around if he has to, he takes a smack if he has to, he’s got some toughness we’re just starting to see and he is the least intimidated rookie big man I’ve seen in these parts for a while.

The other night he banged around with the thug Hansbrough and David West, he hit The Other Lopez with at least one hard foul in the second half of Sunday’s game that I can recall and Valanciunas is playing with a level of confidence and aggression that I thought would take a lot longer to develop.

Now, he does still make his fair share of mistake – he could rotate on defence much more quickly and he’s far from mastered the art of setting a solid screen – but mentally, he’s figured out just how physical he has to be.

And if people come at him, he shrugs; like he’s saying: “I’ll take whatever you’ve got; and give as a good as I get.”

Not a bad attitude.

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Welcome back

Was the first quarter the most complete quarter Kyle Lowry’s played since he got back?

He looked quicker, more assertive, more decisive and more able to get his own while getting others’ theirs than he has in a long time.

Not sure why but I do know his coaches and teammates appreciated it and it harkened back to the first five or six games of the season.

And he keeps having that kind of impact on the game – particularly the starts to get everyone’s head into the night right off the bat – it’s going to further endear him to everyone.

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What they’re saying

Was talking to an Eastern Conference assistant coach on the phone over the weekend – you tend to do a bit more calling, chatting, texting and e-mailing when you’re loafing for two extra days in a strange city – to get his take on some NBA matters.

And once we went through some things that may or may develop into stories, I got around to asking him what he thought of the Gay trade; we hadn’t spoken since it went down.

He said something very interesting, to me at least:

“They’re big. That’s a big, long team now.”

If you think about it, he’s right.

You’ve got Valanciunas and Amir, Bargnani and the very “long” Rudy Gay that you can run through the 4-5 positions and 7-foot Aaron Gray as a serviceable big, if needed.

I wondered if the thought around the league would be that the deal made Toronto more potent offensively; was interesting to hear an assistant’s take on it.

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More?

Sure, I’ve got half an hour to kill before we (hopefully) board this baby plane.

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So we know there are few – well, there are no – benefits to playing and living in Detroit over playing and living in Toronto so it’s easy to feel at least a bit disappointed for our old friend Jose.

But he gets to hear Martha and the Vandellas at halftime tonight (the Pistons are always trying to juice attendance someone) and she’s no Vanilla Ice.

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Okay, we always run into conventions on the road -- the ComicCon one at LAX a few years back was freaky and a bit scary, the tattoo convention in Phoenix or Sacramento a decade or so ago was frightful, the lawyers one in Philly was a tad boring.

And I do remember checking out of the downtown Marriott in Philly with a younger, more single, more adventurous grunt and him being horribly disappointed that we were leaving just as an association of student nurses was starting its annual meeting.

Indy?

Well, it’s such a big convention city that there were three there this past weekend:

Farm equipment trade show/convention.

About 3,000 fraternity/sorority teens doing something; I have no idea what.

A gathering of, I believe, mid-western Lutherans.

And aside from getting a steakhouse recommendation in San Francisco from a fellow traveller, they were the three most boring conventions/meetings I’ve ever been around.

Not a fez to be seen; nor were there 10 grown men getting out of a small car.

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It’s about 5:30 Sunday night, shift change behind the bar at the Champions in the Marriott, same woman who watched me sit on hold with AMEX Travel for TWO FREAKING HOURS Friday night with no resolution to my travel woes and was working Saturday when I had a post-St. Elmo’s nightcap walks in:

“What? You’re still here? You eligible to vote yet?”

I laugh, ruefully; she goes away, pours a Stella, comes back:

“You need this.”

Truer words were never spoke.

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I guess I missed all the Grammy stuff (I know, I’m crushed) but I did look up to another TV at one point and wondered why, with all the great music personalities out there, they got the dude from NCIS Los Angeles to host.

Then I read somewhere LL Cool J did a great job; figured he would, he’s good on that under-rated show.

Oh, and way to go Drake! Good on ya.

(He is from Toronto, right?)

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PITCHERS AND CATCHERS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!

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Wish me luck on the flight, hopefully I’m in the office just after 9.

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Comments

[LeeZ]

Regarding JV, I would add to your list of rookie mistakes the fact that he almost always bites on pump fakes and then gets blown by as a result. Plus, against any big with mobility and a couple of shake and bake moves, he's completely lost. BUT...
These are things you just KNOW that he will figure out, and probably sooner than later, and he does so many other things so well already. Definitely a cornerstone. Will never set the league on fire or anything, but will be a good solid prototypical centre for years to come.

[dean]

I do hope there is method in the madness of sitting JV, then randomly starting him, and playing Ross tonnes, then randomly benching him. I just don't get the handling of the rookies and why Anderson is even playing at all. Hard to develop talent if you park it on the bench in favour of expiring contract players. Makes zero sense.

[David in Oakville]

Good Morning Doug,

Safe travels today.

Let's agree that there is one thing that playing in Detroit has that T-Dot does not have yet... Jose can look up and see Championship Banners hanging from the rafters and know that the city and the franchise cares about winning and has traveled the road to a Championship.

And real estate is a hell of a lot more reasonable :).

Is your spider sense tingling about Bargnani's flu or is this really a flu?

Blogger's note: Flu

[Mike D.]

Doug, I noticed last night that shortly after The White Panther threw down a dunk on Robin Lopez, he was replaced by Valanciunas for the remainder of the game. Was this because Dwane doesn't like him showboating, or because of concerns from the league that Gray's aerobatics will make people question whether the right Raptor is in the dunk contest?

Blogger's note: As always, a little of both

[lee in ittawa]

Always a great fan of one of my all time Motown favorites, Martha and the Vandellas. Did you ever see that 80's Jagger and Bowie , dancing in the street video. Those boys should have been arrested for that!

Blogger's note: I have, and tried to block it out of my mind

[DaveB]

Doug, you can't be right on Jonas. After all he is another "soft Euro". (I keed)

All the Rudy hype is interesting. In the past three games he has shot 8-24, 9-25 and 8-19 and three point shooting 1-7, 0-2 and 0-4. While Toronto won a couple of games, I can't imagine the angst if Andrea shot those percentages. It is funny how perception changes things in that many people think Rudy is a stud and Andrea is soft unproductive player. As Mike Ganter of the Sun wrote, "Bargnani, after an especially physical game in Indianapolis, returned to Toronto with a touch of the flu and was a last second scratch just before tip off." I am not sure the word "touch" added anything other than further discredit Andrea. It will be interesting to see what happens with Andrea over the next two weeks. Although it would be a loss for Toronto, for his sake, I hope he is traded.

Hopefully you are now home safe and sound.

[Dave T (Ottawa)]

Hey Dave B, it's as Doug said when the trade went down: if the Raps are 3-2 after 5 games, Rudy Gay is the saviour. If the raps are 1-4, he's an overpaid chucker. But he's the same guy, either way.

Personally, I'm not a huge Rudy Gay fan in the sense that I don't think he's a transcendent wing. However, he does give the team a new dynamic and a bit of a swagger. The fact that he has the mentality of a true go-to guy is almost as important as his skill set.

Also, the staring lineup is now REALLY big and long. What worries me, now, is the bench is not quite so imposing with Bargnani out. Might need to swap a 2-3 tweener with a 3-4 tweener with some length, even if less skill.

[EK]

Hi Doug,
Would said Eastern Conference assistant coach happen to be J_M T_DD? May we buy a vowel?

Blogger's note: I'll never tell. Sorry

[Marcus Rush]

A message for John Lucas...please slow down as we don't want Lowry to get into another snit. A good 1st quarter yesterday for Lowry but he is so scary with the ball especially when he is being pressured.

[sportschic]

What do you think of the new Warriors jerseys?
http://nba.si.com/2013/02/11/warriors-jerseys-sleeves-adidas-golden-state/?sct=uk_t2_a3

I like them.

Blogger's note: That's going to take some getting used to

[El]

Long time reader, Doug. Always appreciate your glass half full attitude. Still lamenting the loss of Jose, but glad he's getting respect and accolades deserves in Detroit. I thought Devlin's passing remark last night that Jose's played well in the last couple games was misleading in its lukewarmness. In Sat.'s game Jose was Player of the Game, had 23 pts, 10 assists, 5 rebs, 3 steals. Watched it online - great game! He was Top Story on the NBA website, interviewed by the NBA crew with Isaiah Thomas, et al. It was a back-to-back after ending San Antonio's 11-game winning streak the night before. In his 1st 2 games he started as pt. guard, no practices, put up good numbers (15 its, 3 asts and 8 its, 9 asts, ran the team well).
El

[doug]

I wish people would quit just looking at stats and see the impact Gay has...it's not about percentages, he can get his show whenever, so therefore it makes defenses honest and in fact if you were watching yesterday Rudy was doubled on most plays...to compare his FG% with Bargs is so wrong it's well just so wrong....as Rudy brings a dimension this team hasn't has for eons, plus were far better defensively,... sometimes a GM needs to save a coach from himself, in this case BC needs to find a taker for Anderson as for whatever reasons Casey loves him or he is his security blanket , AA is a ball-stopper on offense, and defensively he is over-hyped, yesterday I was watching and Lowry hustled back making the lead on a fast break miss his shot, but loafing behind was Anderson who's man he should have been running with made the basket, his rotations are slow and as Jack said he needs to understand his role on this team...me I'd trade him as Casey can't help himself...cheers..

[Penguin]

One thing that I think has to be said for Lowry. Whatever else he may be, you have to love the way he's up and cheering, going nuts off the bench, when the guys on the floor are playing well. He showed real excitement during the fourth quarter when Lucas kept hitting his 3s. I don't think that I have seen anyone that animated on the bench since the days of JYD. Teammates must love him for this.