Dunking and things that should disappear with the penny

We should hear this week about who’ll do what on the All-Star (Boring) Saturday night in Houston pretty soon and that means breathless anticipation for a day or two on whether or not Terrence Ross will dunk.

On the face of it, he probably should be asked, he is tremendously athletic, can jump out of the gym as they say and if they want to keep it among “rising stars” you don’t get much younger than the kid who just turned 22 on the weekend.

Dwyane Wade, who’ll captain the East team in what’s now a conference vs. conference night for money that goes to charity, said last week he’d like to have Ross do it, too.

So?

Ross sounded a bit ambivalent about it when we asked him about it on the weekend.

“There’s so much pressure to do it, I’d rather say yes than no.”

Don’t blame him, actually.

With all the props and schticks and stuff that have turned it into theatre rather than athletics, I’d be a bit ambivalent, too. You’ve had guys jump over guys, you’ve had guys jump over cars (although I contend there are 20 guys in the NBA who could do that) and it’s all about the show than the skill.

And Ross, bless his heart, is a quiet kid, not given to great shows of theatrics and I wonder what he’d come up with or how he’d handle the whole thing.

And seeing how his teammate, DeMar DeRozan, was cheated out of what probably should have been a win a couple of years back, maybe Ross will have second thoughts, if he’s asked.

“He said it’s tough, you don’t have any warmup, it’s like: “It’s your turn, go.” There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of people so you get a little nervous. If I get invited I might as well just take my time and hopefully I don’t mess up.”

Now, there is no doubting Ross’s skills in the flow of the game. He’s had some amazing dunks this season already – the one on Friday against the Clippers gave Dwane Casey rise to suggest it was one of the best he’d ever seen – but the whole contest has gone so far away from “amazing” that I’m not sure true skill shines through.

And, truth be told, the dunk contest, like all of the Saturday night stuff, has become a wee bit stale, no?

Even Ross admits that.

“For a person who’s doing the dunks, you wish people weren’t using the props but as a person, a fan, you’ve seen every dunk that there is. You keep seeing the same thing every year, you’re going to get tired of it so of course people bring out some props and are jumping over cars, stuff like that.”

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Oh yeah, we’re about to finalize a noon hour Q and A session for this Thursday if you want to put it in your calendar.

Should have it nailed down tomorrow.

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Sure, Reg Presley passes away and it’s all Wild Thing for those who recall the Troggs fondly.

This wasn’t so bad either, was it?

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No more pennies, I hear.

No big deal, right?

They were basically worthless, didn’t really count for anything and have clogged up enough space on counters and bedroom penny jars that it’s time they went away.

But where?

I’d suggest you all bundle them up and if you don’t want to take them to the bank, find some charity – the Canadian Cancer Society would be worthy cause – and donate them there.

You’ll be glad you did.

Anyway, the penny’s demise got me to thinking, what else can we get rid of that no one would miss. A list?

VCR players

Really, do you need the flashing 12:00 any more? Didn’t think so.

Baby toes

Think about it. Pain the butt to clip the nails, they generally look ugly and I’m not even sure we need them for balance when we walk. Seriously, what good are they?

(I know. Super Son told me he learned in biology that we indeed need them for balance – I’m stunned and proud he was paying that close attention – but if each of us lost both, wouldn’t that cancel things out)

Canadian Tire money

Ever remember bringing a big paper bag of it to the store to buy a hockey stick for about $1.99? I do.

Now? I’m sure there’s hundreds of dollars of it sitting around somewhere clogging up a shelf or a cupboard.

Phone answering machines

Come on. No one uses a phone answering machine any more, do they? Heck, I imagine a lot of you don’t even have a home phone.

Any tapes

8-tracks, cassettes, those little mini tapes we used to use in recorders, what have you. Pretty useless, no? If you’re like me, they’re collecting dust in some bookcase somewhere next to the DVDs.

What have you got?

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This might be interesting to see.

For the first time since about the first week of December, it would appear Dwane Casey will have a full complement of players available to him for tomorrow night against Boston.

Wonder how he handles who plays where and with whom.

I still think a nine-man rotation works best, 10 if there’s foul trouble, and with Rudy Gay obviously a big minute eater – he’s going to play between 38-40 each night – it’s going to be a balancing act for the coach.

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Comments

[Ryan]

Hey Doug,

I still have a phone answering machine, because my phone company wants to charge me $10 a month for voicemail. I was saving my pennies, but that line won't work any more...

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Wanted to pass along the title of an excellent basketball book--"Brave Dragons" by Jim Yardley. It's about a season with the Shanxi Brave Dragons in the Chinese Basketball League. The Dragons are owned by a lunatic industrialist who brings in NBA veteran coach Bob Weiss and the troublesome Bonzi Wells to try and make it to the playoffs for the first time. Yardley is a former Pulitzer Prize winner and he knows how to write. One of the best sports books I've ever read.

AG, Toronto

[AT]

They should go old school and make it a true "contest" with 8 guys and rules...
1.You miss a dunk, your top score can only be 9.5, you miss again, your top score can only be 9. etc.
2. only 1 "prop" dunk per person .. still with a time limit
3. let the fans vote via text

I guess these guys make too much money to say to put some real money on the line.. but do half for them, half for their favorite charity.

Dwight howards miffed up superman throw down was not a dunk... he messed up and through it at the hoop and it went in....Demar was robbed that year.

Doug, even the most out of shape irregulars here could dunk if we could pretty much touch the rim from standing still..

Terrence Ross most spectacular
dunk this year and why D-Wade think Ross should be in the dunk contest:
http://www.nba.com/raptors/video/ross-cleared-takeoff-jan-23-2013

[Rob]

Doug, my seats are two rows behind you. My date last week asked who all the people were on the media desk. I pointed out the people i knew and their roles. She asked about that young, curly guy that sits beside you. I had no idea who he is, or what he does, but i know he is at every game. She said he seemed to be surfing net most of time, so i told her he's probably got some kind of live blog he needs to update. Who is he? And come to think of it, do you think that all those people on the desk are necessary, i.e. do so many need to sit that close?

Blogger's note: You might mean E Koreen but I have no idea; and, yes, we all need to sit that close

[Wilber]

You got me curious on Reg Presley so I found he also wrote "Love is all around" and he used his royalties from the 90's remake of that song to fund his obsessive research on crop circles. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/features/regpresley.shtml

I learn so much coming here, Doug.

[Penny]

Hi Doug - We have 2 TVs and one still has a VCR hooked up to it. This way I can still watch all those movies I bought in the 90s - especially the Harrison Ford ones - "Patriot Games" and "Air Firce One".

[Johnny]

Doug,

I am struggling to understand how Alan Anderson gets more playing time than Ross. Could you elaborate?

Blogger's note: Not really. Some nights he plays better, he's bigger, more experienced

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Since we can't officially put our two cents' worth in any more, rather than rounding down, we should strive to make it a nickel's worth, right?
So here's my nickel's worth of stuff that should go the way of the penny: 1) Primo Pasta commercials; 2) phone books (we just had one delivered – why?); 3) computer mice (touchscreen laptops, please, to ward off metacarpal crap); 4) "Diet" anything; 5) Ann Coulter.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Geoff Read]

"Love is All Around" is another good Troggs' number, bastardized to funny effect by Bill Nighy aka "Billy Mack" in "Love Actually". Seriously though, I think the Troggs were an important band - paving the way along with some similar acts like the Kinks for the proto-punk bands like the Stooges and MC-5.

I'm not a fan of the dunk competition. Back in the Michael Jordan days I used to watch it but, as you say, it got stale and gimmicky. I think hockey shootouts aren't quite as lame because at least in that case there's the one on one competition between the shooters and the goalies. In the dunk competition, well, there's only so many ways guys can show off their skills. Maybe they should introduce a defender somehow?

Stuff that could go the way of the penny.

1) The dunk competition.

2) Bryan Colangelo's tenure as GM of the Raptors.

3) Hero ball. (hello Kyle Lowry)

4) The Raptors' dinosaur logo.

5) Those blueprints for a Stanley Cup parade on Yonge St.

Ba da boom.

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Count me in the crowd that thinks answering machines still have a place in our lives, especially as it was already pointed out when the Teleco's want $10 a month for CallAnswer. What a scam that is eh? Remember when Call Answer and Call Waiting all first came out, and you could get both for $4. Now one service is $10?! Oh, but I can bundle and "save" more, yeah, right? How did this "service" double in price? Doesn't the price of technology going down over time?? What a scam, and with Bell and Rogers buying MLSE for a great big chunk o' change, I can't imagine there's going to be any reductions in the costs of these services.

Ciao amigo,

marc in panama

[Stavros]

Baby toes are attached to babies. Until i got to the balancing part I thought you were going nuts. LOL!!
However, it is true baby toes are a pain to clip.

[DD]

Hi Doug,

A question on Rudy Gay being a minute-eater. Does he have it written in his contract that he gets X amount of minutes per night? We have so much depth at the wing, much more than Memphis, wouldn't it be smarter to have him play, say, 32 minutes going 100% hard than 38 where he starts getting tired at the end? Rudy was visibly tired at the end of the Heat game. It gives us a chance to get guys like TRoss, Alan Anderson, Fields, Linas going and giving them 16 minutes instead of 5-6 has to give them a better shot of getting into rhythm no? Do you think Dwayne considers this?

Blogger's note: He considers everything and you cannot have a clause like that in a contract

[Lorie]

Interesting stuff that 'should' disappear. Phone books were on my list. And Ann Coulter? Oh, yeah. And she can take Rove with her. But mainly (and this might be because I'm getting older) I'm wanting to permanently 'lose' things that I usually can't find anyway... Keys to car and house and mailboxes (aren't we ready for retina scans and/or touching things to activate them?), reward cards I have to have with me in order to get my 'rewards' (I know I'm in your system cause we had that long, long conversation to get all my necessary information. Oh, and you send me emails daily.) and paper public transit transfers (swear they're already able to vanish as soon as I put them in my pocket...again, just scan me, baby!). And hopefully Dwane's full complement will draw our compliments.(I know...groan...but couldn't resist!) Go Raps! And did you know it's but a single week until pitchers and catchers report? Talk about things whose time has come to re-appear! And @Wilber...what you say is very true. We do learn stuff here, don't we. And, did you catch the name of Mr. Presley's book? - "Wild Things They Don't Tell Us".

[LeeZ]

@D-Mac Ottawa: First, as a fellow resident of our Nation's Capital, I have only one thing to say: it's EFFING COLD OUT THERE!!! Second of all, Ann Coulter must NOT go the way of the penny. She's too entertaining, in a fascistic, demagoguing way.
@Andrew Gregg: thanks for the recommendation. Bob Weiss, the coach of that team, used to play for the Buffalo Braves back when they played at Maple Leaf Gardens. He was bald even back then (before bald was a fashion statement).
Doug, I now have With A Girl Like You swimming around my brain. What a great song. And nice quotes from Ross. The kid really seems like a nice young man. Hope he has a great career.

[Michel G]

Stuff that should go the way of the penny:

1. Geoff Read's comments.

You're so negative. When's the last time Lowry tried to play hero ball?

You're not going to complain about Lowry every day, are you?

[DaveB]

I ate at the City Blues Cafe last night. They have to be the world's best Ribs. The house band was very good also. When was the last time you heard Gene Vincent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDU9FP5_B2M

Thanks for the recommendation for the Juke Joint. I really enjoyed it until the place filled up with "fresh air". There is another place just down the street (same side) on the corner that had a great band. However they allow "fresh air" also. Too bad as we are not used to it anymore.

Now I have to decide if we go to see Ed Davis play tonight (after the Rendezvous) or just experience Beale Street some more. It is off to Houston tomorrow.

The font size is much better. Now if you could just get them to make it black instead of light grey it would be great. Thanks

[LeeZ]

@Lorie: No no a thousand times no! Karl Rove must NOT go the way of the penny! At least, not the version of Karl Rove that we see on the Colbert Report (a canned ham with glasses on it. Seriously, the likeness is UNCANNY!)

[larry lukeeborg]

wow, a photo of jose in a uniform other than raptors...that will take getting used to.

[Lorie]

@LeeZ: Oh, okay. You can have your 'uncanny' Rove...wouldn't want to hamstring your enjoyment of that particular brand of porkbarrel hilarity.

[Geoff Read]

Michel G: I'm "so negative"? Sorry I didn't realize that it was my responsibility as a fan commenting on someone's blog to remain upbeat. It's hard not to be negative about a franchise as burdened with a history of ineptitude as the Raptors.

[john]

@Michel G, I'm with you. How is Lowry playing "hero ball" exactly? Since he's started at PG he's taking 6-7 shots per game. He had 8 assists vs. the clippers and would have had that many again on Sunday if teammates could shoot better than 35%. All everyone hears is how Jose is such a better passer and gets his team mates involved and he averages 7.3 AST to Lowry 5.8.
My lord, this team has really only played one game together and Lowry gets called out for ‘Hero Ball’? How about the fans (and media) watch the next 5 games to see how things are going to shake out before pigeon holing players. The Raps have the best player since they had VC, lets see what they can do.

[james]

It will intriguing to see how this revised roster is deployed against Boston. In particular, how will Bargnani fit? No doubt to be dictated by the question, how will he shoot? He really remains the ultimate wild card.

As I sit in my chaotic office surrounded by a VCR tuned to an old copy of "Cutter's Way", backed up by a homemade cassette "Fleetwood Mac: From Peter Green to Stevie Nicks, and beyond", about to look up a number in my phone book, I really don't know what you people are on about. Things we could do without? All vital parts of one's personal ecosystem, say I. However, I would not miss the CBC type responsible for inflicting Kevin O'Leary on the world.

Love the Mona Lisa smile of the new ID photo, by the way.

[saatuk]

Another answering machine here. I bought it about 20 years ago, it still works, and I don't have to pay a monthly fee.

Is it worthwhile to google 'Ann Coulter' to find out who she is?

[kathyt]

I can’t stop staring at the picture of Jose in a Pistons jersey... it’s just plain wrong.

If I hadn’t cancelled my home phone and gone cellular I’d still be using an answering machine. They still have a place in today’s mobile phone culture; I sold mine on craigslist a while ago to a gentleman who was unfortunately laid off and was trying to cut some expenses such as voicemail etc., plus my mother still uses one.

[DMcG]

I can't blame Ross for not being excited to participate in the silly dunk contest. I don't pay attention to what goes on All-Star weekend, but if I did the first scratch would be that.
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I can't wait to see how Bargnani integrates with this new look. I hope he and the coaches don't fall in love with the 3 pt line, and that he's used in a variety of ways, including down low.
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This has nothing to do with today's blog, and I don't know if it's been posted on here before, but this weekend I was introduced to this very cool production of a song, and not a bad song/tune as well (5 people playing 1 guitar!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsoRSI7ei4E