Gambles sometimes work and another odd airline tale

At least it was an entertaining game, wasn’t it?

Lots of points, dramatic end to the fourth quarter, close game pretty much all the way.

Wrong team won for you fans but, tell the truth,, it was far more fun to watch than the Friday night slogfest, no?

Anyway, think we’ll keep the game-specific stuff a bit shorter as we go forward, unless there’s something huge to discuss.

So …

-

THREE POINTERS

Sometimes gambles pay off

Amir Johnson gets his fifth foul with a whole lot of time left and I bet a lot of you thought he’d be walking to the bench right away.

But, no.

Give Dwane credit, he rolled the dice on that one and it paid off, Johnson was as effective in the last five minutes of the game as anyone on the court; he looked more active, especially offensively, all night.

There is no right or wrong way to play such situations, Johnson could have just as easily fouled out on the very next possession, you take your chances and see what happens.

If he’d fouled out, I’m sure there would have been some hue and cry about saving him for the last couple of minutes in overtime.

You just never really know.

-

And sometimes …

Gambles don’t pay off.

As Dwane mentioned in the game-over story, going “small” had its benefits offensively but it killed them at times on the defensive end and it was – as it so often – a matter of not paying attention to detail.

The thing to do when you’re undersized and trying to rebound on the defensive end is to immediately find a man to box out the second the shot goes up. Turn around, find a body, get in his chest and hold him off.

We were sitting right under the basket in those final pivotal minutes of the game and all the Raptors were guilty of the same thing: The shot would go up, they would watch and try to go get the ball; too often they were too physically small to do it, they got reached over and had the ball taken away. If they’d turned and face-guarded someone, that probably doesn’t happen.

-

It counts, right?

Lost amid the dramatic final minute and the disappointing overtime was Kyle Lowry getting the third triple-double of his career and the third by a Raptors point guard this year.

Sure, it took a desperation three-pointer when the OT was over to get him to 10-10-10 but it’s still not that bad.

But, because he is who he is and his temperament is what it is – and I admire him for both – Lowry was unimpressed when discussing whether it meant anything.

“Not a damn thing … It don’t matter.”

-

More?

Sure, some quick stuff.

-

Okay, we’re leaving Milwaukee so …

This?

-

Tell you what this is going to be from here on in.

A potentially excellent eating trip with days off in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

I am virtually certain there’ll be some Irish coffees consumed with Mr. Armstrong at the Buena Vista coffee house this afternoon (Delta Airlines willing) and then there’s a great Italian place PJ gave us a couple of years called Tomasso’s. If it’s not on the agenda, I’ll take recommendations.

Tuesday’s Phoenix and the best pizza on the circuit at Pizzeria Bianco (that’s a BC recommendation) and it’s a don’t miss.

The L.A. part’s going to be new. We’re at the JW Marriott at LA Live right across from Staples, first time I’ve ever stayed there so what’s everyone got?

Yeah, I know, will miss In And Out Burger out by LAX but what the heck.

And, yes, we are almost at the time where trips are about almost anything except basketball. Hope you understand.

-

Okay, we’re leaving Milwaukee so …

If you didn’t like that, how about this?

-

Goofy airline story, Part 1 of this trip.

We get in the little Sopwith Camel to go from Pearson to Detroit at about 6:15 a.m. and then on to Milwaukee on Saturday morning and things go swimmingly to start.

Lots of time to make the connection, easy flight, full plane but it’s not that bad. Door closes and we sit there. And sit there. And sit there some more.

Finally, the pilot tells us they are dealing with some weight and balance issues and I figure all they’ve got to do is move around some cargo (I fully expect them to off-load my bag as part of this but I’m okay with that) and we’ll be on our way.

Well, we sit there. And sit there. And sit there some more.

Finally, the pilot comes on and says (I may be paraphrasing here a bit):

“Folks, here’s what’s going on. The re-fuellers came by overnight and they put way too much fuel in our plane and that’s not a good thing for weight and balance. We’re going to try to deal with it and we’ll talk to the dispatchers and let you know.”

So, some pump jockey forgets to turn off the nozzle in some tired state overnight Friday and I’m going to miss my connection? Oh yeah, this trip looks like it’s getting off to a great start.

Anyway, we sit there about 10 more minutes, back away from the gate and sit on the tarmac for about 10 and then taxi for such a long time I think we’re actually driving to Detroit.

Guess that must have run out enough gas because all of a sudden we’re at the runway and off we go.

I make the connection, my bag makes the connection and it’s just another story for the book.

Yep, flying can be so charming.

-

All right, looks like they’re close to calling our flight, we’ve got some mail leftover to get done in the plane and put up here tonight from San Fran, you all have a good day.

-

 

 

 

Comments

[Matt M]

Hopefully Rudy was watching because I would like to see the same amount of ball movement with him in the lineup. I'm sure this team could be a 'next level' team on par with Atlanta or Chicago (sans Derrick Rose) if they were more unpredictable on offense, more consistent defensively, and Rudy transformed himself from 'volume shooter' to 'efficient scorer'. To reach Miami or Chicago (with Derrick Rose) they need to do that and JV needs to develop into either Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett. Easy peasy. I will now proceed to hold my breath.

[Rob.V]

We'll, I guess we can all look forward to the summer when BC and Co. can make more moves. It will be interesting to watch JV, Ross, and Quincy for the balance of the season.

What's pretty cool for me is that you just sent me to Pizzeria Bianco a couple of weeks ago if you recall so I can entirely relate (thank you and BC), and I'm not kidding you - there are days that I still think about the food at Tomasso's (seriously!!), a year later ... which you sent me to in 2012. The food there was out of this world mind blowing! Thanks again!... and now I think I'll go eat something because suddenly I feel hungry.

Pound The Parmesan!

[Lawrence]

State Bird Provisions on Fillmore. Bon Appetite Magazine's best restaurant in America.

[coachd]

HI Doug,
"The shot would go up, they would watch and try to go get the ball; too often they were too physically small to do it, they got reached over and had the ball taken away.If they’d turned and face-guarded someone, that probably doesn’t happen." You know who does this all the time, Bargnani. Watch him play. Everytime a shot is taken his first reaction is to go away from the basket and box-out his man. His teammates don't.Most of them head to the basket and forget to box-out. And often, the rebounds he would get are picked up by one of his teammates who comes in under neath him because they haven't boxed out their man. This lack of boxing out has hurt the Raps for years. Watch the next time they play. You'll see that Bargnani is doing what he's supposed to do.

[ronmor]

Doug,

Agree with you on the entertainment value of last night's game. Raps. certainly would have got the W if a few more shots would have fallen especially by DD and AB. Also,
despite his late fourth quarter heroics, AA was just 1 of 8 from beyond the arc. His shot selection whether a make or a miss is frequently very questionable.

Believe that the Raps. should "play to win" for the remainder of their schedule or at least until mathematically eliminated. When? that happens serious minutes should be given to Ross who has done little since the All-Star break and Valencinius who rarely gets a chance to play meaningful minutes down the stretch at crunch time. Anderson's and Bargnani's minutes should be reduced since their future with the Raps is in limbo. Fields also should be given more floor time since he seems to be a strong defender, a gritty rebounder and a good decision maker qualities that the Raps have often lacked this season.

Enjoy the west coast swing; lots of sunscreen.

ronmor

[deaner]

4 games.....one could argue the 4 most important they have had in a long long time, and the result....0-4.

That sums up this team and inept coaching staff.

#noheartnopassion

[Johnn19]

Since the Gay for Calderon and Davis trade the Raps are a 7-7 500 team.

Before the trade the Raps were 12-12 a 500 team, during Calderons replacing Lowry @ PG so no better, just different.

But 19-19 for 38 games is a pretty good indication there is some talent there, but a lot of inconsistency in game to game play, and the season destroyed by the 4-22, heavy away 15 and home 7 schedule, and 7/8 new players including 3 rookies not on the same page.

[KX]

If you're in downtown SF and into crabs this place in SF Chinatown called R&G Lounge is quite famous.

[Vincent Lam]

I'm a little slow in reading this. I noticed you mentioned three Raptors point guards had a triple double this year. Who are the three? There is Kyle, Jose I believe got one against Indiana. But the third? Are you counting Ben Uzoh getting one at the end of last season? It still falls within 12 months.

Blogger's note: Third by a point guard, Jose had two