And So It Begins...

It’s game night. I’ve been waiting for this since the Raptors took a dive below mediocrity sometime in the middle of last season. If I fetched the date, it would only depress me, so that’s in the past… and this club is clearly headed for a brighter future.

To this point, my basketball reporting spanned 3 preseason games, a couple of practices, media day… but this was the real deal. The Regular Season Opener.

I put that in caps, so it would seem more epic. For me, it is.

As they say, “it only matters how you perform when the lights come on.”

My job would become a lot more complicated this evening, as now The Fan 590 will be doing pre, half, and post-game shows. That means I need to get juicy quotes for all those segments. Then I found out that I’d be doing in-game updates for 680News.

If you’ve ever been to the ACC, you already know it can get pretty loud. Well, granted the season is still early, but the Hangar got loud. The stands shook like we were sitting at an AC/DC concert, and when it came to my second update, I couldn’t even hear my queue…

“The Fan’s Zack Cooper joins us live from the ACC… Zack? …Zack?”

I wasn’t being rude, I swear. If I heard Mr. Dunleavy, I would have responded. The first update (at 7:15) went great – or so a text message from a friend assured me. Needless to say, the second hit left me feeling a little rough around the edges.

Whatever, “with sports at 15 and 45 past every hour…” this is 680 News. I’d be able to make up for it. And I’d like to think I did.

Although there were no more text messages – except from a buddy of mine sitting courtside – to assure me.

Game time.

The Raptors looked pretty good. Much better than you’d expect from a team that was predicted to finish dead last in the league (It’s unanimous south of the border).

The Raps didn’t play any defense, and couldn’t shoot the ball – Toronto shot 39% in contrast to Washington’s 48 percent (61 at the half) - but they looked good doing it.

The starting five consisted of Mike James, Jalen Rose, Joey Graham (whom they call “The Pilot” – he got his aviator’s license a couple of years ago), Chris Bosh, and Loren Woods.

They rode JG for the first few possessions, and he carried them. An immediate 3 in response to a Gilbert Arenas triple was a crowd-lifter. Then when he dashed through the lane for an extended finger-roll lay-in, the butter melted all over the ACC, and the fans jumped to their feet like popcorn from its kernel.

This is what’s to come, indeed.

Sparing you most of the in-game run-through, I will shed light on the fact that once again Jose Calderon was shining when running the point. He kept the game high-paced, found the right guys at the right time (Mo Pete in the corner for 3, again and again), and played sound defense.

As a wise man by the name of Kevin Nealon once said in a great movie:

“All good things… circular.”

Fast-forward to late in the fourth. About 2 minutes left in regulation. For some reason, Chris Bosh is not on the floor, along with Graham – they’re both riding the pine (despite the fact that CB4 had 17 points and 14 rebounds). While Matt Bonner - who was cold all night, and couldn’t play on-the-ball defense if it fell on him – was.

The Raps are down by a point (94-93), and get three solid opportunities for open 3-pointers. Mo Pete from the corner…clank! Jalen from the top of the arch… snap! Mike James 3 feet to the left… dang! All that was missing was a Chuck Swirsky “Bam!” – then the Raps would not only have the lead, but we’d have successfully reenacted an old episode of Batman.

Moving on… After the Raps retrieved a defensive rebound, Rose tried to dribble into the lane, when Brendan Haywood (7’0”, 263 lbs) drew a charge on Jalen (6’8” 225 lbs).

I’m trying to learn how to say flop in Ukrainian… just for fun.

Antawn Jamison then avoided a trip to the charity stripe with 12.7 seconds left, dropping in a short-jumper for the Wiz. (He later said “To me, that’s a lay-up.”)

Charlie V missed a 3, Bonner collected the rebound, dished to Jalen for the tie… nope.

Wizards 99, Raptors 96

--

After the game, I spoke to the visiting coach per usual. Normally asking questions, I’m fine… but when there are cameras around, I guess I get nervous. I tried to ask Coach Eddie Jordan what they changed in the second half to force 12 Toronto turnovers… and it came out something like this:

“What did you guys do? Second-half, you gave the Raptors 12 turnovers. They got… In the late…”

I’m pretty sure that’s not even a question. But he answered it anyway…

Heading into the locker room, I went one-on-one with Haywood. Spoke to him for a few minutes. That went smoothly… no cameras.

Gilbert Arenas… top-notch guy. When all the cameras drifted, I asked for a few minutes of his time…

Not too long ago, this guy was told by everyone he didn’t have the game for the NBA (“He’s too small, he’s not a pure point guard…” on an on). He drifted all the way to the 2^nd round of the 2001 draft (finally getting selected by the Warriors, 31^st overall). He wears the number “0” to represent what everyone expected out of him – nothing - and last year he was selected to his first (of likely many) all-star games.

He knows all about the role of underdog… so I asked him to indulge me on his thoughts about the Raptors being predicted to finish at the basement of the league.

“I hate when people doubt someone. I’m always going for the underdog. You know, because I was an underdog. So if someone says someone’s going to finish last – I’m rooting for them to win. Just to prove everybody wrong. You know, like “Ahhh they did it!”

Gorgeous. Just talking. Me and Gil. Gil and I. I’m living my dream, no doubt.

That was in my mind as he continued: “They got a great, talented team. Especially young. You know, the young boys played hard, and once they get a few more games under their belt they’ll be good.”

All the while, I’m envisioning he’s talking about my performance…

But when the cameras are rolling, I need to know how to perform when the lights come on.

--
The Nets are here on Friday… the Raps are off to Motown on Saturday, and then it’s hosting Lebron and the Cavs on Monday (we’ll talk after that). Thanks for listening.