Wade's World

Or is it? It turns out the NBA’s taking another shot at the dress-code, but this time… on the court. If the league implements what’s being rumoured, there will be o more panty-ho-… err, tights.

Sorry, Wade…



Personally, I think they should just ban Eddy Curry from wearing them, but that’s just me.

Anyway, on Wednesday, you knew it was going to happen. Dwyane Wade erupted in the 4th quarter – going on a personal 9-0 run, to score 16 of his 37 points in the final frame, as the Heat came back from 16 down to steal the win.

98, 94

Just before the game, we learned that Shaq was questionable with a leg injury. I heard one reporter mention to Sam Mitchell that the big “Diesel” had his knee drained, but I hadn’t heard anything before that. So I took off on a pre-tip mission to find the Heat’s Media Relations guy.

I went to the visitor’s dressing room, and found my security-buddies doing their thing. Standing on either side of the door.

“Hey, do you guys know where I can find the Heat’s Media guy?”
“He’s right there,” one of them said, pointing to a man standing about 7 inches away from me.

“Hey there, my name’s Zack Cooper, I’m with the Fan 590… I just heard that Shaq got his knee drained. Can you give me any info on that?”
“Who said that?” The Media Relations guy replied.
“I heard another reporter mention it.”
“Well, I can’t really tell you anything other than he’s a game-time decision…”
“With… a drained knee?”
“With a leg injury?”
“Can you be any more specific?”
“Nope. You can talk to Coach Riley after the game, though.”

Hmmm. Well, the post-game questioning won’t really help my pre-game reports. Oh well. “Leg injury” it is, then.

So yeah… No Shaq, no Alonzo Mourning, and no Chris Bosh. Right now, it appears he’s going to sit out the rest of the season with that “badly” sprained thumb. Probably for the best.
During the game, I text-messaged the other Fan reporter working the game.

“If it’s cool with you, I’d like to cover the Heat tonight… I wanna talk to Wade and Payton.”

Two minutes later, I get this reply:

“Cool. I hear Wade’s down with his media.”

That’s now the joke around the station. While I do find it funny (see: “Lebron’s Down With His Media”), my response was:

“Dick.”

So after the game, I do as planned… go talk to Coach Pat Riley, then head into the Heat locker room.

First up, Gary Payton. A player I grew up loving. My brother used to adore the solid pick-and-roll tandem of Utah’s Stockton and Malone, while I followed the flash and funk of Seattle’s Payton and Kemp. Those were my guys. Just ask anyone that I played in NBA Jam. They felt the fury.

So reporters are asking the man once known as “The Glove” the standard questions. I got into the fray, as well:

“Gary, it seems in that 4th quarter you guys changed up the game defensively. While the Raptors were getting inside throughout the first 3, you guys really buckled down in the 4th, and kept them on the perimeter.”
“Well yeah, that’s because we were [inaudible] picks, we weren’t letting them get open, come free and let Mike [James] go to the basket… We were making him get off the ball, and that was a good thing for us. Make him get off the ball, and make the other people do things with the basketball. Then they start making jump shots, and when they’re missing them, we get the rebound and run it back at them.”

The Raptors TV reporter and I went back and forth with another line of questioning, until I asked:

“…and also, you guys are the hottest team in the NBA since February 1st, is that timing… you guys are just starting to click or… how do you explain that?”

(They’re literally the best team in the NBA in the last two months. After beating the Raptors on that night, they improved to 20-5 since Feb. 1. San Antonio’s next at 20-6)

Gary’s response:

“That’s just timing. I mean, I think we’re just getting in our role. We had to feel each other out, there’s like 8 or 9 new guys. You know, that’s a lot of new guys on one team to try to get into a rhythm in like a month. So we got into our rhythm after about 3, 4 months and now we’re playing together, and believing in each other. I think now we’ve just got more confidence in each other.”

As everyone else started to scatter… I wanted to know if he still kept in touch with “The Reign Man”

“Gary… you still talk to Shawn Kemp at all?”
“Nah, I haven’t… I haven’t talked to him in a while. I haven’t talked to him in a little bit.”

At least there’s always video games.

But back to Wade. It’s certainly his world, and we’re just living in it. I’ve been in locker rooms where guys take their time… but Wade was taking his TIME. After all the other players had left, we got a peak of Mr. Sean John (he models for P.Diddy’s clothing line) fixing him tie, or his collar, or his shoes, every time a certain door swung open.

Not only does he get away with jersey-tugging in the game, but he also roped us all into waiting for him for about 25 minutes.

With that being said, the FAN’s post-game show was already underway, and I had only enough time to get a few quick clips and run back. I didn’t even ask him a single question. While I was a little disappointed in myself, seeing as how I love his game so much, the job has to come first… And it did.

==
Tonight, I’ll be sitting courtside for the game against the Suns… I’ll try and get a question into “Captain (Kid) Canada,” but I know it’s going to be a frenzy.

I’ll be at the station on Sunday, so no Chris Paul questions (damn)… but on Tuesday, against the Celtics, I’ll be making my Broadcast News debut. I’ll be doing what I do for the FAN, but I get paid a little on the side for filing a 30-second post-game report (one which will be played across the country).

==

After buying a $160 pair of “Mo Pete’s” yesterday… the side stuff is very much welcomed.

Holy Villanueva, Batman

In Milwaukee, Chris Bosh catches a Pop Sow foot to the thumb, and leaves the game for good (x-rays come back negative – mild sprain – day-to-day). Charlie Villanueva catches magma (I’m going with “magma”, because “fire” doesn’t really do him justice) and goes Buck-hunting for 48 points (20-32 shooting). That helps send the game to overtime, but we all know how that goes in Raptor-land…

Bucks 125, Raptors 116 (OT)

Toronto’s now 1-8 in O-T this season. A questionable call on Mo Pete ignites Sam Mitchell, who lets out his fury on a ref, and gets the boot. Charlie V’s 48 is the most from any Raptor not named Vince Carter; it’s the highest individual output since 2000; it’s an NBA rookie-high for the season (the previous best was 31 from Ray Felton); it’s the most a Raptors’ rookie has ever scored (Camby dropped 37 in ’97); and last but not least… it’s obviously Charlie’s career-high (previously 27).

Being in Milwaukee… I’ve got no inside dirt on this one… but I assured you, there’s some goodness in this entry… First, I need to go out of my usual order, and skip back to Friday, before touching on Saturday’s practice.

So Minnesota’s in town… Sam Mitchell’s old stomping-squad. Pop Sow starts off with some defensive prowess and gets Kevin Garnett to commit a charge less than a minute-in. That apparently fires up the Raps, who allow only eight T-Wolves’ points in the first quarter – both a Raptors’ franchise-best, and a Timberwolves franchise-low.
Toronto outscores Minnesota 24-8 in that first Q, as the T-Wolves shoot blanks (4/19 from the field).

Later in the game, Minny’s trying to make a comeback… Pop gets tangled up with KG and falls underneath the basket. He “pops” up (for lack of a better word) and begins shoving the former-MVP… getting not only a technical foul, but also the crowd in a frenzy. (There’s something about getting rough with KG that Toronto loves – what up, Bonner?)

Anyway, this one wasn’t really a contest:

Raptors 97, T-Wolves 77

Chris Bosh drops a double-double (17 points, 15 boards) on his 22nd birthday (“I’m just hanging out with the family,” he says after the game. “For real?” I ask. “Yup, just family.”). Matt Bonner gets his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, while Pop helps frustrate Garnett, holding him to 15 points (and only 11 shots).
Mo Pete connects on 5 of his 8 3-pointers, for a game-high 21.

However, the 4th quarter looked pretty ugly at times. In fact, the offense went stagnant (which led to boo’s when the fans didn’t get their free pizza) and was held to donuts for a six-minute span in that final frame.

I asked Sam Mitchell about that in the post-game scrum…

“Was there any concern with the offense failing to organize in the 4th?”
“Well yeah, you want to score, but we were playing well defensively… and if we’re up 20 and we don’t score and they don’t score. I dunno, my math teacher will tell me you win by 20.”

It started off so nicely.

All this time, Boston College was losing in overtime (and screwing up my bracket), so most of the guys took a while in the “shower.” We did speak to Bosh, and Pop… who had this nice little gem about his interaction with KG:

“That’s why I’m here for, just to bring the energy up. I make up my mindset, and coach talk to me about how I have a big game tonight…you know, [KG] was just trying to talk sh!t, and you know I’m not going to back down. I just want to bring the energy, you know… that’s why I’m here.”

So after he’s done… the media relations guy walks over and says something along the lines of:

“Pop, you can’t say sh!t on camera...”
“I said sh!t?”
I quickly interject… “He just wants to let people know, he’s not going to take sh!t from the media.”

Alright, so that’s got salami and cheese written all over it, as Chuck would say… now lets move forward.

Saturday’s practice was quiet. 3 reporters including myself. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I read your comments and e-mails (thank you), and hopefully you’ll be happy to know, that I got plenty of good dialogue for you.

We’ll start with Pop, again… here’s the interview, in it’s entirety:

Z: “Hey Pop, what do you consider to be the strengths of your game? What do you bring to the Raptors?”
P: “You know, energy and helping my team do the dirty work.”

While he’s answering this, he looks over to Bosh, who’s making faces at him. So I say:
Z: “Guys like Chris Bosh… can you teach a guy like him to do something different? Like, can the teaching go both-ways?”
P: “Yeah, you know… they look out for me sometimes to see what I do and keep them up – the intensity – and since I’ve been in the lineup, we’ve been doing very well.”
Z: “Everyone talks about this team being so close, on and off the court, what’s your take on that… how do the guys get along?”
P: “We get along GOOD. You know, this is the best team I’ve ever been on in my life, to be honest. These guys, they’re wonderful. We have fun, we enjoy the company of each other. We hang out, but still, when we come out here we play hard.”
Z: “Does that make things a little easier? You know, you might not have your best game, but you come out here and guys still have your back...?”
P: “That’s the thing, because not every night’s going to be your night. But the thing you gotta do, is just help your teammates do the other things.”
Z: “Now how about guys like Hoffa, you know, it appears that sometimes his confidence is down, and he doesn’t get the most minutes-…”
P: “We talk everyday. You know, I was in the same position. I wasn’t playing at all. Now I’m playing, I’m starting, and I know how he feels. But at the same time, he’s still over here working out hard like I do. The thing is, you can never be done on yourself, because you never know when you’ll get the opportunity to play. That’s why he keeps working hard, and I don’t think he’s down on himself.”

After that, it was the most unpleasant scrum with Coach Mitchell to date… He comes over after a light workout, sees the “Raptors TV” cameras and says:

S: “I’m not doing no promos for Raptors TV… and you…” He looks at me, “Are you gonna ask me the same thing you asked me last night?”
Z: “Probably…”
S: “Well then you can write exactly what you wrote last night.”
Z: “Alright, so how do you carry over something LIKE last night’s effort, against a team like the Bucks?”
S: “…just hope we do… How do we carry it over?...”
Z: “Yeah, how do you carry over something like the first quarter’s performance-?”
S: “I doubt if we’ll hold Milwaukee to 8 points…I doubt that, seriously. So we’ll just go out and compete.”

At this point, I know he’s not going to give me any good clips, so a reporter from the Star pipes in:

STAR: “Have you seen significant improvement in Pop, or is just sort of baby steps?”
S: “Baby. Baby Steps.”
STAR: “What are-…”
S: “Guys, look… one game. Okay? Let’s not retire his number or anything. You know? One game. Y’all their worst enemy sometimes, because they play DECENT, and next thing you know, in the papers the headline says ‘THEY HAVE ARRIVED.’ All of a sudden it sets them back 4 or 5 games. Hey, he worked hard, he played hard, he’s got a long way to go.”
Z: “How about Andre Barrett? What do you like about his game?” (He had just received a 2nd 10-day contract)
S: “He’s got a long way to go.”
Z: “Do you like what-?”
S: “Long way to go. Do you watch the games?”
Z: “Yeah…”
S: “Okay, long way to go.”

Thanks for that.

I also spoke to Andre Barrett about the opportunity he’s receiving, but looking up, I see 4 pages of content… I doubt you want to read more… for now.

But please come back, and keep those comments/e-mails coming. I love them.

First Time For Everything

My room is a mess – littered with dirty dishes, mounds of paperwork from Raptors games of weeks past, and wrappers from lozenges and disinfectant wipes used for the powers of good.

My sinuses have finally decided to give me a little breathing room, after plowing through 1.7 boxes of Kleenex in 4 days of work… or lack thereof.

You see, for the first time as a reporter… I called in sick. This soldier missed a game. But not a practice.

Yesterday was my first day back at work, after skipping out on Friday and Saturday festivities. I went down to the ACC, still feeling a little light-headed, after sneezing my brains out while watching College Hoops all weekend.

I guess I picked a good weekend to cave.

Going in, I was going to ask the guys about the main differences between themselves and the Knicks; Only 4.5 games in the standings, but worlds apart in the PR department. In case you’re not familiar, Stephon Marbury and Coach Larry Brown are essentially at wits end. After going through 65 games, and picking up only 19 wins – Marbury wants to go back to “Starbury” – the player with the flash, not the extra pass – and Hometown Brown just wants to win… his way… still. So they’re having it out in the papers, similar to how the Raptors expressed themselves last year.

Thankfully for my energy level, and my good grace of not wanting to share the illness that took me out of commission, others had the same (granted: not too original) line of thinking.

As you’ve been hearing and reading all year, the answers were as consistent as white bread: “We’re all friends, here.”

It’s truly a beautiful thing, from these eyes. Then, a certain reporter kept asking the question:

“Do you wish you had more games left?” Implying: ‘if November’s 1-15 start never happened, where do you think you’d be?’ To me, it didn’t need to be asked, but that’s just me. And essentially, how it works is I build my story around the clips I get.

Once I got back to the station and fired off a couple quick reports, I did a little more research about that last one… the whole: “What if November Never Happened?”

Well, I took all the records from every team in the East, and wiped out the first month. The Raptors would still be 4 games below .500 (23-27), but they would be tied with Philly for 8th (the Sixers own the tie-breaker). The Raps would be just a game out of 7th, 2 out of 6th, and 5 out of home court advantage, believe it or not.

Just thought you might be interested in that.
==
On Friday, the Raptors started out a stinker, only to pull out an amazing win over Milwaukee:

Raptors 97, Bucks 96

Toronto was down 16 points with 5:41 left in the 4th, when they went on a tear to pick up their 3rd win in their last 4 games. Milwaukee had exactly one bucket in that span, by the way.

Chris Bosh had 27 points and 10 boards for double-double #30 on the season. He also had 4 key blocks.

Mike James and Charlie Villanueva each had 14 points (half of Charlie’s came in the final frame).

==
I was there on Wednesday for the game against the Pistons, but that’s nearing week-old-news, so I’ll do another ‘briefy’:

Pistons 105, Raptors 98

Toronto came within 1 point on a couple occasions, but could never overcome the hump.
Teyshaun Prince helped lead an early Motown charge, with 6 of their first 8 points (to finish with 21 points). Chauncey Billups had 26 points and 10 assists.

Bosh was held to 15 points (6/18 shooting, after dropping a career-high 37 in their last meeting). Mike James had 25 points and 11 assists, while Mo Pete had 23 (10/14 from the field).

==
Tonight, the Raptors are in New York, then head to Boston for tomorrow night’s game before returning home for Friday’s tilt with the T-Wolves.

==
Keep all those beautiful e-mails coming… I love hearing what you guys think.
But also don’t shy away from sharing your opinion in the comments section.

Anything you guys want more of? Less of?

What are your thoughts on the Raptors? Share your thoughts.
Thanks for the time.

Just a Little Taste

So the madness of March officially begins in a couple of days… and not only am I pumped, but I’m working “Desk 2” at the Fan. If any of you were listening during the Olympics, you know what it’s all about. The regular 20/20 sportscaster will throw to me specifically for the College Hoops updates. If you’re listening in, I’ll be on between Noon and 7pm on Thursday.

--
So yesterday I went to Raptors practice with absolutely no story ideas. It’s funny how when the team wins, ideas seem tougher to come by. Once I got off the elevator at the ACC, I was greeted by some Canada Basketball people that I’d become familiar with over the last year or so. They handed me a folder that detailed a new partnership they’d just forged with the Raptors… and more importantly, MLSE. Hopefully with corporate backing as strong as MLSE, the “Be One” grass roots program they’re working with will get a nice boost. Tomorrow, versus the Pistons, all the fans are encouraged to wear red and white for support of our country.

So after a brief conversation with Canada Basketball’s media relations guy, the Raptors’ equivalent hands me a sheet of paper, which reads:

“Charlie Villanueva Recieves NBA Community Assist Award for February.”

Congratulations, Charlie.

What did Coach Mitchell think?

“Hey Sam, are you aware of Charlie’s award?”
“No… Nope.”
“Any thoughts?”
“It’s a good thing.”

Another reporter asked if he had ever won one, to which Mitchell replied:

“I don’t know… I couldn’t tell you about half the things I ever won… They’re probably at my mother’s house.”

Personally, I would have thought there would be more praise for a guy who’s doing good things both on and off the court, but I guess not.

The rest of the practice went quite smoothly. With most of the beat reporters following the team to Philly, it was just me, a guy from RapsTV, one reporter from the Star, and another from the Sun. With that being said, it gave me a lot more of an opportunity to get my questions in. Instead of giving you quotes, though, I’ll show you the post-practice notes that I made, and sent to the sportscasters (this is done after chopping up clips, and recording “voicers” or reports.)

Raptors Practice Notes – Mar 13

CHARLIE VILLANUEVA (3 clips) was named the recipient of the NBA's Community Assist Award for the month of February.

Charlie V visits with families affected by Alopecia Areata - a condition he's been living with since childhood, at selected Raptors home and away games.
In all, he's met with kids and their families in 16 NBA cities, and by season's end, with have met with over 800 people affected by the disease.

He was named the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) spokesperson in July 2005, and has been with the organization since early 2004.

While Charlie was happy about the award... COACH SAM MITCHELL (3 clips) said he "didn't know about it." Frankly, it didn't look like he cared, either way. He didn't seem to be in a very talkative mood, and really it only got interesting when he was talking about how he doesn't believe in "clutch shooters."

He said if the "the man" (the team's star) draws in the defense, and dishes to the open man... he's done his job.

"An average shooter is a better shooter if it's an open shot." (Sam clip 1)

While he did says he's generally pleased with how the team shares the ball, CHRIS BOSH (6 clips) said sometimes their offense gets stagnant, and as seen in previous losses... people (*ahem* Mike James) will try to take over the game. He related it to the childhood feeling of trying to hit the game-winning bucket (Bosh clip 6)

Most of the Bosh stuff is look-ahead to the Sixers - Tues Night in Philly.
3 clips are labeled as such.

VOICERS:
1 - No Such Thing as Clutch/Sharing is Caring
2 - Charlie V: The Community Man
3 - High Stakes in Philly

Thanks.
-Zack

==

The night before, the Raptors played host to the Pacers… Since I was at the station with my sportscaster’s hat on… well, you know how it goes by now…

Raptors 93, Pacers 89

After allowing Jeff Foster to look like an all-star in the first half (career-high 19 points, 12 boards), the Raptors buckled down, and allowed only 14 Pacer-points in the 4th quarter.

Toronto had only 11 assists, but managed to outscore Indy in the paint (48-38).

The Raptors set that NBA record of consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer. Mo Pete got the money ball early in the second half… making it 595 straight games.

In hindsight though, his game-tying 3-pointer with 89 seconds left was more crucial. Mike James hit a tough jumper with 8 seconds left, and then on the ensuing possession, Charlie V blocked Anthony Johnson with 3 ticks left, which allowed James to nail the game-clinching free-throws.

Mo had a team-high 25, Bosh had 24 and a team-high 8 boards, while James scored 21. Charlie shot only 3-of-9 for 6 points, but had 3 big blocks.

==
Then there was the game against the Nuggets… also known as the worst 3-point shooting team in the league. No one sent the memo to the Raptors though (ummm, yeah… I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Saturday…).

Nuggets 108, Raptors 97

Greg Buckner nailed 5 of his 8 threes… Earl Boykins, 4 of his 7… as Denver shot a whopping 52.6% from behind the arc. While the Nuggets connected on 10 of their 19 long-balls, the Raptors frivolously jacked up 28 of them, and hit only 11. While not a bad percentage (39.3%), it shows that shot selection could have been a little better.

Carmelo Anthony was dismantling the Raptors, before leaving the game with a strained hamstring 4 minutes into the 2nd half. He picked up 14 points (7-of-9 jab-steps) and 6 boards in an unselfishly dominant performance.

On the Raptors’ side of things, Mo Pete missed his first 9 threes, before finally connecting on his 10th… after the game, despite finishing with 20 points; I asked if it was just one of those tough nights at the office…

“Yeah, real tough… we didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t play aggressive defensively, and I think yesterday’s day off showed on the court. We really came out there flat, and let them dictate the tempo of the game.”

The discouraging part of it all was, the Raptors had their chances… but missed most of their open looks…

“The effort was there… We missed our open shots – I missed a LOT of wide open shots that I normally make, and for some reason the ball didn’t bounce my way.”

If you watched the game on TV I’m told you not only saw my face (or my beard) an awful lot… but you also likely saw a dejected Chris Bosh. I noted how this team had been through some rough, frustrating times this season, but never had I seen Bosh look as frustrated as on that night (numerous occasions, he’d set a hard screen for Mike James, but not be rewarded with the pass on the roll…)

“Frustrated… who, me? Nah, I wasn’t frustrated. It must have been somebody else.”

Sure it was. And I’m sitting courtside tomorrow against the Pistons…
Oh wait, I think I am.

Lebron is Down with the Media

I don’t know how many of you have been loyal readers since the early days, so let me recount my brief history of missing out on Cavs (in the Lebron James era) games.

His rookie year, my 2nd in the radio industry, I was still paying my dues as a traffic reporter/news writer… meaning, if you’re smart, you don’t ask for too many days off. So both visits from King James went unattended by yours truly.

His sophomore year in the league, I made my way into sports broadcasting at the Fan, and thus, was paying my dues yet again. His first trip here… I was working. By the time his 2nd visit came around, I was seeing this girl (the only girl I ever went out with who appreciated basketball). Without delving into my personal relations too much, I can tell you that after a few short weeks we were already into a routine. Nice dinner, drinks, and perhaps a walk… A movie and then drinks… yadda yadda yadda… nothing exciting. So I’m getting a little bored, and not only is valentine’s day creeping up, but so is her birthday… The last thing I want to do is be with a girl I don’t want to be with on V-Day and on her birthday. It’s just not fair.

Then she goes and buys us a pair of tickets to go see Lebron and the Cavs for about a month and half down the road. Can you believe it?! What do I do??

I’ll tell you what I do… I break up with her, because I can’t deal with the guilt of going through all those occasions, knowing that I was with her only to see a basketball game.

So that’s in the past… more recently, as in, earlier this season… The day the Cavs come to town, I’m scheduled to cover the game… but that night’s sportscaster calls in sick. Meaning: no game for Zack.

(an excerpt from my November 11th entry: “I wasn’t pleased (that’s an understatement – I wanted to break stuff)…”)

So last night’s game rolls around… everything goes swimmingly. The game was as entertaining as it gets, with Damon Jones nailing a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer.

Cavaliers 98, Raptors 97

I knew he was going to get the shot. I don’t know if you could see it on television, but that D-Jones smirk (makes me want to grind my teeth down to the gums) out of the timeout was convincing enough to me. Anyway, that aside… I spoke to Cavs’ coach Mike Brown after the game… my favorite quote:

“[Lebron James] is a tremendous flipping basketball player.”

By the time I was done asking coach my questions, I went into the Cleveland locker room, and saw Lebron’s scrum was already underway. I wedged my way in, got a few clips, but didn’t ask any questions as I saw Jones’ scrum was just forming. So I run over there, with the intention of coming back to LBJ.

A few D-Jones clips later…

“I was going to live with it, whether I was the goat or the hero. I’m glad that I was the hero tonight.”

Lebron was all by himself. Now was my chance. I walk over…

“Hey Lebron… is it cool if I ask you a couple quick questions?” I ask.
“I’m down with my media,” he says.
“Sweet. Ok, so…”
“Man, I’m down with my media.”
“Alright, so what did you-”
“I told you… I’m down with my media.”

At this point, I’m clueless. If he’s so down, why won’t he let me get my question in. Then it hits me…

“I’m DONE with my media.”

Gotcha.

My head instantly sinks – at least my shoes are nice and polished – and I walk back to the post-game show to share my story.

I felt as let down as the entire Raptors team, when Mike James missed his easy assignment on Jones. I’m told Mike took full credit for the loss.
==
Before the game, a story from the upcoming sports illustrated had a players’ poll about NBA coaches. Apparently they asked just under half of the leagues players which coach they thought was a) the best, and b) the worst.

While a player can not vote for his own coach, Sam Mitchell came dead last. (I tried to find the link online, but could not. However, I did find one to Charlie V’s website – www.cv31.com)

One of the writers from the Star addressed the issue, to which Sam responded:

“It’s not a concern of mine. First of all, if you ask the few players that have played for me, I’m sure they’ll beg to differ. [Laughs] How do you respond to that?? As long as my players, the guys that play for me are playing for me, I feel confident that they don’t feel that way… that the people above me don’t feel that way. I know the polls, when I played, I probably took as much time looking at it as I do any other poll. And I’ll leave it at that.”

I talked to Derrick Martin for his response to the poll (he had no idea what it was all about), but offered these remarks:

“The measure of a coach’s mark on a team is how a team continues to play through tough times. That ought to speak volumes right there in itself. We compete, we’re in every game… We’ve let a few games slip away at the end, but that’s because we’re a young team with growing pains. Other than that, we come out and compete every night, and that’s the only thing a coach can ask for on a consistent basis.”

I have to say, that’s the first time I’ve ever spoken to Derrick, other than exchanging a brief greeting, and he’s a very intelligent, well-spoken guy.

==
I’ll recap the previous few games (none of which I attended) in brief:

Before the Raps’ home loss to the Cavs, they also lost on the road…

Cavaliers 106, Raptors 99

Chris Bosh was a perfect 10/10 at the free-throw line, until missing his last 6 at the stripe (2 of which could have tied it with just a couple of minutes left). Bosh finished with 28 points. Mike James had a Raptor-high 31. Mo Pete, who had 13 points, held Lebron to just 5/17 shooting (17 points). Eric Snow had season-highs with 14 points and 11 assists.

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The Raptors finally put an end to their 6-game slide, and for the first time in 7 games, held on to a 4th quarter lead against Boston.

Raptors 111, Celtics 105

Mo Pete led the Raps (for the 2nd straight game) with 27 points… Bosh had 24, James had 20. Charlie V was solid with 18 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks and 3 steals, while Bonner was huge off the bench, connecting on 5/6 3-pointers for 15 points.

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In Jersey, the Raptors were up 5 with 3 minutes to go… the Nets forced overtime and sealed it. The Raps committed 4 turnovers in the final frame alone.

Nets 105, Raptors 100 (OT)

Richard Jefferson (30 points, 8 boards, 5 assists) gave Bosh fits on the defensive end (6/17 from the field for 23 points – Bosh was 11/14 from the charity stripe). Vince Carter had 31 points, while Jason Kidd had his 72nd career triple double (5th of the season) with 14 points, 13 boards and 15 assists. Mo Pete had 25 points for Toronto.

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The Raptors host the Nuggets tomorrow night, Indiana on Sunday then head to Philly for Tuesday. We’ll probably speak next after Wednesday’s (think it’s gonna be ugly?) game against the Pistons.

Windex Aside, How About Some Rolaids?

The post-game chatter after last night’s action was all about the glass… How in the world do you allow a team like the Hawks to snag 18 offensive boards?? The consensus around the locker room was effort and intensity – the two go hand in hand.

The Raptors were trying to get the season-sweep over Atlanta, win their 6th straight against the Hawks (which would even up their lifetime versus record at 21-21), all while trying to snap their 4-game losing streak…

None of that happened.

Hawks 113, Raptors 111 (OT)

While the rebounding differential was hideous (49-36 in favour of ATL), one glaring stat to me was bench points. I knew this would be my post-game report even before tip-off.

When the final numbers were tallied, Atlanta’s reserves outscored Toronto’s 25-9. Antonio Davis sat this one out with a “sprained lower back,” and in his place Matt Bonner got his 6th start of the season. That means yet another “scorer” from the bench would be in the starting 5.

Trouble.

Joey Graham, while having arguably his best defensive game (statwise: 3 blocks, 2 steals), was 0/5 from the field (a perfect 4/4 from the charity stripe, though). Jose Calderon took 5 shots and made 2. Other than that, no field goal attempts from an offensively challenged bench that played a total of 64 minutes.

What this also means is that the starters had to log extended, and draining, minutes. Chris Bosh played 51:25 and scored a game-high 27 points. In contrast, he grabbed only 6 rebounds (0 of the offensive variety) and missed all 3 of his shots in overtime.
I asked Bosh if there was added pressure with the bench not contributing offensively.

“You know what? We can all improve. The bench can definitely improve, I can improve… everybody can do things better, but that’s just from playing tentative, like we’ve been talking about. They just need to go out there and play, do the things they’ve been working on.”

This whole bench problem started when Charlie Villanueva cracked the starting squad. He used to be the top scorer off the pine – now it’s Matt Bonner (who started, remember). Charlie finished with 25 points and 11 boards (6 offensive), and I asked him about his thoughts on the bench’s struggles.

“I think the guys coming off the bench are struggling a little bit. But we know they can help us, and we need them those guys. Those guys can definitely help us out a lot, and right now they’re struggling a little bit… but they’ll have to overcome that.”

Mike James had 21 points but ducked out before anyone could talk to him. Mo Pete also added 21, which meant for the second time in 3 games (but only the third time in franchise history) 4 Raptors scored 20+ points.

While that is a nice stat… it just means the starters need to carry more of the load for a paper-thin bench.

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Losing to the Hawks, aside, though… Some great news out of Raptor land came just the day before.

The Press Conference

Instant Credibility. Immediate Respect. Unbelievable Asset.

Bryan Colangelo, as rumoured, was officially introduced as the new General Manager and President of the Toronto Raptors. While the hiring did make waves around the league, it was far from a tidal wave; more of a gentle breeze pushing a thin layer of polluted Lake Ontario water onto the littered beach at Ash Bridges Bay.

ESPN.com had the hiring as the 3rd story on their side panel.

This guy is the reigning NBA Exec of the Year, and just jumped ship from one of the best, to one of the worst teams in the league.

This was huge… for the Raptors.

My responsibility was to get player reaction.

Mike James slipped away before we could get his comments (like both before and after the Atlanta game), and so Mo Pete was first up.

As you know, usually when a new GM comes aboard, he likes to bring his own staff (coaches, scouts, etc.). But the main theme from the Raptors was their unwavering support of keeping Sam Mitchell as the bench boss.

Mo: “Ever since Sam has been here, I’ve seen him grow. I’ve seen him grow a lot as a coach, and he’s done a lot for this team. He’s helped develop guys like Chris Bosh, he’s helped me get better. He’s done a lot, so it would be nice to see Coach around, because I think he deserves it.”

Bosh: “We just have to talk to [Colangelo]. I’ll make sure that I express my liking to the coaching staff we have now. All I can do is add my two cents, because at the end of the day, he’s going to make his decision but I think if we, as a group, express how happy we are with the coaching staff now, he might listen to it.”

After all this, it led to probably the best conversation I’ve ever had with Mitchell. Granted, he was in a good mood after hearing Colangelo had no plans to uproot the coaches (“they all have a clean slate”), but he was very accommodating. I’ll spare you the full-length discussion, but give you his thoughts on what his players were saying about keeping him aboard.

Mitchell: “It makes you feel good because I’m tough on my guys, but I love those guys, and they know it. We talk about that a lot and they understand why I’m pushing so hard… because I see what they can be and I’m not going to give up on them.”

All in all, it was a great day for the Raptors, and a great day for myself. The reports I feel were some of the best I’d done (although my post-Hawks game report was my favorite).

Now the Raptors need to hold up their end of the bargain and do what they can do. i.e. Stop losing close games.

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Yet another tough loss came in South Beach… The Raptors were tied with the Heat until about the 8:30 mark of the 4th, when Miami took over.

Heat 101, Raptors 94

The Heat trounced the Raps in the paint (72-28) courtesy of the Diesel. As is the yearly routine for Shaq, he used the all-star break as his gas-pedal. Between O’Neal and Wade, the two combined for 59 points and collectively missed only 9 of their 35 shots.

Hack-a-Shaq seemed to be working for the most-part, though, as Kazaam went just 5/15 from the free-throw line.

Regardless, the game marked Miami’s season-high 6th straight win.

Mike James had a Raptor-high 26 points, but his shot selection down the stretch started to hurt Toronto (that's the sound of a broken record, folks)(3/9 from beyond the arc… not good). Bosh and Mo each added 19 points, while Charlie V contributed 16 points and 11 boards.

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The Raptors have back-to-back 1pm’ers on Sat (in NJ) and Sun (at home to Boston).
Shortly after that, barring an unfortunate incident (knock on e-wood for me), I’ll finally get my chance to see Lebron in person.

Keep checking in and keep leaving comments/sending those e-mails… I love hearing from people who are checking in here. And I love that you are checking in here.

Thank you.