Sophomore Stories from a Raptors Reporter

This Isn't Goodbye...

2006-12-07T20:47:00.000-05:00

This isn't goodbye...

it's... 'See you later.'

As you may, or may not, have realized... I have been completely unable to keep up with this beautiful blog that has brought joy to my life for the past year and change.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who checked in periodically...
For those of you who reciprocated insight, you especially made it a pleasure.

I might decide I want to start something up somewhere else at some other time... but as of now, I'm unable to contribute creatively as much as I'd like.

This has been a wonderful experience for me, and it was an excellent exercise.

I met some great people... chatted with some great fans of the game... and even got a few free records, with my very first (and only) advertiser.

Honestly... this is not easy for me to end things... but I have to.

Thank you so very much for joining me through my bumps, bruises, and adventures.

My apologies...

2006-11-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

Please don't feel like I'm neglecting you.

It was never my intention to hurt you.

It's just... I've been so busy with work.
you understand, right?

The winds of opportunity have been blowing my way, and I obviously can't ignore them for the sake of this blog.

It's not like I'm cheating on you.
I just feel like... if I spent too much time with you... and not preparing for these new opportunities... I'd be cheating myself.

So please forgive my absence.
I'll be coming home to you soon.

Cold-Blooded Bosh

2006-11-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

Jordan's got “the Shot.” You don't need to remind any Cavs fans about that. And granted, last night's game against Philly meant nothing more than bragging rights and a 'W'... but when Chris Bosh drilled that 3 over Chris Webber with 6.1 seconds left... and the shot clock winding down...

Oh Dear!

My co-worker, sitting up in the press-box with me, did a dragon punch (for those unfamiliar, it is essentially a jumping, spinning uppercut)... The fellow from 'SportsTicker' sitting to my left belted out a “Holy Sh!t”... while I just smiled, shook my head, and said just above a whisper...

“Cold-blooded.”

106, 104

Bosh finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds – his third (straight) double-double (and first that didn't come by halftime) – while Joey Graham had a season-high 16 points (3 off his career-best).
TJ Ford, on the other hand, couldn't find a bucket if it was floating in a well in his backyard. He missed about a handful of lay-ups... more than few open shots (not including the ones he didn't take)... and missed 3 of 4 free-throws down the stretch.

--
I went to practice today, but nothing eventful happened, so I'm going to bring it back to last night...
--

After the game, I spoke to Joey first... everyone asked about his confidence... I needed a soundbite.
“How about that huge three from Chris?”
“That was humongous for us. The play was kinda busted, and everybody was kinda scrambling around. So Chris came, popped-up, and made a good play for us. We definitely needed it.”

Among other questions... this would be my theme of the night. And since I'm tired, those will be the quotes I will give you.

Onto Freddy Jones. No one was talking to him, so I figured I'd slip over while waiting for Bosh. Plus, we had talked about fantasy hoops before the game, so... might as well throw a little chatter afterwards, too.

...fast forward 3 questions, to my final inquiry:

“That was quite the play from Bosh at the end there... thoughts from the bench?” (He had fouled out a few minutes earlier)
“Big shot for a big time player. I think that gave us some confidence, and made him more confident in himself... you know, that he's the leader of this team, and when it comes down the stretch... he wants those shots, and he wants us to come through him. He proved he can handle it.”

As if there was any doubt.

==
I'm going to the morning shoot-around to conduct an in depth one-on-one with Pape Sow about his injury, and his inspirational recovery process.

Wanna hear it?

I'll air it in full on my DEBUT Talk Show... Saturday night @ 8:40, on the Fan 590.

The Day After the Plan Died...

2006-11-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

And now... for my next trick... Instead of taking you back in time, I will show you my newest invention.

It's called a time-condenser.

Essentially, what this does is, it blends yesterday and today into one single entity. And it gives you your recommended daily dose of protein, too.

OK, so that last part was a lie... but either way... here we go.

--
It's just before noon, today, and we're watching some of the Philadelphia Flyers wrap up their morning skate at the ACC. I catch up on some old times with a producer from RaptorsTV that I haven't seen since last season. Things are well. That's good.

Doors open. It's about 12:45.

After watching about 10 minutes of Raptors shooting free-throws, Sam Mitchell comes over.
He was in a pretty cheery mood, despite last night's 103-94 loss to the Spurs.

“We had a good practice. Re-iterating getting the ball out, getting into our offense. We gotta remember to push the ball. We gotta run. We gotta play the way that we can play.”

It was essentially a day of reflection all around.

I had a nice little one-on-one with Mo Pete.

“So Mo... anything interesting, or exciting happen at practice today? A lot of Sam's talk was about pushing the ball, and playing defense... and how last night, (when the Raptors led the Spurs 25-16) the coaching staff wanted you guys to keep it up... but something went wrong, and well... it didn't necessarily happen...”
“Yeah, we went over the first quarter on film – and we watched what we did right, and stuff that went wrong – and we had a hard practice today. We didn't go at it that long, but guys came in and really worked. And we got some work in, defensively.”
“What do you think happened? I mean, everything went right that first quarter – and obviously, a game is four quarters, and teams will make their runs – but, what happened in your mind?”
“Well, we knew eventually that they were going to make a run. A team like San Antonio's not going to lay down and not show any fight. That second quarter, their bench players came in, and hit some big shots for them, and kept them in the game...

(Brent Barry hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the 2nd, after connecting on his lone attempt in the 1st)

...we weren't able to match their intensity. Then, you know, they came out in that third quarter, played well, and got maybe a 10 point lead... and it was hard to try to come back against a team like that.”
“How much of today's practice was looking back at yesterday's game? Or... in contrast, how much was it looking forward to the next game, or even tomorrow's practice?”
“Well, we're looking forward now. You know, the thing about us is we saw what we did wrong, and we try to correct it and look at the big picture. We correct the things we did defensively, and that's what you have to do if you want to become a better team. When we get stops defensively, our offense comes around, because we get some easy baskets, we get a chance to push the ball up the court. But when we get into that half-court set, we're not playing our brand of basketball... now we just got to get ready to play on Wednesday.”
“Now, on Wednesday... you've got a different looking Philly team – not on paper, I mean, they're pretty much the same – but, all of a sudden they're playing out of their heads.”
“Yeah, they're playing well. Anytime you've got a guy like Allen Iverson on your team... he's obviously going to help their team, but... they got some guys playing well. Kyle Korver, Andre Iguodala... and you got guys like Chris Webber, who's been a great player for many years – they got some guys who work. And that's what it's all about. If you work hard, and play together as a team... good things will happen.”

Last night, to sharpen that point, the Raptors didn't really play all that well as a team. They didn't push the ball much, and once again, didn't take open looks. The coaching-staff-instilled goal coming into every game is shoot 100 shots (or close to). They had 45 at halftime, but finished with only 76. The Spurs shot more – 78 – and they're a slow-it-down, half-court, team.

Another problem – one which the Raptors faced a lot of last season – is that they were stagnant in their half-court sets. The shot-clock would be winding down, the ball would be passed around the wing, but no one would take a shot... meaning they'd pitch it out to TJ Ford - who's jumper is far from reliable – and he'd be forced to take a prayer. TJ was 5-14 from the field.

Chris Bosh was 8-18, for 19 points and 17 rebounds... and despite a tough day at the office, Bosh was the last one off the practice floor. Practicing screen-and-rolls with Darrick Martin, and eventually just free-throws by himself.

“Chris, you're the highest paid player... and also the sweatiest...”
“[laughs]Yeah, you know... I always believe in working hard. That's my whole thing. That's how I got here, that's how I'm going to stay here. And, you know, it works, so... the harder you work, the more you're going to see the benefits.”
“Sam was talking a lot about re-gaining focus, looking at game-tape... what did you see that you liked, didn't like?”
“We stopped running. We stopped doing the things that we're good at. San Antonio's such a good team in the half-court that – if we play half-court basketball with them... - if they play half-court basketball with anybody, they're going to win 9 out of 10 games. You know, we kinda gave into them a little bit. We just have to stay dedicated to running, stay dedicated to trying to wear down the other team, and keep running... it's hard, but in the end it pays off.”
“How much of that is a mind-state thing? Just constantly telling yourself, you need to keep pushing and pushing?”
“It's tough. It's all mental. You know, because, you know you're going to get tired. And what happens is you kinda try to reserve yourself, because you don't want to get too tired... because you want to keep giving 100% on the court, but... you kinda save yourself.”
“Isn't one of the things with this year, though, the fact that you can keep pushing – no matter what stage of the game it is – because there are guys that can come off the bench and still do the job?”
“Well yeah, that's the main thing. When the starters came in, we didn't do a good job of establishing the tempo. The second group came in, and picked the defense up, they picked the offense up and got the easy buckets... you know, we were up by 6 or 7 points after the first quarter... (9, actually) and after that... we played [Spurs] basketball for 3 quarters.”

They've got another 8 quarters coming up at home (first 4 on Wednesday, versus Philly... the next 4 on Friday, against the Hawks), before heading out for a 5-game road trip out west.

--
PROGRAMMING NOTE:

This Saturday, November 11th, from 7pm – 11pm listen to the debut of “The Coop and Cadeau Show” on the Fan 590, with my and my co-host, Dave Cadeau.

My Mic Smelt Like Stir-Fry...

2006-11-04T00:53:00.000-05:00

Since words have the ability to transcend time, it's Thursday. Believe me, it is.
You are a girl who is out to dinner with me, at a fine establishment called “Sweet Lulu” (if you don't know, now you know).
Maybe it's because of the wine, maybe it's because we want to duck out soon, but either way... you can't finish your stir-fry.
Which is too bad for you, really... but great for me, seeing as how you'd forget it in my fridge later that night, and I would reap the benefits the following day.

Leftovers. The real reason for food.

Just like that, it's Friday. Apparently the Raptors have game-day shoot-arounds now. Don't know if anyone planned to tell me, but either way, I'm pretty sure the responsibility is not mine.

Let's move this bad boy further... it's 6:07pm.

I arrive at the ACC, get my bag checked, head to the media center, shake some hands, share some smiles, and grab some pizza.

Nothing new there.

One of the Raptors' staffers comes by...

“Commissioner Stern's scrum has been pushed forward. He'll be there in 5 minutes.”

I finish my slice, and head for the door. But not without a cookie. A huge cookie, at that. With big beautiful white chocolate chips.

I'm through about half of it, when I see the scrum has already encompassed the commish. I rest the greasy half-circle of joy on someone's unfortunate pile of papers, whip out my microphone and recorder... and see it's got some interesting fluid on it.

I try to wipe it off as quickly as possible, and really do a piss-poor job of it. No Matter. I had to get my mic in there.

So David Stern's talking about:

-Why the refs are calling so many fouls, and how he's trying to clean up the game.

-Steroid use in professional sports – and how he's becoming less and less thrilled with the antics of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency)

-Mark Cuban's antics

-Spreading the NBA all over the world

All while, I'm thinking... something smells amazing. I'm looking around, directly behind the commissioner, sniffing everywhere, and half-heartedly realizing that I may have bits of cookie on my face.

I give 'er a quick wipe. Didn't feel any crumbs. Something still smells amazing.
I lean in closer. It's my mic.

It's my mic. And it smells like the leftover stir-fry I had eaten at the station, before coming to the game.

That's what that liquid substance was on my microphone. It was oyster sauce.
I fought back the urge of doing a super-lick behind Mr. Stern's back – fully knowing that he was enjoying the aroma as much as I.

I was thinking of him, here.

So after he wraps, up all the reporters clear, and I head back to my bag, which apparently smelt just as good as my mic.

It's amazing how much destruction one little half-carton of Chinese/Thai food can do to a bag full of papers.

Thankfully, nothing else of importance was oysterized.

==

With that little tale now behind us, let's move forward to the game, shall we?

Let's.

Home opener. TJ Ford against his former team. The return of Charlie Villanueva. All good things. Charlie V gets a warm reception. I drink some water and listen as the little singer, Keshia Chante, flubs up some words in the American National Anthem. She rebounds well for us Canucks, though.

Her vocals weren't bad... but the musical moment of the night came before tip-off, actually... Matisse and the Playground, was responsible for greeting fans awaiting entrance to the ACC with live, soulful, RnB.

Anyway, so the game gets underway... the Raptors start out with steam. Chris Bosh hits his first 5 shots, and finishes with 10 points after 1. The 2nd opened with Freddy Jones posterizing someone, coming in from the baseline. Jones then followed that with a steal... and then threw up an airball from behind the arc. By the time the clock read 4:15, Bosh had his first double-double of the season - 16 points, 10 boards. The Raps led by as many as 12, but by halftime, the Bucks tie it up at 50's.
Villanueva had 13 and 9.

The Raptors opened the third with an 8-0 run, as Ford picked apart the Bucks' defense, always seeming to find someone open on the perimeter. Heading into the 4th, the Raptors led by 4... Bosh had 25 and 11. Ford had 11 and 7 assists... while Charlie V had 17, and 10 rebounds.

After 3 minutes of PT in the final frame, Villanueva's night was done, thanks to a pulled right hamstring. No matter, as Toronto poured it on, outscoring the Bucks 24-7 over the first 9 minutes (or so). Kris Humphries, Andrea Bargnani, and Joey Graham wound down the clock.

109, 92
I think I asked only two questions after the game. And if there were more, there were only two worth repeating the responses.

The first was to Freddy Jones, who made reference to Bosh being 'the man,' selling the tickets, and getting fans in the seats... I told him that a few more dunks like his early in the third, and he might be account for a nice contribution.

His response:

“You know, that's what I'm here for. My teammates, they joke with me all the time that I haven't [done] anything... I'm a dunk contest winner, but I never get dunks in the game... I told them, 'you know, it's the regular season... I'll bring something up.'”

Over to Bosh, now...

“That 4th quarter, Chris, you guys were completely dominating... it seemed like you guys hit every shot, got every shot you wanted... while the Bucks couldn't get any rhythm.”
“Well yeah, we've been working on our defense. Coach has been preaching defense, and you know, we let our defense turn into fast-breaks. When we get that rebound, and the ball is still live, we kick it out to the guards... you know, our wings are so good at running, TJ, he's just finding people left and right... and it's helping us out a lot.”

So that's that. The Raptors handily win their home-opener... and Commissioner David Stern smelt my leftover stir-fry.

No Finish...

2006-11-01T22:38:00.000-05:00

Good start... Decent second and third... no finish...

102 ; 92

Observations:

- Mo Pete has experience playing with impaired vision. If he can do blindfolded lay-ups, he can hit the midrange jumper with a puffy eye.
- Anthony Parker's got some mean floatage ability (yeah, I said 'floatage').
- TJ Ford did a good job of getting his jumper going early.
- Chris Bosh was clearly out of his element... and brought Andrea Bargnani with him.
- Joey Graham had a case of first-game jitters.
- Sam Mitchell's half-time/time-out talks are getting received much better this year...
- The team appeared too focused on getting shots up, as opposed to getting quality shots.

It was disappointing to see Bosh and Fred Jones try to force the issue - but for Bosh, it's a little more understandable. As the floor-leader, if you're struggling, you've got to work your way out of it. But for Jones, when his shot's not going, pull-up 3's are unacceptable (if I'm Mitchell).

The Raptors were playing the passing lanes very well... but because they were relying on steals-turned-fast-break-points, they ended up gambling a lot and giving up open looks. Any time Mikki Moore looks like a 7-foot braided Jason Kidd, you've got problems.

The real Jason Kidd definitely stood up, too... 76th career triple-double... 3rd against the Raptors. How much of a TSN-turning point was that Ford steal, turned inadvertent-whistle?? Somehow, the mistaken call has the ball given back to NJ, which at the time, sported a 4-point lead. If Ford gets the steal, assuming he sinks the open lay-in, the lead is down to two. However, the Nets end up sinking a trey for the 5-point swing.

I believe that was the closest the Raptors got, from that point on.

Oh yeah, how about that Vince Carter guy... 25 points, 11 boards... still bother you? Not me in the slightest. Forgive, don't forget.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

...Next up... BUCKS... at home...

Filled With Excitement

2006-10-30T20:36:00.000-05:00

Practice is set for 11:00am. Media is encouraged to arrive at 12:30.
I get to the RBK Court at 12:15 to a packed house.

Never have I seen so much media for a practice - before even the regular season has started!

The usual wait is filled with conversations with guys from the Score (one of whom I went to college with), Global Sports, Raptors TV... etc etc.

Catching up on old times, and stories of what was.

The door opens, and everyone floods through the big red barricade on a mission.

However, per usual, the media just watches as guys continue practicing free-throws, 3-pointers, and hit the weight room for about 15 minutes.

Between all the reporters, the list of requested interviewees is long and drawn out. In fact, the only players not requested for questioning were Rasho Nesterovic and Pape Sow.

Personally, I wanted to talk to Fred Jones and Mo Pete - on top of the usual Sam Mitchell scrum.

Now, if you didn't read Michael Grange's piece from the Globe, then you might not know of Sam's displeasure for TV Cameras. Now on this day, with about a dozen blinding lights in his face, Sam wasn't particularly pleased. Let alone the fact that it's hard to think of questions, especially when there's no drama to speak of.

So I didn't inquire about anything.

On to Jones... I wanted to talk to him about this, that, and the other... but started off with something direct:
“So how's the thumb doing?"
"It's getting better. It's a day to day process, you know, I gotta get treatment, stay on it, and be ready for opening night.”
“Speaking of which... are you a fan of the NBA, in itself? Like, will you be sitting at home watching the season openers tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah, I watch all the games. Every night, that's all I do. I got the NBA package, I watch every game I can, all night. You know, my family sometimes gets mad at me, because that's all I do.”
“Are you still talking to anyone from Oregon?”
“Me and Luc Ridnour are close... I talk to him quite a bit, and I talk to a couple of the guys that I played with on the team. We still get together once in a while.”
“So, you're somewhat new to the city... you've been here what, two months? What's your take on the vibe around Toronto?”
“It's been good. It's been totally different to what I'm accustomed to. You know, I can't get all the foods that I normally eat. And you know, they're forcing me to try new things... and I don't really try new things. That's been tough on me, but everything else is pretty good.”
“Well, like what? Maybe I can help you out a bit...”
“...Even McDonald's doesn't have sausage biscuits... they don't have biscuits, and I don't understand that.”
“Hmm... yeah, I wish I could help you out with that, I'm sorry. This may be a little out of left field,” as if my earlier questions weren't. “Do you ever think about re-entering the dunk competition?”
“Oh no. You know, I was blessed enough to win it, but I don't feel like I can compete with that anymore. You know, we got some guys in the league right now... and I'll let them take that over. I'm a little older now, and it's their time to shine.”

He's two years older, having taking the title in 2004, but thinking back now... the 'rising stars' portion means you need to be in the first three years of your NBA career to enter.

“You're one of the 9 new guys on this team... with this being a new situation for you, what kind of feeling do you get when you see all this excitement. I mean, I've never seen a practice with this many reporters here...”
“Well, everyone's excited. You know, for a lot of our guys, this is their first taste of the league. They're excited about that, and it brings a lot of excitement. They've been in situations where they couldn't perform they way they wanted to. You know, guys like myself, where, you get into a new situation... and you're excited about that. You're able to perform, and you know, the leash is off you. So I think we've got a good mixture, you know, a lot of people not worrying about anything but going out and proving themselves.”
“And it's almost a strange way that you got here, I mean... had Indiana not rescinded the qualifying offer they gave you, and had John Salmons not walked away from a verbal commitment with the Raptors... you wouldn't be here.”
“The Lord works in mysterious ways, you know... He always had a plan for me, and I never knew what that plan was until everything went through. I think he put me in the right spot – he wouldn't give me nothing I can't handle, and I'm here.”

I thanked him, and trailed over to a TJ Ford scrum... I didn't want to pester him with questions, because chances are he'll be signing a long-term extension tonight (and will have likely already inked by the time you read this)... so I'd hold off until tomorrow morning's practice.

I drifted over to the always-inviting Mo Pete... after a series of topics thrown his way... i brought it back to anticipation, and overwhelming hype this team is dealing with.

“Mo, it's pretty evident that the excitement is way up for this team around this city, but how about the team itself? Two days away from getting it going... where's the team at, in terms of the sense of hype?”
“I think mentally, guys are just staying focused... we're not letting anything on the outside distract us. You know, we're keeping everything in the locker room... Guys are working hard, pushing for each other, and as you see now, guys are staying after practice to put up shots, because we feel we weren't putting the ball up as well.”
“In terms of the hype, though? I mean... It's gotta be pretty exciting having all this attention, and for the regular season to be just a couple days away... where you'll be playing for real...”
“Oh yeah... these last 4 years have definitely been challenging. There have definitely been a lot of downs, more downs than ups, and it's good to be able to walk around the city, and you go somewhere and have people say 'hey, we're excited about the season. We can't wait for you guys to get going. You guys are looking good. Keep up the good work.' It does feel good knowing that all your hard work is starting to pay off... and Wednesday – not only Wednesday, for the season – you know, we want to play hard. Not only for us, but for the fans, because I think we owe them a lot.”

...one more practice...

Catching Up...

2006-10-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

So apparently I'm not the only one that needs to be playing catch-up here.
It may be a bad tie-in, but it wasn't really intentional.

For the second straight game, the Raptors came back from a 13-point first half deficit, and pulled out a win.

Sure, you could say the last game was against Maccabi (and that's all we're going to say about that game – since it's so far in the past), but against a Cleveland team that was back to full strength... Make no bones about it, the Raptors put in work last night.

Especially with Chris Bosh (plantar fasciitis), TJ Ford (sore left hamstring), and Andrea Bargnani (sore left ankle) all sitting out, the depleted Raptors found success, and improved to 6-0 in the preseason, for the first time in franchise history.

Raptors 91, Cavaliers 90

A courtside seat was a beautiful thing... although I have to say, it might have taken away a little of my non-sexual love for Lebron James. The man-child now expects to get every call, and wants to be treated like royalty by his teammates (and evidently the refs, too). Damon Jones, who I never liked anyway, proved to be an even bigger pest when in ear-shot of his constant yammering. First off, the guy's shorts were way too short (maybe it's a shot at Stern's rule of having them above the knees). Secondly, every time he would be defending (or trying to) someone who was taking a shot, he'd run by then and yell 'Oh HELL no!” And lastly, the ONE shot the guy makes (1/8 mind you) was a 3-pointer, and when it flushed through the net, he looked at the Raptors' bench, and smacked his ass.

Enough of that, though... a bitter taste is only fun to talk about for so long.

What was sweet, was watching Freddy Jones conduct play on the court. I'm calling it now – Fred Jones - 6th man of the year. Just watch. And quote me later.

The guy, listed at 6'2”, had 2 game-changing blocks in the 4th, and then drilled a go-ahead 3... Jones had 22 points overall (a game-high), to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks in total.

Kris Humphries once again had a solid game – 16 points and a team-high 9 rebounds... and while Mo Pete put up 16 points as well, Uros Slokar can not be over-looked: 6 points, and 7 boards (5 of which came in his first 7 minutes of play).

If I hadn't mentioned already... Slokar is a treat to interview, as well.

“How are you feeling, from a personal standpoint? I mean, you don't get too much time out there on the floor, but tonight you seemed to make the most out of it...”
“Well, yeah. I just try to use every opportunity. I knew when I came here, I didn't gonna get like 20 minutes every game. I didn't come here as a leader, I came as a guy who needs to work his way up. I just use every opportunity. I'll wait for the next one, and try to do my best. Sometimes I'll do good, sometimes I'll do bad... Today I was lucky enough, I did good... I really fought under the baskets. Also Kris [Humphries] fought incredibly well, because we saw a couple of guys that were struggling – not that they didn't want to do it – but you know, the whole momentum and everything, we just came in there and we helped the team, and we won. And that's the important thing right now for the Raptors.”

“Now what do you see as your role on the team?”
“I really try to do the things that aren't really in statistics. Like, do something good in defense, help out the guys... Because you know, when a new guy comes like me, you're never going to take the ball and just shoot the lights out with it, you know? You go there, you help the team, and if your shot comes you take it. But mainly, I was just trying to get the rebounds, play defense, and things like that.

Once we wrapped up... I thanked him for the interview, and what was strange... he thanked me back.
Funny how that goes.

While I also got some quotes from Mo, Kris, Chris, and Sam Mitchell... I want to get back to Freddy, so we can move this thing along...

“So is this how it goes? The coach sits a few of your stars, and you guys have to come in and clean up the mess?”
“Well, you know... whenever someone is out – and it's going to happen somewhere in the season, it's a long season – 82 games, injuries happen. Other stuff happens, people not playing well, it's time for other people to step up and we had a lot of good guys step up tonight.”
“What were your impressions of the difference between the first and second halfs? I mean, in the first, you guys were giving up a lot of easy points in the point... but in the second...”
“Just a little more energy level in the second half. We just needed something to go right for us. We were kind of down, you know, in the first half... we weren't making plays that we were making early in the preseason – you know, we needed something to spark us, we got that spark, and it was able to settle us down.”

The preseason comes to a close with 2 more games – both on the road.
For myself, I've got to cover practice today and tomorrow... so I have got to get dressed.

We'll obviously chat soon.

Shooting the Lights Out

2006-10-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

Practice on Saturday was a big bag of boring. I got there at noon, joining a half-handful of other reporters, who waited about an hour to watch the same ‘new rules’ video that we had seen days before.

After the video, however, only a few players came out (3 for a Toronto Life reporter doing a story on the Raptors being the UN of the NBA)… of interest, only Mo Pete… and really, there wasn’t much interesting.

So let’s move on to Sunday.

It’s noon again, and I stroll in to the media center (after gleefully checking press row, and seeing that I’m back to courtside, baby!). I see one of the ACC employees, and confess that the previous game I forgot her name. She forgave me, and even offered me the paid meal – for free! Yeah, apparently I wouldn’t be eating for pizza for breakfast (again).

Bacons, eggs, potatoes and a danish it was. Thank you.

Oh right, there was a game. Vince Carter was in town. He got the usual boo’s, but even afterwards (as evidenced by my fellow reporters’ clips), he wasn’t really impressed with the passion involved.

Chris Bosh would sit this one out for precautionary reasons. He had missed the last two practices with a sore left heel. We found out about 25 minutes before tip-off that Andrea Bargnani would start in his place.

Bargnani picked up a couple quick fouls, and had to head back to the bench. However, TJ Ford was keeping just about everyone else involved, dishing out 5 assists in the first 6 minutes – en route to 9 at the half. If Ford hadn’t missed 4 easy lay-ups, he stats would be much more bloated.

It is what it is.

The Raptors trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but brought it to 10 by the break.

Kris Humphries exploded in the 3rd, getting 5 points and grabbing 7 off the glass in just under 5 minutes. Sure, he tapped a lot to himself off of missed buckets, but the boxscore doesn’t lie. Hustle is hustle. Especially for the Minnesota Muscle (you heard it here first).

PJ Tucker was a beast around the basket as well… he shot 6-of-7 for a team-high 18 points in just 21 minutes. He was one of 7 (yes, 7 Raptors not named Bosh) to score in double-figures.

Jose Calderon was also huge, with 9 points, 6 rebounds (he seemed to be grabbing everything), and 5 assists… to go with 3 steals, in contrast to just a couple of turnovers.

Freddy Jones had 14 points, but had to leave the game in the 2nd half after falling hard on a dunk attempt. He’d have x-rays on his wrist. No word yet.

For the record, Bargnani had 11 points, 4 boards, and 5 fouls in 11 minutes.

The Raptors outscored the Nets 30-20 in the 3rd, and then 37-28 in the 4th, en route to a 119-110 win over New Jersey.

After the game, Coach Sam Mitchell was obviously pleased (you could actually see him smiling on the bench, almost throughout the entire 24 minutes). His scrum, however, wasn’t as much a scrum, as it was a press conference.

My only verbal contribution was this:

“How much of a relief is it, to see that with Chris out, everyone seemed to step in and play their role, and play it pretty well?”
“Well, I thought our guys on the bench… I thought PJ, Joey, and Kris Humphries, Jose, Jorge… you know, all those guys played well coming off the bench. I thought they just played exceptional. You know, PJ Tucker, he and Kris Humphries just bring energy and a little toughness, getting some loose balls, some offensive rebounds. I thought Jose’s been running the team really well, with that second group… and Freddy...”

After sticking my mic in front of Bosh for all of about 30 seconds, I went over to Humphries…

“It’s got to feel pretty good to get a lot of good praise from your coach… he had nothing but fond things to say about you… your hustle, how you’re active around the glass.”
“Oh yeah, you know coach… coach gives credit where credit’s due. And we all appreciate that. It definitely feels good to have someone in your corner.”
“Was it nice to have the fans in your corner as well? I can’t say I watched every Jazz game, but these fans were cheering for you pretty hard when you came out of the game…”
“Toronto has great fans… I’ve seen some hockey games… whatever sport it may be, you know, Toronto people come out and they support. And I look forward to having a sold out place, and really playing hard for all the fans here.”

Then it was on to PJ Tucker, or “Baby Mule” as coach Mitchell called him. In all honesty, I asked him a couple questions… but didn’t get more than 5 or 6 words for each. So I’ll save the space.

I went over to Jose, for a brief one-on-one…

“That was quite the game you put out there… and Sam was saying that you’re probably the guy that’s in the best shape on the team.”
“Yeah, but today, I don’t know. It’s not my best day. I help to win, but I think it’s not very good, I’m not very happy today with my work, but the best thing is the win. I feel great, though. I feel more comfortable this year. I play with confidence, and that’s it. I just try to play like a team, and have a good feeling this year. Everybody trying to help everybody, and this is a good feeling to have.”
“Now, it seems that you might be a little modest…I mean, it seemed like you were doing everything right – at least, from my perspective.”
“No, like I told you… I feel with a lot of confidence this year, and I know the NBA this year. Everybody try to help me out last year, and now I learn about all these things they talk about. I don’t know. I pray for play this year, and help this team for win.”

A little small-talk ensued, and then the long wait for Ford.

TJ was sitting, half-dressed, and talking on his cell phone for about 15 minutes while the remaining media (which was dwindling) waited. Cezary Trybanski and LaVell Blanchard were both saying goodbyes, as they had just both been let go… and about 10 minutes later, Ford was finally cool to talk.

At this point, it was just me and Raptors TV… so I let it rip… the questions, that is:

“So it is you getting used to the ball, or your teammates?”
“Ah, well, you know… it’s been a stepping stone for me. I’m just glad I was able to have a good game today. Pretty much, as far as finding my teammates, getting people open shots, and having guys knocking them down. That’s one part of my game that I’ve been struggling with the past two games, so we’re taking steps… and hopefully, within the next couple of weeks, it’ll come together just in time for the season to start.”
“Yeah, I mean it seemed like a huge turnaround for you… last game, you had 8 turnovers… this time, you had 11 assists, to just 1 turnover… I mean, everything seemed to be going right for you, with the exception of a few lay-ins.”
“It’s all about, you know, the first couple games – it just didn’t feel like I was in shape. My body was tired. Mentally, I’m at a different part right now, and I think I’m just going to continue to get better. This is part of the preseason, getting in shape, getting all the rust out, and getting used to your teammates. It’s been an adjustment that I’ve just had to make the last couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, your team had to make quite the adjustment with Chris being out, I mean… everybody seemed to be getting in on the scoring act.”
“Well that just shows you how we’re going to play… it just shows how deep this team is. No matter on any given night, it could be anybody’s night… and well, we depend on Chris, and we hope he gets well soon… I think he’s going to be fine, but it’s just gives us the opportunity to see what happens when one of your main guys goes down and can’t play. Who’s going to step up? I think everyone did a good job tonight.”

Good times were had. The lights went out midway through the 4th, and stayed at half-capacity (which was quite nice) until about 1:47 remained. When the light came back on, it was bright… but I think I handled it well.

Pre-season Smells Nice

2006-10-12T11:45:00.001-04:00

The Raptors came back to the hanger for last night’s pre-season home opener…

But before we get ahead of ourselves, there is much to be told, in leading up to tip-off.

So I head to the station to pick up what will be my equipment for the year. Instead of a minidisc player/recorder, I was given what’s called a ‘Marantz’ (look it up if you want to). Essentially, it’s a big hunk of black plastic that’s about 4 times the size of a minidisc player. The advantage?? Well aside from it helping increase the raw hulking mass that represent my shoulders, I can dump the audio via download, as opposed to re-recording it onto the computer real-time.

So I get my equipment (which includes a mic that’s got a little afro at the top) and head down to the ACC for an off-the-record talk with the referee crew.

It was pretty cool.

3 refs (including the near-legendary Jess Kersey) opened up a discussion talking about some minor tweaks to the officiating. 4 points of emphasis:

-Freedom of movement (Ferg, watch that “airplaning” – RIP Cory Lidle)
-Marginal vs. Illegal contact (discussing the delicate art of the block/charge)
-Interaction and Communication with the coaches (subs, timeouts – coaches can call them now)
-Complaining and Questioning the refs…

You may have heard of what Rasheed Wallace is calling the “Sheed Rule…” that’s just an example of how the refs plan to speed up the game. No bickering, sulking or whining… let alone punting basketballs in the air/stands.

Players will now get sent to their rooms.

After a quick video, and ensuing discussion, the refs handed out tests… but then the answers. So mine remains in my note-book. Blank.

On to the free pizza. Good times.

En route to the media center, I head courtside to find my seat… only, there is no seat for me. Press box, or ‘gondola’ it is. It sounds like it may be for the year, too. I’ll keep you posted.

Alright, so I’ll fast forward to the game, now…

The first half was as sloppy as your usual pre-season game.

After the break, the play was cleaned up quickly. While the slap-happy Raptors were committing fouls every 2 seconds (the Celtics had 26 FT attempts in the first half alone) over the first 24 minutes, those chops turned into steals, and transition buckets.

...The final 2 minutes got pretty crazy...

Jose Calderon poetically drew a charge on Allan Ray, while Boston was running a 2-on-1...

Rajon Rondo (the Celts’ rook out of Kentucky), then drilled a 3 pointer – one of many clutch buckets to come.

Mo Pete hit an ‘And-1’ from just inside the arc, with 34.2 seconds left… and the crowd went playoff crazy (I guess that’s what free pizza does for somebody).

After a couple of Anthony Parker free-throws following a HUGE defensive rebound, Rondo hit another cold-blooded 3… this one beating the buzzer to send it into overtime.

He’d drill another in overtime… but Jorge Garbajosa one-upped him, hitting a pair from downtown, to finish with 18 points (4/8 behind the arc)…

The Raptors beat the Celtics, 118-112 in Overtime.

After the game, in which I may have bitten off every nail I could chew (the ladies love it), I went to talk to the Celtics (probably one of my last chances to talk to the away team, as this year, I’m dealing with the Raps).

First up, Coach Doc Rivers…

“Doc, it is just the pre-season, but already Rajon’s showing signs of being pretty cold-blooded,” I said.
“Yeah, he is. I mean, the 3 he made was huge. I really thought both he and Sebastien [Telfair] really, in the last 5 minutes of the game, imposed their will on the game and allowed us to get back in it. So that’s a great sign, any time you’ve got 2 guards who can do what they did, it will always keep you in the basketball game.”

In terms of Paul Pierce, like Chris Bosh (22 points, 9/11 FG’s, 4 boards), he had his way (23 points, 8/10 FG’s) with the opposition. But both barely played more than 20 minutes (in Pierce’s case, 21).

“Is it almost an unwritten rule that a team’s star only plays 20 or so minutes?”
“I guess, you know… I’m gonna play our guys a little bit more as [the preseason] goes on. They didn’t really have anyone for Paul, so I just thought it was a pretty safe move to take him off the floor. He wasn’t playing bad at the time, so I thought it’d be a good time to take him off.”

So then we stroll into the Celtics locker room… Paul Pierce is standing by himself in the near corner, fully dressed and ready to go.

“Paul, you cool to talk?”
“Umm… lets wait for our beat writers, first, then we can do it all- wait… what’s that you’re working with there?”
“It’s called a Marantz.”
“I’m not talking to you on that cheap thing.”
“Man, I know it looks like it’s garbage… but this is actually the new thing.”
”I can get one of those for $12 on the New York streets.”
“Can you pick me up an extra one, then?”

We waited another couple minutes for the other reporters to roll in… and the lights came on.

A Boston reporter got in the first question… asking about progress in the preseason… Pierce mentioned something about the team taking baby-steps.

My turn:
“It didn’t look like Rondo needed very many baby-steps, himself…”
“He’s mature for his age. He spent two years in a good system [Kentucky], he’s a high school All-American. He’s very poised for a rookie coming in, I mean, he just seems like he’s been here for a couple of years already… the way he’s calm out there, understands the tempo, and our style of play. He goes out there and dictates that. He’s doing a great job for us these first few games.”

Then it was onto Rondo, himself. He finished with a game-high 29 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals…

“Rajon, you’ll be seeing this court a few times this upcoming year… but you already put a big dent in it…”
“Well, you know… it’s pre-season. You know it’s all about the win, so… I think I played decent, but the win would have been better.”

Wait… the pre-season’s all about the win?? Please, I can smell bullshit on a bull's ass anyday… (I just choose not to)

“Sure, it’s nice to get a win… but coming in as a rookie, you want to build up that confidence. From a personal standpoint, this performance has got to feel pretty good…”
“The leaders on the team, you know… Paul [Pierce] and Wally [Szczerbiak], they instill the confidence in me. They go out there, and tell me to play like I’ve been in the league for a long time. And coach is giving me the green light to shoot whenever, so, you know… he thinks I’ve got a good line to see the floor, and either shoot or pass. I’m trying to work on that right now.”

I got my clips… got back to the station… and did my report quickly and without pain.

It may be pre-season, but I feel like I won this one, too.

I’m covering a practice on Saturday, and then the game on Sunday… so we’ll speak over the weekend.

Good talk. I’ll see you out there.

Media Day...

2006-10-03T19:36:00.000-04:00

I've written a couple paragraphs in this space...
Right here, right now.

Only you wouldn't know it because I've deleted, and rewritten, different variations of the same theme a few time, trying to put an interesting spin on Media Day.

The problem is, there's very little of interest.

Essentially, what it is: All the players gather in front of the media, do the hand-shaking, the one-on-ones, and talk about how great life is.

Life is always good when you're not losing, right?

Media Day is actually a good thing for someone like myself - a fan, hidden in a reporters body (a huge, hulking body at that).

After some quick conversations with fellow reporters, I joined a scrum surrounding Chris Bosh... while a lot of the talk with Bosh was surrounding what his role would be this upcoming season (on the court, and off the court), some of the chatter swayed to Andrea Bargnani.

Rafael Araujo, you'll remember, had some tough times dealing with the pressure of being such a high pick (8th overall, 2004). Chris, as you may know, was responsible for some of the Hoffa-coddling.

But with Andrea getting drafted first overall, the pressure would obviously be even greater.

Bosh's thoughts on how Bargnani would deal?

"It comes with the territory. He was drafted #1, and you know, he's going to have to deal with it. But it's not a bad thing. He just has to work hard. That's all he has to do, is work hard and play good basketball. If he's the number one pick on a winning basketball team, I think that'll hush the crowd a little bit."

Yeah, we all know winning hides all sorts of problems in the locker room. But how do you win when you've got 9 new players?? A new system, an unproven coach, and 5 guys who haven't played any reasonable minutes in the NBA.

However, despite all that, Coach Sam Mitchell doesn't really expect any growing pains with the Euros...

"Those guys have been professionals since they were 15, 16 years old... So they've been expected to carry themselves in a certain way, to conduct themselves in a certain way and to act in a certain way... and that's going to be refreshing. These guys are pros, they come to work. You know, they've been here working out for the last 2 and a half weeks, and the coaches and I just sit on the sidelines and just watch."

Apparently Sam was keeping in contact with the returning guys, as well... perhaps a little more so than he wanted to...

"They called me more than I called them in the summer time, which I laugh about... because if I don't call them back in a day, i get another phone call saying 'coach, you don't love me no more' and... it's refreshing, it's funny because, I never called coaches in the off-season. And these guys, you know, they call me on my birthday, they call me just to talk, because we haven't spoken in a couple of weeks... and I think I've got a good relationship with those guys, because we've been through some things together."

It's good that the players have his back, because if the results don't follow... Mitchell's going to be shown the door.

One of the new guys expected to make a positive impact... TJ Ford.
He's also got some lofty expectactions, after the Raptors traded away Charlie Villanueva to get him.

Ford's been in the playoffs every year since he was drafted by the Bucks, and while he says he definitely sees that streak continuing... he also understands that chemistry will be key:

"All the teams that have great chemistry go far. They're able to put on winning streaks. The teams that don't, have up and down seasons. I definitely want to put myself in the situation, where we have good chemistry right off the bat. I think that's why a lot of guys came in early, to get a good feel for each other, and build a relationship with all the guys, because we got a lot of new faces."

Freddy Jones, another newcomer, echoed that sentiment...

"I think everybody understands that we got a lot of new players... For us to hit the gate running, and win some games early... then it takes for us to come in a few weeks early to get to know each other. Otherwise, there will be a slow start to the season, which we can't get ourselves into that big of a hole."

The first month of the season is certainly no cake-walk, either... The Raptors start the season in the swamp, return home for 4 games... and then head west for a 9-day, 5-game road trip.

That could perhaps be one reason why Mo Pete doesn't want people creating unrealistic expectations... however, in one fell swoop... he sort of contradicts himself...

"I've been through a lot of different coaching changes, a lot of different general manager changes... I've been seeing a lot of players going through here... but I can definitely say that there's a big buzz going around this city, and around the NBA about this team, and we want to prove people right. We're going to have a more uptempo style... I think you can see us being a tougher team, a smarter team... and if we put everything together, and have guys on the same page... then we're going to make the playoffs... we're going to push for the playoffs."

No one would put a number on what would be deemed a successful season... but you'd have to think any improvement on a 27-win season would be warmly welcomed. The playoffs would create quite the atmosphere... one not seen in 4 years in this city.

So while we're looking for a lot from a new mix of guys... I'm looking for more from myself... and less problems with my internet, so I can get this stuff out quicker.

==
The Raptors are in Waterloo for the rest of the week, before bringing training camp back to the ACC.

Whenever I'm there, I'll bring you with me.

Season 2 for myself is quickly approaching.

Being a Good Guy Helps... just not my computer...

2006-09-14T12:07:00.000-04:00

OK, so here's where my current mood lies: in the land of frustration.

I had just typed about 2 pages worth of today's update, when I went to go fetch my sound clips online. My (new) computer crashed, leaving my document blank... and I still can't get my clips to play.

So this is very exciting (I hope that when you read this, you get a little wet from the sarcasm dripping from my words).

I won't lie... the lack of audio will take a little wind out of my sails, since I actually had some quality quotes, but we will have to go without.

==
So here's the story, hopefully shorter than my initial draft (hey, I got things to do)...

Tuesday night I get an e-mail from my boss, asking if I can cover the media availability for Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa (the two Spaniards have come to Toronto, fresh off winning gold at the Worlds')...

Obviously I would jump at the chance to do this... not only for my personal well-being, but also because this blog has run dry this summer.

So it's yesterday now (figure out how that works), I head to the station for noonish to pick up all the necessary equipment, and head down to the ACC's multi-purpose "meeting room A".

The tiny room is packed with chairs, and where the podium would be, lay a back-drop.
A Rogers back-drop. With the Raptors logo placed neatly beside the Leafs, Marlies and Toronto FC icons. Ahhh, to be a part of a monopoly.

After catching up with a couple of the reporters... Jose and Jorge filtered into the room.

I get prime positioning: Right in between the two of them.

Then comes a little tappy tappy to my shoulder.

"Excuse me, Mr. Fan, do you mind holding my microphone as well?"

Being a born nice-guy, I oblige.

Immediately, I realized I made a mistake. Holding two microphones in one hand, while focusing on my minidisc's recording levels in the other, was not a pleasant experience. My mind was focused more on ensuring that the mics did not make contact (it makes an awful BANGING noise in the recording), than it was listening to what the players had to say.

Great. So the scrum goes through about 10 minutes. I don't get one question in, and I'm pretty sure my audio sounds like crap. On top of that, my levels were weak, and I had no idea what the guys had to say.

Boo-urns, indeed.

So I get my stuff all packed up when the Global guy thanks me and tells me that his reporter never showed up.

I sympathized with him for a minute, when a former co-worker quickly two-stepped through the door. He rushed over to where I was standing, and immediately apologized.

Not to me... to his camera man.

Traffic's a bitch, ain't it?

Either way... with them having a camera, it instantly got them a one-on-one.
I asked if I could piggy-back on their interview.

"Sure man, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten any of that."

Sweet, so I had another chance to get my prepared-the-night-before questions in.

We walked over to Calderon, whom I greeted first:

"Jose, man... we never got to hook up in Spain this summer..."
"I know, sorry about that. By the time you got there, I was already with the National team."
"It's all good. I guess it paid off. Either way, welcome back, and congratulations."

I let the Global guy kick off the interview, what with it being his and all... he asked something about Jose's thoughts on the infusion of the European talent...

I followed that up with a question I had been longing to ask for a while, now:

"Good chemistry seemed to get you guys through some tough times last year... but with 9 new guys coming in this year, do you think maybe there were too many moves made too quickly?"

(Keep in mind, with no audio these responses are not verbatim... it's more my recollection of his responses)

"No, I think we've got a lot of good lockerroom guys coming in. People that know how to play as a team, and as long as we've got that, we can play well, and win games."

Another Global question, before my next turn:

"At the Worlds', your shot seemed to be falling with a lot more consistancy than it did last season with the Raptors. Was it something in your workout regimen that changed, or was it just a matter of comfort?"
"Well, at the end of last season, I started working with Jay Triano a little more. We changed up some of my mechanics, and it paid off. I felt really good, not only shooting, but also with my defense and passing."

After a couple more minutes, I thanked him once again...

He said he's really looking forward to playing this season... as are the rest of the guys.

In fact, 12 Raptors are already in town for informal workouts (Rasho Nesterovic and Pape Sow are not), with training camp still 3 weeks away (It's October 3rd, Ferg).

Jose is off to New York now for the "Rookie Transition Camp."

I'm staying right here for mine... but I'll be ready.
I already got me some new shirts and ties.

What up?!

Spanish Gold / The Lone Yankee

2006-09-03T15:04:00.000-04:00

So Greece evidently used everything they had in the tank against the US, because Spain manhandled the Greeks, 70-47.

Jorge Garbajosa led the Pau Gasol-free Spaniards, matching Juan Carlos Navarro with 20 points... however, "The Garbage Man" also chipped in 10 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block.
Jose Calderon played only 15 minutes, making 2-of-7 shots, for 7 points, one rebound, an assist, and a steal.

Hopefully a few solid performances from Jose will lead to a higher level of confidence come the new season in the NBA.

Spain finished fourth back in 1982.

Garbajosa was named to the All-Tournament team, along with Pau Gasol (tournament MVP, despite the broken foot - which apparently requires surgery), Manu Ginobili and Theo Papaloukas. The lone American on the team is Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 19.9 points per game.

Down Go the Argentines / Lonny’s Lonely

2006-09-02T18:19:00.000-04:00

So it’s 7:47 in the morning. I had quite a bit to drink last night, and generally when that’s the case, sleeping comes in bunches. So thanks to the excessive amount of Rye, Ginger, Jack Daniels, and other friends, I was graced with the opportunity to watch the second half of the USA/Argentina bronze medal game. Or at least, whatever portions I could stay conscious for.

Right when I turned it on, the US went on a big run to boost a 6-point lead into an 11 point cushion. After drifting in an out of consciousness I saw the final score was 96-81.

Lebron James was on a tear, scoring 22 points while chipping in 9 boards and 7 helpers – many of which went to Dwyane Wade (32 points, 12/17 FG’s).

Chris Bosh apparently played 14 minutes, although I didn’t see one tick.

Either way, Team USA managed to match its Olympic output by beating the Gold-Medal winners for Bronze. Make the title drought 6 years, ladies and gentleman.

==
On to the Lonny Baxter watch… this story gets more and more interesting.
My father sent me this:

It turns out that Mr.Baxter fired those shots near the White House, because he’s one duck that doesn’t want to fly too far from mother goose (if that makes sense).

He didn’t want to play basketball in Italy so badly, that he decided spending 53 days behind bars wouldn’t be as painful.

Good job.

Just one thought, though… why sign a contract to play overseas, if you don’t want to go overseas??

I guess it sort of makes sense, though, seeing as how Lonny was never that bright. I recall one moment last season when he and the Rockets came to the ACC (the game when Juwan Howard got the boot for introducing the ball to Mike James’ face). Afterwards, I approached Mr.Baxter and said: “Welcome back, Lonny.”

His reply?

“What do you mean?”

…

Definitely a man of a complex mind. Till next time.

Sticking it to Dirk with D...

2006-08-31T10:38:00.000-04:00

Team USA shot miserably against Germany, but still managed to win by 20 points (85-65).
The Americans shot 35% from the field, and only 25% from beyond the arc.
However, when you contain Dirk Nowitzki to the point where he's got more turnovers than buckets... you're in pretty good shape.

Dirk had 5 turnovers, to 3 made field goals (3/12 from the field).

If there were any doubts about the US' inside presence, this glaring difference on the glass should change that. Team USA outrebounded Germany, 48-34... but on the offensive side, it was a ridiculous 22-6.

Chris Bosh was once again borderline phenomenal in limited time:
10 points, 7 boards, and a block in just 14 minutes (more than Dwight Howard's 11 minutes, by the way).

Overnight, Bosh spoke to ESPN radio... and among the things he talked about was feeling like an underdog when he'd be watching Argentina and Spain in action. He obviously respects his opponents enough - which is something Coach K has drilled in from day one.

Concerning Greece, who team USA will play Friday morning at 3:30, Bosh says among their strengths, the Greek move the ball well, they've got 'good inside play', but "other teams respect them too much."

Bosh also noted that the reason why the US is undefeated, is because they frustrate the opposition. They "Intimidate people defensively."

If you've seen any of the games, the proof is in the passing lanes - which they dominate to the delight of fast-breaking basketball fans.

Steal the ball, streak up court, slam it home.

What's not to like?
==

I'm hearing conflicting reports about where we'll (the media) will be sitting once the Raptors' season starts... Originally I was told we'd be bumped up to the boxes... however, now I'm hearing that it's just tech guys and writers who will get the bump... which could mean that us broadcasters get to stay courtside.

I guess I'll know soon enough.

Talk to you after Greece.

In a Rush...

2006-08-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

What's up peoples?? So I gotta write this up quickly, because I've got to get to work... but late last night, or in the early morning, if you will... I randomly turned on RaptorsTV before I went to bed, and I was graced with the beautiful opportunity of watching the States CRUSH Australia, 113-73...

Chris Bosh was looking damn good in what I saw... (most of the 3rd and 4th quarters).
He was perfect from the field (4/4), and missed only one of his 4 free throw attempts.

All that summed up to 12 points and 9 boards in just 18 minutes.

Now Team USA has a quarter-final match against Germany on Wednesday...
==
Also, I had a dream about the Raptors' upcoming media day... I don't know when it is... but I'm excited.

Enjoy life.

Bosh Demolishes the Africans...

2006-08-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Just 24 hours after his first DNP-CD, Chris Bosh simply dominated against Senegal (as did the rest of team USA - at least the guys that played). It was Wade's turn to sit, as the Americans rolled over the Africans, 103-58.

Bosh had a solid double-double, with 20 points (7/9 fgs), and 10 boards (6 offensive), to go with an assist and a block, in just 21 minutes.

I'm sure that performance will go a long way towards helping his confidence.

The States will next play Australia (4th place team from Group C) on Sunday
==
Looking elsewhere...

After testing team USA in a tune-up... Brazil got bounced by Lithuania - where's Hoffa when you need him?

China used a monster performance from Yao Ming to edge Slovenia, 78-77...
Yoa had 36 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks, as the Chinese advance to the Roung of 16... Slovenia also advanced (because Italy snuck past Puerto Rico, 73-72), but in the game against the Chinese, Rasho Nesterovic had 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 helpers, and 3 blocks in 22 minutes... Uros Slokar hit a go ahead bucked (which was later trumped, obviously) in the final seconds, and finished with 15 points, 6 boards, and 3 dimes - in 35 minutes (quality burn).

Spain remained unbeaten, and humiliated the hosts, 104-55 over Japan.
Pau Gasol - 26 points, 15 boards...
Jorge Garbajosa - 12 points, 6 boards, 4 steals...
Jose Calderon - 2 points (0/1 fgs), 7 assists, 1 turnover.

...and on the Darko watch, just because he's playing so damn well... Mr.Milicic had 24 points, 12 boards, 2 helpers, and 2 blocks in Serbia-Montenegro's 83-79 loss to the powerful Argentinians... Luis Scola had 22 points, 13 off the glass, and 5 assists.

==
Back in North America... the Newark-Star Ledger reports:

According to a close friend of the Nets forward, Carter and his wife, Ellen, recently initiated divorce proceedings, which may be a major factor in his next move.

If his wife gains custody of their 1-year-old daughter and moves back to Orlando or her own hometown in South Carolina, Carter could be motivated to sign with the Magic or Charlotte Bobcats just to stay close, as both teams have substantial cap room to sign him.

Just thought I'd put it out there for some water-cooler talk. It seems that Vince can't stay committed to anything long-term. At least, according to the report.

Bosh Sits for the States' First Scare...

2006-08-23T11:41:00.000-04:00

I don't think it was a doubt in anyone's mind that Chris Bosh would gain more experience from just being around his teammates, than from getting actual playing time at the World Basketball Championships.

Most recently, Bosh learned what it's like to sit and watch, while his team overcomes early struggles. Sure, he did that in Toronto - but only at the end of the season, when his thumb injury kept him out. Otherwise, he was the hero.

But at the World's, he's not even a back-up... he's a third-stringer that, when the going gets tough, he keeps riding the pine.

Brad Miller was the only other American player that didn't see any game time against Italy... and for the first time this tournament, Coach K went away from his 2-squad system, and played his best players.

Carmelo Anthony eclipsed Kenny Parkers' former States record of 34 points (1990 worlds), with 35 (19 in the third), as team USA overcame an 12 point deficit to beat Italy, 94-85.

Dime Magazine printed a little excerpt where Kobe Bryant said that 'Melo is the hardest player in the league to stop... and it showed. (I'll save my ever-improving views on Carmelo, for when the Raptors play the Nuggets)

Dwyane Wade had 26 points, missing only 3 of his 13 shots, as the U.S. clinched first place in their pool.

==
Before we go on to the other games of importance... I want to say that Fiba.com screwed me. Keep in mind, this site is considered the "official scoring" of the tournament. They had it listed that Bosh had 4 assists in 13 minutes... but as suspected, it turned out to be 4 FOULS in 13 minutes. I don't know when they corrected it, but I went to air with it - overnight - on the Fan.

Never a good feeling to broadcast a mistake.

==
Ok, so back to the action...

Spain beat the tough Angolans, 93-83... Pau Gasol had a game-high 28 points, while in terms of the Raptors: the ever-steady Jorge Garbajosa had 15 points (4/7 3ptrs), to go with 4 boards. One game after Jose Calderon was on-fire offensively... he didn't even take a shot... 2 points, 2 boards, and 6 helpers.

Rasho Nesterovic had 12 points and 9 boards in Slovenia's 90-82 win over Puerto Rico. The effecient Uros Slokar had 5 points and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes.

Elsewhere...
Darko Milicic was ridiculous... 18 points, 11 boards, 4 helpers, and 6 blocks... Serbia-Montenegro beat up on Venezuela, 90-65...

Manu Ginobili had 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 17 minutes, as Argentina rocked Nigeria, 98-64...

Also... Greece upset Brazil, 91-80...

==
that's it for today...

Another Day... Another States' Blowout...

2006-08-22T09:02:00.000-04:00

So the US had it's way with Slovenia, despite getting out-rebounded 37-26.
Kirk Hinrich led the States with 7 off the glass, while Dwyane Wade did the scoring with 20 points (Lebron had 19), in a 114-95 win.

Chris Bosh played distributor, doling out 4 assists (with 0 points, 0/1 fg's) in 13 minutes. In all honesty, that stat is coming from fiba.com... and they've mixed up their ASSISTS and FOULS before... so there's also a chance that Bosh had 1 assist, in reality.

Rasho Nesterovic had 14 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists in 27 minutes...
Uros Slokar 2 points, 5 boards, and 2 helpers in 16 ticks.

Spanish Sensations...

2006-08-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

So Spain continues to roll at the WBC's... and normally I wouldn't make too much of a fuss... but the two Raptors on that squad simply torched the nets.

Jose Calderon had a game high 20 points (5/5 2pt fgs, 2/3 3 pt fgs), 6 ast, 2 stls...
Jorge Garbajosa chipped in 12 points (4/5 3pt fgs)...

and I can only assume that "The Garbage Man" was partly responsible to helping keep Dirk Nowitzki in check (14pts, 4 TO's in 35 mins).

Spain over Germany 92-71.

That's all that really mattered from Day 3, other than the fact that Angola managed to beat New Zealand... Argentina hammered Venezuela, 96-54; Walter Hermann (future Bobcat) had 25 pts and 9 rebs... Serbia-Montenegro punished Lebanon 104-57; Darko Milicic had 18 points off 7/10 2pt, 1/1 3pt shooting.

Raptors Around the World...

2006-08-20T09:16:00.000-04:00

First off, I want to say how good it feels to be writing again...
Before the last post, I believe it had been 3 weeks - or somewhere near it. Now there's something to talk about, as the World Basketball Championships are now 2 days deep in Japan.

While I haven't been able to catch more than a glimpse of a few games... the trusty internet has given me the ability for some fine stat-tracking.

But first... I want to give you all a Lonny Baxter update...
According to the Associated Press (thanks again, fellas), the uglier half of the "Banger Brothers" (and any other grouping that involves halves for that matter) will be kept locked up until Wednesday, at the earliest because:

Baxter's lawyers asked a D.C. Superior Court judge Friday to delay a bond hearing so they could challenge aspects of the city's new crime emergency legislation that presumes anyone charged with carrying a pistol without a license to be dangerous.

According to the article, his passenger (who was later confirmed to NOT be Robert Archibald) was released... but Baxter is being held in solitary confinement because of his "celebrity status."

Oh, to be a "star" in America. The maximum sentence Baxter could face is 7 years.
And by the way, remember how he was pulled over by the Secret Service? Apparently a witness to the shooting FLAGGED THEM DOWN.

I have to have a Jerry Seinfeld moment here (so put on the voice, please):
"What's the deal with the secret service? I mean, if people can tell who they are... they can't be too secretive..." (If that wasn't funny, then just think about "man hands." - wait... give it a sec... THERE IT IS!!)

OK, so... moving on.

Yesterday (Saturday) marked the beginning of the Fiba WBC's (fiba.com is great - when it's up).

Team USA was trailing early against Puerto Rico, but rebounded midday through the second-quarter to pull away for a 111-100 win. In terms of the Raptors' presence, Chris Bosh had 5 points, 2 boards, a helper and a steal in 13 minutes.

Spain, who I personally believe is the biggest road block in the States' path to redemption, stuck it to New Zealand, 86-70.
Jorge Garbajosa shared the team-lead with 16 points, contributing a team-high 7 boards, to go with 2 steals and an assist.
Jose Calderon had 5 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

Slovenia beat Senegal, 96-79, with modest contributions from a pair of Raptors...
Rasho Nesterovic: 4 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block (16 minutes)
Uros Slokar: 1 point (0/2 from the field), 1 block, 1 steal, 1 assist, 6 rebounds.
(Senegal has 2 M.N'Daiye's... Mamadou was solid, though: 15 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal)

so that was day 1...

On to today... I woke up at 6:30 this morning for some reason - partly because I stayed home last night on lockdown (brief backstory: I was biking home from work yesterday at 1pm... My napsack evidentally opened up, and I dropped my lock and keys... When I went to replace the lock: insufficient funds. Used Visa. Called Bank. Account frozen till Monday. I gotta make this $5 last until Monday. Goddamn).

So yeah, 6:30... the start of the USA/China game... Didn't register in my brain which was more focused on the "day off" aspect of my life. Back to bed it was.

I woke up 3 minutes after the game ended.

How do you say "Boo" in Japanese??

Team USA absolutely punished China (with Yao this time), 121-90... At the break, China had more turnovers (12) than buckets (11).

Bosh, according to stats at least, had another mediocre game... In 11 minutes, Bosh had 3 points (0/2 fgs), 2 boards and 2 turnovers.

Spain throttled Panama, 101-57...
Garbajosa: 10 pts (4/11 fg's, 1/5 3pts), 5 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl
Calderon: 5 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 1 steal

Rasho Nesterovic was a beast, but Slovenia lost to Italy... 80-76
Nesterovic: team-high 17 pts (8/14 fg, 1/2 3's), team-high 8 rebs, 2 ast, 2 blks, 2 stls..
Slokar: 4 pts (2/2 fgs), 3 rebs, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl

That's all she wrote for now... thanks to everyone who was kicking my ass to write more... and thanks to everyone else just for reading this.

When You Can't Get to Italy Fast Enough...

2006-08-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

First of all, i want to apologize - sort of - for my lack of updating.
I was confronted by a friend/reader at the gym, pointing out that I needed fresh material.

The only problem is... there's no fresh material.

In fact, among the two topics I want to touch on... is OLD stuff.

Amid the madness that is called work, I found a little time to relax in front of the TV the other night. For the first time since some early USA vs. Puerto Rico tune-up action, I turned on RaptorsTV.

I'm sure as hell glad I did.

They're showing what they call the "Landmark Series" - the 2001 First Round playoff series against the Knicks.

Having that on television is like going back to an old fling, and having some good quality no-strings-attached fun. It's a guilt-free pleasure.

Watching the Raptors from when they were competitive.
Watching the Raptors, when the team boasted names like Charles Oakley, Dell Curry, Keon Clark... on top of your Vince Carters', Antonio Davis', Alvin Williams' (who torched New York repeatedly - as mentioned in the previous post, also nailed the "shot" (sorry MJ, Toronto fans get one too)).

Seeing the Jerome Williams', a young up-and-coming Mo Pete, and a Chris Childs before that disasterous 3-point attempt vs. Detroit, was just beautiful.

I almost cried.

There was pretty much a memory associated with every game.
Like, I'd remember watching game 1 of that series with my father on my parents couch... I remember my mother racing back in the car from Hamilton, as we listened to the start of game 3 on the radio, desperately trying to see the images from our own eyes (mother, not necessarily included)...
and fast forward a couple weeks, I remember exactly what I was doing when Vince Carter missed that basket at the buzzer, that would have beaten Philly and sent the Raptors into the Eastern Finals.

But that last one's a story for another post - perhaps.

I just wanted to share that feeling with you... and hope that you got/get a chance to see some of it, as well... because honestly, that's when this city went crazy for Raptors basketball. The bandwagon was never bigger.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one who will welcome further growth, when the on-court product is back to doing what this city demands/expects.

The past few years haven't been as kind, obviously... because of a number of reasons. Turmoil's a good word to use, I think... and turmoil's what one former player is dealing with right now.

I was catching up on what went on in the sports world between my sleeping hours, and came across this nugget: (keep in mind, the player to be mentioned signed a contract to play in Italy, just last week)

-kids... leave the guns at home-

(WASHINGTON AP) - Former NBA player Lonny Baxter was arrested by uniformed Secret Service agents on Wednesday after shots were fired from a vehicle about two blocks from the White House.

Baxter, a former Toronto Raptor who played with the Charlotte Bobcats last season, was taken into custody around 2:30 a.m. after a witness flagged down a Secret Service agent and reported shots fired from a white sport-utility vehicle, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren.

Officers stopped the vehicle, which Baxter was driving, near the intersection of 17th and I streets in Northwest Washington.

"There were spent shell casings in plain view inside the vehicle," Zahren said. Officers also recovered a handgun.

Both Baxter, 27, and the vehicle's passenger, 35-year-old Irvin Martin, were charged with carrying a pistol without a license and other firearms charges. Police said it wasn't clear why they allegedly fired the gun.

"We're not sure at this point," Zahren said. "There may be some subsequent charges if we discover some additional information."

The two suspects are being held by District of Columbia police.

(thanks to the Associated Press)

...this just in... Irvin Martin is actually Robert Archibald... and they actually BANG, like brothers.

Chuck, you're a frikkin' prophet.

Strictly Business...

2006-07-26T17:23:00.000-04:00

It was 11 o’clock this morning… I was at the Platinum Lounge at the Air Canada Center, awaiting the Fred Jones introduction press conference.

I could smell something was up.

I wrapped up a quick chat with some of the newspaper guys and walked over to one of the media relations guys…

“Hey, so uhh… are they waiving Alvin today or what?”
“There are a couple of things that they’re doing this morning...”
“Ahh, so you know something…”
“Maybe.”
“Can I expect some paperwork that says Alvin will be released?”
“Perhaps…”

I like these very direct interchanges.

So I hook up my equipment to the main sound board, and find a seat in the back row.
I shake a couple hands, and get re-acquainted with someone I went to college with. He’s now doing his thing at the Score. Big things.

I see Bryan Colangelo’s making his way towards to make-shift podium, so I start up my minidisc to record.

BC says there will be two parts to this morning’s presser… the first of which is the waiving of Alvin Williams.

I glanced over to the media relations guy with whom I had exchanged top secret information. I got a nod in return. Fair trade.

So Colangelo’s going on about how this move needed to be done… saying he wouldn’t rule out Alvin making a return to the organization in some capacity.

Four minutes later, Colangelo steps down from the table, and says he’ll be back with his “free-agent signing”

Fast forward a couple minutes, and as promised, BC returns with Freddy Jones and says the 6’2” former slam dunk champ has a “tremendous skill set,” and resembles “one of the final pieces.”

Jones takes his turn on the mic and says the “style of play” is what attracted him to Toronto, noting that the Pacers’ strategy was not conducive to his game.

He also said Kevin O’Neill told him to check for Toronto.
Everyone shared a laugh.

A few minutes later came the photo opportunity. Colangelo shares the jersey-hoisting duties with Jones, who will apparently wear #20.

Alvin’s #20.

A mere 10 minutes (at most) has passed since the waiving was announced, and already Alvin’s number has been jacked. What if someone wore #15? What would you think?

Personally, I felt like Alvin was the heartbeat of the Raptors for years… he played more games in Toronto than anyone else not named Morris Peterson, and this is how it goes??

Shown the door, with his remains swept under the rug?

Strictly business.

Afterwards, I got a fair amount of questions in for both Colangelo and Jones… but I want the rest of this to focus on Alvin.

Once I got back to the station, did my Freddy Jones voicers, I got notified that Alvin’s conference call would start at 2 o’clock.

Just 40 minutes after I finished my reports.

This would be my very first conference call… good times.

I got the first question in…

“Alvin, this is Zack Cooper from the Fan 590… I’m just curious, I mean, this has been talked about for a while, but how are you doing? I mean, where’s your head at?”
“Well, I was just disappointed. I still wanted to play with the Toronto Raptors, you know, if I had one more chance… but hopefully I can get with another team to continue playing. If not, just look forward to doing other things in my life.”

Skip forward a bit…

“Alvin, earlier today, Bryan mentioned that you might make a return to the Raptors organization, in a role other than a player… how much was that talked about?”
“It was mentioned, or whatever, but there wasn’t much talk. I haven’t talked to anyone from the team – other than a couple people calling me to wish me luck or whatever – but not with anyone with the team who could make that sort of decision.”

Then I had to ask the standard ‘Is there one memory that outshines the others, that you’ll keep with you forever?’ question…

“A lot of them. All of them. The good and the bad moments, because this was the chunk of my career – and basketball, as a lot of people know, is my passion. So, everything that happens through basketball came through the Toronto Raptors, as far as my professional career and what not. The playoffs… Whether it was the signing of Lenny Wilkins, or the firing of Lenny Wilkins… You know, just playing with guys like Vince Carter, Mo Pete, Muggsey Bogues, Oakley… like, all the guys who have been through the team… just the biggest thing for me. All the memories. And all my friends here, my family, I have thousands of stories to tell them about different guys. So, a lot of the memories throughout basketball, I’m going to cherish with the Toronto Raptors, as well as the fans… walking around the city, going to restaurants, going to convenience stores, and all the love I was being shown… It was always a pleasure, and I’ll miss that dearly.”

No doubt any true Raptor fan will miss Alvin, in return, as I will.
I remember when he played those 5 minutes last season, and the entire ACC erupted with applause… I nearly cried.

I remember how well he played against his hometown Sixers in that push towards the Eastern Finals…

I remember how last season, when I started covering the Raptors, Alvin would always be one of the last guys out of the RBK court, still dripping with sweat, all while knowing he wasn’t going to see any game-time.

Alvin told me in the conference call that he knew this day was coming… and that he even put up his house to be sold the day the season ended.

I can’t think of a classier guy on the Raptors; He’s a guy who never played into the controversies that were so common place around this team.

I know it’s not like he died or anything… but please, leave a comment… or e-mail me some memories you have of Alvin’s time as a Raptor…

If the Raptors won’t play keep-away with his number, the least we can do is share some fond memories. He was kind enough to do the same with me.

(edit: It turns out Jorge Garbajosa will be wearing #15)

Without a Mic Line...

2006-07-13T15:41:00.000-04:00

Bright and early… that’s how Bryan Colangelo does it.

Not once in my year and change of Raptors reporting do I recall a press conference set for 10 in the morning.

And yet, this is how everything unfolded…

I woke up at 7:40am. Confirmed the presser was going down. Had a shower, made some breakfast, brushed my teeth, and then re-read everything I’d read about Anthony Parker.

Then I took a voyage to youtube.com, and watched a little more game film.

I can’t get over how the creators of these videos either lace quality highlights with a) bad dance music… or b) bad hip-hop.

Either way.

So by now, we’re approaching 9 o’clock. I planned to be out the door by 9:15.

I gathered all my things…
Minidisc… check.
Mic Flash… check.
Microphone… check.
Microphone cord… ummm… uh oh.

A day prior to these events, I burrowed some equipment from a fellow reporter. I had my own mic, I just needed a flash (the station ID thingy that goes on the mic), and a minidisc… Sadly, I forgot to ask for a mic cord.

So I hop on the Queen streetcar to head to the ACC… I call up the station and request some assistance.

Assistance Granted.

An intern would be meeting me at Front and Bay with a recovery pack filled with all the reporters’ essentials. (Thanks Levett)

I head back to the ACC, check my levels, plug in my goods, and we’re set…

The press conference is running a few minutes late, giving me time to do a live hit on the Fan.

My phone cut out at the end, but apparently it went ok.

On to the conference… (If you didn’t see it and would like to… NBA.com has complete broadband video coverage – pssst… you can see my head as I scamper to my seat at the beginning)

So instead of running through that whole mess… I’ll just go through what I had a part in.

Anthony Parker, the reigning back-to-back Euroleague MVP, was doing his thing… about 3 questions in… I piped up:

“Anthony… Do you expect there to be much adjustment coming back to the NBA, in terms of different styles of play?”

“I think so… You know, the first couple months that I was overseas, there was a huge adjustment for me. It’s almost a completely different game. I think it’ll be a lot easier of an adjustment to come back here, than it was when I went over there… but I certainly do anticipate an adjustment period.”

After the press conference wrapped up, we had question and answer periods with Parker (didn’t ask him any more questions, as I saw Colangelo was gathering quite the crowd)…

I arrived just a touch late to Colangelo’s scrum… but apparently my question was not asked:

“Bryan… Anthony’s got the tag ‘the best basketball player not in the NBA.’ Do you and your scouts honestly believe that?”

“You know what… if he’s not *the* best not playing in the NBA… then he’s certainly *one* of the best. Having seen a lot of basketball being played outside of the NBA, he clearly dominates games. He’s been considered the best European player for the last two years, winning the Euroleague MVP two years in a row… and that’s not an easy feat, given the talent that’s over there.”

That was the first time I actually spoke to Colangelo personally… and like Parker, I came away impressed.

It also sounds like I’ll get another chance to chat with Bryan tomorrow… as the Chris Bosh extension is expected to be announced then.

This time, though… I’ve got my mic cord.

Back in the Game...

2006-07-09T11:11:00.000-04:00

I fell asleep early Thursday, in desperate need of some sleep catch-up. I had come home from the gym exhausted after a work day featuring a 6-hour turnaround (I left work at 3am, and returned for 9am).

I awoke to the familiar sound of my phone vibrating on my table-top.

Groggy, I flipped open the lid of my over-aged Motorolla V300...

"Hello?"
"Were you out drinking last night? Hitting the town?"
"Not Quite. What's up?"
"I need you down at the ACC. Eric was working the morning show, and TJ Ford is going to be introduced to the media."

I hung up the phone with my boss, and shot up like a dart.

Finally. With such a high-profile summer of top picks, trades, and rumours... this would be my first taste of officially getting back in the Raptors swing.

Surely it would be an intimate gathering.

Everyone was in Vegas.

I showered, got dressed... re-versed myself in some Ford stats... and headed to the station to pick up the mic-flash and mini-disc that I had come to know as my own (only to have returned it after the season was over).

We were reunited again.

It was beautiful.

I actually think I saw the mini-disc well up some mechanical tears.

Either way. I headed south of the Yonge line to Union, checked my watch, and saw that I was running a smidgen late.

It was 11:26. Media availability was 11:30.
I was still a good 6 minutes away.

My pace quickened, my thoughts raced. I knew what I wanted to ask TJ, and I knew I would get the chance to converse a little more loosely.

Shoot the shit, as they say.

I managed to sign in and get up to the RBK court for 11:29.

No one was there. Perfect.
I saw one of the media relations people, and tried to confirm my observation.

"I guess it's not open yet, huh?"
"Oh, it is... they're already inside. But TJ will be a few minutes."

She unlocked and opened the door... and to my stunned disbelief it was RAMMED.
Absolutely packed with media. Outlets that don't normally make their presence felt (notably CBC) were there.

I saw some familiar faces of people I hadn't seen since April, re-acquainted myself, and started pacing around.

I knew my hopes and wishes of a somewhat intimate conversation with TJ would be dashed. Now I was thinking about positioning.

About half a minute later, a small statured man with big shoulders walked in wearing a white T-shirt. It was him.

Everyone immediately surrounded him like a pack of wild wolves about to pounce on a lonely white sheep.

It was the same old questions...

"How does it feel being in Canada?"
"Why do you think people don't want to play here?"
"Are you looking forward to playing with Bosh?"

He'd answered these questions numerous times, before even stepping on Canadian soil. I'm not saying that I'm a master-questioneer (and if you're a regular follower of this blog, you'd know I'm not), but I've learned to at least TRY to keep it fresh.

I didn't want to ask about his back... I wanted to ask about his contract... I wanted to ask about his thoughts on the Raptors turning into the Toronto Euros...

I got my questions in... but the answers were of the standard, to-be-expected variety.

I followed up a question regarding his excitement about playing with Bosh, with:

"Like Bosh, TJ... you're also up for an extension this summer. Has that at all come into conversations, or are you just going to play, and see what happens?"

(Sadly, because the answer was blahzay, I didn't keep the clip... but his response, NOT-verbatim, went something like:)

"I let my agent deal with all that stuff... I don't really get involved in all the contract talk. I'm just here to play basketball and try to win some games."

A few other reporters asked their questions... then I shot in with another:

"With all these unknowns on the Raptors roster, and rumours of more names coming over from Europe... are you concerned at all about an adjustment period, with different styles of play?"

I think he took the question to mean something else, because his response was (again, something to effect of:)

"I just play my game. I'm going to run up and down the floor, and get guys the ball where they want it. Right now, a lot of things are a mystery... but once we get summer league and training camp in there, everything will be fine."

I got one more question in there, but can't recall what it was right now...
But overall, Ford seems like a personable guy. Friendly, open, and honest (even though I KNOW there has to have been talk about a contract extension).

I'm booked to cover "Free-Agency" on Friday (although chances are, Thursday will be when all the action hits - as Colangelo has said he wants to round out the roster as quickly as possible).
==
Monday, I get to cover a newser about how the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport and NSF International have joined forces to educate Canadian athletes about what nutritional supplements they can take without getting busted for doping.

I'm hoping for a free energy bar.

Catching my breath...

2006-07-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

So this post certainly comes a few days late. I apologize, but work has kept me fighting for air (in a good way - just not so much for the blog).

I first heard the news about the Charlie trade when I got home from a long night at a club (needless to say, it got emotional).

How could they trade Charlie??

I had read/heard all the rumours. I knew it was a possibility, but still I didn't want to believe.

But after a little more thinking (and sobering up), I realized that this is the best thing that could have happened for the Raptors.

Charlie's stock will (likely) never be higher... and the Raps get that slashing/play-making point guard that they've coveted so much.

They say TJ Ford can't shoot, but his Field Goal percentage went up from .384 in his rookie year, to .416 after his back injury, to .490 in these past playoffs.

So what that says (to me, at least...) is that it's at least getting better, and he can hit shots when it matters.

With that being said, his ability to shoot (or not) is not that imperative to why he's heading to Toronto. Yes, being able to hit your jumper keeps the defense honest (take notes, Jose Calderon), but he's really here to get the ball to Chris Bosh (and Bargnani?). Ford can do that (insert bad pun about Ford driving through the lane, and watch the sponsors come running).

They also say that Ford can't defend. But according to those same critics, there are probably only two handfuls of players in this league that can.

Ford being a listed 6'0" probably doesn't help (meaning he's more like 5'10")... but what can you do?

The Raptors went against the common mantra, which states you never trade to downsize (meaning, don't trade a big for a small)... but in this instance, they Bryan Colangelo felt it appropriate.

I was in love with Charlie's (offensive) game. He had that touch where on most nights, any time he'd touch the ball you'd know it's going in. But on the other end, if the opposition gave the ball to their SF, you'd know that more often than not they'd be scoring.

Charlie is a marvel. A talent you don't find often. Which is why he should flourish in Milwaukee. But we say this again, with this move, it is now (again) Chris Bosh's team.

The lone (super?)star.

==
Rumours seem to be heating up that the Raptors are looking at Indy's unrestricted guard Freddy Jones. They guy who won the dunk contest in it's worst-ever edition. They guy who made sure he wouldn't fall under the label of a dunker, by working on a 3-point shot that can now be deemed somewhat "reliable" (edit: I just looked at his stats, and noticed he only connected on 34% of his 3's, down from 38% the year before).

He's a nice athletic combo-guard, who when he played starting point, had a deft passing hand (picking up 13 assists/3 turnovers in 2 games). Granted, the sample size is not great... but it is what it is.

Either way, if the Raptors could snag Jones, it would be a solid pick-up in my books (i think he's the best suited free-agent out there), and I know it would make my buddy Juan happy.
==

Big Ben is set to join the Bulls. How do you think Pistons' fans feel about this?
A couple months ago, Wallace was saying he wouldn't need an agent to work out his new deal in Detroit... then he goes out and hires super-agent, Arn Tellem, and the jury flees the court.

Wallace turns down a ridiculous (for a 31 year old undersized "center" with no offensive game) 4 year deal worth $48 million (which the Pistons already thought was too steep), so sign in the Windy City (on July 12) for 4 years and a reported $60 million.

Big Ben also turned down efforts for the Pistons to sign and trade him (likely to keep him out of the Central division), so he could leave for Chicago.

The Pistons got fleeced... the Bulls got MUCH better... and even moreso if they can get rid of Tyson Chandler (as rumoured to the Hornets - possibly as early as today).
==

Also... I just wanted to touch on THIS...

What would inspire EA Sports to put T-Mac on the cover of the upcoming NBA Live?? Are they trying to reverse the curse (which says, any athlete that dons the cover of their video games enjoys an injury-riddled season)? Maybe it will heal his back?? I'm baffled. Unless EA appreciated how McGrady dealt with sitting out most of the season, I don't see how this is a fit. Maybe it's because he sells so many damn jerseys.

Either way.

We'll speak soon.

Oh, and to Gutsy Normis (and everyone else curious about Roko Ukic)... everything I'm hearing is that he'll be stashed overseas for at least another year. He still hasn't played that much, dealt with some illness, and also boasts an ugly buy-out clause. So as they say... there's always next year.

Another Taste of Italy

2006-06-29T13:31:00.000-04:00

Well, apparently there were no smokescreens after all; No tricks or trades up GM Bryan Colangelo’s sleeve. Instead, he went with one of the draft’s worst-kept secrets, and snagged the man they call “The Magician” with the first overall pick.

Andrea Bargnani.

The 7-Footer who everyone in Toronto started being force-fed information about – even more so when the Raptors went and officially hired his former Benetton Treviso General Manager, Maurizio Gherardini.

At that point, if there was any doubt – there shouldn’t have been.

Colangelo warned us all… He massaged the idea of drafting the Italian into our minds for so long, that he wanted it to feel great come June 28th.

Once Bargnani’s name was called, I’m not going to say I felt great… but I didn’t feel bad, or surprised, either.

You know Andrea’s deal: He’s a 7-footer (apparently even 7’1”) who has range past the NBA 3-point line. He’s got a lethal first-step, and an array of offensive moves (hence the brutal nickname). But what he’s got on the one end is apparently non-existent on the other. Can’t hold his space, can’t play defense for a lick, and can’t rebound.

That’s fine, it’s not like the Raptors ever addressed those needs before…

Or did they??

With the 35th overall pick, The Raptors went out and made a stellar selection, nabbing Texas guard, PJ Tucker - a 6’5” guard/forward who’s got a wingspan of 7’1”. Named the Big-12 player of the year, Tucker absolutely shut down his opponent with lockdown defense, while rebounding at a clip of 9.5 a game. He’s a crafty scorer – in the lane – seeing as he’s got minimal range on his jumper, bringing in Longhorns-best 16.5 points per game.

I really like Tucker’s game, and felt he deserved more of a spotlight than what he got from the NCAA tournament. I have no doubt that he’ll make the team.

The Raptors had the chance to draft hometown kid, Denham Brown, but let him slide to Seattle at 40. Bryan Colangelo would later tell the Fan morning show:

“Sometimes there’s a right environment for a player to play… and we didn’t feel that this would be the right situation for him. But I do like Denham as a player. He had a great college career. I wish him the best, and think he’s going to do well wherever he goes.”

The Raptors had one more selection, nabbing 6’11” forward (I don’t know how TSN got 7’5”), Edin Bravcic. A big Bosnian jump-shooter who was then traded to the Sixers for cash considerations.

So who won the draft, you ask??

It’s really tough to say at this point… and per usual, we won’t really know for sure until another year or so… but it’s clear who made the most noise.

Even before the draft started, the Portland Trailblazers set the tone, sending my boy Sebastien Telfair to the Celtics, along with Theo Ratliff… for Boston’s Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz and the #7 pick (which turned out to be Randy Foye, then moved to Minnesota)

Portland then swapped the draft rights of Tyrus Thomas (taken 4th) with the Bulls for LaMarcus Aldridge (taken 2nd), Victor Khryapa, and a 2nd round pick in 2007. Could Chicago get anymore fleeced? In my opinion, I’d rather have Aldridge in the first place… let alone a decent Euro (Khryapa, more than just a throw-in… remember when he rocked the Raps for 17 on a near-flawless shooting night?), than Thomas (Chandler redux?) Add to that, the Blazers picked up Brandon Roy in a swap for Randy Foye?? AND they drafted Sergio “Spanish Chocolate” Williams, along with Englishman, Joel Freeland?? 4 first round picks??

Screw Stephen A. Smith… The Blazers, busier than Union Station during rush hour, pulled off quite the draft night.

I also love how the Nets managed to snake Marcus Williams 22nd! 22nd?? Wow. Then they grabbed his UConn buddy, Josh Boone, immediately after. Williams should fit in like a glove in the swamp (and eventually Brooklyn), passing to guys like RJ, VC, and Nenad. Let alone learning from one of the best, in J-Kidd.

I also like the Lakers’ selection of UCLA’s Jordan Farmar at 26. He won’t need to move, and he can rock the Triangle with Phil and Kobe.

This is just the tip of the ice-berg, though… Thankfully, I’ve been invited to share my thoughts in depth in a post-draft-chat on www.buzzer-beater.blogspot.com .

Bonner Needs a New Nickname... The Raps have their Italian Job?... Out of Town Brown is Out of a Job...

2006-06-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

With no TTC... or Mr.Sub for that matter... Matt Bonner's going to need a new, hopefully better, nickname.

The Red Rocket just won't do in LoneStar state. Unless it's in reference to the space he, in theory, will provide for Duncan.

But that's bad. So bad, it needed italics just to make sure you got it.
(But then again... the nickname itself was always considered brutal through these eyes anyway.)

As you know by now... Matt Bonner has been shipped away with malcontent, Eric Williams, to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Rasho Nesterovic.

In another swift move by Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors now have their first true center since before Hakeem's Dream Knees gave out on him... Dare we go as far back as Camby to find the last quality center on the Raptors? (I'm maintaining that Antonio Davis was still a PF, despite his all-star year coming at the 5)

Now, Rasho is a quality center. He's not great. But he's good... at what the Raptors need from him. Size, defense, and reliability. Rasho is as solid as a rock. Standing 7', 250 lbs, the man can just plant himself in the paint and block (if not alter) shots. He comes with a salary calling for 7+, 7+ and 8+million in the three remaining years on his contract.

Considering the dollars doled out for big men... I figure that to be managable, seeing as how this guy's won a championship ring, played with fellow star-studded big men (Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett... and Sam Mitchell, for that matter), and can more than handle letting his power forward (Bosh) shine.

Heading the other way... the Raptors find a new home for the cranky E-Will... but lose the fan-favorite in Bonner (not to mention a 2nd round pick for 2009 (which I originally read to be that of New Orleans/OK (c/o Aaron Williams trade)).

But as we all know, you've got to give something up to get something in return.

Just ask Pizza Pizza, who will now have the ever-cheery Sam Mitchell doing a promotional stint instead of the recently departed Red Head.

Don't worry kids... Sam Mitchell really loves you.

==
So the Toronto Sun reported that Benetton Treviso General Manager, Maurizio Gherardini, could be named the Raptors' assistant GM as early as today.

Very quick work, considering it was just 2 nights ago that Treviso won the Italian Serie A title.

Vacation is for the weak...

The Raptors' 2nd round draft pick of last year, Uros Slokar, plays for Gherardini's squad... as does Andrea Bargnani (as if you haven't been beaten over the head with that knowledge yet).

I am convinced Bryan Colangelo is a master of this NBA draft game. His smokescreens are thicker than a slice of texas toast. I have absolutely no idea where he's leaning with the top pick - which, obviously, is exactly what he wants.

What *I* want, is now more unclear than ever. I like the idea of LaMarcus Aldrige (assuming the Raps keep the top-pick). He's a very skilled big-man, with hometown connections to Bosh... but the more I read about Bargnani... the more I fall in love with the idea of the Italian donning "Toronto" on the front of his jersey.

Diverse 7-footers don't come around often... and having 3 near-seven footers (Bosh, Charlie, AB) with different skill-sets is all too tantilizing. But you could say the same with Aldrige. Different talents... same size (near seven feet, if you're with me).

I know Rasho's a tower... but I'm talking about the forward positions here.

The prospect of playing any combination of the 3 of them simultaneously also leads to some salivating.

So, while I'm still not sure what I want... I do know that something good will happen either way.

==
Finally, the drama surrounding the Knicks coaching staff has come to an end. Larry Brown has been fired after one miserable season... replaced by Isiah Thomas. The man everyone loves to hate. The man who made the Knicks roster even more convoluted than seemingly possible.

The only thing I can say about this is... not only should it have been done months earlier... but it should have been done with more class.

Thankfully, at least, we won't be bombarded with 5 different versions of the same "Larry Brown won't talk to us... Zeke won't talk to us" stories coming out of New York.

Now it'll just be which coach gets fired so that "Next Town Brown" can take over, and start the destruction again.

Can't Beat the Heat...

2006-06-21T12:11:00.000-04:00

Well, it's all over. The Larry O'Brien trophy is in the hands of the better player and the troops that he led through the trenches.

Dwyane Wade is a man possessed. Or a man possessing all the characteristics of a legendary superstar. The way he single-handedly dismantled the Mavs over the last 4 games was incredible to watch, but painful to endure.

Only because I despise everything that exemplifies this Miami Heat team. Other than Wade and Udonis Haslem, virtually everyone on the Heat was picked up for the sole purpose of chasing a ring. To me, a team should never be given to anyone.

When you're playing pick-up ball... do you like it when all the good players swing to one side? I know I don't (and not just because I'm left on the other team).

The Dallas Mavericks are the picture perfect example of proper team construction. Smart draft picks, and great team play.

They built from the ground up.

Whereas, with the Heat, all their talent fell from the sky. Jason Williams, James Posey, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning. All virtual gifts. All following Shaq, Wade, and another shot at a ring (for Payton, that was strike two).

Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels, Devin Harris, and Dirk Nowitzki... all born and bred in the NBA by the Mavericks. Jason Terry was never considered more than a bandage for a departed Captain Canada... Jerry Stackhouse was a more-content sixth man that Antawn Jamison.

Erick Dampier was the exception; He was supposed to be their $10-million dollar big man... but turned into an overpaid Kwame Brown on that last possession in Game 6.

To me, the Mavs represented everything that was right in the NBA. BUILD a team... don't inherit it. When they couldn't win as the run-and-gun Mavs, they tweaked some areas... but mostly they brought aboard Avery Johnson, and soaked up every word he preached.

These Mavs were ready to win the championship... one fourth-quarter collapse away from clutching a 3-0 series lead.

Instead it is the Heat that lost their championship virginity.

Good on them... Great on Wade.

I will never get tired of watching that young man play... but I really hoped that the recipe of manufacturing teams for success went out the window with the Lakers' debacle of 3 years ago. Wishful thinking.

I'm glad to see Payton get his ring... Everyone hates the man. I still remember the good times. But the worst of times were shown in the third (fourth?) quarter last night... Talking to Steve Javie while a pass delivered to him rolled off his foot, and into the hands of JT. Thankfully, for him, the Heat escaped unscathed.

The Mavs walked off their home court with their heads sagging, and to a chorus of courtesy clapping... Good job, guys. Way to buckle.

Damp... try catching the pass before you drive into the key. Or even better... just hang on to the ball, and get it back to Dirk ASAP.

Despite getting shut down in the 4th... you gotta get the rock back to the disco ball.

In the end... It was Wade grabbing the final rebound, and launching the ball into the Dallas sky.

Fitting.

Pic courtesy of Associated Press.

Just a quickie...

2006-06-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

Wow... so it's been nearly 2 weeks since my last post.
I wish I had more to talk about, but to tell you the truth... I really don't.

I have yet to get a taste of this year's pre-draft workouts (likely because with the #1 pick, it's a whole lot more high-profile stuff - and the Fan's lead guy doesn't want to take a break. Understandable.)

So here I sit... A week back from my trip overseas... as tanned as an Albino.
OK, Maybe that's a touch extreme.

==
Anyone see Game 4 last night? Yeah, me neither. I was talking with some of the guys at the gym, trying to disect why the interest in this series has gone down (at least for us). I still maintain that I love Wade, but hate the Heat... and I want the Mavs to keep sticking it to South Beach, but obviously over the last 2 games that hasn't happened.

Maybe it's all the David Hasselhoff chants.

What if Dirk hit that Free Throw in game 3??

I knew he wouldn't. I felt it. It felt like gas.
Now the Mavs need to play one more in Miami (after another 2 days in between), before fleeing back to their home court, where Mark Cuban actually blends in.
==
So Michael Jordan's officially a part-owner in the NBA... good for him. Great for the Bobcats. That team needs more excitement than just trying to determine when Emeka Okafor will get over his next ankle injury. If I were a Bobcats fan (and I am... but I mean, if I lived in Charlotte), I'd be biting my nails, hoping they do not draft Adam Morrison. I really don't understand how this guy's getting attention as a top pick.

Rumour sites are saying everyone wants the Raps pick to take Morrison. WHY?!?
In a time when the league is more athletic than ever (so much so, that true "centers" are getting fast-breaked out of the league), why go for a guy who admittedly can't play defense, and can't take guys off the dribble.

Yeah, he's got a plethora of offensive moves... and could create his own shot in college... but this ain't no Gonzaga. This is the bigs, with bench players that are easily capable of shutting him down.

I also agree with Doug Smith's note that it appears Morrison might have already reached his ceiling (as in, how much more can he improve?).
==
My hopes for the Raptors still involve trading down... getting a point guard in return, and drafting either Marcus Williams (I don't care if his stock is falling) or Sheldon Williams.

I don't like the prospect of trading Charlie V... or Mo Pete for that matter.
But in an off-season in which even Hoffa can find a new home... anything can happen.

Greetings from Seville...

2006-06-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

I'm writing you from Spain... for a couple of reasons.
First off, I wasn't too pleased with the way I put out my last entry... and secondly, because a string of bizarre and coincidental instances have come forth during my stay away from Toronto.

OK... so i'm sitting in my room, in which I am shacked up with my brother (whom we'd be lost without (people don't speak much English here; he's the only one who speaks Spanish)) here in Seville. I hadn't heard from Jose (Calderon), and based on information I had recieved from my boy Pedro (the doorman at our hotel in Barcelona) it wouldn't have made much difference. According to the apparently not to reliable Pedro, the Spanish League is done. Finito.

Not the case.

I turn on the TV, and I finally find what is actually basketball... as opposed to an interesting concoction of hoops, dodgeball and soccer - a sport of which no one seems to know the name. So in either case, I'm watching this game between Unicaya and DKV Joventut. They're playing the series opener in the Spanish League's (ACB) semi-final. I'm watching... trying to pick apart differences between their version, and our North-American counterpart (less dribbling, more passing, less inside-play... yadda yadda). Then I see this one guy take it inside. He gets hacked. Pretty hard.
On the back of his sponsorship-filled jersey is inscribed "R.ARCHIBALD".

What the hell?

I quickly run into my parents' room down the hall.

"Dad... check this out."

I turn on the TV.
R.Archibald, on cue, hacks some other dude.

The spanish commentators fire off something about something-or-other, and say "Archibald." They do a close-up. PERFECT.

"Recognize that guy?"
"Yeah, that's what's his name..."
"Not Lonny Baxter... the other half of the 'banger brothers.'" (Never liked that name)

I thought it was too much of a coincidence. My best friend, Google, however, confirmed my thinking. A couple of clicks later, I see our former Raptor, Robert Archibald, had 7 points and 4 boards, as Unicaya took game 1, 80-66.

He was apparently the high-scorer in the series-clinching game that got their team to the semi's.

Very interesting. Very small world.

Just about 20 minutes before I flipped on the TV I finished reading the book "The Jump." (by Ian O'Connor)

(It's a great book about how Sebastien Telfair became the first point guard to make the leap from high school to the NBA)

The very last sentence says: "If the Coney Island kid (Telfair) doesn't cut it at the point, (John) Nash (the GM of the Blazers) won't last long enough to trade him."

Now this is not to say that Bassy hasn't cut it (far from it, in fact - although he screwed me statistically in every single Fantasy League I took part in), but just 2 days prior, said GM was fired by Portland.

So very interesting.

While I'm reading this book... I'm thinking about how I'd love to see Telfair in a Raps jersey. Sure, his jump-shot isn't the most reliable, but he's a great play-maker who eats competition for breakfast. I'd been in love with his game since I got to watch a McDonald's All-America game just before his draft year of 2004. He's tiny... but faster than a trip to the john after a supervalue meal.

I love his pass-first mentality, and obviously, after reading a book that gushes out all the good stuff, I fell in love with the idea of him being a Raptor even more.

While I'm catching up with all the rumours (aren't they juicy???), I see that there's talk of Jarrett Jack coming to Toronto, as the Raps are looking to trade down to Portland's 4th pick. Jack, you'll remember, was taken the year after Telfair... and obviously has the Georgia Tech connection to Bosh. While I've read they were "friends," who knows how close they were. I like JJ's game, but would love Telfair... Either way... I thought the idea was pretty crazy - after I'd been brewing up all these trades myself.

(Now there's talk about signing Jay Williams... thoughts??)

I love the prospect of trading down and grabbing Marcus Williams, in either case. I love me them play-makers. From what I've been reading here (draftexpress did a GREAT inverview with him), he's impressing everywhere he goes.

Back to the signings... there's also that rumour spreading about that the Raps are interested in snagging Spanish forward Jorge Garbajosa. A man who happens to be playing with Unicaja. Apparently I didn't see him because he got into early foul trouble.

All in all, though, I had to share how this tangled web was all coming together all while I'm staying in this far off land.

With that being said... I must say goodnight. I've got an early morning trip to Madrid. I'll be home a week from today, and will hopefully get a taste of some pre-draft workouts.

Things seem to be shaping up nicely for these Raptors, don't they?

Please, share your thoughts... we'll speak soon.

Colangelo Has Magic Balls...

2006-05-24T12:09:00.000-04:00

I was eating dinner at my parents’ house; Swordfish, Spanish rice, and salad. Delicious. I had a cookie and a half for dessert, but little did I know I would later get some icing to top it off.

It was 7:17. I started to make my voyage up the long staircase towards the television in the family room.

No RaptorsTV.

I knew I wasn’t going to see it at my parents’ place, so a few quick kisses later, I was on my bike. It was 7:27. I had to make it from the Annex to Queen and Bathurst in 3 minutes.

It wasn’t going to happen.

I got home at 7:35. I locked up my bike, and tried to shoulder through my front door… only to realize it was locked.
Some precious moments of key-jiggling pass… I break the Da Vinci code, and I’m home free.

But how late am I??

I rush up the stairs, turn on the television...and they’re just about to hand out the 14th pick - the bottom of the lottery. I made it… In time.

Everything goes as planned through 9 or so (my internet’s down as I type this, so pardon me for any inaccuracies)… They get to 5, and the Raptors logo has yet to come up.

I close my eyes.

The Atlanta Hawks get number 5… good news from here on in.
The Portland TrailBlazers drop from best possible chance to 4th.

I yell with excitement, and do what any modern-age young man would do…

I change my MSN Messenger name to reflect my emotions… “Top 3 Pick, baby!!!!”

After their commercial break, they returned with the number 3 pick…

The Charlotte Bobcats. Thank you, Gerald Wallace. Now please… just take out those damn Knickerbocker Bulls.

Fists clenched. Teeth grinding. Eyebrows crunched.

“The number two pick in the 2006 NBA Draft goes to… The Chicago Bulls!!!!”

I am yelling my ass off by this point. I flip my chair over, commence in jumping up and down… and of course…

Change my MSN name (“FIRST PICK!!!!”).

I call my Dad, my buddy Juan… start leaving messages on people’s phones… good times.
Never have the Toronto Raptors selected first overall.

Bryan Colangelo has magic balls.

==
Now, the question is… what do the Raptors do with this first overall pick? The fact that they have the option to do whatever they wish is a beautiful thing. Since there’s no consensus top-pick… they can not only fill a need without coming under scrutiny, but if they so wish… they can trade the pick to another team that’s got a particular player in mind.

As of right now, I don’t see why they wouldn’t draft the 7-footer out of Italy. Andrea Bargnani.
Yes, he’s not a center… no, he won’t play much inside the paint. Yes, Chris Bosh already plays his position, and Charlie’s got the 3… but remember, the Raptors have also all but hired Mauricio Gherardini – the boss of Beneton Treviso, the team that Bargnani plays for.

Oh, and this guy’s apparently great. He’s tall, and can shoot the lights out. What bothers me is that he’s another that's been branded “the next Nowitzki.” What tall Euro that can shoot isn’t?? Ivan Chiriev, please stand up.

I’m not saying this is who I’d draft… but all signs point to this being the choice as of right now (at least, in my twisted mind).

There’s also Tyrus Thomas (LSU), and LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas) as quality big men… Not to mention Brandon Roy (Washington), Rudy Gay (UConn) and Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) as top-notch swingmen.

In terms of point guards (the Raptors other glaring hole), nothing is set for the top end of the draft with Marcus Williams (UConn), Rajon Rando (Kentucky), Jordan Farmar (UCLA) and Randy Foye (Villanova) all expected to be late lottery/early mid-rounders.

This is where the trading down could come into play. If the Raptors don’t feel Bargnani (or whatever other big man) is where they want to go at this point, they could probably snag a few nice trade offers to move down and grab a guard…

My favorites as of now are Marcus Williams (this guy can really set up some plays, and has the connection with Charlie V) and Jordan Farmar (another great playmaker – but he needs to tighten his decision-making). I also like the possibility of trading down and perhaps grabbing Duke’s Sheldon Williams. He’d be an under-sized center in the NBA (at 6’9”), but has a 7-foot-2 wingspan, plays solid D, and can go to work in the post.

So there are obviously lots of options… and that’s the beauty of having first pick.

Who do you like? What do you want the Raptors to do?

==
I’m off to Spain in a couple quick days (and no, I haven’t heard from Jose Calderon in the last couple weeks)… so I’m going to miss even more pre-draft workouts. But if all goes well, I’ll get to see some of the big names after I return (which conveniently coincides with the consummation of the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp).

I’ll keep you posted.

Until then, I bid you farewell… (I also want to take this point to thank all of you readers who sent me vicious e-mails telling me to write more. Way to kick my ass into shape. Maybe I’m still drunk off the lottery-winning-vibe… but I love you. Seriously.)

It's been a long time...

2006-05-19T15:05:00.000-04:00

I could make up an excuse for why I haven't written in a while...
In fact, I could probably make up a few...

but I won't.

I respect you too much for that.

The truth is, I don't really have much to write about... I've enjoyed these playoffs so much, that they keep me up into the wee hours, and then I wake up late and try to get on with my days...

wait... is that an excuse?

Maybe, either way...

I'm kind of disappointed the Nets couldn't steal another one from the Heat. After taking game 1 in such convincing fashion, Jersey started shooting blanks, making more tough passes, leading to easy turnovers and fast break buckets...

Wade is blossoming even more these playoffs... and I love to see it. Both sides of the floor, simply turning into a dominant force. That series-clinching swipe on Vince was fantastic. The pinnacle. But not at all... there's so much more to see.

Speaking of which... who honestly thought there would be a game 6 in the Cavs/Pistons series?? Let alone one that Detroit would NEED to win to advance to the Eastern Finals. Did someone slip something in my drink? Am I hallucinating? These two are putting up scores that resemble LAST YEAR's Pistons... and the Cavs are WINNING. This is not supposed to be a great half-court defensive team. This is not even supposed to me a TEAM, as much as a one-man wrecking ball. This was supposed to be one game shy of a sweep.

But the Cavs are getting it done. And if they can do it again tonight... Or even Sunday... they'll have made a lot of people look stupid. Myself oh so included. How about that Scoop Jackson article... the one that said the sweep would be the best thing for Lebron?? It looked like 2 games was all it took.

All we need now is for Bosh to be tearing up the playoffs like these two other stars.

Out west... We've still got the Suns and Clippers, which is fun... but it's no Spurs/Mavs. Dallas and San Antonio... the fight for Texas... the old and new Michael Finley (When Dirk Nowitzki isn't signing David Hasselhoff songs, he's telling people to playfully boo uncle Fin - this guy can't buy love)... The Big Fundamental has returned from a regular season in which he went M.I.A... Tony Parker's still slicing through the lane, but now he's got the young (and incredible) Devin Harris hanging off his ass through every screen.

As great as Harris is, though... I don't think Dallas is ready to let Jason Terry go this off-season. Unless they can pull out some theatrics without him tonight (suspended a game for a shadow-punch thrown at Fin) - in which case I'm probably already sounding like an idiot by the time you read this.

This matchup is last round's Suns/Lakers... so tight... I just hope it doesn't falter down the stretch like that one did.

The Clippers are still providing some quality entertainment with the Suns, though. It's just that, when Phoenix gets down early, it's tough for them to catch up because it's nearly impossible to get stops. LA is just too dominant inside. However... with game 7 being played in the desert, I don't see how the Suns can lose.

==
With all the playoff talk in the past... the Raptors have started their pre-draft workouts (as you've been reading, I'm sure). I have yet to partake in the coverage... and I have a feeling with my upcoming trip to Spain, that I'll miss out on most of them. Which is definitely unfortunate. However... i WILL be in Spain, so that's pretty good compensation.

-
The draft lottery is on Tuesday... that's when things, Raptor-wise, should get interesting... trades can start to be realistically envisioned... and the rumour mill will thus start churning.

I'm ready.

We'll probably speak after the lottery.
Keep those fingers crossed.

Upset?? I know I am...

2006-05-07T02:34:00.000-04:00

The Suns and Lakers were forming the most beautiful bond on the basketball court. Heart, Desire, Passion and Fury... all on display for 6 incredible games.

The build-up towards game 7 was remarkable. Phoenix wins game 6 without it's best defender, to bring things home... where they would blow the HELL out of the Lakers.

From opening tip, it wasn't pretty.

Kobe had 5 points, as the Suns doubled up the Lake-lack-of-Show, 30-15 after 1.
Mr.Soon-to-be-#24 then tried to make it interesting by scoring 18 in the second... but the Laker deficit remained at 15 (60-45 at the break).

The Suns kept pressuring, while LA seemed to lose interest in a hurry. When I stopped caring, Kobe had taken only 3 shots in the third... and by the final buzzer, Bryant scored only 1 point in the 2nd half. (it turns out he did only take 3 shots after intermission)

Dude scored 81 on the Raptors in a MEANINGLESS game... when they're playing the season, he can only pick up 24???

The Suns shot 61%, compared to LA's 35%.

Phil Jackson lost an opening round series for the first time in 15 attempts... while Phoenix became just the 8th team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to take it.

This game had all the makings for a fantastic climax... but instead, the Lakers went limp.

I Hear Your Cries... (and they make me warm)

2006-05-02T10:55:00.000-04:00

It is truly touching to see that these entries are missed... and I thank you all for the comments and the e-mails.

The reason why I wasn't updating this page, is because the whole point of it all was to share my first-hand experiences. I didn't want to necessarily impose my opinions upon you, but apparently you want it.

So here's what I'll do... Since there's no Raptors news (cue the Raptors news, please), we'll talk a little playoff ball.

Oh, how refreshing it is.

The intensity is glorious.
The fierceness is furious.
And most of these series are spectacular.

We already know the struggles of the Grizzlies - 12 straight playoff losses leads to their third sweep in as many seasons. As much as Pau has improved, and turned into the force, he pretty much carried the entire offensive load. Avery Johnson (coach of the year) designed a strategy to make sure nothing came easy - and the plan worked to perfection. Memphis was close to winning one game. One game.

The Nuggets are no more, either. Witnessing an implosion can be fun to watch. K-Mart flips out on his coach and teammates, and gets the team-imposed suspension. Reggie Evans grabs Chris Kaman's "southern jugulars" and gets fined. Carmelo Anthony reverts to his selfish self that first entered the league (maybe because all his healthy help was stuck in the sin bin) - and get this, after the series says they needed NENE out there. They really missed his defense. Nene had been out since the FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON. I don't get it.
While we're still talking Nuggets/Clippers... I want to point out how Sam Cassell gets no credit. In fact, everything that we hear about him is either revolving around his contract situation, or how ugly it is (the majority). This guy is a proven winner. While Elton Brand was garnering MVP talk earlier in the season, I was always whispering Sam I Am. He brings that swagger, that confidence... and their first playoff series win in 30 years.

Kobe Bryant is a different man. Seriously. Watching him in these playoffs has made me light up with glee. He's doing everything, without doing everything. He's bringing along the young guys, and showing what kind of team they can be, when they share the ball.

Kobe's averaging 26 points, 6 rebounds, and a TEAM-HIGH 6 assists per game in this doozy of a series. I love it. My heart beats faster when these Phx/Lal games are on. I just hope the Suns can extend it. I want more.

Phil Jackson has never lost a first round series in his coaching career... and as I write this (Lakers lead 3-1), it doesn't appear as though he will this year.

Lakers/Clippers anyone? How fun would that be? Both teams get "home-court", and neither needs to travel. Fresh legs for all.

I'll take another, please.

The Bulls/Heat series is also incredible. Miami's theoretically starting to fall apart. Chicago's making Shaq run and Wade shoot... and both are struggling doing so. Chicago's youth, energy, and grit has slowly started to pick apart Miami's vets. However, with that being said... it's tough to see Shaq and/or Wade going down in the opening round (they're tied at 2's heading into tonight).

Andres Nocioni should get a deal with Viagra... I don't know why, but please feel free to insert a "never stops going hard" comment of your own.

The Cavs/Wiz series is a bucket of fun, as well. Watching Gilbert Arenas and Lebron James go head to head with spare parts on both sides makes me giggle. No one seems to be stepping up but these two. In game 4... Lebron set a Cavs' record for playoff points in a quarter (18), and a half (25), but got shut down in the 2nd half, finishing with 38. Whereas, Gil struggled in the first half - so badly, they he changed his entire uniform (shoes, socks included) at the break, returned and dropped 34. Watching Larry Hughes struggle must be music to Eddie Jordan's ears. This is the only coach in the NBA who has bashed the refs without getting fined. He said something along the lines of:

"I'm not going to get fined, because I'm right." Incredible.

The San Antonio/Sacramento series wasn't supposed to be as good as this, either. Ron Artest is simply shutting down Manu Ginobili, which makes the Spurs' offense only double-edged. Tony Parker and Timmy D can't do it by themselves, while Bonzi Wells is taking the brunt of the Kings' offensive load. To think, if Brent Barry didn't make that miraculous shot in game 2, to send it to OT... San Antonio could be down 3-1. However, with it tied at 2's... keep in mind, last year when San Antonio took the title, they needed at LEAST 5 games in each series.

The Pacers/Nets series is mildly entertaining. There's something about Indiana that bores me, despite seeing stellar performances from Anthony Johnson and Jermaine O'Neal (on separate occasions). Kidd, RJ + Vince are doing their thing just well enough to keep pace, but this series is definitely up in the air.

The one series I haven't been watching is the Bucks/Pistons - although through the highlights, you can see it's closer than it is on paper. Frankly, though, I think Detroit's just toying with Milwaukee. They're just too tough to worry about the Bucks.

=
With all that being said... I need to put out a "GO OILERS." Just last night, Edmonton knocked off the best in the West, in 6 games. Oh, how pretty it is.

If the Flames can beat the Ducks (in game 7), it'll be Edm/Cgy. Please, sign me up for that.

==
Please feel free to e-mail/comment your thoughts about the playoffs... and your observations are more than welcome.

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, people.
-Zack

No Storybook Ending

2006-04-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

You know how I know this isn’t a Hollywood movie? Well, first off, I’d be better looking.

But basketball-wise, the Raptors would have not only won their last 2 games – and a whole lot more (including that last home game – was “Fan Appreciation Night” one big three-word typo?), but they’d also be in the playoffs and on the way to winning a tough-fought championship.

Well, this certainly isn’t “Hoosiers”… or even “Coach Carter” for that matter. No championship. No playoffs. And for me… no work today.

If this was a script, I’d be at the ACC right now, asking all the right questions in the Raptors’ exit interviews. Instead, I’m sitting here in my basketball shorts and a ragged old t-shirt, watching the other reporters ask the questions on Raptors TV.

Is there no justice?

I don’t know how to look at it, really, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just close my eyes.

This season was tough; both for the Raptors and me.

While they came out of the gates sluggish, I started out quiet. I was young, and timid. They were the same.
The Raptors picked it up after the first month – as did I. I was becoming more vocal, and more involved in the scrums.

Before the all-star break, the Raptors went on the road, and I stayed at home. I seemed to have lost my groove a bit, and again… this is no movie, and I’m no Stella.

However, eventually I did start to get comfortable again… the last few weeks went pretty well, actually. You were with me, you know how it went.

But here we are, and it’s almost like it all came full circle.

The Raptors started 1-15, and ended the season 1-12.

I started a little slow, and ended up sitting here in my chair - while all the action is just south of Front Street.

(To fill you in a little more: I was supposed to be working this morning, but since Raptors TV is carrying all the coverage live, the Fan needed only one representative. I understand how it goes, but that doesn’t mean I need to like it.)

My goal was to be there from start to finish. I had questions to ask. I had hands to shake.

I wanted to talk with Jose one last time in person before Spain – instead, now that’ll be done through e-mail.

I wanted one last word-exchange with my favorite interview – Mo Pete.
The last thing he told me was to get “Energizer” batteries, after he saw me changing my “Industrials.” When engineering ran out of the free “industrials,” I actually went out and bought the good ones, despite telling Mo: “I’ll buy energizers when I can afford them.”

There was so much more I wanted to do… so much I had in mind for this final day.

I wanted to thank the other reporters who helped ingrain that extra ounce of confidence in me. I wanted to thank the Media Relations team for helping me adjust to my dream world. I wanted to talk to Sam Mitchell one more time…

That will obviously have to wait.

If this were a movie script, I’d be a guest on basketball shows across the continent. I’d be catching up with the players in the off-season, and catching up with them without worrying about writing a groundbreaking story.

If this were a movie script, I’d be down there today, instead of being here.

You know what, though? Maybe it is a script. Maybe it’s just getting started. Maybe I’ve got this great story idea, and I’m just rounding up the pieces, and convincing the right people that I’m the right person to be writing it.

I understand that one can not necessarily control their own destiny, but I also know that if it’s something they truly want… they can help pave a nice, smooth path to getting where they want to be.

I’ve knocked down a few walls… but understand there are so many more to break.

This off-season is going to be HUGE. There will be lots of work to do. It’s just a matter of whether the pie is big enough for me to get a slice.

==
I don’t know how often I’ll be updating this blog during the off-season, but I do want to take this time to thank you all for checking in, and spending time with me on my adventures. This has truly been a lot of fun, especially when I hear from the people who read this.

You can not possibly know how gratifying it is to know that something I wrote became part of people’s internet-routines.

I feel blessed to be in this situation… and more so that I have readers to share it with.

Hopefully you’ll stick around, as I slowly make my way towards my sophomore season, and the many more adventures that will come with it.

Thank you.

==
Oh, and as you probably know by now… Chris Bosh just said he WILL sign that extension with the Raptors, barring any unfortunate incidents.

Foiled by Mitchell and his Many Men

2006-04-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

If today went as originally planned I’d be sleeping for another 23 minutes; I’d get up, check my e-mail, sift through the internet-papers, take a shower, shave, make some food, and then head to the RBK Court at the ACC. (EDIT: Oh, I'd get dressed, too.)

However, at 1:51 am, I called the Raptors’ media line only to find out there would be no practice today. The Raptors had just been chased out of Florida following back-to-back losses, which made it 10 straight without a win. The season’s winding down... The Raps are bruised, banged-up, and battered. What more are they going to learn in the last remaining week (let alone a 2 hour practice), that they haven’t already drilled to death?

That answer I don't know...

But the repercussions I do:

a) I have a little less money in my pocket
b) I’ve got some free-time to play some outdoor ball when it’s SUNNY out
c) My Passover sedar will be without Sam Mitchell, tonight

I had a plan.

With the season coming to a near (and ugly) close, I was going to ask Sam what he was up to for Passover dinner tonight. I was assuming that he’d say a longer-winded version of “nothing,” to which I would respond by inviting him to my aunt’s house.

After all, we’d had this great talk a couple weeks back, that hadn’t been followed up by anything. It would have been like a season-ending peace-offering…

He’d then appreciate the gesture, come to dinner, and confide in me regarding Raptor-decision-making. He’d ask my opinion on personnel moves, and ask my opinion on rotations and lineups for next season. I’d leave my radio career behind to become an assistant coach in the NBA - a well-paid assistant coach, at that - all because of the fantastic food that my family served up.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself, though.

After dinner, Sam, myself, and my cousins, would go for a few drinks… tally up a pricey tab (that Sam would, of course, cover)... and pick up 17 women (that’s how we roll).

Unfortunately, this will never happen. The Raptors won’t practice today, meaning my sedar will be NBA-coach-free tonight. I guess that’s alright. I’ve already had 47 without one… why not 48??

And as it applies to them... there's always next year.

==
I won’t be back-logging the previous few games because they were either on the road… or I wasn’t there. I actually won’t be there on Friday either, I’ve got Saturday’s practice off, and won’t be back on the sidelines (pressbox?) until Monday.

We’ll chat sometime after that.

Something Out of Nothing?

2006-04-05T14:55:00.000-04:00

So by now, you could call it “the same old song,” a “broken record” or “salami and cheese gone bad.”

The Raptors and Celtics had a little bit of a shootout down at the OK A-C-C, but once again, it’s the home-team coming up with peanuts. Not even honey-roasted, either. Just plain peanuts. Unsalted at that.

124, 120

For the second time in as many games, Paul Pierce had an off night from the field (just 2/10), but got to the charity stripe at (good)will (18/24) to finish with 22. Wally Szczerbiak also notched 22, while Raef LaFrentz led a 53-point bench contribution with 20 (5/7 from downtown). Gerald Green had another huge dunk to cap off the game, but this time it actually meant something.

Morris Peterson had a game-high 32 points to go along with 8 boards and 6 assists (only one more than he had at the half), but mysteriously intentionally-fouled Ryan Gomes (17 points, 7 rebounds) with 39.8 seconds left (with the Raptors down only 3).

Mike James scored 20 of his 25 in the 2nd half, after looking like he didn’t want to play in the opening 24 minutes.

Matt Bonner had 16 points to go with a career-high 13 rebounds.

So if not for anything else, at least some of the young guys are progressing.

The Raptors re-signed Andre Barrett for the remainder of this, and next, season; leading to another mysterious DNPCD (Did Not Play, Coaches Decision) for Jose Calderon.

I actually bumped into Calderon before the game…

“Hey Zack, I sent you an e-mail…” He said.
“OK, Cool. Hey, how you doing? You feeling ok?” I asked just out of habit.
“Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.”
“Alright man, do your thing.”

Apparently, his “thing” now means “sitting on the bench.”

Barrett still can’t shoot, but spread the ball around well, picking up 6 assists and no turnovers.

Joey Graham also had another solid showing, picking up 14 points (6/8 shooting), while fouling out after 28 and a half minutes.

I was covering the Celtics on this night, so after the game I went to talk to Mr. Doc Rivers.

“I don’t think you’re going to draw art from this game at all,” Doc said. “It’s not a beautiful game in any way.”
“Paul Pierce has a rough night from the field,” I say. “But we’ve seen it time and time again, the guy gets to the line at will…”
“Yeah, he’s the best. He’s one of the best in the league at getting to the foul line. You know, it’s funny… When you coach against him, like I did in Orlando, you think ‘gosh, this guy lives on the line.’ When you coach him, you don’t think he gets to the line enough. You think he gets fouled every time.”
“You guys did a great job shooting the ball, otherwise, though… 50% from the 3-point line-“
“Raef was huge, obviously. Raef came in and made some big shots for us… When our bench has 53 points… I’m not sure – Marquette math – it could be wrong… But when our bench scores 53 points, we’re going to win most games. And it was on a night when Paul was off from the field, but on from the free-throw line, so we’ll take it.”

A Raptors TV reporter snuck in a question before I got back into my final groove before departing into the locker room…

“Does it almost feel like you guys stole the win? I mean, you guys committed 20 turnovers, but with great shooting, come out on top…”
“Yeah, I mean we gave up 29 points off those turnovers, and I think it’s our third or fourth game in a row, we’re creeping back up in the turnover category, a lot of casual plays… in my opinion, calls that when we kept it simple, we were really good… when we tried to force the action, we’re not. We’re not at that level yet… and that’s something we have to learn.”

It was at that very point that I remembered how much easier it is to talk to the visiting (winning?) coach. I wasn’t paranoid about my phrasing… I just sort of put it out there, and it seems to work. I dominated that scrum. Felt good.

I had some things ready to go for Sam Mitchell (pre-game), but never got it out, because I was still living in my head. Apparently it’s still a work in progress.

So as the coach is wrapping up, I see more than half of the Celtics’ team is already dressed and heading to the team bus. I was literally seeing my story walk away from me, as Raef LaFrentz was the first one out.

I managed to stick a mic in Ryan Gomes’ face, but didn’t ask him anything (I don’t think – despite talking to him at a Raptors’ pre-draft workout). And only got one question into Pierce…

“Paul, you guys are sort of in the same boat as the Raptors… a young team, just trying to work hard. Your team’s down 7, with 4 minutes left. What’s going on in the huddles? What’s the mindstate?”
“We just tried to keep our composure, run our offense, and be more solid on defense. We got the stops that we needed, we rebounded the ball, and we made shots. We got to the line, we moved the ball, executed and got the stops we needed.”

So plenty of quotes, but not much in the ways of a story… The Raptors lost their 5th straight, and got mathematically eliminated from what was an after-thought, anyway… the playoffs.

As soon as the final buzzer went, I called Broadcast News, and filed a 27 second voicer (game recap), which almost instantly doubled my night’s pay. It took two takes, and all of about 57 seconds, including the dialing of the numbers, and waiting for someone to pick it up on the other end.

I saved it, and now have it forever. Something like that gets played by Canadian radio stations across the country. It makes me almost wish I put more time into it, but being rushed and all (I need to race to talk to the coach, and also wanted to say hello to my cousin sitting just a couple rows behind me), I did what I did.

I also e-mailed some clips to a company in Scottsdale, Arizona, which further added to my financial tally.

Not bad at all.

==
On Sunday, the Raptors and Hornets played in what was one of the best showcases of young rookies. Chris Paul (the “rookie of the year” to-be) notched his first triple-double with 24 points, 12 boards and 12 assists, out-doing Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham.

120, 113 (2OT)

The Raptors thus fall to 1-9 in overtime this season… one more overtime loss would tie the Clippers of ’00-’01, and the Baltimore Bullets of ’52-’53 (a team that went 0-20 on the road).

Charlie V had 25 points to go along with a career-high 18 rebounds, while Joey pitched in with a career-high 19 points.

Mike James fired up blank after blank, connecting on only 5 of his 25 shots.

On the other end, seldom-used-former-Raptor, Aaron Williams, dropped 13 points and 9 rebounds on his old “team.”

==
The Raps are in Indy tonight, Oklahoma City on Friday, and return home to take on the Bobcats on Sunday. I won’t be at that game – going the sportscasting instead – but hopefully something will come up.

Otherwise, I’ll have to start talking about the Jays.

In the meantime, a couple of links I thought were interesting enough to share:

Ever wonder why Vince Carter said he wanted to stop dunking? Check THIS:

And Disco Dirk Nowitzki’s making music (with Steve Nash)… and it’s not in the same vein as ABBA…HERE

Is it fake? I don’t know. It’s definitely not good. Your thoughts??

Breakthrough at the RBK Court

2006-04-02T14:24:00.000-04:00

The soundtrack: The Roots – “Do You Want More?!!??!”
The time: 1:35pm (it should be 12:35pm) on Sunday
The story:

So it’s the day after a practice that should have been meaningless. No news and nothing really interesting to investigate, but oh so momentous in the grander scheme of my career.

The Saturday shoot-around “opened” to the media (all 3 of us on this day) an hour after the expected time. Everyone’s still just playing around; Mike James, Andre Barret and Darrick Martin are having a 3-point competition of sorts; Chris Bosh, taped thumb/wrist and all, is jogging around dribbling and making lay-ups, while some of the others are working on post-moves at the other end of the court.

A few minutes later, Mike James is about to leave.

“Anyone want to talk to Mike?” asked the media relations guy.
“I’ll talk to him if anyone else does, but I don’t want to keep him on a Saturday afternoon,” I said.

No one else wanted to talk to him, but I threw a couple generic questions to him anyway, regarding [today’s] game against the Hornets. It wasn't really exciting.

As quiet as the practice was, I wanted to talk to Jose Calderon about my upcoming trip to Spain. (Sidenote: I’m going to Spain with my kind and loving family at the end of May) As I’d told my Dad, I wanted to try and catch a game somewhere. So I asked him about teams to look for, and places to watch them. I also asked how the fans were.

This is not vertabim, mind you, but it’s close:

“You know the soccer fans?” Jose asked in growingly impressive English.
“Oh yeah, I know the soccer fans.” I replied.
“They’re just like that… but for basketball.”

Great.

After he dropped some names of places that I’ll never remember, he thankfully offered me his e-mail address, should I need anything.

What a guy.

Speaking of which, Sam Mitchell decided to stroll on by just a few minutes after that. I had a general idea of what I wanted to ask him: stuff about the Hornets.

Something to the effect of:
“With the Hornets sitting just 2 games out of 8th in the West, are you at all concerned about their intensity?”

I knew, while saying it, that he would eat me for breakfast after spitting out trash like that. He did:

“I thought everybody was supposed to play hard. What are you asking me? I can’t figure out the question.” He then repeated the question to the media relations guy, as if looking for confirmation that he wasn’t crazy. “Everybody we play plays hard. I don’t know how to answer that. I’ll put it to you like this: I assume every NBA team plays hard. I assume that.”

At this point, I obviously wasn’t feeling very good about myself. The scrum went on as usual. No blips. Then he told us to turn our recording devices off. He told us a story about his playing days, and the conversation just turned into a… conversation.

There was a new reporter there (not new in terms of he just got the job, but new as in, he hadn’t covered the Raptors this season) who introduced himself. I really liked the way he worded his questions. There was just something about how he’d sort of tell a story before throwing out what he wanted to ask.

Sam then looked at me and (again, this is by no means verbatim) noted how this reporter had very thought-out questions. He said this reporter had likely written out, and planned, what he wanted to ask.

He then asked me if I wrote out my questions. I told him the truth, “no, I don’t.”

He suggested that I do so from now on. He asked me where I wanted to go in life. Something to the effect of:

“Don’t you want to get out of radio, and eventually write? Get a nice house so you can relax?” He asked.
“No. I want to stay in radio.”
“What, you want your own talk show or something?”
“No. No talk show.”
“Then what? You want to do this every day?”
“Hey, if I could hang out and travel with an NBA team everyday, I’d be a happy man for the rest of my life.”

I think at that point, he understood me. The first-day reporter backed me up, and told Sam to take it easy on me saying ‘I’m just a young guy who loves basketball.’

That’s when the conversation took a turn… for the much, much better. He talked about what he respected in certain reporters, and what he expects from me from now on. He said I need to prepare my questions so they don’t come off so cold.
I told him I do prepare, just not in the conventional way. I know the NBA, and for the most part, I have an idea of what I want to ask. I threw one of his analogies back at him.

“Sam, it’s like you’ve told us time and time again about your rookies. They practice well, but sometimes when the lights come on… they freeze.” I said.
“That’s a confidence thing.” He noted.
“That’s what I’m saying.”

I didn’t want to lay down ALL my cards, and tell him I talk to the players just fine, it’s just that he intimidates the hell out of me, so I didn’t. I left it at that.

Before we wrapped up, Sam said this:

“You’re no longer a rookie.”

When the media relations guy told him I’d be a rookie until the first game of next season, Sam said: “Nope. He’s not a rookie anymore.”

Time to step up.

==
Now I’ll recap the Suns game in brief, seeing as how it all went by in a flash. Phoenix had 12 assists on 16 field goals in the first… and that pretty much dictated the play throughout:

140, 126

That 140 points is the most any team’s ever scored at the ACC (and the second most given up by the Raptors all-time – The Clippers dropped 158 on the Raps at the Skydome in ’98). Steve Nash had 20 points and 10 assists (right around his averages), while Boris Diaw contributed 26 points, 8 boards, and 9 helpers. Leandro Barbosa shot 11/15 for the Suns, to score a team-high 28 off the bench. Phoenix had 37 (!!) assists by night’s end.

For the Raptors: Mo Pete scored a career-best 38 points (13/19 shooting), Mike James notched 36 and 10 dimes, while Pop Sow had career-highs in both points and rebounds (13 and 15, respectively) for his first career double-double.

After the game, Nash was bombarded by the media (as to be expected). I was standing about 6 inches to his right, crowded by his heavy leather coat, and about 6,832 other reporters. I didn’t ask him anything.

In fact, the only Suns I spoke to were Coach Mike D’Antoni and Shawn Marion (who likes to cut the 2nd half of every word out).

Usually by the end of the game, and all the scrums, my bladder tells me it’s time to unleash a urinary fury… So I head to the post-game-show booth, drop off my stuff, and relieve the need. When I get back, I grab my minidisk player and get my things ready to chop up the clips and write up a sched for the hosts.

My player flashes: “NO DISC. NO DISC. NO DISC.”

My heart starts beating rapidly. Like bad trance music, 158 bmp rapidly. I wipe a bead of sweat off my brow, and start to walk over to the hosts to tell them I fumbled badly. I’ve got nothing.

Then I see my co-worker/friend holding the gleaming blue disc, laughing his ass off.

Nothing a kidney-shot wouldn’t change.

…

So that’s that. The Raptors play the Hornets in just a few hours, then host the Celtics (as mentioned in the previous post) on Tuesday. We’ll chat soon.

Wade's World

2006-03-31T14:20:00.001-05:00

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

2006-03-27T11:58:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-09T13:56:00.000-05:00

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.

==
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.

==
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.

==
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?

2006-03-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

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.

*
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.

*
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.

==
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.

How About a Cherry on Top?

2006-02-24T12:50:00.000-05:00

The Raptors are apparently throwing everything they can at Phoenix Suns President and GM, Bryan Colangelo, to give him the same title in Toronto. As of now, Colangelo is making what’s believed to be around a million dollars a year (two-thirds of the league’s personnel with his title reportedly makes more).

The Raptors are supposedly more than content to triple Colangelo’s salary to bring him up North, where he’s got listless documented ties to Raptors part-owner, Larry Tanenbaum, and interim GM Wayne Embry.

This story has been circulating heavily in the papers for a couple of weeks, now. Initially I was skeptical about the whole thing. Why would someone leave a masterpiece they’ve pieced together, when it’s just a couple of tweaks away from championship contention?

Well, anytime you triple one’s salary, that’s a good start. The Suns new ownership group, which officially takes over command after this season, could easily match the offer (they paid $400 million to purchase the Suns in the first place – the most ever paid for a single franchise), but there is apparently a rift between managing partner, Paul Sarver, and Colangelo.

Since I know of none first-hand, here’s an article from today’s Toronto Star that documents some of the purported accounts.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1140735016405&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064&t=TS_Home

If the Raptors can bring in Colangelo, it would mark a huge boost for the strength and stability of the franchise. He won last year’s Executive of the Year Award, and is expected to repeat this year, as well (ala Steve Nash and the MVP?). He’s only 40 years old and commands respect, both earned, and off the reputation of his father, Jerry Colangelo, who has been involved in the NBA since 1996.

check his bio: http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/colangelo.htm (for some reason, I can't link it)

As written in several papers (from both Arizona and Toronto), this entire coaxing process could be ballooned by the fact that Bryan Colangelo might just want a raise, but if he is interested in starting fresh in Toronto… I say give him everything he wants… and a cherry on top.

==
The Raptors’ quiet week meant quiet times for myself. I spent most of my break reading about rumoured trades (the deadline has just passed with little blockbuster appeal, with the exception of the further digging on the Zeke/Knicks’ part), playing ball, and spending time at the gym.
The one taste of action that they had since the break was a trip to Memphis. A valiant effort that came short against a very tough Grizzlies team.

Grizz 94, Raptors 88

How the Raptors shot 45% against one of the league’s best defenses is beyond me. Especially when they held Memphis to 41% shooting, and still lost. Bobby Jackson led a furious 2nd half from the Grizz. B-Jacks’ 14 points does nothing close to symbolize his importance to this game – or the team for that matter. Shane Battier continued to play the lockdown D that’s made him a name in the NBA, Eddie Jones nailed the game-winning dagger, while Pau Gasol topped it all off with 21 points, 10 boards and 6 assists.

Chris Bosh had 26 and 9, Charlie Villanueva came off a solid all-star weekend to contribute 14 points and 10 boards, while Mike James added 16 points and 6 assists.

Memphis has won the past 7 meetings with the Raps.

==
Before we get back to the all-star break, I want to touch on the Knicks/Magic swap…
The rumoured thinking behind this move [Penny Hardaway’s expiring $14-million dollar contract and Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis] on New York’s part is that they’re stockpiling talent to make a run at Kevin Garnett in the summer.

Maybe I’m being a little naïve here, but I find it so hard to believe that Minnesota would ever trade KG – whether the team is successful or not. This guy’s already got a ticket to the hall of fame, he’s a solid teammate that does everything he possibly can on the court, and says he wants to stay a member of the T-Wolves.

No matter how many shoot-first point-guards the Knicks collect, none of them (or all of them) would pry the Big Ticket out of Minny (in my opinion). New York’s payroll now stands at over $130 million, and as I write this, they are the 2nd worst team in the league, and not really expected to improve on that.

Granted, they do have some talent now, but how well they will play together is another matter in itself…

==
Now, to Houston… You all saw it, so there’s no need to recap… I wasn’t even going to write about it at all, but a friend told me he checked in and there was nothing here… so I might as well touch on it…

The Big Show, on Sunday, I thought was great. Lebron James becoming the youngest MVP of an all-star game was nice, as was the East’s beautiful comeback… Bosh had 8 points and 8 boards.

The robbery… errr, Dunk Contest… was also incredible to watch…

That was obviously a little man marvel right there, but how Nate Robinson (listed at 5'9") won after 13 unsuccessful attempts on his finale is a little baffling.
I predicted, and thought, that Andre Igoudala should have won, and his jam off the back of the backboard had me screaming with glee at the station.

I can’t believe I get paid to watch this stuff.

The Rookie/Sophmore game was what it was… entertaining, but not quite incredible. Charlie V had a great showing for the Rooks with 18 points and 12 boards, but the show was Iggy’s… he took the game’s MVP honours and made the game watchable with dunks, threes, and lane-breaking steals, all while picking up 30 points (12-of-17 shooting).

As if anyone in Toronto needs to be reminded… The Raptors could have drafted this wonderful Arizona Wildcat.

Oh yeah, you heard that Rafael Araujo could be undergoing surgery on his shoulder??

Here’s to hoping for Bryan Colangelo.
==

The Raptors play a matinee in Dallas tomorrow, after that, they're home to the Hawks on Wednesday... finally back to work.

Don’t Lick the Knife That Spreads Your Butter

2006-02-16T14:36:00.000-05:00

Seriously. It will just stroke its ego.
Sure, you might be reading this and say ‘knives don’t have egos.’ And you’d be right. But in this space, the knife is Mike James, and the butter is the basketball.

Too many times James has single-handedly brought the Raptors back into ball games. But when you pat him on the back (or lick the knife), you’re telling him ‘good job, keep doing what you’re doing.’

I was watching last night’s game against the Knicks, and all throughout the second half, I saw James try to force the issue; playing one-on-one ball around the perimeter, trying to sneak into the paint for an easy lay-up. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it just wound down the shot-clock, forcing an attempt of desperation – whether it come from him, or whether he bestowed the responsibility of saving the day to someone else.

From these eyes, it appeared that the Raptors went away from what was working in the 1st, and some of the 2nd, quarter: distributing the ball to get open looks.

James had 5 assists in the opening frame, but finished with 9… He had only 3 points in the 1st, but finished with 22. After 1 quarter of play, the Raptors were up 32-23.

But in the end…

Knicks 98, Raptors 96

I’m not saying Mike James’ scoring is to blame for this loss - the Raptors’ first in regulation this month – but when he goes into scoring-mode, things can get awfully ugly. Especially against a team as brutal as the Knicks. New York had lost their last 10.

Morris Peterson scored 19 points (all in the first half) and added 7 rebounds. Chris Bosh also had 7 boards to go with a game-high 25 points, but also committed 5 turnovers – as did Mr. James (to balance my argument, though, all of those turnovers were in the first half).

The Raps bit on way too many Jalen Rose pump-fakes (hadn’t they seen his moves before?), fouled the Knicks way too early and often (NY outscored Toronto 29-19 from the stripe), and that handcuffed them in the paint – where Eddy Curry had his way (7-10 shooting, for 18 points).

The Raptors head into the break at 20-33.

==
Before the Knicks, there were Timberwolves. In Minnesota.
Kevin Garnett got way too much respect from the referees, and manhandled Bosh into his worst game in almost a year.
It looked like KG was getting a lot of slack from the refs, while Bosh would get whistled for the slightest contact. I guess that’s what being a 9-time all-star gets you.

The Raptors won their 3rd straight, regardless:

Raptors 98, T-Wolves 94

Garnett had 23 points and 19 rebounds, but Mike James nailed a game-sealing lay-up with 8 seconds left, and finished with 27 points. Mo Pete nailed all 4 of his 3-point attempts, and finished with 20, while Bosh had 8 points off 3-of-6 shooting.

==
Sebastien Telfair apparently brought his girlfriend’s gun to Toronto, but that couldn’t protect him or the Blazers from getting blown away by the Raptors.

Raptors 114, Blazers 81

The 33-point margin of victory might have been the Raptors’ season-high, but it also happened to be the third straight 30+ point loss for Portland.

Mo Pete had 15 of his game-high 22 points in the 3rd, James chipped in with 19 points, while Bosh scored 14 off 7-of-9 shooting in just 28 minutes. Only two starters played 30+ minutes: James and Charlie Villanueva, who finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

==
In Charlotte, the Raptors came out blazing on both ends of the floor. They doubled up the Bobcats, holding them to just 11 points. The Raps then fell asleep in the 2nd, allowing Charlotte to come back, and take the lead by half-time.

Mitchell obviously had some fiery words, because the Raptors opened the 2nd half with a 20-2 run, and cruised the rest of the way.

Raptors 87, Bobcats 73

While it was mostly bad shooting on Charlotte’s part, the Raptors held them to just 32% from the field. Toronto outscored the Cats 48-14 in the paint. Charlie V led the way with 24 points, while Bosh trudged through 6 turnovers to contribute 15 points and 10 boards. James had 18 points and 8 assists.

==
The numbers don’t lie. Mike James is obviously an essential part of any Raptor success. I just think when the point-guard takes control of the game, a team can get into some serious troubles.

If your knife isn’t spreading the butter, chances are, you’ll have a big clump of the stuff all in one place.

And maybe it’s just me… but I don’t think that tastes very good.

Breakfast and an All-Star Bid

2006-02-10T16:46:00.001-05:00

I’m staring at my plate, now covered in a few stray poppy-seeds, some left over cottage cheese, and at a glass that once had water in it. I’m thinking of what to write about, the day after Chris Bosh gets named an all-star for the first time. He joins Vince Carter and Antonio Davis as the only Raptors to represent the team for the mid-season classic.

It’s not as much Bosh that I want to talk about here, though, because we all see exactly what he does, and how much he means to the Toronto Raptors. What I want discuss on this space is Davis: the recently-arrived, expected-to-be-grumpy, once-a-beast, big-man that’s starting his second tenure as the Raptors’ starting center.

The only thing I was worried about with that recent trade is what mind-state Davis would be in upon his return. If yesterday’s practice, or Wednesday’s game, was any indication, things would be just fine.

The last time AD was sporting the Purple and White, the only thing I was reporting on was traffic (and sometimes weather). So I was never around the guy before. I'm glad things are different now.

After speaking to Coach Sam Mitchell and Bosh, himself, about what an honour it is to be named an all-star (you’ve seen/read/heard the clips – you know what he said), we spoke to Davis.

Before we got into the talk about Bosh, I wanted to know what he felt about his first game back (we’ll get to that in a moment), and about playing a solid 33 minutes.

“I was in here today, telling them: ‘you know, we didn’t practice like that in New York. We didn’t get up and down the floor, I didn’t play those type of minutes, I wasn’t in games late in the fourth quarter and things like that.’ It felt great. It felt good that, you know, they were looking for me to do some things, depending on me, and stuff like that. It just feels good to be part of a team like that. I hadn’t felt that in a while, so I’ll embrace it.”

You’ve seen Antonio. You know how big he his. Picture him smiling while saying this, with a grin as big as his shoulders. I’m not worried about how he’ll fit in anymore. You can tell, only one game in, he likes it here.

We also had to weigh in about his thought on Bosh, who he had helped mentor in Chris’ rookie year:

“I’m excited for him. I like the way that he’s matured, and I think he leads in a quiet kind of way. But you understand what he’s all about, and what you have to be about if you want to play on this team. I’m glad the Raptors drafted him, and gave him an opportunity to come here and be a special person.”

After that, he talked about all the things Bosh can do – pretty much everything. I asked Davis: “Bosh can obviously do a lot very well on the court. Do you see any holes, or voids, in which you feel you can help?”

He replied: “The only thing that I can help him do – hopefully – is get him to understand you have to work on your body, and it’s not to look good, not to be strong, but it’s just so that you’re not getting injured, and that you can bounce back off of a 48 minute game, and still come back and play the next night to that level.”

On that note, I asked him about something I saw the previous night, against San Antonio (I swear, we’ll get there). After the player introductions, AD was standing by himself, away from the ceremonial huddle. Then Joey Graham all of a sudden runs over and leaps onto Davis, hanging off his neck. I mentioned my observation to Antonio, and asked how they connected so quickly:

“First day, I came in here early for practice, and he was lifting weights and stuff. I just looked at him, and shook my head, like ‘there’s nobody that’s gonna stand in your way, it’s all about you. Whatever you want to do, you’re going to be able to do it, and it’s not going to be from a physical standpoint, it’s going to be all mental.’ So he will be one of the guys that I’ll try to embrace, and get him to understand ‘you don’t have to keep working in [the weight room], you need to get out on the floor, stay out in front of the coach, and do those types of things.”

All my worries could be locked away. I think Antonio’s final games (whether it be the season, or his career) will mean a great deal to a lot of people.

In terms of Bosh, obviously his hard work has paid off, and I feel fortunate to have seen his growth. It’s not hard to visualize Bosh as being a perennial all-star, and developing into being of the best in the league. Hopefully with the acquisition of Davis, Bosh can be locked up for the max, in the very near future.

==
Now back to the past: the night before. I told you we’d get there, and we have. The Spurs were in town. There were rumours running around that Tim Duncan wouldn’t play because of flu-like symptoms. Those rumours were true. Even without one of the league’s best big men, the Spurs would still pose a big problem for the Raptors.

They went exactly 4:11 without scoring a single point (from 8:59 to 4:48 in the 2nd), allowing San Antonio to go on an 11-0 run. One minute and five seconds after that, Bruce Bowen connected on a 3-pointer, which gave the Spurs their largest lead of the game – at 16. The Raptors would fight back to cut the deficit to 10 by the break.

Chris Bosh already notched his 22nd double-double of the season by that point, with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raps came out with a 9-2 run to open the third, and kept pace from there on in. After the 3rd, the Raptors were down 6.

In the last 3:06 of the 4th, Mike James scored 10 straight Raptors points, and by scoring 18 in the final frame alone, he almost single-handedly took the game into overtime.

Everyone knows in basketball you stay with the hot-hand. Unfortunately, by this point, James’ hand was scorching and it must have actually forged a bond with the ball, because he never gave it up.

Davis could have given the Raptors their first lead, just 45 seconds into overtime, but missed two free-throws (finished 1-for-6 from the charity stripe). James also missed a pair, as the Raptors lost their second straight – both in overtime.

Spurs 125, Raptors 118

James finished with 36 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. He was also blocked twice in overtime while trying to force shots. Chris Bosh had 30 points, 4 assists (2 shy of his career-high) and 14 rebounds. He also made 11 of his 18 field goals, as opposed to James’ 13-of-28.

For stat-trackers, it was the first time since April 11th, 2004 that two Raptors scored 30+. Jalen Rose and Vince Carter had 32 and 30, respectively, in an overtime loss to the Bulls.

After the game, I was covering the away locker-room – and being a long-time Spurs fan – I couldn’t be happier.

The funniest anecdote came from Coach Greg Popovich, who had a nice sarcastic comment about the play of former-Raptor, Sean Marks, who shot 8-for-9 before fouling out in OT.

“Sean does that quite often,” [insert MSN emoticon of reporters busting out laughing] “Whenever Timmy’s out, we expect Sean to get those points.”

This was Duncan’s first missed game of the season.

Next we went into the locker room, shared some laughs with Marks, who spent the majority of 2 seasons in Toronto playing Yogi Stewart, before Yogi Stewart arrived.

A.K.A. Riding the pine in street clothes.

Tony Parker was a beast, though, and scored 32 points, to go along with his 13 assists. He talked about the battle of the guards:

“It was a good game, Mike James had a good game, and got hot, too… it was back-and-forth, and it was good. I just wanted to make sure we got the win, and not get caught up in a match-up with him.”

Before we split, I asked if he knew how to slow down… to which he replied:

“Me? No… I do everything fast.” [insert horrible pre-teen girl laughter that came from his mouth… HERE]

And with that, I leave you… I’m working at the station Sunday night, meaning no home games for this guy until March 1st. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully I’ll get through it.

Until then, I’ll provide brief recaps of the road-games… otherwise, stay tuned to the Olympics and GO CANADA.

Sour Grapes for a Rosey Leader...

2006-02-04T14:38:00.000-05:00

So I’m sitting here, in this very chair, doing my pre-game research… scouring the internet for tidbits, stats and facts for the Raptors/Knicks 2nd meeting of the season. I’d taken my daily trip to hoopshype.com, I’d ravaged ESPN.com, yahoo’s sports section had already been picked apart and now I was just killing time.

It was about 3:53pm when my phone rang. It was work.

“Zack, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Stephen A. Smith is reporting that the Raptors have dealt Rose to the Knicks for Antonio Davis… you should probably get to the game as soon as you can.”

The first thing I thought was “Antonio Davis?!?!” Hadn’t he burned every possible bridge on his way out of our metric-system-favouring city?

The first thing I did was check ESPN.com, and read the 40 word description.
Then I called the reporter I’d be working with, and told him the deal.
After that, I sent a text message to all my immediate hoop-heads to give them the scoop.

Then I rushed downstairs, took a shower, shaved and trimmed the beard, re-brushed the teeth, put on some fresh clothes and left my half-folded laundry on my bed. I ran outside, caught a streetcar that was waiting at the stop already (it feels so good when that happens), and I head to the ACC.

I check in with the Fan crew, figure out who’s doing what, and head to the media center. En route, I see that Knicks coach, Larry Brown, is surrounded by a horde of media-folk. The other Fan reporter is already there. I switch minidiscs with him, so I can chop up the goods, and he can toss a mic in front of Wayne Embry and eventually Sam Mitchell.

I get to the media center, grab a bottle of water, a few slices of pizza and then proceed to put on my headphones and get to work.

A media relations guy hands me the official press release that reads:

“The Raptors acquire Cap Relief, Davis from Knicks for Rose, Draft Pick”

By now you know the deal, so I’ll just get into my views…

I love it.

Assuming Antonio Davis reports, and leaves his sour grapes at home (hopefully along with his wife), the Raptors not only get immediate help in the post… but they also get some size, some defense, and knowledge. I think – again, assuming he didn’t bring a big bag of negativity with him – he can teach the young guys a lot.
But more than Davis, as stated in the header, this trade was more for cap-flexibility. When his $14-million contract comes off the books, the Raptors will have plenty of wiggle-room to re-sign both Bosh and Mike James (if they want to).

They’ll still have their own draft pick (potentially a top-5), but lose the Nuggets’ pick – which in a shallow-draft won’t break any backs – and of course, a great locker room presence in Jalen Rose.

In my time covering the Raptors, Rose was always a pleasure to be around. Even amid all the losing, he’d find a way to keep everybody smiling. His quotes may have turned more cliché than in his past, but he always had something to say.

And with this all consummated, the Raptors are under the cap for the first time since before the over-spending summer of 2001.

Everything’s cyclical, and I think this puts the Raptors in a solid position to make the moves they need to, to get back to being competitive.

Speaking of which, they still had a game to play. While AD was sitting in a hotel room somewhere in Toronto, Jalen was still at the ACC – sitting on the Knicks bench, smiling as if he was that kid in that candy store, who was just told to take anything he wants – free of charge. (Free Candy?? You better believe it)

Charlie Villanueva would get his first career start – at the 3, nonetheless – and while he came out a bit hesitant, the rest of the team came out firing. Mo Pete scored 13 points in the 1st, connecting on all 3 of his shots from downtown, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from half court. Mo finished with 21 points. Chris Bosh led the way with 29 (15-of-17 FT’s) as the Raptors won their 3rd straight.

Raptors 104, Knicks 90

Mike James shot only 6-of-16, but still picked up 15 points, and spread the wealth with 10 assists. Charlie Villanueva had 18 points and 9 rebounds (just like against Washington). The Raptors defense was still porous, allowing New York to shoot 49%, but Toronto did force 21 turnovers, leading to 31 Raptor-points.

It would also be unfair to not mention the performance of Loren Woods, who had played in only 6 previous contests this season had 4 points and 8 rebounds in 18 and a half minutes of work.

Since the Raptors dismantled the Knicks 3 weeks ago, New York has only won once in their ensuing 10 games.

After the game, I was covering the Raptors’ locker room…

We’ll start off with Bosh, who said he’d welcome back AD with open arms.

“Well of course… He’s a big, physical, experience veteran who can teach a lot of the young guys some quality things. He was one of the ones that kind of molded me, so I’m ready to talk to him. Ready to see him.”

Mo said the trade really caught him off guard:

“I was shocked. I was surprised. You know, people had been speculating the trade for the last year, and nothing happened. So I used to tell him, ‘J, you’re not going anywhere, you’re not getting traded.’ And now here he is, moving on to another team.”

Now onto Charlie V… He’d been dogged for his defensive effort at times this season, and was now forced to guard even quicker players, since he was starting at the small-forward. I asked what he felt about that challenge:

“That’s something I’ve been working on in practice, you know. Coach had me guard Jalen Rose or Mo Pete in practice for the past 2 weeks, so I knew he was going to put me out there at the 3 sometime. I just didn’t know when. I was glad it was tonight.”

I mentioned how with him at the 3, it gives the Raptors something they’ve sorely lacked for years… size. He agreed.

“I think it definitely helps us out, as far as rebounding and as far as taking advantage of my height, my length and my versatility.”

He also said he’s looking forward to learning from Antonio Davis. I’m just looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

==
My views on the trade might be outdated by the time you read this, seeing as how Davis and Embry are meeting as we speak to discuss exactly what’s going on.

Also, I won’t be at the game on Sunday… the station wants me well-rested for Superbowl coverage, so I’ll probably do up my next update after the Spurs game on Wednesday.

An Exciting Ride in the Big Red Taxi

2006-02-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

I’m never one to shy away from bringing a musical reference into my writing, and I won’t do so now. Today, I’d like to welcome Joni Mitchell; A woman who dropped such timeless knowledge on us all, when she sang the words: “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”

The Raptors had an 18 point lead on the Wizards with exactly 6:03 left in the 4th. I’m sitting up in the press-box thinking: “What the hell is Eddie Jordan doing? His guys are getting crushed, and he’s still got his starters doing battle.”

But then his Wizards starting firing off shots like Bullets. Caron Butler, who scored Washington’s first 8 points in the final frame, then picked up 4 more, as the Wizards went on a mini 6-0 run.

Jalen Rose replied with a big 3. (Right now, there’s 3:50 left, and the Raptors are up 106-91)

Then, just as I’m getting introduced to do my live hit on 680, both the anchor and sportscaster start proclaiming victory for the Raptors. You just can’t do that. And I led off my report by saying: “you can never count out these Wizards… especially when they’re playing the Raptors. Every game seems to go down to the wire…”

As these words leave my lips, Antawn Jamison fires off the first of 3 consecutive 3-pointers. I didn’t have the focus to talk, and write down the time of the last one, but I can tell you that the first 2 were just 25 seconds apart.

By this point, the Raptors’ lead is down to 6 (106-100), courtesy of a 15-3 run for Washington.

Chris Bosh then posts up Jamison on the other end, drives by baseline, and gets the two and the tweet… He coverts the free-throw to put the Raptors up by 9 (2:08 left).

On the other end, the Wizards go on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Gilbert Arenas 3. The Wizards have officially fired off a 23-6 run, to bring them to within 1, with 1:25 to go.

Mike James then replies with a pair of cold-blooded 3’s, sandwiched around an Arenas lay-in. 24.4 seconds later, the game’s over, and the Raptors preserve the win.

Raptors 117, Wizards 112

The Raptors win their 2nd straight, and Chris Bosh gets his first ever 30-point performance at home – in front of a franchise-low announced crowd of 13,640. Bosh finished with 33 points (15-of-19 shooting) and 13 rebounds. James had 29 points (11-of-16, and 5-of-7 from downtown), while Charlie Villanueva had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks on the day he was named to the Rookie squad for All-Star weekend in Houston.

After the game, it was up to me to cover the away-team… so per usual, we huddled up next to coach Eddie Jordan for some wise post-war thoughts…

I asked him what adjustments, if any, he made to help pull off that remarkable comeback attempt. After a somewhat standard response, I remarked how it seemed Arenas was the only one scoring in the first 3-quarters (he had 27, while Jamison was the next top-scorer with 10):

“Yeah, you know… I always like to give the other team credit. They played solid defense, even though I know you guys are writing, talking, about how bad their defense is, but you know… it’s no excuse for us.”

Then, of course, I had to ask what was going on during the huddles, when his team started to creep back…

“We’re sitting there saying ‘geez, you know, they’re getting a little tight.’ I think it wasn’t a matter of them missing a whole lot of shots, I thought we forced, we got a few good steals, got some blocks, they missed a few contested shots… and then we’re sitting down one, thinking we’re going to win this thing. You know, we got the momentum… we’re feeling good about ourselves, they’re thinking they won the game 4 minutes ago… and we’re thinking we’re gonna win this thing. But Mike James, man, stuck two big threes. That’s big… that’s big you-know-what for him.”

Gilbert Arenas, who ended up with 35 points, found the words:

“We were doing all the right things, but you know… James had big balls.”

Gilbert – who still stands as my favorite interview (I haven’t heard one cliché come out of his mouth yet) – also weighed in on the Raptors’ domination…

“They shot lights out. You know, between James and Chris Bosh, they only missed 10 shots. It’s hard to beat a team when they’re on a roll like that. You know, they had four days off, and they came out and hit shots… We fought for our lives, but they hit big shots at the end.”

=
At the Sam Mitchell pre-game scrum, all the talk was about Charlie making the rookie squad… He was asked if there was a sense of redemption, after Charlie got dogged so hard on draft-day:

“It’s not about ‘I told you so’ or ‘we knew better.’ We had confidence that Charlie was the right pick for us at 7, and he’s still got a long way to go, and a lot to learn, but he’s proving every day that he has a chance. If he continues to work, and keep the attitude that he has about work, then he has a chance to be a very good player in the NBA. And that’s all it’s about. We don’t have time to be worried about what people have to say, and what they think. We’ve gotta do what’s best for the Toronto Raptors.”

==
As we continue our tour back through time… it’s now Sunday. You’re at the ACC. I’m not, though. I’m at the radio station doing the updates… Missing what turned out to be a fantastic game.

Raptors 124, Kings 123 (OT)

The Raptors were up by 11, with 6:21 to go, when Ron “The Talk of the Town” Artest went off, and Mike Bibby single-handedly brought Sac-town back. Bibby finished with 42 points, while Artest scored 12 of his 24 points in the 4th to force overtime.

Chris Bosh got tech’d up, and fouled out, 2:15 into the extra frame, and apparently that fired up the Raps… and once again, Mike James. “Big Game” James (not Mr. Worthy) scored 7 of his 22 points in overtime, and the last play was designed for him to penetrate and get to the hoop. Simple.

Raptors stuck 1, with 11.2 seconds left… James winds down the clock a touch, drives to the hoop, then finds Jalen Rose (3-of-13 from the field at that point) open in the corner. Jalen pumps Fransisco Garcia, takes a couple steps in from the 3-point line, and drills the dagger over Kenny Thomas as time expires.

The Raptors’ 4-game losing streak is no more. Rose finished with 13 points, the day before he turned 33. Bosh had 21 points and 9 boards, while Morris Peterson scored a team-high 23 and pitched in with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

An all-around solid effort from the Raptors… and another great Sunday game.

==
From Joni Mitchell, we go to Little Brother… As I type these final words, the entire Justice League could be speaking to the Raptors when they drop the phrase:

“Relax yourself… be easy, cuz… we like the way you do it.”

Over and over, LB repeat the phrase, and every time I put it in that context, I re-realize just how much I appreciate doing what I’m doing.

==
Friday night at the ACC, it’s the New York Knickerbockers. Come out and show some love. Those attendance numbers need to rise, people.

Thanks for checking in. I love you all.

A New (Interim) Era Begins...

2006-01-26T22:23:00.000-05:00

It was supposed to be just another day at Raptors practice. But oh, how different it was. Let me begin with the night before.

After the horrid Raptors game against the Bulls (more on that a little later), I went back to the station, produced my post-game report and checked in with the rest of the fellas. It turns out some of them were going out for a bevy, so I decided “hey, what’s one drink?”

Anyone who’s ever had one drink knows… it’s never just one drink.
So one drink turned into a few… and a few turned into a 3:30am trip to Golden Griddle. No problem, all I’ve got is a short practice - The Raptors would be flying to Milwaukee.

By the time I got home I had an enlarged belly, a lighter wallet, and an alarm to set for 5 hours from then. Meh, 5 hours. I’ve done worse.

I wake up every 40 minutes – unintentionally – and chug a glass of water each time. When I finally arise for good, I recall the fact that there’s no hot water. Let’s rewind, and bring you into my home for a moment.

It’s Wednesday afternoon. My roommate decides his leaky bathtub faucet is simply too much to bear, so being Mr.Fix-It, he tightens a bolt, unscrews a thingamabobber, and SNAP, BAM, WHOOSH (no, Chuck Swirsky wasn’t in his bedroom) – a screw goes flying across the room, and now his leak is a steady, forceful stream of scolding hot water. Landlord gets contacted. Plumber gets contacted. See you tomorrow morning… in the meantime, shut off the hot water.

So right, no hot water. But you know what, it’s all good. I had a late shower the night before, and a couple hours of Raptors’ practice wouldn’t be much.

A quick recap: I’m not as fresh as I’d like to be. I’m tired as hell. And after doing a quick runaround of the online newspapers, I’m now running a little late.

I get to the ACC with about 15 minutes to spare, get some quality interviews, and I’m feeling pretty good. Soon I’d be done, I’d take a quick nap at my parents’ house, and then go play some basketball.

That plan changed in a hurry.

Just as I shut off my minidisc, after talking with Sam Mitchell, Jalen Rose, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Bosh, the kind Media Relations folk handed out a piece of paper:

“MLSE President + CEO, Richard Peddie, to make special Press Conference at 2:00pm”

My boss calls – literally as the paper settles in my hand – “I Know. I’ll be there.”
Right now, it’s about 1:05. So we’ve got a solid 55 minutes to speculate on what this whole thing could be about. Everyone decides it’s the farewell to Rob Babcock.

No wonder Sam Mitchell was in the best mood I’ve ever seen him in.

It was true.

So by now, you’ve seen the snippets of the press conference (if you watched it all you likely saw the left side of my head, throughout the whole damn thing). I’ll spare you the quotes, because there were simply too many.

Rob Babcock is no more. I mean, he still exists, but in no capacity as an employee of the Raptors.

What’s up with the timing? Why now?

That’s a question that didn’t really get answered. But with the trade deadline less than a month away (Feb. 23), and the Raptors in a bit of a spiral the thinking apparently was: why not now?

It also gives the Raptors a jump on picking a replacement. Wayne Embry, who served two previous stints as a General Manager (with Milwaukee and Cleveland), will take over on an interim basis. He said he’d stick around as long as they’d need him – whether it be through the draft, the off-season, whatever. But he said he doesn’t want the job. He’s turning 69 in March.

I heard whispers (and this is by no means official) that the Raptors brass wanted to do it on January 1st, but the Raptors were in the midst of a 5-game winning streak, and just capped off a 7-7 December. So why not wait until after an ugly west-coast swing, and another brutal loss to the Bulls (I swear, I’ll get to that in a few minutes).

My thinking is that Babcock may have also wanted to pull the trigger on a deal, which was not a popular one. We’ll never know, now.

So yeah, the press conferences are over, Babcock’s said his farewells (I didn’t really get to speak to Rob all that much, but I have to say, he really seems like a classy, straight-up, guy) and I’m back at the station.

“Hey Zack, The Fan 960 in Calgary wants you on their show. Are you cool with that?”
“Shit yeah, I’m cool with that. When?”
“5 minutes.”
“Wow. Ummm… ok, I’ll be there in 2.”

I go back to the Bullpen, and await the call. I’m a bit nervous. I’d done live updates from a game, I’d done live hits from the press conferences, and I’d done updates nationally. But I’d never been interviewed as a guest for an entire segment.
I was definitely a little nervous.

I think it went pretty well: 10 minutes of going back and forth, talking about my bread and butter – the Raptors.

So that’s done. I’m happy. I’m sweaty. And I’ve got to write/record/produce my reports. I did two different takes on the firing/promotion, and one preview of the Raptors/Bucks for tomorrow.

Finally, at 5:45pm, I get to indulge in a little breakfast. Chicken Ranch Salad. Good times.

Instead of going into an in depth review of the greenery, I’ll lend my two cents on the whole Babcock tenure.

Personally, I think this man got an unfair shake. He gets hired one month before the Hoffa draft, to take over a cash-strapped, underachieving team. He also came from a Timberwolves team that didn’t even have a first round pick. He figures, what do the Raptors need? A big man! Let’s get the guy who dominated in the Mountain West Conference. A man who instilled fear in the opposition, and wasn’t afraid to fight. Fine, he thought he was addressing a need. Obviously, Araujo has yet to prove his worth.

Babcock also hired Sam Mitchell, a coach who I feel is a great leader, and a great motivator. Unlike the three previous Raptors’ coaches, the players actually listen to him.

...The Vince Carter trade.
Obviously very one-sided, talent-wise. But the Raptors’ do get some significant cap-relief after this year, along with an extra two draft picks. And it also gave the center-stage to Bosh – who, as we all know, has been flourishing.

You also can’t understate the importance of this year’s draft, and how well Babcock did. He got ravaged by the media (myself included) about drafting Charlie Villanueva so high, but saved a little face with getting Graham (who was projected as a top 10) at 16, and Roko Ukic (also projected as a possible lottery pick), early in the 2nd round.

Then Babcock dips into Spain, and signs Jose Calderon (who switched spots with Ukic on Tao Ceramica).

And of course, despite the fact that it was his fault for the lofty-deal, he still unloaded Rafer Alston onto the Rockets, in exchange for Mike “Huge-game” James.

So while Babcock did have his obvious faults and blemishes, he also made some good out of a rough situation. And why, if the Raptors can have so much patience in their rookie-players, do they give no leash to their sophomore GM?

I really find it tough to see how Richard Peddie can continuously cover his own ass, by firing his own hires.

Peddie said the search for Babcock – and Embry’s – replacement is already underway, and he’s prepared to offer the president’s position along with it.

==
I’m not sure that you’ve made it this far, so I’m going to keep the Bulls’ recap short.
It’s the 12th straight time Chicago beat the Raptors, and this one was just as ugly. The Raptors went a span of 9 minutes and 9 seconds without a field-goal in the first quarter, while the Bulls went on a 25-4 run. After that, their game of catch-up fell short.

Bulls 104, Raptors 88

Kirk Hinrich went down with a thigh-contusion, and left the role of Raptor-killer for Chris Duhon, who, when the Raptors pulled to within 4 late in the 3rd, fired off back-to-back 3’s. Duhon, who the Raptors signed to an offer-sheet in the summer, finished off with 26 points (6-of-8 from downtown) and 8 assists.

Chris Bosh had a team-high 20 points and 7 boards, while Mike James finished with 19 points (he had only 2 in the first half) and 7 helpers.

I have quotes, but this post is already too long, and so I will kindly leave them out.

==
In case you’re curious… I did make it to the gym, but I only played a couple of runs (I finished 0-for-3 from the field, probably a couple boards, and a few assists). I got a mouthful of someone’s shoulder, and decided a big bag of fatigue was enough to send me to Dominion to fetch some chicken and potatoes.

It was good. The day was great. And I will now go get some much-needed sleep.

==
Please let me know your thoughts on the firing, the thoughts on my post, and anything else that comes to mind.

I truly am curious who reads these posts, so please let me know.

Thanks for your time.

I Tried to Vote for Kobe...

2006-01-24T13:36:00.001-05:00

The Raptors’ western road trip is over. They return home with little success, but much to remember.

We’ll start in Denver, where they wrapped up. Just one night after a monumental one, they look good in the first half, only to buckle in the 4th.

Nuggets 107, Raptors 101

Carmelo Anthony shot a sublime 81%, connecting on 13-of-16 from the field. But most of Denver’s comeback run actually came with Melo on the bench. With the Nuggets’ lead at only 4 points heading into the final frame, which ballooned to 12, before settling at 6 for the final buzzer. The fast-break absolutely killed the Raptors. Some say it was the altitude, others say it was fatigue. Some say both. Me, well, I’ll just put out the number and let you decide. It was 36-15 in favour of Denver, who just won their 6th straight. Andre Miller was throwing so many deep bombs, he would have been a suitable replacement for Jake Plummer the day before.

…Speaking of the day before…

Kob-I mean the Lakers 122, Raptors 104

You’ll remember last time the Lakers were in town, the Raptors held Kobe Bryant in check: 5-12 shooting, and a season-low 11 points. Maybe he was storing it all up, because my GOODNESS did he explode. The Raptors were running away in the first half up by as many as 18. They even had control for the first few minutes of the 3rd, but then Kobe decided to go crazy… and make history. After scoring 26 points in the opening half, Mr.Laker then scored 27 in the 3rd alone, and another 28 in the 4th – single-handedly outscoring the Raptors 55-41 in the 2nd half, en route to 81 points.

81 points.

81 points!!

The boo’s at the break, turned into chants of “M-V-P” by the end of the game…

That’s the second best individual effort ever in the NBA - and the first was never caught on tape. The mark to beat is a whopping 100, scored by Wilt Chamberlain back in 1962 against the Knicks. Sure, that may have been before the 3-point line (from where Kobe connected on 7-of-13), but keep in mind as well, back then there was no one who could physically contain “the Stilt.” Not even the best defender in the history of the game – Bill Russell. People just weren’t the athletic freaks that they are today.

Kobe got absolutely everything he wanted. Every time he touched the ball, you knew something good was going to happen. Despite the fact that it was against the Raptors, I wanted Kobe to keep scoring. So did the rest of the Lakers. He got the ball every single time down the court, and threw up flawless stroke after flawless stroke. If it weren’t against the Raptors, I probably would not have been able to see it. Sunday night… how many other games do they air on TV? Be thankful. I know I am. I got to watch NBA history.

Taking a look at some of the numbers:
Of the Lakers 88 shots, Kobe took 46 of them; he also hit 28 of those 46, for 61% shooting. He made 18 of his 20 free-throws, snapping his consecutive streak at 60 – I believe. Lost in the mayhem of all this was an incredible streak that no one cares about anymore.

The Raptors tried everything on defense, but none of it was working. Sure, they could have tried quadruple-teaming him, but that’s a little crazy – and I’m glad the Raptors didn’t. But the fact is, they’ve got no intimidating force. They need someone who can instill fear in someone in just one glare.

How about our new PM? Mr. Stephen Harper, please stand up – you frightening, frightening, man.

Mike James played well, hitting 6-of-8 from behind the arc, and 10-of-15 overall, for a team high 26 points and 10 helpers.

As much as I don’t want to… let’s move on.

==

The Raptors’ lone win on this 5-game swing came in Seattle, where it was two of the league’s worst defensive teams going against each other.
Like smooth sandpaper trying to create friction with smooth sandpaper.

Raptors 121, Sonics 113

Chris Bosh had 29 points and 13 boards – both team-highs, while Jalen Rose made 9-of-12 shots, to finish with 28 points and 7 assists. Rafael Araujo was injured, and did not start (in what has carried over into the last 2 games, as well). Granted, his shoulder is really injured – but how convenient is the timing, after Coach Sam Mitchell and GM Rob Babcock had different views with the call-up of Pape Sow.

No Minutes for Pape? We’ll see about that… I’ll just hire a shoulder hitman, and make minutes for him.

That’s what Babcock just said in my mind.

The win also happened to snap the Raptors’ 13-game slide against opponents two time-zones away (And no, that doesn’t include the pre-season loss to Maccabi – that was at the ACC).
==
So we’re back-tracking now to the beautiful city of Portland, where the thoughts of blossoming flowers and green acres come to mind. After all, they do play in the Rose Garden.

Zach Randolph had his way – not like Kobe did, but in way that the ninja turtle’s not used to – by passing the ball. Randolph averages 2.1 assists per game (after this contest), and dished out a whopping 7 against Toronto.

Blazers 96, Raptors 94

After storming back from an awful 3rd quarter, in which the Raptors got outscored 27-17, the lead interchanged a few times, but not when it mattered most… Chris Bosh missed a potential game-winning 3 pointer at the buzzer, leading to Portland’s season-high 4th straight win.

Bosh had 22 points and 9 rebounds, while Jalen scored a team-high 23 points. This performance, would eventually lead to his promotion, and inclusion into the starting line-up. Finally.

Zach “Leonardo” Randolph, capped off the night with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists (one-shy of his career high).

==
The road-trip started in Utah, against a Jazz team that always seems to find a way to beat the Raptors. Of Course, along with Jerry Sloan, Andre Kirilenko is the man to blame/thank for that (depending on your viewpoint)

Jazz 111, Raptors 98

AK47 registered the Jazz’s first triple-double since John Stockton’s playoff outburst back in 2001. Kirilenko had 18 points, tying a career-high with 16 rebounds, and establishing a new personal-best with 11 assists. He also had 4 blocks and 3 steals. Mehmet Okur scored a game-high 29 points.

The loss was just the Raptors’ 3rd, in their last 10 games.

Chris Bosh had 27 points, and only 6 rebounds. In fact, the Raptors had only 7 boards in the entire 2nd half, which is a franchise-low.

==
So the Raptors are back home, for a game against the Bulls, before flying off to Milwaukee. We’ll probably speak after Sunday’s game against the Kings.

By the way, I tried to vote for Kobe, but his name wasn’t on the Ballot. Apparently minority governments have an average life-span of 18 months. See you at the ballot box in July 2007.

I Had a Dream...

2006-01-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

It was 9:10 am when I awoke to the vibrating phone on my table top.
“Hello, Deb?” The voice said. Still seven-eighths sleep, I replied with what I hoped sounded like: “I’m sorry?”
“Is this Deb?”

I’ve heard of my voice being compared to many things… but a woman named Deb was not one of them.

“I think you’ve got the right number.”

Birds were chirping outside my window – In the middle of January - Martin Luther King Day.

I went back to bed, and finally arose exactly 22 hours after the Raptors tipped-off against the scorching hot Knicks - a team that hadn’t lost in 2006; a span of 6 straight impressive wins.

People had asked me if I thought the Raptors could pull this one out, and I honestly didn’t know what to tell them. Both teams had been playing their best basketball in a long time. But I also never bet against the home team – never.

But never would I have thought this contest would be as one-sided as it was…

Raptors 129, Knicks 103

Let’s run down the shopping list of Raptors’ records now:

- Largest margin of victory this season (previously 24).
- Most points scored in franchise history (previously 128, twice)
- First time the Raptors have scored 30+ points in every quarter
- Jalen Rose scored 18 in the 2nd, which is the most in any quarter by a Raptor this season (Mike James -who sat this one out with back spasms – previously had 17), and finished with a season-high 31.
- Morris Peterson finished with a season-high 28.

I sincerely hope I’m not forgetting any, but the list is pretty long, so hopefully you’ll excuse me if they blur together.

I got to sit courtside for this baby, and needless to say, I will never forget it… partially because of the unfortunate image of Eddy Curry (I didn’t realize he was that big) wearing tights will forever be stained in my brain.

Chris Bosh scored 23 points, while Jose Calderon ran the team to perfection, with 13 points and 10 assists (great article about Jose’s revenge against Brown and Starbury right here: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/story/383167p-325270c.html)

After the game it was off to the Raptors’ locker room, where we swarmed Jalen Rose… I tell you, basketball players are like the anti-strippers. With hordes and hordes of media surrounding them, they are forced to get dressed in front of all these people – let alone TV cameras and microphones. The only difference is, we’re not slipping singles in their boxers – they get enough of those from the league.

A lot of the talk with Rose was surrounding the fact that he had just torched the team that has been scouting him feverishly for the last couple of years. When one reporter asked him if it was a coincidence, he responded with this:

“No coincidence at all. I’ve just been practicing hard, playing hard, and today was a game when everything just fell into place. Obviously with Mike James being out, I knew that there would be more opportunities for me and other guys to step up, and I just tried to play my part.”

With that already being asked, I noted that his 31 points came in just 23 minutes – he had 21 at the half, in just 14 minutes of PT…

“Yeah, it was a quickie… Fortunately I was about to knock down shots, stay aggressive, and my teammates were doing a great job of pumping me up and telling me to attack the basket and knock down my shot when I get the opportunity to score. And God-willing, the shots were falling.”

After Rose was down, I literally did a “180,” and Mo Pete was good to go… Well, actually he was still putting up his dress shirt. I asked if he wanted us to wait until he buttoned up, and he said now was a good time. So I stepped in and asked the first question.

“It was a pretty big game for both you and Jalen… both season-highs.”

“Well we’ve been practicing the last couple of days, and I knew it was coming. Jalen had two great practices and you know, it’s good to see him playing well, and see him coming around.”

…”Mo, I don’t know if you know, but that was a franchise high, scoring 129 points… let alone shooting 59% against a team that had won 6 straight…”

“Oh wow, you know what? During the game, you don’t really think about it – you just take shots and today they did seem to fall more. I just gotta give credit to our team. You know, we’ve been working on our shooting, doing everything we can… but defensively, we’ve been getting at teams. And that’s where it started. If you look at – every time we have good games, we get a couple of steals, and couple of easy baskets, and Chris gets a couple blocks. That’s the kind of things we need, if we want to turn the corner.”
==

That ended up getting stretched out a bit. Which is good, I guess, seeing as how I covered practice the day before and nothing exciting came out of it.

All the talk was about Mitchell looking up to Larry Brown, and learning from the most recent member of the 1,000-win club (only Pat Riley, Lenny Wilkins, and Don Nelson had reached that milestone), while playing under him in Indiana.

==
A few days before that… Wednesday, if you’re keeping track… was the game against the Bobcats. I think you could call it a game, even though it was uglier than your third-cousin Geoffrey’s inbred puppy.

Raptors 95, Bobcats 86

The Raptors had 33 at the half, so considering that, post-break was much easier on the eyes… but that’s because Charlotte was without Brevin Knight for the final 24 minutes (back spasms).

Chris Bosh had 29 points (20 in the 2nd half) and 10 rebounds. Mo Pete chipped in with 18 and 11.

I was covering the Bobcats’ locker room in this one, and after talking to Coach Bernie Bickerstaff, I spoke to Gerald Wallace (15 points, 7 rebounds) about their depleted roster: (Charlotte was without: Emeka Okafor, Sean May, Kareem Rush, Brevin Knight, and Jake Voskuhl).

“Gerald, I think it’s safe to say you guys have been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug…”
“Oh man, we’re past being bit – I mean, we’re savaged now. We’re walking without legs right now.”

This is also a team that had just come off a huge double-overtime win against the Rockets. With that, and then this, he’d played 92 minutes in 2 nights.

“Did you feel the effects of fatigue at all?”
“Once you put the ball up, and the referee blows the whistle, then I’m ready to play. As long as I’m out on the court playing and running and sweating, then I’m feeling good. It’s just the after-part that hurts.”

==

The Raptors are now on the road, which gives me a week-off (I’ll call this my holiday period). I’ll do a quick re-cap after it’s all done, and then hopefully it’ll all be back to normal.
I leave you now with the closing words from the birthday boy - Dr. Martin Luther King – when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, of 1963:

“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Back with a Fury... No Shame in that Game / JVG called me a smart-ass

2006-01-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

Vince Carter returned to the house a boo’s yesterday afternoon, and it seemed to be louder than any of his previous visits (except for maybe the first trip back). Maybe that was because the Raptors had won 5 in a row… or maybe it’s because the Nets had won 9 straight, and Vince was playing like he had in his “prime.”

In the end, though, he found a way to silence his former stomping grounds. A game-winning 3 pointer with 0.1 seconds left.

Nets 105, Raptors 104

Vince went off for 24 points in the 4th alone – all but 4 of New Jersey’s final frame points were scored by VC (10 of which came in the final 1:01). But looking back, do you think he would have been able to go off like that, had Morris Peterson been guarding him?

I wasn’t the only one to think not, but we’ll get to that later… first, how Mo got ejected.
From my courtside view (and the countless replays afterward), it’s easy to say his second technical foul went unwarranted.

Mo had argued a non-call when he drove to the hoop in the final 30 seconds of the 2nd quarter. Referee Steve Javie didn’t appreciate that, and “T’d” him up. Vince missed the ensuing free-throw, and then gave Mo a little playful slap to the chin. Mo responded with a flick to the back of VC’s neck. Javie saw only that part, thought it was more malicious, and tossed him. Mo’s protest (which included a jersey-toss) might earn him a suspension, and effectively end his NBA-best ironman streak at 313 straight games played. However, the Javie later admitted he thought it was more serious than it was.

In my opinion, no further action will be taken (nor does it deserve to be).

After the game I went into the Raptors’ locker room, where Mo was dressed and ready to go. He gave us a few minutes to talk to him about the “incident.”

“I think the play was misunderstood. He didn’t see the whole thing. I’ve gotta put it behind me now, and get ready to play [tonight]… It wasn’t anything that I felt I should have got ejected for…it’s a bad break. There’s nothing I can do about it now. It’s out of my hands. I just gotta make sure that if I’m in that situation again, it doesn’t happen again.”

Mike James got called for a tech just before that eruption, and says it was all in good-fun:

“You’ve got to understand that nobody’s out to hurt no one. We’re just out there, trying to have an intensive game. Don’t jump to the conclusion that everyone’s going to fight. Not everyone is fighting in games. There are a lot of guys that are friends in this NBA. And if you see that even though there may be a hit – you’ve got see whether or not it’s harmless.”

In terms of changing the outcome of the game, I asked Chris Bosh that very question, to which he replied:

“You never know… I think so, because we wouldn’t be forced to play smaller, and you know he would have been a little more physical with Vince. And maybe, you know, force him outside, and force him to take more contested shots with a bigger guy with a hand in his face.”

On a personal note, this game was certainly the most entertaining game of the season. It also certainly made for the best reporting of my young career, as well… the live updates on 680 all had substance, and a plot-line that carried through, as opposed to just listing off the score, and a few runs.

==
As my luck would have it, I was not only covering that game, but also a practice the day before, and the game before that. So these are exciting times.

In practice, everything was loose. There were maybe 3 other reporters in attendance, which meant I wouldn’t need to fight for questioning.

Thankfully it got a whole lot easier when Sam let it rip on another reporter. He actually asked something I was thinking of, but didn’t want to lead with (I’ll tell you about my experience with the timing of questioning in a moment)… He had asked how Jose Calderon was doing, but also asked if he was ready to start. Mitchell’s reply:

“Ready to what? To start? What do you mean start? Has he started when we won 5 games in a row? Has he started since then? Well why would I do that?”

The reporter then said he wouldn’t do it, which just dug his hole a little deeper.

“So you’re saying you’re smarter than me? Or you’re saying I’m stupid? You’re saying one of the two...”

Now was my chance to get in what I wanted to ask… perfect timing. I asked what Mike James brings to the team as the starting point guard.

“I just think his ability to get into the paint, and his 3-point range. You know, we knew Mike was a good 3-point shooter… and I think he’s making his teammates better, because he’s making those extra passes, his turnovers are way down, and he’s just running the team as well as he can do it.”

I asked a few more questions along the same vein, and Sam was providing me with quality answers. I don’t think he can smell any fear on me anymore. When the third reporter tried to get some questions in, Sam said “you see, this is what I don’t like…you don’t have anything to ask me, he [me] asked me a few questions, and you try to piggy-back on it. Be original.”

I know I’ve dropped the "petty"-bomb here before… but anytime I can get some positive reinforcement about my ability, it helps. Confidence is everything. It makes your questions more valid, it gives you more credibility if you feel good about your delivery.

Moving on… after the scrum, Sam said he loves talking with us off the record, but mics and cameras piss him off…

When we put forth that notion to James, he said: “Well that’s because you guys cut out half the interview and y’all put in the part of the interview that y’all like to hear. Then somebody will look at it, and make you sound like you’re worse than what you really are, but it’s just half the interview.”

I told Mike I was going to cut that clip, and have him say “they’re worse than they really are.”

He laughed.

Mike is averaging 24 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists through their 5-game winning streak. I asked him what he thought about people saying he was just playing for a contract.

“Everybody has their opinion about me. Until you get to know who I am as a person. One thing… I grew up poor. I grew up broke. I grew up with nothing. So to have a little bit more, is better than nothing. So I understand how it is to be on the bottom, and I know how it is to have [a lot]. But my love, my passion, and my drive doesn’t come from money. Money is not what makes me. It’s this game that makes me. It’s this game that I love. It’s this game that I’m passionate for. That’s what I play for. I don’t play for contracts, because those things come and go. You can tell why a person plays, by the way they play the game. Whether or not they’re playing for the love of the game, or if they’re just playing for a contract.”

Either way, his passion is translating into some serious game… and no doubt James will be seeing riches he never dreamed of.

==
I found out Thursday night that I’d be working the game on Friday, versus Houston. I was pumped.

The game itself was a blowout, but I’d learn a few things about myself on this night. I’d learn about what to say, and when to say it. And I’d also learned to let someone else ask a question to an angry 7-footer…

I’ll keep this more brief, since I went long on the previous portions.

Raptors 112, Rockets 92

Mike James lit up Rafer Alston for 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Chris Bosh had 22 points and 16 boards.

After the game I wanted to get my question to Houston coach, Jeff Van Gundy, first. Bad idea. Or maybe it was the question itself. You know what, it was definitely both.

“Coach, the point guard battle seemed a little one-sided...” I said.
“Are you going to ask a question, or just ask a smart-ass question?”
“Ok, do you think you could have gotten a better effort from Rafer, or maybe another one of your point guards?”
“…Next question.”

Good times. Jeff Van Gundy called me a smart-ass. I will have that for the rest of my career.

During the game, James and Juwan Howard got into a little spat. Mike made a nice-driving lay-up, midway through the 2nd, and got the foul, as well. He decided to talk a little trash, and Howard decided to introduce Mike to the basketball, face-first. The shove to the face was too much for the refs, so they served up double-techs when James tried to retaliate. He was held back, while Sam Mitchell ran onto the floor and tried to ensure nothing further happened. I was waiting for Van Gundy to come out and hang onto someone’s leg, ala Alonzo Mourning.

So after getting a lesson from the Rockets’ coach, I endeavored into their locker room. I spoke to Tracy McGrady (who had 37 points), Rafer (who had 2), and of course, Juwan Howard.

You knew what everyone wanted to ask, so why should I be the one to tick off the guy?

“Comment on the play there, with you and Mike James…”
“You saw what happened… I have no comment about it. You got anything to talk about the game?” Ask me questions about the game.”

A few boring questions and answers later… the same reporter brought it back, and brought forth a glare I never want to see again.

Juwan Howard stands 6’9” (so what if I said 7’ in the intro?), exactly ¾ of a foot taller than me. He glared at the reporter standing about 6 inches to my left and said with the most intense look ever:

“I have NO COMMENT about the situation. So DON’T ask me about it, ok??”

I wanted to just run, but alas, I had a job to do… and that’s defend myself. So I got into the crane position that the late Mr. Miyagi taught me, and… no wait. That was a different dream all together.

I left the locker room, and went upstairs to the post-game show station, and shared my new memories.

Good times.
==

Tonight, the Raps play the Bulls in Chicago, then it’s back home for Charlotte...

Big Red Corporate Machine

2006-01-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

All that corporate drama [which has been edited out], let’s talk about the two games since the last meeting. Again, it will be brief, seeing as my couch-side view was just as close as yours.

Last night against the Magic things were looking great in every aspect. The rotations came quicker, the shots arched higher, and the rebounds started bouncing into the right hands – right from the get-go. The confidence that the Raptors had slowly been building, was really brimming through, and it’s nice for the home fans to finally get a taste of it.

Rafael Araujo came out with some fierce intensity, nailing a couple of put-backs and grabbing four 1st-quarter boards (en route to a season-high 9 in the game), all while Chris Bosh got called for 2 quick fouls in the first four minutes. Normally that would half spelt demise, but as seen in the last few games – the Raptors don’t need dominant performances from Bosh to find success; especially when Mike James, Mo Pete and Charlie Villanueva step up with big games.

Raptors 121, Magic 97

6 Raptors scored in double-figures, while Bosh contributed 10 points and 1 rebound. Charlie V hit 10 of his 13 shots, adding up to 24 points. The Raps shot 63% as a team, passing their previous best of 61% set back in 1996. Toronto also out-rebounded Orlando 34-21. Anyone seen Loren Woods in garbage time try to run a break, only to realize that he’s 7’2” and dribbles the ball higher than my head?? He also posed like a samurai for a solid 3 seconds after grabbing his first rebound since November 7th. Every Raptor played, every Raptor scored. Good times.

==
Before their 4th straight win, came a huge #3. Toronto went into Atlanta having beaten the Hawks twice already this season. The two teams obviously knew each other pretty well, and it showed. Matching each other nearly shot for shot in the first half, this seemed like just another boring game between two teams – although Josh Smith seemed like he was going to set a career-high in the first 24 minutes.

In the second half, the Raptors came out a little dreary, digging themselves into an 11-point hole. They responded in the 4th, outscoring the Hawks 35-17, in front of all 7 fans at Phillips Arena.

Raptors 108, Hawks 97

Mike James scored a game-high 28 points, while Chris Bosh scored 27, and grabbed all 12 of his rebounds in the 2nd half. Mo Pete scored 11 of his 13 in the 4th, as the Raptors won three-straight for the first time this season. Charlie V scored only 2 points (0-for-3 from the floor) on the night in which he became only the 4th Raptor in franchise history to be named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month.

==
The look-back started with a big emotional win over the Pacers in Indiana, right before the New Year (Happy New Year, by the way). Toronto came out French-crepe flat in the first, getting outscored 31-22 by a Pacers squad that had no Ron Artest, no Jamaal Tinsley, an injured Jermaine O’Neal. Everything stayed even from then-on until a huge momentum-push in the 4th. J-O got ticked for a tech as Indy’s frustration peaked with only a few minutes left in the final frame. A few huge steals from Mo Pete sealed the deal

Raptors 99, Pacers 97

The win capped off a .500 month for Toronto (7-7), after going 1-15 in November. The loss marked Indiana’s season-high 4th straight. Charlie V scored 25, chipping in 10 boards. Bosh had 22 and 12. Mike James controlled the flow with 19 points and 10 assists, while Mo Pete had a solid 16 points. The Raptors outscored Indy 50-38 in the paint (22 of those points came in the 4th), all while overcoming a 16-point deficit.

==
Things are looking good in Raptor-land. I still get bugged at work for calling 30 wins on this season – but if they can keep up a similar effort that they’re showing right now, I can say 30 with confidence.

And remember, we’ll get back to the ACC soon… don’t cry for me, Argentina.
Thanks for sticking with me.

A December to Remember...

2005-12-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

After taking a smidgen of a break from the bloggage, we’re back…
Really, there wasn’t much to write about since the Raptors hit the road for a 4-game swing away from the ACC, and upon their return last night, I was in the update chair.

So this update will be brief, as well… mostly just as a reference point, as to what happened.

Last night, my father and brother attended the game against the Hawks. My dad called me at the half and asked if I wanted any live updates from the game – I declined. I, in turn, asked him if the team had officially recognized Morris Peterson for becoming the longest serving Raptor in franchise history (he surpassed Alvin Williams, playing his 418th game). Apparently they didn’t. Pretty sad, really, since this is a guy who has gone on the record and says he wants to be a Raptor for life. Considering he’s been around for some ugly times, he should certainly be honoured. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

In either case, the Raptors snapped their 6-game home-slide, and got their second win over Atlanta this season.

Raptors 108, Hawks 102

Mike James scored a team high 28 points (off 11-for-17 shooting), picking up 6 boards and 9 assists, as well. Mo Pete had a season high 26 points (missing only 6 of his 16 shots). Chris Bosh scored a December-low 15 points, but it was refreshing to see the team didn’t need a stellar performance from him to compete.

Despite allowing the Hawks to shoot 56%, the Raptors forced nine 4th quarter turnovers, improving their home record to 2-12, and 7-22 overall.

==

Back-tracking to Motown, The Raptors looked much better on the final score sheet, than they did at the Palace.
After being outscored 31-16 in the 2nd quarter, the best team in the NBA was playing like it. Toronto managed to punish the Pistons in the paint (58-34, yes, you’re reading it right), but Detroit controlled the perimeter, converting 11 of their 21 3-point attempts. Other than the 2nd quarter, it’s hard to pin-point where the game went wrong, seeing as how the Raptors were comparable in every stat category, and tied their own NBA record, committing only 3 turnovers. They only made it close in garbage time.

Pistons 113, Raptors 106

Chris Bosh scored a career-high 37 points, and grabbed 11 boards for his 14th double-double. Chauncey Billups was a beast, scoring 21 points, grabbing 7 boards, and dishing out 13 assists.

==

Against the Spurs, the Raptors played their hearts out. The 53% they allowed San Antonio to shoot was by no means indicative of the defense the Raps’ played. The rotations were on point, and shots were contested – the Spurs just made them. However, the black and silver also allowed the Raptors to shoot 48% - which is by all means not good against the NBA’s worst-team.

Spurs 95, Raptors 90

The Spurs were so embarrassed that they wouldn’t even talk to the Toronto media after the game. Tim Duncan shot 12-for-16, scoring 27 points, grabbing 10 boards, and coming just two assists shy of a triple-double (he had 8 helpers). Jalen Rose scored a Raptor-high 19 points, missing only one of his 9 shots, in just 25 minutes. The Raps’ loss was their first in 4 games away from the ACC.

==

The Rockets have been struggling this year to say the least. To say they’ve been bitten by the injury bug would be an understatement, seeing as it’s almost eating them whole. With Yao Ming the most recent of 6 prominent Rockets sidelined with injury, the lone remaining target was clear.

The Raps held Tracy McGrady to only 7 points off 2-of-11 shooting.

Raptors 94, Rockets 81

Mo Pete, largely responsible for holding T-Mac in check, had 18 points. Mike James had a team-high 19 against his former running mates, while Chris Bosh chipped in 17 points (shooting 7-of-12), in the Raptors’ 5th win in their last 6 games away from home.

==

The first stop of the Raptors’ 4-game trip took them to Orlando. I remember watching the goodness with my dad at home (don’t you love the holidays?). My brother (visiting from Victoria) was passing out on the coach, while Father and I were screaming ours heads off (from the diaphragm, dad).

Morris Peterson beat the shot-clock buzzer with a deep 2, with 8 seconds left in the 4th, and the Raptors hung on for their 3rd straight road win.

Raptors 92, Magic 90

Mo Pete and Chris Bosh shared the team-high with 19 points. Steve Francis led 6 Magic-men in double-figures with 20.

**

The Raptors cap off 2005 with tomorrow’s game in Indiana. If they can pull out a win, they’ll be an even 7-7 in December.
Hopefully after the “holidays,” I’ll return to my more comfortable seat at the ACC, and these updates can get some more quotage.

Yeah, I said it: quotage.

When I’m away from the ACC for this long, my brain goes crazy. Or maybe that’s because of the egg-nog.
In either case Happy New Years… and watch those corks when they go flying.

We’ll speak in 2006.

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Radio...

2005-12-19T18:05:00.000-05:00

If there’s one thing I do know, it’s that I don’t envy newspaper writers. After every Raptors home game, I’m responsible for producing one post-game report. If I’ve got another angle, or some good tape to back it up, I’ll maybe make up two. But newspaper writers need to jot down about 600 words every game about something seemingly fresh and exciting. The problem is, there’s absolutely nothing new about what’s going on with these Raptors. If they’re actually in the game at the half, by the time the 3rd period is over – chances are they’re not.

Such was the case Sunday. Another opportunity for me to sit courtside (one of my colleagues was on vacation) was another ugly defeat at the hands of the Sixers.

76ers 107, Raptors 80

The good news was that I got to watch Andre Igoudala make countless stellar dunks just feet from my bated breath. The bad news, you ask? Every single time he made a steal (he had 3), and streaked through, uncontested, for an incredible jam I thought of the fact that he could have been a Raptor. Iggy missed only one of his 10 shots in the game, and matched his career-high of 26 points (which he set against the Raptors in their last meeting).

Going into the Raptors’ post-game scrumfest was not something I enjoyed at that moment. I’ve been there for some ugly losses, but for the first time I was worried (as a fan… shhh, don’t tell) that Chris Bosh had had enough.

When a reporter asked Bosh if he felt the Raptors are improving, Chris said: “It doesn’t matter. I mean, I keep getting asked the same question: ‘are we getting better, are we getting better?’ You know, I guess… I have my certain opinions; I keep answering the same question. I guess people just have to assess that for themselves.”

I asked if he was getting tired of singing the same song every game (being close at the half before getting blown out): “Same thing. Same thing every day.”

Listening back to the tape while I write this, I don’t feel the same emotion that I saw draped over his face: Not making eye-contact with anyone, just staring right through the bright lights of the TV cameras.

We spoke to Bosh first, because as word would have it Sam Mitchell was having a post-game meeting with minority-owner Larry Tanenbaum. Mitchell, and everyone else for that matter – other than Babcock – was asked if changes need to be made. Everyone answered with the same “I’m not the right person to ask.” And yet people keep asking; funny how that works.

Jalen Rose was surrounded, but didn’t really offer much worth quoting. But when you’re playing lousy in the 12 minutes of opportunity who can blame him? Morris Peterson was a different story. He takes the losing personally.

“As a competitor, if this doesn’t hurt, then I don’t know what does. When you got guys on the other team laughing and joking while we down 30 points… you know, if that doesn’t piss you off… then I don’t know what does. I mean, after a while, if you don’t have a sense of pride, then what are you playing for as a professional? I’m pissed right now. I’m pissed at the way we’re playing. I’m pissed at the way I’m playing. Hopefully we can get the last laugh.”

When most of the reporters took off, I asked if he minded answering a few more of my questions. I wanted to know, first of all, what exactly happens at the half. I wanted to know in specifics, in terms of: do they all sit down in a circle and talk about the game? Do they just stretch and relax? Unfortunately he took my question figuratively and said:

“It’s more mental. We can’t go into a game at halftime, and feel like we’ve accomplished anything. We have to realize there’s 24 minutes out there, and just be ready mentally. That’s the biggest thing, you know, we talk about it, we come in at halftime and say ‘let’s go, let’s keep playing…’ but when we get out there, it’s a whole different ballgame. So I don’t know. I can’t really explain it.”

Neither can I. It’s tough to put a finger on one thing that plagues this squad. I can say that it’s definitely youth; it’s definitely ability; and it’s definitely defense. I guess it’s just one blurry mess… err… mix.

Without Jose Calderon, there was no one that could handle the ball with any consistency. Nobody that could penetrate and kick, and nobody – not even Bosh – could save the Raptors.

==
I didn’t catch a minute of Friday’s game, as I was at a friend’s Christmas party… so you have the same insight that I do:

Warriors 108, Raptors 98

==
I was doing double-duty against the Bulls on Wednesday. My colleague was on vacation, but there was nobody booked to help out. So I covered both locker rooms after the 1st of their 3 straight home-losses.

Bulls 105, Raptors 94

In all honesty, I really don’t want to write about this game, either, because it’s the same old story. A blown 3rd quarter spelt the demise of the Raptors.

That’s why I’m glad this is just a blog, and I’m only obligated to write as much as I feel.

==
Tonight, the Raptors kick off the first of a 4-game road trip in Orlando. We’ll talk later.

Practice is good... Practice

2005-12-12T14:10:00.000-05:00

Raptors shoot-around is a pretty low-key atmosphere. Guys tend to be smiling, and joking around – at least by the time they let reporters in. I’ve been witness Mike James going off from the 3-point line. On Sunday, he hit like 14 of 20… but on Friday, he hit 18 of 20. Looking at the consistency of his jumper is like watching a blissful breeze blowing through blades of bright green grass – or as the current season would have it: a light dusting of snow swooping across the top of a quiet roadway. If it were spring or fall, I’d just call it poetry in motion.

But with only a select few reporters in attendance at practice, everything’s pretty easy-going. It also helps when the team’s coming off a tough-fought win the night before (in Charlotte).

Chris Bosh was the first to talk to reporters. He reflected on how he’s getting better by the day. The coaching staff’s continuously preaching to him to drive to the free-throw line, and take advantages of mismatches (he said Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace is probably his toughest match up). Bosh also said that his added strength and weight (“a whopping 5 pounds”) has made it easier to deal with the daily-grind of going against bigger players.

I then spoke to Charlie Villanueva - who’s easily becoming my favorite interview. I asked him about what it was like to play Emeka Okafor (his UConn teammate) the night before, and have the opportunity to go against his closer buddy from the Huskies, Ben Gordon, in just a couple days.

“I got Ben… and I also got my high school roommate, too – Luol Deng. He was my roommate in my sophomore year at high school (Blair Academy HS in Blairstown, NJ). I got two of my closest friends that I’m going to playing against.”

I asked him how that feels, to which he responded: “It’s going to be exciting, you know… talk trash to Ben and Lou. We’re going to go back and forth, so it’s exciting. Right now, I’m 1-0 on Luol, because we beat him to go to the championship game in the Final Four.”

And then, thinking of a question posed to me in a comment here (what up Ferg!?), I wanted to get into some “Fantasy Hoops” talk. I asked Charlie how important it was, seeing as how he had 9 rebounds against the Bobcats, to get that 10th.

“It’s really important for me, because I’m trying to be a double-double guy.” I asked if that was a personal goal, or if it were a Fantasy thing… “maybe you drafted yourself, or something,” I said.
He laughed it off and said: “I want to be recognized as a double-double guy. If you get recognized like that, you could make a whole lot of money, and stick around long in this league.”

I was curious if money was a motivator for him. He said he was more looking at it from a durability standpoint, wanting to stay in the league for 14 or 15 years. Just in case Fergus wanted specifics, I asked if Charlie actually played Fantasy Hoops.

“Nah. I don’t even know how to mess with that.” I thanked him, and told him his value was going up in Smallworld.

I talked to Mike James for a couple quick minutes, while waiting for Sam Mitchell to emerge from a conversation with Wayne Embry and newly acquired assistant coach, Gene Keady (pronounced KAY-dee).

When Mitchell came up, everything was really smooth. He wasn’t at all on edge, until a camera lit up (the reporter had alluded to the fact that he thought Mitchell had it out for him – sound familiar?) “Hey guys, I’d like to be able to see here when I leave, guys.”

The camera turned away about two minutes later, and it was then pretty much just a light conversation. One of the reporters playfully asked how Mitchell felt about Bosh’s recent play. The response? Drenched in sarcasm.

“I hate everything he’s doing…He sucks right now, and I’m just truly and highly disappointed in Chris right now… If you’re going to ask me a question like that, after the guy’s been going to the free-throw line 14 times a game, in the last 3 or 4 games, and scoring 20-plus points a night, and getting more than 10 rebounds… if you ask me if I’m pleased with that… then I’m going to give you that answer.”

I worded a follow-up question to that wisely… I said: “Sam, how about his passing game… you’ve got to be pretty pleased with that… well, I don’t want to say have to, but I’d imagine you would be.”

“That’s one of the things we’ve been talking to Chris about. If you’re going to command a double-team, you need to make smart decisions with the basketball. He’s getting better at it… He’s been doing a good job passing the ball.”

The discussion continued for another 10 minutes, but it got pretty candid, so we turned off the recorders. Mitchell talked about how he felt Chris would stay after his contract expired, noting obvious reasons about growth here, but also the obvious fact that Toronto can pay him more. The conversation spilled into politics a few minutes later, and continued for about 30 minutes. No need to get into that mess, though.

The reason everyone was so cheery… the night before, the Raptors pulled off their 3rd win in their last 5 games.

Raptors 111, Bobcats 103

Bosh scored 19 of his 30 points in the 2nd half, while adding 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Charlie V had 19 and 9. Emeka Okafor left the game with a sprained toe in the 3rd.

==
On Friday, there was another practice I covered, but in all honesty nothing exciting happened. A reporter kept pressing Mitchell about Charlotte’s building “plan.” Sam was with the Bobcats for about two weeks before accepting the head coaching job in Toronto. He didn’t know the plan, but the reporter kept pressing, making for a pretty sour scrum.

The extent of the excitement was, as mentioned earlier, Mike James nailing 18 of 20 three-pointers.

I sometimes wish I had a shot like that… but then I realize I might not have the same joy of covering the Raptors that I wake up to now. I might have had to play for them. I’d imagine it’s much easier to just do the talking.

On a sidenote... Joey's "better" brother, Stephen Graham got signed by the Rockets the other day. The Raptors are in Houston on the 21st.

==
But first, the Raps host the Bulls on Wednesday – I’ll be there… but the following two home games, against Golden State and Philly, I’ll be doing updates. We’ll speak sometime in the middle, I’d imagine.

Keep those comments coming.

Anyone find a missing ID?

2005-12-08T14:34:00.000-05:00

As I sit here, the morning after, I’m listening to O.C.’s new album – a song called “This is me” comes on. The Raptors obviously don’t know the words, because they certainly don’t seem to have any identity yet. The same team that came an overtime frame away from sweeping their 3-game road-trip was nowhere to be found in the 2nd half of a home-game against the Lakers.

The 1st half was competitive, but defenseless (The Raptors shot 40%, compared to LA’s 56%). If Kobe hadn’t hit a 23-foot buzzer beat, the deficit would have been only four points at the break - And this was after the Lakers started the 2nd on a 10-0 run. The start of the 3rd was almost a mirror-image - beginning with a 10-2 run for LA - en route to outscoring Toronto 31-18.

After that, the Raptors managed to barely outscore the Lakers’ benchers, 29-21 in the 4th quarter (only recent-starter Sasha Vujacic was on the floor for the final frame, while the other foursome was comprised of a rotation of rookies and role players).

Lakers 102, Raptors 91

Chris Bosh played a pretty well, despite missing a few easy buckets at crucial times, finishing with 22 points (6-14 shooting), 10 rebounds and a career-high 6 assists… On the flipside, Kobe Bryant “took what the defense gave him” and jacked up a season-low 12 shots (hitting 5 of them), but dished out a season-high 9 helpers. Lamar Odom spread it out, per usual, scoring 19 points, adding 5 boards and 4 assists.

I got to speak to one of the legends of the game afterwards in Coach Phil Jackson. The man has 9 championships – guided MJ and the Bulls to 6, and then Kobe + Shaq to the LA 3-peat. The “Zen-Master” is truly a man who commands respect… and a huge media scrum. It was tough to get in, but as usual, I slid in right by his shoulder. Everyone was jumping on each other to get their questions in, and I guess he saw I wasn’t trying to be overtly rude like the others, because he kept looking over to me, as to let me get my thoughts in…

“Coach, you guys came out with two crucial runs… to start the 2nd, 10-0… and then a 10-2 run to start the third. How important is it to dictate the tempo early in the frame?”

“That’s the key about basketball,” he said. “You shorten your opponents’ runs, and lengthen your own. Anytime you can run more than 6 points in this game, you have to feel fortunate.”

Just like the other coaches whom I respect so much (and have spoken to) – Jerry Sloan and Mike Fratello – Jackson looked me dead in the eye. You really learn to appreciate the importance of that when there are so many people trying to toss in a penny for his thoughts.

After he wrapped up his scrum, it was off to the Lakers’ locker-room. Lamar Odom was up first. This guy was the polar opposite: Answered questions in 5 second spurts, looked at you while asking the question, and then drifted off during his response.

Kobe, on the other hand, was entirely different from what I would have expected. Most “stars” just want to speak their peace and get back on the plane (or at least, in my assessment), but after arriving late to the scrum, I stuck my mic in his face and asked:

“Kobe, you know, you tossed up only 12 shots… but played distributor, dishing out a season-best 9 assists. Was that something you consciously decided to do, or did it just pan out that way?” (He’s recently been under fire for attempting over 30 shots a game)

…dead in the eye, Kobe responds: “Nah, I just go in and play the game…You know, we’re prepared, and defensively they tried to pack the lane in on me… Just tried to find the open guys and continue to hit open shots. Next time we play them, we’ll see if their defensive strategy’s the same. If it’s the same, I’ll continue to do the same thing – kick it out to the open guys.”

It’s truly an honor and privilege to speak to these guys – I love it.

(a photo taken by a friend who works at a Serbian Newspaper.)

==
Backtracking to that road trip now… in brief:

In Washington, the Raptors couldn’t stop giving up open looks to Gilbert Arenas and Jarvis Hayes (37 and 21 points respectively), and the Wizards came out victorious in overtime…

Wizards 119, Raptors 111 (OT)

The Raptors, as seen late versus the Lakers as well, didn’t box out at the free-throw line and gave up easy 2nd chance buckets. Antawn Jamison had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists. Chris Bosh had 27 and 9 boards. Morris Peterson, who had a great game (if he wasn’t in foul-trouble in the 3rd, I honestly believe the Raptors could have won), sent it to overtime on a gorgeous follow-up to an ugly 3-point attempt. He unleashed from the top of the arch, the ball grazed the rim and rebounded him and into his soaring arms… In one continuous motion, he ran back to his office in the corner and jacked up another three-pointer – SWISH – with 5.1 seconds left. Then it was off to overtime, where it’s very tough to win – especially on the road. Jose Calderon had his best game in the NBA – 8 points, 9 rebounds, 13 assists.

==
Another game against Vince Carter; Another game against the Nets; Another road win.
In what was a quality wire-to-wire performance from the Raptors, they soundly beat New Jersey for their most-convincing win of the season.

Raptors 95, Nets 82

Rafael Araujo tripped up Vince in the lane, and as usual #15 crumpled as if he’d been shot JFK-style. Back, and to the left.
He lay in the fetal-position for a good 3 minutes, wincing in pain, before getting helped off the court. He returned a few minutes later, and was miraculously better when he saw an open lane (but when he missed… oh there’s the limp). Chris Bosh had 29 points and 13 rebounds. Mo Pete, a season-high 24 and 9.

==
The road-trip began in Atlanta. A home-coming for Sam Mitchell and Joey Graham, and Bosh’s “3rd home” – he went to Georgia Tech. Even with all the tickets they bought, there was still only about 5,000 fans in the stands. Pretty sad. But when it’s the two-worst teams in the NBA, I guess you can understand.

Raptors 102, Hawks 101

Jose Calderon fed a pretty double-teamed pass to Charlie Villanueva to break a 98-98 tie with 2 seconds left. Joe Johnson had a chance to tie it, but grazed the line, stepping out of bounds. Mo Pete hit 2 free-throws and Salim Stoudamire (Damon’s cousin) nailed a buzzer-beating 3 to help my fantasy team (and boy do I need the help this year).

Chris Bosh had 23 points and 9 rebounds. Charlie V finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

==

I’m covering a practice on Sunday after the Raps’ game vs. the Bobcats. We’ll talk then.
Thanks for listening, and please, feel free to leave me comments about what you like, dislike, and want more of.

The Grizzlies Had the Runs...

2005-12-01T18:21:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday night I got the privilege of watching the worst Raptors’ performances of my young reporting career. As a fan, I’d seen many ugly games, but this one I had to hold back my emotions. Nobody came to play.

Even the Grizzlies had one of their weaker efforts, but still managed to pound the Raptors.

Grizzlies 92, Raptors 66

The Raptors capped off their worst November in franchise history with that stinker. It was the fewest points they’ve scored in a game since April 2nd, 2004; and it was also their biggest margin of defeat this season (26 points, 1 more than the brutal game against the Warriors on Saturday).

Spoke to “The Czar” after the game. Grizzlies’ Coach Mike Fratello, who’s actually much shorter than he looks on TV, was a great interview. Of course, I always find it easier when I get the first question in. I asked him if the 3rd quarter was one he’d like to forget (the teams combined for 29 points; Toronto shot 30%, which was actually better than Memphis’ 27.8% - that’s Rosanne Arnold-Ugly).
His response to the question was more of a general speech than an actual response… but here it is. More pity:

“[Toronto] has played hard in a lot of games, and lost a lot of heartbreakers. Sometimes this happens to you, it happens to all teams… when you lose a real tough one, like they did to a terrific team, Dallas, the other night… sometimes it takes a lot of air out of you… It happens to you every once in a while. They taste it, they’re so close to a win, and then the last second it gets snatched from you… sometimes it’s hard to bounce back. You have to understand that overall, they’ve played very hard, and very tough, and they’re catching some tough breaks here… I think they’re going to get it together, and put together a little roll. I really do.”

There it is. It’s getting to be the same swan song from opposing coaches, and I’d start to get offended if I was a Raptor. They simply deserved no praise on Wednesday. They went on scoring droughts, one lasting 5 minutes, from when they were still in the game in the 1st. Memphis broke it open with an Eddie Jones “and-1,” which was followed by a 3-ball from Jones… and another 2 from Shane Battier and Bobby Jackson. That closed the first quarter with a 12-0 Grizzlies run. By the time the Raptors scored their first bucket in the 2nd (10:24), that had turned into a 16-0 run. Three minutes later, Memphis went on another 10-0 run, which turned into a 17-6 streak to close the half. There was a third 10-0 run before the game was done.

Spoke to Damon Stoudamire afterwards, along with Eddie Jones (who is a real-life quiet-talker) and Pau Gasol who let it rip on the Raptors.

He was drafted by Atlanta, and then traded to the Grizzlies on draft-night. A team that went 1-11 to start ‘01-‘02 (they were 4-12 through the first 16 games, as opposed to the Raps’ 1-15). He knows all about a teams’ suffering… and finally, someone who held back the pity:

“I don’t see the veterans… The veterans have to step up, and have to take leadership. They have to lead and guide the young players. They have so many talented young players, but it’s got to come from the veterans first… The thing about them, you know, is that they settle too much… and they kind of gave up too early. When we made our run, and got a big lead, they kind of dropped their intensity and everything. They have to keep playing hard, and work for wins.”

That was refreshing. A player actually just speaking about what he felt, as opposed to the media-friendly jargon I’m getting all too used to.

==

Before the game, during Sam Mitchell’s pre-game talk, it was surprisingly loose. I asked him if he’d spoken to Jose about the importance of this game in his hometown. The game was being broadcast live all across Spain (1am their time), because for the first time ever in the NBA, there were two Spanish starters (Gasol and Jose Calderon).

“I didn’t realize there was all this Spanish media here... If it doesn’t have to do with Memphis, what they’re trying to do and trying to accomplish… no.”

All right, so that was pretty stiff… but it got loose. So much so, that he used me as an example in one of his demonstrations. He was fielding a question about why Calderon had been covering Dirk Nowitzki on Monday so much. He was going through some plays, and asked me my name. I reluctantly told him, with the sneaking suspicion that he’d use it for the powers of evil somehow. So far so good. He said… “OK, so say Zack’s covering me… and then you come over and set this pick…” The rest is unimportant. The point is… if something bad happens, and it’s in my name; chances are it was Coach.

==

At practice today, I wanted to ask how a team doing as poorly as the Raptors’ are, can manage to avoid the sideshows that plagued the team last year. I didn’t ask it. In fact, I don’t think I even asked one question. It was a pretty boring shoot-around for the most-part, other than the fact that before we were allowed in, I got to speak to Joey Graham’s father for a good 10 minutes.

I was standing outside the RBK Court, chatting it up with the security guard, who’s always been a stand-up guy. A man holding two plastic bags stuffed with what appeared to be clothing walked over to us. I can’t remember how it became clear to me that they were family, but they certainly look alike. He said someone had joked with him that his son had slipped on the ice and broke his leg in three places. Mr. Graham (Joe) was obviously relieved when he found out his son was safe and sound. He was worried about the called-for snow and ice, so the security guard and I proceeded to tell him various things he could do to prevent slippage (as Seinfeld would say). I told him he could try buying some hard-soled boots, and sticking some ice-salt in the grooves to give him a little traction.

He then said that Joey’s brother, Stephen, had just been 12 inches of snow dumped on him in South Dakota, where he’s playing for the CBA. Stephen, a shorter, but identical looking Graham, had played preseason ball with the Spurs. That’s obviously a pretty tough roster to crack. I didn’t record the conversation for obvious reasons, but Joe went on to tell me that Stephen’s actually the better basketball player.

He said at Oklahoma State, where they both attended University, the guard rotation was already set; whereas there was more opportunity at the forward slots. He said once OSU gave Joey the opportunity to get in the game, he grabbed boards like a monster. When they realized he could shoot, he was an instant plug. Got all the playing time, garnered NBA attention, and well… you know the rest.

Joe told me that Stephen’s quicker, stronger, and a better shooter… but was simply not given the same chance to shine. I asked him why he chose the CBA, as opposed to the NBDL… and that’s when he asked if I was a reporter.

Maybe I’m starting to play the part.

==

The Raptors are in Atlanta on Friday, New Jersey on Saturday, and Washington on Tuesday. The Lakeshow’s here on Wednesday. Chances are, we’ll talk after that.

I Made ESPN...

2005-11-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

On Monday, the Raptors again, were on the wrong end of a nail-biting finish. Hosting the Mavs, Toronto built up a 6-point lead after Chris Bosh capped a 9-0 run with a pair of free-throws. That with just 2:07 left in the 4^th. Then Dirk Nowitzki went off. With 1:42 remaining, Dallas missed a jumper and the Raps couldn’t snag the bouncing board. The Mavs retrieved it, and dished it out to Dirk for an open-3, kicking off a personal 8-0 run.

Matt Bonner tied it up with a long-2 (his foot was on the line), with just 2 seconds left. Overtime? Dallas said no thanks.

The Raptors took away any impending pass to Nowitzki, forcing Dallas to burn a timeout. The Mavs reworked the play, and drew up something that made the Raptors look foolish. The inbounds pass went right to Jason Terry, who saw a week’s worth of daylight in the lane. JT drove through, and dropped a floater, just slivers above the outstretched hand of Bosh, as time expired.

Mavericks 93, Raptors 91

After the game (since the return of a co-worker meant I was back to the visitor’s dressing room), I spoke to Dallas Coach Avery Johnson, who responded to a question about the final play as being the work of assistant coach Dell Harris. “We both wanted to get to ball to JT,” Coach said. “We just wanted to get it to him in different ways… I’ll buy him lunch for drawing up that play.” As the scrum was nearing its end, the man once known as the General went into an inspirational rant about the Raptors’ future, which I used in one of my two post-game reports. Here it is, in its beautiful entirety:

“We were concerned coming into this game. Not because of their record or anything. We think this is a good basketball team…we think Sam Mitchell – forget about the record – he’s doing a good job with this basketball team. They’ve had some tough losses. Here, another game they lose by two; fortunately we won, and we wanted to win…but you know, they lost to the Clippers, they lost to Sacramento…they played well against Miami at home. So again, this is a tough basketball team, I just hope the people here don’t give up on the team or their coach.”

A few quick questions, and the cameras clicked off, coach left and we went scurrying into the Mavs’ dressing room.

Terry was already sitting down, with his feet planted in a tub of ice water. I squeezed my way in beside a reporter from the Score, and got right beside JT. Blah blah blah… a few questions came and went… I want to get to the part that got me smiling the day after. As the scrum was starting to draw to a close, the reporters started to walk away, when I spoke up and asked Jason: “Did you know you had enough time to take the inbounds pass and nail the floater?” All the reporters came fluttering back just before JT replied: “That’s something I work on all summer long, during the season, individual workouts…you take one, two dribbles, and float it up… it takes less than two seconds, I guess it was perfect.”

We waited about 20 minutes for Dirk to come out, and say nothing fabulous.

I was doing my morning run-through of the basketball daily’s today, which included a stop at ESPN’s daily dime (via Insider). At #8 was a blurb from Elias Sports Bureau, which featured the response to the question I had asked JT.

I was brimming with pride. So much so that I changed my MSN name… that’s how you know I felt good. It may seem insignificant to you, but to someone who is still not the most confident in his line of questioning, this was glory at its best.

Time to build on it.

The Raptors hit the road for stops in Atlanta, Jersey, and Washington, before hosting the Lakers next week. We’ll chat then.

Who Said It Was Nice Out West?

2005-11-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

While the Raptors were on the road, I was in the friendly, winter-bitten, confines of the Big Smoke.

Since I got the exact same perspective as you at home, I’ll keep this update brief.

First, we start with Saturday’s stink-fest. I was doing updates at the station, and got to witness a gorgeous Leafs win over the Canadiens. (I was called by my boss that night, and told to leave out such short-form nicknames as: The Buds (Leafs), Baby Buds (Marlies), Habs (Canadiens), and Raps (Raptors), so I’ll try to keep it consistent on this space, too.)

Toronto couldn’t match the effort or intensity of their on-ice counterparts.

The Raptors were in Golden State, wrapping up what had been a pretty remarkable 4-games-in-5-nights west-coast road trip. The Warriors were a team that the Raptors had beaten 5 out of the 9 previous times in Oakland. But clearly, both teams are very different now from even last year.

Two words: Baron Davis. He dished out 14 assists, including back-to-back identical alley-oops to Jason Richardson. Both backdoor; both, the Raptors had no idea what was going on. Toronto gave up 60 points in the paint, to Golden State’s 28, allowing the Warriors to shoot 58% on the night. Chris Bosh scored 21 points (15 in the 1^st quarter, and 4 in the 2^nd), to share the team-high with Morris Peterson.

Mo Pete, Jalen Rose, and Mike James sat out nearly the entire second-half of the game, allowing the rookies to try and make it competitive. Joey Graham had 12 points, Charlie Villanueva had 6 (1-10 shooting), while Jose Calderon registered 4 points and 6 assists. Rafael Araujo, in his 2^nd year, had his only weak game on this road trip – stats seldom do justice to his effort, so I’ll just leave them out.

Warriors 117, Raptors 91

The game was so dismal that Coach Sam Mitchell decided the team would practice on their “off-day” (They’ve had only one day off all season). The Raptors got off the plane from San Francisco at 3:30pm EST, and were on the RBK practice court at the ACC exactly an hour later. Granted, the practice only lasted 90 minutes, but you’ve got to think that was punishment. Again, I was at the station doing updates, so any quotes wouldn’t come from me… thus, check your local paper.

Friday night in Sacramento, the Raptors had an 8-point lead with just over 7 minutes left, but came up short for their 8^th straight loss at Arco Arena.

Kings 106, Raptors 104

Araujo tied a career high with 14 points. The Raptors shot 51% from the field, and dished out a season-best 27 assists.

Wednesday night at Staples Center… again, another 4^th quarter lead let go for a loss.

The Raptors committed only 5 turnovers, but allowed Corey Maggette to torch them for 30 points. Sam Cassell scored 10 straight points in the final frame for the Clippers’ win.

Clippers 103, Raptors 100

Chris Bosh drove through the lane, and probably drew enough contact for a possible “and-1”, but dished it out to an open Morris Peterson, who missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Tuesday night, the road trip started in Phoenix. The Raptors were fresh off their first win, and were beaming with optimism. They played great against the Suns until again, the 4^th quarter. Phoenix went on a 12-0 run with 4:14 remaining (Shawn Marion and Steve Nash both scored 6 points), to seal it.

Suns 90, Raptors 82

Chris Bosh had a great 3 quarters, picking up 23 points on 10-19 shooting, but was shut down by Brian Grant in the 4^th, missing all 4 of his shots. Marion was dominant – 28 points and 18 rebounds, despite Phoenix scoring a season low for the second straight game.

On a side note, as I’m always looking for positives… Pape Sow is destroying the “D-League” (The NBA Developmental League). He scored 40 points and picked up 14 rebounds for his second straight double-double yesterday. On Friday, he had 21 points and 11 boards. Sow was sent down to the Arkansas Rim Rockers (a team the Raptors share with 3 other clubs) last week.

A player can be transferred back and forth between the “bigs” and the NBADL a maximum of 3 times a season.

We’ll talk after the Mavs and Grizzlies roll through town.

The Raptors now stand at an NBA-worst 1-13.

And There It Is...

2005-11-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

10 games was all it took… Win number one.

The monkey was no longer on the Raps’ back; It was running around the ACC, jubilant that the countdown to December’s date with the Hawks would be of lesser significance.

You see, the Atlanta Hawks were also 0-9 as of Sunday, and many believed with the Raptors hitting the road for a 5-games-in-4-nights west coast swing, a win would be impossible (if not highly improbable) to come by. The Hawks were set in the same gloom – they’d surely lose every game until December 2^nd, and the two teams would then square off with the losers’ prize being the NBA’s worst-ever start (both the Miami Heat of ’88, and the Clippers of ’98 started off 0-17).

Now that’ll just be another empty-seated affair in Atlanta.

Before I get ahead of myself, though, let’s talk Sunday. The Raptors did many good things… but starting off strong was not one of them. They somehow escaped the first period with only an 11-point deficit. The Heat opened the game on a 10-1 run, to lead 24-13. Toronto shot 15.8% (3-19 FG), compared to Miami’s respectable 45.8% (11-24).

The Raptors could have easily hung their heads and said here we go again. But they didn’t.

Toronto was down by 6, with less than 6 minutes left, before closing the door with an 18-2 run to end the game. Charlie Villanueva found his bearings, scoring 6 of his 8 points in the 4^th (but more importantly, held his own on the glass); Jalen Rose bounced out of his funk to score 10 of his 22 in the 4^th (his 3-pointer brought the Raptors to within one at 4:55); Mike James scored 14 of his 25 in the final frame (three 3-pointers); and Chris Bosh stayed strong to register his 7^th straight double-double (27 pts, 12 rebs). Toronto outscored Miami, 40-24 in the 4^th.

Raptors 107, Heat 94

The Raptors out-played Miami in every statistical category with the exception of steals (the Heat had 5, to Toronto’s 4).

You would have thought that the guys would be beaming. Not so much. Coach Sam Mitchell was happy, but not ecstatic. “I feel good. I'm happy for those guys in there. I get mine after the game, but during the game, those guys have to go out there and be the focal point, and hear the cheers and hear the boos… I'm proud of them and happy for those guys."

Sure he was happy, but was he smiling when he said it? Not really. I think the team must have had a discussion before meeting with the media, saying that they’d save the celebration for the plane or something, because other than a few one-cheekers, you wouldn’t be able to tell these guys finally won their first game.

But there’s also a good chance they got all their smiles out at practice the day before… I went to shoot-around on Saturday, and it was pretty quiet. When the 3 reporters (including myself) entered the practice gym, the team was huddled around each other, encircling the logo on center court… smiling and laughing.

This was a team that hadn’t won since the season started nearly two and a half weeks ago.

That was pretty much my focal point through the practice… why was everyone so goddamn happy? Sam Mitchell couldn’t sleep (although he told us that it’s mainly because he didn’t have heat in his home – despite some steep rent), but also said: “It’s my job to keep these guys’ spirits up… If I don’t do it, who else will?” He’s got a point.

When the media’s not dumping on their heads, they’re counting down the days until the team’s next loss.

After Sam was done, and this time it was much more loose, we spoke to Charlie V. He had just come off a decent game in Boston, where he scored 18 in the first half, but got shutout in the home stretch. He talked about putting it all together, playing defense, and rebounding more. I also asked him if anybody had been chirping in his ear about being Rookie of the Year, yet.

“Yeah, but it’s too early… it’s still way too early to be saying that…I can’t even be listening to that, it can’t even be in my mind right now. I’m trying to win some games.”

The other two reporters left after Charlie was done, but I wanted to stick around to talk to Chris Bosh.

One-on-one interviews are really the best, because you can treat it more like a conversation; without having to worry about someone else jumping in before you get to what you really want to talk about. I asked him about how if it’s Sam’s job to keep the guys positive, were it up to him to ride someone if they weren’t playing well.

“Good teams always police each other,” Bosh said, thinking over what he wanted to say next. “The Coach doesn’t always need to step in and tell everyone where they’re supposed to be. We should always be able to get on each other, and make each other better. You know, constructive criticism between each other is always good.”

As for his mid-range game – which is the only thing I see him practice - I pointed out that the team seems to do a lot better when he’s aggressive, driving to the hoop and drawing fouls.

“That mid-range [practice] is just for the 3 or 4 shots that I hit,” Bosh replied. “You know, when I do shoot, I want to hit ‘em. I shoot up a hundred shots a day, just so I can make those 4 shots… But I can’t fall in love with that jump-shot. I got to make sure that I continue success by getting into the lane, and onto the free-throw line.”

To get you up top date, which you probably already are if you’re reading this… there were 3 previous games that I won’t really get into depth about.

Celtics 100, Raptors 93

The Raps led at halftime for only the second time all season (they were up 8, until a mental cough brought Boston to within 4 at the break). With Boston up 1, with less than 9 minutes left in the 4^th, Dan Dickau sparked a 9-3 run, which the Raptors couldn’t overcome.

Sixers 121, Raptors 115

I got to sit courtside for this one, and watch Allen Iverson and Andre Igoudala light it up. After an awful first quarter again (40-28), the Raptors won the next 3 before falling short – again. It was this very game that I realized: sitting courtside, wearing a headset and watching basketball really felt like home.

I’m back to doing updates for 680 News every half-hour, despite all the noise, and it’s getting to be a lot of fun. Feeding off the games’ energy is indescribable, and creates a rush that feels like bliss. I’m in my happy place.

Sixers 104, Raptors 92

Marking the first of a home-and-home, Philly stormed out in front outscoring Toronto 39-20 in the 1^st. Charlie V improved on his previous best, with 27 points and 13 rebounds… Chris Bosh had 19 and 17, but Iverson scored 34 to go along with Chris Webber’s 28 for the win – Philly’s 5^th straight.

I Blame the Media

2005-11-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

Two games have passed since my last entry, and both were supposed to be wins. This past Friday, the Utah Jazz came to our wonderful city, and did they ever go to town.

For the first time ever - my view was front and center. One of my colleagues had planned a road-trip of sorts, meaning I would take his press-row seat. Good times.

That also meant that I’d be keeping score and letting the Fan 590 broadcast team of Paul Jones and Eric Smith know of any runs or droughts.

The game started off great for the Raptors. They had come out victorious in the opening quarter for the first time this season (21-18). After that, though, it was all downhill. In the 2^nd, the Jazz went on a 19-2 run; one that would last more than 6 minutes before the Raptors scored a bucket.

Jones gave on-air praise for my quick calculation – something a math teacher never did once throughout my entire scholastic career.

But number crunching aside, the Raptors let a very winnable ball game slip right through their fingers.

Jazz 99, Raptors 84

Mehmet Okur led Utah with 29 points and 12 rebounds, as the Jazz shot 50.7% from the field. Chris Bosh countered with 19 points and 10 rebounds; The Raps shot 42.6%

Aaron Williams was supposed to be the answer to their problems at center – or at least the best of 3 pivots – but he picked up 4 fouls in all of 10 and a half minutes.

Rafael Aroujo was proud of him.

The bright spots: Matt Bonner came out of his season-opening funk to record 12 points, 8 boards and 4 steals… and I got to sit courtside.

Before the game, I was asked to attend a media conference held by Basketball Canada. They announced a new membership program called “Be One,” which in short, is designed to train kids at a younger age how to play basketball properly – and unlike Jamaal Magloire – actually want to play for the Canadian National Team.

What I got out of the conference was:

- A little confusion as to what the program was all about

- A chance to network (I met one of the hosts of NBA XL - she asked if I was interested in making an appearance for a segment sometime – hell yes)

- A free T-Shirt

- A dry-erase basketball clipboard

- A cold (a writer from the Star was kind enough to cough on the side of my face during a scrum)

As I’m typing this, I sit here listening to Nina Simone (“I Hold No Grudge” – coincidentally), with a Kleenex draping from left nostril. Hey, you asked. No?

Well you should have.

Moving on – and back in time a day – The Raps played host to the Sonics, who had come into the ACC losers of their last three games (most recently a 41-point spanking courtesy of the Wizards).

This game would be seen by my eyes from the friendly confines of the radio station (again, my position at the game is easier to fill than the one as sportscaster - although I was already losing my voice – badly). My younger cousin came to job-shadow for a few hours as a school project. Another set of eyes never hurts.

What we witnessed was one of the most exciting Raptors games in a while – certainly the most entertaining this season.

The Raptors were down 18 points early in the fourth, when everyone – mainly Mike James and Charlie Villanueva – started going off. James made five 3-pointers in the final frame alone (finishing with a career-high 36 points), while Charlie-V did most of his 26 points and 12 boards of damage in the final 11 minutes, as well.

With the Raptors down by 3, James lined up for a long-ball with 4.7 seconds left… top of the arch, probably would have been good, had Ray Allen not fouled him (Allen’s 6^th) before the attempt. That pre-empted move put James on the line for two free throws (remember, the Raps were down 3). So he hit the first, and needed to miss the second and hope for a put-back.

This play maybe works once a season – but it worked to perfection on Sunday.

James’ high-arching free-throw hit back-rim, sailed up and into the hands of Charlie-V, who tried to bank it in, only to shoot wide. Chris Bosh was there, and finger-tipped it in as the buzzer sounded.

Off to overtime…

Bosh fouled out two minutes into the extra frame on a shady “moving-pick” call. The Sonics then rolled to victory as an open 3-ball from Jalen Rose went blank, and a poorly timed turnover from Jose Calderon spelt defeat (he did have 12 assists for what it’s worth).

Sonics 126, Raptors 121 (OT)

I went to shoot-around today with mic-in-hand, and Halls-in-mouth. Avoiding excessive coughing proved troublesome, as I had to leave numerous scrums just so I didn’t infect the players.

Seriously, not that I needed to be told, but the Media Relations guy told me “just don’t infect the players.”

What I did stick around long enough to hear, was Jalen again taking most of the blame for the losing: “Hopefully, when I finally have a good game, it will coincide with the team winning,”

The Raps are in Philly to start a home-and-home tomorrow night. On Wednesday, I’ll be courtside again. But right now, I’m sniffling up a storm.

That Nina song’s long over now… Grudge or no grudge, I blame the media.

Aretha Had it Right

2005-11-08T18:29:00.000-05:00

Last time we spoke, there was a sense of optimism. The Raptors had just come off a 3-point loss to a fine club in the Washington Wizards.

Here we are only five days later… and things have turned sour. Like, you just sucked on a bag of lemons and your cheeks have concaved, sour.

Here’s how it started:

Friday, November 4^th… Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets are in town; Game two of the season. VC drops 20 points, to go along with 7 boards and 6 helpers. Almost every play is run through him in the 4^th, while Richard Jefferson goes off for 35 points and 11 boards on the night. I’ll spare you theatrics since this is already old news by it reaches your monitor.

Nets 102, Raptors 92

The one bright spot was Jose Calderon, who yet again proved that he could run the club with confidence. Calderon had 20 points and 7 assists, instantly bringing some soul back into a lifeless club in the second half – after a driving lay-up, he stole an inbounds pass and threw a crafty no-look dish to a streaking Mo Pete for an easy bucket.

The crowd was louder at that point, than it was for any of the incessant booing of Carter.

After the game, I would focus my report on Calderon.

I asked New Jersey coach, Lawrence Frank, what his assessment of the Spaniard was:

“Oh, I think he’s going to be very good. We were here for that exhibition game, and to see him play against Washington, and to see him play again tonight… that’s definitely a great acquisition for Toronto. He’s a very good player.”

Calderon pretty much matched Jason Kidd – one of the league’s best point guards – play for play. J-Kidd, though, didn’t dole out too much praise too soon:

“He’s a going to be a good… you know, he’s young. He’s going to be a nice point guard for them. He runs the offense, he can shoot. So the more time he gets, and the more he starts to understand the NBA game, he’ll be fine.”

Vince had nothing worthwhile to put in this space, other than the fact that when he was asked about the booing, he replied: “It’s beautiful.”

Lammond Murray, on the other hand, was quick to insult the franchise to anyone that would listen. That would be me - mic in hand.

“Hey Lammond,” I said. “What are your thoughts on returning to the ACC when it actually matters?”

To which he replied:

“It’s alright. I don’t like the floor.”

The floor!?

“The new design on the floor kinda makes your eyes go Huuuuuh. The first day we came here it was like ‘what the hell did they do with the floor?’ All these zig-zag patterns… parquet. I don’t know what kind of parquet they put on the floor, but you know, whatever.”

The floor is kind of ugly - with the red looking more magenta than anything else - but it’s just funny to hear someone vent about it.

On a side note, I think I got over my fear of the cameras. And I can remember exactly when that happened.

It was in that same visitor’s locker room, and a scrum had already encompassed Richard Jefferson. He was the top dog that night, so I had to get my mic flash in there, or the boss would be furious. I couldn’t see any open spots, but I did see that the bench beside all the reporters was vacant. So, me being the slim gentleman that I am crawled onto the bench, bearing bag and leather coat, and ducked under some reporters’ underarms to snag a spot right beside RJ. I then asked him some questions - straight and to the point - about his importance to the club.

I realized while I was writing my last entry to keep the questions quick and direct. So far, it’s helped.

Moving on… the Raptors had their first road game, and it took them to Motown. I wasn’t at the game, so I’ll spare you the recap (also because it’s a game that everyone would like to forget).

Pistons 117, Raptors 84

Then came the day that I was looking forward to most… The day Lebron came to town.

Then I got the call from the Boss.

“Zack, I’m going to need to pull you off the game. is sick. I need you to do updates.”

My role as a reporter is a lot easier to fill than that of the sportscaster. So my shot at interviewing Lebron James gets the bump. March 8^th. Circled on my calendar.

You guys better take some Vitamin C.

While I wasn’t pleased (that’s an understatement – I wanted to break stuff)… I’m still fortunate to be in the position I’m in. There would be more games.

But this one was monumental. It marked the Raptors’ 4^th straight loss to open the season. That’s the worst start in their 11-year team history.

Cavs 105, Raptors 93

Chris Bosh had a season-best 26 points to go along with 12 boards… but he couldn’t do it himself. The Raptors got out-rebounded 47-30. The “bigs” did nothing.

I went to shoot-around (practice) this morning, and talked to Coach Mitchell. For the first time in my brief reporting career, the man whom I was intimidated by so immensely directed some praise my way.

“Is this team built to stop the opposition?” I asked.

He paused, and then replied: “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

I reconstructed: “Is this team capable of being a team that can shut down the opposition?”

I wish I had the quote, but unfortunately, my minidisc was on pause!! Yeah, rookie mistake. That, and the fact that my batteries ran out…

In either case, on record, he talked about the team trying their best, then looked at me and said: “Good question.”

Obviously not good enough for him to answer one that I tried to ask as the scrum was wrapping up: “Sam, if rebounding isn’t something you can teach… how does a team improve on it?” He walked away, ignoring the inquiry.

Some of the other reporters there asked me what I tried to ask the coach. I told them. They also thought it was a gem.

Now while it may seem to be just a minor detail to you… it’s huge for me. Respect is a big thing. Confidence is, as well. I’m learning, and trying to build upon what I’ve experienced…

Just like the guys in purple and white.

And So It Begins...

2005-11-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

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.