My Mic Smelt Like Stir-Fry...

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...

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

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...

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

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

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...

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.