This Isn't Goodbye...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...