Linkage - March 20
This was exactly what the doctor had ordered, a roundball panacea for a Raptors team that needed a win to begin to feel good about themselves.
Buoyed by the return of franchise player Chris Bosh, the feel-good night began from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
"It (knee) feels good, but if you ask how the rest of my body is feeling, it’s a different question,” Bosh said.
"I’m just trying to get back into shape. Everything is at 100% or close to it, so I’m just trying to build on it."
With his team riding a five-game losing streak, coach Sam Mitchell wanted to see some improvement over the team’s play from out west.
So, too, did the players.
"The win is more important than anything," T.J. Ford said. "We just came off a road trip, the last 10 games we haven’t been doing so well, so today was definitely not about the Miami Heat and who they had available, it was more about us getting the atmosphere back to where it needs to be.
"I think we needed this win just to ease the atmosphere. Tomorrow, we can come in get a good day of practice, CB will probably get a bit more reps and get in a better groove."
"It’s a little bit easier to come out and be focused and play hard (because) our backs are against the wall right now," Bosh said. "We have some teams in our rear-view mirror, right behind us, we have to take every game very seriously.
"I’m just trying to bring intensity and passion to the game for us. I know sometimes it’s hard when you’re missing a key guy … to find out how to win games. I just want to bring concentration on the defensive end and I know on the offensive end we’re going to get looks and we’re going to get shots."
Yesterday, a clubhouse attendant was kept busy ushering players into the back room to fill out their Final Four pool sheets.
"For entertainment purposes only," the clubbie assured.
In the kitchen off the locker room, Martin was crouched with deepest concentration over his form. No question who was topping his list.
"UCLA, UCLA, UCLA," the veteran guard smiled confidently. "In the tournament you need a few bounces and a little experience. I think that’s one thing UCLA has more than anybody else."
Ford, the only teammate with both an opposing viewpoint and a team to pin his hopes on, shrugged.
"You know what time it is," Ford said enigmatically.
Longhorns time, apparently.
"I’ve been teasing these guys a little bit," Martin said, gesturing toward Ford. "Once you step on the UCLA campus, you’re under such a microscope you grow up quick. I think we have the advantage.
"We’re the next biggest thing in town to the Lakers."
Much of this discussion was being directed in Ford’s direction.
Ford chose to ignore it.
With so many non-Americans in the Raptors room, is the Final Four even a big deal?
"Oh yeah, they understand," Martin said.
Who’s the biggest Final Four fan among the European contingent?
"Probably Jose (Calderon)," Martin estimated.
Who’s Calderon picking?
"Definitely UCLA, that’s my backcourt teammate," Martin nodded confidently.
So Jose, UCLA’s a lock, right?
"Oh no," Calderon said, slightly appalled. "I’ve got two sheets, so I picked UCLA once and North Carolina on the other one."
That sounds like having your NCAA cake and eating Darrick Martin’s lunch. I think you’re going to break Darrick’s heart, Jose.
"But I’ve got UCLA, too," Calderon pleaded, looking across the room at his backcourt teammate.
Slovenian Rasho Nesterovic isn’t giving Martin any further support. He’s only a doorway removed from Martin’s locker.
So, UCLA, Rasho?
"No, North Carolina," Nesterovic said. He did grudgingly admit UCLA is "very good." At that point, Martin wasn’t around to soak up the accolades for his school.
And after we’d carved the Heat, we started carving fans, all of us did.
That booing over the pizza? That’s entirely bush league. Embarrassing. I know it’s a drum I like to beat but, really, just cheer or sit on your hands or walk out of the building to go get a beer. Booing in the final minute of a 42-point win cheapens everything.
Bosh was hardly dominant, but he was enthusiastic, clapping hands, exhorting his teammates and greeting them as they came off the floor. Beleaguered without him, they seemed emboldened with him. Andrea Bargnani, who mustered just 8.8 points a game on 37.7-per-cent shooting on the Raptors’ winless, Bosh-less trip, attacked the basket for three layups and a dunk in the game’s opening quarter, this while wearing a mask to protect his nose, bruised by accidental elbow from teammate Jamario Moon in Denver.
"Andrea, he played well," Mitchell said. "I was asking, ‘Who was that masked man?’ He just seemed to have more confidence in the things he did, his shoulders were up, his head was up."
The audiences aren’t large. However, for a package of Raptors and non-Raptors NBA games, starting next season, franchise owner MLSE insisted on a rights fee and all the advertising revenue associated with it.
The network paying the fee, therefore, would be unable to recover costs because the ad time belonged to MLSE.
Chris Hebb, MLSE’s head of broadcasting, declined to comment on the deal. The dollar figure for the rights fee isn’t known.
But TV sources said they were surprised MLSE would be able to charge a fee and also scoop up the entire advertising revenue.
"It’s amazing that [MLSE] is getting two revenue streams from the property," one media source said. "I can’t think of any other content that is getting 100 per cent of the [advertising] inventory and a licence fee."
Sportsnet, which is in the final year of its Raptors and non-Raptors NBA deal, chose not to renew.
The network, after all, draws larger audiences for junior hockey telecasts than non-Raptors NBA games (65,900 viewers, compared with 53,300, respectively). It does almost as well with poker, which averages 52,000 viewers.
Sportsnet’s TV simulcast of the Bob McCown Fan 590 radio show draws a larger audience, 54,800 viewers.
The Raptors games, of course, do better than non-Raptors games, averaging 167,000 on TSN, 153,000 on Sportsnet and 125,000 on the Score Television Network.
The audiences are growing, but they’re still less than half of what the Toronto Blue Jays, CFL, NFL or a non-Canadian NHL matchup will produce on Canadian television.
MLSE did find a buyer for the Raptors and non-Raptors package: The Score, which next season will carry at least 30 Raptors games and provide NBA telecasts several nights a week.
With an audience average much lower than those of TSN and Sportsnet, The Score believes the Raptors-NBA package will push up its overall numbers.
The package also fits into The Score’s programming strategy, which targets young viewers and basketball fans.
David Errington, the network’s executive vice-president, wouldn’t comment on the rights deal. It will not be announced for another week or perhaps longer. But he did note that basketball is a big part of The Score’s programming strategy.
"It’s something we think we can do better with than the other networks, which are hockey-centric," he said. "We think basketball is something we can win at, absolutely."
The Heat, because of a various assortment of injuries, played only seven players. Udonis Haslem, set to have surgery on his left ankle on Monday, had to put on a uniform to get Miami up to the minimum eight eligible players.
As a result, futility was the order of the evening. The Heat’s 54 points were the third-fewest in a game in league history. The Raptors, meanwhile set franchise records for biggest lead in a game, 43, and biggest margin of victory.
Miami, now 12-55, did not even score enough to match the Raptors’ halftime total of 58.
Finish fifth or sixth, you play Cleveland or Orlando, which is manageable. Finish seventh or eighth and you get Detroit or Boston, which is, uh, not.
"S—, yeah. We definitely don’t want to play Detroit or Boston," says Toronto point guard T.J. Ford. "That’s not a good look at all. Especially Detroit. I played two [playoffs] in Detroit [with Milwaukee], and you talk about loud - that crowd is crazy in the playoffs. You can’t hear a word."
"Where you want to be is first, the playoffs," says coach Sam Mitchell. "After that, you just want to be playing well going into the playoffs. You don’t want to have to slide into it; you want to be playing well going into it … and we’ve got 15 games to do it."
So does Toronto’s playoff slot matter, Sam?
"I understand your question and how smart it is, and yeah, it matters," says Mitchell, smiling. "Let’s worry about getting there first."
"If I had to take one, Orlando," he says. "LeBron … I saw him play last playoffs. And sometimes, especially in playoffs, he gets so hot that - I wouldn’t say you are unable to defend him, but it’s difficult to stop him. It was like seeing a guy controlling a video game. Sometimes it’s so easy for him."
One member of the organization was even more honest, with words every Raptors fan should echo.
"I think we match up better with Cleveland, but - I want nothing to do with LeBron James. I’m not scared of Cleveland. I’m scared of LeBron."
Amen.
"I feel real bad for them in there, that they couldn’t make a few shots just to get out of the record books," Riley said after the Heat shot 25.6 percent, lowest in the franchise’s 20 seasons, and scored only nine fourth-quarter points. "Every time a shot wouldn’t drop, we just got more and more frustrated."
Said it last time the Heat faced the Raptors and will say it again: Where was the Heat when Jamario Moon was being unearthed?
To reiterate: Jose Calderon will be a restricted free agent this offseason. In other words, the Heat has no chance with its mid-level exception.
‘The [veterans] told me it’s the worst it’s going to get,” Cook said of the loss.
Riley characterized the loss as ”complete from the get-go.” Losers of five consecutive games, the Raptors showed no mercy. Toronto buried Miami even with All-Star forward Chris Bosh as a nonfactor. Bosh returned for the first time in 10 games after a knee injury and had eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. But his teammates dunked, sank three-pointers and made layups at will.
The Heat found success only at the free-throw line, converting 9 of 10 chances.
Miami, which finished with a nine-point fourth quarter, failed to score on 12 of its final 13 possessions. Included in that run were two turnovers, a missed dunk, a missed layup and four missed three-point shot attempts. The Heat’s final point came on a Barron free throw with 7.9 seconds left.
An undrafted free agent out of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Anthony has played in only eight games this season, but is considered a player with a future.
"He reminds me a lot of Ben Wallace when Ben Wallace came into the league as a raw talent," Riley said. "That’s where he’s at, but he’s willing to work at it. He’s got a chance."
Which is all Anthony was looking for when he left Montreal for junior college in Florida.
"I’ve been fortunate to see some improvement and some production for all the work I’ve put in," said Anthony, whose mother came from Montreal to see him play professionally for the first time.
"One of the words they always use is pursuit, just always be pursuing the ball. That applies to offence to defence to rebounds to blocks. Just always having that aggression of always going after the ball, wherever it is."
The Edmonton Chill are trying to help the Toronto Raptors find their next Jamario Moon.
The Chill have come to an affiliation agreement with the Raptors, beginning this season.
"How much more exciting can it be for a player when they come to an IBL franchise?
"These guys aren’t getting rich playing in the IBL, but this is an opportunity for improvement individually so they can get better contracts next year playing overseas or wherever they play," said Chill head coach Paul Sir.
"But to now have an NBA team affiliated and looking closely at what you’re doing on the court, it’s a phenomenal opportunity.
"Jamario Moon played in the IBL last year and now he’s with the Raptors. I think there were 12-18 kids out of the league (last year) were playing in NBA summer leagues or the D-League, so it’s very good basketball."
The agreement between the two teams will give the Raptors a chance to invite players on the Chill to their summer league so they can get a better look at them as a possible fit into their system.
TJ Ford with a controlled performance where I only counted two outright “bad” decisions. But then again, Chris Quinn isn’t going to trouble you as much as Ronnie Price would. The crowd was great tonight and encouraged Ford every time he made a play, you can tell the fans are behind him and want him to get through this literally insane stretch of basketball that he’s been playing. He has his detractors and those who think he’s a selfish and spoiled brat that has a me-first attitude and is jealous of the success of Calderon, but that’s stretching it big time and being unfair to TJ. He’s not been playing well and he knows it, I do think you’ll see a different TJ over the next few games. He hit rock bottom in Utah and from here on out things will improve. What would facilitate this process was if he’d start so things would return to “normal”. There’s been plenty of discussion over this point for the last two days, no point regurgitating it again.
Over this last stretch, Rasho has played like a champ, and with Parker, were the only Raptors who showed any heart/passion/desire/competitive fire. I really think he has earned the starting 5 spot, but no, Smitch, in his infinite wisdom, starts Hannibal Lectre. BS…anyways, Raps Fan still loves you Rasho, keep up the solid play my-man, we will be turning to you in the playoffs to battle Howard in the blocks.
Here is something I never thought I would say. It may be a one night event but Philadelphia fans showed more class then the folks at the ACC. Allen Iverson returned to Philadelphia last night to a hero’s welcome. Iverson is truly on of the toughest athletes in pro sports. He gives his body to the game and thus gave his body for many years for Philly Fans. They had the intellect to understand that and appreciate that. While in Toronto when the Raptors were taking the boots to the Heat. Fans at the ACC were chanting for Pizza. They booed the Raptors when they committed a turnover that ended the fans dream of pizza . THIS IS STUPID. IT IS A SLICE OF PIZZA. GET OVER IT. This is the second time this issue has been a factor at the ACC. Fans that are TRUE basketball fans don’t care if they get a free piece of somewhat quality pizza. They would be happy seeing team history. These people that cheer about Pizza need to get a clue. The Raptors need to end the embarrassment that this promotion has become. If Raptors win you get Pizza cut and dry. If not that get rid of the promotion altogether. May not be popular but it is better then letting you fan base embarrass your organization. The face the ACC is full every night is great. But it is not great when fans who spend far more to go to a game then the cost of a pizza slice , It seems silly that these people to get bent out of shape over something that likely cost less then it did to park at the game. In short GROW UP PEOPLE. True fans are embarrassed by your behavior.
"Like the good team they are, they had no mercy," Riley said. "They just put us away."
"You don’t get anywhere in this world by having sympathy, especially not in the NBA," Bosh said.
Did you see the Raps game tonite? Talk about rejuvenation!! Cue up some Award campaigns!! After dominating a Miami team full of scrappy, motivated journeymen, the Raptors issued a stern warning to the league: WE ARE RESILIENT!! give us the depleted worst team in the league and we will devour them 6 times out of 10. Now that Bargnani has recreated a night-light on his face, he will rarely hesitate to drive the lane against Mark Blount and Earl Barron. RARE-LY!!
the Raptors stifling D forced the intangible-laden Heat into a petty 25% from the floor. red-hot Joel Anthony was constantly frustrated by a determined Raptors team out to prove their worth, and let me tell you, whoever doubted the Raptors ability to win big games was quieted tonite.
It was a strange record-setting night indeed, as the Raptors returned from an atrocious western road trip sporting a nasty five game losing streak.
MLSE billed this as a Premium Game which meant higher than normal ticket prices because the Toronto fans could expect to see an elite team with some marquee names. It just didn’t work out that way.
TJ is capable of drastic swings and hot streaks in his game, as one thing he is not without, is talent. His value isn’t as shot as many would think, given that he strings together a healthy month or two, as a talented young player is always appealing as a reclamation project. Heck, even Telfair was seen as a desirable piece of the puzzle in acquiring KG.
The best case scenario is that his upswing occurs in the playoffs, so his value rises from the ashes and BC can work some magic this off-season. I assume by now, Colangelo does recognize what we have (and don’t have) in TJ and parlays that into a player who is in a similar point of his career, but could just need a change in scenery to make the leap.
Hand over the reigns to Jose, hand D-Mart a clipboard, and bring Roko over already.
The end of the TJ era should be near, and while his blowup during the Utah game might seem like the least of his follies, it just might be the watershed moment in realizing that.
Mar 20th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I gotta say, I was making fun of Sportsnet for dropping the Raptors and labeling them hockey-lovers (which they very well might be) but after reading that Globe article and understanding the finances and technicalities behind it, I can’t really blame them for backing out.
It’s telling of MLSE that they are the only franchise owner that demands such an inequitable contract, as if the Leafs cash cow wasn’t bringing in enough dough as it is.
Arsenalist’s last blog post..Raptors take out frustration on Miami
Mar 20th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Agreed.
I’d love to see the trail of that money. You would think they would use it to improve their own station, but in my opinion, Raptors TV is worse than it ever has been.
That said, you see the same ads over and over again on Raptors TV (most of them being MLSE related) so they are probably generating little ad revenue. Given the low amount of subscribers to the channel, I guess they use their license money to pay their hosts. Paul Johnson, I’m sure, is worth it all himself. (cough).
Scott’s last blog post..Linkage - March 20