Game Notes: Suns @ Raptors, Dec. 5, 2007

Quick thoughts the day after seeing Steve Nash play NBA ball in person for the first time as the Suns whupped the Raptors 136-123:

• Nash honestly doesn’t give two shits whether he scores or assists or not, so long as the offence is clicking. Nash clocked 18 dimes in 33 minutes, and easily could have had five more had teammates hit open shots. He also could have rested for the entire fourth quarter, but for a hint of a Raptor comeback.
• Speaking of open shots, it’s been a damn long time since I’ve seen so many players so wide open from downtown. I had to use shorthand while keeping game notes at the ACC because the pace of this one was so frenetic, and there are chunks of notes that read “Hill – WO – 4 3, LB – WO – 4 3, LB – WO 4 3, NO D!” That translates, in proper English to three wide-open three pointers on consecutive Suns possessions, as well as a little note to remind me — as though Sam Mitchell wasn’t going to remind everyone after the game — that the Raptors’ defence was atrocious.
• Speaking of Leandro Barbosa and his 35-point evening, it’s fair to say that he’s as quick, if not quicker, than TJ Ford, who is widely considered one of the NBA’s fastest players. In fact, starting in the third quarter Mitchell began playing Ford and Jose Calderon together for long stretches (something he only did last year in the very last few minutes, to ensure the Raps had two ball-handlers for an inbounds pass), simply so that TJ could try to use his quicks to keep up with LB. The problem with this is that TJ, much like his teammates, wasn’t so into the defence on this night.
• The Pizza Slice Promo has got to go. There was a period of three minutes or so in the early stages of the fourth quarter (my notes have it beginning with about 11:00 – 8:30 remaining, when the Raptors were down about 20 points and were making a mini-run. The crowd was simply going crazy, booing every call that went against the home team (and loudly), screaming their lungs out for every Raps bucket and generally creating some genuine pandemonium in the ACC. The Raps cut it to 13 before an LB layup and a Raptor turnover essentially swung the momentum back to Phoenix, but the crowd was still into it … then I looked at the scoreboard. Those three minutes of wild enthusiasm? Yep, they coincided with the Raps going from being down 106-87 to trailing 117-101. In other words, the game was pretty much done before they started cheering. It wasn’t a plucky and inspiring comeback they wanted, it was a cheese and pepperoni slice. Ridiculous.
• It was interesting to see Jamario Moon matched up against a much more polished version of himself in Phoenix’s Shawn Marion. Matrix has the same uber-athletic hops and wild athleticism that has Toronto fans falling in love with Jamario, and he also knows when to employ it and when to play within himself. It was a tough matchup for the rook, as he couldn’t just leap over everyone to tip those rebounds out to his teammates. Marion was also hell for him on the defensive end when he wasn’t on the bench with foul trouble, as Moon is used to cheating on his man a bit to come over for those crowd-pleasing blocks. Matrix got a few open looks out of it, but missed a bunch of them. Still, eight points, 10 boards and two blocks ain’t bad for Moony.
• At least the fourth-quarter mini-run brought Canada’s favourite son back out for a curtain call. When the Raps cut it to 13, and were pushing the tempo, Mike D’Antoni had to put Nash back into the game, allowing the crowd a chance to voice their displeasure about his no-more-national-team-basketball decision. Just kidding. They cheered him at the intro, they cheered when he subbed in or out, and if they could have been in the locker room after the game, they would have cheered when he came out of the showers. More power to him, I guess. I’ve made my feelings on that issue known.
• Shawn Marion is very soft-spoken in the locker room. Amare Stoudemire is not. Amare is also a freak of nature when viewed up close and in person. Also, he has so many tattoos I was not sure where to look first. It’s quite a sight.
• The good news is that, after surveying the locker rooms of various basketball teams, I have finally found a player who comes close to matching my chiseled physique. The bad news is that it’s Eric Piatkowski.
• As a final note, unless I have time to add some more later, Joey Graham was awful in this one. He started both at tip-off and after halftime. He did very little with his minutes and, after fouling Amare for a three-point play, getting fouled himself at the other end, fumbling away a loose ball recovery and then taking an unnecessary, hurried shot … he found himself yanked after just two minutes of the second half. Bad Joey. Very Bad. Get well soon, Andrea and Chris. We can’t beat the good teams without at least one of you.

Why does Stevie Nash get a pass from Canucks?

(Disclaimer: I would never hate on Canada’s greatest basketball talent. I have nothing but love and respect for Steve Nash. He’s incredible — as a player and as a person. But there is something about his latest decision that bugs me.)

So … Steve Nash won’t be playing for Canada’s senior men’s national basketball team when it tries to qualify for the 2008 Olympics this summer. He won’t play in the Olympics if they happen to qualify, either. Probably, he’ll never play basketball for his country again.

And that’s okay. He’s getting a pass. He’s busted his ass for Canada in the past, does more than his share of outreach work and — thanks to his back-to-back MVP awards — is the greatest ambassador for the game this country has had since Naismith.

Still, it’s a good thing for Nash that he doesn’t play hockey.

If Steve Nash were a hockey player who, at age 33, was perhaps no longer a spring chicken but was otherwise in the prime of his athletic career (he’s on pace for a career high PPG average this season, and still leading the NBA in assists, of course), do you think he would get such an easy pass from Canadian fans when announcing he planned to skip the Olympics?

Not a chance. Imagine, two months before the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City … Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman (at the time 37, 33 and 36 years old respectively) call a press conference:

LEMIEUX: Good morning. We’ve come here today to announce that the three of us will not be playing for Team Canada in the upcoming Winter Olympics. For me, it is simply too much hockey. After returning to the NHL less than two years ago, I have been playing hockey non-stop, and a two-week break would really help my body to recover for the stretch drive. My back is not strong right now and I need all the rest I can get. I am sorry — but I just can’t do both.

SAKIC: While I may not be as old as Mario or Steve, I have been playing full NHL seasons, as well as frequent extended playoff runs, since 1988. The Colorado Avalanche have a shot at the Stanley Cup this year and I plan to lead them in the playoffs. I simply can’t risk my body — though I’ve been lucky enough to be healthy throughout my career — in an Olympic tournament at this point. I just can’t do both.

YZERMAN: I’m also nearing the end of my career, and while I may not have recovered from cancer like Mario courageously has, at this point I am basically playing on one good leg. The Detroit Red Wings’ management team has stacked our roster with hall-of-famers and our fans expect nothing less than the cup. It’s my job to bring it to them. At this point in my career, I just can’t do both.

Imagine, for one moment, the reaction of the average Canadian hockey fan to this press conference. Not pretty, right? Would that picture to the right have been taken in the weeks that followed? And if it hadn’t, who would have taken the blame? Would ridicule and scorn be sufficient? Or would we be talking drawing and quartering?

We takes our hockey seriously, y’all.

Yet it wouldn’t have been unreasonable at all for these three great and respected athletes to have made that sort of announcement. In fact, all of them had a better case for missing those Olympics than Nash does for missing the upcoming Beijing games:

• While the Salt lake City Olympics happened in the middle of an NHL season in which all three were captaining their respective teams (Sakic and Yzerman were both leading teams expected to vie for the cup, much like Nash’s current situation in Phoenix), the Beijing Olympics — as well as the qualifying tournament — will happen in the summertime, when there is no season to interrupt and eight months to recover before the next playoffs. The NHLers had six weeks of regular season hockey separating the end of the Olympics and the start of the playoffs.
• Steve Nash has a bad back. No secret. Guess what? Mario Lemieux’s back problems were worse. Mario needed someone to lace up his skates for him in the latter half of his career. Joe Sakic, it’s true, was relatively healthy. Yzerman, however, would not have been lying had he begged off by saying he was playing on one leg. That story is well documented. Two of those three had better cases than Nash to miss the tournament due to injury.
• Had Yzerman, Lemieux and Sakic missed that tournament — while the outrage and disappointment of Canadian fans would have been severe — there wasn’t exactly a shortage of capable players to step in and fill the holes in the lineup. Perhaps no one with their leadership credentials would have been available (there WASN’T really anyone else with those kind of creds), but Joe Thornton, Brendan Shanahan, Paul Kariya, Jarome Iginla and Scott Niedermayer were not exactly also-rans. In comparison, Steve Nash is by far the best player Canada could hope to have on its national basketball team. After him, we have only the newly-Canadian Samuel Dalembert and the always-absent Jamal Magloire — no one with skill anywhere close to residing in Nash’s lofty stratosphere.

But Nash isn’t playing, he isn’t really apologizing for not playing … and we’re all okay with that.

Perhaps we’re so blown away by the idea of a little, white point-guard from British Columbia leading his team to an NBA championship that we’ll forgive him his absence from a team that — even with him and all his prodigious skill — would be lucky to sneak past the round-robin portion of the Beijing games.

Perhaps we just like the guy so much that we’re willing to let him do what he wants with the few years of elite-level play he has left. After all, as I said above, he is as good a person as he is a basketball player.

Perhaps — and this one, at least, is true — a berth in the Olympic basketball tournament wouldn’t mean nearly as much to us as a country as that Gold medal in Olympic hockey that we’d been denied for 50 years. Perhaps we just don’t care enough about hoops to demand the same dedication from our ballers that we’ve come to expect from our puckheads.

Either way, Steve Nash is getting a free pass. Does he deserve it? I don’t know. He has my respect, as both an athlete and a human being. But he’s only 33, there sure seems to be a lot of life left in him and I know that if he was a hockey player I wouldn’t even ask him if he was planning on playing in the Olympics. I would expect him — as the best at what he does in our entire nation — to be honoured to wear the red and white.

But apparently, because he wears sneakers instead of skates, a lot of us don’t feel that way. Why is that?

The top 10 basketball commercials

For some reason — perhaps better marketability, more urban cred or just because the players are so much cooler — basketball commercials are, without fail, always better than those featuring athletes from other sports. Football players tend to be too cheesy, baseball players have a distinct lack of personality, and while I love the ‘fastest game on Earth’, hockey players are, well, nice guys who can’t really act for shit.

But basketball commercials — most of them — never fail to entertain. Here are the top 10 commercials featuring hoops stars. Argue about the order in the comments.

10. Chuck vs. Godzilla — What more needs to be said? They’re about the same size now, too, so maybe they should have a rematch…

9. MJ vs. Bird — The Showdown. I remember loving this commercial when I was about 13 years old. I’d planned to rank it higher, but watching it now … it just seems stilted. Bird was never a great actor to begin with (although the ‘no dunking’ line is gold) and him and MJ don’t really have any chemistry. The whole thing just seems kinda overdone and cheesy, like everything McDonald’s did in the 90s. It does get points, however, for the music and outfits. I think MJ rolled Will Smith while he was coming off the ‘Fresh Prince’ set.

8. Steve Nash and Ali G — “No disrespect, but you is Canadian, so you don’t even speak English.” Nash is too earnest and good-hearted to be a truly funny guy, but he makes an absolutely perfect straight man. And his flat-out ‘No’ just sells the whole bit. I could stick all four of the Ali G promos on here, but we’ll go with Steve, because we have a soft spot for him.

7. AI and Jadakiss — This one makes it on here because they let Iverson rap, and Jadakiss is great, and it’s all shot in black and white … and it’s the perfect way to sell one of the best — and at times, most controversial — players in the league. Everything about this commercial works for AI. You couldn’t do this with Duncan (too traditionally good and respected), Nash (too white), LeBron or MJ (too corporate) or anyone else really. AI’s the only superstar baller in the L who can get down on a track with Jadakiss and not have it sound contrived.

6. Air Force Ones, 25th edition — “Together we stand, divided we fall/ United we form Voltron and take on all…” Another reason that basketball commercials are consistently better than those from other sports? No other sport has a genre of music so perfectly married to it as hoops n’ hip-hop. When the beat blends with the ball, the result is almost always moving. This clip is a perfect example.

5. Steve Nash — “If you wanna be good, you gotta practice.” Yeah, we’re biased, but Nash is just awesome, his work ethic is inspiring … and video of L’il Nash is priceless. The only commercial on this list that loses points for being just a tad too cute.

4. Astronautics — MJ feat. Spike Lee. We dissed MJ for his wardrobe above, but without him, the basketball commercial as we know it wouldn’t exist. If you’re ever bored, type in Jordan and Nike and Mars into youtube and watch them all. Some of the first hints of both MJ’s off-the-charts marketability and Spike Lee’s filmmaking greatness. “Do ya know, do ya know, do ya know?”

3. Vince Carter — Nike Shox. My hatred for Vince burns deep, and I can’t see it ever expiring. He quit on his team, disappointed a whole city of fans, weaseled his way out of town, sulked, whined and generally transformed Toronto from his city to a city united against him. There was a time though, when happy-go-lucky VC and his otherworldly hops owned the NBA. It’s in that spirit that I am able to watch this outstanding clip — with music that perfectly matches the feel — and grin like Air Canada was not grounded on the tarmac of my heart for evermore.

2. Charles Barkley — “I am not a role model”. As always, Chuck says it before people even realize it needs to be said. This commercial aired in 1993, and it’s still worthy of viewing today. Also, Chuck gets huge props for writing the ad copy for his own commercial. This one is all him, and it stands the test of time.

1. “MJ — “Let your game speak”. The blueprint for so many of those overwrought, yet awesomely powerful, basketball commercials of the last five years. There’s a moment in this clip when the viewer realizes what’s going on — that this is a montage of the next generation coming up paying tribute to their hero — and, even though I now know it’s coming, it sends chills down my spine every single time. This commercial is gorgeously shot, too. You can also take it as a metaphor for the influence MJ has had on the commercial game. Think of the classical music and gorgeously shot slo-mo/pictures of the current “Where Amazing Happens” campaign and others like it.

Disagree? Did I forget one? Let us know below.

Mr. Clot’s Power Rankings

We’ll turn it over to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues’ own Mr. Clot, aka Jizzy Ranks, for the inaugral (for this site, anyway) edition of his weekly power rankings. We’ll be back with a post tomorrow and game coverage from Raps-Suns on Thursday:

NBA stars were crossed this week with franchise players going out banged up (LBJ, CB4, Duncan, Boozer) and a number of upsets early in the week of the rankings’ top teams (San Antonio, Phoenix, Boston, Dallas), including a couple of choke jobs by Kobe and Ray Allen at the stripe with their respective contests in the balance. The big winners this week, as last week, are the Warriors who are so hot they’re literally causing fires (umm, Key Arena scoreboard) and the Bucks dropping like lead because of some uninspired play after a nice winning streak that had them in the rankings’ top 10. Our one-man panel truly appreciates your feedback and thoughts, rants or raves, to keep him honest and he gives thanks in advance. Of course, it never hurts to remind our faithful readers (since so many seem to get it twisted) that these rankings are based on recent play, primarily on the week ending Sunday. So without further ado, let’s get retarded …

1. Boston (1) – Say what you will about their soft schedule to start the year or the fact that the Big Three are logging major floor time, but don’t ignore the fact that they have a whopping +13.5 point differential with a league-best 87.4 PA, as well as being undefeated on their home parquet. In a taut match filled with copious jawing, notably between LBJ and KG and Pierce (with whom ‘Bron has a heated rivalry), Allen choked up the win in regulation and they lost in OT for only their second loss, but have begun a new winning streak, including annihilations of New York and Miami. While we’ll concede that their two losses have been against their biggest Eastern rivals, we need to see more struggling before we drop them out of this spot. Who knows, maybe the “destiny” we referred to last week was to go out like the first great Big Three (Baylor-West-Chamberlain), who only squeezed out one championship (in a magical year) after years of being denied. Look out for panel-favorite Big Baby who’s beginning to do big things off the bench with his size and skill.

2. San Antonio (3) – The loss of Tim Duncan for possibly an extended period of time could be difficult to overcome with an extremely tough schedule upcoming for the champs. Other than succumbing to the Revenge of the Slovenian Slayer, Beno Udrih, the Spurs have continued their excellent early-season play, having won 8 of their last 9. As mentioned in last week’s edition of the rankings, Parker and Ginobili are putting up big numbers on any given night (see Parker vs. WAS or Ginobili vs. MIN this week) and they will need to until the Big Fundamental returns.

3. Phoenix (2) – After a couple of lackluster outings against two capable teams in Houston and Golden State, which halted their super run of 8 straight, the Suns rebounded with a big win over the L’s best road team, the Magic, withstanding Dwight Howard’s 30 and 23. They also got their east coast roadie off to a good start with a win at MSG, with Grant Hill having a season-best game. Raja Bell’s return from injury and the valuable play he provides at both ends of the court is also good news.

4. Orlando (4) – The Magic are having a franchise-best year, buoyed by their stellar road record, including having gone 3-1 on their current trip, with the only loss coming to a Phoenix squad which swept the season series (and thus dinged Orlando for half their losses this year). Dwight Howard, believe it or not, has more dunks this season than over 25 teams in the NBA. What a stat. Not only does he have the panel in slack-jawed awe, Kevin Durant also had stars in his eyes and labeled him the most dominant player in the league right now after he watched the big fella drop a silly 39 and 16 on the Sonics in the Emerald City. I hope he can convince DStern to raise the rims for the slam dunk contest so we can see him attempt the between-the-legs VC-style jam he says he has up his sleeve.

5. Utah (5) – Other than a curious and disappointing loss to the lowly Knicks, Boozer and Deron Williams continue to terrorize defenses with precisely executed pick-and-rolls, running off wins in 5 of their last 6 games. Unfortunately, Boozer tweaked his ankle in Philly (and bravely continued to lead his team to the win) and is out for a bit but they may not miss him if AK47 continues to have the stat-stuffing games we come to expect from him, like his triple-double output in a win against the Lakers.

6. Golden State (12) – Ok, now we’re talking about the type of basketball that drove the Warriors to the biggest playoff upset in recent history … after a nightmarish beginning to the season, The City are the hottest team in the league right now with 6 wins in a row and 9 of their last 10. Baron Davis is unstoppable and the only team which may have contributions as balanced as GS is the Suns. Monta Ellis also needs more pub – he’s averaging 22 PPG in the winning streak. Not bad for a mere 22-yr old drafted in the second round straight out of a tiny Mississippi high school. As well, another precocious youngster, Andris Biedrins, the greatest Latvian player ever, has been averaging double digit rebounds in the winning streak. WHOA NELLIE! (ok, that was totally gratuitous, we couldn’t help it).

7. Detroit (11) – The Bad Boys look like they are beginning to fire their pistons, having won 5 out of their last 6 to retake control of the Central division. After some stops and starts due to injury and family business, Rip is looking like his all-star self and him and Mr. Big Shot are starting to regain their place as the league’s best backcourt. ‘Sheed and Dyess also seem healthy again and Jason Maxiell is providing quality minutes off the bench with his defense and his work on the offensive and defensive glass. Look for them to create some distance between their division rivals in the next little while.

8. New Orleans (8) – After a terrible loss to Minnesota in front of the handful of fans NO gets these days (come back, OKC!), the Hornets maintain their spot at eighth in the rankings by continuing their winning ways on the road (only second to Orlando), beating Atlanta, and getting the Mavericks’ monkey off their back by finally beating them after 8 years (!). Barring catastrophe by injury, Byron Scott will be taking his team to the postseason this year. CHRIIISSS PAULLL!!! (say it in a high voice)

9. Dallas (6) – After a blazing start, the Mavs have fallen into a bit of a malaise lately and need to find a cure if they are going to keep up with the Spurs (and even the Hornets). They are awful on the road and lost for the first time at home this week against an inspired Wizards group. Beating crappy Minnesota and Portland at home does nothing to boost their ranking this week and so they drop to the edge of the top 10.

10. Denver (10) – With K-Mart looking like his ol’ bad self and Anthony Carter facilitating opportunities for the league’s top scoring duo, the Nuggets may be getting back to winning consistently after a stretch in which they lost 4 of 5, including a tough loss at home against Indiana and a blowout suffered in L.A. at the hands of an unconscious Sasha Vujacic. Running roughshod over Miami the way they did is a good sign of things to come, but as we continue to keep in mind, they need to win at sea-level to go up in these rankings.

11. Toronto (15) – Just when it looked like the Raps were going to turn the corner with a healthy Chris Bosh leading the way, the franchise player, worryingly fragile this year, goes out again for a few games. But like American Express, depth has its advantages, with smooth Argentine Carlos Delfino and Il Mago stepping up with career-highs at home against an LBJ-less Cavs squad. Ultimately, the offense runs through Bosh and they will need him back soon. Is it time to start Jose Calderon, Sam Mitchell?? In place of a stung T.J. Ford, the most underrated point guard in the league has dropped 11 dimes a game and leads the league with an obscene 5.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Also, the rookie sensation of the early season, Jamario Moon, continues to wow people with his uber-athleticism and steady play. You want evidence?: Mitchell has made the Moonwalker second in MPG only to Toronto’s lone all-star.

(Ed: If you haven’t seen it, watch Moon absolutely destroy the Canadian national anthem below)

12. Houston (14) – The Rockets have been a tough team to figure out lately. After a tremendous start, they’ve lost over twice as many games as they’ve won (of course, Mac was out for a while). T-Mac and Yao are doing their things, but each has been somewhat inconsistent in stringing together solid games every time out. Stevie Franchise is back in Adelman’s mix, however, and this could add more scoring punch to a relatively anemic team aside from their dynamic duo (no one else averages double digit points). They will have to pick it up soon to keep pace in the Southwest, well-known as the toughest division in the L this year.

13. Indiana (20) – The Pacers make the biggest leap in this week’s rankings on the strength of a 3-1 west coast road trip, with their only blemish due to a career night from panel-fave KD and a Sonics team that scratched and clawed for their first home win. Rucker Park legend, Bucktown’s Mel Mel the Abuser, is having a career year and should be considered among the elite tier of point guards right now. Junior is also starting to play like a #3 overall pick and fulfill his potential, dropping 30 at altitude and then helping take out his pop’s squad at Staples. The return of JO doesn’t hurt either … They are a great running team (second in the East in scoring), but their recent success will be tested this week against Phoenix and Orlando.

14. L.A. Lakers (13) – P-Jax just got signed to a ludicrous extension, but what does it matter if Kobe starts to whine again because they continue to lose winnable games, despite an excellent start. Were it not for the fact that they got to play Seattle at home and were saved by a 4^th quarter explosion by little-used Sasha Vujacic, they might be on a 7-game losing streak right now and be below .500. It also looks like the Ariza-Evans/Cooke trade is working out much better for the Magic as the latter both made contributions to an Orlando win at Staples, while Ariza rode the pine all night.

15. Cleveland (9) – Right now the wine-and-gold are decimated by holdouts (Varejao) and injuries (Marshall, Hughes), including the only player they cannot afford to go without, His Majesty King J. After culminating a 4-game winning streak to get back into the thick of the Central race with a huge win against the Celts, they have dropped 3 in a row with LBJ “witnessing” losses in a suave turtleneck combo. It is fortunate that Z is having a career year as is the Black Viking, Drew Gooden, who is finally beginning to show why he was so highly touted by The Logo coming out of KU. I’ll take the wait-and-see to see how they hold up without LBJ, but I don’t think it looks very good.

16. Washington (18) – The Wiz have fought hard and played some inspired basketball without their leader and #1 griller in the league. They are 5-4 without Arenas, with the remainder of their Big Three playing amazingly even though teams are keying on them every night. They rise in the rankings even without Gil because they went in to Dallas and took them out and then hung in on the road in the Alamo despite Tony Parker going off and Bruce Bowen holding panel-fave Caron Butler in check. With Agent Zero out until probably March, though, the road ahead is looking bleak.

17. Sacramento (24) – The Kings also make a huge leap in the rankings, despite a poor overall record, on the strength of rousing wins against two Texan teams, including the champs. After topping the 20-point mark the first 9 games of the season and being among the league leaders in scoring, and then dropping in scoring average by 10 PPG for the next 5 games, Kevin Martin seems to have broken out of his mini-slump with big games against their NorCal rivals and against his old coaching staff. It also helps that this has rebirth has coincided with spectacular all-around play from RonRon, who must be playing for his ailing daughter.

18. New Jersey (16) – Another difficult team to figure … last week, we suggested that with Vince’s return and after a gritty win in L.A., the Nets would come home off their road trip and start stringing together some W’s. Boy, was that wrong … Defensively-challenged Memphis took them out at IZOD, they barely beat Philly with VC acting as 6^th man, and then he was back in the starting 5 the next game against Detroit, in which they got hammered. They are a pathetic rebounding team – you know it’s bad when your point guard is your rebounding leader, especially by a large margin.

19. Milwaukee (7) – To paraphrase the great African novelist Chinua Achebe, things seem to be falling apart for the Bucks just as fast as they were looking up. They had a brief glimpse of the Central mountaintop after a 5-game winning streak and then slipped and fell off the peak, losing 4 games in 5 nights, mostly to the dregs of the Eastern conference. This included their first home loss of the year and a terrible collapse in MSG. Now they’re having players-only meetings and Larry Krystkowiak is at wit’s end with respect to how quickly they’ve done this Jekyll-and-Hyde job. Sucks for them that they have to go out west for five games, now. Good Luck, Buck!

20. Memphis (23) – Things are looking better for the Grizz, winners of 3 of their last 4, with the return of Darko to the starting lineup and the continued solid play of rookie Juan Carlos Navarro, who Marc Iavaroni needs to insert into the starting lineup permanently. Still need to work on their porous defense …

21. Atlanta (21) – The Hawks are still up and down, struggling to reach the .500 mark, as November comes to a close. The problem is, with so many weapons, the ball is not being shared as much as it could or should be and this needs to be rectified. Panel-favorite Horfy, however, has earned what looks like a permanent starting spot with poised play and monstrous board work.

22. Philadelphia (26) – The Sixers are maturing as a team and are identifying themselves as a defensive team, on most nights, with Iguodala hawking the ball and Dalembert anchoring the middle. Kyle Korver is back from groin injury, but is struggling to find a rhythm and regain the form that made him one of the most feared gunners in the L ever since he came into the league.

23. Chicago (28) – Ok, so the Bulls are starting to play like they should, but they’re not quite there yet. Deng and Gordon are carrying them through this stretch and Ben Wallace is at least showing some life and doing his thing on the glass. Nocioni is also coming in and imposing his will on the game, which he is so good at. Unfortunately, Kirk Hinrich is looking like the pro golfer who wakes up one day and has totally lost his swing and all his confidence and can’t break 80 for the rest of his life. We don’t know if it matters anyway because, as Yogi might say, it might be getting late early for these guys.

24. Charlotte (17) – The ‘Cats have dropped five straight now, with losses coming to the two worst teams in the East, allowing breakout games from both Miami and Chicago, even with them having plenty of rest this week. We would think that this young team would be hungrier and we’ll see when they’ll snap this streak. We keep fawning over their “Fab Four”, but their starting center, Primoz Brezec, is giving them jack squat, which is disappointing because the panel thinks he’s got some potential.

25. L.A. Clippers (19) – Starting the season in our inaugural edition’s rankings top 10 due to an amazing 4-0 start, they are a walking hospital and have plummeted to the rankings cellar, going 2-9 since. The bad news includes rookie Al Thornton sitting because of his own aches and pains. The good news is Corey Maggette and Brevin Knight are back and, of course, the undertaker of the L, Chris Kaman, is playing at, dare we say, an all-star level.

26. Portland (22) – After starting the season over .500 at 4-3, the Blazers have dropped 9 of their last 10, although the schedule has been tough. Aldridge is continuing to improve steadily but they struggle to put it in the hole and Brandon Roy’s slump doesn’t help matters at all. Steve Blake is always steady at the point but Martell Webster needs to have a breakout year this year, as does Travis Outlaw.

27. Miami (25) – Even in the East, the Heat does not look like it will be among the top 8 at season’s end. They just can’t seem to string together consecutive wins and troubling defeats to Boston and Denver in which the games were over early and neither Shaq nor Wade were factors. They might very well be 4-17 by the time they return from their extended sojourn out west. Yikes. The panel also takes back any optimism that was attributed to some good play from Penny. He should retire.

28. New York (27) – The panel must be up front about our negative bias against the Knicks because it will inform anything we write in this space next to their name. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a u-know-what. It really doesn’t matter that they went .500 this week, the stink bomb they laid in Beantown should overshadow anything that they accomplish over the next little while unless they can show that that was an aberration. Somehow, we don’t think that’s going to happen. If Milwaukee didn’t cough it up in MSG, we might have had them in last place this week. FIRE ISAIAH!!

(Ed: If you somehow missed the woeful ineptitude at the Garden, here’s the short version)

29. Seattle (29) – After beatdowns administered by the Lakers and Dwight Howard (in Rashard Lewis’s return to the Pacific Northwest – warm ovation, btw), the Sonics finally got their first home win in a scrappy effort and a career-night from panel-fave KD. We were encouraged by his good shooting nights early in the week but have been brought back to earth by a single-digit, 2-12 performance against Golden State. It is sad that Jeff Green is so unheralded compared to KD, but he was only three picks lower, and is showing that he has game, pulling down more boards in less minutes than his draftmate. Kurt Thomas’s return will provide some more beef up front, especially critical on the defensive end. The good news mitigating their poor record is that they play hard and are getting better.

30. Minnesota (30) – The T-Wolves were not really expected to realistically win any games this week, but managed to take out New Orleans on the road and played the Mavs tight on a big game from Al Jefferson. Is that enough to leapfrog their partners in futility from the Northwest division? We don’t think so … Randy Wittman says Corey Brewer is still learning the nuances of the offensive game at this level, but he must have also heard the panel’s appeals to start him, which he has the last two games. I’d like to see this team with Randy Foye running things, it would probably look a lot better.

Game Diary: Cavs @ Raps, Nov. 30/07

It’s Raptors vs. Cavs … and you know what that means: Drew Gooden vs. Andrea Bargnani, y’all! Epic battles ahead!

Chris Bosh is on the inactive list with a strained groin (I had a strained groin put me on the inactive list one time … ifyaknowhaI’msayin) and LeBron James is active, but not dressed (which gives me a disturbing mental picture of a naked LeBron dancing around the dressing room like an over-sugared six-year-old). I had to hype the game somehow, so Gooden-Bargnani it is.

Q1

11:42: Devin Brown,starting in place of LeBron, travels on the Cavs first possession. Solid.

10:50 Bargnani misses a three, but makes up for it by playing close D on Drew Gooden at the other end. I watched the Celtics-Cavs game on Tuesday night, and Gooden was draining open 18-footers by the bushel, so Bargnani needs to use his length to bother him on those shots, just like he did right here.

7:30 Toronto’s new favourite superhero, Jamario Moon, swats the hell out of a weak layup attempt by Sasha Pavlovic. The rejection starts a fast break finished with an Anthony Parker layup. 11-6, Raps. If you think Raptors fans are a little premature in hailing Moon as the greatest thing since some dude who used to wear No. 15, pause for a second and imagine him as a rookie for the Maple Leafs. Now you begin to see the true meaning of hyperbole. If he announces that he can skate, I’m leaving town now.

6:30 Drew Gooden putback slam rocks the rim and brings the Cavs within one: 11-10.

6:13 Bargnani drives baseline, right past a flat-footed Drew Gooden, and throws down a nice jam. His first step is so quick for a seven-footer that there’s not a lot Gooden can do when Bargnani knows where he’s going and doesn’t hesitate. Between Bargs and Jamario, the crowd is getting into what would otherwise be a pretty lacklustre first quarter. 13-10, Raps.

4:30 It’s worth noting that the Raptors are finding ways to get field goals when the jump shots aren’t falling, as Parker gets Pavlovic to bite on a pump fake and takes it in for a layup. This bodes poorly for Cleveland should the Raptors shots start falling later. (That’s called foreshadowing, yo!)

2:35 Gooden hits his third straight almost-open jumper, making it 22-21 Cavs. Bargnani wasn’t as close up to him as he was at the start of the quarter. You can’t give him space on the elbow. He’ll hit those all day without a hand in his face. I think he hit seven of them in a row against the Cavs.

2:20 After a timeout, TJ Ford makes his return after missing three games, coming off the bench to replace Jose Calderon and immediately finding a cutting Jason Kapono for a quick dime.

1:37 Bargnani makes a 12-foot, turnaround, fadeaway jumper on the baseline look so effortless that a countless number of gawky white guys will be trying that move in pickup games all weekend. Ninety-five percent of those shots will miss. 25-23 Raps.

:30 L’il rusty, TJ? Ford careens into the paint and either gets it stolen or gets his shot blocked. They call it a shot block, but it doesn’t matter – you knew it was a turnover of some kind the second he spun so wildly into a group of about five guys.

Cavs lead 28-27 at the end of one.

Q2

11:17 Do we really NEED a nickname for Jamario Moon? Swirsky was tossing around ‘Super Jamario’ and other fans want Moonman and the like, but since the crowd just chants ‘Mooooooon’ every time he blocks a shot or sinks a bucket (he just swished an 11-footer), why give him a gimmicky nickname? It’s fun enough to chant ‘Moooon’! And it’s his actual name! Leave it at that.

10:45 Brown steps out of bounds for his second turnover of the game. You don’t really notice how much the Cavs truly miss LeBron until the ball winds up in the hands of his replacement.

10:00 Kapono gets his weak-ass layup swatted away by Zydrunas Ilgauaskas. Almost as nasty as Moon’s first-quarter block. 29-28 Raps.

7:47 Carlos Delfino hits a three. I’m not going to bother with foreshadowing. It’s the first of many. 38-32 Raps.

6:59 Bargnani’s back, and he nails a 22-footer. Then grabs a rebound at the other end. Then Moon hits a three and the crowd goes nuts for him. I know why they love him, too: he’s older — just like them — and he’s more than paid his dues, he came from nothing to win a roster spot, he can jump really high and he has a really cool name. What’s not to like? Don’t worry though, Raptor fans will boo him once he slows down a bit and has a bad game in a Raptor loss. The Leaf fans among them will, anyway. Old habits die hard. And bitterness lingers forever.

6:44 Ira Newble fouls Jamario Moon by getting directly under him as he goes up for a rebound. How long has it been since the Raptors had a guy that could jump so high defenders have to back under him or else he’ll just grab the ball above their heads? The Cavs remember last weekend and they KNOW this kid has serious hops.

4:42. Delfino hits a three. Just keeping you updated. 46-36 Raps.

3:02 Bargnani spends almost a full minute missing shots, getting rebounds, missing foul shots, getting the rebounds at the other end off a Cavs miss, catching a pass and missing another jump shot. That’s not to say he’s having a bad night. He’s playing well, he just really, really, REALLY likes to shoot the basketball. 46-38 Raps.

1:41 Delfino hits a three. That’s fourteen points in the second quarter for Carlos coming off the bench. 51-41 Raps.

Halftime, with a Damon Jones three right before the buzzer, just to ensure we don’t get fat and happy during the intermission. Game’s not over yet. 54-49 Raps.

Q3

11:30 The offence is running straight through Bargnani to start the third as he gets touches on the Raps first three possessions. A missed shot, a three-in-the-key turnover off the ball and a long jumper. 56-51 Raps.

9:09 Moon blocks another shot, this time by Devin Brown, and Bargnani hits a three at the other end as the Raps start to open it up. When they get their shooting down, even without Bosh, it’s really tough for opposing teams to keep up. 61-51.

7:37 Parker misses a layup, Rasho gets the offensive board and is fouled, hitting two FT. 63-51 Raps.

6:07 Gooden hits a nice layup, Brown rolls in an ugly layup for the Cavs to cut it to 63-57. Sam wants a timeout.

5:50 right after the TO, they run a play for Moon, who almost throws down a huge baseline dunk, but gets fouled instead. See? They know you have to put a hand on him because if he dunks, this crowd will go bonkers. 65-57.

5:00 Jose Calderon — who hasn’t been mentioned yet simply because he’s just taking what the defence gives him and racking up assists without turnover — is given a path to the basket, which he takes, making a layup as he’s fouled by Drew Gooden. 70-57.

4:48 Boobie’s in the house. Gibson hits a three to cut it to 10 again, 70-60.

4:12 A bad pass by Moon results in a turnover and the call on a reaching foul by Calderon has Sam Mitchell royally pissed at the refs. Mitchell is out on the court, waving his arms like he’s trying to fly, but no T. Boobie hits another 3, however. 70-63.

3:52 Bargs eschews the jump shot and takes it right at Gooden, resulting in two made free throws. 72-63.

3:00 Moon gets up and down at least three times in the span of two seconds to tip a rebound out to Kapono. The two Cavs (Drew and Z) under the basket each got up and down once. Moon has some good shoes or something!

2:20 Moon then jumps over teammate Carlos Delfino to grab a rebound. Because he knows that he’s on my fantasy team and he wants to rack up the stats — that’s why.

1:40 A Moon dunk that would have brought the house down is negated because he travelled. Take it easy, rook. 74-64 Raps.

0:11 Delfino hits two free throws to put the Raps up 12, and Eric Snow hits one of two at the other end to make it an 11-point game after three quarters. 76-65 Raps.

Q4

We interrupt the Game Notes to bring you the Carlos Delfino show:

Delfino for three! Delfino rebound! Delfino tips a TJ Ford miss into the bucket!

10:18 A TJ Ford steal and layup makes it 83-65 and the Raps are on a 7-0 run.

10:02 More Carlos! A board on a missed three and a long jumper at the other end gives him a career high 24 points on the night, on 9-14 shooting. For a couple of second-round picks? I am STILL blown away by the difference between Bryan Colangelo transactions and Rob Babcock moves. (They even get a different parlance: Colangelo makes transactions, Babcock makes moves.) Raps up 20: 85-65.

8:52 Two quick Pavlovic jumpers, a two and a three, cut the lead to 15.

7:38 Bargnani misses a three, Damon Jones (the best shooter in the world, y’all!) makes one. It’s 85-73. Sam is pissed and wants to yell at his guys. Calderon and Parker return to the floor for TJ and Kapono.

7:00 Damon Jones banks in a layup to cut it to 10 … again.

It’s the BKBL INTL Turning Point: With the Cavs threatening, the Raptors remember that Bargnani guy who can shoot a little bit. Bargs hits a jumper, misses a jumper, hits another long two, grabs an offensive rebound and plays some good defence on Drew Goden (using his length to keep a hand in his face while preparing for the drive) forcing a miss. With 4:30 to go, it’s 89-77 Raps. Game Over.

3:18 Raptors try to work the clock, and do, until it runs out and they take a 24-second violation.

2:00 A Boobie Gibson three makes it a nine-point game with two minutes left.

1:39 The Raps work the clock to perfection again, but forget to shoot at the end of it. Another 24-second violation. Gooden is hassled by Bargnani under the basket and turns it over, sealing the victory. The crowd knows it’s done and breaks into a large ovation, even though — gasp! — the Raps won’t get to the 100-point, free-pizza mark.

Final score (after Cleveland extends the game, drawing mad boos from the ACC faithful): 91-82 Raps. Raps improve to 9-7, Cavs fall to 9-8.

Bargnani (26) and Delfino (24) both had career highs. Bargnani also kept Drew Gooden in check for some critical possesions.

Sam says

On Bargnani: “I though he played really good defence on Drew Gooden … (On offense) He’s trying to do things that we’re asking him to do. He’s got a lot of things running through his head right now … Andrea played well for us. He played well defensively. He scored 26 points for us, which we needed. We just have to keep him on this track and keep making him better and better.

“The thing I liked about what he did on the block was, when they doubled him, he made the right pass. He got the ball out and we were able to get the ball to the right guy … He doesn’t have to score when he’s doubled. He just has to make the right pass.”

On letting the Cavs back in after going up 20: “We just didn’t manage the game. We got up 20 with eight minutes to go and we came down and took two quick shots, one of them was a three, and then another quick shot, and then we had two turnovers, so there were four possessions where we didn’t get a good shot and they hit two threes and scored, so… We can’t do that. When you’ve got a 20-point lead at home with eight minutes to go, you’ve got to control the basketball game.”

Mini-Battles

Bargnani played tight defence on Drew Gooden for most of the game, earning praise from his coach. What was he trying to do going into what he knew would be a matchup with Drew Gooden?

“I knew that Rasho would (be guarding Zydrunas) so I knew Gooden is a better matchup for me … He’s a very good player. He always tries to post you up and he’s very strong under the basket and you have to contest his shot The main thing is to try to keep on top of him and keep him out of the paint and I tried to do that.”

Next-up: The Wizards in Washington Saturday night. It’s a road game so no Game Diary. But I’m sure we’ll be watching if anything important happens…

We’re almost rolling…

… And we only missed the first month of the season!

Welcome to the latest in a long line of blogs that will be updated frequently for six months and then abandoned when something more interesting to write about comes along. Unless, of course, this one catches on.

Anyway, as The Swirsk would say: “It’s always a pleasure to be talkin’ Raptors ball.”

If you’re wondering who The Swirsk is, you probably ended up here by accident.*

Check back here, beginning Dec. 1, for updates, essays, criticism, praise and general rumours n’ bullshit from a couple of the hundreds of thousands of Raptor fans on the internet. There’s a reason why Bill Simmons dreads finding mail from Raps Nation in his inbox. They’re a special breed: Constantly feeling disrespected, hardly daring to hope that the turnaround of the past 18 months has actually happened, always aware that one Chris Bosh knee injury will cause the rest of the NBA to write their team off … and most of them are still trying to adjust, after decades of cheering for the Maple Leafs, to rooting for an organization that makes decisions, moves on them and improves.

We’ll have game diaries —written from a correspondent in the pressbox at the ACC — posted the morning after every home game, weekly NBA power rankings written by a hoopshead currently working in OUA ball, a sprinkling of essays on the Raptors and the rest of the basketball world, news updates and general snarkiness of the type that was formerly found here, before your favourite pundit decided to secure some press passes, bear down and focus a bit instead of spraying venom wildly.

So check us out again. We’ll be insightful and funny and snarky and witty and condescending enough that you will wonder, at least once, why the hell you didn’t just start your own blog.

For more Raps coverage and a weekly fantasy sports column every Friday, check out 24 hours Toronto. (It’s the free one, found in the bright orange boxes).

Back later, but not much later, with a game diary from Raps-Cavs, Nov. 30, 2007.

* Chuck Swirsky, the often cheesy, always adorable, voice of the Raptors.