Andy’s World: Rautins on Hectic Pace

New York Knicks guard Andy Rautins is having the year of his life. From college team to national program to NBA club, SWAY Sports catches up with the young gunner happily hurting in the middle of it all.

“I’m still a little groggy,” said Andy Rautins at his stall in the Toronto Raptors locker room at the Air Canada Center. Basketball Canada had taken it over for a back-to-back set in the middle of August to play host to Team France as part of their warm up in preparation for the FIBA world championships in Turkey, August 28. French forward and former Seattle Supersonic Mikael Gelabale caught Rautins with an errant elbow in the second half of the first game, chipping a tooth and sending him into a fog.

On the second night Rautins checked himself out of the game in the third quarter after catching an errant knee to his left leg. He grinned through the charley horse with the media afterwards when answering a question about setting tones and physical play. The road to Turkey was just three exhibition games old and already Rautins had his war wounds on display. It’s one of the traits that the undersized and young Canadians will have to play on if they are to make an underdog’s growl at the worlds. There is an edge to players like Joel Anthony, Jermaine Anderson, Denham Brown, Robert Sacre and Rautins that collectively has never been present on a Team Canada roster. A particular nastiness that isn’t incrementally taught, but rather inherency polished over time.

“It feels good to hear them say that we’re a physical team,” said Rautins. “A lot of people are doubting our assertiveness and if we can bring it every night. That’s the type of team we are.”

One the second night of the back-to-back tilt versus the French Rautins reclaimed his touch, registering his best shooting night since turning pro. A 19-point show on an efficient 6 of 12 shooting (3 of 6 three-pointers) to go with three rebounds was more than enough to lead his squad over the struggling Frenchmen 85-63. The team still had its lapses, particularly in the third quarter when the aggressive and sure footing they displayed in a first half route began to fade. All part of the process as the club continues to gel at a rapid pace given the time crunch of the schedule.

“We’ve just got to come out more fired up in the second (half),” said Rautins following that contest before the team boarded a flight to Greece for more exhibition play. “Team’s over there (in Turkey) will take advantage of that. We’ve got a lot of work to do and that’s the good thing, winning by 20 points and knowing you can get a lot better. That’s where out focus is, to just come out and play a complete game.”

For Rautins the schedule has been unrelenting in 2010 and few rookies will have gone through as much of a summer tour come October. First it was a grueling NCAA season with Syracuse University and the mayhem of March Madness before going on to the workouts and hype surrounding the NBA Draft and his 38th overall selection to the New York Knicks. Then there was his summer league play in Las Vegas that saw him shoot poorly but impress defensively. He has been in training camp with the Canadian national team since the end of that stint, signed on to play a crammed schedule of a dozen or so games over another three weeks including the worlds. Finally, after all of that grind, it will be back home to New York and into to his first NBA training camp where he will try to make the roster of the rebuilding Knicks. The physical tax of his whirlwind summer will substantial but it is the mental aspect that is the real bend with that kind of itinerary.

“Especially going from a zone type of system at Syracuse to playing in a three-on-three man-to-man type of atmosphere at NBA tryouts,” said Rautins pointing out one of many adjustments. “You’ve go to be versatile and you’ve got to do what’s asked of you so I don’t think it’s too much of transition. The way we play, our defense is similar to the style of the Knicks as well as coach D’Antoni’s system of get out and run.”

And there are the doubters; the ones who say the 6-4 Rautins may not have what it takes to translate his shooting game to the NBA. His passion though, is undeniable and matches a noted work ethic that has honed his skill as a scorer. If there is a commitment to defense as well Rautins will turn some heads. He carries a chip, his relentless barking on the court got under many a skin while he was in college. Last season he was punched in the groin by fellow Canadian and St. Bonaventure center Andrew Nicholson when the Bonnies grew tired of Rautins’ swag (and penchant for talking on the court), but it was his back-to-back three-pointers moments earlier to help stave off a comeback in that 85-72 December victory that was the last straw. Nine months later the French, clearly irritated during their Toronto visit, punished him physically. Similar poundings have helped add grit to his reputation as a premier shooter in the NCAA over the last two seasons and of this past NBA draft. It would seem a Mike D’Antoni led, light-it-up Knicks offense would be right up his alley, but with heavy competition for jobs to be won and training camp six weeks away the critics fire away.

“You look at my career at Syracuse and I’ve improved every year,” offered Rautins. “I almost doubled my assists from last year. I work my tail off and a lot of people don’t know that. When I get there my job is to knock down shots and be consistent from the three. I think a lot of people underestimate my ability to make plays.

“I was drafted for a reason. The coaching staff sees that and they like me. To almost go first rounds says something about me so I’m looking forward to making a name for myself and proving all the doubters wrong.”

Rautins, who officially announced his signing with the Knicks on August 12th, is excited at the possibilities that exist in the Big Apple and on the floor at Madison Square Gardens.

“It’s on the up and up in New York,” said Rautins. “Look at the signing of Amar’e (Stoudemire), that’s a big piece for our team – the $100M man. There is talk of Chris Paul and they got Anthony Randolph who is a great up-and-coming star. The team is making moves and I think that sky’s the limit for us.

“I talked to coach (D’Antoni) and he said my role was going to be to get out there and shoot the ball, get out there and fill the lanes and spread the floor out. Especially now since I’ve got Amar’e, the inside-out game will be great.”

Just another addition to the growing list of things that have made Andy’s world a beautiful/crazy place to live, and it gets more so. That leg tweak that he suffered in the second game against France may have caught up with the team in Greece where they continued to prepare with exhibition play. Rautins was held out by the coaching staff over the entire European schedule of tune-up games and practices and with the WBC’s at the doorstep, a healthy and ready to go Rautins vital to success. Right now that presence is in some doubt, with national team head coach Leo Rautins expressing concern (”We just don’t know,” said coach Rautins when assessing the likelihood of son Andy rejoining the team on the court). No doubt the Knicks are keeping a close eye as well. To many basketball observers Rautins was a risky pick and both he and the organization are anxious to prove them wrong.

But before he dons the orange and blue Rautins will wear the red and white colors of Canada. He has faced the underdog label for much of his basketball life and his national team will attempt to overcome a similar tag with him co-piloting the effort. He’ll have to be every bit the hot shooting, grinding, yapping, meddling and pestering presence of a guard the young nationals need him to be.

“There’s got to be a great deal of focus,” said Rautins. “It’s the world stage. We’re looking to go out there and do some damage playing against the world’s best.”

SONOFAGUN: Carmelo Made for New York

Around SWAY Sports headquarters we’ve been saying it for a year, based mostly on vibrations from Carmelo Anthony’s camp and then more recently from some trusted media brethren who now seem convinced that the forecast is right; Anthony wants out of Denver.

Check the archives, it’s been said right in this tagged corner on many an occasions that Anthony would and should be New York bound. He’s tough enough to take the hard crowds, crushing media and constant demand. Of the 2003 draft class that has dominated NBA headlines for over half a decade Anthony has been the steadiest (seven straight playoff appearances) if not the most spectacular or decorated. He may not have made as smooth an NBA landing as James and Wade but he’s almost there and up until this summer had taken more character and basketball punches than both along the way. Approaching his prime years and showing growth and maturity with each passing season, Anthony seems ready to blow. Blowing off Denver may be necessary if he wants to do it on the level of his peers.

The New Jersey Nets is another strong possibility and the more likely one if Anthony decides to sign the Nuggets’ recently tendered extension. By committing himself to the organization for another three years the end of his contract would roughly coincide with the Nets’ planned moved to Brooklyn and its new billion-dollar arena and borough rebuild. New owner Mikhail Prokhorov is fast becoming a Mark Cuban like name in the industry and has buckets of money to use to surround Anthony with marquee talent. With point guard Devin Harris and frontcourt demon Brook Lopez on board there are foundation pieces already in place. Armed with a massive and impressive development plan the Nets figure to be something of a sports industry darling in a few years and having Anthony on board would make them a beast. Add the name power and cultural connections of rap star and entrepreneur Jay-Z and the new Brooklyn Nets could be a package too sexy to pass on. After striking out on every major free agent on the market this summer the Nets and new general manager Billy King are in countdown mode to have a contender in place by the time the team relocates to the BK.

Blame the “Miami Thrice” if you want to but Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics preceded the LBJ/Wade/Bosh power teaming. There are many examples of fantastic trios throughout NBA history but none quite put together like those two groups. Even the Los Angeles Lakers’ pairing of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest/Lamar Odom doesn’t seem as contrived because they were put together over time and not out of nowhere. However, because of this recent history should a potential Anthony/Paul/Stoudemire teaming really come as a surprise? Nah, son. We should all see it coming (and so will the collective bargaining negotiations).

Looking across the new NBA landscape, that is quite simply what it’s going to take. Going into battle for a championship with less than three all-star caliber players is a lightening-in-a-bottle philosophy these days, and a franchise guy can flirt with team success for a decade or join forces and rule the day. For all the folks screaming bloody murder over the audacity of the Miami signings a head check is in order. See, what they are really mad about is the fact that these guys did it at such a young age. Isn’t that the real difference between Barkley, Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon teaming up for the Houston Rockets? Clyde Drexler crapped out on his quest for a ring as the franchise player for the Portland Trailblazers before joining Olajuwon pre-Barkley to win a championship. Former All-Stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone joined Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in 2003-04 for an ill-fated stab at the Larry O’Brien trophy. The examples are many but none include stars of this stature in their prime. Folks aren’t mad at the decision, they’re mad at the young twenty-something punks who got to make it.

While Anthony’s wedding reception is being held as the turning point in the publification of his possible desire to leave the Denver Nuggets, the team that drafted him seven years ago sits and waits on his decision to sign their 3-year $65M offer that’s been on the table for six weeks. Newly minted New York Knick Amar’e Stoudemire has been in his ear and Chris Paul reportedly made some pointed remarks at the formal dinner about a possible union up north, remarks that were not taken kindly by owner Stan Kroenke who was also in attendance.

Anthony will be the next to wield the power currently afforded to the brightest of that 2003 class. He has already done so subtly, neither confirming nor denying reports having to do with his basketball intentions. Both James and Bosh cruelly practiced that art against their respectively ditched cities of Cleveland and Toronto. Bosh went so far as to admit he purposely toyed with the emotions of his fans. By pushing the $65M pact into a corner Anthony is covertly doing the same thing - especially if a trade request follows - but he has choices…

First he can be clear and up front with the team, tell them he no longer wants to be a Nugget and in doing so formally request a trade. That most likely means Anthony would be in another uniform before the season starts or shortly thereafter and the Nuggets have made it clear they are not afraid to trade away their top gun before he becomes a free agent in 2011. Without him the Nuggets have a massive rebuilding project on their hands, as Anthony’s exit would signal the end of an era. Old bodies like Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin would most likely follow within the year. The second option would be for Anthony to sign the contract, which would not preclude him from professing his desire to leave in the future. If Paul has two years remaining on his contract and was ready to push for a trade in July, what’s to stop Anthony? What has ever stopped anybody? However, Anthony signing the contract would give the Nuggets time do a couple of things like make one last run at a title and put together the best deal possible for their superstar should it still come to that. The third would be to play out the 2010-11 season of his current contract and opt-out at the end of the campaign. Essentially that would be sending the same message to the organization as the first option and it makes a trade more difficult when a player is in the final year of his contract and remains non-committal on resigning with one particular team or another. It limits trade partners and no club wants to give up what it will take to land Anthony only to have him bolt in sixth months and leave them with no return. Any club taking on Anthony would insist upon on him signing his extension (or another variation) as a prerequisite to a deal. In the end though the Nuggets bosses will try their hardest to avoid a Bosh/James situation and be left spending next summer scrambling with major franchise decisions.

But for the Knicks, this is where they can find redemption after a summer of mostly strikeouts and second or third place finishes in the free agent race. The Stoudemire acquisition was solid; though his $100M price tag is hefty and signing Ray Felton to play the point was okay, perhaps. Neither will carry the franchise, which is where Anthony fits in, of course. Maybe he always has.

If the collusion of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh to band in Miami was so heavily rumored in both media and front offices alike for so long, did anybody outside of Cleveland and Miami not have a plan B? It isn’t a stretch to suggest that ‘Melo was the plan B because somewhere along the line he definitely became plan A, even before James’ monumental decision. That event just cemented it. Settling for Stoudemire necessitated it. Anthony suits New York more than any other current, impending or recently-signed-with-the-Miami-Heat free agent out there. With Stoudemire the Knicks are back on the map and with Paul having already requested a trade from the New Orleans Hornets and Anthony stalling on the Nuggets contract offer the dominoes appear ready to drop.

Which will be the first to fall is anyone’s guess.

Brown’s Return Right on Time

For many, the timing of Denham Brown’s return to Canada Basketball’s senior men’s national team is suspect. After failing to show up at the team’s training camp in 2008 before the Olympic qualifying tournament Brown became mostly unreachable, charting his own hoops career path that apparently no longer included the national program.

“I just think it was a dual interest,” said Brown following a team workout at the Air Canada Centre last week. “It was in my interest to come back and also Canada Basketball and the organization wanted me to come back. Me and Leo spoke over the phone about a month before camp started and pretty much spoke and cleared everything up. I have an understanding now towards team concepts and stuff like that, being more mature. And being a leader on this team. That’s pretty much what I need to do right now.”

The West Hill Collegiate star and NCAA champion with the University of Connecticut had earned a reputation in some circles as a me-first player with little patience for the lesser talents around him. It wasn’t an image defining reputation but the knock didn’t sit well with Brown who decided to end his silence and put in a call to head coach Leo Rautins and managing director Maurizio Gherardini. Rautins did most of the listening in that conversation and let Brown know he could afford no distractions along their underdog journey to the FIBA world championship set to tip off August 28 in Turkey. Brown in turn assured him that his intentions were to show and prove and according to the coaching staff he has done exactly that. Rautins has called him “fantastic” and was quick to recognize him as one of the best players in camp. Brown - a solid scorer with strong body tactics - knows he will be called on to step out of the collective at times when the team needs a veteran push of life. He also knows that he isn’t alone. NBAers Joel Anthony and Andy Rautins along with point guard Jermaine Anderson are also guys who will need to shine.

“Andy just getting drafted, Joel solidified himself as an NBA player…” Brown is naming reasons why there is so much confidence in the program right now. Why there is a palpable buzz long missing from hoops culture in this under-populated country. “You’ve got up-and-coming guys, guys who are three to four years overseas and you’ve got myself returning. This is the most talented team that I’ve seen compete for team Canada.”

That is where some suspicion has set in for some observers who have questioned Brown’s motivation. In the past year he was released by his Venezuelan team, blew up the NBDL with some stellar play and then put in a short tour in the Philippines with the Barangay Ginebra Kings. Not all roses, and returning home in time to play in the biggest professional basketball tournament in the world puts him under a spotlight that should reintroduce him to the basketball world. With a huge influx of recognizable Canadian basketball players the national program arguable has more star power up front and in the wings than ever before. Being associated with that has its privileges too.

Still for all the critics who seem ready to tear down Brown’s motivations there is a history that speaks louder than those cries. The 6-5 Toronto native represented with the SMNT from 2003-07 and was always a main contributor on the court. He is a NCAA champion, a former NBA draft pick, a local high school legend and professional baller. Quite simply, he has never needed the national team program to stand out and in turn, the program had continued on without him in fine form. Now, with both having grown immensely over the past two years, on the eve of one of the most important times in the program’s history, now more than ever they need each other. While a good performance under the watchful eyes of the world will help his professional prospects for next season there appears to be a more prideful, patriotic reasoning behind Brown’s return.

“Canada has built a foundation around the guys who are helping to build basketball,” said Brown. “We need all the support we can get. You’ve got a lot of big names such as myself, Andy Rautins, Joel Anthony and Jermaine Anderson. People now know us personally and as basketball players. We’re all young guys with 27 being the oldest so we’re going to make a big push for the worlds. By the time the Olympics come around we’ll be a strong competitor.”

Without a clear-cut star coach Rautins has always been forced to employ an equal-opportunity approach. It’s an “any given Sunday” philosophy that demands a little of everything from everybody and a trust that the more capable performers can recognize when to explode without playing out of the team concept. The Canadians are not talented enough to recover from straying too far from the game plan and having strong, assured minds on the court to steer the ship when the deviations threaten is vital in the crunch. The word leadership is used a lot when Denham speaks about his new role.

“It’s needed ASAP,” says Brown. “I’ve played with the development team and coming into this team its pretty much the same aspect of playing a leadership role. I have no problem with doing that. Guys staying positive are going to help build the characteristics of our team. It can’t be just one guy leading or one guy talking all of the time. We may have six guys. As long as we are picking each other up and feeling positive we’ll be alright.”

With Anderson’s personal mantra of “shock the world” fast becoming the hook for Canada’s hopefuls Brown appears to have bought in. Along with his considerable skills and big game experience comes a new frame of mind, which bodes well for the national team and the man himself.

“Eliminate all the non-factors,” advises Brown on what it will take for him and his mates to make good on Anderson’s proclamation. “Everything going on outside of the team - guys need to eliminate that. I’ve really slowed down right now. I’m staying at the hotel, staying with the team and focusing on what we need to do.”

Nothing suspicious about that.

CHEAP SEAT: Bosh Breaks Toronto Silence

Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh was criticized steadily during the free agent process sweeping across the NBA these days, and not for his decision to bolt the Toronto Raptors after seven seasons. In media circles Bosh was being poked for doing a stateside tour of playoff games sites and their local media while never once addressing the fan base in T.O. that first brought him fame.

On Tuesday Bosh broke that silence with a guest appearance on FAN 590 radio a week after joining LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to form an electrifying trio for the Miami Heat. Before that however, his whirlwind tour of interested parties included a blackout of Canadian media and a barrage of twitter messages that drew the ire of fans and even some media.

“At no time did I want to offend anybody or make anybody upset,” said Bosh. “I just wanted to reach out to the fans everywhere. If people felt betrayed I’m sorry for that.”

Still, despite seven years of service ending with an abrupt and controversial slam Bosh has no regrets about the rollercoaster car he let fans in on. No doubt there will be a lot of eye-rolling that his Toronto media appearance comes at the end of the ride, when most of the important questions have already been answered.

“I’m happy with the way I handled things,” said Bosh. “I don’t think I got out of line at any time.

“I stick by my decisions. If I could do it over I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Bosh is unlike any other basketball star the city has seen. Its first franchise player Damon Stoudamire whined his way into a trade out of town to his hometown Portland Trailblazers after a soured relationship with team management. Ditto for Tracy McGrady who forced his way back to his home state of Florida. Vince Carter did likewise many years later and then – from his new home with the New Jersey Nets - admitted to dogging it on the court while playing with the Raptors. Bosh committed none of the above infractions and while he may not have been as dynamic a player as the above-mentioned trio, from beginning to end he was the team’s best ambassador and rarely, if ever, stopped pushing his game.

“I miss Toronto,” said Bosh. “I will always miss it. I have nothing but good to say about organization and the city.”

It is a city that is sure to react strongly when Bosh returns as part of the most hyped combination of players this generation has ever seen. As part of the Wade/James gang he will already being feeling a more intense spotlight but for him the wattage will increase each time he steps across the border and returns to the Air Canada Centre twice a year. Stoudamire, McGrady and Carter all received a violent delivery of boos and jeers for years after their defections. Bosh may have been more loved but that won’t change the salt-in-the-wounds feeling most northern hoops fans are still smarting from a week after the Bosh era ended for them.

“As far as the boos are concerned,” said Bosh. “I hope they don’t.”

Alas, Bosh has always been much smarter than that.

“Rock” Leads Underdog Canadians

At the podium for a Basketball Canada press conference at the Air Canada Centre the Senior Men’s team managing director Maurizio Gherardini and head coach Leo Rautins sit patiently. They are there to push Canada’s ever-evolving warm up schedule that will include China and a set versus France at the ACC as preparation for their appearance at the upcoming FIBA World Basketball Championship in Turkey this summer. The internationally renowned Gherardini has helped engineer this as part of a new committee designed to improve Basketball Canada’s programs and global presence. Both he and Rautins have substantial name power on the Canadian hoops scene, but right now they are listening to the man they flank in front of the gathered media. They are listening to Jermaine Anderson.

“Growing up in the Downsview park area, now to have a chance to play where the Toronto Raptors play, is definitely a blessing,” says Anderson. His voice creaks but doesn’t crack.

“It’s been six long years and you can hear it in my voice. I sound timid but at the same time I’m excited.”

Anderson is talking about the long and winding road of the Canadian Men’s basketball program, one he has traveled unflinchingly as a player for over half the decade. It has, in most ways, been a journey back to respectability after the program peaked with a seventh place finish at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Since then the celebrated Jay Triano has been replaced by Rautins as bench boss and the hoops hero of those Olympic games – NBA icon Steve Nash – has all but retired from international competition. The Canadians have not even played in a FIBA World Championship since 2002.

“Rock kind of exemplifies what our team is about,” Rautins told the assembly in reference to Anderson. The nick “Rock” was bestowed upon the 6-2 guard because of his chiseled frame and cool demeanor in the crunch. Both have been developed over time and Rautins has seen and, at times, guided the growth.

“He came in and he’s developed every year and gotten better to become one of the premier point guards that is going to be out there playing this summer.”

At 27 years of age Anderson will be entering the prime of his career in 2010, one that has taken him through Germany, Poland and in 2009-10 to Croatia. Like many of his Team Canada mates the European leagues provide both a living and the international experience to help battle the world competition. Last season with Cedevita Zagreb Anderson was their standout guard, leading the team in assists and serving as a solid scorer and defender. His shot selection is a big selling point and his physical conditioning allows him to stay frenetic on both sides of the ball.

“When you’re playing against the best in the world there is no choice but to get better,” explains Anderson. “When you’re playing against USA, Greece, Turkey… it just helps you. For us, going over there, learning the European game and then coming back over does wonders when playing in the summertime.”

A two-guard for most of his career, Anderson was persuaded by Rautins to play the point position for a Canadian squad that was lacking floor leadership along with speed and strength in the backcourt. There was also a lack of available talent at the position. From that generalship Anderson has not only begun to emerge as the point guard the coaching staff envisioned but also as the heart and soul of a team he can now call his own.

“We put so much into it as individuals and as a team and it’s such an honor to play for your country,” says Anderson. “For me, I give so much of myself during the summers – working out, doing yoga, lifting and running – while I should be resting. My teammates do the same thing. Hopefully we can shock the world.”

Again.

The first surprise came when Canada defeated the Dominican Republic at the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship in Puerto Rico to secure their spot in Turkey. Beating a Dominican team that featured NBA bigs like Al Horford, Francisco Garcia and Charlie Villanueva to snag the last ticket for the World championships provided the kind of swagger that can only be provided by success.

“We lost the Uruguay game and we felt that we were done and thought that we had lost our opportunity,” Anderson recalls. “(Then) we beat a team nobody thought we could beat and one that was definitely more talented than us on paper. Hopefully that gives us confidence going into the (FIBA) world championship.”

Anderson was the truth in that game, connecting on five of his eight three-point attempts and finishing with 21 points. Just as big were his five assists and play in the crunch alongside Syracuse schooled shooting guard Andy Rautins. It was the type of game-saving point guard performance not seen since the days of Nash and unfairly, Anderson has had to listen to observers and talking heads pine for the return of “Captain Canada” while he reconfigured his own game to replace him. His spot-clinching performance in Puerto Rico at least slowed the critics.

“Everybody said we couldn’t do anything without Steve,” says Anderson. “To have some success without having Steve here, it’s more for the younger guys. You can be successful as an individual or as a country without having a guy like Steve Nash on the team. We don’t have any superstars, we just have a bunch of guys that work hard and we believe in the system that the coaching staff draws up for us and we go out there and try to execute it. Right now it’s gotten us to Turkey.”

The next step will be tricky. Despite Anderson’s confidence in his band of generation “next-ers” he admits that the addition of some big league talent wouldn’t hurt. Canada fields one of the youngest teams on the circuit and adding veteran experience is vital to their underdog shot of earning at spot in London for the 2012 Olympics. Miami heat forward Joel Anthony has been a regular while San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner is in the process of becoming a Canadian citizen and could eventually play. Long time hold out and NBA veteran Jamaal Magloire remains a long shot. Anderson however, sends a call of caution.

“None of those guys are Steve,” he warns. “The guys we have – Joel and hopefully Bonner’s going to play - are guys that buy into the system. They don’t say, ‘Well, because I’m an NBA guy I’m going to do this or my own thing’. They’re just like everybody else. When you have guys like that who believe and work hard it helps us.”

When Anderson talks about belief he isn’t referring to Sacramento Kings center Samuel Dalembert. When his attitude began to rub teammates and coaches the wrong way (the word “entitlement” has been the polite description) Rautins booted Dalembert out of the program in the middle of the FIBA 2008 qualifying tournament in Greece.

“It’s disappointing for sure,” said coach Rautins at the time. “But I think you have to have players who are a 100% committed to it. 



“If not, it’s not going to happen for us.”



Canada failed to make the cut for the Beijing Olympics that summer and the loss of Dalembert was noticeable. Despite the disappointment the more important message of team unity had been sent and was a powerful motivational tool in Puerto Rico. Anderson in particular, has carried that message well.

“When you look at him from the outside he seems quiet but he is very passionate,” says Rautins moments after leaving the podium. “He’s been through a lot. For years it was like: “You don’t have Steve? Well, who do you have?” Here’s a guy who wasn’t a natural point guard. We had to develop him into a point guard and he is at a point now where he can play with anybody. He’s had this tremendous commitment to playing for Canada even when people weren’t necessarily supporting him. It was a great moment (when) he stepped up as big as anybody in the biggest game, which tells you what he’s all about.

“It’s been fun to see the growth.”

Look beyond the well-honed physique and the stone cold clutch play and the tag “Rock” has come to mean so much more for Anderson. He may never be the most talented or naturally gifted player on the court but his approach ensures that nobody will be working harder and few will be more prepared when called upon to perform. The name “Rock” has now mostly come to represent the piece of foundation that Anderson’s game, sacrifices and attitude have contributed to the national program, helping to give it something new and fresh to stand on heading into the world championship.

“I don’t think a lot of people expect us to do anything at this tournament but I think we’re going to shock a lot of people,” Anderson spouts confidently. “It’s going to be a great tournament for us.”

Playoffs Won’t Right Wrongs in Toronto

Nobody can hide from the truth and with one game remaining in the NBA regular season the Toronto Raptors are still ducking. Trying to play the new underdog role as they sit outside the playoff picture sounds like a last ditch ploy at self-motivation in a self-destruct season.

 

How do you know that the Raptors are uncomfortable with who they are? That they have yet to secure an identity that lasts more than a few weeks? The answer can be found – at least in part – in the moves that have gone down over the last month within and around the team.

 

A total of four changes to the starting line up have been made during the last three weeks. The broken face that ended Bosh’s season last week forced a move at power forward but it remains the only change that wasn’t by head coach Jay Triano’s own design. The changes began by returning Jarrett Jack to the bench in favor of adding Calderon’s handles and experience to the frontline. Rookie DeMar DeRozan was sent to the bench as well and after a disappointing season and an ill-advised night on the town Hedo Turkoglu’s act finally wore thin with the team. He was benched for a game and disciplined for going out to eat after claiming he was ill and pulling himself out of a blow-out contest at halftime.

 

Scrambling to find the right mix of players in March is insanity for a team in a battle for the last playoff spot in the east. The various reasons behind the moves, at the end of the day, don’t matter. Either does the emergence of Sonny Weems as a go-to scorer and Amir Johnson as a capable performer on both sides of the ball. Even if you are in love with DeRozan’s upside – if not his current side – he represents a youth movement quietly brewing in the Raptors’ background. Add a newly minted Andrea Bargnani and a young point guard in Jack, not to mention another lottery pick should the Raptors fail top qualify for the postseason, and suddenly the squad seems to be built more for the future than the now.

 

Listening to Triano give props to his team’s effort after a drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday- the team that took over the eighth seed with that win – was an insult to anybody who bought a ticket or watched from home. Triano is a class act and would never throw his charges under the bus but there is a difference between that and simply telling it like it is. Sugarcoating the team’s toughness issues and motivational shortcomings is to downplay a glaring weakness that nobody in the organization seems capable of fixing. It is perhaps the one thing that keeps this team, year after year, from getting over the hump. It is what keeps them faceless.

 

With the Bulls’ win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night all the playoff seeds have been set in the east. All except for the eighth spot. To claim it the Raptors must beat New York at the Air Canada Centre on the final day of their season while hoping that the Charlotte Bobcats, who have already claimed their playoff spot, beat a Bulls teams that will be playing the second game of a back-to-back to end their schedule.

 

In Jett Johnson’s SWAY Sports feature “The Last Stretch” he predicted that the “race for eight” would be decided on the last day of the season and so it shall be. Still, win or lose, the Raptors have serious decisions to make. There is a core of signed players like Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani and Jack circled around an unsigned Chris Bosh, who seems further from the team than ever before. His supporting cast is an expensive, hard-to-move collective that may not appeal to him they way they did last summer. His huge All-Star season seems for naught now, and the confounding way this team disappears when it matters helped to make it so.

 

Alas, even Bosh must be questioned. He was selected the NBA eastern conference player of the week before he injured himself but it isn’t all about the numbers. His aggression has taken a significant slide and his tendency not to force the issue inside has hurt the Raptors. His free throw attempts took a serious dip upon his return and without him the stand-around-and-watch syndrome of some of his frontcourt partners is coming back to haunt them. Without Bosh the team sunk and being more than a one-man show is necessary for success in the L. Bosh could not have liked what he saw in his absence, both during his post all-star break, injury-induced six game sit or now with his season over.

 

General manager Bryan Colangelo, after returning just four players from his 2008-09 roster, might be faced with doing it all again. Armed with a new contract extension he has some room to stretch but with a second straight season ending on the outside of the playoffs a possibility, how thin is the ice?

 

Nobody knows for sure and perhaps that is one of the problems with this squad. Mystery surrounds injuries, movement and even accountability at every turn but there is no mystery to the truth. The Raptors as-is are dysfunctional and it is nothing that a playoff appearance will ever fix. The team is a leaderless band of splintered ideologies that rarely mesh and without a uniting presence, be it player or coach, the dysfunction will continue. Its coach and franchise player most often forges a team’s identity. The concern in Raptorland is that it might already be what’s happened.

Stretch Drive Drama

At this point there are really only 17 teams at play in the field of sixteen playoff positions up for grabs in the NBA. Nine reside in the eastern conference and the other eight in the western conference, an uneven mix made interesting by several surprise turns from some teams over the course of the season thus far. Others have come as advertised and with some you just don’t know what’s up. As the last leg of the season gets underway, here is your NBA sweet 16 - and (dis?)honorable mention - in predicted order of finish.

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

There Will Be Blood

I can almost picture LeBron James going ape-shit with a pickaxe on a mission to mine black gold from the mother earth ala Daniel Day Lewis. It’s not unlike what he has been doing in the NBA for the past seven years, rocking the boat between genius and on-court insanity, doing everything but win a championship for long-suffering Cleveland sports fans. How serious were the Cavaliers about helping him accomplish this feat and thus, keep him in Cleveland for the now? They went out and got the “Big Common Denominator” Shaquille O’Neal who has appeared in five NBA Finals over the last decade. Despite a rocky start O’Neal showed enough chemistry with James - before going down with a thumb injury for the remainder of the regular season – to know that come the postseason he will be the anchor and worthy sidekick. In the meantime the Cavs went out and traded for the vastly underrated Antawn Jamison who will allow the team to continue their roll to regular season supremacy while keeping their eye on the prize.

 

2. Orlando Magic

Goodfellas

The Magic don’t miss Hedo Turkoglu no matter what you have heard, though that won’t be fully determined until the end game result in the playoffs, where it’s championship or bust after last year’s Final appearance. Is Vince Carter the guy to put them over the top? The Magic never thought Hedo was worth the $56M five-year deal the Toronto Raptors eventually gave him and judging by the way Turkoglu has played this season they were right. The Magic are happy with V.C. as his replacement but it’s the addition of Matt Barnes that has given them a grit on both ends of the floor than they have never before possessed. With Dwight Howard and Carter as your main identity, that is a must. The Magic may never be as mean as they need to be but they got to the Final in 2009 with less and if it spreads, watch out. The second overall seed in the east looks like a lock.

 

3. Boston Celtics

The Harder They Come

Nothing less than a championship will do, realistically, in about four NBA cities and Beantown is one of them. Alas, the doubters are many with injuries continuing to rattle the C’s. Kevin Garnett has clearly lost some general influence, but is he good for one last postseason push? The one where his knees fall apart in the process? Dings to Paul Pierce and a slide in scoring from Ray Allen has left point guard Rajon Rondo as the most important player on the team, and with the above-mentioned trio we’re not quite sure what that means. Despite his subtle impact Rasheed Wallace will come to play in the postseason and at something resembling full health these Celtics are still Michael Jackson dangerous. Jury’s still out on whether trading for Nate Robinson was more Marbury than good, but snagging Finley was cool in a “screw-it-let’s-just-get-downright-old” kind of way. Another division title, another home court seeding… that’s about all that’s assured for the Celtics.

 

4. Atlanta Hawks

Fast and Furious

The Hawks can be a blur at times, with all five of their starters possessing the ability to run like guards. Al Horford is a freak center and Josh Smith has refined his game, which means less stat-stuffing and loads of impact. Don’t look now but Joe Johnson could be the franchise player with the most promise surrounding him. With Marvin Williams on the up and off-season addition Jamaal Crawford vying for Sixth Man of the Year honors, nobody wants to see them come playoff time. Until then the Hawks will make a push for Boston’s third overall seed in an effort to delay their possible playoff meeting with the Cavaliers until the conference final. It would also help them avoid the hot Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks play the Cleveland Cavaliers twice more in April as well as position battling teams like Charlotte, Milwaukee and Toronto while Boston Celtics play out the string against five sub .500 teams thrown around two important games against the Milwaukee Bucks. It’s a little late in the season for the C’s to be making statements, but with all the doubts hovering around their elite status, bashing the Bucks and “unfearing the deer” would send the right kind of message. The Hawks will need to make one of their own.

 

5. Milwaukee Bucks

Beat Street

When people starting referring to the Bucks as a team of average players our collective minds boggled, trying hard to see how either Brandon Jennings or Andrew Bogut fit that bill. As a rookie Jennings has shown tremendous upside and has carried the team at times this season, admirably if you consider the season-ending injury to Michael Redd. Bogut meanwhile has become one of the best centers in the league, a steady performer with nice hands and timely defense that have him next to Dwight Howard as Defensive Player of the Year. Both have led the Bucks to a surprising fifth seed position that looks to be all theirs. A three-game set against Boston, Atlanta then Boston again on the road should prove to be a good playoff warm up to finish the season. Numbers-wise maybe the Bucks as a roster don’t match up but, since we prefer to look at digits in the win/loss column versus the stat sheet, let the record show that the Bucks have been one of the hottest teams since the all-star break, winning 16 of 21 games since February 17 with victims including Cleveland, Boston, Denver, Atlanta and Utah. Nothing average about that.

 

6. Charlotte Bobcats

Bad New Bears

OK, so bears aren’t bobcats, but our point is that it feels like the ‘Cats have just brawled their way into playoff contention, making up for a truly abysmal 11-26 road record with solid defense and timely crunch time plays, particularly at home. If they can continue a recent trend of picking up a few road games the ‘Cats will be a tough out in the first round against any of the big three… their defence is that good. Stephen Jackson has been on his best for head coach Larry Brown and the remodeling that began last summer by trading away Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler ended this past February with the trade for athletic prowler Tyrus Thomas. They should catch Miami for the sixth seed and in doing so avoid Cleveland and Orlando for starters. Brown seems headed for another successful makeover, which usually means he is ready to move on. With the Bobcats on the verge of their first-ever postseason appearance nobody will boo him if he bolts.

 

7. Miami Heat

Bird on a Wire

When Udonis Haslem talked to SWAY Sports earlier this season he went off on how all the people who doubted the Heat’s supporting cast were going to eat their words. And while Dwayne Wade’s soldiers haven’t exactly been mind-blowing, they’ve been more than what was expected. So why does it feel like their always a loss away from spiraling? Along with the Raptors, Bobcats, Bulls and Bucks right? Shouldn’t we know better by now, so fooled were we by Wade’s “off” season of a few years ago? Their 17-point comeback win over the Raptors on March 28 showed heart, reinforcing the simple fact that Wade, no matter who surrounds him in the black and red, will not allow the Heat to lose. This will mark the second straight season they’ve reached the playoffs after nearly every preseason publication predicted they wouldn’t. And how much will what they manage to do when they get there, if they get there, impacts what Wade does about his impending free agency? Not as much as you’d think but more than what Miami fans are hoping considering their tenuous hold on a spot.

 

8. Chicago Bulls

Running Scared

Who would have thought that Joakim Noah meant so much to the bumbling Bulls? Indeed, the borderline all-star only recently returned after missing 18 and in his absence the Bulls went from playoff surety to outside-looking-in status. Upon his return they have put themselves back in the hunt with the Toronto Raptors and the eighth seed in their sights. Trading away John Salmons did more good for the Bucks than for the Bulls and if it weren’t for the Raps taking a near-fatal nosedive of their own Chi-town’s finest might have been too far-gone. Instead they find themselves with a fighting chance, a scary franchise guy in Derrick Rose (who recently returned from an injury of his own) and a defending rebounder in Noah that makes an impact. If their back-to-back wins against Philadelphia and Houston after a 10-game losing streak are a sign of encouragement what does having four sets of back-to-backs remaining on the schedule (three which have the second game on the road) suggest? All will have equal importance to their chances down the stretch and at the very least they’ll make it interesting for the Raptors. In fact we’ve pegged them to straight up steal the spot on the last day of the season. How’s that for balls?

 

MENTION: Toronto Raptors

Live and Let Die

After seven years of Chris Bosh the Raptors still don’t know who they are. Most would identify them as an offensive force but it’s when they play defense that they win big. Inconsistency on that end along with spotty performances from Hedo Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani and injuries to Bosh, Reggie Evans and Jose Calderon have sapped some of the fun out of their midseason party, back when they looked like a threat in the eastern conference. Now they are hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot and part of a five-team race for the four available bottom seeds. With the way they have been playing of late the bigger surprise will be if they make it in than if they don’t. Head coach Jay Triano has already replaced Jarrett Jack in the starting line-up with former starter Calderon and Turkoglu was recently bench for skipping the teams March 26 loss to Denver with the flu, only to be spotted eating out. Not exactly the kind of dedication expected from somebody who made it all the way to the NBA Final last season. Five of their final 13 games are against plus .500 playoff teams including two sets of back-to-backs featuring Miami, Charlotte, Cleveland and Boston with three of those matches on the road. Add that the Raptors have the second worst road record amongst all current playoff teams and you get wins coming at a premium and a once-promising season fading slowly.

 

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

1. L.A. Lakers

The Usual Suspects

Remember last season when everybody from Kenny “The Jet” Smith to the Pope was saying that the Lakers were walking around with a sense of entitlement? Too sure of a championship? Too cocky for their own good? All they did was go out and win the damn thing and then oust Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest, which absolutely amounts to defensive overkill. Not that it has been blatant all season - the Lake show suffered their first three game losing streaking in over a zillion games - and all the LeBron James and Kevin Durant MVP talk has kept Kobe Bryant off the map a little bit. He is still a clear number two candidate from this view and Bryant will play like the number one come playoff time. That hard fact, along with the magnificent Pau Gasol, is the biggest reason why the Lakers are the favorites to hoist the hardware again this season, no matter what LeBron is doing in Cleveland.

 

2. Dallas Mavericks

Cannonball Run

The Mavericks feel like they are going a million miles an hour to nowhere, even with Dirk Nowitzki shining brightly beside Jason Kidd, who has moved into full blown mode as team leader. Disco Dirk is still the man but Kidd makes the Mavs go. The big trade that brought in Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood was solid and paid immediate dividends in the form of a 13-game game winning streak. Since that elongated honeymoon ended the Mavs have dropped embarrassments to both the New York Knicks and New Orleans Hornets. Haywood in particular will be a nice piece to throw up against the beefy frontlines of the Lakers, Nuggets… even the Cavaliers and Magic out east. Still, those teams appear to have more resolve, not to mention better franchise players and supporting casts. Familiarity plays and big part with the Lakers and Nuggets, who remain more or less unchanged from last season, save for a Ron Artest. The Mavs will be a handful for any first round opponent, particularly with the emergence of rookie guard Rodrigue Beaubois and the continued brilliance from Jason Terry off the pine. Alas, they seem to have bugs to work out of the new collective and ironing out the wrinkles during the regular season is a whole lot different that trying that crap in the playoffs.

 

3. Denver Nuggets

Inglorious Basterds

The Nuggets are facing a big wave of psychological warfare… with themselves. As if the loss of Kenyon Martin – in the midst of one of his best pro seasons – wasn’t tough, the biggest health concern – perhaps in all of sports – is the battle with cancer head coach George Karl undergoing. The odds aren’t good that Karl returns for the playoffs (though with Karl nothing is out of the question) so the Nuggets will be without their bench boss and their grittiest frontcourt performer. When we talked to Nuggets players they all seemed determined to move forward but with unknown return dates for both that’s easier said than done. Extra pressure will be on forwards Nene and Chris Anderson to make up for the grit they lose with Martin out. They started to slip mid-March and it took a Carmelo Anthony buzzer-beating jumper against the Toronto Raptors to snap a three-game losing streak on March 26. With Anthony’s prowess, Chauncey Billups’ steady hand and J.R. Smith’s spectacularly erratic game the Nuggets will still challenge for the second seed in the western conference, thus giving them the second “easiest” road to the conference Final. However the absences of Martin and possibly Karl will hurt both efforts.

 

4. Utah Jazz

Ricochet

The Jazz’s ability to surprisingly win on the road this season has come at a price, most notably to their home record or, should we say, some mathematical equation that measures their home wins against those of other teams. How about Denver? The Nuggets have the most home wins in the Northeast division and the Jazz rank third overall in the western conference in that department – fourth overall in the NBA. As silly as it sounds, it may mean that the Jazz are finally getting a consistent effort no matter where the ball is tossed, though a .500 road record is good not great. Seven of their final 11 games are on the road, including two three game road trips, so there are tune-up opportunities there. With all the distractions that could have stemmed from the Carlos Boozer free agency drama but didn’t the team has moved through the season admirably. There isn’t enough there to be title contenders but the Jazz are the next best thing.

 

5. Phoenix Suns

The Postman Always Rings Twice

In Steve Nash’s case the mailman rings, like, 10 times. Nash will never die. At 36 he is doing things on the fly, with a pass or shot that still boggles the mind. You thought back-to-back MVP awards was the pinnacle? Nash is averaging even more points and assists than he did last season while maintaining stellar field goal percentages from the floor to the free throw line. This is in the first season of a new contract everybody thought he was crazy for signing because of the rocky previous season and the impending free agency of forward Amar’e Stoudemire. All Nash did was turn them into a dark horse contender for the crown. Don’t sleep on the Suns. Like their Jazz rivals they have been able to stay focused on the task and with forwards Channing Frye cemented as one of the key off-season signings in the league, Jared Dudley a spark off the bench and Robin Lopez coming into his own the Suns have a great mix of youth to go with elders Nash, Grant Hill and Jason Richardson. The Suns have won eight of 10 games so far in March including five in a row. Considering that they finish the month with dates against softies New York, Minnesota, Chicago and New Jersey the Suns have a real shot at reaching up and stealing a seed from one of Utah, Dallas or Denver.

 

6. Oklahoma Thunder

Deep Cover

Even with Kevin Durant’s mug plastered on video game boxes worldwide nobody saw his Thunder team coming. What head coach Scottie Brooks has been able to do with this ultra-young squad in such a short time is phenomenal because you can see a teacher’s imprint. The focus the Thunder has as a collective is impressive, whether they are up big or in a dogfight. Game-changer Jeff Green and the growing Russell Westbrook provide excellent speed and defense while guard Thabo Sefolosha is a stopper that might be more bargain than Matt Barnes. Sure there have been lapses. Losses to the Sacramento Kings and L.A. Clippers early in the season were concerning but after November the Thunder haven’t lost to a plus .500 team but five or six times. Five of their final 13 games are against sub-.500 opponents and seven of those contests are at home where they are 22-12. Perhaps most impressive about this band of young bloods is their 20-15 road record, which has kept them in the mix for the fourth seed overall. It also makes them a dangerous first round opponent no matter where they land. In fact, if the Thunder is not a home-seeded team we’re already semi-prepared to call a first-round upset. Their remaining schedule includes dates against four of the six division leaders and how the kiddies ball out the string will play a large part in predicting their fate come the second season.

 

7. San Antonio Spurs

Cloak & Dagger

Each season you want to say that the Spurs are getting old, but they’re not. The core of Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan is still in tact and should be primal but the trio has become injury prone early. Head coach Gregg Popovich tried to pre-empt the trend by resting his main Spurs heavily at the start of the season but it hasn’t been as much help as it has in seasons past. Oddly, it’s the supporting cast that seems faded with Matt Bonner, Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill not quite the raucous reserves there were in 2009. Oh, and Richard Jefferson has been a bust as a Spur and since the team made no effort to fix the problem don’t expect a big turnaround. They’ll wrap up the 6^th or 7^th seed but we thought the Spurs would have one more dogfight left in them this season after their unceremonious dumping last spring. We were wrong.

 

8. Portland Trailblazers

Die Hard

What can you say? The Trailblazers only lost front men Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla for the season and major injuries to Travis Outlaw (before he was traded) and Rudy Fernandez. They traded for Marcus Camby to fill the void up front was a solid move by the team. They also endured a point guard controversy, which eventually led to the trading of one-time starter Steve Blake, a move that helped improve role definition. Starting Nicolas Batum has paid off recently too and the ability to make these moves and adapt to his ever-changing roster is what has kept head coach Nate McMillan’s name near the top of the Coach of the Year conversation. The Blazers have been on fire in the month of March and have maintained a healthy road record despite the bumpy ride. Good thing. Six of their final 11 games are on the road with stops in Oklahoma, Denver and L.A. to play the Lakers. Their home dates aren’t much better with two match-ups against Dallas and another versus Oklahoma on April 12. The Memphis Grizzlies play seven of their final 11 games on the road, six of those against playoff teams. That helps the Blazers hold off the all-but-dead Grizz as much as anything.

Raptors’ Wright Calls For More

After Wednesday night’s 113-87 loss to the visiting Utah Jazz reserve guard Antoine Wright faced the media in front of his locker. His spoke carefully, perhaps in part bewildered by the performance his slowly but surely slipping Toronto Raptors squad had just put on. It was an effort devoid of any urgency whatsoever. It was written all over his face and if any Raptors could look each other in the eye after the loss, it would have been like looking in the mirror, which is the first place Wright suggests they look.

“The way we played tonight was piss-poor,” said Wright with no need to emphasize.

And he wasn’t asked to. The proof was in the pudding almost from the get-go when the Jazz executed on both ends of the floor without much resistance from the hometown representatives. The Raptors have been accused of being over-confident at times this season, particularly during their high point in January and February when they were winning against some good teams only to falter against lesser opponents. They’ve tempered that glow recently but at least there was an edge to that dampened trait. Starts are concerning now and third quarters are iffy again. Key forward Hedo Turkoglu continues to dip in and out of the line up for various reasons. At least one starter has been changed. The uncertainty all of that brings seems to have helped to suck the life out of the team. It’s as if they don’t believe they should be in this situation instead of finding a way out of their new reality.

“It’s a bit of a letdown,” said Wright of the team’s recent efforts at home, which have include blowout losses versus the Oklahoma Thunder and Jazz by an average of 25 points. “We’re playing for so much and to have all this at stake and still be worrying about trying to guys up for games is frustrating. I know it’s frustrating to out fans.”

The fans at the Air Canada Centre have been just as Jekyl and Hyde as the team they are paying big bucks to see. As many rounds of boos have hung in the air as cheers, though these days the booing comes quick and often. The solution to the fan discontent is to win of course but nobody on the team has been able to come up with a consistent formula. The franchise made itself over in the off-season and held a close door meeting early on which helped to immediately turn around their November/December losing ways. The improvements were thought to be a turning point but instead a month later the team is in a dogfight just to make the playoffs and old habits are back. They currently hold a weak 2.5 game over the Chicago Bulls who have shown signs of improvement after stars Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah returned from injuries this week.

One of the biggest problems with this Raptors team as they attack the stretch drive is the lack of a locker room general, a spot usually best played by the team’s best talent. As Chris Bosh goes so do the Raptors but since returning to action from an ankle injury a few weeks ago the all-star’s impact has been less than the stellar play that had him just outside the MVP conversation for most of the season. That was before Toronto lost nine of 10 games between February 24 and March 14, a collapse bookended by losses to the Portland Trailblazers. Bosh, a leader in free throw attempts for the better part of this campaign, has seen his trips to the line drop without his trademark aggressiveness. He sits at sixth in the league with 8.5 attempts per game but it is a long way of from the 10 or 11 he was getting before the ankle injury. In his first game back against Philadelphia he didn’t even make a charity stripe appearance. In a comeback win versus the Atlanta Hawks last week he didn’t get there until the dying minutes of the game. That lack of aggression has spread to his teammates, even for a shooting team like the Raps.

“To lose like this is disheartening but we have to have a short memory and we’ve got to get over it,” continued Wright.

Can they beat the demons (Does Deron Williams racking up more assists than the entire Raptors team count as a demon?)? That is the question chasing the Raptors and much of the answer will come in the form of their bench production… and youth. With kids like Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson and DeMar DeRozan seeing their first major professional minutes as steady parts of a rotation lack of experience is a concern.

“Some of the younger guys don’t understand the intensity you have to have at this end of the season,” said Wright who last year started for a contending Dallas Mavericks team. “It’s not about coach “taking me out” or about “Aw, I’m not getting my shots” at this point in the season. it’s about playing and getting to the second season and giving yourself a chance. You can’t look forward to that moment unless you lay the groundwork for today.”

Wright is one of the more honest locker room voices in the league but it is the core pieces like Bosh, Turkoglu and Calderon that must step into those roles. Bosh stating that he feels as though he is doing enough won’t sit well with brass and mates looking for more. On a team with its share of inexperienced postseason players a lot of the talk seems to be coming from the supporting parts instead of the main cogs that have been to the postseason with this franchise and others. That won’t work in the crunch, when it really matters and when life or death is the only choice. It is simply too late in the season to be questioning motivation, searching for new player configurations on the floor and identifying an unquestionable leader. If that’s the case, it’s already too late.

Toronto Making Playoff Push Interesting

The return of Chris Bosh was supposed to set things right for a team that had become passive in his absence. Yet in his comeback story against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers Bosh came out slow and, not surprisingly, the rest of his team followed accordingly in a 114-101 loss at the Air Canada Centre. Neither squad took over the game but the 76ers started just well enough and finished just strong enough to seal the deal and send the Raptors to a costly loss, one that kick-started their current three-game slide. The team is now just 3-7 in their last 10 contests and as a collective has shown decidedly less spark of late.

 

“I guess we felt we had an easy game,” said forward Antoine Wright following the loss against Philadelphia. “You can’t expect to win games just coming into them like that. We have to do a better job of getting our minds ready for the games.”

 

Reading between the lines one might conclude that an air of over-confidence may have gripped the team. When February began nearly the entire team saw it as a soft spot in the schedule. Their most recent loss to the Kings had all the makings of a sure win, before the squad unwound drastically in the third quarter after building a first half lead. It was a bad sign out of the halftime recharge and uninspired defense allowed the Kings easy buckets in transition. The result

 

“We have to do everything different,” said center Andrea Bargnani before leaving on the western journey. “Every single thing.”

 

In the midst of a four-game west coast road trip that takes them through California to face the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors and then into Portland to face the Trailblazers, the Toronto Raptors - at 10-21 on the road - will need to rediscover their edge. The have already lost the first two games of the swing - a heartbreaking, last second loss to the Lakers and a horrific stomping at the hands of the Kings. Take a look at the contenders for the fifth through eighth seeds and the Raptors’ timing for a lapse could not have been, well, more untimely. Easy? Focus? Uninspired? Change everything? Not things a team wants to hear (or admit) during the last quarter of their schedule with a playoff berth at stake.

 

The Charlotte Bobcats have won five straight games and have gone from ninth seed to sixth in the span of a week. The Milwaukee Bucks have also won five in a row to claim the fifth seed once thought to be a lock for Toronto.  The Miami Heat have dipped in and out of the postseason picture for the past two weeks but have now won two straight matches to place themselves back in the mix, leaving the Raptors hanging on to the eighth seed. While just 2.5 games separates all of the above-mentioned the ninth place Chicago Bulls, despite having lost seven straight games, are only two games behind the Raptors and the final playoff position. Expect the musical chairs to continue until the final day of the campaign, a scramble Raptors did not believe they would be a part of three weeks ago.

 

With two games remaining on their current tour - a date with the dandy Golden State Warriors and resilient Portland Trailblazers - and a follow-up mini home stand against the Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma Thunder looming - the circumstances leave little room for error. Missed opportunities to create space in February and early March, particularly with the Bulls in a terrible slump, place them in a reality that demands a quick turnaround.

 

A case can be made for this team to slide either way.

 

The Raptors’ two big stars, Bosh and off-season addition Hedo Turkoglu, have been disappointing of late. In the three games since returning from a seven game, injury-induced absence Bosh is averaging just 16 points on 19 of 52 shooting from the floor. His rebounding numbers have also fallen to just eight per night and he has visted the charity stripe just nine times total. With Turkoglu continuing a season-long funk the supporting cast has been put through the grinder. Covering reasonably well for early-season injuries to forward Reggie Evans and, to a lesser extent, Wright seems to be catching up. Reserves Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson have been good but they cannot save this team. The slow progression of Turkoglu’s impact has also been costly. The pine crew have been unable to fill the holes as of late with their big names struggling, so much so that talk of a line up change has been whispered and could happen before the team returns to the ACC on Wednesday for their game versus the Hawks.

NBA TAKE 5: The Jennings Effect

1. POISON IVEY?

Allen Iverson’s collision course with Philadelphia – again – was the one nobody saw coming – again. Now the only thing anybody knows is that this stay will be decidedly shorter. Just long enough to make the city of Philadelphia forget about what a bust Elton Brand has been and how this team, despite the presence of the serviceable Lou Williams, misses the days of Andre Miller already. Did they miss Iverson as much? All said, the obvious ploy here is the same as it was with the Memphis Grizzlies… A.I. is being brought in to sell tickets to the dwindling spectator numbers showing up to 76ers games. O.K., now that we are only the 43^rd outlet to point out that fact we can move on to the other part of the equation which is that the 76ers, much like the Grizz, are not a very good team. The difference of course is that Philly still has a shot at being somewhat relevant in the eastern conference whereas Memphis looks to be on their annual course of becoming irrelevant in the west by December 15^th. Don’t discount that as a big part of the reason Iverson never bothered to fulfill his obligations to the Grizz – it is much easier to come off the bench for a team with a predictor’s chance (don’t tell that to Detroit) than one synonymous with losing. Besides, the Grizzlies have their own version of A.I. in O.J. Mayo while the other A.I – as in Andre Iguadala – hasn’t exactly panned out in the franchise player department. Either has the power forward Iverson never had in Brand, who was already considered an off-center addition to the Sixers. Throw in Iverson and it’s a bag of tricks, one with no discernable payoff, unless you are including the bean counters in Philly who will be the biggest winners of this deal. Maybe Iverson wins too, able to avoid a Marbury-like fate and cherry-top it by bowing out in the town where it all started, the one where he is most loved. He played in 38 minutes in his Sixers debut after a month away from the game. Philly is the one place where he will always be given a hero’s welcome. That parade was supposed to come when he retired, when he entered the Hall of Fame as a Sixer or returned, through some other twist of fate, as a champion. Instead it comes at the tail end of a career that could only be prolonged by the city that made him famous. The real question is will they love the new Iverson in return? The proof will be in the ticket sales for a team that has relegated itself to second tier status on the big four sports scene in Philadelphia. Iverson may or may not be too involved in calling his own shots to truly see the motives of the organization but the most beautiful thing about him and, even with some of his speed and agility gone and some pride that is late in doing the same, what always shone through was his desire and ability to play basketball like it was life and death and especially when everything else seemed so uncertain.

2. BROWN DOING IT AGAIN

Don’t look now but the Charlotte Bobcats, in just their second season under project king Larry Brown, are for real. To those who follow L.B. his trademark is tackling nose-diving teams or those struggling to get to the next level. He is your over-the-top guy but his way comes with a lot of head banging and expectation. Check! Now for the result… The Bobcats currently sit in the seventh seed in the eastern conference, a position they are mostly unfamiliar with even in December. While they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league with an equally abysmal field goal percentage to boot, they only allow the opposition to score 90.6 a night, good for second best in the league. Their 43.7 field goal percentage allowed is good for fourth best in the L. They also outrebound opponents by 2.75 boards a contest, the fifth best differential among the 30 teams. Numbers don’t tell the whole story but for the Bobcats it represents entry into the next tier of competition after languishing at the bottom of the standings since their inception. The addition of Stephen Jackson adds another big playmaker to the distribution core of Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin and Boris Diaw. With Jackson, Diaw, Gerald Wallace and Tyson Chandler together there is serious stopping power in Charlotte, and it is the biggest reason to believe that Brown is well on his way to pulling off another successful renovation. Add Flip Murray and suddenly the young bobbers are a group of seasoned veterans, and that’s half the battle isn’t it?

3. THE JENNINGS EFFECT

So now that Brandon Jennings has successfully circumvented the NBA’s ban on drafting players straight out of high school, will his chosen path be hailed as a viable alternative or the exception to the massive risk he took? Maybe it wasn’t a risk at all. Maybe Jennings just knew he was ready and bided his time in Europe and got paid and gained man-league experience that helped him make a seamless transition into the NBA. Maybe, no, be assured there will be others. And why not? While completely understanding the NBA’s stand on too-cool-for-school drafting - in which mostly unprepared teens are tempted early by the riches by the media, family, friends, agents, coaches, scouts, etc… when the reality is that 85 percent of them would be better off with some college burn – we are also down with anybody positioning themselves career-wise at any age to enter any job they are qualified to perform (dare we say that there are some among us better suited to entering the workforce than an institute of higher learning?). Basketball is a job and the straight-outta-high-school hopefuls are more aware of that fact than you probably think. That said, count on their being a healthy exodus of high school grads to Italy and Spain and Argentina and anywhere else that is less discriminatory than the NBA in regards to age. There will be pressure stifle it; with colleges just beginning to get back some talent after the NBA ended high school eligibility. The NBA itself won’t like to feel as though it’s been back-doored and the growing relationship between North American and European basketball bodies could be scarred in the process should the overseas leagues, desperate to bolster their product, promote and encourage the defections of America’s young basketball prodigies. Virtus Roma of the Italian League and its head coach Jasmin Repesa share credit in developing the explosive lefty guard and Jennings’ people were comfortable with the professional tutelage is there to be had in Europe. Tapping into that resource is now on every agent’s option list and it softens the blow to any teenager bent on bypassing college or going undrafted out of school. Does this re-inflate the balloon of dilution, miseducation and underdevelopment the NBA cited as justification to implement the age restriction in the first place? How could they ever justify penalizing straight-outta-high-school players for putting in their one-and-done work overseas instead and getting real paper for it? Jennings worked a deal that gave him a cool $1M over three years with a player out option after each season. The kid even signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour while he was there, putting himself on the radar as a talent to market. In a world shrinking under the network of an ever-expanding communication jungle, professional North American players begun their slow-trickle of a journey to overseas options long ago. Now that the door has been swung wide open for the kids, Jennings and his dealmaker Sonny Vaccaro can be charged with seriously changing the game.

4. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO…?

When Rodney Rogers, the respectable ex-Denver Nugget, was paralyzed in a dirt bike accident last winter there was an outpouring of affection and prayers and shock. There is an extra kick when an athlete takes a hit like this, a robbery of many of the faculties that make them famous and rich and adored by faithful fans of sport and culture. Rogers was harder to forget because even being financially set he continued to work in North Carolina for the public works department, simply because he loved to operate the heavy machinery. In fact, many of his co-workers didn’t even know just how well off Rogers was, or that he worked simply because it was his in his upbringing to contribute. To not stand still. Now at 37 he is paralyzed from the shoulders down after breaking his neck in the fall. The diagnosis of paralysis isn’t final and Rogers holds out hope that he will walk again and while there are many part of him that remain broke, his spirit isn’t one of them. Rogers played for seven NBA teams over 12 years after being drafted out of Wake Forest (where he was ACC player of the year) and captured a Sixth Man of the Year award in 2000.

5.THE ODEN DAYS

Greg Oden’s season-ending knee injury is a tragedy. Going down (or up) hard versus the Houston Rockets last week sealed it and all the players – Blazers and Rockets alike – stood up as he was wheeled away on a stretcher. Both teams shouted encouraging words, touches on the shoulders and bowed heads in remorse. Such was the impact of seeing one of the nicest kids in the NBA continue the only streak he’s managed to put together in the NBA; absences. Word up. Or down. Or across. From the day Oden appeared on basketball radars all across America much was made of his most obvious trait - his size. A man-child at 6-9 then 6-10 then 7 feet… his density, his rawness, his awkwardness, his limp, his back misalignment, his knees… You see that? The talk eventually got (and always gets) around to Oden’s physicality and its possible limitations, Oden even looks aged beyond his years, face hardened like an experienced cowboy, only he is just 21. He has been compared as much to Dwight Howard as he has to Benjamin Button. None of it ever stopped the Portland Trailblazer from dominating high school and college and it seemed this year, in his second official pro season, Oden was finally taking steps to doing the same in the NBA. Then another knee injury, another surgery, another season-ending nightmare. Alas, the only thing that has been able to stop Oden is a body that continues to betray him. In his lone season at Ohio State he suffered a s wrist injury that bit into his effectiveness, though he was still the Blazers’ first overall pick the following draft. Before playing a single game for the organization he blew out his knee and missed the entire 2007-08 schedule. His return in 2008 was watched by the basketball world with great anticipation. While Oden did good in averaging 8.9 points and seven rebounds over 61 games in helping lead the Blazers back to the playoffs, it was clear his development had been stalled, especially since he missed an additional 21 games that season. And now just a quarter way through the 2009-10 campaign Oden is out again with a broken kneecap and he will not be back for an entire year. Another 300 days or so until he might possibly be NBA fit when we will witness the third reset on a career that shows less promise with each restart. Not only does he follow in a long line of Blazers injury riddled including centers like Bill Walton and Sam Bowie, he has also come to live out what many unreasonably predicted at the outset of his NBA journey. Oden may not be built to last after all and given the glimpses of defensive prowess and commanding big man presence we’ve seen, the entire basketball nation is at a loss.

Next Page »