Bosh is so freakin random...

So I was poking around trying to get a fresh new perspective this morning and came up with very little... like I said it seems like people seem to be jumping off this bandwagon as if its on fire. Can't say that I blame them... could get burned. I eventually meandered over to Chis Bosh's infrequently updated blog.. and his most recent entry (Dec 17th) is a review of the book Twilight. Weirdo. Dudes got like 3 entrys the whole season. What about some perspective of an epic collapse of a team on the cusp around its franchise player in the shadow of the biggest talent re-alignment ever? No? You wanna tell me about some stupid book your reading? BOOOOOOO!

There's been some requests to update the "Hump Love" section. Will do. In the meantime check out the most recent "Ask Hump!" on Granges blog, pretty funny.

Another freakin TSN game tonight. What bunk.

Whats the point

think about this: The San Antonio Spurs are a highly efficient basketball team. The Detroit Pistons are a highly efficient basketball machine. How come? Both these teams have been together for a long time, well coached and in a professional system. But this didn't just materialize out of mid-air. It started with something. Talent. David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Ginobli, Billups, Sheed, etc... and they subsided on that talent until they knew each others game so well you couldn't help but become a part of the machine. Look at Matt Bonner. The Raps need players who've played in these sort of systems.

Jamario's wearing a headband tonight.

What about something dramatic: Bosh, Calderon and Kapono for Amare, Nash and Barbosa. On paper it works. In theory.... maybe even better

Go Raps!

I'll say it. I did some booing last night. I did some booing on the subway home. I may have booed in my sleep. This team looks like garbage. Its not even fun to watch anymore. I am completely out of suggestions, solutions, fixes. They absolutely need a complete, full body change in attitude. I don't trust anyone out there anymore. Its kind of a joke.

Theres a pretty lethargic feeling going on out there amounst the press and blogosphere... as if they're not even worth wasting breath talking about them anymore. I mean they certainly don't seem to be trying, so why should we...?

They are so bad in so many ways. Nobody takes the ball to the hoop, nobody. Jumpshot after jumpshot. Lazy rebounding, sloppy blown defenseive assignments.

I hate TSN2. However its allmost nice not to be able to see this pathetic team for a couple of games.

They are waaaay out of the playoff picture at this point.

Garbage. Barf.

Aparentlly Nathan Jawai has been activated. Yeah!

dazed and confused

I've never really had feelings like this before... I'm at a loss for words, and i cant seem to get creative these days... it is gonna take some time for these wounds to heal, and i don't know if ill ever have those ever so creative juices flow thru me like a river runs thru it, but trust me im trying...trying to love toronto, trying to love triano, trying to love basketball... if it weren't for joey and jose, i dont think i could make it... please respect my wishes and give steele some time to pull out of this slump...i refuse to write until the raps are back in the playoff hunt... 8th seed comes around, and you will see writing at its best.... sorry, i have to go....


the complicated times of the singh and the steele.......................to be continued...

Better than Expected

In my opinion the first weekend of the Jay Triano era went better than expected. I had expected a reeling team to get handily manhandled by a good Utah team (as they did) as well as a great (2nd in the west) Blazers team. I was at the game on Sunday and outside the loss, looked like they gave them a pretty good game. Had they grabbed an offensive board or two (18-4 for Portland) or managed to get a guy on Steve Blake in the corner (torching them for 5 no question 3's... apparently he was 5 of 8 from 3, sure didn't seem like it), they would have won.

Anyhow, there obviously going to be some transitional kinks a Triano gets comfortable at the helm. I will say they looked like a different product out there. I will also say Jay needs to make sure he gets Joey and Barney in the game when at all possible. Both seems to be getting more and more comfortable with every touch... and that more than can be said of anyone else on this team.

In related news, Singh Steele, was supposed to be dropping in from out of town of the Portland contest totally dropped the ball, and called it on account of the "weather".

In Cleveland tonight vs. the most dominant baller ever, and back Wednesday for TJ Fords return. I hope he doesn't get booed. Not necessary.

The End of the Road for Smitch

As I got in my car after another long, painstaking day at the office, I turned on the radio just as the news was breaking: Sam Mitchel has been fired as head coach of your Toronto Raptors! I had the extreme pleasure in breaking the news to several of my closest friends and fellow Raptor fans. There was some shock, some awe, some outright celebration, but in all seriousness, I think this was the right move forward for this team. Quite simply, as I've stated in the past, two things had become increasingly evident 1) the players were not responding to him, they sulked around and looked lethargic and weak, some nights they looked outright D-league. 2) The teams talent (this will be debatable) had outgrow the coaching talent. Sam was, and is still a sophomore coach at best, and the learning on the job act just didn't cut it anymore.



And I'll say it again, I like Sam. They had him over the phone on OTR yesterday afternoon, and he sounded downright sad. Sam's a true character, a no nonsense, say-it-like-it-is, type guy. A man of faith, a flawed man, who tried his darnedest to give up cursing (something he was infamous for) this past year. While it frustrated the hell out of me, I really enjoyed his relationships with the press, most notably the weekly Wednesday morning interviews on the Fan590 on my way into work where he'd outright threaten to "come down there and punch you guys in the nose". However the other side of that coin is that one would hope your coach, especially of a team hoping to be legitimized, be a more professional face to your franchise. And Sam didn't have that.



I would expect (or recommend to Sam) he take an assistant position somewhere close to a Phil Jackson, or a Pat Riley or a Greg Popavich type... I truly believe that a couple of short years with a coach of this caliber would make him a prime head coaching candidate, and maybe 5 -10 years from now people will mention him in the same sort of breath. Just not today.



Anyhow, the one thing that worried me is the "interim" appointment of Jay Triano. I've got no problem with Jay, but one can't really expect much more than the status quo by appointing an assistant that's been with the team for years. I was hoping for a complete reversal in attitude, BC bringing in a tough, defensive minded, proven NBA bench boss.



Time will only tell...














Bonus Material: Eric Smiths run-down of how he broke the story

Goodbye Sam... hello Triano????????????

very, very sad times in the world today... chinese democracy isn't selling, canadian government isn't working, money is becoming more and more like a peice of paper, and the most dreadful of all, sam mitchell is unemployed. brian colangelo is loosing his mustard a little bit and will regret this day for the rest of his life. what a kind gesture he did when he fired sam after the raps got throttled by 40, and also giving sam a fair chance so late in the season to turn things around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why not wait until the all-star break? if this has anything to do with their opposing views on andrea, i might have to borrow plexicos gun and shoot him in the other thigh! i figured something was fishy when brian joined the team in l.a., but never did i think it would happen this soon. coach of the year only 2 years ago to coach who gets fired 2 years later. at least they have named jay triano their interim coach.....oh I'm sorry hes gonna be their coach for the rest of the year?????!!!!!???????!!!!!. great move toronto! triano will lead us to the promise land about as likely as capono will win this years slam dunk contest!!!! the only way i will have inner peace is if colangelo can orchestrate a trade to bring vince back home.... I'm fed up and depressed.



steele will now be on sabbatical until chris paul comes to town. please respect his wishes and attemp to make no comments until further notice.

Great minds...

Sidenote: Interestingly enough, Raptorblogs post LA post was entitled: "Your Toronto Raptors: Where 'meh' happens". Very nice.

Meh...

Well I can't say I'm surprised. Sundays game pretty much played out the way I expected. During which I declared tonight's vs. the Nuggets "winnable", which after further consideration is likely very, very inaccurate. Chauncey's made them considerably more efficient. And then Utah on Friday night? and Portland and Cleveland after that...? They'll have to make a stand somewhere in there.... shouldn't they? Maybe the Gerald Wallace idea is the best way forward. I do like the Barbosa talk I hear as well (point 4 in the Daily Dime). Phoenix is set to explode I think... lots of bad buzz in Arizona. I wonder how Shaq feels about it?

These late games are really messing with my sleep schedule.

Anyhoo, looks like the verdict is in, Singh Steele is 61% totally cool.

Peace in the middle east.