Toronto Raptors

Okay, if you get on a bus out of the arena about 1:30 a.m. and then find refs to sit and tell stories with at Mike’s until the bright lights go on just after 3 and then there’s more stories to be told for half an hour with some of the cronies, it’s awfully hard to get usual fare done by the usual time. Forgive me? - Okay, wonder if Gregg Popovich gets any free passes today because he’s the lovable curmudgeon? I doubt it, at least not from all corners, because as much as you’d like to think the Heat won that Game 6 last night, I think you can make the point that the Spurs lost it and a lot of it had to do with decisions Popovich made late in that brilliant game. But you know what? He stayed true to his philosophies and you can’t blame a guy for that, can you? He took Tim Duncan out on defence because he switches everything on inevitable screen-roll and doesn’t think Duncan can get out to cover shooters. Yes, it cost him dearly with the two Heat offensive rebounds but that’s what he does. And he didn’t have the Spurs foul when they were up three in the final 10 seconds because that’s not what he does. Yes, it cost him dearly with the Ray Allen three but that’s what he does. Sound coaching? I’d say yes, to tell you the truth. You stick with what you do and you live with the results, I think I’d rather have a guy who stays true to himself than someone who vacillitates and changes one game to the next. The players didn’t seem to care that much, each one that came to the podium after the game were asked about and each of them – Duncan, Parker and Ginobilii – were fine with what went. I know, it’d be shocking if they said publicly that they weren’t but you can tell be inflection and mannerisms and tone that they had no problem at all. But it does get to the original point and I suppose it goes to the basics of fandom: Did the Heat win? Did the Spurs lose? Not that it really matters, I guess, it is a bit of semantics but I do think in this situation it’s far more a case of one team losing rather than one team winning. Missed free throws, Manu’s Festival of Turnovers, Pop’s decisions. All on the Spurs. And yes, Allen’s shot was incredible under crazy stressful circumstances and LeBron at the start of the fourth quarter was otherworldly but that was, in many ways, a gift of a game. Now I’ve got all today to figure out Game 7 and what might happen, as impossible as that will be. - Okay, need a report. Heard Joni Mitchell was in Toronto last night. Was it good? As good as this? - I still find it entirely odd that two of the four “retired” numbers hanging from the rafters of the American Airlines Arena are Dan Marino’s No. 13 and Michael Jordan’s No. 23. (The others are Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway and that makes sense; honouring players from other teams and other sports is just weird) - You know, the more I think of it – and this runs counter to oft-stated impressions – I think the Raptors need a D League team of their own. Maybe in Mississauga? Maybe at Ricoh? Maybe in Hamilton? They need one because I had this chat with Sean Marks some day during the final – and I don’t recall what day it was since they all run together – and he made some excellent points. If you own a team you can do with it as you please, you can staff the front office with your own basketball people and run the team the same way you run the big club. It can a proving ground for executives, maybe coaches, front office people of all kinds. Sure, you’re still limited in the number your own signed players you can assign there but you would have control over the rest of the roster as well, stocking it with players who might – might – eventually grown into end-of-the-rotation guys who are familiar with the way you run things. Now, I don’t know about the financial investment that would be needed but if you’re Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment it’s either (a) an

This week on The Doctor is In with Phdsteve, we explore the options for the Raptors in the upcoming draft…oh wait- the team does not own a pick and GM Masai Ujiri has fired all his scouts. Not to worry, I’ve assembled the worldwide roundtable! After losing his internet access, my brother Mike (who knows college basketball) is left voiceless in the streets of Nigeria, but that’s okay, really, as Greg Mason (our resident American and the brain from the south) from the State of Florida, and The Fifth Quarter Blog’s Blair Miller (@TFQuarter), join me to discuss: The NBA Finals and Manu Ginobli’s time machine! How has this finals shaped Lebron’s legacy and the definition of the Spurs dynasty How Danny Green defies the analytics of the myth of the hot hand A pick-less draft for the Raps but rumours have several picks being available in the first (Dal at 13, Atl at 18, Clev at 19) and second rounds. Should the Raps target a pick here? And if so who do you like? Any “sneaky plays” a la John Wall to be made with the teams in the lottery? Who are some guys to watch for in the draft that would be smart targets forthe Raptors Predictions for the top 5 in the upcoming draft Grab the iTunes feed or the plain old feed. You can also download the file (50:49, 48 MB). Or just listen below:

Please read this instead of the disjointed gamer that’s in the paper. And I plan to perhaps stop by Mike’s when I’m done here; the regular fare might not be there ‘til 9 or so. What an epic night. - MIAMI – It’s perfect. It really is. One game, winner-take-all, legacies and a championship on the line, a game that will have to be indescribably good in order to surpass the one that set it up. The Miami Heat, abundantly talented and infuriatingly inconsistent at times, got up off the canvass in Game 6 of the NBA final, scoring a 103-100 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs in what turned into the most dramatic game at the most dramatic of times, setting up a Game 7 Thursday to wrap up the series. “You know, they're the best two words in team sports,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “Game 7". A series of shockingly big shots – a Ray Allen game-tying corner three with five seconds to go in regulation, a LeBron James three that set it up – and a series of mind-numbing Spurs mistakes turned the final minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime into one of the most compelling stretches of basketball in a big game in recent history. James simply willed his way into the game after scuffling through three quarters. He had 14 points going into the fourth quarter and finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, answering doubters that were ready to pounce. “This is the best game I’ve ever been part of,” said James. And he was central to it, as one would expect. He was isolated continually on various defenders through the fourth quarter and attacked them relentlessly. He wanted the ball, the shots, the attention. And the responsibility. He took the ball, made the shots, relished in the attention. And accepted the responsibility. “The ups and downs, the roller coaster, the emotions, good and bad throughout the whole game, to be a part of something like this is something you would never be able to recreate once you're done playing the game,” said James. “And I'm blessed to be a part of something like this. And I'm happy about the way we dug down and was able to get a win. It didn't look like we could muster up at some point in the game.” But the Heat needed a break just to get to the overtime. The Allen game-tying shot came when the Spurs couldn’t corral a James miss, Chris Bosh grabbed the loose ball and found Allen in the corner for yet another huge shot by the most prolific three-point shooter in NBA history. “If it's not me taking the shot, I have no problem with Ray take that shot, man,” said James. “He's got ice water in his veins. “Ray can be 0-for-99 in a game and if he get an open look late in the game, it's going down. That's just the confidence he have in himself. It's the preparation that he prepares for every game. It's the confidence that we have in him. We seen it before.” The Spurs have to be kicking themselves for letting the game get away in a series of moments. Kawhi Leonard, his team up two with less than 14 seconds to go, missed one of two free throws to set up Allen’s game-tying shot. Manu Ginobili, so good in Game 5, so bad in Game 6, committed two horrific turnovers in the overtime. And even the seemingly unshakable Gregg Popovich will come in for some criticism for not having his team foul before the Allen game-tying shot. It will cause second-guessing, second-thoughts and angst. “I have no clue how we're going to be re-energized,” said Ginobili, who had eight turnovers in the game. “I'm devastated. But we have to. There's no Game 8 afterwards. “We're going to have to play our best game, even better than today. Shoot better, better defence, less turnovers in my case, but, yeah, there's no secret recipe for bouncing back.” The loss spoiled a marellous throwback performance by 37-year-old Spurs elder statesman Tim Duncan, who had 30 points in a brill

Hey, folks. What's up?

A day has passed since Alvin was given his walking papers. Doug Smith did his best with his rant to rile up the troops, but since then cooler heads seem to of prevailed and many fans although disappointed appear to get it. Come share your two cents if you disagree.

I like Alvin Williams as much as the next guy and hope he lands somewhere because he is the ultimate ‘nice guy’. Seeing him unemployed doesn’t feel right, yet at the same time there’s something about this move that is quite different than what we’re used to seeing from the Raptors. There’s an element of ruthlessness in it that is surprising, and dare I say it, refreshing. [Related: Alvin Williams' interview on TSN Radio (a little sad, still says 'we')] The value that Alvin Williams brought was always debatable from a fan standpoint, but a frank conversation about him was never had, mostly because it seemed a very minor role – almost like an internship. Low risk, low expectations. I doubt his departure has created a significant void of any sort; or maybe we’ll regret it in a few years when he’s become a super-scout and close to becoming a GM? I don’t know, but here and now, this appears to be culling of excess. Despite the media faithful lamenting the loss of a friend and calling it a bad PR move (Star, Post, Sun), I would contend that the organization should focus on making decisions with basketball value in mind, not PR. This also gets me to thinking that if a loyal servant of the organization such as Williams is shown the door in this cold-hearted manner, what chance does someone like Andrea Bargnani, or for that matter any overpaid, under-delivering employee have? None, I would suggest. Where does this leave guys like Linas Kleiza or Landry Fields, questionable signings that have provided little to negligible value? Masai Ujiri’s firm hand has shown that he does not intend his management team to have any ties with the organization’s past, which makes Bryan Colangelo’s move to his new role essentially insignificant. Ujiri’s certainly proven that he’s very good at firing people, and these exits will win him support among frustrated fans, and even sell a few season tickets to those who gave up a while ago, since nothing sells like hope. With each departure, though, the anticipation of Ujiri’s first real move grows. The draft, this space would suggest, provides an opportunity to make a move for improvement. Dennis Schroeder is my pick in the teens, but even if the Raptors don’t intend to partake in the draft, it presents a platform to get involved as a third team. Whether it be shedding Andrea Bargnani or scavenging around other developments for opportunities, this is where Ujiri has a chance to make an early mark. Any time a GM inherits a situation as rigid as the Raptors they are going to get some leeway and time to settle in, but as it stands there is a necessity for certain moves to be made just to field a roster! With $66 million in salary tied to 12 players, you have to wonder how the Raptors can even field a 15-man roster, especially if the amnesty is exercised. Acquiring a teen pick and paying a salary of around $1.5 million seems like a sensible way to add a player while keeping costs low. Easier said than done, of course. If all else fails, the following I figure is the “backup” plan: Amnesty Andrea Bargnani if there are no takers Flip Linas Kleiza’s expiring contract for a teen pick Draft with the pick, assuming it’s a teen pick, the net savings considering Kleiza’s contract are $3.5 million At this point, the Raptors would be under the cap at $54.9 million, giving them a chance to actually sign someone I’m not going to speculate on more drastic options such as trading one of DeRozan or Gay due to their games being similar. That’s a debate for later. So…final word is regarding Alvin Williams: Let not our emotions affect our judgement of Alvin Williams’ departure.

Well here we are, Game 6 in what has to be the most confounding NBA final of any of the 12 or so that I’ve seen at least part of. Four games you’d probably consider blowouts in the first five – although when Game 5 got to a one-point game I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on – and I’m trying to figure out precisely why. And can’t really. I guess you could chalk it up to the relative talents of each of the teams, the case can be made that they are two superb clubs and when they get operating at full power, even the best opponent can’t slow them down. You look at what Miami did when the Big Three were all rolling in that Game 4, they were unstoppable, despite a very good San Antonio defence. And when the Spurs got Tim Duncan and Tony Parker going early in Game 5 and Manu Ginobili joined the fray, finally, they were at times otherworldly. Toss in the Danny Green phenomenon and it’s a no-brainer who wins. But for drama? The only drama we’ve had is wondering which team is going to go on some mind-numbing, game-winning run and when; outside of that Parker circus shot with five seconds left in Game 1, there hasn’t been any of the drama that would make you consider this series a classic. Yet it is. We can say with the utmost confidence that when we look back on this series, we’re going to call it one of the best we’ve seen and remember it for its greatness. Why? Because you don’t need last second heroics for something to become memorable, you don’t need transcendent individual efforts to make something stick in your mind, you don’t need high drama every night out for something to live with you for a long time. You need two teams with great players operating at top efficiency most of the time. In those games that haven’t been close, it’s not that one team played horribly, there were still moments when each side was at its very best, it’s just that the winning team went – as the boring, somewhat meaningless cliché goes – to another level. The Spurs and Heat have each won every game, it’s not that the other team lost it. It’s not been a classic series in the classic mold, but it has been classic and despite being out on the road for two weeks, I wouldn’t at all mind it coming down to one game Thursday night now. It’s been too good to end. - I get home to reclaim the car that the newly-licensed Super Son seems to have made his own – and that’s not going to happen too often – and not only is there half a tank of gas like when I left it but this dude’s CD is on the seat. And if you got a 16-year-old who can’t wait to see Trombone Shorty at the jazz festival, it’s not a bad little life. - Things you hate about travel: Making a long trek from San Antonio to Toronto through Detroit because you can’t get here from there; blowing off a 2 1-2 layover by writing and bugging people and all of a sudden having to sit for another hour on a plane for some reason known only to the Delta pilots who kept us entirely in the dark until they announced the “little” problem had been solved and we could go. End of rant. Now, if Air Canada screws me over this morning, we’re going to have some issues. - Hey, do you think it’s a coincidence that the TOD is rolling since I’ve been paying scant attention? And you wonder why all of a sudden the pitchers can pitch and the hitters can hit and guys with the gloves can catch the ball. And you think, hey, maybe the long, long baseball season isn’t quite over; we’re not at July yet and there’s every reason to think they’ll climb legitimately back into some kind of race. It is the fun of the game, isn’t it? A long season of ups and downs and the one thing you need more than anything is patience. Fans don’t have nearly enough of it and I wonder how many are now tuning back in after swearing them off in the middle of May. Fans’ passion is a wonderful thing even if sometimes over-reaction is the norm. - So, Miami. When

Doug Smith is actually openly criticizing the Raptors, specifically Tim Leiweke. This is a first. In what I think is a terribly short-sighted move that will rankle as many people as anything he does, Leiweke has told Alvin Williams that his services are no longer required. Yep, the chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment – on the job for less than a month – has jettisoned one of the great guys ever associated with the franchise and a man who wanted nothing more than to spend his entire career with the organization in some way, shape or form. Source

As Tim Leiweke stressed the need for improvement for an organization that wasn’t good enough and Masai Ujiri talked about building his own small staff here in Toronto, many of us were able to foresee the organizational house cleaning around the corner. So when guys like Ed Stefanski and Jim Kelly were let go, I don’t think anyone around the team was exactly floored. But I don’t know how many people saw this coming, as fans and media alike were surprised to hear the news on Monday that former fan-favourite Alvin Williams had been relieved of his duties as a scout. In addition, Doug Smith reports that CEO Tim Leiweke made the decision and that General Manager Masai Ujiri never spoke to Alvin. On the surface, the decision is tough to swallow for Raptors fans. Williams gave every ounce of his body to the team during the only legitimately successful period in franchise history and was adored by Toronto basketball fans because of it. His hiring as an assistant coach in 2009 and his subsequent move to the role of Director of Player Development later on (Williams was most recently a scout for the Raptors working out of his hometown of Philadelphia) were celebrated by those same fans who simply loved the idea of “Boogie” still being associated with the team. From that angle, Leiweke’s decision is an unfortunate one as you could argue that even if Williams’ scouting services were no longer valued or needed, the organization could have found some role for him to fill with the team. After all, if Bryan Colangelo was protected from a full-on firing, why couldn’t Alvin Williams be? On the other hand, the big name hires of Leiweke and Ujiri were met with celebration and hope themselves, and part of their new jobs consist of making cold business decisions as they look to finally forge a new identity (and a successful one at that) for the Toronto Raptors. Whether fans agree with it or not, whether they understand it or not, at least one of Leiweke/Ujiri obviously saw this as one of those decisions. As much as we love the guy for what he gave to the franchise on the floor, we have no idea how good, bad, great or awful Williams was a scout. And again, a new CEO or new General Manager shouldn’t exactly be faulted for cleaning house and making tough decisions like this (though I am curious about the fact that Ujiri reportedly never made contact with Alvin about it). After watching and sticking with this franchise for 18 mostly pathetic seasons, all I ask of Tim Leiwke and Masai Ujiri is that they oversee the transformation of the Raptors from a league laughingstock to a perennially successful, winning basketball team. If they can do that, then as heartless as it may seem now, we won’t be bothered or preoccupied by otherwise insignificant decisions on the job status of team scouts, no matter how beloved they might be. Many people will make today about sympathy and nostalgia, but it’s important to look at the big picture. Tim Leiweke and Masai Ujiri have been entrusted with building a successful basketball program here, and they shouldn’t be faulted for wanting to build it exactly as they see fit. On a basketball level, many will make this day about the future of Kyle Lowry, who was close with Williams from his time at Villanova. In reality though, the connections and panic are likely greatly exaggerated. If Ujiri doesn’t believe that Lowry can be part of that aforementioned future success, then he’ll explore his options (the Raptors could look for trade options or could even buy out the final year of Lowry’s contract for $1 million up until July 15), but I’m fairly certain that they wouldn’t have fired Williams just because they may not see Lowry as part of the future. And if Lowry does stick around, has a great season in 2013-14 and is offered a worthy financial commitment from the Raptors as a result, I highly doubt he’ll turn it down just

Name: Andrea Bargnani 2012-13 Key Statistics: 35 games played, 28.7 minutes per game, 12.7 points, 39.9% from the field, 30.9% from three-point-range, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.7 blocks, 11.2 PER. Comparison: Pitchfork Reviews It was the summer of 2006. I remember it quite clearly. One of my best friends had told me about a slew of new music releases to check out, including the critically acclaimed band, "The Knife," and their latest release, "Silent Shout." "Pitchfork gave it an 8.6 so it should be pretty solid!" he exclaimed. Aaaah Pitchfork. At that time, I wasn't too familiar with the website. I knew it was a site dedicated to music, particularly of the "indie" variety, but that's about as far as I got. Many of my friends swore on it as the go-to bible for all things music, so if an album received critical praise from the site, hey, it had to be a sure thing right? However I wasn't exactly a fan of "The Knife" after a few listens. In fact, the more I listened to it, the more I hated it. But how could this be? After all, in the review that garnered the 8.6 out of 10 mark, Pitchfork had noted: An early contender for best record of the quarter, here's hoping Silent Shout inspires similar imagination and pushing outwards; after all, no matter how heady and interior electronic music allows itself to become, it could never get as scary as the world outside. So how I could I... ...wait. What the hell does that even mean? Similarly, reviews for other critically lauded albums around that time, Grizzly Bear, Destroyer, Matmos, all met a similar fate as The Knife when placed into my CD player (hey, it was 2006, the iPod didn't find its way into my clutches until 2007.) Not only did I not enjoy the bulk of these albums, but I also started to become increasingly annoyed with Pitchfork's seemingly never-ending determination to present more and more obscure and abstract sonics, as if they were the second coming of Revolver or Pet Sounds. Sure there were moments when our respective musical tastes were aligned. But through the years these became increasingly few and far between to the point that I eventually just gave up on them, tired of trying to sort through passages like the following, hoping to discern some idea of whether or not the reviewer enjoyed the album, or just wanted to hear him/herself pontificate about the meaning of life: Actually, to be honest, that temptation remains. Khan's aesthetic is such a perfectly struck balancing act between earth mother hippie mystic and post-modern Gen Y art student (see: the cover for her latest single "Daniel", which depicts her on a beach, shivery and windswept, with a painting of The Karate Kid's Daniel LaRusso adorning her entire naked back) that it's difficult to forget about the sheer workaday craft that must go into constantly seeming so effortlessly, artfully rumpled. In a similar fashion I gave up a long time ago on Andrea Bargnani. I wanted to believe. Hell, I even penned this amidst his now-infamous 14-game flurry of intriguing play during the 2011-12 season. But from the moment he was drafted to be the team's center of the future I had my doubts (although it should be noted that I wanted the team to choose Tyrus Thomas), and those only grew to the point where after three seasons, I preferred the team dealt him while he still appeared to have some upside. However as we know, the opposite occurred, the team extended him once, and now is stuck with what could be an immovable piece. Bargnani is perhaps the biggest reason Bryan Colangelo's attempts at team building were unsuccessful, and now somehow new GM Masai Ujiri has to figure out a way to get some value in exchange for the one known as "Il Mago," or else it's likely on to Plan B - the Amnesty Clause. And I'd be fine with that. It's certainly not ideal, but at some point you simply make a decision; whether it's refusing to believe friends' gushings over a certain mus