khandor’s sports blog

Where does your favourite team rank at the halfway point in the regular season schedule?

Related:

What it takes to win the NBA Championship

apparently, is none other than:

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Grunwald got Lin to Knicks

On Dec. 24, Jeremy Lin hit Grunwald’s greaseboard after he was cut by the Rockets. D’Antoni and Grunwald discussed Lin’s impressive pre-draft workout in Greenburgh on June 7, 2010, his penetration ability and knack for the pick and roll.

Grunwald had recommended bringing Lin in for training camp last season and earlier in December, but Golden State and Houston had gotten in the way.

“I remember Glen saying after Lin got waived, ‘He can run the pick and roll and be a playmaker better than anybody we had,’ ’’ D’Antoni recalled.

But the Knicks had enough point guards on the roster by then. In the season opener on Christmas Day, rookie Iman Shumpert sprained his knee and went out for at least two weeks.

The decision was made the next day when Grunwald told D’Antoni this was the Knicks’ chance to claim Lin — at least as a stopgap because his $788,000 contract wasn’t guaranteed. After 16 teams passed in waivers, Grunwald sprang.

“Lin and [Steve] Novak, they were both Glen’s calls,’’ said a person familiar with Grunwald’s daily waiver talks with D’Antoni.

Earlier that month, D’Antoni was more impressed by his new boss during the hectic period when the franchise did mathematical cartwheels — a series of maneuvers that began with Chauncey Billups’ amnesty waiver — to open enough salary cap space to sign center Tyson Chandler.

“Trying to get Tyson in those few days, his demeanor to deliver under enormous pressure was terrific,’’ D’Antoni said. “The way he went about it: calm, cool, collected through the whole thing.’’

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a former GM of the Toronto Raptors who, during his tenure with the team, is fondly remembered, by yours truly, as a man of high integrity with a solid degree of basketball acumen.

In fact …

The day Glen Grunwald was relieved of his duties with the Raptors coincides with the team’s current slide into irrelevant mediocrity.

What is really at stake in tonight’s Raptors vs Wizards match-up?

This is what the current standings look like in the NBA.

12. Toronto Raptors, 7-16, .304
13. Washington Wizards, 4-18, .182

Given that these 2 teams have already played each other one time this season:

Game 1, Tue Jan 10, in Washington, [Toronto, L]

and that they will be playing 2 more times after this evening:

Game 2, Fri Feb 03, in Toronto
Game 3, Mon Feb 06, in Washington
Game 4, Sun Apr 01, in Toronto

… there is actually more than a good chance that the loser of tonight’s game will eventually finish this season as one of the 5 worst teams in the league and, therefore, secure a relatively high selection in the 2012 NBA Draft Lottery.

To wit …

If you happen to be a die-hard Raptors fan who:

i. Is happy that Toronto had the good fortune to acquire Jonas Valanciunas [C] with the No. 5 [overall] Selection in the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery;

and,

ii. Actually wants to see your favourite team be able to eventually develop into a legitimate contender to win a League Championship, sometime in the not-too-distant future;

then, you best be cheering hard this evening for a victory … by the visiting Wizards … so Toronto actually improves its chances of adding Harrison Barnes [G/F] to its roster next season, as well.

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PS. As difficult as it may seem, sometimes in life it really is most important that one goes “backwards”, temporarily, so that one can eventually go “forwards”, again, in a way which authentically significant.

When you look at the early schedule for the Washington Wizards what you should see:

is that tonight’s home game against the Toronto Raptors actually qualifies as an almost “must-win” situation … at least, if they are going to be able to avoid a prolonged losing streak to begin the season.

If both teams are healthy for this game:

then, the Wizards will have a solid opportunity to get a W, depending on the work done by Flip Saunders vs Dwane Casey.

Related:

Wizards need more than just better talent, need culture change

If there is going to be 1 home game on their regular season schedule this year that the Raptors will most definitely come away with a W it will be this evening’s contest against the Nets:

The published wagering line for tonight’s game [as of 1:00 PM this afternoon] is:

TORONTO RAPTORS -270

Even though this price certainly qualifies as a “Big Ticket”, with Deron Williams [PG], Kris Humphries [PF] and MarShon Brooks [OG] all absent from New Jersey’s line-up this evening, and Toronto playing the 1st of 7 games in a span of only 9 days, with a back-to-back on the road tomorrow night, in Philadelphia …

Season’s Greetings!

There are three main phases to the game of basketball:

i. Offense;
ii. Defense; and,
iii. Rebounding.

Developing an accurate understanding of the overall NBA talent which exists on the roster for each team at the beginning of the season is a fundamental aspect of properly evaluating the day-to-day goings-on across the league over the course of the season.

INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF TEAM ROSTERS IN NBA’S EASTERN CONFERENCE [as of Sun-Dec-25-2011]

The Toronto Raptors might not find themselves in a better “road win”, or “close road loss,” situation for the rest of this season than what should exist for their contest this evening against the New York Knicks:

given that:

i. Amare Stoudemire [PF/C] missed New York’s most recent game against Sacramento Kings with a sprained ankle;

ii. Baron Davis [PG] has not yet joined the Knicks’ rotation;

iii. The Knicks will be playing their first game at home after just returning from a mini West Coast road trip; and,

iii. The wagering line for this game, as of 1:00 PM ET, was New York Knicks -8.5/-102.

If Dwane Casey is, in fact, as good a coach as this corner thinks he is, then, this game should eventually play out as a “near perfect” scenario for the long term health of the Raptors franchise, i.e. with the visitors playing a highly competitive brand of physical basketball [Win], before losing by less than 8 points [Lose] and, simultaneously, improving their chances of securing a high end selection in the NBA’s 2012 Draft Lottery [Win].

The long term goal of any professional sports franchise should be to win its League Championship … and, the best way for the Raptors to acquire the type of marquee talent necessary to become a legitimate contender in the NBA, one day in the not-too-distant future, is by losing games like this and, thereby, finishing in 30th, 29th or 28th place in the final standings this season.

Upon hearing the first report that the Phoenix Suns were actually thinking of waiving Mickael Pietrus … after his failed physical with the Toronto Raptors … the first thought which came to mind was that he would be a fantastic pick-up for Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics.

To wit:

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Suns waive Mickael Pietrus

Before the Suns’ preseason home game against the Nuggets, head coach Alvin Gentry was asked why Pietrus wasn’t a fit, and to him, it seemed clear that Pietrus, for whatever reason, just wasn’t happy in Phoenix.

“I don’t know that,” Gentry answered. “I was excited about getting him. I think that, like I’ve said, he had size, he was really kind of our kind of player — a big guy that can shoot the ball, three-pointers and stuff like that. I think in order for it to be a good fit, you’ve got to want to be here. And I’m not sure if he was ever fully engaged in being here.”

UPDATE: Pietrus is “leaning heavily” towards signing with the Celtics, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. He would need to clear waivers first, but if that happens, it looks like Boston may be at the top of his list.

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After being under-valued by the Suns organization, since his acquisition last season from Orlando … where he was a key player in the Magic’s run to the NBA Finals in 2008-2009 … it would be poetic justice for Pietrus to become a vital part of what the Celtics are attempting to do this year [i.e. reduce salary overall WHILE remaining competitive in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference].

Ed Davis [PF, 2010 1st Round Draft Pick] is a keeper.

So is Jonas Valanciunas [C, 2011 1st Round Draft Pick].

Every game the Raptors lose this year which looks like either of these two pre-season contests:

Toronto vs Boston, Sun-Dec-18-2011

Toronto at Boston, Wed-Dec-21-2011

brings them closer to obtaining another high Draft Lottery selection next summer:

NBA 2012 Mock Draft

which features the likes of Harrison Barnes and is precisely what Toronto will need to become relevant again in the NBA.

If there is ever going to be a year for this franchise to “tank” successfully this is certainly it.

Countless numbers of small decisions made each and every day of a coach’s tenure on a job eventually add up to what will inevitably become The Key Points Of Emphasis for that specific program.

In the case of D-Casey and the Toronto Raptors:

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Calderon has edge in [non-]battle of the point guards

The most significant aspect of Casey’s defensive system is that it could allow someone like Calderon to seemingly improve at that end of the court. The coach has said all along that he will devise a scheme that plays to the strengths of his players and one that will allow more help than needed.

The Raptors will run a more traditional defence — packing the paint, offering some help on screen-and-roll situations, taking away straight-line drives that the team gave up all too often last year playing a more spread out style — that the coach said this week would overcome some of the individual physical limitations of his players.

“It’s packing the paint pretty much and . . . around the league, most teams do that so it’s not too new for me,” said Bayless.

It’s on offence where the 6-3 Bayless has to show the most improvement. The coaching staff want better recognition of options off the screen-and-roll, which is the bread-and-butter play of practically every team.

“His biggest challenge is handling the pick-and-roll situation, seeing his teammates, but he’s done an excellent job in practice so far,” said Casey.

“That’s what the game really comes down to in crunch time is pick-and-roll situations. Either running it or defending it are the two toughest things in the NBA right now.”

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So far, so good … when it comes to evaluating accurately who the better basketball player actually is, between his 2 main options at the Point Guard position, in terms of Individual and Team Offense, Defense and Rebounding.