Ok folks, it's the last day of school for those teams not going to the playoffs and the summer holidays begin Thursday.
Seems like just yesterday I was heading to the elevator in a Denver hotel after one of the members of the travelling party said, "Hey Jonesy, Sam just got fired, he says to 'tell Jonesy thanks for everything' and we'll see you down the road. He's in the lobby now and if you hustle down you might catch him."
Man, the season has gone fast. And isn't it funny how the weight of expectations can take down anything.
It has been a tough season in Toronto and it will all end tonight in Chicago and while the Raptors have nothing to play for but pride and trying to avoid 50 losses, the Bulls will try to win their sixth straight game and get the sixth seed to face the Orlando Magic. Some think it's a good match up for them but hey, that's what the Raptors said last year at this time before Dwight Howard put up 20/20 games with amazing ease and I don't see Chicago with anyone in the middle to stop him.
Locker clean out day is Thursday for the Raptors and with Bryan Colangelo not addressing the media until Monday because he will be attending the Board of Governors meetings in New York you know that some of the exit discussions have already taken place with some players. Roko Ukic will play with the Croatian National team this summer and it sounds like Andrea Bargnani will play with the Italian squad as well. If you're a Raptor fan you hope they play enough to improve their respective games but also hope they come back healthy and get some time off to recuperate because it is a long grinding season from November to April in the NBA. A player can't afford to start the season banged up because there is no time to rest to get healthy.
There is an exclusive NBA statistical club that Jose Calderon will try to join tonight. The Spaniard will set the NBA's all-time record for best free throw percentage in a season, breaking Calvin Murphy's mark of 95.8% set in the 1980-81 season unless he clangs a few up there and goes 0 for 4 tonight from the line. Highly unlikely since he's missed only three times all season going 149 of 152 and he remembers each of the three misses. But the club he is trying to join includes only four men as Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Steve Nash, and Larry Bird are the only players to end a season with shooting percentages of 50% from the floor, 40% from behind the arc and 90% from the free throw line. Calderon did it last season but did not have enough free throw attempts to qualify according to the NBA minimums.
Calderon currently sits at 49.7% from the floor, 40.6% from behind the arc and a league leading 98% from the charity stripe. So what does it for him tonight? He needs to go minimum of 4 of 4 from the field but any of 4 for 4, 5 for 6, 6 for 7, 6 for 8, 7 for 9, or 7 of 10 would do it. Calderon averages about 9 to 10 shot attempts per game so there are some of the numbers that would put him on the 50% mark from the floor. One three point goal will allow him to miss up to five others as a 1 for 6 will do the trick for the 40% from behind the arc standing. Should he not make a bomb from distance, a zero for three would still have him at the 40% mark.
With the season ending, what happens to all the interim coaches hired during the course of the season? Well, Lionel Hollins was hired as a head coach in Memphis, it looks like it is all but a done deal in Washington with Flip Saunders and it says here that Jay Triano will be back in Toronto. Who knows if Tony DiLeo wants to come back to the bench in Philadelphia or go back to the front office? There is a ground swell of support for Scott Brooks to be brought back in Oklahoma City, while Amare Stoudemire says he couldn't establish a relationship with former coach Mike D'Antoni but says he enjoys playing for Alvin Gentry. Also, it sounds like GM Steve Kerr is going to make the announcement to bring Gentry back to the bench in Phoenix in the near future. As for Minnesota and Sacramento, well, we'll have to stay tuned.
Did Phoenix forward Lou Amundson, known as "Lightning Lou" by Shaquille O'Neal spit into the wind when he played a practical joke on Shaqtus? Not sure but O'Neal is like, "Fonzi" the character in the sitcom Happy Days, as you just don't do those things to him and get away with it. Watch for some sort of retaliation from "the Diesel".
No laughing matter in Milwaukee where Charlie Villanueva understands the business side of the NBA and openly wondered whether he would be back in Milwaukee with the Bucks next season.
Say what you want about him but it was a classy move by new head coach at FIU, Isiah Thomas, to give his first year's salary back to the school. When he heard about the tough economic times at the school with lay-offs and budget cuts, he told them, keep the salary for the first year.
