I'm just heading off to practice as the Raptors are ready to take on the Vancouver, er the Memphis Grizzlies here on the bank of the Mississippi. Sorry about that folks. Yep, I too have the proverbial "bee in my bonnet" about the Grizz moving to Memphis.
Hmmm, tell me if Toronto loses this one after a terrific opening night win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the map for the championship parade route put back in the filing cabinet?
Let's face it; the win over Cleveland was great. There was a playoff feel in the arena and I have to give credit to the Raptor crowd that was officially reported as a sellout, hanging from the ceiling, and standing in the aisles 20,152 strong. In a city accustomed to seeing things fall apart around them - I would use the Nero analogy but there was nothing really ever built up by the Blue Jays, Argos or even the Leafs, to fall apart - they did not resort to booing or even getting antsy when Cleveland erased a 21-point Toronto lead. Maybe the Raptor faithful sensed the lead could be restored or they just knew that LeBron James, who had the quietest triple-double I have ever seen (23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists), and his mates would not go quietly.
Any early season schedule is a double-edged sword. Why? You can catch the good teams and contenders early in the season before they get it together, giving the underdog a better chance to steal a win. That may or may not have been the case opening night at the Air Canada Centre as only time will tell. However on the flip side some of the teams that will be fit into the "also ran" category at the end of the season don't know it yet and aren't fully convinced that they will be out of the running later on, so they jump up and bite you.
Memphis is projected to be near the bottom of the pack this season with another lottery appearance looming, but the Grizzlies don't know that right now and are full of hope, optimism and will have a positive home court crowd behind them.
I saw it coming this season and it happened in the opener. It's a close game and the Raptors need stops and there they were, Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright on the floor together at the end of the game. I was impressed that Jose Calderon was also out there as he did a nice job defending. Collectively, Toronto did a good job of sticking to its defensive principles for the entire game.
After speaking to folks in Dallas about Antoine Wright, the one thing they say is that he is always willing to compete. Against the Cavs, there he was dogging LeBron on defence and playing the defensive system. Wright also gave up his body in taking three charges. Those are the kinds of things and the type of commitment that will make this team a playoff squad at the end of the season.
So its one down and 81 to go and for the Raptors, and for fans it's good to be on the right side of the Mendoza line. See it, Believe it, Achieve it.
Speaking of LeBron James, on Tuesday night a bunch of basketball media types got a look at the film More Than a Game that opened in selected theatres. In a word: fantastic. Sure LeBron's name is the centre of attraction for the film but in truth, the movie is about lots more than James and his buddies.
Let's put it this way: School boards around the world have made a move to what is known as character education and the board that I recently worked for has been integrating 10 character words and examples regularly into its curriculum (honesty, respect, responsibility, initiative, integrity, courage, empathy, fairness, optimism and my favourite, perseverance) Any one that wants examples of all these attributes in one place just needs to see the movie.
If you are a coach it's a must.
