Sunday, November 18, 2018
Toronto Raptors 2018-2019
On Monday
night, the Toronto Raptors played their thirteenth game this season
against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans were led by Anthony
Davis, with 24 points. Their backcourt players, Holiday and Moore,
also stung the Raptors for a combined 59 points. The Pelicans come
out on top 126-110. But it was only the second loss of the season for
the Toronto squad, as they still lead the Eastern Division.
Fans are packing the venue in which
they play. There are Scotiabank symbols on the roof, and it is named
after the bank. You may have known it as the Air Canada Centre. The
Raptors share the facility with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I checked
out the web site with the seating plan, and current ticket prices.
You will have to fill both of your pockets with large bills if you
want to procure a ticket from a scalper. The nature of the beast is
that if teams are successful, the price of tickets rises.
The place is filled to the rafters
for the games. At this point in time, Toronto fans are loyal to the
Raptors. As they should be. They place an excellent squad on the
floor for every game, under the direction of new head coach, Nick
Nurse. At the end of the season last year, management made a few
significant changes, effectively altering the direction of the team.
Dwayne Casey had coached the team for several years, and had even
been selected as “Coach of the Year”. In hockey, that is the kiss
of death for a coach. Apparently, the same applies in basketball.
The team also jettisoned star player
Demar DeRozan, and that was not exactly a popular decision at the
time. DeRozan and the team's other star, Kyle Lowry, were the
mainstays for several seasons. In a significant shakeup, DeRozan was
sent to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-player deal for Kawhi
Leonard and others. I am not going to suggest at this point in time
that it was a great trade. Not enough time has elapsed to assess the
trade properly. But at this point in time, the results are very
positive for the Raps.
Leonard was a bit of an unknown
quantity when he arrived in Toronto. He was known as an outstanding
defensive player, and some considered him to be in the top five of
the talented players in the league. He was, however, prone to injury,
and had missed several games the previous seasons. Raptor fans have
discovered that when he comes to play, he is a force on the court. He
sees the court well, and makes excellent choices, passing and
shooting.
With the departure of DeRozan, Kyle
Lowry has assumed a different role with the team, and seems to have a
more pronounced team approach. Standing slightly above six feet, he
is dwarfed by most of the players on the court. With a better
supporting cast this year, he has had more opportunities to display
his talents. He seems more sure of himself, and is willing to dish
the ball to teammates more often. He still has no fear of dashing to
the basket when that is required, and he plays hard every minute he
is on the court.
Keep in mind that there are always
five players on the court, all very important at all times. Teams
need really big guys to clear the boards, to take down rebounds at
both ends of the court. The Raptors are relying on Jonas Valanciunas,
Pascal Siakam, and Serge Ibaka to fill the lanes under the basket, to
clear the boards, to block out defenders, and to make the easy
baskets around the rim. Valanciunas has also shown a nice touch on
three point shots, at important stages in the game. Danny Green came
over in the Kawhi trade, and has been most important to the Raptors'
fortunes thus far. He is averaging 10 points per game, shooting a
most respectable 45% on three pointers.
Fred Van Vleet has averaged over ten
points a game, in the 8 games that he has played. One gets the
feeling, and it is an important one, that this group is more of a
team than we have seen come out of Toronto in many years, perhaps
ever. There is not a joking, smiling , and fooling around on the
court with these guys, especially with Kawhi. It is all business, and
the rest of the league is taking notice.
I like the fact that the supporting
cast with the team is ready to go at any time, and often outscores
the starters when they hit the floor. Kudos to OG Anunoby, Lorenzo
Brown, CJ Miles, Norman Powell, Malachi Richardson, and Delon Wright
for their contributions.
This will be a year to remember.
James Hurst.
Blue Jays Transformation 2018 to 2019
There was
something in the news recently about the World Series trophy
(officially the Commissioner's Trophy) making an appearance in Puerto
Rico. The Boston Red Sox now possess that piece of silver, and their
manager, Alex Cora, took the trophy into his childhood neighbourhood
to visit with his old pals. This is a tradition that began several
years ago with the Stanley Cup. And yes, last summer, the enormous
Russian superstar, Alex Ovechkin, took the Cup to Mother Russia to
display it to his countrymen, and countrywomen.
It has been
some time since the Toronto Blue Jays had the opportunity to display
the World Series trophy as champions. Back to back, as you recall,
'92 and '93. Ah the glory days of baseball in Toronto! There was a
glimmer of hope a couple of years ago. The powers-that-be opened up
the vaults and brought in some fine players to help win the Big One.
Alas, they fell a little short. Since that time, they have thrown all
of the pieces of the puzzle back into the box, and are in the process
of building another contender.
Part of the
restructuring had to do with upper level management. Ross Atkins is
now the General Manager of the Jays. Mark Shapiro is the President
and CEO of the team. About two weeks ago, the team announced that
they had found a replacement for John Gibbons, the on-field manager
of the team.
Charlie
Montoyo was selected to lead the Jays next year as manager. He is a
native of Manati, Puerto Rico, and has been involved in baseball in
America for many years. His only Major League experience as a player
came in 1993, when he played four games for the Montreal Expos. He
spent 10 years as a professional player in the minor leagues.
As is
usually the case, the team has said good bye to a couple of their
coaches, batting coach Brook Jacoby and first base coach Tim Leiper.
Most of the time, when a new manager is hired, he is given a certain
amount of freedom in the hiring of his coaches. There will be other
changes in the coaching staff before next spring.
Montoyo has
been with the Tampa Bay Rays' organization for almost 20 years. Last
year, he was a Bench Coach for the team. He worked as their third
base coach for three seasons. But it was as manager of the Durham
Bulls for 8 seasons that he learned the ropes on team management.
He realizes
what is at stake at the helm of the Blue Jays. “Managing a team
that represents an entire nation is incredibly special. My family and
I look forward to working towards the ultimate goal of winning a
championship for this city”. He signed a three year deal.
The Ottawa
Senators asked their fans a simple question last weekend. “Would
you rather lose 9-2, as they did on Saturday night, or 3-2 in
overtime, as they did on Sunday?” And yes, they were entertaining
that dreaded two goal lead in the third period, yet again. They seem
to run out of steam near the end of the game, and cannot sustain
their leads. Not a lot of fun for their fans.
Our beloved
Buffalo Bills were simply crushed again on the weekend. There's a
tough assignment: staying loyal to that cause!
James Hurst
November 5,
2018.
Solving the Nylander Enigma
The world of
professional sport is an extremely complex one. When it comes to
salary caps, long term contracts, bonus payments, collective
bargaining agreements, free agency, unrestricted free agency, and the
myriad of other terms used in that world, I am clueless. There is a
lot of smoke and mirrors involved in much of the business.
The Toronto
Maple Leafs organization has put together a fine team for this
season. Nothing is perfect, of course, and there will be losses with
the wins. But when it comes down to one excellent player, William
Nylander, still biding his time on the other side of the Atlantic
Ocean, there can be no doubt that he would be a valuable contributor
to the team this season. But there he sits, waiting for all of the
negotiations to be completed before he takes to the ice at the rink
in Toronto.
In this
case, there is a good deal of frustration. Although I am not privy to
the amount of money he has been offered, I am certain most of us
would be quite comfortable with it. There have been indications that
either he, or his agent, is looking for six million dollars a year,
or perhaps more.
Now with the
injury to Auston Matthews the situation has become more critical.
Matthews is not expected back for at least a month. He missed several
games last season due to injury, and he is prone to shoulder
injuries. Never a good thing.
This would
be an ideal time for Nylander to show his loyalty to his team, sign
the papers, and get back to business in Toronto. Not going to happen.
At this point, the people in the Nylander camp are even talking about
playing in the Russian pro hockey league, the KHL. One can earn some
serious cash there, once they decide to pay you.
Nylander was
actually born in Calgary, Alberta. His father, Michael, was also a
professional hockey player. I would venture to say that his passport
was well stamped. He played almost a thousand games in the NHL. He
was constantly on the move from team to team, with stints in 7 NHL
cities, 3 American League teams, and 14 European teams.
William has
one brother, Alex, in the Buffalo Sabres' organization. Both lads
were drafted in the first round, eighth overall.
Meanwhile,
Leaf fans, coaches, and executives must await the consequences of
Nylander's stance. You can tell from all of the words flowing from
the Toronto media that there is great frustration. Nylander expects
to turn those emotions into serious dollars.
The Boston
Red Sox disposed of the Los Angeles Dodgers rather handily to win the
World Series. Last May, Steve Pierce was trying to crack the Blue
Jays lineup as a journeyman. Now he is the toast of the town in
Boston as the MVP of the World Series. There was a certain amount of
redemption for lefty David Price, as he had experienced some
difficulty in post-season play.
And the
Raptors dropped their first game of the season on Monday night. But
they have stormed out of the blocks this year, at a record pace, and
there are high hopes for them this year.
With this
current chill in the air, we are reminded that the Grey Cup is not
too far away. Always a great event!!
James Hurst
October 30,
2018
