No More Celtics Hip Hip Hooray

Yes this is the last time the Raptors will likely see the Boston Celtics this season. Seems odd to say on January 7th but such is the NBA Schedule. They have already improved on their performance from last year against them with a win in three tries so far. Last season the Raptors with Chris Bosh were swept by the Celtics 4 to 0. All that being said the Raptors chances tonight in Boston look pretty bleak despite a come from behind blow out of the Cavs. Jerryd Bayless and Sonny Weems remain out. Bargnani and Johnson will go tonight for Toronto. Jose Calderon is going to play as well with Bayless on the shelf. The suggestion seems to be if Bayless was healthy Calderon would not be playing. Meanwhile in Boston they remain with out K.G, while Kendrick Perkins is still about a month away from playing. The Raptors should feel fortunate they will not seen Perkins, and to a large degree have not seen Boston at full capacity even minus him in all 4 games. Be it Rondo or K.G being out the Raptors have never faced the Celtics full blast this year.

The Basics: Toronto 12-23 ( 4-5 vs Atlantic Division) Boston 27-7 ( 21-4 vs East )

When Last We Saw Them: We saw the Raptors start slow allowing the Cavs to shoot 66.7% in 1st and take a 15 point lead. Only to see Julian Wright spark the charge back and the Raptors would eventually win by 15. Jose Calderon was excellent with 20 points and 17 assists and Bargnani looked good as well scoring 20+ points and leading the team in scoring on the night. Were the Cavs just that bad or did the Raptors play that good in final 3 quarters? It is one of those questions where the answer might be both.

Key Match-Ups: As good as Jose was vs the Cavs, Rondo is even better than that coming into this one off a triple double with 12 points 22 assists and 10 rebounds, vs the best team in league record wise in the Spurs. That is a little different from tearing apart the hopeless and Lebronless Cavs. Not to mention traditionally Rondo has always got the better of Calderon. Big Baby and Amir Johnson should be good to watch. Make Glen Davis a jump shooter and you should be ok. Davis has really come a long way but much like a Kris Humphries did in his Raptor days, Big Baby tends to forget he is not the 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd option on offence. Last but not least is Paul Pierce, who in the last meeting with the Raptors less than 7 days ago was pretty spectacular. Linas Klezia has his hands full or whoever they end up sticking on him. After saying all of this watch Ray Allen light up Demar DeRozan with about 6 makes from 3 point range. Allen has always been a tough match up for Dematr. The only advantage the Raptors have is Bargnani on Shaq or J.O it is no contest if Bargnani takes them away from the basket.

Other Things of Note: After a pretty nice honeymoon in Boston things may be going sour for Shaq. Jermaine O'Neal has been the O'Neal getting more minutes of late. A healthy J.O provides the Celtics a better defensive option. Although this story in the Boston Herald has a lot of quotes of people all saying the right things in terms of Shaq. I said at the start of the year that once Perkins came back you were going to have at least one unhappy O'Neal. I was just figuring it would be Jermaine and not Shaq. While our DNB Intern Ryan banged out his first piece in the blog yesterday. Talking about how Demar DeRozan is not getting the love he may deserve from the NBA. He isn't getting much love from the officials as well taking a knock on the head and staying down still did not warrant him a trip to the line. But Demar remains consistent in his effort to drive and draw contact. You just hope he starts to be rewarded in the way that a guy like say Paul Pierce does eventually. Demar was left out of the dunk contest and if he does not crack the sophomore line-up for the Rookie Challenge safe to say the Raptors will have no representation at the All-Star Game at all. Been a long time since that happened, as Bosh was a given to be an All-Star by the end of his time here.

Where is it on? TSN (Sources have informed me that World Junior Hockey Tournament has ended making this possible. Those same sources confirmed the Russians have finally left Buffalo)

"NBAz in 7 Dayz"

My Christmas was pure bananas. Every year, try as I may to be organized, this year I forget gifts and my famous apple pie for Christmas dinner. My solice? Five NBA games on Christmas day. Ahhhh. The best part? Dinner was at my sister's place this year and her husband Brian is a huge basketball fan so it was two against my Dad and my brother-in-law Aaron. If they polled for stress-level ratings of Christmas past, this year would take the cake. Alas, TV ratings make the grade and based on fast national ratings, NBA games airing on ABC and ESPN delivered the highest growing audience ever. The much anticipated match-up (and eventual smack-down) of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat increased its viewing audience by 45% over last year's game (Cleveland vs Los Angeles) in the same broadcast window. At the end of the day, ratings gage the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into the same program. So these stats show basketball and turkey consumption go hand in hand. Let's consume some serious news makers over the past week, including: LeBron James 'water and Love' comments, Larry Brown being fired as Head Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats and Shaquille O'Neal's fine for speaking his mind.

All is fair in Love and war

Let's clear this up. After Heat practice on Monday, LeBron James said he "didn't mean to upset anybody" when he called the NBA "watered down" last week. He also said his comments regarding the league being more popular in the 1980s due to fewer teams and more stars on top squads were not meant to hurt anyone either. He claims he is not saying leave the Nets or Timberwolves high and dry but for the need to see players like Kevin Love playing somewhere other than in Minnesota. He does have a point. Look at Kevin Love's stats. He leads the league in rebounding with 15.6 and is averaging 20 points. Plus, he also leads the league with 25 double-doubles. Pretty impressive, right? Let's face it. LeBron James is not the first person to think this or say it out loud for that matter. Fans and officials across all professional leagues have thought it, too. Don't kid yourself. NBA Commissioner David Stern is not counting out this argument but continues to subscribe to the theory expansion, no matter how financially viable, makes the league more attractive. Look at what is happening to the Hornets. The owners step down without real investors to take over, are all smile and giggles about the Hornets being such a great investment opportunity and yet they throw their hands up and walk away from what is clearly a mess. Forget the fact LeBron James has a target on his back already for "taking his talents to Miami". His argument about the league's talent being spread out makes some sense. Take a look at some of today's bottom benchers who are making mad dough and have the privilege of calling themselves professional athletes. Insert these guys into the game 20 or 30 years ago and the words "professional basketball player" would not be on their resume. These are the guys most upset at LeBron's 'watered down' comments. They should be. A new Collective Bargaining Agreement is on the horizon and they are wondering where they fit in.

Michael Jordan goes back on his word

Think back to when Larry Brown was hired as Head Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. Michael Jordan (Bobcats owner) said he wanted Larry Brown to coach this team as long as Larry wanted to coach it. Then a few weeks ago, Michael and Larry met on 'how to improve the team' and 'how to play better basketball'. They met again recently and apparently decided the team could be playing better basketball and a change was needed. So since they were in a soft schedule according to them, now was a good time to make the transition to interim Head Coach Paul Silas. Sure, when you are loosing games by 30 points or more, a change is definitely in order. But to argue Larry Brown stepped down on his own free will is a complete fabrication. "Yes, Michael. Our Bobcats could be playing better. Why don't I just step down as Head Coach and let someone else give it a try?" Who are we trying to kid? This is Michael Jordan - an intense athlete in his playing days and proving to be just as ruthless in his quest to win as an owner. My only question is: does he have enough pocket change to buy the Maple Leafs?

Shaq on the Attack

This is just laughable. Shaquille O'Neal has been fined $35, 000 by the NBA for his public comments about the officiating. On Christmas, Boston played Orlando and got beat 86-78. He criticized the referees in this game after picking up his sixth foul when Magic center Dwight Howard fell to the ground wrestling for position. Shaq said, "I just wonder why I have never gotten that call in 20 years. Don't pick and choose when you are going to make the call...That's what happens when you get control freaks". No, that's what happens when you try to change the game abruptly after players are used to being the control freaks. Everyone just needs to settle down and take a time-out. Inconsistency in officiating issues are also plaguing professional soccer where they are considering having an official parked at the goal. Not sure if this would work in the NBA but when the dust settles, we all need to move on. The moving on part is harder for some than others.

Thanks for joining me this week. I will see you on Thursday for more "Behind Enemy Lines".

"Basketball Beyond the Floor"

I picked up this book a few years ago for two reasons. One, I was in university and wanted to get back into basketball shape for a fun league. I hadn't played organized basketball since my high school team so I was in need of some 'fine tuning' let's just say. The second reason I bought Condition The NBA Way was because, I'll admit it, Shaquille O'Neil (then of the Orlando Magic) and Alonzo Mourning (then of the Charlotte Hornets) were on the front cover and I was a huge fan of both (still a part of the SHAQ-pack, actually). What really drew me to the book was the explanations of each exercise and how both female and male figures were used to demonstrate. Yes, both women and men can train the 'NBA way' according to the 14 NBA strength and conditioning coaches who put together this book. Even though this book is titled Condition the NBA Way, it provides the staples for any workout regime: warming up, stretching, cooling down, conditioning, weight-training and nutrition. It also touches on plyometrics (an exercise designed to produce fast powerful movements), speed and agility which where sport specific training comes in. These are the areas I am going to focus on since these are the most basketball specific.

Plyometrics - A Burst of Energy

When I worked at WTSN, I was waiting for a source at the training facility in our broadcast center and had a chance to see how some NHLers do their off-ice training. In one exercise, the trainer set up the treadmill at a sprint speed and had the player do one lap of the track at an easy pace first. Once he reached the treadmill, he would straddle the sides, then jump on with a burst of power for about 30 secs to a minute (the average length of an NHL shift). This exercise was designed to mimic the motions and power it would take to fully utilize his time on the ice. Now, this will obviously be similar but remarkably different for NBA athletes since they still need that burst of energy for steals and fast breaks but different since their shifts are much longer and different skills are needed. Some coaches and trainers consider plyometrics training as high on their list of priorities since having the power to go from zero to a hundred in the shortest time possible will give you that edge over an opponent, especially on that fast break or vertical jump for a rebound. I liked how the book used Doc Rivers (as a playing member of the New York Knicks at the time) to show how plyometrics can affect all aspects of your game. In the three months of off-season training, Doc Rivers drastically improved his on-the-court performance by giving extra attention to plyometrics training. This season watch how the players perform in transition or on a fast break. When the camera zeros in on their expression, see if you can tell if they are showing signs of fatigue or a "ready to get back out there" mentality. When you see steals on the fast break or especially in transition, this may be as a result of fatigue which causes the silly mistakes like turnovers. This book tries to show how plyometrics training can help correct this.

Speed - Getting From Point A to Point B

It is as simple as that. How fast you can drive to the basket can mean the difference between points up on the board, change in possession and momentum. In Condition The NBA Way, it explains that for basketball, speed doesn't only mean sprinting straight ahead. It includes: "the defensive shuffle; the back pedal and change of direction". And while sprinting straight forward can affect all of these movements, speed is measured by how often you repeat your stride times your stride length. I was a little concerned in this section since they named Kevin Johnson, Tim Hardaway and Muggsy Bogues and how if you have a goal to be as fast as they are, "you can do it". As much as I appreciate what this book did for me personally, in no way shape or form can you be NBA ready after reading this book. I think that would discredit all the work professional trainers and coaches are doing to prepare their athletes for games. This book is really meant to give you some tools you can use in your own training to improve your game or give you some fresh exercises to provide you a more motivating work out. I agree that by breaking down each sprint action into parts, practicing each part and bringing it back together will definitely improve your speed - it's just like reading and breaking down each chapter and each sentence. But to suggest you can be "just as efficient and explosive" as an NBA player after doing these exercises, is doing a disservice to the strength and conditioning coaches who put this book together. Oh wait, that's who told us we could be just like them. Hmmm.

Agility - Stop on a dime and Give Me Nine Cents Change

"For every level you go up in competition, your weaknesses will be magnified another degree" (Condition The NBA Way). This is true. I think if the average high school or college player picks up this book and takes some of the exercises in it seriously, they will definitely improve on those magnified weaknesses - but not erase them. Training with a team coach or team trainer and the book as an added bonus, is a better way to look at it. The book breaks down the actual definition of agility in basketball terms: "...being able to change your body direction quickly, explosively, efficiently and in balance (under control)". And again, just like any other skill, your agility improves with practice. Picture this: I'm in grade eight, a point guard with a lot of promise. Insert important tournament, nerves and oh yeah, and eye glasses. So as I am about to pivot and turn to guard my player and doesn't someone flip me a pass square in the face? Clearly, agility and the ability to read the direction of the play was an issue for me and my teammate. Incidentally, we laughed about it afterwards and how I had to wear black electrical tape to keep the arm on my glasses for the rest of the tournament. I now know better and wear contacts. (Another reason to advocate for all basketball players to wear mouth guards). Aside from this, the book actually breaks down the agility work out with individual and team exercises. I think this is important given my personal example. You can train as an individual until you are blue in the face but until those skills are put into practice in a team situation, you can't really judge what level you are at - especially when you will be competing against basketball players with varying levels of agility.

Flick Pick of the Week

I know I have mentioned it before in "Jiggly Bits" here on the DNB, but I am officially making it this week's Flick Pick of the Week. You need to watch "Into The Wind" produced by Steve Nash and his cousin Ezra Holland. It's a documentary on ESPN's 30-30 right now and is about Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. There are a few documentaries out there about Terry Fox and I have seen just about every one of them so you will understand why I kind of thought "oh no, here we go again" when I heard about this one. Kudos to Steve Nash and his cousin for this outstanding documentary and interviews with Terry's parents, friend Doug and how all the footage was put together. You will learn Terry Fox was a great basketball player and it was his basketball coach who brought him an article about an amputee and how he ran a marathon. Really well done and worth watching.

For next week, we are going to look at two "how-to" basketball books for the younger player. I am even going to enlist the help of some age-appropriate helpers to gauge their opinion on the material. I picked up The Young Basketball Player by Chris Mullen and Basketball: How to be a Star Player by Matt Parselle from my local library - where I find many of the books we've discussed here on "Basketball on the Floor". See you on Tuesday here on the DNB for "Jiggly Bits" and until then, happy reading.