DeMar in Town
This past Saturday on my end, or Friday in Toronto, was a huge day for sports in the city. One of those "mark your calendar" type days.
DeMar DeRozan was coming to town. And I had certainly marked my (digital) calendar a long time ago.
This was the Spurs' first visit to Toronto since DeMar got traded last summer. And it would also be the only trip to Canada for his team this season, which only fueled the anticipation.
And as fate would have it, I couldn't watch the game as it unfolded live.
You see, my daughter was "graduating" from kindergarten. Yup, it's a big deal over where I live. Since I didn't attend kindergarten overseas, I don't know if it is also an important occasion in some other place, but here, we have the formal ceremony, handing out of the "diploma," and the whole shebang. The doting father that I am, I obviously had to attend the thing.
The ceremony was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The tipoff for the game was 9 a.m. We got there about 40 minutes early, and it gave me some time to sit down and watch the early portion of the game on my phone.
Alas, my plan/attempt to watch the game until the ceremony began didn't sit well with the wife. She said it was "embarrassing" that people could see I was watching a basketball game on my phone at our daughter's kindergarten graduation ceremony. My defense was the ceremony hadn't even started and I was going to put it away once it did. But nah, it wasn't a fight I could win (Not that I ever win anything).
I don't understand why it should be "embarrassing" that I was watching the game. I mean, I WAS there at the ceremony, right? "Embarrassing" would have been having to tell mothers of my daughter's friends, "Oh, her dad isn't here because he's home watching some basketball game."
Luckily, the timing worked out so that I got to watch the Raptors' video tribute for DeMar. Boy, I almost cried.
Though this was our second meeting against the Spurs this season, seeing DeMar in Toronto in a San Antonio jersey felt extra weird. There's really no other word to describe it. There have obviously been so many other athletes who have come and gone, but I just think the way he was traded, the emotions the move engendered, and the whole aftermath added so much more drama to DeMar's return.
In my quarter-century as a Toronto sports fan, I don't know if there has ever been any non-Canadian athlete who embraced the city as much and who enjoyed playing in the city and for the city as much as DeMar. When he became a free agent, he didn't even bother testing the open market and re-signed with the Raps. Everything about DeMar and his professed love for Toronto seemed genuine. He was a consistent All-Star while playing in Toronto and by many accounts, he was even a better person.
Clearly, Masai isn't the one to get caught up in the wishy-washy stuff. Love means nothing when you get swept out of the second round in the playoffs. The goal is to win the last game of the season, and Masai is the man willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.
I've said this any number of times here and I'll say it again: as basketball trades go, this was a no-brainer. When players like Kawhi and Danny Green become available for DeMar and a middling prospect Jakob Poeltl, you simply have to pull the trigger.
Like a lot of Raptors fans, my immediate reaction to the trade was a mixed bag: surprise, shock, disappointment, anticipation, etc, etc. I wish we could have tried to win with DeMar in the fold, but the front office had decided the team had reached its ceiling with him in the lineup, and who am I to argue?
In our visit to San Antonio last month, we suffered an ugly loss, and DeMar killed us softly with the first triple-double of his career.
In this one, he scored an efficent 23 points with eight assists, but committeed a costly turnover at the end as, who else, Kawhi stripped him of the ball and slammed a go-ahead dunk with 15 ticks left.
Save for that clutch dunk, though, Kawhi didn't have a strong game. He took 23 shots to score his 25 points and missed all four attempts from deep.
One might say Kawhi played like a playoff DeMar (ouch!) and DeMar's performance kind of epitomized his stint with the Raptors, good but not good enough (double ouch!!).
I missed all the action after the tribute video. Had to watch the on-demand feed later at night.
A couple of observations: our two new guys, Marc Gasol and Jeremy Lin, finally had some full practices during the All-Star break, and I think it showed in their performances in this game.
Gasol got into foul trouble early (is it just me or has officiating across the NBA been just terrible this year?) but he looked a lot more comfortable out there. He's such an unselfish player and it makes the offense of our second unit so much better to have a big man who can initiate plays from the top of the key.
Lin has been around the league, and he's a far steadier point guard than Delon was. Especially with FVV out a while, we need all the stability we can get from our backup PG spot. Patrick McCaw has the athleticism and all, but he isn't the viable option as PG 2. Coach Nurse had Lin and Kyle on the court at the same time for a few possessions here and there, and that could be an option down the road even after Freddie comes back.
The bottom line: it's so nice to have not one but two savvy professionals.
DeMar DeRozan was coming to town. And I had certainly marked my (digital) calendar a long time ago.
This was the Spurs' first visit to Toronto since DeMar got traded last summer. And it would also be the only trip to Canada for his team this season, which only fueled the anticipation.
And as fate would have it, I couldn't watch the game as it unfolded live.
You see, my daughter was "graduating" from kindergarten. Yup, it's a big deal over where I live. Since I didn't attend kindergarten overseas, I don't know if it is also an important occasion in some other place, but here, we have the formal ceremony, handing out of the "diploma," and the whole shebang. The doting father that I am, I obviously had to attend the thing.
The ceremony was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The tipoff for the game was 9 a.m. We got there about 40 minutes early, and it gave me some time to sit down and watch the early portion of the game on my phone.
Alas, my plan/attempt to watch the game until the ceremony began didn't sit well with the wife. She said it was "embarrassing" that people could see I was watching a basketball game on my phone at our daughter's kindergarten graduation ceremony. My defense was the ceremony hadn't even started and I was going to put it away once it did. But nah, it wasn't a fight I could win (Not that I ever win anything).
I don't understand why it should be "embarrassing" that I was watching the game. I mean, I WAS there at the ceremony, right? "Embarrassing" would have been having to tell mothers of my daughter's friends, "Oh, her dad isn't here because he's home watching some basketball game."
Luckily, the timing worked out so that I got to watch the Raptors' video tribute for DeMar. Boy, I almost cried.
Though this was our second meeting against the Spurs this season, seeing DeMar in Toronto in a San Antonio jersey felt extra weird. There's really no other word to describe it. There have obviously been so many other athletes who have come and gone, but I just think the way he was traded, the emotions the move engendered, and the whole aftermath added so much more drama to DeMar's return.
In my quarter-century as a Toronto sports fan, I don't know if there has ever been any non-Canadian athlete who embraced the city as much and who enjoyed playing in the city and for the city as much as DeMar. When he became a free agent, he didn't even bother testing the open market and re-signed with the Raps. Everything about DeMar and his professed love for Toronto seemed genuine. He was a consistent All-Star while playing in Toronto and by many accounts, he was even a better person.
Clearly, Masai isn't the one to get caught up in the wishy-washy stuff. Love means nothing when you get swept out of the second round in the playoffs. The goal is to win the last game of the season, and Masai is the man willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.
I've said this any number of times here and I'll say it again: as basketball trades go, this was a no-brainer. When players like Kawhi and Danny Green become available for DeMar and a middling prospect Jakob Poeltl, you simply have to pull the trigger.
Like a lot of Raptors fans, my immediate reaction to the trade was a mixed bag: surprise, shock, disappointment, anticipation, etc, etc. I wish we could have tried to win with DeMar in the fold, but the front office had decided the team had reached its ceiling with him in the lineup, and who am I to argue?
In our visit to San Antonio last month, we suffered an ugly loss, and DeMar killed us softly with the first triple-double of his career.
In this one, he scored an efficent 23 points with eight assists, but committeed a costly turnover at the end as, who else, Kawhi stripped him of the ball and slammed a go-ahead dunk with 15 ticks left.
Save for that clutch dunk, though, Kawhi didn't have a strong game. He took 23 shots to score his 25 points and missed all four attempts from deep.
One might say Kawhi played like a playoff DeMar (ouch!) and DeMar's performance kind of epitomized his stint with the Raptors, good but not good enough (double ouch!!).
I missed all the action after the tribute video. Had to watch the on-demand feed later at night.
A couple of observations: our two new guys, Marc Gasol and Jeremy Lin, finally had some full practices during the All-Star break, and I think it showed in their performances in this game.
Gasol got into foul trouble early (is it just me or has officiating across the NBA been just terrible this year?) but he looked a lot more comfortable out there. He's such an unselfish player and it makes the offense of our second unit so much better to have a big man who can initiate plays from the top of the key.
Lin has been around the league, and he's a far steadier point guard than Delon was. Especially with FVV out a while, we need all the stability we can get from our backup PG spot. Patrick McCaw has the athleticism and all, but he isn't the viable option as PG 2. Coach Nurse had Lin and Kyle on the court at the same time for a few possessions here and there, and that could be an option down the road even after Freddie comes back.
The bottom line: it's so nice to have not one but two savvy professionals.
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