Where in the World is Morris Peterson?

What is happening in Toronto with Morris Peterson? The whole situation has been a mystery in Toronto from day one of the season. Anthony Parker and Fred Jones took Peterson’s minutes from the get go and early in the year when the Raptors started the season at 2-8, Jones was on the court for all late game situations even though he couldn’t buy a basket while Peterson was nailed to the bench. When Jones, struggled Peterson found himself getting some more minutes especially late in the game where he became a staple to hit big time shots.

Ever since Juan Dixon has come to Toronto from Portland in the Fred Jones trade, he has stolen Peterson’s minutes, as Mo has become the 9^th or even 10^th man as today’s game showed us where he only saw 8 minutes of action. I cannot figure out what the Toronto coaching staff is doing with the longest serving Raptor in team history. Peterson started 77 games last year, averaging close to 40 minutes a night and 17 points. This year he has started in only 9 games and is barely averaging over 10 points a night with his numbers falling fast with his decreasing minutes. He has been treated with absolutely no respect this year and has been as professional as one can be about it. My question is why is this happening? Why is Mo not getting rewarded for tons of big time 4th quarter shots and solid play with more regula rplaying time, yet as soon as he struggles he finds himself barely seeing the court as evident in his 8 minutes against Seattle? Othe rplayers like Garbajosa, Jones, Graham and now Dixon were allowed to play through their struggles and still get their minutes, It doesn't make any sense at all and I wonder who in Toronto is behind these decisions?

Shaq is Back and so is Vince

Last week I wondered if Shaq had enough left in the tank at 35 and if could he lead the Heat to the playoffs without Dwayne Wade. I also wondered if he could still give some of those vintage 30 point 15 rebound games. The answers so far are simply, yes, yes and once again yes. Shaq did more than enough to impress the entire NBA and myself getting the Heat back over .500 with a 3-0 week. He started off with a 23 and 10 performance in a win against Washington and ended with a 14 and 7 game in limited action against the Hawks. But the big story of the week was his amazing performance against the Eastern conference elite (or so we thought) Detroit “Basketball” Pistons scoring 31 points, grabbing 15 boards and dishing out 6 dimes. Perhaps the Pistons might actually end up missing Ben Wallace if they have to meet the Heat in the playoffs. Note to the rest of the NBA: You still have to double Shaq.

Shaq’s play of late begs this new question. Can the Heat be a serious contender for the title with Shaq playing like he is now and if Dwayne Wade can come back healthy for the playoffs? My answer is a big yes. By the way, don't rule out the Heat for winning the Southeast division with the Wizards play of late.

While Shaq might be back to his old self, Vince is back down to earth. Last week I talked about Vince Carter’s amazing play of late and how the Nets might be a team to make a run in the East. Well that play sizzled in a big way. The Nets lost both their games last week against the lowly Celtics and 76ers. Carter had a streak of 18 straight missed shots spread out through both games. Against the 76ers, Carter shot a putrid 4-20. And how about the importance of getting to the free throw line? Vince didn’t go a single time against those 76ers. Typical hot and cold Vince. That’s the kind of play that won’t see the Nets playing in May even with Kidd giving it his all with triple double games.

More on the Hit Heard Round the World

The NHL today suspended Cam Janssen for 3 games for his hit on Tomas Kaberle. Who didn’t see this coming? This was too easy of a call for the NHL who have been hesitant to make any suspensions this year for hits to the head or any hits for that matter. Why was this too easy of a decision? Cam is a 4^th liner for the Devils who sees no more than 5 minutes of ice time per game. Nobody around the league was going to criticize this suspension, especially when the player is Cam Janssen. Also, the NHL could use the Cam Janssen suspension as a perfect example showing that they won’t be tolerating any of these hits anymore.

Here is where I disagree with the suspension of 3 games. This is a common hit in the NHL. This kind of play happens every night around the league. The only difference is that Kaberle had his head down and didn’t see it coming, which caused him to go awkwardly into the boards and unfortunately get injured. Once the stretcher came out, you knew Cam was in trouble. Here is where the problem is. The NHL is too fixated on suspending players for acts only if it results in an injury. It has been like this for years. If Kaberle has his head up and goes into the boards with a healthy crunch and skates back into the play, we never speak of this again. But because he is out for a few weeks, Cam must be suspended. Earlier in the year Alexander Ovechkin bumped Daniel Briere while Briere was going off to the bench causing him to go head first into the boards. It looked downright scary. Briere could have broken his neck and been another Steve Moore. Instead he was fine and the league decided not to give Ovechkin a suspension in one of the dirtiest acts in years. If the NHL wants to stop this from happening, they must start suspending players for late or dirty hits no matter what the result of the play is before players kill themselves. The NHL also has to suspend anyone, superstar or no superstar. This is the only way to cut any of these kinds of hits out of this game.

The Hit Heard Round the World

By now everyone has heard or seen the Cam Janssen hit on Tomas Kaberle. Everyone in Canada is outraged, calling it a charge, a late hit, an elbow and flat out dirty. Cam is being turned into a monster who is out on the ice to take off the head’s of his opponents. They are calling for a suspension all over Toronto and Cam might as well be known as the dirtiest player in hockey for now on. I think a lot of the comments about the hit and about Cam are totally unfair. First off Cam is not a dirty player. He does not try and cheap shot players or injure players. He is an energy player who looks to make a big hit to get the team and crowd going. He would never mean to purposely hurt somebody. Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I want to break down the hit.

Forget what Harry Neale said. The hit was not 3 to 3 and a half seconds or counts after the pass. That is ridiculous. The Score timed the hit at 1.33 seconds after the pass. There is a major reaction for a few reasons.

1. Who made the hit? It was Cam Janssen Cam is a 4^th line fighter who gets very little ice time. Immediately he must be a dirty hockey player. He also has some history with the Leafs. Him and Tucker hate each other. Remember last year when Tucker nailed him twice over the head with his helmet?
2. Who he hit. It was Tomas Kaberle. The Leafs top defenseman.
3. The result. Kaberle had his head down while he was admiring his pass. A complete no no in the NHL. You can’t do that, plain and simple. Your head must be up at all times. Because it was down, he could not see the hit coming and went flying awkwardly into the boards.

A few more things. It was not an elbow contrary to what everyone wants to believe. The angle might see it like that but it was all shoulder. Now going back to the 1.33 seconds. That is late but it isn’t that late. Scott Stevens’ famous hit to Paul Kariya was made around the same time after Kariya got rid of the puck but no one made a fuss because it was the great Scott Stevens and not some 4^th line fighter named Cam Janssen.

The fact is Kaberle had his head down. If he has his head up like he is supposed to, this is a non-issue. Leafs fan can scream for a suspension but I’m not too sure about that. We have seen a lot worse and a lot dangerous this year including Ovechkin’s bump from behind on Briere. Remember, this hit was not from behind or from the side. It was straight on while Kaberle had his head down. Unfortunately he got injured. I pray that he is okay and he has quick recovery. Wa it late? Yes. Does it deserve a suspension. I don't think so. No one hopes for anything like that to happen but I felt I needed to get this off my chest before the media destroys Cam if it hasn’t already.

Around the NBA: Vince and Shaq

Newsflash

Vince Carter woke up again. You know it must be something big to get Carter motivated and Nets fans might have Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith to thank who called Vince Carter “Fools Gold”. Or it might have nothing to do with the comment and Vince just realized that the Nets are fading fast from the Raptors and out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Whatever it was, he has woken up and is playing some of his best basketball in years averaging 37.3 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists last week including two 40-point games.

Now I thought that was a great comment and not a bad analogy when describing Vince. After all he has so much talent but he just doesn’t bring it every night. I love Nets’ fans that keep defending Carter pointing to his stats this season and the stats do look nice, no doubt (25.5 ppg, 4.5 apg and 6 rpg). Those stats are the problem. Vince can do all that effortlessly. He can do that by standing around and not touching the ball for a few minutes and then taking some 35 foot threes and a few closer jumpers. If Vince wants to be more than that he has to keep doing that every night like he did against Charlotte or New York. You know Vince is bringing it when you look at how many times he gets to the free throw line. In the last 4 games he is averaging 10 shots from the line a game. This means he is attacking the basket, which he does best and becomes virtually unstoppable. There are a lot of games this year when he gets to the line 2-4 times and a bunch when he doesn’t get to the line at all. That isn’t going to cut it when he could easily get to the line 12-14 times a game.

If there is a Nets game on and you can watch it, you really should because watching Vince when he is on is what makes basketball so great. Now do it soon because it just might not last too long.

Shaq is back

and healthy but now it is Wade who is injured. Am I the only one that finds the rest of the Miami Heat season so intriguing? A lot of writers feel that Wade will skip surgery in hopes of coming back for the playoffs but there is one big question. Are the Heat good enough to make the playoffs? If the playoff started today they wouldn't be in it and making it depends solely on how good Shaq can be, This is what intrigues me so much. There are so many questions surrounding Shaq like can he stay healthy? How much does he have left in the tank? Can he bring it every night? Does he still have any 30 points 18 board games left in him. So far it has been hard to tell with some good, bad and ugly games (The ugly being the 3 rebound performance against the Knicks the other night). We are starting to watch one of the biggest challenges in Shaq's career as this might be the worst group of players minus Wade he has played with in years, making the final tow months so damn interesting.

Sportsnet's "Trade Deadline Bash"

It seems Sportsnet has tried everything to compete with TSN and failed miserably over the last 8 years. I find their new direction quite interesting with the whole “laid back casual Friday drinking my latte at Starbucks look". I’ll give them credit for trying although their new set does look like something from an entertainment show. However, was anything more ridiculous than their “Trade Deadline Bash today”? Again, full marks for going the other way but I mean, come on, seriously? A man who runs a hockey blog and doesn’t show his face who goes by the name of Eklund is your main insider? Did I seriously see the Hanson brothers and the Deal or No Deal models? Was that actually pizza and Pepsi on the main desk while they did their show? I just admit, I watched a lot more of Sportsnet because of this, mostly because I was amazed with the whole thing. Is this how Sportsnet will get more viewers? TSN will continue to be all business while Sportsnet goes and throws a party on one of the biggest sports days in Canada? It should be interesting to see the ratings of the deadline day compared to last years. What’s your take?