I don’t know if tonight will be the final basketball game played at the Air Canada Centre this season or not and since no one can figure this Eastern Conference final out, anyone who says anything is bluffing or blowing smoke.

But I do know this as the grind of the longest, topsy-turviest post-season run drags on: What has transpired not only this season but over the last three was made possible only because Masai and ownership and the coaches and people that I believe to be right-thinking decided that slow and steady growth was preferable to blowing it up and going into the tank and hoping for some draft or lottery luck.

It really wasn’t that long ago that there was clamouring to take this down to the wood, to Tank For Wiggins, to start all over again, to intentionally plan to bring on pain rather than stay the course.

It was always my contention that ripping everything up was wrong, that it would take years to get bad enough to make a true difference and years and years to get good enough for that strategy to work.

My right idea, always, was to add bits and pieces, to make minor adjustments when they were necessary, to draft and sign judiciously and let the whole think percolate.

And I think everyone would agree the ride has been exhilarating, steady improvement of a group of players and coaches that fans could get to know and appreciate, a team that was allowed to improve together in front of your eyes.

Sure, there was a blip – the Washington series a year ago – but that was it. Other than that, the idea of what Bryan Colangelo used to call “organic growth” has proved to be the right one.

Each season has basically been better than the last, we have seen Kyle Lowry improve to the point where’s on an all-NBA team, we have seen DeMar DeRozan become a two-time all-star, Jonas Valanciunas improve at a steady rate.

I know Masai toyed with the idea of blowing it up further way back in the day and who knows what would have happened had he convinced the Knicks to take Lowry in that eventually-aborted trade.

But he also saw something that made him pull back from the total decimation of the roster on the off chance there would be some lottery miracle. He could have moved anyone if he really, really, really wanted to, he could have basically given Lowry and/or DeRozan away shortly after the Rudy Gay trade and I know there were all kinds of proponents of doing just that.

He knew, somehow, that the core he had assembled might be able to grow into something and he took a step back from the blowing up process.

It has led to a sustained stretch of success, and incremental improvement, that is basically unrivalled in franchise history.

The Vince Ere team was more a lightning bolt than this one and it burned out far more quickly.

This has been a lot of fun for fans, I would suspect. Year after year of good teams and good games and good success and it came without the pain of bottoming out, a pain that would have taken so long to go away that I bet more than a few “fans” would have fled.

As we said, this might be the last game of the year here, it might be the last game of the season or it might not.

Whatever it is, it’s been fun, as has the ride and its genesis was a decision to do the right thing.

-

If you hang out in a saloon (Hi, Jack Astor’s at Square One) that has Sam Cooke on its music playlist, you’re hanging out in a good saloon.

-

Hey Cleveland? Chill, would you?

I don’t hate your city even if I may have mentioned its “rather dreadful” downtown yesterday morning.

And since you seem to have a fair number of thin-skinned citizens who’ve figured out the tweeter machine and e-mail, allow me to elaborate:

The area at 4th street or whatever it is, with Flannery’s at top and the Alley place at the bottom is okay; the block by Johnny’s and the Little Bar and with the good seafood place on the corner is all right.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

And I’m certain there are neighbourhoods of great charm and that are quite livable and very nice. I've actually always had a good time in your city for the two or three nights I get there each season.



But even you’ve got to admit that no one lives downtown, it’s hardly vibrant or remotely attractive and I suppose they’ll get the construction on the public square done eventually, right?

So maybe “dreadful” isn’t word, how about “charmless” as adjective? Does that work better.

Thanks for being loyal readers, though. I am truly blessed.

And, please, stay safe during the convention, at least those who are staying instead of fleeing. Seriously, be careful then.

-

And yeah, even after being inundated with mail yesterday, still need some legitimate stuff for the weekend. No idea how much I’ll get done each day but askdoug@thestar.ca is the place to go to let me know how you feel and what’s on your mind.

-

So the Blue Jays are playing Boston and the Raptors are at home and it gets a guy to wondering if Game Ops at the Dome and the Air Canada Centre will co-ordinate the playing of the somewhat sickening Sweet Caroline?

Or maybe they do all our ears a favour and dump the whole idea.

-

Who we got in the pucks, which I understand is now down to two teams?

Is this a good matchup? A bad one? Do many of you care?

There were years when I’d have at least a passing interest at this time of year – or at least know which teams were in which conference finals – but the all-consuming nature of this Raptors playoff run has made that impossible.

The Leaves aren’t in it, are they? How about Auston Matthews, how’s he doing? And is Saviour No. 2 Marner killing it at the Memorial Cup? Is that still going on?

-

Read more about: