The mid-point of the season is a strange time. It is cold outside, the Scotiabank Arena smells faintly of overpriced popcorn, and Immanuel Quickley has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
He is playing very well. It is nice to see a point guard who looks like he is having a good time, unlike the rest of us who are mostly just trying to remember where we parked the car. Quickley is fast, as his name suggests (which is convenient), and he seems to have found a home here in the city.
The Chemistry of Doing Things
Garrett Temple recently spoke about the trade deadline, which is approaching like a slow moving snowplow. He mentioned that the team is winning and that any new personality needs to fit the current group.
Temple is roughly one hundred years old in basketball years, so he knows about personality. He is like that uncle who gives you solid advice about your transmission while you are just trying to eat a burger. We are winning games now, which is a significant departure from when we were mostly losing games.
Artistic Interpretations and Former Friends
Someone on the internet has been drawing sketches of every single game. They covered games forty-one through forty-eight. It is interesting to see a professional basketball game turned into a drawing, because sometimes the games themselves feel a bit like a sketch that hasn't been finished yet.
Speaking of things that are elsewhere, Christian Koloko is playing for the Atlanta Hawks now. He recently had twelve points and three blocks in fifteen minutes against the Pacers.
I remember when Koloko was a Raptor. Now he is in Georgia, where it is probably much warmer and the taxes are different. It is good to see him doing well, even if he is doing it in a different jersey.
Final Thoughts on Fabric
The product on the floor is currently stable. We have a Player of the Week, a veteran who values chemistry, and a fan base that is cautiously optimistic (which is the most dangerous kind of optimism).
We will see what happens at the deadline. Usually, things happen, but sometimes they do not. Either way, we still have to play the games. It is what the schedule says to do.