There is a certain stillness in the arena before a game, the kind of quiet you only find in a library or at a bus stop in a blizzard. Jakob Poeltl is currently a game time decision, which is a very formal way of saying we are not sure if his body will cooperate with the concept of professional basketball tonight. He is the anchor of the defense, a man who moves with the deliberate pace of a structural engineer, and without him, the paint feels lonely.
If Jakob cannot go, we will likely see more of Sandro Mamukelashvili, a man whose name is as complex as his geographical journey to our roster. His highlights from the Golden State game are circulating, showing a player who understands that the primary goal is to put the orange sphere through the iron circle. It is honest work, much like my uncle's brief career as a chimney sweep, though with less soot and significantly higher viewership.
The Freshman 15 and Other Lessons
The midseason rookie reports are out, featuring the Freshman 15, which sounds like something that happens to you in your first year at York University because of the snack machines. Our rookies are learning that the NBA is a very long season of staring at hotel ceilings and eating expensive fruit. They are being evaluated by people who use spreadsheets to explain things like heart and hustle, two things that are notoriously difficult to calculate with a slide rule.
One of these young men is being referred to as Magneto in a past life, which is a heavy burden for a person to carry. It implies he can control metal, which would be incredibly useful for redirected blocked shots, but is likely just a colorful way of saying the ball finds its way to him. If he actually starts levitating the hoop during a free throw, I hope the referees have a specific protocol for that in the rulebook.
Wrestling with Reality
The team has announced a WWE night, which feels like a very natural progression for the sport of basketball. Professional wrestling and the NBA are both essentially about tall people in colorful costumes trying to resolve personal conflicts in front of a crowd. I have an old Raptors wrestling mask somewhere in my basement next to a signed photo of Primoz Brezec (the center from 2007, not the other one).
I am not entirely sure if the players will be allowed to use steel chairs or if the referees will be distracted by a masked villain entering the court from under the scoring table. Given how some of our recent leads have evaporated, a dramatic heel turn might actually be a refreshing change of pace. We are all just performers in a very high-stakes play, waiting for the final whistle to tell us we can finally go home and put on sweatpants.
Looking Toward the Horizon
As we move toward the second half of the season, the air in Toronto remains consistently gray, which matches the general mood of a mid-January rebuild. The standings tell one story, but the eyes tell another story about fatigue and the constant search for a reliable jump shot. It is a process, though I sometimes wonder if we are building a house or just rearranging the bricks to see which ones look best in the sunlight.
We will watch Poeltl warm up and wait for the official word on his availability. We will watch the rookies try to remember their defensive rotations. And we will wait for WWE night, hoping that whoever wins at least does it with a bit of theatrical flair, because at this stage of the winter, we could all use a little bit of drama that does not involve a box score.