Weekly Takes - Monday, April 3rd Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 3rd Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs overtime loss to the Panthers on Wednesday…

1. Zach Aston-Reese

2. Auston Matthews

3. Sam Lafferty

The Leafs were the better team but lost to a highly motivated Panthers team.

Oh well. Collect the point and move on.

2. My three stars from the Leafs convincing win over the Senators on Saturday…

1. Alex Kerfoot

2. Luke Schenn

3. Ilya Samsonov

3. My three stars from the Leafs undeserved loss to the Red Wings on Sunday…

1. David Kampf

2. William Nylander

3. Kerfoot

Goaltending was the difference in this one.

4. My very early takeaways from the Blue Jays’ first series of the season…

• A disappointing first weekend from John Schneider. His managing of the bullpen on opening day was bizarre and he should have pitch-hit Cavan Biggio with Alejandro Kirk late in the game on Saturday. It is very early into the season and you can see the rationale in all three decisions that he made, but it was a disappointing weekend nonetheless.

• Kevin Gausman can… not catch a break.

• Chris Bassitt’s velocity being down as much as it was on Sunday is without question a concern. If that continues into his next couple of starts, it will become a major concern. This is by far the biggest storyline to follow in the next couple of weeks.

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looks completely locked in at the plate.

• Between his heads-up base running on Thursday or his pesky at-bats throughout the first two games of the season, Kevin Kiermaier sure looks like the Kiermaier that Blue Jays fans learned to hate over the years.

5. When it comes to Nick Nurse, it is hard to determine what is best for the Raptors because he has not exactly been given a fair chance to succeed this season.

He has coached the entire season with one of the worst benches in the league, coached half the season without a starting calibre centre, and Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet have all missed an extensive amount of time for various reasons.

Is he no longer an elite coach? Have his aggressive tactics on defence run their course? Has his message inside the Raptors locker room waned? It is tough to say.

Either way, Masai Ujiri has to nail this decision. Either invest in Nurse to be the coach of the future or move on. Bringing him back for the last year of his contract without making a decision one way or another is not an option.

6. When it comes to potential head coaching possibilities for the Raptors…

1. Phil Handy (Lakers/Former Raptors Assistant)

2. Adrian Griffin (Raptors)

3. Jama Mahlalela (Warriors/Former Raptors Assistant)

4. Sergio Scariolo (Italian League/Former Raptors Assistant)

5. Patrick Mutombo (Suns/Former Raptors Assistant)

6. Mike D’Antoni (Pelicans coaching consultant)

7. Kenny Atkinson (Warriors)

8. Charlies Lee (Bucks)

9. Becky Hammon (Las Vegas Aces)

10. Jason Hart (G League Ignite)

11. Jarrett Jack (Suns/Former Raptor)

There is also Ime Udoka, who, based purely on basketball, would be a home run of a hire. But it is impossible to rank him because it is impossible to know what exactly happened in his workplace misconduct scandal.

7. Lamar Jackson is a top-five franchise quarterback who turns a playoff contender into a Super Bowl contender and an irrelevant franchise into a relevant one.

I cannot fathom that the Ravens refuse to pay him what he is worth and I cannot fathom why there are not multiple teams lining up to trade for him.

There are valid injury concerns with Jackson, yes, but the reward of having him on your team far outweighs the potential risks.

8. If Donald Trump did not want to be arrested for an alleged crime, his best route would have been not committing a crime in the first place.

Cheers to campaign finance laws. Here is hoping this is a sign of things to come in American politics, rather than a political one-off.