Some playoff thoughts

That was a big, fat, ugly win but it was a win. The series is tied and will move to New Jersey for the next phase where we should see two totally different teams. Before talking about that I have some thoughts to share about the first two games in Toronto.

The first thing that jumps out at me after watching those games is that the Raptors would be up an easy 2-0 if Garbajosa was playing. He would have played strong, Parker-like, defense on either Jefferson or Carter, chipped in some points a crucial times and would not have been the liability that Joey Graham was. I was shocked to hear the newly anointed coach of the year say that he would stick with Graham in game 3. Mitchell better keep him on a short leash because Carter and Jefferson are going to play better on Friday and Graham simply can’t be allowed to play like he did in Toronto.

Anthony Parker?!!? Alright, alright, I will never call him Anthony Chucker again. I retract all negative statements made about said player and am willing to argue that he was the best player on the Raptors in the past 2 games. He was calm, poised and clutch. His defense was excellent and his shot was sweet. He had the look of a guy that could have scored 30+ in both games if he had been given enough shots. He has won me over and I will wear his jersey with pride.

Hacking. I know this is the playoffs and the games are tighter and the refs “swallow” their whistles, but come on. The Nets are hacking at Bosh like the Senators did to Crosby. Now Bosh isn’t the spaghetti legged, stick man that he was when he entered the league, but bubble butt Jason Collins has about 75 pounds, 2 burritos and a midget on Bosh. Every time Bosh moves through the paint he takes shots along the way. At some point in this series, a ref is going to call the contact and put the Nets into serious foul trouble. If Bosh keeps going to the net he can force the officials to call fouls the same way Wade did last year. Remember, you heard it here first.

Has anyone been watching the Houston series? Is it me or does T-Mac look like a man possessed? He and Yao are going to take the Jazz apart and are the last team I would want to face in the next round. Their defense first game is perfectly suited to the post season and Yao is almost unstoppable in the half court.

Yes, the Bulls are looking strong right now but those emotions will fade when Miami wins a couple games and forces them into a real series. I refuse to believe that D-Wade and Shaq are going to get swept, no way, no how.

I know it was only one game but how great would it be if the Nuggets or the Warriors won their series? Honestly, I know that it isn’t going to happen. I know that Dirk and Duncan are going to bring some serious pain tonight, but think about it. No more Mavs or Spurs? It would turn the West upside down! What’s that? Snap out of it you say? No, I haven’t been eating the purple mushrooms, just doing some good old fashioned office day dreaming.

What I am getting at here is that the NBA playoffs are looking good and should only get better. Baseball is still too early to really watch and the hockey playoffs are in that boring second round before the players start killing each other in an effort to reach the Stanley Cup finals. So please, join me throwing the kybosh on Carter and Kobe and the Dallas Cowboys in this weekends NFL draft and enjoy some sports.