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.

WOW....JUST WOW

I threw up in my mouth last night. That was the most disgusting defensive effort I have seen this year. 70 points in the first half?!?! The Wizards were all over the place and the Raptors were just standing still. They couldn’t defend against the backdoor cuts and Arenas, Jamison and Butler combined for 62 points. I understand that when a player like Arenas has his shot going there isn’t much you can do to stop him but at least stop the rest of the team. The Wizards joined the Bucks and Cavs in telling the Raptors that their recent loses to Toronto are not going to become the norm. Toronto beat them when they were without key players and they have played with an edge that Toronto hasn’t had.

Rebounding is becoming a very serious problem for the Raptors. They have two seven footers and Bosh isn’t far behind at 6-10, how are they getting out rebounded 49-27? How does Bosh pull down ONE rebound? You can’t win in the playoffs or the regular season without controlling the glass and the Wizards had 17 offensive rebounds. There were times when there were 3 Raptors around the net and the lone Wizard player got the ball. Humphries has been doing a good job recently and had 5 boards in 13 minutes, the same as Bargnani, Bosh and Nesterovic combined. Maybe Mitchell should give him more time as he is one of few players who are willing to get physical under the basket.

Bosh didn’t play badly last night but he isn’t getting the same fouls called. He was putting himself into the upper echelon of players who get better calls around the basket but that seems to be changing. Teams are collapsing down on him hard and fast, taking away his space and he is getting bounced around. He tried hard to bring his team back and make last night’s game competitive but he just didn’t have enough help.

Is it time to start wondering if Anthony Parker is more important to this team then people realize? Is it possible that the “Chucker” is the key to the Raptors defense? He does match up against the opposing team’s best offensive player every night and usually does a very good job. He also stretches the floor with his improving three point shot. We will see how much credit he deserves when he comes back from his sprained ankle.

I am reigning in my predictions tonight. Pau Gasol has been playing really good basketball recently and I am sure Chicago fans are cursing. I have no idea how we are going to contain him but I think that the Raptors will find a way to win as long as they play defense. 100-95 Raptors.

Calling out the Raps

I love when I am right. The Raptors did exactly what I predicted them to do and won a huge game in Houston. Although Bosh didn’t put up the offensive numbers I called for; he set the tone for the game and his team. The ball movement was fantastic and they had 26 assists on 44 field goals. Ball movement is exactly what was missing during the previous game against the Spurs. Bargnani was outstanding last night. He has been showing flashes of brilliance and every Raptor fan has got to be excited about being able to watch this kid as he grows. My final comment on last night’s game is about what Chuck Swirsky call “Onions”. These Raptors have got them and it shows. They are all playing with a swagger that can be seen and felt by the other team.



Brian Colangelo is looking like a genius by getting rid of Fred Jones for Juan Dixon. I think that Jones was a negative influence and unhappy about his limited role on the team. Dixon is going to step and take the minutes he is given and play as hard as he can. Hopefully he can do for the Raptors what Lindsey Hunter does for the Pistons; provide solid defense and keep the offense flowing while the starters rest. What I love about Colangelo is his decisiveness; he saw that the Jones experiment wasn’t working and made the necessary changes.



The Raptors are going to face a Bucks team tomorrow that is totally different than the one the met up with a couple weeks ago. Redd, Bogut, Charlie V and Mo Williams are all healthy again and Milwaukee is playing well but that isn’t going to make a difference. The Raptors are going to win this game and score 100 plus points while doing it. Bosh is going to get 25 plus points, I can feel it!



TRADE DEADLINES



The NBA needs to take some advice from the NHL on how to work trade deadlines. Basketball sports writers spent weeks writing columns about possible trade only to have nothing happen on the actual day. The NHL had 25 trades including some big names. Edmonton broke the hearts of their fans by trading the club’s most important player. The point is there was drama, real drama. Yes, it was hyped up by TSN and those hacks on Sportnet, but there was still a story. Teams are taking risks to win a championship this year. The NHL has reached a level of parity where one player can make a difference and everyone in the NBA knows it is a three team race and no trade was going to change that.

Raps vs Cavs

Who is the best player to come out of the 2003 NBA draft? What’s that? Do you hear the chant? D-WADE! D-WADE! D-WADE! This guy is the most exciting player in the NBA. The Score’s show Court Cuts devotes and entire section of each weeks highlights to this one player. No one and I mean no one attacks the basket like this guy. Every night he plays he makes the highlight real and he does it with or without Shaq. Wade kept his team around 500 while Shaq was out and still managed to put up huge numbers. 28 points, 9 free throws, 4.8 boards, 7.8 assists 2.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game! He has more blocks than Chris Bosh! It is true, I do have a bit of a man crush on Wade and I do have him on my fantasy team but I still think that I am unbiased about this.

Tonight the Raptors are going to face the player who was supposed to be the best pick in that draft. Lebron James has had a very disappointing year. All of his stats are down. He recently said that his goal was to become a “global icon”. I think he should be more concerned with getting his free through percentage above 70%. There are also some interesting statements being thrown around sports media circle questioning his commitment to his team, his coach and his daily effort. If I am Lebron, I am pretty concerned with people questioning my commitment levels. Does he want to be a global icon for excellence or for the guy that never tried hard enough to reach his potential? I am sure that the long lists of companies that he endorses don’t want to be associated with someone who has the reputation of a slacker.

I am calling the Raptors to win tonight. Bosh will put up 28 and 9 boards. I am interested to see how Parker deals with being matched-up with another big name. He did a great job on Kobe and played Vince well too.

On another note, we are getting ready to put out our first top 50 fantasy player list. We will be getting baseball done first so that people can have another cheat sheet for the upcoming drafts.