I didn’t want to sound like a broken record, and say the same things I have been saying all season…so this is why it took me so long to put this piece together, excuse the mess, because I really didn’t know what to say:
All I asked of the Raptors these playoffs was to fight and play hard. People can forgive you for losing, but not for giving up. To their credit, after games 2 and 3, they came out of the corner swinging, and fought hard: taking game 5, and almost taking game 6. Was it not for two great plays on both ends of the floor by Richard Jefferson, we would be seeing a game 7, and a possible first round Raptors win.
Much like every game this season season, the Raptors didn’t run many plays. ALTHOUGH, with the score 12-10 in the first, Anthony Parker curled off two baseline screens for an easy jumper a la Richard Hamilton, and they never ran that play again. All season I have been calling for this play, and I get teased with one play in the final game. One thing that really has be confused is why they don’t ride the hot hand. TJ gets hot, they take him out; Bargnani gets hot, they stop giving him the ball; Calderon takes it to the rack, and unexplainably stops. The method made no sense.
Ok, so back to me. Oddly, while watching the game, I found myself not as animated and emotional as I usually am. I would clap my hands together in disgust when the Raptors gave up an offensive rebound, or slap the couch when anyone took a bad shot, but throughout the whole game, I had a sense that it was over, and the actual game was academic. I was more interested in my pizza than the game.
Man, the highlight of the game for me was the Lawrence Frank post game interview. He laid out their last play, and wow…strategy! He used every single guy on the court to get that layup for Jefferson, it was a well executed play. I can’t wait till we bring someone in who has a game plan, and a play book.
For those of you who actually thought he was coming back next season, last night should have squashed any question. I did feel bad for him in the post game when someone asked him about his job status now that the season is over. The media go right for the jugular, and to his credit, he didn’t lose it (I would have). Mitchell wasn’t as elegant in his post game interview, but I suspect we will only have one more Mitchell press conference to contend with in the guise of a member of the Raptors.
Technorati Tags: Sam Mitchell, Lawrence Frank, New Jersey Nets, Chris Bosh, TJ Ford, Jose Calderon, Richard Hamilton, Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker
May 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I agree totally. We should have ran that curl off a screen play for Parker at least a few more times. Furthermore, Bargnani should have took at least 6 or 7 more shot attempts than he did. I was scratching my head throughout the game wondering why they didn’t feed it to him more often. A few times he was standing at the top of the key wide open. Tough loss; what makes it so tough is that we outplayed them for most of the contest. Whatever…..thank God for Bargnani. The guy is good.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
i may be off base here, but i totally seeing bargnani becoming the franchise player here. bosh doesnt have the shot making ability that bargnani has. they will be one hell of a 1-2 combo.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
No doubt the pieces are there. A few uncertainties/comments heading into next year.
1. Sam Mitchell - Obviously, but his press conference didn’t give much indication he wanted to be here. He’s probably just playing his hand.
2. Jose and TJ? - We know that TJ isn’t going anywhere but can these two play another whole year together? - Jose seems to think so and we have to also consider that the reason they played so well is because they were pushing each other…. time will tell. I think we should take a deal that helps us if its on the table for Jose.
3. Goodbye Mopete - always been a fan and you will be missed, I truly believe if he was in from the beginning of the series we would have seen a difference.
4. Damn I am excited - If the possibilities we saw in this team come to fruition over the next couple of years this will be an exciting team to watch. We cannot forget the tough years we experienced post 2002. All I truly want is a competitive team that can get me excited, get me to the playoffs and give me hope.
Thank you Collangelo for bringing that to this city.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
i cant see why mitchell wouldnt want to be the coach of the raptors, compared to the other teams looking for a coach. maybe the bobcats, but they dont have the talent the raptors do.
the jose/tj chapter will be an interesting one. at times i say trade tj, and others i say calderon, but that question will be answered very shortly. jose is going to a free agent at the end of next year, and we will see what happens.
mopete has grown on me through the years, and i really think if he got grahams minutes, things would have been different. not sure how different, but we would have probably won game 1, not sure about 3 & 4. i hope he finds a good situation in the off season. i suspect a few teams will be bidding on him.
definitely excited about the future. there are some really nice pieces, great mix of veterans and youth, a great cap situation, and great leadership…bout time yo!
May 6th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I really think we should try and keep both Ford and Calderon as long as possible. Ford is a diminutive guard vulnerable to injuries, and without Calderon, who would be our backup point guard? However, if we were able to swing a deal for a big body and a half decent back up was thrown in to the deal, then that might be worthwhile. If Bargnani can add some physicality to his game and not rely so much on his shot, there is no doubt that he could become better than Bosh.
May 6th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
i think it has to do with getting the most value for the buck. i dont know what calderon’s (or fords) max potential is. i would trade the one who already has reached his max potential, since they both have high value right now, and can could get good value in return.