RAPTORS: BARGNANI'S GIFT, AND HIS CURSE...

1. The curse of giftedness (and some good Nets defence) apparently caught up to Andrea Bargnani in this series.
   
   To Raptors fans without pity, Il Mago is just having a craptacular playoffs. On another level he's a 21-year-old world-beater who has gone into a shell in reaction to his limited ability to deal with a frustrating situation.
   
   Speaking from personal experience gleaned over the, oh, past 30 years, some (not all) gifteds are often prone to handling life's everyday disasters in less than heroic fashion. You come against an imaginary wall and the frustration just takes over, until you learn how to avoid an extreme reaction to an everyday situation. Not every gifted is the same, but that seems to be happening with Bargnani.
   
   His ability to head off this Raptors debacle is limited due to the fact the late-season appendectomy hurt his conditioning (he also had a family illness, remember), and he doesn't know how to channel this frustration. The Raptors still had to play him once he came back from his appendectomy for the last couple games of the regular season, but really can't do much except give him the time and support to figure it out (which doesn't seem to be coming from Sam Mitchell, who loves him those scrappy journeyman gym-rat players who remind him oh-so-much of himself).
   
   Is that immaturity? Yes, it is -- that's the often frustrating trait with gifteds, who can be so wise beyond their years 95 percent of the time. Once Bargnani starts expanding his repertoire on offence -- which is the second-biggest reason for his bad playoff -- and channels his frustration better, he's going to be fine. Just don't expect the media not to bring up this bad series next season.
   
   Tiger Woods had a few years in his early 20s when he couldn't win a major to save his life. At 21, Wayne Gretzky was part of an Oilers team that was upset in the first round of the playoffs by a L.A. Kings team that it finished almost 50 points ahead of the regular season.
   
   Having a bad playoff series at age 21 doesn't mean Bargnani will be a quote, unquote choker two years from now when he's 23, let alone at 25 or 26.
2. Ditch Smitch? Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, the Godfather in the Great Raptors Redesign, should bide his time and let someone else make Sam Mitchell an offer he can't refuse.
   
   Next person who says, "But didn't Mitchell win coach of the year?" should be politely asked what they watched all winter, since it obviously wasn't the Raptors. Besides, it might be a good way to be an update on what's been happening on The Office.
   
   Bottom line: Talking about the optics of replacing the coach after a 20-win improvement is beside-the-pointness at its worst. That would just be so typical of Toronto sports to argue about optics instead of winning.
3. Mo Peterson (pictured) is going to start tonight as part of the shift to small-ball (which is really a give-up move). It's almost certainly MoPete's final game with the team, and he'll be missed.
4. Actually, ditch the dietitian: Time for another reference to the '80s Oilers: One season, it came out shortly after an early playoff exit that several of the 20-somethings, including Gretzky, had developed iron deficiency. They didn't choke; they were just worn down after playing 80-some games and not eating properly. It was like a running a car with no engine oil.
   
   Knowledge of nutrition has increased exponentially in 25 years, but you have to wonder if that might be behind the Raptors' lack of energy in the past two games. If so, shame on them and the team for not pressing on them.
   
   Practising and being prepared to play -- eating right, sleeping well, studying your opponents and limiting the strip club excursions to three nights a week -- are Jobs 1 and 1-A of being paid to play a sport. Just playing the game -- well, deep-down we know they would do that for free.
5. Carter at home and Carla on the road: At least there's a sick sort of satisfaction in seeing that Vince Carter's act has not changed. He did little in the two games in Toronto, then turned around and played spectacularly in New Jersey. If you want to be a real bastard about it, bring up how many of Michael Jordan's seminal moments came as a visiting player. Off the top of my head, no research, no fact-checking:
   
   The 63-point playoff effort vs. the Celtics in '86 (extending the last great Boston team to double overtime);
   The buzzer-beater to eliminate the Cavs in '89 (the Craig Ehlo game);
   Sweeping three straight from the Lakers at the old Forum in the '91 Finals;
   Game 6 against the Suns in the '93 Finals (which John Paxson won with a last-second three);
   Scoring 55 points against the Knicks in one of the first games of his 1995 comeback;
   Game 5 against Utah in '97, when he scored 38 points despite severe flu;
   The decisive Game 6 on the '98 finals, AKA Jordan's Moment (hat tip to David Halberstam), when he made the winning shot over Bryon Russell.

That should make a little easier to put Vince Carter beating the Raptors in perspective. Just a little, however.

The long and short of it is there will be some sort of liveblog from Game 5 tonight. It's called sticking it out. We'll always have Golden State, who is playing beautiful basketball these days.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.