Thoughts after the Raptors' season-ending 98-97 loss to the New Jersey Nets:- Failing to even get a shot off in the endgame coming out of a timeout, that's another exhibit for the plaintiffs in the case against Sam Mitchell .
UPDATE: Devoted reader Dan Rowe was on hand and has a good eyewitness account of the endgame situation — check the comments. - The losing play is never that obvious. The Raptors' failure to score on their penultimate possession when they had a chance to go up three might have been the real killer. (That was right after Vin Weasel bricked a three when New Jersey trailed by just one.) True, José Calderón "threw a line drive when he needed a lob" as Dave Feschuk so aptly put it in the Toronto Star, but pound for pound he was Toronto's best player in the series.
- So, chin up: The sun still rose today. Paris Hilton is going to jail. The New York Yankees scored 11 runs in a game last night and still lost and the Raptors will be back.
- Vince Carter did not beat Toronto. He had 21 points last night, sure, but shot poorly (6-for-19, some characteristic missed free throws) and pulled the chute down the stretch by taking two ill-advised threes and throwing the ball away for a costly turnover.
Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Boki Nachbar with his outside shooting and Jason Collins and Mikki Moore with their defence in the post vs. Chris Bosh (pictured) were each bigger reasons that the Nets pulled it out, along with Lawrence Frank outcoaching Mitchell across the first four games.
According to e-mails a couple readers sent along, Vince looked every bit like he couldn't wait to be excused from the post-game press conference. It was like he'd got away from something. - Fan sorrow over this loss has a very short shelf life, although it understandably hurts for the players, coaches, front office and members of the Axe Raptors Dance Pak. (Although if Minerva or Courtney needs a comforting shoulder, I'm right here.)
Bottom line: the Raptors were a young team in their first post-season and spotted New Jersey at least two games, which put them in a tight spot last night that they damn near escaped from.
With the Bryan Colangelo-Maurizio Gherardini-Wayne Embry braintrust, this morphed from a Mickey Mouse outfit into one of the NBA's best organizations less than 15 months. The foundation is there for a 50-win season and a deeper playoff run in '07-08.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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I was at the game in Jersey last night - and am hanging around for the Sens game tonight. During the timeout before the Raps last play, Smitch and his assistants huddled separate from the players and ferociously drew up that last play, leaving only a few seconds to actually relay it to the players. It seems to me like it might be a good idea for an NBA team to have some set plays for those situations that the coaches and players are already well prepared for. Also, wouldn't you use your starting point guard in that situation? Even if it was a broken play, Ford, who played well last night, might have been in a better position to make something of a broken play, even if it was just drawing a foul on a drive to the basket.
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