Mitchell, who is as likely to give any one game more credence than the next as he is to be found shouting the media’s praises from a tall building, broke his own rule yesterday when he admitted that the club’s final three games before the all-star break — against Minnesota, San Antonio and New Jersey — just might have some added significance.
And it’s all based on the crowded Eastern Conference standings where the Raptors sit fifth overall, 11/2 games behind fourth-place Cleveland and 21/2 games ahead of sixth-place Washington. They also are only four games out of third place, which would guarantee them home-court advantage in the first round, but just 61/2 games ahead of ninth place, a spot which would guarantee them an early vacation.
Tonight in Minneapolis, the Raptors face another team they ought to be able to beat. Of course that’s the way the Los Angeles Clippers looked coming in on Friday. Mitchell was still seething at 2:30 yesterday morning, unable to get to sleep, as he replayed that failed opportunity.
The Timberwolves have only 10 wins this season, but five of those wins have come in the team’s past 10 games.
Jose Calderon wasn’t lying awake replaying that missed shot that would have tied the game Friday night his Raptors went on to lose to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Calderon, who probably hits that same shot 80% of the time he takes it, chalked it up to just one of those nights in the NBA that every team falls victim to once in a while.
"We know the whole game doesn’t come down to the last two or three minutes," Calderon said. "We have to play for 48. It can’t matter what the record is of the other team. It was just a bad loss. It was a game we had to win."
Normally, a practice before a set of back-to-back games is kept to the barest minimum, but head coach Sam Mitchell had his players on the run yesterday.
"We know what our mistakes were," Calderon said. "We know what we have to do better but we had some work to do because the night before was not very good."
"They are dangerous, they almost got Boston (Friday) night," guard Jose Calderon said yesterday. "It’s going to be tough every game from now, even though they have a bad record, it doesn’t matter, they aren’t going to quit."
If there is a break for the Raptors, it’s that Minnesota doesn’t have the dominant wing player that’s given Toronto fits this year. Al Jefferson, the Minnesota centre Mitchell referred to as "a beast" yesterday, is the key cog in the offence.
"Teams go like this," said Mitchell, making the universal sign for a roller-coaster ride with his hand. "And any time you’re playing at home, you play a little bit harder.
"The thing about a post guy is if your traps are good, you can go get the ball out of his hands. The thing about a guy on the perimeter is, when he faces you up, the defence is back on its heels and when he penetrates, he sucks the defence in and you open yourself up to offensive rebounds and draw and kicks."
Lucas is convinced that Ford’s slack conditioning contributed to the injury. Ford, noticeably stronger, admitted as much.
"I think he forgot to do the maintenance work to keep his body up," Lucas told the Toronto Sun. "He looked more like one of those rappers, Snoop Dogg. His muscle tone had left because he hadn’t done the work."
Raptors coach Sam Mitchell knew how to handle Kevin Garnett’s Wolves. But what about Al Jefferson’s? Mitchell, who played 10 years for the Wolves, owns a six-game winning streak over Minnesota. The Wolves are on a dubious list of three teams with all-time losing records against Toronto, including Charlotte (2-9) and the Los Angeles Clippers (11-14)
Financial constraints and bad gambles factored into decisions last summer that led to the Heat losing productive swingmen Jones, Posey and Jason Kapono through free agency. Riley has often said he regretted letting them get away. Riley and Heat owner Micky Arison also suggested the signing of since-banished guard Smush Parker was a mistake.
The Heat also has since signed and cut Penny Hardaway and Luke Jackson, each of whom could not live up to expectations at small forward.
Walker, who often clashed with Riley before the trade, blames Riley for dealing the Heat into its current mess. Jones has questioned the way he was treated last summer. But Kapono, now with the Toronto Raptors, said Riley has a Teflon track record — even counting moves that haven’t necessarily worked.
”I remember when everyone knocked him for trading for Antoine Walker and James Posey,” Kapono said. “He was cheered, though, in 2006 when those transactions won us a title. So you can’t question that. It’s only now people question things because it’s been a tough stretch. But there’s still a foundation set there.”
WITH: TORONTO RAPTORS FORWARD AND FORMER HEAT SHARPSHOOTER JASON KAPONO
Have you been surprised by the Heat’s struggles this season, just 19 months after it won an NBA title?
It’s a tough league, and things can change pretty quickly. But they still have some great players and a great coach. It’s just hard. When guys are hurt and out of the lineup, there’s not much you can do. It’s a chemistry game. It’s tough to pick up that quickly after so many injuries and so many changes they’ve made.
Several Heat players have said the team misses your shooting, sense of humor and intangibles. Are you surprised to hear that?
No they don’t. They definitely don’t miss me [laughs]. Maybe Chris Quinn does, but that’s about it. It means a lot. It was a great time here. I’m glad I had a chance to play last year.
You said fans probably didn’t know who you were when you won the three-point title at last year’s All-Star weekend. Will they know you this time?
They might know my last name now, because it’ll be on the back of my jersey. But they won’t know my first name. They’ll probably be like, `Who’s that bearded guy out there.’
For Matt Bonner, pride of Concord, N.H., a trip to play a game in Boston was always good for a couple of things.
Dinner with family, a reunion with high school buddies, and a long list of ticket requests that was simple enough to fill.
That is, until Bonner joined the Spurs, the Celtics improved dramatically and ticket demand at TD Banknorth Garden began to outstrip supply.
"A lot of people are complaining they can’t get tickets this year," Bonner said. "When I was with the Raptors, that wasn’t much of a problem."
Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, the straightest-talking coach in the league, put it best:
“Let me see,” Mitchell said when Toronto reporters asked him why the Suns would make the deal. “They couldn’t beat San Antonio with San Antonio’s size; they couldn’t beat New Orleans this year; they struggle with Dallas and they couldn’t beat the Lakers with Bynum and now (the Lakers have) Bynum and Gasol.”
O’Neal addresses all of the Suns’ biggest matchup problems.
The Toronto Raptors have been encouraged by the recent improved play of Andrea Bargnani, who averaged 17.5 points over a six-game stretch, which included a career-high 28-point game against the Lakers. Bargnani has been taking the ball to the basket more often, which opens up his three-point game.
Teammate Chris Bosh didn’t offer any advice when Bargnani was struggling earlier in the season.
"I let him learn on his own," said Bosh. "I know a lot of people are in his ear already. I just tell him to play well, to play defense and rebound, and he’s going to figure it out on his own. I don’t preach to him. Enough people do that already."
Toronto has won five games by 30 or more points this season. The most games the Raptors had won by that margin in a season previously was three in 1996-’97.
This week , Raptors VP or consiglieri Wayne Embry’s name resurfaced after an long absence from the news . Sam quoted Embry as saying something like this ‘ A coach job is to coach and a GM job is to put together the best lineup ‘. That’s implying that GM Bryan Colangelo bears the responsibility of shaking the present roster to make it more competitive. Sam is saying that there is nothing more he can extract from his men except maybe more you tube videos the likes that CB4 and Moon came up with to bolster their quests for an All Star slot and the Slam Dunk contest . A 1st round playoff stint or at best , a 2nd round appearance by Sam’s men is it. Just like Fredo and other characters in Godfather 2 , the Raptors will not be in the sequel to the sequel or…. triquel ?
The acquisition of Pau Gasol would have been sufficient to capture the East . Where was BC then ? BC could have used his influence on longtime Suns assistant and now Memphis coach Marc Ivaroni to acquire the Spanish center and reunite Pau with amigo Jose Calderon in the Raps’ uniform . Too bad for Sam though . BC is no Rob Babcock . Meaning , BC is no pushover unlike Babcock. Babcock was ejected from the GM position partly because Sam has Wayne on his side. In short , Sam was in Wayne’s World and Babcock was not . It’s very likely that if the Raps failed to get pass the 1st round , Sam will be samwhere else outside of Toronto !
Friday night the Toronto Raptors played their 1000th game in franchise history. Of all the pro sports teams I’m a fan of…the Raptors have always been at the top of the list. From the Mighty Mouse era to the VC one….to the CB4 one, this definitely has been a roller coaster ride. Here’s my personal top 10 moments in Raptors history.
In recent days, I have asked people in a position to know about speculation of interest from Phoenix and Toronto in Andre Iguodala and interest from Cleveland in Gordan Giricek.
In each case, I have been told there is nothing there.
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