In fact, Calderon has not committed a single turnover in 142 consecutive minutes. That streak dates back to April 4, when the Raptors lost in New Jersey. In the season finale on Wednesday in Chicago, Calderon extended the streak with 30 minutes of turnover-less basketball. He also had eight assists, boosting his league-best assist-per-turnover ratio to 5.44. That is the seventh highest ratio since the league started keeping that stat in 1989.
The only other Raptor to lead the league in one of their main statistical categories this season was Jason Kapono, the two-time defending three-point champ, who lead the league in three-point FG% with a .483 percentage.
Kapono, though, has attempted only 29 three-point shots since the beginning of January and has connected on 11 of them.
As a team, the Raptors came into their 82nd and final game of the regular season with just two instances of players fouling out. Chris Bosh did it once and Andrea Bargnani fouled out once.
But Wednesday in Chicago, both Brezec and Humphries managed to double the team total for DQ’s by fouling out against the Bulls. Brezec also earned his second technical in as many games, giving him the outright team lead in that category despite the fact that he played only 109 minutes this season. Brezec’s season high 22:49 of playing time Wednesday represented one fifth of his total time on the court as a Raptor this season.
The 41 wins by the Raptors this past season was the fifth-highest total in franchise history
Unlike last spring’s foray into the playoffs, the Raptors enter this year with no momentum, no home-court advantage and no fear in facing Orlando.
Both the Magic and the Raptors have drawn motivation and believe they’ve both matured from last year’s experience, which saw Orlando get swept by the top-seeded Pistons and Toronto toppled by the Nets and Vince Carter.
"We were just happy to be in the playoffs,” Orlando’s Dwight Howard said, a sentiment that is shared by his Toronto counterpart, good friend and fellow all-star Chris Bosh. "This year it means something.
"People who don’t believe in the Magic, we want them to start believing."
Keep in mind that Orlando has lost seven of its past nine games to Toronto, which leads many to believe that this series will go the distance.
Now it’s playoff time for the best known and most skilled of the Toronto Raptors. Now, it should be Bosh time.
This has been a season of external growth for Bosh. You can see it in how he handles himself, how he has urged Air Canada Centre fans to make more noise, how he has called out his teammates, how his confidence has grown, how he wound up — seemingly out of character — making quirky commercials on YouTube for his all-star candidacy.
Each of those things may be unremarkable on their own: But lump them together and what you find is a 24-year-old who has found his place and his basketball home and is comfortable with both.
All that’s missing is playoff success.
"I expect Chris to play well, like he has played all year when he has been healthy," Mitchell said. But it has to be more than that. When there’s a shot to take to win a game, he has to be the shooter. When there’s a defensive stop that needs to be made, he needs to be the stopper. This is what franchise players do. In basketball, more than in any other sport, one man can make the difference.
Last year, against the Nets, Bosh scored five fewer points per game than he managed during the season. The Raptors lost two games in that series by a total of six points. Clearly, in retrospect, that playoff series was winnable.
"I don’t read the papers, I don’t look at YouTube. I don’t concern myself with any of that stuff," Mitchell said. "It had nothing to do with what goes on on the basketball court.
"I’ve seen (Bosh’s) level of maturity increase at practice. Every day at practice he comes in early and works on his game. And when he struggles, he comes back at night and works on his game. To me, that’s what men do."
Ford and Bosh have both been in the lineup for the season-concluding backslide. Then again, there’s a feeling among some bright-siders that the Raptors, a team of shooters who haven’t shot particularly well in a long while, are due to get on a roll.
If they find that form – if they become the club that shot 44.6 per cent from three-point range in January instead of the clankers who have gone 30.7 per cent for April – perhaps some playoff success will vindicate a regression of a regular season.
"Last year we got on some rolls. This year it was always something," Mitchell said. "It seemed like when we finally got Chris clicking, he gets hurt. Then we finally had T.J. play one of the best games I’ve seen him play in Atlanta and the last play of the game he gets hurt …
"So, if we can get that back, you go out, you hit a few shots, you start playing with confidence and you get on a roll. It’s hard to explain when it happens. I wish, as a coach, I knew when it was going to happen."
Maybe that’s a long-winded rationalization of a coming disappointment. Maybe that’s a coach being a bit too honest about how little control he seems to think he has over the coming games. And maybe it’s the truth, hard for the front-office scientists to accept, that at this time of year the bounce of one ball, a rim or a swish, can change fates and perceptions and seasons.
"We understand they’re going to be picked to beat us, but we’ve had three good games with them this season (and two losses) and the games could have went either way," Mitchell said.
"If we play like we’re capable of playing and like we’ve played in stretches, do I think we can win? Yeah."
Apparently, rumours of Jack Armstrong’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Not only is the guy from Brooklyn who sounds like he gargles broken glass alive and well, he’s almost certain to be on Raptors broadcasts for the foreseeable future.
"Tuesday was an emotional night," Armstrong says. "Obviously, you try not to show that on the air, but you get off the air and say, `That’s it. What’s next?’"
What’s next is almost certainly a renewed contract and maybe some new roles for the former Niagara University coach despite fears he was done.
With the Raptors negotiating new TV deals with TSN and The Score – not counting the team’s own digital channel – there’s plenty of opportunity, especially since the Raptors like having the guy around.
"We’d like to have Jack involved in some capacity," says Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment executive vice-president Tom Anselmi. "We haven’t ruled out anything."
To expedite things, Armstrong has hired Gord Kirke as his agent. Considering that Kirke knows his way around MLSE, especially now that he’s charged with finding the next Maple Leafs GM, he made a pretty good choice.
The most likely scenario would see fellow analyst Leo Rautins doing TSN games and an increased CBC schedule next year. He would then share the remaining Score and Raptors NBA TV games with Armstrong.
CBC is likely to add a studio panel next season and Armstrong is almost certain to be part of that.
Keeping Armstrong around would be a good move. Rautins, though a tad verbose, is great at breaking down plays and analyzing play. Armstrong provides a higher entertainment value, which produces a nice change of pace.
Rautins, who is also negotiating a new deal, will be in the analyst’s chair when the playoffs start Sunday. The Raptors got lucky this year as TSN had enough holes in its schedule to take the game, ensuring the largest possible audience. Depending on how the NHL playoffs go, TSN might even be able to take Tuesday’s game, though the remaining first-round games are more likely to end up on The Score.
That’s great for The Score, but not so great for the Raptors. The Score’s smaller reach and high position on the dial produce smaller audiences. It’s an annual problem for the Raptors, who have to take a back seat to hockey in Canada after usually getting stuck with an unattractive schedule by the NBA. Hence Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. start.
The stars could very well cancel each other out and it’s going to come down to which team gets – and makes – more open shots. Toronto’s defensive deficiencies might be too much to overcome. Magic in seven.
For those who like to take offence when third-party analysts – i.e. US media – turn their eyes to the Raptors, the crew at ESPN is almost unanimous in picking the Magic over Toronto. The lone holdout Marc Stein, who is a pretty sharp dude, but may be biased because he wants to get tickets to Toronto FC.
The Raptors’ longest win streak of the regular season was four games, from Dec. 9-14. Toronto went 9-17 in March and April, which might be more of a concern. As the season wound down, Mitchell emphasized it is not who you are playing on any given night, but how you are playing. Going into the post-season, the Raptors are playing poorly.
Despite that, Mitchell still thinks his 41-41 team can start humming.
Despite the more turbulent season, however, it can be argued that Toronto is better groomed for playoff success this year compared to last. After all, most of the Raptors now have a taste of what the post-season is like after last season’s six-game loss to New Jersey.
The post-season is a different beast. Mitchell did say that he was more confident now that he had a more experienced playoff roster.
"I think they understood the difference between the playoffs and the regular season," Mitchell said. "I don’t buy that people play harder. I just think it’s heightened more in your mind because of all (the media attention), what people are saying. Now it’s ‘40 games in 40 nights.’ It’s the playoffs. You know if you lose four games, you don’t have a game after that. It’s all that."
National Post sports columnist Bruce Arthur and Raptors reporter Eric Koreen discuss the NBA basketball playoffs.
Click here to visit our playoffs podcast page.
Video: Playoff Preview
Scout’s take: “In T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, the Raptors have two point guards better than any on Orlando, but the Magic have three —- Jameer Nelson, Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling —- who are capable. When Nelson struggles, the dropoff is so little that they don’t lose much when they go with the other guys. … Toronto has a humongous advantage with Chris Bosh because neither Rashard Lewis nor Hedo Turkoglu match up with him. But the same can be said about Dwight Howard, who should have his way against Rasho Nesterovic and Andrea Bargnani. Bosh and Howard both should have a huge series, but Orlando’s other guys are a little better. Magic in six.
Did you know? Both of these teams have traded away Tracy McGrady.
Our prediction: Despite the Raptor’s advantage at the point, it’s Dwight Howard’s time. Magic in 6
Outlook: The Raptors are capable of winning this series, but they have no answer for Howard. Magic in six.
No. 6 Toronto def. No. 3 Orlando, 4-2
Chris Bosh is just rounding into form and Toronto has better point guards.
Detroit def. Toronto, 4-2
Pistons will get comfortable but Raptors won’t give them a real scare.
The Orlando Magic may be brimming with confidence as they begin their second consecutive playoff push — sporting their best team in 12 years — but they clearly will be fighting against the odds because of their youth and the lack of a postseason resume.
They also will be trying to become the first NBA team in history to win a championship with two players ( Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis) who joined the league directly from high school.
Let’s go, Orlando.
What are you waiting for?
It’s three days before the Magic begin the playoffs and there are thousands of unsold tickets.
"I’m very impatient," said Chris D’Orso, the Magic’s VP of marketing and ticket sales. "The tickets are moving better today [Thursday], but I would have liked to have seen the excitement earlier in the week."
As of Thursday afternoon, there were still close to 3,000 tickets available for Sunday’s first playoff game with Toronto and about 4,500 for Tuesday’s Game 2.
You’d think if we can draw 75,000 — the biggest crowd in history — for Wrestlemania (cheapest ticket $50) a few weeks ago, we could at least get 17,000 fans for the hometown team in the NBA playoffs (cheapest ticket $12).
For crying out loud, Raptors officials were already saying Thursday that Games 3 and 4 next week in Toronto are almost certain to be sold out. The Raptors have had 11 home playoff games in their history — all of them sellouts.
This is the time and the team you’ve been waiting for. The Magic, at long last, have earned your support.
Let’s go, Orlando.
The Raptors have been a disappointment this season after winning the Atlantic Division a year ago. Injuries have played a pivotal role, with All-Star forward Chris Bosh in and out of the lineup, Jorge Garbajosa on the shelf, and starting point guard T.J. Ford suffering a traumatic spinal injury before returning. In his absence, Jose Calderon was frequently brilliant at point guard, but the team has relied too heavily on 3-point shooting all season. Second-year forward Andrea Bargnani never really hit his stride after a great rookie season, but they did get a surprise addition with journeyman Jamario Moon. The Raptors are dangerous shooters, and are capable of giving the erratic Magic a run for the money.
Pick: Magic in 6
And the winner is: Orlando in six. Turkoglu has his coming-out party.
The Raptors aren’t as good as last year, period. Andrea Bargnani has disappeared. Luckily, Jose Calderon emerged as a solid player, but they still have a ways to go. Dwight Howard will manhandle Chris Bosh, and the Magic will win. End of story.
If the Raptors were in the West… well you know the rest. Superman, Hedo, and the $110 million man should put this one way fairly easily. Look for some monster 20-20 nights from Dwight Howard throughout this series. This series might actually be more boring than the Rockets 1st round exit.
Magic in 5
The Chris Bosh-led Raptors took a step backward after a 47-win season in 2006-07, losing 15-of-21 in March and early April. But the Raptors pose a serious threat to the Magic because they do a better job taking care of the ball and making their free throws. Also, Rasho Nesterovic has come on of late, giving Toronto another big body to slow Howard’s power game. Both teams ranked in the top five in three-point percentage and finished in the top half of the league in points, so it should be a fun, high-scoring series.
The Pick: Raptors in six.
Why Orlando wins: Toronto just doesn’t have the size and toughness up front to neutralize the power of Dwight Howard and the scoring ability of Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis and can’t make Orlando pay for its subpar backcourt.
Pick: ORLANDO in six.
Since the 2003 playoffs, a No. 3 seed has fallen to a No. 6 seed every year except 2004. The pressure is squarely on Orlando to hold serve and it could be difficult, the same way it was for Toronto last season against New Jersey. The Raptors have never won a series after losing the first game. However, it says here Toronto will win a game in Orlando and take the series in six games.
"It’s one of the most unique situations I’ve ever seen in this league," said a media relations member of the NBA who’s been with the league for more than 15 years. "I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this."
For T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, the platooning, time-sharing, co-starring, interchanging, and until recently, dual starting point guards for the Toronto Raptors, this season has been nothing like anything either one has experienced. Ford and Calderon have been forced not to love each other but find love for each other in a way that would have made lesser players — lesser individuals — demand trades, sit out or happen upon a mysterious injury to avoid the saga altogether.
You see, that was the story a month ago.
Since then, times have changed. The Raptors recently lost three games in a row to cap a 6-15 stretch. They are now a .500 team, more like Philly than Orlando. And at the center of all this: them. The two PGs who were making the impossible happen, making GMs think that Ford/Calderon’s version of Leak/Tebow could actually work in basketball.
It’s only a few more days until Sunday. Despite a year full of positives and negatives, the Raptors have once again managed to get to the playoffs where the season begins anew. A year ago, the Raptors suffered a defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Nets. Fresh from a surprising season, the Raptors found it difficult to overcome the stifling atmosphere of the playoffs. A year later, they find themselves with a chance to surpass expectations against a higher seeded Orlando Magic team. But how much does the seeding matter? They only need to look back to see how the Nets managed to overcome the Raptors’ home court advantage.
Starting on April 20th, fans can go to www.raptors.com or http://raptors.nanogaming.com and play a free interactive game called Raptors Shot Caller which is being sponsored by Ford Canada and offers NanoGaming features such as real-time game predictions, basketball trivia, and instant recall challenges.
“We want to further engage our fans in the Raptors’ playoff experience and this partnership with LiveHive allows us to do just that,” said Chris Hebb, Senior Vice President of Broadcast & Content, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. “It is a lot of fun and free to play. We think that it will bring Raptors fans from across Canada even closer together.”
The campaign also leverages Facebook where an application has been developed that allows for polling, group play and chat features. LiveHive has also helped another NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers power an interactive experience for their fans.
Orlando in six. Orlando has three of the best four players in this series which should be enough.
To watch: The Raptors – we hardly ever get to see these guys play, so why not start now?
While Orlando is the top seed I am pitting my hopes on Toronto. Pound-for-pound, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Carlos Delfino, and Jason Kapono could prove victorious against Maurice Evans, Keith Bogans, Brian Cook, Keyon Dooling, and Carlos Arroyo. It should surprise people if this series wouldn’t go to a decisive Game 7.
Advantage: TORONTO
And Mitchell, for one, was quick to admit how difficult it was for the players — most of them competing in the playoffs for the first time — to cope with the heightened pressure of the post-season.
"Me telling Chris Bosh, the first time around, how it was for me is not going to help Chris Bosh," he said. "Because they hear it, but they don’t hear it.
"It is different for every person. It means something different for every guy.
"You have to experience it. That is why, the more you experience it, the better you become at dealing with it."
DINO BLOGGER says…. Raptors shock the world and win in 6
Prediction: I’m thinking Orlando wins this one 4-1. The Raptors are good at home (25-16), but the Magic are even better than that on the road (27-14). However, if the irrational enthusiasm of the Toronto fanbase has any effect whatsoever, this series could go the full seven. But I doubt it.
12:30 p.m.- Toronto Raptors @ Orlando Magic (Game #1)
Announcers: Matt Devlin, Mike Dunleavy and Stephanie Ready
Related posts:
Orlando in 7.
khandor’s last blog post..NBA Playoffs Preview (2007-2008)
I would be satisfied with a 7 game series. They matchup well with Orlando and are healthy.
Please check out my own version of the preview, with a lil help from friends of course….
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/04/2008-play-offs-real-deal-starts-now.html
john’s last blog post..2008 Play-Offs – The Real Deal Starts Now