May 3, 2002

THIS IS THE END, MY FRIEND

     Several late game brain cramps may have cost the Raptors against Detroit—but if you want to look for the reason such a highly anticipated season ended prematurely you can look all the way back to opening day.

      It is with mixed emotions that I look back on this Raptor season.  I agree with the coaches and the players—the late season “drive to the playoffs” gave what was about to be a “season of failure” a positive end.  The team returned to their rightful place as one of the better teams in the conference…and there is much hope for next season.  A healthy Vince Carter can easily be fit into the framework of this team…and can be, once again, the go-to guy in crucial situations.  He was greatly missed against the Pistons.  If Keon Clark comes back this team will have the six core players signed for at least two more years and will ensure that the team remains in contention for that time.

     Oh… a quick piece of advice for Morris Peterson.  This off-season, Mo, work on your shot.  You can’t be a scorer if you keep missing open shots. 

      But yes, there are good feelings as the season ends.

      HOWEVER.

      There are some very strong negatives.

      HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR AN EXPERIENCED PLAYER NOT TO BE AWARE OF THE SITUATION AT THE GAME’S MOST CRUCIAL MOMENT?

      Time after time during the series Chris Childs made a terrific pass, played smothering defense, and delivered important points.  Without his dominating point guard play the Raptors don’t even make it to Game 5.  But with eleven seconds left on the clock-- enough time to set up the tying three-point shot…and with a hot shooting Dell Curry circling around a screen, OPEN for that shot—Childs heaves a desperation shot simply because he thought the team was down by four points.  The question is simple—HOW CAN HE NOT KNOW THE SCORE?  Raptor fans were stunned.  The coaching staff had to be stunned.  Even his teammates were stunned and it showed as it took a few seconds for anyone to realize that there was still time left on the clock and they should foul.  Nobody could have even imagined that Childs would commit such a stupid mistake.  HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW THE SCORE?

      But then… how could the hottest Piston player get free under the basket with only two seconds remaining on the shot clock, and receive a two foot pass for the points that effectively decided the series?  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?  It was the type of play that killed them during the losing streak, and the type of play they had effectively eliminated as they streaked into the playoffs.

      The Raptors could have won the series if they had done just a few things right during the game.  The first quarter…Detroit was choking.  They were tight.  They weren’t shooting well, and they were missing free throws.  The Raptors tried to play efficient basketball, take their time with the ball and make a good play---and for one quarter they did.  But missed free throws of their own, mostly from Antonio Davis, the team’s best free throw shooter of late, allowed the Pistons to stay close. 

      The second quarter, when Jon Barry and the big nasty, Corliss Williamson, intent on retribution, started to take over the game.  Williamson inside…Barry outside.  The Raptors needed a different defensive strategy.   Lenny has proven all season long that he is not one to make drastic changes…quickly, but Williamson needed to be double teamed on the post.  One man was not going to be able to guard this man possessed. 

      The third quarter.  Eleven points!  Suddenly Keon Clark doesn’t want to use his height advantage over either Ben Wallace or Cliff Robinson, and doesn’t want to be the focal point of the offensive sets—but after game three, there was no way the Pistons were going to let Antonio Davis be that guy.  The biggest advantage the Raptors had was their ability to score from inside   Clark needed to step up.

      And the fourth quarter…the time of the game when experience is supposed to matter the most.  But somehow, during that quarter, experience was shouted down, and replaced with incomprehensible stupidity. 

      By the way…Chris…you better hope Isaiah decides that you’re the missing piece in Indiana, or some other team wants a backup with experience.  Otherwise your number in the Raptor rotation just got a lot higher. 

      But is it fair to place the disappointment completely upon the result of game five--when the main reason for the Raptors early exit from the playoffs is that the lesson they supposedly had been taught last year…gain home court advantage for the playoffs… was obviously not learned.  In the dressing room, slumped with exhaustion in his cubicle, Jerry Stackhouse admitted that if the game had been played in Toronto the Raptors would have won.  Last years’ lesson was not learned, and it was apparent right from the opening game of the season when the Raptors walked around the court in Orlando and watched as the Magic ran circles around them.  It was apparent that the philosophy for this year was to get through the long, arduous, and oftentimes boring regular part of the schedule, and get to the excitement and the intensity of the playoffs.  That was where the real basketball would be played.  This was simply an 82 game exhibition season for the Raptors. 

      So…let’s play what if.  What if the Raptors had come into the season intent on asserting their high position within the conference?  Then the Raptors would have created a solid margin for error…or should I say—injury and would have allowed Vince to either rest longer, or have the operation sooner so that he would have been healthy enough to play in the playoffs.

      And what if that same determined team that finished the season had that superstar player to command double teams and feed off during the crucial moments of the series? 

      Yes…what if. 

      Next year may bring a little bit of a different look to the Raptors.  Maybe Keon Clark is here…maybe he goes and we get another solid player in a sign and trade.  Maybe Hakeem comes back.  Maybe Lenny comes back.  But if this team is going to reach its stated goal…the NBA finals…they are going to have to begin next season with a much different mindset. 

      The regular season is used to gain HOME COURT ADVANTAGE in the playoffs.  You have the crowd, the close calls, and the momentum.

      As Sean Connery said in “The Untouchables”…here endeth the lesson.