Tip-In: 81 down.....

It was great just to see these guys play. Too bad it seemed like it took too long for them to settle down. A lot of overdribbling, risky passing and horrible defence, which is perfectly fine considering how often these guys play.

LJ passed up open shots just to dribble into the paint and throw it away. He was a 50% 3 point shooter in the NBDL, come on man, make a couple and then go to the drive.

Once they simplified things and got on a little bit of a roll it was too late.

If slokar could rebound, I bet he'd have most of hump's minutes, nice stroke.

the winning has been so good, watching the raps this season, that watching them lose the last few games has never felt better.

apparently the banner is going up tonight, so make sure to show up early. I'll be there with my sprite zone hat on.

anybody else go to the intra squad game in waterloo back in october?? and did any of you think we would be watching those same guys get ready to start a playoff run with home court advantage? awesome.

How many of the subs will be back next year? I think this team will be pretty much intact except Mo Pete will have moved onto to Detroit by then.

D Martin? Yes, he's a CHEAP back up point guard who doesn't turn the ball over much and gets along with the younger players.

Pape Sow? Yes, he's comes CHEAP, hustles and rebounds but needs to develop some kind of jump shot. Any kind of jump shot!

Luke Jackson? Yes, he's already been signed for CHEAP (sense a theme?) and although rusty sometimes has shown sign of having a good outside shot and a high b-ball IQ.

Juan Dixon? Yes, he's CHEAP and has a good b-ball IQ. But he has stopped driving to the hoop lately. Nothing better to get out of a slump and boost the ol confidence than driving in for a layup or a dunk.

I love Humps game. He hustles, doesn't back down from anybody and as long as he's not trying to be Allen Iverson dribbling in the lane he's a good, CHEAP pickup. Easy decision.

Uros Slokar? Yes, but he needs to get some minutes to develop. Not very athletic but he comes CHEAP, has a decent stroke and isn't afraid to bang on the boards and box out.

I missed something. What is this talk of Mo Pete to Detroit? Thanks in advance for information

Davl, MoPete's contract is up this year and it's unlikely he'll sign back in Toronto given how little he's played this year. He's from Michigan so I think Todd is figuring he's likely to want to go back home if the Pistons offer him a decent contract...of course in Detroit he's still be a sub, backing up Tayshaun and Rip, but maybe he'd get more minutes

Jbar...I knew is contract was up after this year. Going to Detroit is only speculation because He is from Mich. But I believe. money will decide where He goes. Where ever Mo plays I will be looking to watch His games.Too bad He has fallen so low in the Raptors rotation. I am not convinced He belongs there I believe there is more too it (coach and player disagreements) but Mo and SMit are pretty classy guys and won't let it wreck a good year. It will be interesting to see how and where Mo plays next year.

I've been thinking about this a bit now. And I'm reading in the local media and even players saying they want to avoid New Jersey in the 1st round.

Bring on the Nets!!! That's what I believe. The only way Toronto will have closure with this whole Vince fiasco is to play him and the Nets. I have confidence that our team will handle the Nets and will give us invaluable experience for the future.

What does playing/beating Washington achieve? A few extra million for MLSE? Let's be honest, we will be playing a bunch of 2nd stringers. And its not really good playoff experience for the future.

Face the Nets now. I'm sure Karma will haunt VC as well. And there will be closure once we beat the Nets in the 1st round. Win or lose, it will make us a better team in the years to come.

Never to be content (eye on the prize) this team needs a playoff vet next year. I think every championship team as a battle tested warrior come playoffs. I'm thinking the likes of a Robert Horry Character.

Now mind you.. building an NBA championship team may be the hardest thing to do of all the professional sports. You tend to get more dynasties in Hoops than any other sport.

If you don't have a Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem or Jordan on your team, you didn't win a chapionship in the last decade and a half!

And if we add, Thomas, Bird, and Magic to the list, you'll have to go back to 1980!

(Only two exceptions the '04 Pistons & '83 Sixers)

These 7 players own 25 of the last 26 years worth of NBA Championships.

Will we finally add the likes of Dirk or Nash to this list?

What's up with the High-definition situation? All the raps games this year were NOT broadcast in HD, but suddenly this one was. What gives, and more importantly, will we get HD for the playoffs???

andrewlafleur.com

Great point U Station...hopefully the Raptors will find success in the next few years in terms of playoff experience and we can add Bosh and Bargs to that list...

Todd - This offseason we'll be looking in depth at some of these players and their future with the Raps depending on how this club performs in the playoffs.

And speaking of playoffs, can't believe the Wizards missed that many free-throws last night which may have cost them a first-round matchup with the Raps. Would beating the Nets be the ultimate in closure? You bet - especially if they trounce them which might force Rod Thorn to breakup the club and start over. However I'd still rather play Washington and get some games in for experience sake. I don't think Washington will roll over and it'll be a good chance to blend Bargs back in.

Looking forward to the game tonight and hopefully a banner up as you mentioned Papa. Unreal season and as Eric Smith mentioned on Hoops last weekend, they should have Garbo or Luke Jackson come out and rip off their jersey to hang it from the rafters along with the banner for the "sixth man" fans. The place would lose it.

PS - Seems like only a month ago that all of us were complaining about the length of the summer and how we couldn't wait for the 06-07 season to tip off...

Well I think Chicago will beat the Nets tonight, so it's all up to Washington to beat Indiana for 6th spot. Secretly hoping Indiana win, and we have the theatre of the Nets in first round.

Great article as usual. Bring on the Nets! I am not so worry about Vince (we just have to play him tight and punish him HARD) when he goes into the paint. Mo P has 6 fouls to use. Hit him hard everytime. He won't come back in.

I more concerned over Jason Kidd than anyone else. The nets will only go as far as he can take them.

GO RAPS!!

colangelo was just on the fan 590 and confirmed the banner...should be a good night!

I'd rather not play Vince, thank you very much! But that's not under our control. Both BC and Sam (though I hate to admit it)have done a great job. Bring on the Nets/Wiz.

Hey Howland,
What are the odds that the Harbor Grill will be showing some irrelevant hockey game tonight rather than showing the Raptors going for a franchise best?

Raptor99:

If you visit that bar as much as we do they will gladly turn on the ball (even if it is North Texas university game).

As preparation for (hopefully) his return tonight, here's a fun bit from ESPN Sport Guy Bill Simmons ranking his MVP picks (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070417&sportCat=nba):

142. Andrea Bargnani
Remember when Marco Materazzi muttered the comment under his breath in the World Cup and got Zinedine Zidane to head butt him? Well, my mom's 100 percent Italian and would have called him a "skutch" (short for "scocciare"), an Italian phrase for someone who's deliberately annoying someone else or busting their chops. Out of all the skutches since the dawn of time, the Italians made it an art form over everyone else. It's in our DNA. And that's the thing I love about Bargnani (and never knew he had in him) -- as it turns out, he's a skutch, one of those guys who drains a 3 in front of an opposing bench, then turns around and swears at them in Italian. I'd take him over everyone in the 2007 draft except for Oden and Durant. He's a good one.

NJNs it is...match ups:

Vince --> AP or Joey
RJ --> AP or Joey
JKidd --> tough, but TJ will have to use his speed to his advantage.
Moore -->CB4/Rasho
They don't have a decent centre to worry about.

Now, who on their side guards CB4???

I take the Raps in 6. (Raps loose game one, win two and three, loose four, then win five and six)...

one side of me is ridiculously happy to be facing wince, to once and for all let all that he stands for, well, die.

the other side of me is ridiculously scared.

this. is. playoffs basketball!

Tentative NBA playoff sechedule is out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2842560

Raps will kick off the playoffs with Game 1 Sat @ 12:30 ET on ESPN.
Game 2 is Tuesday night @ 7ET on NBA TV.
Game 3 from New Jersey is FRi night @ 7ET on ESPN2
Game 4 Sun night @ 7:30 on TNT.

I will hoping for a little more love from the networks (Playoff games on ESPN2 and NBA TV!!) but realistically New Jersey will be the only team drawing viewers in the States and they don't nearly as big a following as many of the other playoff teams.

It's so exciting to be back in the playoffs and I can't wait to see how the Raptors fans respond to Vince and the sure electricity in the ACC.

Can't wait...