Media Watch for April 21, 2007 - Countdown to Tip-Off

I watched that nba playoff preview as well. I don't think vescey & co have seen the raps play. Woodson of course has and he picked the raps to win.

I could barely sleep last night....time can't go quick enough...only a couple of hours to go!!

The key to the series will be how the Raptors as a team, not as individuals, handle the playoff pressure.

I am note even remotely concerned about the Europeans (Including AP) with their International experience and Bosh with his experience on Team USA is ready to meet the challenge. TJ has already been there so no concern there.

I will most closely be watching to see if we get Good Joey or Bad Joey, as he will be the litmus test and my X-factor. If Joey plays within the framework of the team and plays solid D on Carter/Jefferson depending on who he is matched up with plus contributes offensively by hitting his mid-range jumper and taking it to the hole hard to get the crowd going (as if they need it already with a certain #15 coming back) but it will help even more, we will be fine.

Guys like Hump who are mostly bangers usually do not have a problem adapting to the playoffs as they reap dividends in their hard work, which will of course be there. We need Hump to crash the offensive glass and impose his will on Carter/Jefferson when they drive to the hoop.

Just over 2 hours to go. I don't know how much more I can take this waiting. Raps pre-game starts at 11:00 a.m. on Raptors TV.

I couldn't sleep either! Last night was like Christmas eve!

Vince sucks! GO RAPS GO!!!!!!!!!

I haven't been this pumped for a basketball game since the Toronto/Philly game 7 a few years back. I have to admit this Jersey team scares me, though. We all know that Carter could probably win a playoff round singlehandedly if he decides to give a crap. Kidd's been averaging a triple double (although I do think he can be exploited defensively). RJ's an extremely efficient offensive player who will be a handful at both ends of the floor for whichever Raptor ends up matching up with him. Even guys like Nachbar and Mikki Moore have been overachieving.

That said, the Raptors have the better bench and the home-court advantage. But I think the real key will be Bargnani. The Nets have no one who can match up with him. Will he have his sea legs back?

I implore the fans at the ACC to scream bloody murder at Vince all game long. As Bill Simmons succinctly stated, "He screwed you over."

Long time reader, first time blogger.

This is from Bill Simmons chat wrap up today:

Kmart, California: Raptors-Nets: Do you think any other arena is going to get as loud and angry as the Air Canada Centre, when Prince Carter steps on the floor? The city (Toronto) is in a frenzy.

Bill Simmons: Never. In NBA history, it will have only been topped once: Game 6 of the '86 Finals, the game after Sampson attacked Jerry Sichting and the Garden crowd unleashed about as much hatred as 15,000 fans could unleash in the following game (by the way, he had deer in the headlights and finished something like 2 for 15). People of Toronto, I urge you -- don't let up. The guy screwed you over. Don't let him beat you in the playoffs. You can singlehandedly affect the outcome of this series -- you can break him, he's not a tough player. You are doing this for every fanbase who ever got screwed over by a star athlete who went somewhere else and decided to start giving a crap again. That's your mission, now come through for us.

By the way, this site kicks a$$.

Mitchell really mismanaged this first half. MOPete and Dixon are innefective, and bargnani is both an offensive and defensive liability. It's okay though, just the one half. Raptors will hit their stride. As long as they keep their confidence, I think Raptors will eventually win this series.

My worst fear - Bad Joey has shown up. When he plays like this it frustrates the whole team. Gotta get him out of there. Bad shot selection and even worse, not hustling and playing with a very bad basketball IQ.

It looks like TJ is the only Raptors player that is playing with passion and effectiveness. As I am posting this we are down 15 and it looks like Game # 2 is a must win.

I'm a supporter of JG more than most, but how did he get to log the minutes he did today?

I'm surprised MoPete didn't see more playing time, even if he struggled in the first half. I like Joey too, but he was just awful today. He has to do a better job at the defensive end for the Raps to have a chance.

It is only Game #1, so we need to keep things in perspective.

At the same time, the thing that bothered me the most was how Joey Graham was left in the game by Smitch when he was obviously a huge liability.

Keeping Calderone in was O.K. at the end as he helped bring as back picking up on TJ's great play.

The nerves better be better for Game #2.

well that was a bummer. I stand corrected about bosh, he's going to have to force the issue a lot more. AP too.

I was upset with Joey being out there that much too. I disagree that Mo looked bad out there....he missed a couple of shots, but he looked really into it, crashing the boards, etc. Dixon was killing us too. The Nets have too many big guards to put small guys all over the place. Sam really needs to tighten up his rotation for game 2.

this is not COY material playing JG so much today. What was Sam doing hoping JG's light will come on? Does it usually come on when He is playing like this? MO Pete was the answer is my opinion but nobody ever made a bad move coaching from their living room. But JG? It was like playing a man short all day. Now I feel better, sorry

Guys, many different players blew it for the Raptors today. Am I stressed? No! This was the first playoff game ever for so many of these players including Sam Mitchell. Bosh refused to drive to the basket until it was too late, Parker was letting RJ beat him off the dribble; Joey was a young kid who looked overwhelmed, as did Bargnani. MoPete looked good on the defensive end and should have logged more minutes. The Zebras also played a big part in controlling the outcome by making some horrible calls and giving Bosh no respect while he was getting mugged when driving to the basket. On the other end, Vince goes to the line on a touch foul by AP. They also need to establish an inside game early to counter the Nets zone. Sam is also a rookie playoff coach so we should cut him a bit of slack (at least for this game). Game 2 will speak volumes. Let's just say that we witnessed Un-Raptorlike basketball tonight.

I heard the panel on NBA TV, there Barkley, Miller and 2 other panel choose The Raps as winning but we have always been the underdog, the Raps has to do a better job than what they did Saturday, let write it off as jitters. we need to win 4 more games. that is they way Americans are they always think they are the only country on this God's earth and they can do everything GO RAPSSS