Chuck Swirsky was the happiest guy on the planet when Joey Graham finally shut the door on the Knicks comeback with 2 seconds to go. The Swirsk produced the salami and cheese somewhat early with 2:44 left and the Raps nursing a nine point lead but things got way too close for comfort when the Knicks cut the lead to one with 1:06 left. Luckily for him and the Raps, Bosh FTs and a fadeaway jumper staved off the danger. So we got the third place locked down which is good but I don’t want to play New Jersey in the first round. This team is one big fat virgin when it comes to the playoffs and it’d be much better to get some playoff practice against the Wiz rather than enter into an emotionally charged series against New Jersey. This is not rocket science, it’s common sense. Jack thinks its going to be NJ in the playoffs but I think Washington can beat one of Orlando (@ home) or Indiana in their final two games. New Jersey is playing New York and Chicago, both can be tough games for them. I think it’ll be Washington.
The Raptors fans were out in full force this afternoon, game was sold-out and there was tons of noise, felt like a playoff game even through the television. I can’t wait to get my hand on some playoff tickets to check out the ACC in the post-season. If you’re looking for Raptors playoff tickets, this RealGM thread might be of help.
Let’s talk about Nate Robinson for a second, Jack Armstrong ripped him apart after he put on his thug-face following a collision with Jose Calderon. Nothing wrong with play, Jose went for the ball and Robinson happened to get in the way, no harm intended. Robinson felt Calderon has crossed some sacred line and pretended to be held back and not go after Calderon. After going into “one on one” mode with Calderon, Lady Luck smiled on him and he drained a couple threes to give the Knicks a lead they’d never hang on to. Armstrong pretty much called him “garbage” and when Swirsky said that Nate was a “good player”, Armstrong goes, “I don’t know about a good player, he’s a talent”.
Robinson is a really bad player, I would never want him on my team. He should forget about being a scorer and adopt the pursuit of a Mugsy Bogues type career except with a slightly more potent scoring punch. If he thinks he can be a scorer in this league without having a detrimental impact on his team (bad FG%, no assists) he’s mistaken. The guy cannot create for his teammates and is as good as a SG out there. His defense sucks and at best he can surprise you with some steals. He was being abused by Calderon on the pick ‘n roll today, the guy just doesn’t want to fight through the screen! On a related note, Isaiah Thomas still thinks that New Jersey is “the class of the Atlantic”. How this guy manages to stay employed will forever be a mystery. It’s hard to believe but he might actually be going for another dysfunctional psycho in Ruben Patterson. Isaiah’s made so many bad moves as a GM that one actually forgets he used to be a player in this league, that too a great one.
I have never been so comfortable with the Raptors down at the half. In the six game win streak, they’ve been down at the half every single game. You have to love the fact that the team can play with poise and has complete confidence that they can come back from being down in the second half. Love him or hate him, Sam Mitchell apparently gives a decent halftime speech. Although this is a habit you don’t want to fall in to, especially in the playoffs, it’s good to know that the squad doesn’t hit the panic button when being down.
So with the game on the line, we go to Bosh who’s guarded by Jared Jeffries and he takes the exact same shot twice, misses it the first time but makes it the second. Small pull-up/fadeaway jumper from 7ft out. I think this is one of those shots that I’d rather him not take (especially in this situation) in favor of driving down the middle and maybe even drawing a foul. I think the defense is willing to take their chance with Bosh shooting this jumper and CB4 should look to exploit them in other ways before settling for this option. The jury’s out on whether a fadeaway (although from only 7-10ft) is a good shot in that situation.
Looking forward to Wednesday night when we’ll find out who we play. Here are Chasin’s highlights, here’s tehe NBA TV Recap:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvdPakyWQQs]
