Going into Game 2 there’s lots of stuff that needs to be addressed.
The wearing red thing: So RJ made fun of Raptor fans for wearing red while the Nets wore red jerseys, so should we change and wear our home whites? Of course not, that would be retarded. It’s classless of New Jersey to go out of their way to wear their alternate road uniforms just to create this awkward situation. Besides, wearing red is about showing solidarity, not about wearing the same colors that your home team wears. This leads me to another question, since when did the Raptors officially adopt the color red, I thought it was purple. So what if it reminded people of Barney, I didn’t care, to me “purple fever” still sounds a lot better than “red army”. The latter sounds something like the communist party would refer themselves as.
The game itself looms large for the Raptors, going down 0-2 is not an option and even though I was very optimistic in my Game 1 reaction, I simply can’t be the same if we lose Game 2. It’s not that we can’t beat New Jersey in New Jersey twice, it’s more to do with the psyche of the players when they’re down 0-2 going into another arena. Again, the New Jersey arena is quieter than a morgue but it’s still a pain to play on the road knowing you have to win twice in three games.
If the Raptors just play their game and play transition defense and not turn the ball over, they’ll be fine. One switch I would like to see made is have Morris Peterson defend Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson, Mo Pete was not used at all by Mitchell in Game 1 and I though it was a resource wasted. Given that he is the oldest Raptor on the team and given his playoff experience (I know it’s limited), he should figure into Game 2. I think he’s a good athletic defender and can give Richard Jefferson trouble in the open floor while locking down Vince Carter to a commendable degree. Either way, Mo Pete must play more so that Anthony Parker can concentrate a little more on the offensive end. I don’t know if Mitchell has thought of this but it might not be a bad idea to stick Parker on Jason Kidd and take away Kidd’s post-ups, Kidd isn’t the quickest of cats and Parker should be able to give him problems.
Super Fan Nav Bhatia was sitting with Michelle Carter during the game while not wearing red. This has irked many fans considering he is “Super Fan”. Although the rumor is that Bhatia might have been wearing red underwear, it has simply proven not good enough for Raptor fans who are the kind that don’t easily forget any wrongs done to them. While a few fans forgave this error in judgment, they did not forgive him for not waving his customary towel when the Raptors were making their big run. So what to do about Nav? My take on this is to give the guy another chance, maybe he felt awkward sitting next to Milt Palacio…er..Vince’s Mom and didn’t know how to act since he’s close to the family. I say let’s see what he’s doing/wearing for Game 2 before resorting to any act of vengeance against him.
It was nice to see the Raptors having some fun during practice and not getting too stressed about losing home-court advantage. I think they know that they shot themselves in the foot with all the careless mistakes and as Mitchell himself said, all the mistakes can be corrected. So anybody who’s going to colossal Game 2 at the ACC on Tuesday night, make sure you cheer and boo as best as you can and make sure it’s not always directed at just Vince Carter. There was a great thread on RealGM which proposed that Vince Carter had moved on and the fans had not, there might be a large element of truth in that. Either way, after RJs comments the Raptors have many enemies to pick from.
Let’s talk about Joey Graham for a minute. He had one of the worst playoff games this side of David Robinson in recent memory, both statistically and otherwise. Sam’s leash on him should be short this time around, especially if his head is not into the game, like Saturday. We can’t afford to play him 35 minutes while he’s laying eggs on both ends of the floor. I hope Sam has the ability to recognize when a player is simply “not into the game” and can substitute accordingly. Juan Dixon on the other hand was the only guy who had the balls to shoot the ball every time he got it, it’s just too bad his shots didn’t fall. But still, it’s the right philosophy. Dixon needs to be given minutes, I think he’s a veteran and will come through this time around. Andrea was not himself during Game 1, look for that to change. He’s too good of a player to not make an impact.
The Nets have to be pretty confident that they can take Game 2 but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Deep down they’re probably all cozy and satisfied that they stole home-court advantage and if you ask the most honest of Nets fans and coaches, that’s probably all they were looking for when coming to Toronto. Obviously the Raptors can’t rely on that and must come out with full force and stop NJ from dictating the tempo of the game, and the best of doing that is to PLAY TRANSITION DEFENSE.
I was weary of Game 1 but I think the Raptors will take this one.
