Game 3 mail

Funnily enough, the mail’s not over-flowing this morning with stuff about the game. Guess everyone’s happy with everything that transpired.

So here you go for now:

Q: A couple of questions:

1. Kapono seems to be playing out of his mind. While some of the players looked tentative under the pressure during the first few games, he played great. Can this be attributed to his experience with the Heat in the playoffs and does that make him be a "leader" in the locker room?
2. With Howard only being 22 and Bosh, in his 5th year, being only 24. Who has the greater upside? And what can we expect from Bosh, statistically, in the next few years? Will he remain a 20 and 9 player his whole career?

Dave R, Markham

A: I don’t think it’s Kapono’s experience, ‘cause he hardly got off the bench the year the Heat won it and Miami was swept a year ago. I think he’s just feeling more comfortable.

I don’t know about upside. I think both will be all-stars for probably every year they play in the league. One’s power, one’s finesse. If I had to start a team today, I’d probably take Howard over Bosh, though.

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Q: In your opinion, how good was the crowd in game 3 at the ACC. It was electric watching on TV. Does Orlando's crowd even compare to ours?

Thay, Toronto

A: The crowd here was louder, not by a lot, but louder. Might have to do with the fact there were 3,000 more people in the building than there was in Orlando.

But it was a great, great audience. The 300 level in particular looked like a great place to be.

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Q: Quick question, if the Raps do manage to pull off a first round win do you think raptor fans will take to the streets in the same nature Hab fans did in Montreal? (I keed).
Real question - does the pizza promotion still run throughout the playoffs?  Do you think Raptor fans in attendance will embarrass themselves by booing a Game 4 victory where the final score is 99 - 89 for the Raps? If this were to happen do you think MLSE would finally restructure the pizza promotion - perhaps making it based on defense (holding the opponents to 95 or less points)?
Now to connect my two questions - perhaps in Game 6 the Raps win the series with 99 points and the fans riot to celebrate and to express anger for the lack of pizza. Very unlikely but maybe the only way to eliminate the problematic promotion. Further I kind of like the headline - Pizza Riot

Jeff VH, Toronto

A: This is almost Ding! Ding! Ding! worthy. But, yes, the pizza thing still goes on and surely to all that’s good in the world, no one would be ticked at 99 points, would they? Surely, they wouldn’t.

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Q: Long time Raptors fan, medium time reader and first time writer. My question is how is it that all of a sudden Kapono is getting his shots? Throughout the season, whenever he was put in the game he seemed inept at getting away a shot, and now in the playoffs he has caught fire. Is this because of something the Raptors are doing, something about Orlando's defence or is Kapono just playing above his head? Common sense would tell me that it is most likely a combination of these factors but I wanted to get your take.

Adam L, Kitchener

A: If I had the answer, I’d be making Sam Money. It is a combination of those two things, but I think mostly it’s that, for some strange reason known only to him, Kapono’s starting to feel more comfortable and he’s asserting himself by shooting, not trying to drive as he did most of the season. That’s good, seeing how he’s a shooter and all.

He told us the other day it’s minutes. Sam had this to say yesterday morning:

"I just laugh all the time, people say Jason couldn’t get his shots but Anthony Parker got shots every night … Carlos when he comes in the game he gets shots. We’re finding him, he’s shooting the ball well and I think he’s looking for his shot because he knows he’s shooting it well.”

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Q: The victory yesterday was awesome and it was also nice to see the Raptors of old show up again. The atmosphere was absolutely electrifying and terrifying for the Magic.
But I was a bit concerned with the number of open looks the magic got. Today they were cold and we caught a break because they didn't make most of them but Saturday may be another story, do you think the coaching staff realizes these loopholes in our defence and what do you think they will do to completely shut down the perimeter shooters?
Also how bad is Nelson's injury? I really hope he is healthy and 100 per cent ready for Saturday because that will make our victory sweeter.

Ryan S, Toronto

A: Um, yes, the coaching staff realizes it, that’s sort of what they do. They will never, ever come up with a plan to “completely shut down the perimeter shooters” because this is the NBA and good teams get good shots. I’m pretty sure they’ll be working on quicker rotations today in practice.

Nelson was all right about 45 minutes after the game but it’s a back and no one knows how they’ll react.

Comments

[leigh]

Hey Doug, yeah, the 300 section was rocking last night, especially 318, but there were two idiots who were booing when TJ and Bosh were shooting free throws. These two clowns were dressed in Raptors Red. They nearly got beaten up and deservedly so. It's fine that not everyone has to love every player on the team, but to boo home team players during such an emotional game was dangerous if nothing else.
No reasonable fan would begrudge an opposing fan's right to cheer for their team, but for home town 'fans' to boo their players is just asking for trouble.

[Joseph Dee]

Ding Ding Ding I think you are the winner with your answer to the first question about Bosh and Howard.

"I don’t know about upside. I think both will be all-stars for probably every year they play in the league. One’s power, one’s finesse. If I had to start a team today, I’d probably take Howard over Bosh, though."

Oh do we have short memmories. must be the middle age thing. Weren't you the guy going off last year that Howard hadn't improved one bit, becuase he didn't develop that mid range jumper. Well guess what he still doesn't have that mid range jumper that you wanted from him last year yet now he is your franchise player over Bosh. Glad to see you have come around to not being MLSE's promoter and realized the kid is good real good! If Howard can improve his Free Throws he will be great! like in all time, hall of fame,one of the best ever great.

[Pat]

Hey Doug, I'll have to disagree with you on the ACC crowd not being that much louder than the Magic crowd. From what I saw on TV, the Magic crowd was pretty tame. I'm not sure how loud it was down on the floor but I was up in in the Sprite Zone (section 318) and it was so loud and over the top up there I couldn't even speak to the people next to me. I couldn't even hear the announcer. Plus, they gave out small towels to the upper bowl to swing around which made it that much more crazy. I wouldn't have traded my tickets for lower bowl tickets, it was that fun.

[Darko Dubajic]

Was at the box on 200 level and Sea of red looked awesome.
Noise is getting closer and closer to European stadiums especially for big games, where you can not hear yourself think
and most of the Arenas are 10000 people or less.
Remember last year fiasco with those same red t-shirts and the Nets. Game 1 this year in Cleveland, they give away yellow t-shirts and wouldn't you know Washington comes out in their
gold (yellow) jerseys. Yet, Raps marketing gets killed for it
and nobody mentioned Cavs.
What is the count on casualties from ME J bandwagon. It is nice that he made those shots, but more important was that he applied himself on D and contained their point guard penetration (most of the time anyway).

[Dan]

Hey Doug.I read this on hoopsworld and on truhoop. I forget which paper it was from
"When it comes to veterans, an interesting option was on display in the season finale when Toronto's T.J. Ford scored 16 points against the Bulls in the first quarter alone. He figures to be available for trade since the Raptors have a better option in Jose Calderon. Would the Raptors accept Andres Nocioni for Ford?"
Is this a trade you would do, or the Raptors would consider? They already have pretty good point guard. Although he had a bad season.

Blogger's note: I'd consider it, sure; and I'm told the Bulls do have some interest in Ford. But I think the Raptors would want more.

[Zaddups]

I am usually one of TJ's staunchest critics...not because I don't like the guy...it's just I don't like how he plays as a point guard. I must say though that he impressed me last night and not because he scored 21 points...he can go off when he's feeling it. I was really impressed that he played defence...went after loose balls and stayed in front of his man for the most part. TJ is not a traditional pass-first point guard...so the key for him in game 4 is if his shot is not on...is he willing to do the "little things" to make his team win.
I was impressed with Jamario last night. I think he set the tone for the team with his hustle...especially on the offensive glass. He was everywhere and we saw him drive off the dribble(wow didn't know he had it in him) and score that sweet finger roll layup.
Jose shot the ball well and he's such a good point guard. I call him Steve Nash lite. He made some tremendous passes to CB4 for dunks.
Kapono...is on fire...and as you can see...when he is in a rhythm he doesn't miss. Hopefully by next year...if Sam is still around or if it's another head coach...they will actually run some plays for him. He's that nice.
As for Howard...mmmnn Superman was flustered all game...Bargnani played some pretty good mano-e-mano defence against him a few times. Boxing Howard out is the key(easier said than done). Once he's boxed out and can't get put-back dunks he's pretty much nullified offensively. He has limited post moves(no drop step-turnaround j)...and no mid-range jumper so keeping a body in front of him is paramount.
Overall, a pretty good game for the Raps...But the next one is the game of the series...Orlando will make adjustments...Raps have to come out aggressive...driving and building up fouls early and a win could be in their sights.

[Terence Gui]

Hey Doug... I read with interest Mike Bianchi's take on last night's game (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-bianchi2508apr25,0,3711649.column). He mentions that a couple of "Canadian Newspaper Columists" made remarks that Sam's job may be in jeopardy (after the first 2 losses). I'm assuming neither of these individuals would be yourself, as that type of comment would (in my humble estimation) be very un-Doug Smith-like.

Also, would you be able to guesstimate how many beat grunts would be hanging around after the game doing post-game interviews of the players/coaches in a first round playoff series such as this one?

Blogger's note: Well, there are seven Toronto writers on the road in this series, another three or four at home games and six or seven from Orlando. So that's about 18 writers and countless radio and TV types.

[Sam B]

Hey Doug,

Great game, great performance by mostly all the players...except CB4...I felt like he was "off" his game (which is okay, considering he's been "on" for past ~ 100). Personally I felt as if he was trying to make up for his game 2 miss, ie. didn't he attempt three 3-point shots??? which btw he missed all of. Now I don't mind him tossing up a 3 occaisionally, but shouldn't he leave to the guys who normally make 3's and instead drive the ball or at least move up to take a 15-17' footer??? Also looked like he was a bit tired or maybe even injured???

[Shrugz]

One problem I have is that the courtside needs to start cheering instead of staring blankly. I know I know they're usually big businessmen but you should cheer like you would if you won a big contract or just heard that your profits went up 100%.

the other problem is why did Bosh have 3 3point shots? YEESH once a game is usually fine but not 3

[Jeremy]

Great game last night....but do you think that the ACC could possibly tone down the music and drummers and let the crowd do its thing. I was sitting in 320 and it seemed like often when the crowd was trying to get chants going, we were drowned out by the music. when the "howard" chant started, it wasn't because we needed prompting. playoff fans know how to get their team going.
the music may be necessary to pump up a crowd for a jan game vs. charlotte but not in the playoffs!

[Pete Z]

First of all, can we please stop talking about this whole pizza deal? It's getting ridiculous... it's playoff time and you're still getting questions (and answering them no less!) about the pizza. yeesh

Secondly, I am going to agree with Pat. I was in section 311, absolute last row and it was AWESOME. So loud, best fans, I would not trade my tickets for lower bowl tickets either! Judging from what I saw in games 1 and 2 on a plasma screen + surround sound, I can't imagine the Orlando crowd being rowdier, but I guess I could be wrong...

[Saadles]

Hey Dougy,
My roommate and I devised a theory whereby Kapono basically spent the whole season figuring out how to run off the ball ala a Rip Hamilton (no where near as good obviously) because from the few Miami games I saw him play, I never saw him move quite so comfortably and with so much confidence. He always knew the 3 was there so now, in the playoffs, he's more confident with his overall game. Thoughts?
On win does not a good coach make, but Sam still deserves credit for this game. I thought when things got really chippy in the 3rd, he did a good job of managing his players emotions and working the refs.
One last thing, Bargs was called for a tech because he mouthed a dirty word. Was the crown really chanting the same word ("bs")?

[Alex]

Did they hand out those red t-shirts to people as they came into the ACC? God I hate that.. the whole crowd looks red, sure, but it's so obviously a door-give-away item that it ruins the point. In Calgary the Red Wave (and the old White Noise in Winnepeg) is impressive because people actually show up in their own gear, including different jersey styles, sweaters, hats, etc. Thus it's a statement of the fans' commitment. When everyone's wearing a t-shirt that was handed to them at the door, not so impressive.

Not just a Raptors thing though - I've seen the same thing in a few NHL cities this playoff year.

[Eugene]

From http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Suns-080425 :

"Only 12 NBA teams have ever come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The good news for the Suns: O'Neal played for two of the past six teams that did it (the Miami Heat against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Spurs in the 2004 Western Conference semis). And should the Suns fall behind 3-1, all they have to do is look through the playoff history pages of their own media guide to find the last team to overcome that deficit: They did it against the Lakers in the first round of the 2006 playoffs."

Let's hope that number becomes 13 soon.

[Shachin]

The ACC crowd was rocking last night. I was up in section 311 and it was insane. I've been to every playoff game with the exception of 2002, and next to the Vince 50pt night against philly, this is the loudest it's ever been. good on the t.o fans for showing up last night.....what an atmosphere and tomorrow should be even better

[Amanda]

I just read an article by David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel saying that there's no way the Raptors will win this series. Don't know if you read it but if you did, what do you think about that? Would you ever write so bold a suggestion after only 3 games when it's 2-1? I wrote down his name and email address so I can be the one to invite him to Pammie's inauguration.

Blogger's note: I think everyone's entitled to their opinion; I know David a little bit, am not surprised he made a bold statement. I don't think, however, that anyone can say with any certainty what's going to happen the rest of the way.

[Michael]

Yea, I agree with the reader and writer for previous post. I don't think the magic crowd were louder than the ACC crowd. Even though I only watched the game from TV but I was like "that's not like a playoff time. Sure they dressed up differently but man that magic crowd isn't loud at all". I think that make it easier for the road team. Hopefully the raps can win again Sat then steal one on the road and come back home for the series win!!!

[Neidi]

Are you kiddong me? The ACC crowd's voice was A LOT louder than the Magic's and their noise makers. Ours was our voices, theirs was the clappers!

[Soul]

The Raptors won game 3 but the Raptors coaching staff has yet to find a way to defend the Magic's WIDE OPEN three pointers. They didn't fall in game 3. Can the Raptors be so lucky 'again' and 'again' and 'again' (for three more games)?

[Pat]

One of the highlights of last night was when the crowd was taunting Howard at the free throw line. Now that was loud. I think another moment worth mentioning was the crowd singing the national anthem. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

[bballer]

tony parker is not a pass first point guard but has 3 rings. would tj ford be better off in a system that will better utilize his skills were the penetrate and kick is more of the system they use as opposed to the pass around the perimeter style the raps try to employ? the spurs offense is contingent on 2 players and parker scoring, whereas the raps wants everyone to be a threat. considering that the spurs has won 4 championships, wouldn't it be better to emulate the champs as opposed to the suns who have never made the finals? i think tj still can be an above avg pg in the nba. not a criticism, just an observation.