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Early Saturday afternoon, the Toronto Raptors will tip off with the Washington Wizards in a first round playoff match-up before what will undoubtedly be a packed and raucous crowd at Air Canada Centre. Just like last year, there will be mobs of people outside watching the games on the big screen in Maple Leaf Square. Masai doesn’t want to get fined, so he’s not going to tell Paul Pierce what he really feels about Toronto not having “It,” but everyone knows what he’s thinking. With the Leafs missing out on the playoffs (again) and tons of time to get invested in the Blue Jays later, the city (and surrounding area) will once again be behind Raptors en masse. Drake will undoubtedly be in the building.
#WeTheNorth
The second round looks like a real possibility. Washington has struggled just as much as Toronto in the second half, but at least the Dinos enter the second season off a win and a run of solid play; the Wizards suffered back-to-back overtime losses to close out their year. Toronto swept the season series and they match-up well with the opposition, right down to the Eastern European bruisers in the middle and the point guards being pivotal to each team’s success. Toronto has a much better bench, though, and the second unit could very well win a game or two for the Raptors in this series.
Right now – before the opening tip – everything is coming up Millhouse. Except…
This has all the markings of a situation where moderate playoff success (read: winning a round, because they’re not winning two) could mask lingering issues that plague this team. Ask Washington how it’s working for them this season.
After earning a first-round series win over the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls and stealing a game in Indiana to start Round Two, the Wizards handed head coach Randy Wittman a contract extension. They added Paul Pierce, but did little to improve their bench, which helps explain why the struggled so much when shooting guard Bradley Beal went down this season. The third-year man is tough to replace, but Washington simply had no viable options. Included in that mix of “guys that couldn’t cut it” when Beal went down is 2013 third-overall pick Otto Porter Jr., who is on the fast track to Bust City.
Washington started hot, but Wittman’s reliance on heavy minutes from his starters (they all average 25+ per game) and the lack of production from the bench caught up with them in the second half, leading to a fall from grace, a fifth place finish in the Eastern Conference and a number of serious issues to address before next season.
Toronto seems like a team capable of following in their footsteps.
As much as this season produced the most wins in franchise history, squeaking out a 49th victory in the final game of the season should feel like a bit of a letdown given how well this team started. Sure, there were injuries to contend with along the way, but there were also far too many games that should have fallen in the Raptors favour that became marks in the loss column.
For a coach that made his bones as a defensive specialist, Casey’s squad is pretty indifferent when it comes to protecting their hoop. Quick point guards have killed this team off the bounce all season and – oh look, it’s John Wall, one of the fastest point guards in the league. Having a deep bench is great, especially when shots aren’t falling and guys need a blow, but Casey runs hot and cold with his rotations, sticking with the bench mob for too long and holding out players that were producing for large stretches for no particular reason.
Washington came into this season believing that were legitimate contenders in the East on the strength of last season’s playoff success.
After back-to-back division titles (in the worst division in basketball) and with a solid chance to win a first-round series for only the second time in club history in front of them, Toronto has all the markings of a team that has some key issues to address before they become contenders that could overlook it all because “We made it to the second round! WOO-HOO!”
Now that that is out of the way… let’s go Raptors.