Raptors vs. Nets
The Vince blood feud begins
By Vincent Thomas
Unless hordes of Canadians start spewing sentences filled with expletives aimed at Vince Carter or we get a sea of enraged Raptors fans flipping Vince the bird, I’m not going to be impressed. This series might be getting more pre-Playoff attention than any other (even the Suns-Lakers rematch) and it all centers around Vince’s return to Canada, in the Playoffs, as a Net and how he’ll be received by the very fans he scorned during the ’04 - ‘05 season when he basically went limp on the franchise he had previously lifted to brief national relevance.
Never mind that the Raptors, alone, are an intriguing story: a young squad – with an underappreciated superstar (Chris Bosh) and one of the few “true” point guards (TJ Ford) – that new GM Bryan Colangelo quickly fashioned into the Suns of the East on the merits of shrewd, but controversial, trade (Ford for Charlie Villanueva); a young coach (Sam Mitchell) that was on the verge of getting canned, before turning the squad around and possibly snagging Coach of the Year Honors (he’s a runaway for Best Dressed, with the natty George Karl coming in a distant second). Or what about the fact that, as uplifting of a story as these Raptors are, they could easily have an ugly end to the season, getting quickly dispatched by the more experienced Nets? One week Toronto is looking at the gimpy Wizards as an easy first round opponent, then all of sudden here comes New Jersey on a 10-3 spurt.
But the actual series has been a mere backdrop to this Vince Carter thing. This would be appropriate if Vince compromised a franchise like the 76ers or Knicks or some team in a city with vile fans that know how to get angry and behave like rubes. A simple chorus of boos just won’t cut it and I think that’s all the Canadians have in store for Vince. This is bound to be underwhelming.
As for the series, it’s not above reason to expect that this match-up will yield some of the best play over the next week. Both squads like to run and both squads feature upper echelon point guards. In the NBA, that may be the most full-proof way of ensuring that the play doesn’t devolve into sloppy amateur-runs or stall-ball ugliness. And both Vince and Bosh have something to prove. Vince has this season’s most important stage to prove he’s worth yet another max-contract. Bosh has his first postseason chance to prove he’s a franchise stalwart worthy of mention with the ’03 triumvirate (Bron-Melo-Wade) that cast a pretty dense shadow. One would expect for this motivate some inspired individual play from them both. On the bench, you have two of the leagues best young coaches, who appear to be polar opposites. Mitchell is a former pro that rocks an S-curl and made Skip cry. Frank would come off the bench in a rec league and isn’t going to make anyone cry, least of all Mikki Moore. Of the two, Mitchell has the toughest job: corralling a young squad and coaching them past a team of vets.
And did you know that Ason “No-J” Kidd almost averaged a triple-double? He dished nine assists and grabbed eight boards to go along with 13 points. If I’m picking one player to control the series, it’s Ason. There’s a slight possibility that bruisers like Collins and Moore might be able to rough up Bosh and his semi-finesse tendencies. Vince might sprain his ankle. Ason doesn’t submarine.
So I guess my prediction is this: Toronto, across the board, is going to disappoint. The fans will be far less spiteful and disrespectful than they could be and the Raptors will see a premature end of their season after five games. Yes, Vince will take his two thumbs and hold out the front of his Nets jersey as the final buzzer sounds, in Toronto on the 1st of May.
56 Responses to “Raptors vs. Nets”
Apr.20 at 4:35 pm
T feezy says:
Biotchies FIRST
Apr.20 at 4:36 pm
Paps says:
Never. Toronto wins this one for sure.
Apr.20 at 4:40 pm
Dennard C says:
LMAO about the S-curl line… Raptors in 6.
Apr.20 at 4:42 pm
MTLien says:
“This would be appropriate if Vince compromised a franchise like the 76ers or Knicks or some team in a city with vile fans that know how to get angry and behave like rubes. A simple chorus of boos just won’t cut it and I think that’s all the Canadians have in store for Vince. This is bound to be underwhelming.” Just you wait. Come tomorrow you’ll see just how passionate Raptor fans are. They hate Carter with a furious passion, have been starved for a team worth cheering for and the entire city has Raptor fever. The Leafs didn’t make the playoffs and Toronto is ready to get wild. You’ll see.
Apr.20 at 4:54 pm
Mike says:
VC is dropping 50 in game one and the Boo’s really just wont matter! Nets are gonna kill the Raps and thats all there is to it..
Apr.20 at 5:00 pm
vincE Sucks PunaNy says:
i agree with MTLien. the boos will be so LOUD that the Air Canada Centre will explode. and networks will have to dub over the arena sound because noone will be able to hear anything but boos and profanity whenever vince touches the ball. and i want to see one of Toronto’s bigs foul Vince so hard he lands on his a$$. we shall see.
Apr.20 at 5:01 pm
AB_40 says:
nets in 5 yeah maybe 6 vince WILL absolutely go nuts vs toronto
Apr.20 at 5:04 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
While there is definetly a nation wide loathing for the man, the problem is that the game starts at 30 minutes past noon. I think that if this game started at 8pm, the city would have a better chance to become more inraged throughout the day. Not to mention get a little more liquered up. I just dont know how mad you can be at lunch time. Plus its been 3 years. It will be extremly loud, there will be booing, there will be slightly more vulgar signs in the crowd, add in a few hundred altered VC Raptors jerseys. If the Raptors get on a roll early it will be the loudest place on earth. If Vinces drops 20 in the first quarter, well, um, has anyone seen that movie Celtic Pride?
Apr.20 at 5:08 pm
Darksaber says:
Okey dokey, here we go. For me, the season just started, and what a post season it’s gonna be. Will Dwight slither away into the night courtesy of the McDyess/Wallace/Webber Trio? Who in gods name is going to stop Chauncey/Rip on that Magic team? And Nets/Raptors… aahh, the basketball gods, powerfull indeed. Retribution is at hand. Vince is going to be like old VC, count on it, but the crowd is the sixth man in the T-Dot. Gawd i wish i could be there for all the haterade they will spew at Vincente. Iron hide indeed. And how about B-Diddy back in the playoffs, that man is impossible to neutralise, never mind the WHOO! / Richardson Combo at the 2/3 spots. Dallas is gonna have to WORK in this one. Aaah, i love this game.
Apr.20 at 5:17 pm
Sparker says:
the fan thing is the least of jersey’s problems, as sam mitchell has kept the raps humble and focused; they have come from behind often and hard and won’t give in as easily as you seem to think (though judging by the fact that u only mentioned two of their players, i don’t have the impression that you watched the raps too often). here’s something i haven’t read in the blah-blah about this series: the raps will have an edge in conditioning. tj, parker, dixon, j graham- they all look really fit. and bosh is only freakin’ 22 (playing like he’s 29). the nets had to work hard to even make the play offs, and i think they’ll get creaky after playing a couple of games at playoff intensity. the raps have a lot of weapons, and they’ll keep bringing them. the nets have only their big three, and it won’t be enough.
Apr.20 at 5:20 pm
Justin says:
“A simple chorus of boos just won’t cut it and I think that’s all the Canadians have in store for Vince. This is bound to be underwhelming.”
Dude, if you want us to go Euro like 1/2 our team, we can whip batteries & pennies, but that’s not us. We save hate for … something else, I dont know what. But I’m going tomorrow, & I hope other fans react like me when he touches the ball - silence. Even though he quit on us & he deserves it, boos = motivation. Although I saw him in the playoffs 5 years ago (here) & I know what he’s capable of, its not happening this time. That team has sucked until 2 weeks ago. Raps in 7.
Apr.20 at 5:25 pm
don nelson's new suit says:
Never overestimate the heart of somebody who never won anything. Vince has been on a lot of good things, and rarely produced. Why would anything change this year?
Apr.20 at 5:27 pm
Mike says:
I’ll admit, Bosh is gonna probably have a huge series too, but you guys dont realize how bad TJ Ford is gonna hurt the Raptors. I watched probably 75 of the 82 Raptor games and he simply takes to many dumb shots and has way too many turnovers. Kidd is going to absolutely own him! Not to mention you only have one average defender(Anthony Parker) to put on VC and he is gonna get lit up as well…
Nets in 6
Apr.20 at 5:29 pm
the brown guy says:
I saw this coming from the get go, and it scares me, i know what carters capable of…BUT almost all the players on the raps right now never played with him, and a few of the euro guys (this is where garbo would’ve come in handy) arent gonna respect him for his game. BARGNANI is the x factor, who on NJ can cover him ? nachbar…ok there. game 7, carter misses a jump shot at the buzzer, raps win by one, and i hoping he gets dunked on ferociously by someone (anyone) causes he’s a piece of f****** s*** and i am gonna kill him. (i dont mean that, thats for u vincent. respec)
Apr.20 at 5:34 pm
Darksaber says:
Umm, i thought Miss Andrea (actually like his game but that name?) is still hurt? Is he gonna play. Sweet, nothing like Nowitzki-light to create matchup nightmares for the nets frontcourt
Apr.20 at 5:39 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i love how there’s no consensus on who’s gonna take it. let the sh#t talking begin! i’ll actually have to GET UP AT 9 freaking 30 in the morning to catch this game (west coast time, baby). this is gonna be FUN.
Apr.20 at 5:42 pm
Chris says:
Two keys for the raps to win 1. BALL MOVEMENT (and to go along with it knocking down open shots) - the raptors offense is a thing of beauty and i believe we can outscore new jersey if we have 2. PERIMETER DEFENSE, keep carter, kidd, and boki out of the lane and off of the fricken glass. My Toronto bias won’t let me admit that Carter will win so I’ll say Raps in 7.
Apr.20 at 6:19 pm
IllyPhilly6 says:
Yea after reading that post I have the feeling the Raps will get run of the gym by a more experienced Nets team. I know Jason Kidd will somehow find a 3-Point shot and break our backs with it. Bosh will have trouble to score as he always does against a zone defense. TJ will be the cancer and try and take over the game. Mitchell will lose his head. Oh yea and Vince, he’ll probably go for 60 in one game. Nets in 5 or 6. But i do love the Raps, they’ll be better next year.
Apr.20 at 6:28 pm
benny says:
With all due respect, seriously, this preview is the equivalent to the tommorrow’s noon start. There are obviously far worse injustices in the world, but c’mon, at least give Toronto your full attention. Preview the damn matchup. To hell with the “underwhelming” fan reaction and whether or not L.Frank would get run in a rec league…Will carter abuse parker? will bosh freeze up? SLAM is an excellent production, but forgive me, what a waste of space. There was more analysis in Mike’s comment about ford’s shot selection than in the entire ‘article’.
Apr.20 at 6:45 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Do you have any idea how tiard Kidd is going to be chasing around TJ for 7 games.
Apr.20 at 7:03 pm
Mike says:
Haha why thank you Benny
Apr.20 at 7:33 pm
Kilo G says:
Yu dumbshits better recognize cuz VC is the only reason why your precious raptors club even got put on the map, and more of what, yu got 2 be real about this, when Vc was there they treated him like a total buttload of crap, and seriously come on yu owed him like everything for bringing seriousnness to your team,and to this day i think he was the best franchise player torontos ever had.and what yu think damon stoudamire is franchise? Mr. Drugs? or c.bosh? get real. and screw aka styk and FLUD stupid douches
Apr.20 at 7:55 pm
Chris says:
Fortunately toronto’s played well this season with early starts, so they have that going for them
Apr.20 at 8:20 pm
DP says:
This is the Raptors year and I don’t see it being ruined by VC and the crew. Bosh will kill as usual and they will win in six games. play wit it.
Apr.20 at 8:28 pm
Sparker says:
you’re saying c bosh is not a franchise player, kilo? he’s paid like one, he’s performing like one, he’s drawing defenses like one. he’s leading his team to success like one. that would indicate strongly that he is one.
Apr.20 at 9:00 pm
Hersey says:
The funny thing about Sam Mitchell is that he’s goes from being the worst coach to the coach of the year within the season. When the Raps were struggling with their uptempo style- people said he was out for sure. There were even cartoons making fun of him. Now all of a sudden he’s brilliant. Bryan Colangelo is the best in the business and he put together a nice roster up there. Raps are on the verge.
Apr.20 at 9:00 pm
LovetheSlam says:
honestly….let one of the real slam writers cover this. That way someone can get a good read on the situation.
Raps in 6.
And all those people who said Vince put us on the map… remember that we’ve had everyone from Chauncey Billups to Tracy McGrady and we practically had to trade them all because Vince is a cry-baby premaddonna.
Apr.20 at 9:29 pm
Mike says:
Ya….on the verge of getting fully dominated by Vince Carter!
Apr.20 at 9:33 pm
FLUXLAND says:
Obvioulsy you took the Nets, u know, just in case.
But hey we can just wait and see what happens. I will admit this weird twist of faith has me worried about the Raps. I think Andrea and Dixon are key. Dixon especially. Boing the word you are lookin for is enraged and I don’t care what time it is, when I hear anything about VC I want to destroy everything in sight. My hate for the man has no limits and it has been well documented on this site.
Apr.20 at 9:47 pm
Sparker says:
let’s get the anti-vince parade going: there’s something about him that makes me think he wet his bed way into his teens…
Apr.20 at 10:56 pm
Jonathan says:
I like Vince and he will dominate two games but Toronto will take care of the Nets.
Apr.20 at 10:58 pm
Jonathan says:
You know what actually the NETS will win this series because it just occured to me how dominate Vince can be game after game.
Apr.20 at 11:47 pm
MTLien says:
cover of the Toronto Sun http://www.torontosun.com/FrontPage/2007/04/20/4078688.html
Apr.21 at 1:07 am
JB21 says:
The Raptors will win this series. Vince may come out hard against his former Country, but that will last about a quarter. He will go back to his jumper heavy, 11 for 30, normal Vince self. How is J Kidd going to keep TJ in front of him? He’s not. Bosh, Parker, Joey, and Rasho are going to be able to shoot open jumpers all game. And just went Kidd thinks playing D is tough, we bring Jose off the bench. We have 48 minutes of PG in us. If Kidd wants to play 48 minutes per, then I welcome this. The Nets have no answer to Bosh, he will get to the line early and often. The Nets big men, well, the Nets players that play the positions that big men generally play, will be in foul trouble, as well as non-existent on the Offensive end enabling Bosh to rest on D. Joey Graham, Kris Humphries, and Andrea Bargnani will be X-Factors. If Joey can be active (he will shit on Vince), if Humphries can grab every board in site and continue to try and dunk everything, and if Andrea can put in solid minutes and hit some daggers, than the Raptors will be okay. Sweeping Washington would’ve been fun, but bring on that momma’s boy, wife cheating, bed wetting motherfucker and let’s watch him smile while chatting to Mo Pete right before heading back to Florida. Raptors in 5.
Apr.21 at 1:31 am
Bimbo Coles says:
im across the bridge in queens and ive been to a handful of nets games this year. im more of a knicks guy so dont take what i say personally. ive seen a couple of raps games, but not enough to bash whos on that team. i got respect for that raps squad though comin in the playoffs at 47 w’s. to be honest, the raps are gonna pull this one out. my reasoning comes from the simple fact that the raps have homecourt adv. has anyone here been to the CAA?! shit i think jersey will have more of an adv when they play in toronto. tickets for games 3 & 4 arent even SOLD OUT YET. thats sad! as much as id like vince to crap all over the epicenter of toronto, i dont see jersey takin the series. and damn this had to be the worst 1st round preview of all the ones ive read. raptors in 6.
Apr.21 at 1:56 am
Kilo G says:
fine, i guess majority rules, raps r more likely of winning the series. But goddamn it, its not like i wished cbosh would hav a horrible nba career,and hes definately is not having one a bad season this year, i hav 2 face that, but i dunno, dont like garbajosa that much. just dont get him sry, i dont really care much about him much but not feeling bargnagni that much either.but i seriously need 2 giv props 2 brian colengo or whatever way yu spell his name, hes an awesome gm, but coach of the year for sam mitchell,im thinkin….we’ll see how the series turns out after game 3 perhaps
Apr.21 at 1:58 am
Kilo G says:
sry bout the grammar there dunno kinda tired anyway yu know what im trying to say
Apr.21 at 2:52 am
Joel O's says:
Geez Kilo. The Raptor fans didn’t “treat Vince like crap”. He quit on the team. He had a city - a country, hell - behind him, and he quit on us. Ask any Raptor fan. Vince is doing well on the Nets right now, largely because he’s got a HOF-er dishing the ball to him. He’s a star player for the Nets, a gifted scorer - he’s everything he was when he was with the Raps, pretty much. But what Vince isn’t is this: he isn’t a leader, nor a franchise player. Franchise players don’t quit on teams. This is what separates Vince from Kobe - Kobe is a franchise player and Vince isn’t. In terms of skill sets, how much better do you think Kobe is than Vince? In fact, VC is arguably stronger and more explosive, even if Kobe has the edge in handles and is probably a better shooter. YET if you switch Kobe and Vince right now, can you see the Vince-led Lakers even reaching 30 wins? No - because for all his skills, Vince is sorely lacking as a leader. On the other hand, a Kobe-Kidd Net backcourt would utterly destroy all opposition in the East. If I’m not mistaken, an article in SLAM’s 50 Greatest Dunkers issue stated that Vince was the present-day Dominique Wilkins. This was a good comparison then, but Vince has nothing on Nique in terms of “heart”. And to Jonathan: Yes, Vince CAN dominate game after game. But does he have the heart to?
Apr.21 at 8:57 am
scott says:
Upset of the first round. New Jersey over Toronto. Sam Mitchell still scares me.
Apr.21 at 11:58 am
sean says:
why are you bragging about how loud you are going to boo.thats so stupid.try cheereing for your team instead of booing vince carter.get over him
Apr.21 at 12:17 pm
JB21 says:
Sean, FYI it is possible to do both.
Apr.21 at 3:16 pm
jj says:
Nets have just taken game 1…
Apr.21 at 3:17 pm
dAnieL Lee says:
Snackbar scores 16 and Nets win. This is the same point total as Vince - what does this mean? Nothing?
Apr.21 at 4:20 pm
Karma says:
I haven’t seen the raps play that bad all year…up till the 4th Q tj was the only one who could do anything….and joey graham was beyond bad but yet sam went with him over mp??
Apr.21 at 4:50 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
TJ Ford wasnt the only one playing hard. He was just the only one the Nets were letting “get his”. In doing so TJ forgot hes suposed to be a PG. Well played Mr. Frank.
Apr.21 at 7:27 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i think raps could have changed the game outcome if sam mitchell didn’t take bosh out with 2 fouls at 3 minutes to go in 2nd quarter. raps coulda take a lead into the half, but nets made the run coz the raptors couldn’t score.
bosh shot great from outside early on. but he should have gone inside to draw fouls instead of getting cheap fouls on the defensive ends.
vince will play better next game, but raptors are gonna win.
Apr.21 at 7:32 pm
willis says:
vince with 16…..man thats so dominant, i mean its not quite 50 like Mike said but WOW 16 points. Thats gotta be some kinda record!!
Apr.21 at 8:00 pm
slim says:
Yea I agree with the Joey grahm (sp?) thing…smitch should’ve went with MoPete who HAS playoff experience and doesn’t have “flu-like symptoms”…although he’s prolly resting his knee…and Smitch might’ve been giving joey grahm some taste of the playoffs…bill russel said game 1 is meant to get the taste of each team and how things are gonna go in the whole 7 game series…I think raptors will take it in 7…the sea of red will prevail!
Apr.21 at 8:09 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Whatchu talkin bout Willis?
Apr.21 at 8:29 pm
Mike says:
Umm…Scoreboard Willis…Scoreboard
Apr.22 at 5:49 am
Darksaber says:
Bostjan Snackbar…. Yueahhh. When did he turn into an efficient Nba scorer, with hops even. who knew?
Apr.22 at 12:01 pm
Chief says:
Toronto is in too deep man. Vince and the nets take this one in 5.
Apr.23 at 1:36 am
Russ Bengtson says:
DON’T MESS WITH THE SNACKBAR.
Apr.23 at 4:17 am
Darksaber says:
The Snackbar is now open.
Apr.24 at 11:20 pm
Unimpressed says:
Vince Carter is playing scared at the ACC, shooting a god awful percentage. 50 points in game one eh? ha. The dude has disappeared. He had 19 today on 8 of 20…garbage. I’ll take that anyday. Raps in 7.
Apr.26 at 2:07 pm
Bamms Rap says:
Raptors will take this searies they have three or four players that if they step up thye can take over a game…with bosh playing a decent game..if Parker, Ford, Calderon, or Graham step up to what we have seen in this team before moving the pall getting open looks find bosh giving everone touches the thing is Nets only have Three players that can take over a game……they are all sick but i think toronto will take this in 5 or 6 win one in jersey and lose one in jersey and the win the rest i think thats how its gonna go.