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| | Wednesday, October 25 Raptors: Vince, Wilkens will lead them | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last year: 45-37, third in Central, sixth in conference Coach/GM: Lenny Wilkens/Glen Grunwald Arena, first game: Air Canada Centre (19,800); Feb. 21, 1999 All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 135-243/0 Notable: Raps were league's No. 5 road draw last season
Special to ESPN.com The Good Vince Carter. 'Nuff said? So long as Carter is healthy and pumping home his 25 a night the Raptors will be okay, good enough to make the playoffs ... and then we'll see. Sans his cousin Tracy McGrady, Carter has the entire spotlight, a double-edged sword because defenses can also focus on him. But he is not by his lonesome. For the first time since Damon Stoudamire forced a trade 2½ years ago, Toronto has a solid point, Mark Jackson, fresh off a trip to the Finals. The other change here is that Carter moves to the backcourt where he will have a chance to overpower less physical rivals. In a deal for Doug Christie, Toronto brought in Corliss Williamson, a small forward in a stubby power forward's body. He's in the lineup. With Antonio Davis and Charles Oakley, this gives the Raps a very physical front line, even one that doesn't have a center. Backup power players Michael Stewart and Kevin Willis are hardly chopped liver. Rookie Morris Peterson is a nice pickup out of the draft. All in all, this is a very solid team. The Bad Once upon a time, Toronto was a bad, aging team. Now at its core it's a pretty good team, aging. Antonio Davis is 32, Jackson 35, Oakley almost 37. This would not be a serious matter at most NBA stops because coaches will spot minutes for veterans. But not if the coach is Lenny Wilkens. In Atlanta, Wilkens was notorious for piling minutes on guys like Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock while ignoring prospects. The winningest coach in the league is not likely to change his spots. Expect Jackson to log more time than he's seen since 1996-97 when he worked 3,026 minutes because Wilkens won't give tiny Muggsy Bogues more than token time. The conservative coach also is likely to dampen Carter's free spirit. Hey, throw a bounce pass. Wilkens will win favor from his veterans by deferring to them. That will mean shorter practices and an erosion of fundamentals. When they lose to bad teams, he will say, "Hey, I told them to play hard. You gotta play hard." Right.
Wilkens wants you to know that he is an adaptable coach, who will allow his team to play to its strength. In fact, Wilkens is pretty much old school. And when he and top aide Stan Albeck were together in Atlanta the joke among players was do things any way, just so it's Lenny's way. No emotion. No showboating. And one rule clearly read: no lobs. Now, here's Carter, who lobbies to get lobs, loves to mug for the camera. So, here's the question: Is Lenny going to tone down Vince -- remember he becomes a free agent in two years -- or does Vince get the run of the place. And if this is Vince's team, what does that say for Lenny's authority? Wilkens has won more games than any man living or dead, 1,179 and counting, and he's 125 losses behind Bill Fitch's all-time worst 1,106. Win some, lose some. This one goes to Carter, by default.
This is a half-court team, the kind that will grind, throwing Carter into a series of numbing isolation plays that will allow him -- or dare him -- to do something great with the entire arena watching. Not that the guy's incapable, mind you. Toronto fans simply won't be able to gasp as often as they did with McGrady as member of the cast.
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