Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 – Air Canada Centre

Mitchell

Thoughts on Andrea Bargnani…
Well he wasn’t as bad as we thought. He made some shots, you can tell that his timing is off. He missed some shots that he would normally make, and some travels and stuff but the thing is we got to get it back to the defensive stuff. He made a lot of mistakes defensively as all of our guys. We’ll come to work tomorrow, walk through some things and get guys back into position they need to get and we’ll start building from there.

Thoughts on giving Chris Bosh playing minutes at the end of the game…
Well no, just trying to win a game. Its difficult when you’re in this situation because those guys, to a certain extent, try not to get hurt. Are they as focused as they should be? Offensively I still think we could of moved the ball better and scored more but it’s hard to complain offensively, just defensively and rebounding. When we did get stops we didn’t come up with the rebound at the key time so we just got to go back and work on those things. We have proven that when we set our mind to it we can play defence and rebound and that is something that we are going to have to do. And our guys are going to have to understand that we are going to have play defence and rebound the basketball to win in the playoffs.

Thoughts on banner rising…
It’s nice, the first one up there knowing that we were part of the first one, it’s nice.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

Thoughts on the raising the banner…
I think it was a good thing for this franchise. We worked very hard this season to accomplish a lot of goals and that was one of our goals this year. To see that banner go up for the fans and for this organization is a good feeling.

Thoughts on playing New Jersey, will it be an emotional series?
They are a great opponent. They play good defence, they play good team basketball and we will have to be ready of course. We will dissect everything they do and they are going to do the same to us. It all comes down to making plays. We have to believe in ourselves and go in and do what we have been doing all year.

Thoughts on Vince Carter…
Of course he is going to get up for the game. It is a playoff game and he is going to be in Toronto. He did play here for seven or eight years so he is familiar with this place. I’m sure it will be a great match-up.

Do you want to play New Jersey?
Yeah, I want to play New Jersey. Honestly, I really didn’t care who we played but now that we know the match-up I welcome it. I’m sure that he wanted to play here and I don’t mind seeing him either. I think it will be a lot of fun to play in.

Bargnani

ANDREA BARGNANI

How does it feel to be back?
I’m very happy to be back. I have to get back in shape because I get very tired on the court. I made a lot of mistakes, especially on defense.

How does your shot feel?
When you are tired usually your shot is very short. I didn’t shoot well from the three point line because I had no legs. I just have to get back in shape. I am happy to be on the court after one month because I was supposed to be in bed.

Thoughts on division banner?
It’s great but now we must think about the playoffs otherwise we throw everything away.

Jackson

LUKE JACKSON

Thoughts on the season…
It’s really been a roller coaster season for me playing on five different teams, but I feel like that has helped me grow and feel comfortable up here, but I still wish we got the win.

Thoughts on the (Atlantic Division Championship) banner dropping…
Just to be a part of history in the NBA is special. Obviously the guys in this locker room earned it and not me, but I’m glad I am along for the ride.

On the playoffs…
I was with Cleveland last year, when we made it to the second round and I didn’t play a lot at all really, but I’ve been in that atmosphere and understand the intensity that it takes to win (in the playoffs). I definitely feel like this team is capable of going a long way and we just have to have the mentality to win and just to prove it right away

Cheeks

Thoughts on game…
Our game was indicative of the way we played in the second half. We could of just laid down, said the season was over and just packed it in but our guys from the second half just played the way we played and this is why we are so looking forward to next year. We only had eight guys tonight, every guy that stepped on the floor gave what he had and there was a lot of strange lineups out there. Big guys guarding small guys, you know that (Toronto) is a playoff team, they are a good basketball team and they had guys trying to win the game so I’m really proud of our guys.

Thoughts on the Toronto Raptors…
They’ve got a very good basketball team starting with Chris Bosh. When you have a player of that caliber he has the ability to carry the team and the reason why they’ve been so good is because of him, and they are surrounded with a lot of shooters who obviously make the post game a lot easier but he is a very good player. I think Sam did a heck of a job this year putting that team on the court, competing every night and winning the division title.

Green

You really got in the rhythm tonight…
Yes, I just wanted to go out there and finish the season strong and have something to build on, come together as a team out there, and play hard. We didn’t lay down, we knew that Toronto had a chance to match their most wins or something like that so we just wanted to have something to play for. We just went out there and played hard and left it out there on the floor.

Thoughts on Toronto in the playoffs…
They are a good team, a real good team, they play a similar style as Phoenix. They like to get the ball up. Anytime you have a big time player like Chris Bosh, who can really just take over games you have a chance to beat any team. I am looking forward to watching those games, even though we are not going to be playing in them. It is going to be tough to watch it, but you have to watch it to try and get better as a basketball player. I think Toronto has a great chance to move forward no matter who they play.

Were you aware that you were getting close to your career high?
Yes, I was aware that I was close. I wasn’t really even gunning for it, I was just playing well and shots were falling for me. Anytime I hit two backboard shots, things are falling.

Miller

Thoughts on the game…
It was an up tempo game, you get a little bit of fatigue but you get timeouts and free throws. Overall it was a good effort by everybody. They definitely played hard, but we made some plays down the stretch and got some key rebounds.

Thoughts on Toronto in the playoffs…
I think they are going to play well, they have an All-Star that can draw double teams and can play inside outside, they have shooters around him and a great point guard that can make things happen for everybody. I think that they are going to be competitive.