by John McCauley
-- raptors.com
April 17, 2002

TORONTO – Sometimes even your favourite roller coaster can make you feel woozy.

That's exactly what Toronto Raptors fans experienced watching their basketball team during its seventh season in the NBA. The ups and downs of the 2001-02 campaign kept interest peaked for most of the year but didn't do anything to help the heart rate.

It was a season that covered everything from devastating injuries to long losing streaks and unbelievable winning trends. Toronto has hung in through it all and made the postseason for the third straight.

The ride started with the optimism of signing a plethora of talent after its franchise-best playoff run in the spring of 2001. The Raps were one Vince Carter jump shot away from making the Eastern Conference finals but came up about six inches long.

Alvin Williams has been the heart and soul of the Toronto Raptors. Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images

It could have been the last time many Raptors regulars were going to be in the purple and white considering the number of free agents the team had before the start of this year. General Manager Glenn Grunwald did his part keeping his core group of Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams, and Jerome Williams intact with long-term contracts.

Add in Hakeem Olajuwon and many were picking the Raptors as the best in the Eastern Conference and there was no reason to discount that. The team performance just needed to back up the talk.

It didn't start out that way for the Raptors. The team hovered in the first few months, winning a few and losing a few, relying heavily on their talent rather than playing well as a team. Carter was scoring at will but settling for jump shots instead of getting to the basket.

When Carter was hot the Raptors won, when he wasn't it was ugly. The team didn't seem to have an identity outside of Carter and it was clear something was missing. Toronto was a very regular 8-6 in December and finished 2001 close to the .500 mark. A knee injury hampered Antonio Davis for much of the early going and that definitely didn't help.

January was very kind to the Raptors winning 11 games and dropping just five. It was the best month in franchise history but what was to follow caught the coaching staff, the team, the media and the fans completely off-guard.

After the All-Star Break the team went into a full-fledged tailspin. A 13-game losing streak started on February 12 in Cleveland and didn't end until March 8 in Miami.

"It felt like I was dreaming. Finally it’s over and we can move on," J. Williams said. "It was embarrassing. Thirteen games? I never lost five games in a row during my whole NBA career let alone thirteen. We kept trying to make excuses about it but you have to take a look at the man in the mirror and we did."

Almost a full month of losing had the Raptors completely out of the playoff picture. Injuries to Vince Carter, Jerome Williams, Morris Peterson were hard to handle but not enough to take the heat off the team

Antonio Davis started slow but ended strong. Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images

When the dust had settled Toronto had lost 17 of 18 games. Carter, who was the most injured, was shutdown with season-ending knee surgery. The media was highly critical of his apparent inability to raise the Raptors play despite his health.

"Emotionally it was tough (having people question him) but I can take it," Carter said. "I was ready and willing to take everyone's best blow but I'm going to make them eat those words. They love you when you're up and hate you when you're down. That's the sports business and I understand it."

In addition to that Lenny Wilken's coaching ability was questioned and the team was disparaged for not having any heart. Tough times for sure but it wasn't the end of the Raptors saga. Toronto didn't give up on the season or themselves.

Almost overnight the Raptors realized they needed to work together as a unit and play tight defence in order to be successful and that's exactly what happened. The team won 12 of its final 14 without Carter and made it to the postseason.

The Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in their final game of the year to gain the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. In doing so they joined the 1996/97 Phoenix Suns and the 1976/77 Chicago Bulls as the only three teams in the NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League to suffer a 13-game losing streak and still advance to the postseason.

"There's no way going through that losing streak where we thought we'd have this opportunity," Davis said. "We have a group of guys that really are shocked at what we've been able to do and you're kind of humbled by it."

The Raptors have made this season at the very least interesting and there's one thing for certain, the playoffs could be the best ride yet.