Checking The Mailbag...

April 30, 9:42 a.m. Exit interviews were conducted Tuesday at Air Canada Centre as the Raptors' players said their good-byes as the organization began preparing for the 08-09 season. President/GM Bryan Colangelo will address the point guard situation with the priority in keeping Jose Calderon. The team will look for toughness and Colangelo mentioned the hopes of finding a twenty-point scorer to take pressure off of Chris Bosh. It should be a fascinating few months ahead. Elsewhere: Mike D'Antoni is out in Phoenix. Sports Illustrated broke the news early this morning. He's a class act. Avery Johnson could be next in Dallas. They won't be out of work long. Detroit back in the drivers seat with a win over the 76ers. Props to the Rockets for not mailing it in. So who gets the pink slip in Denver? How good was Kobe in the Nuggets series? I was totally impressed how New Orleans disposed of Dallas. Yes, credit the Hornets not the demise of the Mavs. Love the quote from Stan Van Gundy from today's Orlando Sentinel: We're in a fantasyland job," Van Gundy says. "In a lot of ways, we don't have much worth. We're not saving lives, we're not educating people, we're not putting out fires or building roads. There are a lot of jobs people do every day that are vastly more important than what we do. "What we do is we entertain and provide an outlet for people to go have fun and feel good about what's going on in their community." SVG is bang on my friends. Thoughts: Roy Halladay pitched his heart out - but lost and the Jays are five under .500 in late April. The Jays have lost 10 of 13. The Yankees are totally banged up. Love the AL Central. Those teams just compete every night. Barry Zito and his 126 million dollar contract are headed to the bullpen. The Angels are good-no one is talking about them. Bets team I've seen on TV...Arizona. How good are the Pens? Didn't expect a 3-0 lead. Ditto - Dallas. So much for the Sharks winning the Cup. Letters from the mailbag. Following Monday's loss to the Magic it ran 578 and counting! Hi Chuck, I hope the Raptors will come back next season stronger. Watching the playoffs, its obvious the East is getting stronger and some teams have really benefited from past drafts, so it will be a challenge next season. One thing I think the Raptors have to stop doing is being so "nice". Look at the Spurs, although I don't like their style, they are the total opposite of the Raptors in the sense that they do some cheap pushing under the boards, and a lot of dirty play ... but at the end of the day, they win. I don't condone that behavior, but the Raptors have to start hassling players and bit more a develop a bit of attitude. Life is hard, and sports is something like a microcosm for life ... I think the Raps need to wake up a bit. Yasir You should get everyone trying to figure out what moves the team is going to make. It would be interesting to see what the odd knowledgeable fan thinks. Personally, I think Bosh and Calderon and Kapono should be the only untouchables. I think this playoffs showed, and I was convinced all year anyways, that Kapono was not used properly. He moves well without the ball, so not getting shots is not his fault. He reminds me a little of Jim Paxson without the ball, so he should be getting his shots. Outside of that, it would be interesting to see the Raptors completely reload. I must say, I would like to see Rasho and Humphries and AP and Delfino stick around, but I think they have big needs, and that's going to mean giving up something substantial. I'm convinced that they need to send Andrea to a shot doctor. I noticed that all year, when he wasn't shooting well, his shot had no arch. He had a tendancy to do that from the foul line too. He really was a drain to the offense this year and during that time that they commited to him starting, they lost alot of games because their offense was stifled at times. Good season on your part Chuck. Brian in Wpg Hey Chuck, There is no uncertainty on what the Raptors need to address in the offseason and that’s perimeter defence and rebounding, maybe even also adding a shot blocking presence in the paint. To the best of my knowledge Kurt Thomas is a free agent this upcoming off-season and would be a solid pick up and this year’s draft has a lot of skilled, long and athletic swingmen who can help with the perimeter defensive struggles, I think that Chris Douglas-Roberts or Donte Greene or Brandon Rush would fit in nicely with the Raptors scheme. It’s going to be interesting to see what Bryan Colangelo does with Coach Mitchell. I think Mitchell is a great coach for a young team but I feel his time is up, Raptors need a coach that can handle the X’s and O’s better. After watching this year’s series with Orlando and experiencing last year’s series with New Jersey, it seems that Mitchell was simply out-coached. Craig A little depressed today, but I think the Raps will be in the playoffs for many years to come. What’s next…a solid, real centre. But I think a lot of teams need that. Maybe time for a coaching change too? I think the main thing is for this team to keep playing with each other and the young guys get more experience and more hungrier. I haven’t been following where the Raps may draft, but I don’t think they will find the answer there. Joe Sigh...I cried chuck...not even my pepper salami and havarti cheese sandwich can ease the pain and disappointment. We need muscle and a change of style. This series proved that a team can't win outside the paint. Where was Humphries all this time?? but I would like to say thank you to you Chuck for calling the games. You, Leo, and Jack are three of the classiest and intelligent people to ever grace this city. There's always next year. Go Raps...*sniffle* Go raps... Regards, John Hey Chuck, I think this series with Orlando really highlighted Toronto’s weaknesses and its time for Colangelo to make some real changes…… its time to ship TJ and Bargnani out of Toronto and bring in some real proven talent!!! Not no budget European players who can't bang in the paint with guys like Dwight Howard. It's time for us to get Jermaine O’Neal. Samir Chuck: Long time Seasons Seat holder (since inaug. 95) Last night a few of us went to the bar @ Kelsey’s Ajax to watch the game. Couldn’t hear you & Leo. Seems the management were more interested is hearing how Montreal & Philly were making out on the ice. Last nights game seemed typical of our season. We show signs of greatness but fall short in the end and can’t seem to close out with a lead. We have some work to do in the off season. Watching last night w/o sound, I was amazed at the difference in body language between Jose & TJ when they sit on the bench. TJ is laughing, joking & spending most of the time talking with his fellow players. Jose is riveted to the on-court play & then straight up to the screen to see it again. He is a “gamer” & I love what he brings to the court. TJ has the slightly better skill set along with the swagger but Jose “brings it” every night. My vote is to keep Jose & see what we can get for TJ. Toronto seems to want to send Bargnani out of town on the 1st flight. I think we have to wait, give the kid another year (but get tough with him) It’s not every day you have a 7 footer that can shoot 3’s, drive the basket & defend the big guys. When I am not at the game, I try to catch you on TV (I do miss your radio coverage though, you brought the game to life through the speakers. I like Eric & Paul but they don’t quite pull off the Kabooms the way you did) Highlight of the year was the way the traditionally conservative Toronto crowd came alive in Game 3 at the ACC. I was right there standing through the entire game with my wife at my side. Did you see us, we were the one’s wearing RED. Always A FAN Rob Hello Chuck, Just a note of thanks for doing an excellent job this year of covering the Raptors. Its your enthusiasm and passion that contributes to my overall interest and passion for the Raptors. Keep up the excellent work!!! The team is entertaining but obviously Bryan Colangelo has some unfinished work to do. Pat Sweeney Chuck, As a Magic fan living in Edmonton, I end up watching more Raptor games than Magic games every season given the coverage in Canada. The first round Raptors/Magic match-up had me excited because I knew I'd get to see most of the games, even if they were delivered via the "Raptor-side" of the series. What I can say I honestly didn't notice during the regular season that became quite apparent to me during this series, was how professional both yourself and Leo handled the broadcasting duties. The two of you had every reason to get wrapped up in the passion of playoff intensity but remained fair and objective at all times. Being a veteran of the industry, I'm sure you've heard your share of "homer" broadcasts on other networks. As a fan of the "other team", I was impressed at how little you guys played the homer card. Simply put, you called it like you saw it, didn't exagerate the outcomes in your team's favor, and made the broadcast enjoyable for even the most hardcore Magic fans (like myself). Thanks a bunch! Shayne Beeler Edmonton, AB Remember I'm 24-7 for the fans and readers of CCI and our Raptors telecasts. 416-815-6189 or cswirsky@torontoraptors.com Catch my show 1-4 on the Fan 590. Always a pleasure.