Mike Ulmer has worked for seven news organizations including the National Post and, most recently, the Toronto Sun. Mike has written about the Toronto sports scene for more than 10 years and has penned several books on sports and culture.

April 19, 2007

(TORONTO) -- The idea is to leave Vince Carter seeing red.

When the Raptors face the man who still holds the club record for points, field goals and free throws, they are hoping home court advantage will help rattle the New Jersey Nets ace.

It is, after all, the first Raptors home playoff game since they beat the Detroit Pistons in April, 2002.

Mo Peterson knows Vince Carter's game as well as anyone. (NBAE/Getty Images)

The Raps are coming off a staggeringly successful 47-35 season. A host of new heroes, T.J. Ford, Anthony Parker and Andrea Bargnani are among those who have suddenly taken root around star forward Chris Bosh.

Patrons to Saturday’s game (12:30 p.m.) are encouraged to wear Raptors’ red.

“It’s going to be crazy here come Saturday,” said veteran forward Morris Peterson, the only holdover from playoffs past.

“I remember our last playoff round in 2002 and I can only imagine now with us being division champs and what we’re playing for, who we’re playing against, how it will be. I could tell you but it’ll probably be 10 times more than I’m trying to explain.”

Carter, of course, remains a lightning rod for criticism because of his his trade demand and what seemed half-hearted performances he turned in before he was dealt to Jersey.

He has been booed virulently here, never more so than Valentine’s Day when a torrent of boos seemed to throw him off. On December 15, he hit on only four of 17 shots for 12 points in a 102-92 Raptors win. On Valentine’s Day he was just five for 15 for the field. The results: 17 points and a 120-109 Raptor win over the Nets.

“He’s a veteran guy. I don’t think that’ll bother him too much,” said Ford. “If they can, let’s see if it works. It worked once earlier in the season, let’s see if it happens again.”

“It’s the post season and he is still Vince Carter; he can still play,” said Raptor star Chris Bosh. “If you like him or you don’t like him, he is still an awesome player in this league.”

And while the Raptors can point to two home games in which they shackled Carter, the Nets can say the same things about Bosh.

On November 1, Bosh hit only five of 13 shots for 14 points. The next time in New Jersey, Bosh could garner only 12 points and nine shots in a 101-86 loss.

“You can go down the list of every great player in the NBA and they don’t play great every night,” said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. “Is it something they (the Nets) did? I don’t think so.”

Bosh knows what he is up against come Saturday’s opener.

“Mikki Moore and Jason Collins. They play good defence. Every time I touch the ball, they’re going to try to put four or five people in the lane.”

There are, of course, a ton of side angles. Carter is far from the only offensive threat on a Nets team. Jason Kidd drives the club offensively and he has a four-inch height advantage on Raptor point Ford.

Mitchell was sanguine when asked about Kidd’s height advantage.

“They want to post Jason Kidd up all night throughout the series…I’ll take my chances.”

“I’m going to meet the challenge,” Ford said. “This is a time where everybody, individually, has to meet the challenge of who they are going to guard.”

Meanwhile, the conditioning of rookie Andrea Bargnani remains an issue. Bargnani hit for 17 points in the season finale against Philadelphia, but it was his first game in a month because of appendicitis and illness and he was inconsistent on defence.

The series could also hinge on the defensive prowess of Raptors swingman Anthony Parker. Parker knows he will spend plenty of time trying to handle Carter one-on one.

“It’s obvious one of the plays they run, they isolation on the post. Especially in crunch time, that’s what’s going to happen.”