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.



May 3, 2007

(TORONTO) -- Like to tell you a whole lot of news came out of today’s Raptors practice.

I know you’re anxious to find out whether Jose Calderon or T.J. Ford will be able to play in Game 6 of the Raptors-Nets series, Friday night.

Both are nursing injuries incurred in Game 5: a sprained right ankle for Calderon, stingers down both arms for Ford.

The Raptors will need another big performance from Andrea Bargnani. (NBAE/Getty Images)

“Not a clue,” said Sam Mitchell when asked if they would play. Ford was being examined and unavailable. Calderon, meanwhile, said his ankle has felt better two days in a row.

“We’ll see how it’s going but from yesterday to now it’s really better,” he said. “I have almost no pain. We’ll see how it’s going tomorrow.”

Neither practiced on Thursday. Ford, who has lost a season to neck surgery, seems a longshot to play. Calderon, who hasn’t even run since he hurt his ankle at least seems, to all outside observances, to have a chance of playing.

But while the Raptors lineup has been violently changed by the injuries, another evolution has played itself out more quietly.

When Sam Mitchell moved Andrea Bargnani into the lineup for Game 4, he formalized an arrangement that could last a decade or more.

Long after these playoffs, the dividends will continue.

“We’re going to have two guys who can step out there and do things,” Mitchell said. “Somebody’s got to guard one of them. And as Andrea and Chris get better, posting up smaller guys, now you can’t switch them. Now (if) you put a big guy on them that takes him away from the basket.”

Blend in the fact that Bargnani has at times flashed a superb passing touch, and you get the idea.

“Andrea can pass. Chris can,” Mitchell said. “Chris’s turnovers went way down this year. He is a much better passer than he has been.”

Both men have endured rough going in this series.

Bargnani scored 17 points in the first half of Game 5 and only one in the second half.

What’s plaguing Bargnani, runner up to Portland’s Brandon Roy as rookie of the year, isn’t hard to figure. The first overall choice in last summer’s draft, Bargnani started the playoffs barely ready to play after missing a month due to appendicitis and illness. His stamina is just passable.

Bosh, meanwhile, has been double and triple-teamed under the Nets basket. Mitchell kept Rasho Nesterovic in the lineup for defence and rebounding. Since Nesterovic wasn’t a credible scoring option, the attention of the Nets big men was focused on Bosh.

That has created a crisis of confidence. Bosh, ran into foul trouble after an inexplicable call on his fourth foul in Game 5. He ended up playing just half the game and scoring 11 points.

And while Bargnani obviously gets a pass, the scrutiny on Bosh has become intense. His 16.4 points a game and 9.4 rebounds a game are down substantially from the 22.6 points and 10.7 rebounds he averaged through the regular season.

“I wish people would understand, he’s 23 years old and in his first playoff series,” Mitchell said. “He deserves a little slack. If you’re going to go over the history of the NBA and start killing everybody who played (poorly) in their first playoff, you’ll be up all night tonight, tomorrow, the next night and the night after.”

“In everybody’s first series, you struggle,” said New Jersey star Jason Kidd. “When you’re young, you don’t know what to expect. Before you know it the series is over. As long as you learn from it and get better, that’s what the game is all about.”

Kidd has a point. Things will take care of themselves nicely, Friday night. The real fun starts in a year or two, when Bargnani and Bosh are in full flower.

“We’ll both get older, stronger, more skilled,” said Bosh. “I think as time moves along and we learn how to play with each other and balance each other out, we’ll be pretty dangerous.”