A Revved-up Ford, a Lunar Eclipse, and a Celebrity Sighting

There were some great quotes from Stan Van Gundy yesterday before the game about how the media does their job. Essentially, what he was saying was this: "The ball goes up for Bosh's (game 2) shot... stop right there... write your stories right then." Van Gundy went on to say that if Bosh's shot was good, the stories would have been completely different, and I agree with that statement.


That being said, Game 3, there was no argument. Smitch's moves paid off from the get-go.


Smitch Move #1: Jamario Moon back in the starting five


Moon simply went out and had one of the best games of his young career, posting a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He also had the signature play of the game, the play when I knew the Raptors were going to win the game:


Already with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists just 8 minutes into the game, the ball swung around to Moon on the weak side. The defence sagged, expecting Moon to take a 20-footer, but instead Moon drove to the hoop, navigated through 2 Magic players, and finished with a pretty finger roll lay-in. That made it 26-13 and for me, you could have broken out the salami right then and there (I can't believe I just used that term, someone please shoot me now).


QUICK MOON STATS: He now has 2 double-doubles in 3 starts against the Magic this season, and he tied his season (and career, obviously)-highs with 4 assists and 4 offensive rebounds.


Smitch Move #2: An unwavering confidence in T.J. Ford


This is the T.J. Ford that is one of the best point guards in the league. Fast, active, poking around for loose balls, hitting open men in transition, hitting open jumpers... he had it all... and if the media, or the majority of Raptor fans had their way, it would have never happened. We all wanted him on the bench.. and it would have been an easily justifiable move for Smitch to make. But he's shown faith in T.J. all season long, and he stuck to his guns.


In that all-important first quarter, things could have gone astray for T.J. early. His first play was a turnover that led to Orlando's first bucket of the game. However, he remained energetic, and finished the quarter with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist, staking Toronto to a 26-18 lead before giving way to Jose.


And Jose was equally effective, if not in a different way. He made the Magic pay dearly for doubling Bosh with the point guard, nailing a career-high 4 three-pointers. He has 7 treys in his last 2 games, which is more than any 2 game stretch this season for Calderon.


QUICK CALDEFORD STAT: They combined for 39 points, which is just 2 off their highest-combined point total of the season.


QUICK GAME TIDBITS


- This is what you call balance: 8 Raptors scored between 7 and 21 points


- So much was made of Orlando's outside shooting after the opening quarter of Game 1, however, the Raptors are leading the NBA in three-pointers so far in the playoffs (10.7 per game), and are shooting 7% better than the Magic from beyond the arc


- Carlos Delfino improved his team-best plus/minus rating this series with a game-high +15


- The Raptors outrebounded the Magic by 8, including by 3 on the offensive glass


QUICK I-LOVE-THIS-GUY TIDBITS


- Jason Kapono hit three more three-pointers, his third-straight game with at least 3 treys (tying a career-best streak)


- Kapono is the league-leader in made three-pointers so far in the playoffs


- Here is a list of players Kapono (17.7 PPG, 23rd) is outscoring so far in the post-season:
Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Carlos Boozer, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas... and many, many others


Anyways, I'll close with three things I read today that really spurred a reaction:



"Whatever the team needs, I'm willing to do... I don't think I'm the person I've been made out to be these last few months... I just want to win" - T.J. Ford, post-game quote.


I think this makes it fairly obvious that these guys read and watch what is being said about them (maybe T.J. is reading this right now....). But when I was watching the game last night with my buddy Ratch, he... Ratch... said something interesting while pouring one of many Black Velvets (though apparently, since we used cider, we were drinking "poor man's black velvets," according to the wiki-page, but I digress).


"You know, he might just look like he's unhappy," Ratch said.


Simple. Short. Sweet. Brilliant. All of the analysis, all of the descriptions (mine included) of Ford's pouting, and it might really just come down to this: He scowls.


And I thought back on my days playing ball in high school. When I came off the court, I would sit there watching the game with a scowl on my face. I don't know why, we won more than we lost, but I always seemed to be scowling. If there was a camera zoomed in on my nasty grill, people might think I was really pissed off about something.


"After 8 years of season tickets, and attending every playoff game, I thought it was pathetic last night. The crowd was trying to start chants before the game but 4Korners was blasting music, and then just blasting himself. Add in all the stupid contests and it really takes away from the environment that the fans create themselves." - Craig B, in a message on Michael Grange's blog.



Mr. Grange abstained from replying to this for obvious reasons, but I have no such responsibility. My dad and I were at a regular season game not too long ago (against the Nets), and I was railing about the exact same thing. It was the game after Bosh had "asked for noise" from the crowd, and just after the Nets given up 10 straight points or something and called timeout, the conditions were perfect: The Raptors walked toward the bench, the crowd rose, Bosh started waving his hands in the air.....and..... then some stupid promotion piped in on the speakers and drowned out the crowd noise.



I understand they're in a bit of a tough spot. You've got sponsors, you've got scripts, you've got a blueprint for when things are supposed to happen... all I would say is this:


Be flexible, understand when something special is about to happen, acknowledge it, and just butt out.



"I was sitting in the lower bowl in temporary press seating as opposed to down on the sidelines as is normally the case. It was kind of cool to be 'in' the crowd. People were really into it, everyone wearing their red shirts and drinking beers... Lots of smiles on lots of faces." - Again, Mr. Grange, on his blog.



Funny you should mention that Michael, I already knew he was up there, because of a friend's facebook album... Gotta love the internet.