<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"><div align="center">Grange: Raptors not that good. Not yet MICHAEL GRANGE Globe and Mail Update</div> The Toronto Raptors are heading out on the road. It's only to Indianapolis for Saturday night's game against the Indiana Pacers, but the Raptors could use the trip, if only to get a better sense of where they are. Friday night's 96-90 win over the Boston Celtics ended a five-game homestand that was the longest of the Raptors' season and was just reward for a team that had been as road-weary as any in the National Basketball Association. The win moved the Raptors to .500, the first time they've been at the break-even mark since Kevin O'Neill was breaking lamps on Feb. 10, 2004. The Raptors were 68-128 over the next 2-1/2 seasons, so if it seems like a long slog back to semi-respectability, it has been. But determining exactly how respectable the Raptors are is a picture that is not yet clear. Early in the season, it was obscured by a nasty schedule and some injuries. Lately, it's been muddied by some weak competition. Being home is nice. Being home is comfortable. As is playing at home against the likes of the injury-racked Celtics, who were preceded by the injury-decimated New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Also on the agenda in the past 10 days were the merely bad Charlotte Bobcats and the dysfunctionally bad Sacramento Kings. Take away the Midwest Division-leading Utah Jazz ? who beat the Raptors fairly easily last week, it's worth noting ? and the combined winning percentage of the Raptors' victims is .360. Not that anyone is apologizing for beating the teams you have to beat if you plan on making the playoffs. "We've won," was how Raptors coach Sam Mitchell assessed his team's prolonged stay at the Air Canada Centre. "Some of the nights haven't been so pretty, but you don't ever get upset about winning a game. If it's a hook shot at the buzzer, you take it." They didn't quite need that to win some of their games this week, but having to come back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter against the Hornets wasn't part of the game plan. And having to come back again in the fourth quarter last night couldn't have been, either, particularly after enjoying a 14-point lead during the first half. It's enough to make Mitchell's greying goatee greyer. Still, the view from the Celtics' bench suggests the Raptors' image throughout the league is improving. "I see them as a very good team, they're going to be over .500 before it's all said and done," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "[They have] a lot of skill. All of them can shoot, all of them can think, they play together. And they have a star in Bosh. Take away all that and they're not that good." But they're not that good. At least, not yet. If you look through their 22 wins, their most impressive games have been losses, tight ones against the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, both this month at the Air Canada Centre. If you're looking for quality wins ? wins against teams that can be counted on to win a playoff round, maybe two ? well, keep looking. A home win on Jan. 7 against the Washington Wizards is the closest thing to it, followed by a win on Nov. 22 against the perpetually sluggish Cleveland Cavaliers. There have been important wins ? their gutsy showing on Dec. 13 on the road against Orlando to halt a four-game losing string that was threatening to eat December comes to mind ? but against good teams, playoff teams, the Raptors are unproven. For all the talk about winning the Atlantic Division and gaining the No.?|4 seed that comes with it, it's not a lock. You get the sense the way Jason Kidd is playing for the New Jersey Nets that he might die on the court before allowing New Jersey to go all Vince Carter and fold the tent, their current 0-3 West Coast trip notwithstanding. And you have to figure the Miami Heat, with Shaquille O'Neal back and Dwyane Wade being Dwyane Wade, will begin to work their way up the standings from their current ninth spot in the East. Which brings us to Indianapolis, and the Raptors' one-game trip. The Pacers sit in the No. 7 spot with a 22-20 record. If the Nets and Heat start rolling, the Raptors' playoff chances could come down to catching the recently revamped Pacers, who are 2-0 since their big trade with Golden State. They're well coached. They're playing at home and they had last night off. The Raptors will not be favoured. But if they want to begin making the case they're something more than a team that wins ? and loses ? when they should, they need to start beating the odds.</div> Grange
Nice post and I agree with him. This recent run, while vaulting us up in the standings, hasn't been quite that impressive in the grand scheme of things. We've played inconsistently and we're just getting by on our talent alone. I hate to harp on the same point over and over again, but our coaching always leaves us at a disadvantage against teams that have a similar talent level (New Jersey in particular). Also, on a side note, has anybody noticed a complete 180 by Feschuk? Ever since we've acquired Colangelo, the dude's written article after article portraying him as a saint.
