<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>TORONTO -- Chris Bosh has already reached all-star status in his young NBA career. But the Toronto Raptors forward knows to be considered a superstar in this league, you must be able to shine under the sizzling lights of the post-season. Bosh and the Raptors practised one last time at home on Friday before heading to Orlando, where they'll face the Magic on Sunday (TSN, 12:30 p.m. ET) in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. "I think everybody wants to be a bigtime player, and to do that, you have to do it in the playoffs," Bosh said. "The regular season is cool, but now is when everybody is watching. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't, that it didn't really matter to me. "I want to be effective, I want to do the same things I do during the season in the playoffs." That didn't happen for Bosh last season. The 24-year-old admits he wasn't prepared for the intensity of the playoffs last year -- his first experience with the pressure-cooker of the "second season." After averaging 22.6 points a night during the regular season, his scoring dropped off by five points a game during the playoffs. In the Nets' Game 3 rout in New Jersey, Bosh was held to just 11 points, flustered by New Jersey's suffocating defence. "We weren't really ready to know what to face, we didn't know what they were going to do, we didn't know what kind of schemes they were going to take, and we didn't know how intense it was going to be," Bosh said after Friday's practice at the Air Canada Centre. "I couldn't stay one step ahead of (the Nets), they had the upper hand on me the whole time," he added. Despite having home-court advantage last season, the Raptors lost their opening game against New Jersey in the first post-season appearance in five years -- done in perhaps by playoff inexperience against an older Nets squad led by grizzled veteran Jason Kidd. The Raptors insist they'll be ready when the ball's tossed up Sunday. "I think this time I'm mature enough, and the team is mature enough to where we can deliver the blow," Bosh said. "Once things get going, things are going to get tough, but if you create the initial reaction, things will always work in your favour." While the Raptors have seen little in playoff action -- Rasho Nesterovic is the runaway leader with 59 appearances -- the Orlando Magic don't exactly boast a jam-packed post-season portfolio. All-star forward Dwight Howard made his playoff debut last year, and the Magic was dispatched in four straight by Detroit in the opening round. "Experience helps," said Raptors swingman Anthony Parker. "Its not a situation where we're just kind of going in waiting to see what happens, because we know what to expect." A year after capturing the Atlantic Division banner, the Raptors finished this regular-season 41-41, limping in with just nine wins over their final 26 games. The Raptors are approaching this series as a fresh beginning after a season that didn't go as hoped. "Just reset," Bosh said. "This is a time when we can put everything behind us. This is what we've got through that season for, this is our chance to play well, this is our chance to have fun and play in games and experience things that you can't experience in the regular season." .One player who could use a fresh start is centre Andrea Bargnani, who has had a rough sophomore season. Bargnani used to be deadly from three-point range, but is shooting just 34 per cent this season from beyond the arc. Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said the coaching staff has been working with the Italian centre on his shooting over the past few days, trying to get him up on his toes, rather than sitting back on his heels. Bargnani just shrugged Thursday and said he has no idea what's caused his shooting woes. "Of course I'm not happy, when you don't score the ball you're not happy," Bargnani said. "I always work on my shooting, I always take a lot of threes at the end of practice... I don't know what's wrong, it's not like I'm shooting with the left hand, I'm shooting with my right hand, I'm trying to score the basketball." Bargnani rebounded from a bout of appendicitis to play a significant role for Toronto in last season's playoffs. Mitchell is keeping his fingers crossed that the same Bargnani will show up against Orlando. "He can be huge for us," Mitchell said. "Andrea can play three positions for us, he can guard smaller guys, he can guard bigger guys... . He had good playoffs for us last year, and it seems like he's feeling better than he's felt in a while. "I had a long talk with Andrea, Andrea is key for us in the playoffs." Game 2 goes Tuesday in Orlando, then the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 3 on Thursday, and Game 4 on Saturday, April 26.</div> http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2008/04..._bosh_playoffs/
I hope Bargnani has a monstrous playoff series! If he can just drain more shots then everything else will come a lot easier for him like driving the basketball. Also he really needs to be more active on offense and make his defender work, a good example would be the first half of the last game of the season in Chicago where Bargnani looked like 7 foot tall Rip Hamilton running through screens to get the open look. Once he nailed a couple mid range jumpers his 3pt shot came back...anyways heres to the real Il Mago showing up!
