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Bogues to start at guard in Game 2
Posted: Thursday April 27, 2000 12:27 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Toronto Raptors plan a big change involving the smallest player in the NBA. Muggsy Bogues will start against the New York Knicks on Wednesday in place of Doug Christie, Raptors coach Butch Carter said Tuesday. "He felt the team was flowing a lot better with me on the floor," Bogues said. Bogues was on the court much of the time in Game 1 as the Raptors came back from a 19-point deficit, but he wasn't playing at the start or the finish. That'll change -- at least the starting part -- as Toronto seeks to even the series at a game apiece. "Muggsy understands it's a huge decision on my part," Carter said. "Any time we've struggled, I've made a change." At 5-foot-3, Bogues is the shortest player in NBA history. Christie, 6-foot-6, posed matchup problems for the Knicks when the Raptors beat them handily three times during the regular season, but Carter decided to make the change anyway. Christie made just one of five shots Sunday. "He wasn't a factor," New York's Chris Childs said. "I don't know what they're going to do. I'm pretty sure they're going to make a lot of changes coming into Game 2, but Jeff [Van Gundy] has always got us prepared no matter what a team throws at us. So we'll be ready." Van Gundy wasn't pleased with what he saw at practice Tuesday as the team showed much less intensity than it did heading into Game 1. "I'm not upset. I don't want to be labeled grumpy, gloomy, doomy," he said. "We didn't get much accomplished. That's what I'm leaving it at. I have no feelings other than that." Game 2 will be Van Gundy's 50th postseason game as head coach of the Knicks, which makes him an expert on noticing when his team's mood is not what it should be. "Jeff has realized over the years that a coach has to know what kind of coach he is, and I think he knows that now," Allan Houston said. "I think he realizes his strength is being realistic, and that's what he's being when he tells us where our intensity is." Going into Game 2, he wants his team to confront its shortcomings from Game 1 -- allowing Tracy McGrady and Kevin Willis to score too easily, allowing Charles Oakley to spot up for his jump shot, allowing Toronto to come all the way back from a 19-point deficit. Van Gundy was able to rattle off the final scores from last year's first-round series when the Knicks beat Miami. After winning Game 1 by 20 points, the Knicks lost Game 2 by 10. After beating the Heat by 24 points in Game 3, they lost Game 4 by 15. "So, a 39-point swing from Game 3 to 4, a 30-point swing from Game 1 to 2," he said. "But just because you know doesn't mean you're going to do anything about it. We'll see how we do tomorrow." No matter how good or bad they are in practice, the Knicks will not get any kind of a motivational speech from Van Gundy before Game 2. That's not his style. Van Gundy was around Pat Riley long enough as an assistant to know that he could never duplicate his former boss' motivational ploys. If he needs to yell at a player, he'll do it behind closed doors. If he needs to inspire, he'll do it with preparation and confronting his players with what they know is the truth. "Just because you don't go out on the circuit and think you can tell companies how they can improve themselves, that doesn't mean I don't think I can tell my team what we need to do," Van Gundy said. "Now that's not going to help IBM's stock go up, but I can tell my team every day what we need to do to win." Getting the players to listen is another matter.
"Sometimes the group is more willing to receive," Van Gundy
said. "I saw no signs of that today, but we'll see tomorrow."
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