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On the Court Raptors ready to rumble in Game 2
Posted: Wednesday April 26, 2000 08:37 PM By Marty Burns, Sports Illustrated NEW YORK -- If Vince Carter's pregame demeanor is any indication, he'll have no problems with nervousness or overexcitement in Game 2. Carter popped into the Raptors' locker room 75 minutes or so before tipoff and good-naturedly bantered with reporters for about 15 minutes. He appeared as loose as the untied purple shoelaces on the black sneakers he was wearing. "I'm just happy to get a chance to get back on the court," Carter said. "We're ready to play." Carter said he got a particular confidence boost from a note he received from his mother earlier in the day at the team hotel. "She just said, 'Good luck. Play hard. Keep your head up.' I always know if everybody else is against me, she's in my corner." The Knicks know they can pretty much bury the Raptors' hopes with a victory tonight. However, they also know one of their weaknesses has been putting away playoff opponents. Last year New York twice let their playoff foes get back into the series by dropping Game 2 after opening victories. Maybe that's why Knicks coaches had the following listed as their No. 1 key to the game on the whiteboard in the locker room: "Go For The Win. Attack!" Just for the record, their other keys were "Turn around rebounding" (Toronto outboarded New York 47-34 in Game 1) and "14 A/17 TO" (a reference to the Knicks' 14 assists and 17 turnovers in Game 1). With Muggsy Bogues getting the start at point guard instead of Doug Christie, the Raptors are hoping to get the ball upcourt faster and get more transition baskets. The Knicks, meanwhile, will try to take advantage of Bogues' small size on defense and his inability to hit outside shots consistently. Look for the Knicks to run a favorite play in which they force the other team's point guard (Bogues) to switch onto bigger guards Allan Houston or Latrell Sprewell. Either would then have a big size advantage to shoot over Bogues or take him to the basket. Also, to limit Bogues' ability to harass the Knicks' point guards and keep them from getting into their offense with enough time on the shot clock, New York will send a player to set a backcourt pick on Bogues whenever he pressures the ball full-court. Raptors forward Tracy McGrady noted after Game 1 that the Madison Square Garden crowd was loud. It figures to be worse tonight. Maybe even like a jet runway -- which would be appropriate considering there's a certain Air Canada on the runway set to take off. Weeknight crowds at the Garden are usually more boisterous than those at Sunday games, especially Easter Sunday games that start at 12:30 p.m., as Game 1 did. Even so, Carter said he didn't think the New York noise would be a factor. When asked if the New York crowd was the loudest in the NBA, he said, "It's one of 'em. Sacramento's pretty [loud], too." Incidentally, Carter also said that -- unlike Michael Jordan -- he gets no special thrill from playing on the Broadway stage. He said he didn't even remember anything from his first game at MSG last year as a rookie. Wonder if he'll be saying that after tonight.
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