Raptors deserve a lot of credit for their resilience

It was a moment 15 years in the making. Demons were exercised. For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors are headed for a date with the King and a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Questions answered. All the boxes ticked. And perhaps now we need to add the word “resilient” to all the adjectives for the Toronto Raptors, along with “frustrating,” “star-crossed,” and, yes, “soft.” Actually, you may want to shelve that last one, for good.

The Raptors will play in the Eastern Conference final starting Tuesday in Cleveland, leaving the Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Hornets as the only NBA franchises who have never made it that far. And for all the statistics and suggestions and what have you, there is one characteristic that truly stands out about this group: by hook or by crook they have not lost back-to-back games since March 23-25, when they were beaten by the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets.

That says something, no? In so doing, they’ve lived through at various times the absence of a fully healthy DeMarre Carroll, an injured and then funk-ridden Kyle Lowry, a cold-handed DeMar DeRozan and a seven-foot hole left by an injury to Jonas Valanciunas – sometimes all once – never mind the usual NBA playoff land mines of bad breaks and crappy officiating.

Much was made going into the playoffs about how head coach Dwane Casey had more depth at his disposal than in the past, that in addition to the usual fastball and curve he had a couple of changeups. Mostly, though, that was taken to mean Cory Joseph and Carroll. Bismack Biyombo? Look, I don’t know if he has a fourth double-double in him, and I don’t think the Raptors have a prayer without Valanciunas. But I will say this, Biyombo and Patrick Patterson give them something Valanciunas doesn’t: bigs who can guard the perimeter as well as the paint and that might be of more use against the Cavaliers. Biyombo was a beast on switches in Game 7, particularly late in the third and early in the fourth quarter. “Patrick and Biz both give you an opportunity in that they can play smaller guys on the perimeter,” said Casey. “They got out on the perimeter, kept guys in front of them and then when the shot went up, they planted their feet and took a stand in the paint.”

I don’t know about you, but for all its glorious and at times maddening inconsistency, I’m not ready for the Raptors season to end yet. I can get into this resilience thing; whatever happens in the next series the Raptors finally have put in a playoff performance they can call on in future seasons.

RAGING RANGERS

I’m sorry, but I can’t get all worked up about Sunday’s dugout clearing nonsense between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays. Not that I’m surprised it happened. You try seeing the same friggin’ bat-flip time and again like the Rangers have had to and not let it get to you. And let’s be honest, Blue Jays fans: if the flip was on the other foot, you’d have expected no less from the locals.

You, too, would have demanded retribution, even if the flip didn’t bother you because, well, that’s how we roll.

This was all too predictable, and my guess is something was going to happen even if Jose Bautista hadn’t slid hard into second base, that with all the chirping going on once he was on first somebody was going to say or do something. Look at it from the Rangers’ point of view: why would you do anything earlier in the series or during the series at the Rogers Centre? Doesn’t everybody usually say these things get taken care of “at some time in the future?” Turns out there was no future after yesterday’s game, because these teams are done with each other. And as much as I love Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, I have to disagree with him when he says it was “gutless.” Stupid, maybe – especially now with so many former players weighing in that they think Rougned Odor was trying to hit Bautista with his throw. But not gutless, not with a one-run lead and a chance to win a series. That the Rangers chose retribution over maintaining a narrow lead tells you how much this stuck in their craw. So let’s just all grow up, shut up, stop whining and move on, shall we?

QUIBBLES AND BITS

  • Since the first day of spring training, people have wondered how pending Blue Jays free agents such as Edwin Encarnacion and Bautista would react playing for their next (and likely final) big contract. Brett Cecil’s unforgivable lapse of judgment during the Blue Jays’ last homestand might fall into that category. Cecil, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left triceps after an uncomfortable two-thirds of an inning on Saturday, admitted that he got up on his own in the Blue Jays bullpen on Sunday, May 8, at the end of the game – this after Gibbons had avoided using him for four days in a row waiting for the pain to subside. Never mind whether it aggravated his injury, it left Gibbons in the embarrassing position of having to explain why he had Cecil up in a game in which he had used the less-preferable option of Drew Storen. If the situation continues to fester not only might it cost him in free agency at a time when teams are willing to spend on relievers, it could also increase pressure on the organization to move Aaron Sanchez into a relief role. Cecil started the season as the most important Blue Jays reliever not named Roberto Osuna.

  • Friend Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported this weekend that Brian Charles, the agent for Chris Colabello, organized a conference call with Phillies reliever Daniel Stumpf and UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir as well as doctors and molecular biologists in an attempt to get to the bottom of the three athletes’ positive tests for the anabolic steroid Turinabol. Colabello and Stumpf are serving 80-game suspensions for their positive tests and Rosenthal reported other players are also awaiting the results off appeals for failed tests brought about by Turinabol being found in their urine specimens. Charles would like Colabello to have his specimen tested at another laboratory.

  • The New York Yankees’ Carlos Beltran’s numbers speak of Hall of Fame credentials: 400 career home runs, fourth among switch-hitters behind Mickey Mantle (536), Eddie Murray (504) and Chipper Jones (468) and sixth all-time among active players. Beltran’s homer on Sunday makes him the fifth major-leaguer with 400 home runs and 300 steals, alongside Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Andrew Dawson but one of the aces in his deck has been his ability to stay healthy long enough to clear the game’s steroid mess. Longevity – specifically, the ability to contribute at the tail end of a career – has removed one less argument for voters who favour a small Hall.

    • THE ENDGAME

    You’ll have to excuse us in Toronto; we’re strangers to this best-of-seven series success. The Raptors are the first Toronto team to win two best-of-seven series in the same season since the 2001-2002 Maple Leafs, who also needed seven games to win both their conference quarter-finals over the New York Islanders and their conference semifinals over the Ottawa Senators before losing in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals. The 1998-99, ’93-’94 and ’92-’93 Leafs also won two best of seven series, as did the 1992 and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. No Toronto team has ever won three best-of-seven series. Shoot, the 1966-67 Leafs only played in a six-team league and only had to win two series to win the damned Stanley Cup. Such is life when your NHL team has stunk in the post-expansion era.

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