Raptors dominated Knicks in regular season
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The thing that bugs Jeff Van Gundy is called
Flip-A-Switch Syndrome.
His players think they can turn themselves on and off at will,
playing their best when they absolutely need to and shifting into
cruise control the rest of the time.
|  | | Ewing says the Knicks aren't worried about the Raptors |
As maddening as it is to Van Gundy, it's his fault.
He's the one who coached the eighth-seeded New York Knicks to
the NBA Finals last season, an improbable run in which the Knicks
overcame every bit of adversity imaginable -- thereby convincing
themselves that they can do what they have to do when they need to.
"Sometimes you have to wait on the players," Van Gundy said.
"Sometimes you have to wait until they're ready. Most players
think it can come back quicker than coaches think it can."
Van Gundy still isn't sure what to make of his team, which opened
the playoffs against the sixth-seeded Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Unlike last season, when general manager Ernie Grunfeld was made
the scapegoat for the team's 21-21 start, this year's final record
(50-32) shows the Knicks played about as well as expected -- or
maybe even better given the injuries that sidelined Patrick Ewing
and Marcus Camby for large chunks of the season.
When confronted with big games against the likes of Indiana,
Miami and Philadelphia, the Knicks played their best. Against the
ho-hum teams, the Knicks had the blahs.
Alarmingly, one of those B-list opponents was Toronto, which won
the season series 3-1 with all the victories coming by double-digit
margins.
"To date we haven't brought out our 'A game' when we've played
them," Ewing said.
Chris Childs said he's not concerned about the Raptors.
"I'm concerned about us," he said. "Last year, going into the
playoffs over the last eight games we found out how to win
basketball games - the team that gets the most easy baskets wins.
We have yet to do that. We definitely need to find a way to get a
lot more easy baskets."
Van Gundy has the jitters this April because he seems to have a
lot more fear of Toronto than his players.
Nervously juggling a roll of adhesive tape in his hand, Van
Gundy pointed out that the Knicks are 2-5 against the Raptors over
the past two seasons, failing to lead after the first quarter in
any of the seven games. In their two games at Toronto this season,
the Knicks trailed 32-16 and 28-11 after the first quarters.
"I am worried about our mental state against them," Van Gundy
said. "The results speak volumes. The numbers don't lie. They've
dominated us."
On and on the coach went, a stream of consciousness of
negativity that was vintage gloom-and-doom Van Gundy. He accused
his team of backing down from Charles Oakley's toughness. He noted
that different strategies -- big lineups, small lineups -- have all
failed against the Raptors. He didn't even have to point out that
no one -- not Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Allan Houston or
Childs -- has been able to defend Vince Carter.
|  | | The Knicks could not contain Carter during the regular season |
Or Doug Christie or Tracy McGrady, for that matter.
Van Gundy even called the series "the greatest first-round
challenge we've had since I've been here." That includes a
first-round loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in 1991
when Van Gundy was an assistant under Pat Riley.
"I think the Miami series was the toughest, but Jeff has his
own opinion," Kurt Thomas said, referring to last year's
first-round series when the eighth-seeded Knicks knocked off
top-seeded Miami on the road in Game 5.
Ewing begged to differ, too.
"Right now I'm not even worried about Toronto. Let Jeff worry
about them," Ewing said. "Are we afraid of them? I'm not afraid
of them and I don't think my teammates are, either."
Like the rest of the players, Ewing seems certain the team will
peak for the playoffs.
The Knicks have toted around that sort of "We'll be OK when the
playoffs start" cockiness in the back of their minds all through a
season that has been relatively tranquil compared with last year.
They never won more than five in a row, so nobody got too high
on them. They never lost more than three in a row, so nobody really
dumped on them, either.
But this less-rocky season has come with heightened expectations
for the Knicks, who are healthier and more familiar with each other
than they were last season.
With Jordan long gone, Miami hurting and Indiana a different
team without Antonio Davis, it could be New York's best chance to
win its first championship since 1973.
The Knicks haven't been knocked out in the first round since
that 1991 series, and if they get past Toronto they could face a
road to the finals that goes through Miami and Indiana.
"We've been fortunate getting to the second round and beyond
for a long time, but a lot of teams haven't," Van Gundy said. "So
you know how fragile it is. This is going to be a great challenge
for us, there's no doubt."
It depends if the players can flip that switch -- and turn it on
-- like they think they can.
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