The opinions expressed by 'Backseat Athlete' on this site are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the owners or moderators of this site. 'Backseat Athlete' is for entertainment purposes only and is not a representative of the CCYAA management team.
- CCYAA

I hate to be the bad news bear but…

We’re going to lose.

Yes, despite winning game 5 last night, we’ve merely delayed execution for another day. The only thing we have accomplished is drawing extra revenues for the New Jersey Nets since Game 6 is going to be at Intercontinental Arena. That’s right, give Jay-Z some more Roca-money.

You might be wondering whether I’m being an alarmist. Whether I’ve fallen off the bandwagon. Have I become the Raptor Pharisee? Cursing and decrying Sam Mitchell as a faux savior…I consider myself a realist. Let’s look at the series objectively: the two games we have won have been extremely close. The only reason we won game 5 is because Nachbar missed that three. The games New Jersey has won have been total blowouts. Clearly, this isn’t a back and forth thing –it’s a coaching thing. Lawrence Frank has found our holes and is beating us with his coaching mastery. We have so far been unable to counter his moves. New Jersey’s “Big Three” is also killing us. They are bona fide all-stars with tons of playoff experience while we’re pretty much playoff virgins.

The diagnosis doesn’t look good – we’re like 0-6 at New Jersey and we might be without Jose Calderon. It would really suck if we get eliminated but then again, its growing pains. Every young, promising team goes through it: Chicago, Cleveland, Washington and now, us. Even if we beat NJ, there’s no way we’re getting out of the Eastern Conference with teams Chicago and Detroit hanging around. At least I won’t feel as bad as Dallas – they were amazing in the regular season and now they’re also facing elimination by the Golden State Warriors. Dallas getting eliminated would be funny well, at least to everyone but Mark Cuban…

In summary, in my heart, I hope the Raptors win. In my mind, I know the Raptors are going to lose. In life, nothing is a sure thing, just ask Dallas.