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.
Patrick Ewing
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.
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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