Raptors feel redeemed, rewarded

The Toronto Raptors finally disembarked the roller coaster they had been riding the last two months.

But what a wild ride it was.

Thursday's 85-82 road loss to the Detroit Pistons in decisive Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference quarter-final brought an abrupt end to a topsy-turvy season full of spellbinding twists and turns.

A season which, for all intents and purposes, proved as rewarding as it was puzzling.

"It was beautiful," Raptors superstar Vince Carter said on Friday.

"It was great to be a part of."

Unfortunately, Carter was reduced from prized sniper to highly-paid cheerleader as the Raptors rallied from the edge of the extinction.

Arthroscopic knee surgery ended his season prematurely but, having grown too reliant on Carter, the Raptors instead grew closer without him.

"I wish I could have been out there to do something," said Carter, who missed 22 games plus the playoffs.

"I just felt I couldn't help those guys and what I was telling them wasn't good enough. They accomplished a lot, proved a lot of people wrong and that was what I was most proud about."

Toronto arguably overcame more adversity this season than in all previous seasons combined.

In doing so, the Raptors developed a newfound maturity and resilience unseen last season, when they advanced to the conference semifinals.

They lost a whopping 298 man-games lost to injury, fifth-most in the league, prompting head coach Lenny Wilkens to deploy 18 different starting lineups.

"I'm sure it was difficult for him," Raptors power forward Antonio Davis said. "Any time you think you're going to have this guy or that guy and you don't have them, what do you do?

"You go back to the drawing board and start all over again or you try to piece it all together and make it work. I really admire him for not lashing out or getting distracted by anything, of things said about him.

"He never gave up on us. He never pointed a finger."

Certainly, the Raptors gave Wilkens reason to.

They lost 17 of their first 18 games, including an alarming 13 straight, following the all-star break.

But upon losing Carter, they banded together and won nine consecutive games and 12 of their final 14 to clinch a playoff berth.

Then, despite dropping the first two games, they extended the heavily-favoured Pistons to five games.

It was a remarkably resilient performance by a team all but given up for dead by mid-March.

"With all the injuries we had and how we bounced back from adversity, I think that showed a lot about the character of this team," Raptors sophomore Morris Peterson said. "We went through a lot, but still made some things happen."

"I'm extremely proud of what we did this year," added Davis, who emerged as the undisputed team leader in Carter's absence.

"From beginning to end, we continued to fight and we never gave up. We were one of the best teams at the end of the season."

Minus the incomparable Carter, to boot, who will undoubtedly be pressured to embrace Toronto's selfless style next season.

"He's still the No. 1 guy, the main focus of the team," Raptors guard Dell Curry said. "But we played great team basketball without him and if he can come back and fit back into that, he'll still be the man on the team.

"If we can still play more team ball, that will help us win games."

"I think he saw what we all accomplished," Wilkens added. "We became a pretty good team.

"But we'd be better with him. The commitment I want from Vince is he comes out twice as determined next year."

"I'm going to put it all on the line, night in and night out and try not to accept losing," Carter vowed. "Our overall goal is the championship.

"That's what I'm working for and that's my focus right now and by any means necessary."

The key question, of course, is which teammates will be back to chase that elusive championship alongside him.

Having committed over $240 million US to Carter, Davis, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alvin Williams and Jerome Williams last off-season, the Raptors have scant salary cap space with which to re-sign their free agents, principally Keon Clark.

Clark, 27, emerged as an offensive and defensive force, albeit an inconsistent one.

And the gangly 7-foot frontliner proved himself at all three forward positions.

Clark is a restricted free agent as of July 1, meaning the Raptors retain the right to match any offer.

"I just come out and do my job and, hopefully, I'll get what I'm worth," said Clark, who expects a sizeable raise after earning just $1.97 million US this year.

"Hopefully, it's here in Toronto. I can't say what's going to happen in this business but, basketball-wise, I feel I fit well here and we'll see what Glen Grunwald does."

"We love the guy," Wilkens added. "When you walk in a room, you don't have to look for him, you can hear him -- he's got that voice.

"Keon grew tremendously. If you look at his play from a year ago, it just moves straight ahead."

Chris Childs, 34, redeemed himself with an inspired postseason after enduring a miserable regular season.

But at $5.2 million US and plagued by injuries, the Raptors might pass on the backup point guard.

Curry, 37, is also eligible for free agency, yet a fragile and pricey part-timer ($2.1 million US).

But as he showed with 17 second-half points on Thursday, the sharpshooter remains one of the premier perimeter players in the game when given enough minutes to find his rythmn.

Olajuwon, 39, never found his niche with the Raptors after posting Hall of Fame numbers in 17 seasons with the Houston Rockets.

Asked if a buyout was probable, Olajuwon said: "I don't know. We'll have to see."