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TORONTO — You can plan and plan and hope and wish. Then if you're the Toronto Raptors and T.J. Ford, be reminded that most of what you hope and plan for is out of your control.
The Raptors' snake-bitten point guard missed practice Tuesday, still sore after pulling a muscle in his abdomen making a routine move in Monday's workout, the team's first after the all-star break.
Rather than howl at the moon, Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell chose to be philosophical as they prepare to play the Orlando Magic at the Air Canada Centre Wednesday.
“Players get hurt,” Mitchell said. “Me being disappointed or how I feel is not going to change the fact that T.J. missed practice [Tuesday], but we'll see how he feels [today]. T.J. just said he's sore and can't practise. The game is going to come regardless, and there's nothing I can do about it anyway.”
When Ford was out with his most recent neck problem and his season was briefly in doubt, Raptors president Bryan Colangelo investigated the possibility of adding a backup point guard. The urgency of that search died off when it was clear Ford was going to return, but now?
“There's nothing I've heard [regarding Ford] that has made me change my thinking,” Colangelo said. He added he was working the telephone in advance of the NBA trade deadline tomorrow, but that “there was nothing imminent.”
What is imminent is a chance for the Raptors to win some games, if only they could get some consistency with their rotation. While the Raptors have been otherwise healthy recently, Ford's presence or absence has a significant impact on the quality of play they get from their second unit.
Without Ford, the backup point guard duties will fall to Juan Dixon, the one Raptor most open to being traded because he's seen so little playing time.
“I'm just here, working hard everyday, helping my team,” said Dixon, who is in the final year of his contract and therefore attractive to clubs looking to clear space under the NBA's salary cap. “Yes, I would like to play, but I enjoy being a Toronto Raptor.
“It's unfortunate T.J. went down with another injury. Hopefully, he's getting better, but if I have to play some point guard, I'll do my best to help my team win games.”
The Raptors could have been excused for looking at the coming two weeks as an opportunity to finally bring some consistency to an up-and-down season.
They will play nine of their next 11 games against teams with losing records, the exceptions being two against the Magic, who lead the Raptors by 31/2 games in the Eastern Conference standings.
Winning nine of the next 11 would give the Raptors a 37-29 record and at least a chance of matching or surpassing their 47-35 record from last season. More important, some wins now would provide a cushion should the Raptors fall on hard times in March, when they will play 10 of their 17 games on the road, including a five-game road swing in the West, where the average winning percentage of their opponents is .599.
But that's all wishful thinking. It's not that their winning legs can't happen or won't happen. It's just that there's no guarantee it will happen.
Certainly one reason for optimism around the Raptors was the play of Ford since he returned from missing a total of 30 games this season with neck-related injuries.
Ford racked up 23 assists against two turnovers in limited minutes in his first three games and appeared to be quickly rounding into form. He then missed the final two games before the all-star game break with a wrist injury and is now listed as day-to-day with a pulled stomach muscle.
“Injuries are part of sports, it happens,” Mitchell said. “There's nothing you can do about it, so there's no point in wasting energy worrying about it. What am I going to do, beat the trainer up?”
