Tipps & Tricks » sure to the media, should be educated on th

TORONTO -- If the Toronto Raptors have a preferable post-season opponent, theyre not saying. The Raptors wrap up their record-breaking regular season Wednesday night at New York, and wont know until post-game wholl theyll face in the playoffs. And they insist they dont care. "Were just worried about ourselves," Amir Johnson said after Mondays victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. "We just want to clean up on our mistakes. Whoevers in front of us, were going to play the same way weve been playing all season." The Raptors, who set a franchise record with their 48th win of the season Monday night, will face either the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards or Charlotte Bobcats when the opening round begins this weekend. The Raptors are tied with the Chicago Bulls for third in the Eastern Conference, but control their own destiny. Theyll clinch the No. 3 seed if they either beat the Knicks on Wednesday, or the Bulls lose at Charlotte. Theyll finish fourth if they lose and Chicago wins. "We havent thought about it or talked about it," guard Kyle Lowry said, about the ramifications of Wednesdays schedule. "Were just going to go out there and play our game." Raptors coach Dwane Casey has been resting his starters -- all-star DeMar DeRozan got the night off Monday. Casey said he would consider resting DeRozan again Wednesday, despite what outcome that might have on the game, and their conference seeding. "Im more worried about us moreso than who we play. Its about us. About our health, rest, whatever we decide to do in that situation. If we play Brooklyn, we play Brooklyn, if we play Washington, we play Washington, theres no easy teams left in the playoffs right now, all the teams are very capable," Casey said. "Brooklyn is probably more playoff-ready, but we cant control that and were not going into this game trying to control that. Im more worried about our guys health -- rest if we rest them -- and our rhythm. And its a fine line between the two." While the players might not have a stated preference, fans certainly do, and general consensus is Washington. The Raptors won the season series against the Wizards three games to one. The Raptors lost all three of their games to Charlotte this season, although only by a combined nine points. They split their four games with Brooklyn, but the Nets have that invaluable playoff experience. Five Nets players alone -- Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and Joe Johnson -- have 432 playoff appearances combined. The Toronto Raptors: 147. Raptors starters DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross: Zero. The Raptors are making their first playoff appearance since 2007-08. They were beaten in five games by the Orlando Magic. This is the sixth time in the teams 19-year history theyve made the playoffs. Their only series win was in 2000-01 when they beat the New York Knicks three games to two, before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the second round. 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Despite 11-1 records, theyre out and Big Ten winner Ohio State is into the national semifinals.PARIS - Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol has apologized for making disparaging comments about African players in football, although he still maintains they were misinterpreted against a backlash of widespread criticism.Sagnol, capped 58 times by France and a member of the team which lost the 2006 World Cup final, gave a question and answer session Tuesday to readers of Sud Ouest regional newspaper when the subject of African players was raised.The advantage of what I would call the typical African player is that he isnt expensive when you sign him, (he is) a player who is ready for combat, but football isnt just about that, Sagnol said.Explaining himself, he continued: Football is also (about) technique, intelligence. You need a bit of everything. You need Nordics too, Nordics are good.Speaking Thursday at a pre-match news conference ahead of Saturdays game with Lens, Sagnol tried to explain his comments.If by my lack of clarity, or my imperfect semantics, I may have shocked, humiliated or hurt people then I am sorry, Sagnol said. The interpretation that these people may have made does not reflect my way of thinking in any way or my humanist convictions.However, he said the comments made sense in a sporting context.When I spoke about the African (player) who is cheaper and ready for combat, I simply meant to talk about the young African player arriving in Europe with all of his will to win and often to escape from a precarious situation, Sagnol continued as he read from pre-prepared notes. Then, since we were in a debate about football, the intelligence I spoke of was obviously related to tactical intelligence. The forming of young players in Africa, probably because of a lack of financial means, or (lack) of infrastructure, isnt always as complete as whats available in Europe.Sagnol distanced himself from accusations that his viewpoint was offensive.In no way did I mean to talk about an individuals intelligence in the proper sense of the term.dddddddddddd Regarding certain accusations of racism, Im 37 (and) Ive spent 32 of them in a football dressing room. Ive never had a problem with anyone, the former Bayern Munich player said.But Lens coach Antoine Kombouare, who was born in New Caledonia, is among those who felt offended by Sagnol.Lets make things clear: this is not a case of him being clumsy. Hes really messed up, Kombouare said. What he said is serious. Its unacceptable. Explaining that an African player is cheaper ... I felt humiliated and hurt.The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) strongly condemned Sagnol, as did former Marseille president Pape Diouf, who called for African players to boycott one round of French league games in protest.French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet, who formerly employed Sagnol as coach of Frances Under-21 side, defended him, while former teammate Lilian Thuram — an active anti-racism campaigner — was more measured.I played alongside Willy, hes somebody I respect. I know him very well, Thuram told Sud Ouest. I dont think you should put Willy Sagnol on trial, but you should put prejudice on trial. Each one of us harbours some prejudice, which is why people working in football, who have a certain exposure to the media, should be educated on this subject.Sagnols captain at Bordeaux is Senegal international Lamine Sane, who called Sagnols comments clumsy before defending him, as did club president Jean-Louis Triaud.He doesnt have any twisted ideas. He believes in all the black players in the team, Sane told French radio. We believe in him and we hope to go very far with him.Bordeaux forward Henri Saivet, who is black, told RMC radio that Sagnol apologized.We all now pertinently well that the coach is not a racist, Saivet said. Its true that, at first, we asked ourselves a few questions. But he explained how it happened. He apologized to the players. That was very important. 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