Charles Oakley compares the playoffs to driving a bus, something we're sure he's never done. But since when has that ever stopped the Raptors forward from making one of his famous analogies?

	The Bulls will look to veteran Charles Oakley for leadership.

"In the playoffs, you've just got to go out there and play," Toronto's veteran forward said. "It's like you being a bus driver. When you get a new bus, do you drive it differently? No, you just drive it."

Oakley only hopes the bus he's riding in has enough gas and a big enough engine to make it out of the first round. But if the Raptors suffer another early playoff breakdown, no one will be surprised.

All season long, it seems as if the Raptors have been riding on square wheels.

One of the more disappointing teams in the East, they've never been more than six games over .500. They're only 35-31 entering Monday's game against Indiana. Despite having two All-Stars, their combined record against the best six teams in the East is an underwhelming 7-9. Their record against the best of the West is a dismal 2-8.

What's more, the Raptors are only 11-25 against teams entering this week's action with .500 records or better. Their longest winning streak of five games came against Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, New Jersey and New York. A ho-hum stretch if there ever was one.

Just like the entire season.

Obviously, the losses of Tracy McGrady and Doug Christie have been enormous. But it's not as if they left a JV team behind.

	Davis

"We've been too inconsistent," Antonio Davis said. "We played well, then we lost back-to-back games against Sacramento and the Lakers. That's the way it's been for us all season. We've got to stop that before the playoffs start."

At least the schedule is in their favor. Counting the Pacers game, nine of their final 16 games come against teams with losing marks. They've been beating up on those teams all season, to the tune of a 24-6 record.

The trouble is, once the playoffs start, they won't be going up against such accomplished losers. Their best moments have come vs. Philly (Toronto is 2-1, with one game left) and once again against New York (3-1). Conversely, they've been swept by the Lakers, Sacramento and Portland.

	Carter

"But the regular season doesn't matter," said Vince Carter. "What happened last year? We beat New York four times and then we lost three in a row in the playoffs. We just want to start playing well and take that into the playoffs."

But what does matter in May is playoff experience. The Raptors got rid of a load of experienced post-season players with their mid-season moves and are going to be counting on playoff rookies. That normally doesn't work.

	Williams

	Clark

When Lenny Wilkens looks down his roster, he'll no doubt be wondering what he's going to get from Alvin Williams, the new starting point guard since Mark Jackson's trade to New York. Williams has only one minute of playoff experience to his credit. Morris Peterson, a frontcourt starter, is only a rookie. Keon Clark, who came to Toronto in the Kevin Willis deal, has never played in a playoff game in two previous seasons.

Plus, Carter will be carrying a greater scoring load than ever. Last year, when he bombed in his first playoff test, at least he had McGrady, who emerged as the Raptors' best player in the post-season. But this season, Carter has limited offensive support. Indeed it's scary when Davis and Oakley, best known for rebounding and defense, are your No. 2 and 3 scorers and shot-takers, respectively.

"Vince has to know that we'll have success if he doesn't try to go out and score 30 points every time out," Davis said. "We're a better team when he scores 24 points and other guys step in and get their 14 and 16. We're more dangerous."

In fact, the Raptors are only 5-5 in Carter's 10-highest scoring games. Whatever he does figures to be an improvement over last season, when the Knicks' double-teams caused him to average only 19 ppg on 30 percent shooting.

"Who knows how he'll perform?" Oakley said. "It's too early to make predictions. I'm psychic, but I only work two-to-three days in advance. It wasn't just Vince, though. We all learned a lot last year."

Namely, that they couldn't drive the bus out of the garage.

	Mason

Rim Shots