Toronto Huskies (Raptors) Blog

Shooting Guards Going Into 2010-2011

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:29:00 +0000

Shooting Guards Going Into 2010-2011

New additions: Leandro Barbosa (trade from the Suns with Dwayne Jones for Hedo Turkoglu)

Shooting Guards for 2010-2011 Season: DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Leandro Barbosa

DeRozan and Weems are the future of the franchise. Is this year going to be an amazing year for them? Yes and no. Yes, because the offense is wide open now and it could help them to use their athletic ability. They will also have more of an opportunity without Bosh's shots. No, because Bosh isn't the focus anymore. Teams don't have to help on anyone (yet). It's going to be 5-on-5 and that will be a little bit harder for them.

Offensively I think we can expect much of the same as last year. Nice dunks and some good shooting within range. I think they both will be much more aggressive and I hope that they can keep up their ways from Summer League action.

Defensively, let's face it SG is the toughest position to guard in the NBA (Wade, Bryant, Roy, Johnson to name a few). They were not great last year but I look at them to grow as players. I really want to see consistent effort on D from both of them.

Haven't mentioned that Barbosa guy yet, he's going to get some minutes and show us why he's called the "Brazilian Blur". He'll force the tempo and you can see what I said about us being Golden State north in my previous post about the point guard's. Not known for his defense unfortunately but no one on this team is so I guess he fits in. I like the acquisition and something tells me when either Jack or Calderon is traded we're going to force him to the back-up PG.

Check out the quickstats from last year below:

Player	Games	Points	Assists	Rebounds
DeMar DeRozan	77	8.6	0.7	2.9
Sonny Weems	69	7.5	1.5	2.8
Leandro Barbosa	44	9.5	1.5	1.6

Overall I give the Raptors Shooting Guard crew a C+. Same as the point guard's really. Need more D.

Point Guards Going Into 2010-2011

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:48:00 +0000

Going to do some previews and break down the different positions as well as coaching and front office of your Toronto Raptors. Probably will see 2 of these per day trying to get them in before the start of training camp.

Point Guards Going Into 2010-2011

New additions: Leandro Barbosa (trade from the Suns with Dwayne Jones for Hedo Turkoglu)

Point Guards for 2010-2011 Season: Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks, Leandro Barbosa

At the end of the 2009-10 season 2 things were clear for Raptors fans. Chris Bosh wasn't going to stay in Toronto and one of Jarret Jack or Jose Calderon would get moved in the off-season. Well the latter did not come true and we all know what happened with Bosh. We tried to move Calderon to Charlotte but MJ backed out at the last minute.

So what does this mean for 2010-2011?

Ummmm we have the same guys as last year that got killed by guard penetration. Defensively it's still going to be bad. Offensively we have guys that can do anything other PG's can do as a unit not as individuals. Jose is good with slower tempo half court offenses and he's good shooter. Jack likes to move the ball and likes to score but can pass well too. In other words, NOTHING has changed.

Gone are the days of dumping the ball into Bosh and letting him try to bail the team out (when it worked). Ball movement is going to be crucial this year but I don't think the overall basketball IQ is within this team for us to have a fluid offense.

I threw in Barbosa because he could play point. I don't know how much of that is going to happen but it is an option. Him and Jack can really force the temp of a game and I can see us playing small ball this year (Jack, Barbosa, Weems/DeRozan, Kleiza, Johnson) and trying to be Golden State North.

Check out the quickstats from last year below:

Player	Games	Points	Assists	Turnovers	Rebounds
Jose Calderon	68	10.3	5.9	1.5	2.1
Jarrett Jack	82	11.4	5.0	2	2.7
Marcus Banks	22	5	1.2	0.9	1
Leandro Barbosa	44	9.5	1.5	1.05	1.6

Overall I give the Raptors Point Guard crew a B-. Trying to be optimistic I think they can improve their defense from last year. I'm not saying they are going to be amazing but they can be better.

Turkoglu's Almost Ready, Johnson Is Ready

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:19:00 +0000

A few months back Hedo Turkoglu was Toronto's Public Enemy #1. Now it appears he's ready to let bygones be bygones. Turkoglu recently went on NTV SPOR in Turkey (same station where he had his outburst) and stated that the Raptors want him back and he seems to be almost willing to make it happen. Helping was the addition of P.J. Carlesimo (one of his former coaches in San Antonio) to the Raptors staff and the fact the P.J. was actually in Turkey convincing him things wouldn't be that bad when he returned.

This pretty much means Bosh is a goner and Calderon probably is too. We need a real leader in the locker room Jarrett Jack is close but an experienced veteran like Hedo could pay off. I really hope that we can get him to play the way he did in Orlando. The only way Calderon stays is if we rearrange the offense and have Calderon primarily as a shooter and have him running pick and rolls with Amir Johnson while Hedo's on the bench. It could work I guess?

Speaking of Amir Johnson, he has solidified his tenure with the Raptors. Reports are saying that he will sign a 5 year deal worth $33 million. The deal hasn't become finalized yet as it won't be a done deal until after July 8th (NBA Salary Cap for 2010-11). The deal is similar to the ones that the Milwaukee Bucks have given to Drew Gooden 5 years $32 million and the contract of Channing Frye by the Phoenix Suns which is 5 years and $30 million. Congrats to Gooden here's to hoping you can stick with the team and not have to move around so much. Congrats to Frye who was helped by Canada's own Steve Nash to get that nice pay-out (players just love playing around that guy it usually means a nice fat paycheque).

I enjoyed watching Amir play last year. I think he can be a great player in the league and he has the skills to be an impact role player. His athleticism, his age (23), his wing span and his ability to run the floor gave him the 5 year deal. With Bosh gone I don't see why he couldn't get 15 points and 10 boards and a few blocks per game next season if he can get 30+ minutes as long as he doesn't get into foul trouble.

I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with the idea of Bosh leaving. I hope it's not me being naive and expecting too much out of our beloved Toronto Raptors. I don't expect a miracle season next year but I do expect that Colangelo has a few aces up his sleeves.

Raptors Get A Pair Of Big Men

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 05:24:00 +0000

All Toronto Raptors fans were looking forward to the NBA Draft 2010. We had the 13th pick and there was a lot of speculation as to who we would take. A lot of people were high on Avery Bradley (he went 19th), Daniel Orton (he went 29th). Ed Davis slid to the 13th pick and the Raptors picked him up. Most draft boards had him pegged between 7-10 so he is technically a "steal". There were a lot of draft rumours floating around that we might be in play for Rudy Fernandez (no one got Rudy on draft night) and that we might be getting an additional first round pick. We did make one additional move and that was obtaining the 50th overall pick which was Solomon Alabi from the Dallas Mavericks for cash considerations and a future second round pick.

No one really expected the Raptors to get two big men in the draft this year. It does make sense. In Bryan Colangelo's presser he brought up that we have four big men that are free agents this year in Chris Bosh, Patrick O’ Bryant, Rasho Nesterovic and Amir Johnson. The move to pick up Alabi pretty much guarantees POB will not be back in a Raptors uniform which was to be expected. Since he was a second round pick he can be signed at a minimum which will save the Raptors some cash. Rasho is up in the air and I think that will come down to what happens with Bosh. I expect Amir Johnson to return.

Let's take a look at our newest Raptors:

ED Davis 13th overall pick, First Round

Height: 6'9.75"

Weight: 226.6

Wingspan: 7'0"

Standing Reach: 9'0"

Born: Washington, D.C. USA

School: University of North Carolina

Quick Stats from last year:

PPG: 12.9 FG%: 57.8 FT%: 65.9% RPG: 9.2 BPG: 2.7 APG: 0.9 STPG: 0.4

Strengths: Good hands for a big man, has a post presence on defense, athletic, has "potential"

Weaknesses: Needs more size, not a lot of post moves, jump shot needs improvement, may take time to develop.

The Extra's: The son of former NBAer Terry Davis who played in the NBA for 10 years. Probably should have stayed an additional year in college to polish his game (only played one year). He's a left hander like Bosh. Brtoke his left hand in February of last year adn that could have been the reason for the slide. He was named Mr. Basketball of Virginia in 2008 and took his high school team to two state championships.

Solomon Alabi 50th overall pick, Second Round (Via Dallas)

Height: 7'0.75"

Weight: 237.4

Wingspan: 7'5"

Standing Reach: 9'5"

Born: Kaduna, Kaduna State. Nigeria

School: Florida State University

Quick Stats from last year:

PPG: 11.7 FG%: 53.4 FT%: 79.4% RPG: 6.2 BPG: 2.3 APG: 0.5 STPG: 0.6

Strengths: long reach to block shots and rebound, has a nice jumper, has "potential" but will take a lot longer then Davis to develop.

Weaknesses: needs more size, better basketball IQ, lacks lateral quickness.

The Extra's: Was all-state in high school in Florida after going to USA from Nigeria at 15. Played three years at FSU and has made a steady improvement each year. Two-time ACC All- Defensive team in 209 and 2010. Born and raised in Kaduna. A little info about Kaduna; the population of Kaduna is 1,652,844, state capital of Kaduna state

Big Baby Hedo

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Mon, 31 May 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Neslon "so how's Toronto?", Hedo "they hate me".

Hego?

After an amazing year of showing the Raptors and their fan base how great he is this past season; Hedo Turkoglu has decided to come out in public and tell everyone that he doesn't like in Toronto and he does not want to return.

If you haven't heard by now (I'm not sure how you haven't) Hedo Turkoglu was on TV back in Turkey giving an interview and pretty much voiced his opinions about how he was treated in Toronto. You can check out the video and translation on The Score's Basketball Jones blog. Well that's great news for most of us Raptor fans but I'm not too sure how much the Turkish community will like it (I'm not too sure how excited they were about Hedo being here anyway).

Toronto has never been an easy city for any professional athlete to play in. However, if your getting paid millions you really have to take some of the pressure and not take it so personally it's what professionals do. How many players in the NBA have had their share of trouble but did not let their playing be affected or come out and disrespect their organiztion the way he has now done. Your crying over one incident by the organization? You got booed at a game? Big deal stop being such a baby.

So many people have said that Hedo was a mistake right from the start. I was a supporter of Hedo when we signed him I heard grumblings of a possible S&T regarding Marion. I was all for it. Considering the players he played against getting to the Finals in 2008-09 I thought his defense was slightly above average. He could create and hit big shots and could be another facilitator for the offense, plus he is an oversized SF. What's not to like? Well....there was the whole thing of him being a douche at club(s). The whole thing about him not really seeming to care if we win or lose. The thing where he had horrible shot selection. That's a few reasons right?

At the end of the day Colangelo thought that by bringing in the biggest FA on the market last year it would help the team. BC had the right intentions but if you look at his career he was not worth the money. Most fans would say Turkoglu had a horrible season last year when in reality he didn't. He's been in the NBA for 10 years now and everything was pretty much on par with his career averages. There probably was a reason why Orlando didn't really care too much that he left (of course that didn't really work out for them but they got to ECF without him) and that should have been a sign for BC. But BC gave him a bad deal so that means that he's going to get traded. It's BC's MO.

If he does end up staying I really hope that we can't put this BS behind us and play some "BALL" just like we're paying him to do. In the future Hedo don't be a douche and everything will play out just fine. But hey if you want to keep doing the same crap you did last season please play somewhere else. Allow us to buy you out for the lowest possible denominator. I'm not sure how much value you think you have around the league still but I would think that now it's pretty close to 0.

0 Hedo 0.

Toronto Raptors Get 13th Pick

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:28:00 +0000

We Get 13, But What Does That Mean?

So we had the countdown to today for the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery. The Raptors were pretty much pegged for a middle of the pack type of pick. DeMar DeRozan represented the Raptors this year but his luck didn't do us any good and we got the 13th pick.

So what does 13 mean? That unless we're really lucky we're probably getting a role player or a player that won't really produce for us until next year. IMO the Raptors really need to trade up and get Wesley Johnson from Syracuse. He's currently slated at 6th on most boards and could prove to be difficult for us to move up that much. If they really want full production from Hedo next year there's nothing better then a little friendly competition for minutes as it seemed nothing really lit a fire under Hedo last year. Plus if he pans out we could possibly move Hedo if that's even a remote possibility (who knows what next year brings?).

Other options would be to move up to 7 or 8 and get one of Cole Aldrich from Kansas or Ekpe Udoh from Baylor. You pretty much know what your getting with Aldrich he pretty much is Kevin Love. Udoh is a different story and could be amazing or could be a limited role player. Tough to say that's the problem with the draft you never really know what your going to get.

If the Raptors keep the pick and they are going for a power forward/center then they probably are looking at the man in the picture above Daniel Orton from Kentucky. He's going to take some time but it may pay off. If the Raptors are looking for a small forward they'll have to go with Damion Jones from Texas who would be a pretty good pick.

Looking at the team right now the glaring missing piece is a athletic small forward with long arms, if they're looking for that Damion Jones is there man.

We'll take a closer look at these players soon and keep you posted on the players the raptors work-out.

PS we don't have a second round pick so this is it.

Raptors Season Another Disappointment

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:49:00 +0000

Well I never really addressed the sad ending of the Raptors season. Partially because it was, well, sad. Partially because I really wanted to collect my thoughts and not go on a team bashing tirade.

We all know how the season ended 40-42 (a far cry from Colangelo's 50 win season) we won our final game but so did Chicago they went into to play the Cavs we got stuck with our 13th pick. As we speak Chicago's down 2-0 and doesn't look like they have a chance at winning even one game. We lost the tie for the 12th pick with Memphis which wasn't great but 12th or 13th to me doesn't really matter.

The season was a disappointment in many areas. Going into the season we were poor at rebounding, toughness and defense. Colangelo made a bunch of moves and while the team we put on the floor was better then last year we didn't really get any player's outside of Reggie Evans that provided us with any of those characteristics. Marco Bellinelli was a possibility and Amir Johnson was alright but neither made an amazing impact and neither did Reggie.

We started off the season horribly, we started to pick it up in December and were doing fine until All-Star break where we were in prime position for the fifth playoff spot with a possibility of even getting to the fourth spot. Then the All-Star game hit, it was really nice to see Chris Bosh in at the end of the game when the game counted. After the break Bosh got injured and the team as okay going 3-4 while he was out. It wasn't until he returned that the team really spiraled into a downwards freefall that we could not get out of.

We stood pat at the trade deadline when we really shouldn't have. When Colangelo came out and said we were going to be buyers and not sellers I thought we would have made at least one move even if it was something minor. I don't know how many tradeable players we really had and what we could have actually gotten in return.

Once the season was over fans got to play the blame game:

"Triano is a horrible coach"

"Colangelo didn't get it done talent wise"

"Ïavaroni was supposed to bring defense and well he didn't"

"Bargnani can't play D and can't rebound""

"Bosh is too soft"

"We could have drafted Brandon Jennings instead of DeMar"

"DeMar was a disappointment"

"Reggie was a flash in the pan"

"Hedo = Hedon't"

etc., etc., etc.

Another season, more players, more coaches same end result. Disappointment for the Raptors fan base.

In some later posts I'll address all those amazing exit press conferences from the players, coaching staff and to the management. I''ll also look at free agency and our draft pick.

Raptors Rundown Episode 2 - Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:17:00 +0000

So this past weekend I had the pleasure to be on the GamePoint Blog's Raptors Rundown Episode 2 - Podcast. Kris and I discussed the following topics:

- Bosh's Performance Against ATL And Overall Since His Injury
- Not Getting The Ball To The Hot Hand
- Antoine Wright's Criticism DeMar and Sonny

- Jarrett Jack's Demotion

- Meltdown Against OKC

- This Week's "Raptor Factor"

Take a look at Kris' blog -> http://gamepointraptors.blogspot.com/

You can also follow him on twitter -> http://twitter.com/GamePointBlog

Raptors Rundown Episode 2

Kris Cuaresma's Podcast

Raptors Lose-Win Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:19:00 +0000

OKC - We Lost on Friday..... Big-time!

So we got to play the Thunder on Friday. It was appalling, disgusting, pathetic (insert your own word here). Bosh and Bargnani (to some extent) were the only guys that came to play from the starting line-up. Marcus banks continues to impress me off the bench. He outscored Jack and Calderon combined with 7 pts in his 9 minutes of play. (Photo Rocky Widner)

Just another horrible effort offensively and defensively. 19 Turnovers? The only way your going to win coughing the ball up like that is if the other team has 20. We also gave up 20 offensive rebounds. After those 2 stats do I really need to continue?

Kevin Durant killed us 23 pts in the first half. He's going to be one of the greatest players ever.

We lost 115-89. Game Info Link.

My predictions after tonight were correct. I'm 2-0, the Raptors are 1-1.

NJN - Win on Saturday

There's nothing better for a struggling team then getting into New Jeresy after getting beaten up the night before. This was a predictable win for the Raptors as New Jersey was 7-61 going into the night's game. Thanks to the high-scoring Chris Bosh the Raptors got the win. If he didn't play the way he did we could have lost and that would have been extremely embarrassing.

It's the Nets what else is there to say?
My predictions so far are correct. I'm 3-0, the Raptors are 2-1.
Check out the game in six below.

You can check me out today on the podcast for the GamePoint Blog

CB4 10,000 Points & OKC

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:47:00 +0000

CB4 10,000 Points

Earlier on in the year Chris Bosh surpassed the most points put up in a Raptors uniform. On Sunday January 3 Chris Bosh hit a jumper from the elbow to beat Vince Carter's 9,420. I happened to be at the game and it was pretty sweet to see. So in the win over Atlanta on Wednesday Bosh hit the 10,000 point mark. Also impressive, check out below.

Tonight OKC

Raptors take on Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. James Harden won't be playing but he isn't that much too worry about. I'm predicting a loss, I like us to win every game but I think KD is just too much for this team. He s going to be one of the greatest players to ever play in this league. Westbrook is going to have a field day and light up our guards.

The last time we played the Thunder was on Feb. 28 and the Thunder won 119-99. Durant dropped 29 on us. The Thunder are coming off a loss to Charlotte on Wednesday and will be looking to rebound.

The only way we could possibly win is if we score 50+ points in the paint. We just have to own it that's our only shot.

Eastern Conference Race to the Play-Offs

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:46:00 +0000

So there's no point in discussing the top 4 spots in the Eastern Conference for us Raptor fans. So we're going to keep track of what's going on in the Eastern Conference bottom 4. (Photo Ron Turenne)

5. Milwaukee Bucks 36-30

- Last 10: 8-2

- Next Games: Fri. - 9:00PM @ SAC, Sat. - 8:00PM @ DEN, Mon. - 7:00PM VS. ATL

6. Charlotte Bobcats 35-32

- Last 10: 7-3

- Next Games: Fri. - 7:30PM @ ATL, Sat. - 7:30PM @ MIA, Tue. - 7:00PM @ WAS

7. Miami Heat 35-34

- Last 10: 6-4

- Next Games: Sat. - 7:30PM VS. CHA, Mon. - 7:30PM @ NJN, Thu. - 8:00PM @ CHI

8. Toronto Raptors 33-33

- Last 10: 2-8

- Next Games: Fri. - 7:00PM VS. OKC, Sat. - 7:30PM @ NJN, Mon. - 8:00PM @ MIN

9. Chicago 31-36

- Last 10: 1-9

- Next Games: Fri. - 7:00PM VS. CLE, Sat. - 6:00PM @ PHI, Mon. - 7:00PM VS. HOU

The Raptors can go 2-1 over the next three games. It looks like Miami will go 3-0 as Charlotte will be on the second game of a back-to-back. Charlotte can beat Atlanta without Joe Johnson and if they don't have enough steam to beat Miami they're only win would be Washington. If we're right they'll share 6th spot leaving the Raptors one game out. Chicago isn't much of a threat they could win against Philadelphia but that's it. If they get to 10 games below .500 they will get deleted off the list.

No Moral Victories Needed, Raptors Win

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:02:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well after a horrendous road trip the Raptors were looking for some home cooking. Mind you the opponents were the Atlanta Hawks who have never given the Raptors a shot at winning this season at all. The good news for Raptor fans was that Joe Johnson would not be able to play. No Joe = Raptors win 106-105.

The first quarter didn't start off to hot for the home team the Hawks got out to a quick 7-0 lead. Triano thankfully took a time-out and the Raptors got back into it. DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani got off to great starts scoring a combined 23 pts in the first quarter giving the Raptors a 30-25 lead. The Raptors looked good for most of the second quarter maintaining a decent lead up until there was 3:47 remaining and the Hawks hit 3 3's and got back into the game just before the half finished, Raptors up 59-56.

The Raptors slipped a little to start the third, Hawks hit some 3's and they took a 11 point lead 86-75 going into the fourth. It looked as though the Raptors might lose their 6th game in a row. However, 3:53 left Hawks up 101-92 Bargnani make a reverse lay-up, Crawford misses, Bargnani hits a 3 and before you can say Bargnani 5 times Raptors are down by 4, 97-101. Horford made a tough hook shot, Bosh hit 2 free throws, Smith took it to the hole and got blocked by Bargnani, Weems hit a hot and Crawford returned the favor Hawks still up 4, 101-105. Bosh missed a lay-up, Crawford missed a 3, Bosh hit a hook shot Raptors down 103-105 with 45 seconds left. Smith missed a lay-up and the Raptors got the ball back and Hedo drove but he only hit one free throw 104-105. He missed the second and Marvin Williams touched the ball out of bounds setting up the Raptors for final shot. Bosh had an iso against Al Horford and he put up a fade away jumper and hit it Raptors up 106-105! Crawford misses and Raptors win.

WHEW!

Game Info Link.

Why we Won

Aggressive play: taking it to the hole getting fouls. Playing some defense: they had 8 steals. Our centre rebounded.

Points to Mention

Raps
- Chris Bosh AND Andrea Bargnani had double doubles with 14 pts, 10 boards and 22 pts, 11 boards respectively
- DeMar DeRozan had a great game finishing with 19 pts
- 8 steals versus Hakws 2.

Hawks
- Jamal Crawford was on fire and he had 32 pts
- Al Horford had 18 pts and 14 boards
- 9 blocked shots to our 1 (Bargnani)

Prediction
As per this post, going into tonight's game the Raptors had 17 games left.Our prediction for tonight's game was a win.
Predictions: 1-0

Check out the game highlights below.

Injuries

Antoine Wright has a sprained ankle so he didn't play; not sure if he's going to be good to go against OKC.

Next Up

The Raptors play the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-25) on Friday Mar.19 @ 7pm.

Toronto Raptors Road Trip, 17 Left & Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Road Trip

So the Raptors were horrible on their most recent West Coast road trip going 0-4 losing to the Lakers, Sacramento, Golden State and Portland. I think the majority of us already know what happened; there really isn't much use going back and thinking about it. It was brutal. What did we learn? Well to be honest the team showed that for stretches this season they were underachievers. I mean that was some ugly basketball getting blown out by teams that just had no business blowing us out. We still suck at defense especially perimeter defense and we still have a hard time rebounding.

As a Raptor fans this isn't anything new, but don't you think that eventually a GM should address some of those needs? It's been a pattern of our team and it still continues......

17 Left

So we have 17 left I believe we can win 11 games. Well sorry we should win at least 10 games how the team actually performs? Well that's a different story.

Here's the rest of the games and I marked a W beside each game we should win.

Wed 17 vs Atlanta W (Joe Johnson is out)
Fri 19 vs Oklahoma City L
Sat 20 @ New Jersey W
Mon 22 @ Minnesota W
Wed 24 vs Utah L
Fri 26 vs Denver L
Sun 28 @ Miami W
Mon 29 @ Charlotte W
Wed 31 vs LA Clippers W
Sat 03 @ Philadelphia W
Sun 04 vs Golden State W
Tue 06 @ Cleveland L
Wed 07 vs Boston L
Fri 09 @ Atlanta L
Sun 11 vs Chicago W
Mon 12 @ Detroit W
Wed 14 vs New York W

So that will put us at 43-39 a far cry from the 50 wins Colangelo said we should win (man was that ever a stupid thing to say).

Now hey I could be wrong and we win more or lose more. But the reality is we should win 11.

Tonight

Raptors take on the Atlanta Hawks (43-23) tonight. So far this season the Hawks have crushed us. In our first meeting it was 146-115 in ATL. Our second meeting at home was a victory for the Hawks again 111-89.

They recently won against New Jersey, Detroit and Washington (teams they should beat). We got a shot tonight because Joe Johnson is out. It's still not going to be easy, they still have Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith and some vets.

Hopefully with the new line-up putting Jose back as starter will make a difference. I don't see how it will, I was really disappointed to hear that this was the change that Triano was going to make. If you haven't already read the article about what I think they should have done with the starting line-up you can read it here.

Warriors Came Out To Play, Raptors? Not So Much

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well the Raptors continued on their west coast road-trip on Saturday night against a depleted Golden State Warriors squad who are currently missing 7 players. (that's right 7 players, but they still had Corey Maggette, Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis). If you were looking for a game with absolutely no defense this was the game to watch. The Raptors continued their losing ways letting this won slip away after an early lead 124-112.

First quarter started like most would expect absolutely no defense with the teams running back and forth it was until Amir Johnson came in with 5 minutes to replace Bosh scoring 9 points and giving the Raptors a 35-25 lead. Raptors had an almost 3 minute stretch of no offense and allowed GSW right back into the game. This guy named Jose Calderon who's been playing decent just went on fire from beyond the arc going 3 for 3 and giving the Raptors a slight edge 60-56.

Then came the infamous third quarter where the Raptors have an extremely tough time producing. But we put up 25 points thanks to play primarily of Bosh and Calderon. Curry dropped 15 in the third and the Warriors scored 39 pts taking the lead into the fourth 97-85.

We tanked in the fourth and we dropped another game we should have won.

Game Info Link.

Why we Lost

Perimeter defense lack of effort offensively and defensively. Not playing as a team.

Points to Mention

Raps
- Chris Bosh finished with 24 pts and 11 boards
- Jose Calderon had 24 pts and 12 dimes
- DeMar DeRozan had a good game with 18 pts, without Amir Johnson's energy this would have been really embarrassing.
- Bosh pretty much blamed the players for their loss check it out below

Warriors
- Monta Ellis was bananas 31 pts and 4 boards
- Stephen Curry was unstoppable with 35 pts, 6 boards and 10 dimes
- Corey Maggette finsihed with 20 pts

Injuries

None.

Next Up

The Raptors play the Portland Trailblazers (40-28) tonight at 9pm.

10 Reasons To Switch Raptors Starters

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:01:00 +0000

So my last post was a pretty big rant over the effort and desire of the Raptors to be players instead of pretenders in the Eastern Conference. Well if it's broken your supposed to fix it right? Well sort of. The Raptors probably should shake-up the the starting line-up's but the replacements aren't necessarily that much better then the starters.

So our current starters are:

C - Andrea Bargnani
PF - Chris Bosh
SF - Hedo Turkoglu
SG - DeMar DeRozan
PG - Jarrett Jack

They've been doing alright but I think that there really needs to be some changes and that maybe the changes are too late and should have come at the beginning of the season. The changes I'd make:

C - Andrea Bargnani
PF - Chris Bosh
SF - Antoine Wright
SG - Sonny Weems
PG - Jarrett Jack

I have several reasons as to why I would go with this line-up as opposed to our current line-up.

1. We don't have a legitimate scorer off the bench (thus making it Hedo our offensive powerhouse).

2. First quarter should be used to establish our bigs offensively.

3. Allows Jack to get some dribble penetration and dump it off to a big if he can't finish.

4. Establishing post presence gives us opportunities for our abundance of jump shooters.

5. Defensively this is our best line-up and will get us off to our best start defensively which would help control the tempo of the game.

6. Why are we doing what we did to Bargs to DeMar? Wouldn't he be better off coming off the bench and playing against lesser talent?

7. I think starting Sonny would be better for the Raptors he has more experience and he is much better defensively the DeRozan. He does have experience guarding guys like JR Smith and Melo even if it was in practice you can see he is better then DeMar (at this time).

8. Starting Wright is for defense only which would allow Hedo to be this amazing "creator" we've been working for. He did start for a Dallas team and was a defensive role player which is what he should be now.

9. Maybe we need to put Marcus Banks into the rotation for some defense? Especially if we're going to play Jack and Calderon in the final minutes (still a mistake why is this still happening?).

10. The reason we could put Banks in would be to give Hedo some time to "create" by himself without Jack or Jose on the floor.

Is it too late? Probably is now.
I'm sure DeMar and Hedo wouldn't take too kindly to the changes but I'd rather come off the bench then lose my way out of the play-offs.

I'm usually a Triano supporter but IMO these were moves that should have been done much earlier. But it's never too late....but then again a team meeting was requested by the players to tell the coaches to "man-up". So it's probably not going to happen?

Kings Crush Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:38:00 +0000

Game Recap

In the second game of a back-to-back the Raptors took on the young and talented Sacramento Kings. The Raptors looked like they had taken control of the game after the first half. Then the Raptors took a nap during half-time and never woke up and we dropped another game.

I really wanted to do a game recap I really did. However, this game was atrocious. I've been debating putting up a post all day about the game. It isn't going to be the regular game recap or post game article. I'm not really going to talk about the game much so I got to give props to Tyreke Evans first career triple-double (photo Carl Costa).

We played so well the night before the Lakers and then we came out and played like this? Sure it was the second game of a back-to-back but the Kings played Monday night as well. Going into the fourth I thought that if there was some effort it still could have been won. But the effort, where was the EFFORT? Where was the DESIRE to win? The Raptors were already on the bus by the middle of the third it was just brutal.

Since All-Star break and CB4's nice performance there our Raptors have gone 3-8. So what happened? Well CB4 got injured and missed 8 games during that stretch we were 3-5. Not to mention Jose and Hedo were both injured as well. We have players but, it really shows you how lost we are without our All-Star.

So far on the road-trip we are 0-2 not the best way to start a West coast mini-swing especially when you have Golden State and Portland ahead. Two teams that have some extremely athletic wings that will cause s fits. Throw in the fact that those two games are back-to-backs you can almost automatically bet that we will lose in Portland. We can salvage (can we?) the trip with a win in Golden State but with Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis our guard play is going to have to be excellent.

So back to our play since the All-Sta break, since Bosh has been back the team seems to really be out of wack. We played Philly and they took us out no problem and then the Kings just blow us away? What's up with that? If we had won both of those games we would be 2 games above 7th and 8th place in the Eastern Conference. Instead, we're tied for 6th spot with the Bobcats and the Heat. The Bucks are now 5 games above .500. Looks we may have to settle for the 6th spot this season and we're going to play Orlando and get another first round exit.

PS that will mark the second time that former Raptors Vince Carter will advance to the second round AGAINST us.

End of rant. That is all.

Game Info Link.

Next Up

The Raptors play the Golden State Warriors (17-47) Saturday, March 13 at 10pm.

Bryant Bails Out Lakers In Win Over Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Game Recap

The Raptors took on the Los Angeles Lakers for the first game of their four game road trip. This was a tough game and it looked like the Raptors had a chance to win it. But the "Black Mamba" - Kobe Bryant struck again in the last seconds of the game giving the Lakers the edge 109-107.

Well from the start it looked like it was going to be a battle and it was. DeMar DeRozan got off to a great start for the Raptors and he had 9 pts n the first quarter. The Lakers went inside early and got some nice touches to Andrew Bynum he finished with 6 pts and Pau Gasol got to the line three times and he had 11 pts in the quarter. Lakers were up by 4 29-24 going into the second quarter. Everyone pitched in for the Lakers in the second quarter with Kobe leading the way with 6 pts. It was the Andrea Bargnani show in the second quarter he helped us stay in it and he had 13 pts including a nice dunk and a few 3-pointers. Raptors were up by 8 going into the half.

Both teams took it to the hole in the second half. Jarret Jack was on fire and he dropped 13 pts before getting taken out early according to most Raptors fans. Bynum got some great post position and finished with 11 in the quarter. The Lakers picked up 2 technical fouls once the quarter was over and the Jose Calderon knocked both of them down giving the Raptors a 5 point lead to start the fourth 86-81. The Lakers clawed there way back in the fourth and with 6 minutes remaining they tied the game 96-96 on a jumper by Kobe. With just under 2 minutes left the Raptors were down 104-100 when Hedo Turkoglu missed a shot and Jose went into the crowd to get the ball but a fan swiped at the ball. The Raptors fouled Odom and put him on the line where he hit one shot putting the Lakers up 107-104. After the time-out play Chris Bosh nailed a 3 and the Raptors tied it up. But the "Black Mamba" - Kobe struck again in the last seconds of the game giving the Lakers the edge 109-107.

Game Info Link.

Why we Lost

Interior defense and not using time management correctly. Plus the lack of a time-out with 1.9 seconds to go didn't give us an opportunity to tie the game up and send it to overtime. O yea, the Lakers got 14 more free throws then us that may have had something to do with it as well they took 44 free throws.

Points to Mention

Raps
- Bosh and Bargnani played strong they finished with 22 pts, 7 boards and 21 pts, 8 boards respectively.
- Jack came on strong 18 pts, 7 boards, 7 dimes
- Shot 9-22 from beyond the arc 40.9%

Lakers
- Kobe had 32 pts, 6 boards, 6 dimes
- The bigs for the Lakers were good as well Pau Gasol had 17 pts, 9 boards and Bynum had 22 pts, 6 boards
- Shot 36-44 from the free throw line shooting 81.8%

Check out the Raptors game in six minutes below

Injuries

Well it looks like the Raptors are finally healthy!

Next Up

The Raptors play the Sacramento Kings (21-43) today at ARCO Arena at 10pm EST.

Bosh In, 76ers Win

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:23:00 +0000

Game Recap

Chris Bosh finally returned to action today as the Raptors took on the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers really crashed the parade and the Raptors looked like they didn't get enough sleep falling 114-101.

This game was over in the first quarter it was a foreshadowing of what was to come. The 76ers took a big lead 22-9 with just under five minutes left in the quarter. The Raptors did tie it up just before the first quarter was over 24-24. We exchanged points for most of the second. The 76ers created some distance just before the half was over on a 11-4 run and took the lead 55-47.

For the rest of the night we just did not have the passion to win and it seemed like every time we went on a run they matched it. Our defense lost us the game 114-101.

Game Info Link.

Why we Lost

Well defense was really the main key once again. The 3-pointers really hurt us. Their athleticism is hard to match for this Raptors team. Slow out the gate and having to play catch-up are usually a loss.

Points to Mention

Raps
- Chris Bosh had 12 pts and 12 boards for his 34th double double of the season.
- Jarret Jack had 20 pts and 9 dimes
- Allowed 75% from beyond the arc, 76ers went 9-12.

76ers
- Thaddeus Young had a career high 32 pts, 5 boards and 2 assists.
- Rookie Jrue Holiday was impressive and he had 21 pts, 7 boards and 6 dimes
- Andre Iguodola had a good game as well 16 pts, 6 boards and 10 dimes

Check out the game in six minutes below.

Injuries

Hedo Turkoglu was out for the game his status against the Lakers is not known yet.

Next Up

The Raptors play the Los Angeles Lakers (46-18) on Tuesday at the Staples Centre at 10:30pm.

Hustle By The Huskies

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well heading into last night's game the Raptors (32-28) had lost four games in a row. If there was anytime to win it would be playing the New York Knicks (21-40) with some guy named T-Mac. Deemed a "Hardwood Classic" with the two first teams to ever play an NBA game the Raptors got out their Husky jerseys. It was a team victory last night and the Raptors hustle overcame the Knicks 102-96.

From the start of the first quarter you could tell that this was going to be a "Scrappy" game. Without our main man Chris Bosh in the line-up, David Lee had a great game (he usually does even if CB4 is there) he started off the first with 12 pts. The man who was guarding him Amir Johnson went right back at Lee and scored 8 pts of his own in the first. Raptors were up 31-24 after one quarter. The Knicks went on a 10-2 run to start the second and were up 34-33. Jose Calderon, Sonny Weems and Hedo Turkoglu all scored 6 pts a piece in the second and we were up by one 53-52 heading into the half.

The third quarter was back and forth with little defense and we came out on top up by one again 77-78. In the fourth the Raptors got a little bit of breathing room by starting the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run and that proved to be the difference in the end. Weems dropped 10 pts in the fourth and that Raptors finally got a win 102-96.

Game Info Link.

Why We Won

It really was all about hustle putting in the extra effort diving for balls boxing out stuff you won't see on the box score. It really was a team game with a great output from Hedo in limited minutes and the guard play was great (offensviely). We were aggressive offensively, it certainly wasn't our defense.

Points To Mention

Raps
- Season high 62 pts in the paint
- Career high for Sonny Weems with 20 pts and 9 boards
- Jose Calderon had 16 pts and 6 dimes off the bench

Knicks
- Raptors fans still booing t-Mac
- Wilson Chandler had 18 pts off the bench
- David Lee the Raptor killer had 23 pts and 18 boards.

You can catch the six minute highlights below.

Injuries

Hedo had to leave in the second half to have his ankle re-taped and did not return to action in the fourth quarter. Chris Bosh had recovered from his injury but had stomach issues and was sent to the hospital his status is also unknown.

Next Up

The Raptors play the Philadelphia 76ers (22-39) tomorrow at Air Canada Centre at 12pm and you can cath it coast to coast on CBC.

Rockets Blast Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well it was a back-to-back and it was on the road in the West so we pretty much should expect to lose right? Yea, I'll admit I expected us to lose but not get blown out again especially to a Houston Rockets (30-29) team that we have beaten already this season. Tough night for the Raptors (31-28) they lost 116-92.

I'm disgusted by the game, sure Jose Calderon was out and Hedo Turkoglu got injured in the first half but that's really not an excuse to get blown like we did. The Rockets started off the game well and never really looked back. Aaron Brooks was hot in the first quarter and he got his team off to 24-11 lead. Andrea Bargnani and Jarrett Jack kept us in it but we were still losing 37-28. We kept the game competitive for most of the first half except for the last final minutes where the Rockets went on a 13-2 run and finished the half 68-47.

Not much to discuss about in the second half they were all over us, another loss.

Game Info Link.

Why We Lost

Without Chris Bosh, Hedo and Jose on a back-to-back I would say our odds are pretty bad unless we were playing the Nets. We really missed the passing of Jose. Our defense again was pretty suspect. Kevin Martin is talented but him dropping 28 in a game like that is inexcusable.

Points To Mention

Raps
- Marcus Banks led us in scoring, let me repeat that; Marcus Banks lead us in scoring he had 15 pts, 3 boards, 4 dimes and 4 steals
- Our starters only scored 31 pts. (keep in mind Hedo did get injured)

Rockets
- Martin had 28 pts, 4 dimes
- Brooks was great and he had 28 pts as well as 5 boards and 7 dimes
- Their starters had 74 pts

If you like torture you can check out the game in six minutes below

Injuries

Chris Bosh (ankle) is still out I'm going to assume he's going to play on Friday even if he isn't 100%. Jose Calderon (elbow) is questionable as is Hedo (knee).

Next Up

The Raptors play the New York Knicks Friday, March 5 @ 7pm at MSG you can catch the game on TSN.

Thunder Crash Down on Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:03:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well the Raptors got blown out on their most recent road loss. The Oklahoma City Thunder made the Raps look like a Junior College playing in D1. The Thunder handed the Raptors their third loss in a row and their third loss without their All-Star Chris Bosh 119-99.

I'm not going to recap the game it was an extreme disappointment.

Game Info Link.

Why We Lost

Well I would say lack of kills really killed us in the first half. But that picked up after Jay Triano got a technical foul. Turnovers just killed us really sloppy ball. Other then that you could say that our defense was non-existent and our offense just was not aggressive enough at all (I'm noticing a trend when CB4 isn't playing in our losses). Just a horrible game.

Points to Mention

Raps
- No one is really worth mentioning our leading scorers had 14 pts a piece.

Thunder
- Kevin Durant killed as usual 29 pts, 6 boards, 1 dime
- Jeff Green had a great night 20pts, 6 boards, 3 dimes
- Russell Westbrook had a double-double 14 pts and 10 dimes

You can check out the highlights if you like below.

Injuries

CB4 is still injured and it looks like he is going to be out for tomorrow's game against Houston.

Next Up

The Raptors take on the Houston Rockets on Monday, March 1 @ 8:30pm.

Raptors Lose A Tough One At Home

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:47:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well the Toronto Raptors (31-25) had a tough challenge Friday night as they took on the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (46-14). It was a hard fought game and we took them to OT. We just didn't have enough juice, the Cavs took the victory 126-118 and handed the Raptors there first back-to-back loss in almost a month.

The first quarter was high energy and the Raptors matched up well against the Cavs. It wasn't until LeBron went down that the Cavs went on a run and were up by twelve at one point. The play of Jarrett Jack and Reggie Evans got us back in the game finishing the first quarter 33-30. The second quarter was back and forth basketball a lot of movement for both teams. Their certainly wasn't a shortage of scoring in this game and the teams finished up 60-60 at the half.

Man this was a great game close play again for the third and fourth quarters. With 3:21 left in the fourth the score was 105-98 and looked like the Cavs were going to pull away. But the Raptors came back Andrea Bargnani hit a shot then Hedo Turkoglu had a reverse lay-up we were down 105-102. Antoine Wright and LeBron exchanged hitting two free throws a piece, Raps still down 107-104. Hedo hit a big 3-pointer and then had a HUGE putback slam and the Raptors were up 109-107. LeBron drove the lane and got two points, Jack came right back and shot two big free throws to give the Raps the lead again 111-109 with 17.6 remaining. Lebron (notice a pattern here?) drove to the basket again and scored leaving us with the final shot and the score tied with 13 seconds left. Out of the time-out Hedo got the ball and well he put up a brick; time for OT!!!!

To start the overtime the Cavs hit 3 3-point shots and the game was out of reach for the Raptors.

Game Info Link.

Why We Lost

They had LeBron and we didn't have Chris Bosh. We played about as well as I could have expected. I thought the Raptors could hang with Cleveland but I just didn't think we could overtake them.

Points To Mention

Raps
- Bargnani had another great offensive night 24 pts but only 4 boards
- Jack had some big buckets for us he ended up with 24 pts, 3 boards, 3 dimes
- Hedo played well but his last shot in regulation could have won us the game he had 18 pts, 4 boards 2 dimes

Cavs
- LeBron had 36 pts, 6 boards and 9 dimes
- Antawn Jamison had 22 pts, 11 boards and 3 dimes
- Mo Williams hit some big 3's in OT and finished with 22 pts and 6 dimes.

Check out the highlights below.

Injuries

Chris Bosh missed his fourth consecutive game. It looks like he may miss Sunday's game too.

Next Up

The Raptors take on the Oklahoma City Thunder Sun., Feb,28 @ 7pm check it out on CBC in Canada and in the GTA you can listen in on the FAN 590. In the US you can check it out on FS Oklahoma HD or listen on the Thunder Radio Network.

Blazers Solidly Beat Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:46:00 +0000

Game Recap

Well the Portland Trailblazers (34-26) were in town and the Raptors (31-25) were looking to get 8 games above .500. The Blazers had different thoughts and kept the lead from the middle of the first and the Raptors never got close enough to win, losing 101-87.

Well to start the game it was going great, Hedo Turkoglu showed us why he had gotten his FAT contract. Unfortunately, only 5 minutes into the first quarter he picked up his second foul. This proved to be the turning point in the game as the Raptors never recovered after he left. We were done 32-24 after the first. In the second the Blazers went up by 17 pts but the Raptors went on a run and finished the half down 53-47.

Hedo continued his strong play in the third and the Raptors kept the game within reach. The Raptors got to within 1 point of the Blazers but could not keep the Blazers from scoring and were down 78-68. They tried to make a game of it in the fourth but it just wasn't in the books and the Raptors lost 101-87.

Game Info Link.

Why We Lost

Well poor bench play and poor play as a team. Again the wings torched us, Brandon Roy is a great player but he got a lot of nice looks tonight. We shot the ball poorly and outside of Hedo, Andrea Bargnani and Jarrett Jack the Raptors really didn't get a lot of firepower from the rest of the team. Hedo's second foul in the first quarter really hurt the team and who knows maybe if he didn't pick that up the Raptors could have had a chance to win. O yea and turnovers were a MAJOR issue.

Points to Mention

Raps
- Hedo was the man tonight finally showing us what he can do 24 pts, 4 boards, 3 dimes
- Jack played well finishing with 18 pts 8 dimes
- Our bench (6 players) only scored 24 pts

Blazers
- Roy had a good night finishing with 20 pts, 5 boards, 5 dimes
- Andre Miller had a double-double with 18 pts, 7 boards, 10 dimes.
- Blazers have won the last three games against the Raps and instead of the Raps being 8 games above .500 the Blazers are.

Check out the Raptors Game In Six Minutes below

Injuries

Well our main man CB4 is still out on injury. It seems like the main reasoning is to ensure that he's absolutely good to go when he comes back from it. Not having a practice in before a game usually means players won't play. He is still questionable for Friday.

Next Up

The Raptors take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7pm on Friday you can catch the game on TSN2.

Raptors Top 5

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:39:00 +0000

Going to try and do something a little different and introduce a regular post to the blog it's going to be "Raptors Top 5" and will include the top 5 or worst 5 in different categories.

Top 5 PG in Raptors History

Well folks here it is the list of the top 5 point guard's in Raptors history.

1. Damon Stoudamire

Came to Raptors: Via Draft 7th pick in the 1st Round - Univerity of
Arizona

Total Games Played (As a Raptor): 271

Where is he now?: Assistant Coach of the Memphis Grizzles

First round pick, first Raptor Nike ad, first NBA Rookie of the Year, first 20 ppg scorer. Damon was the man in the Tdot! He brought great energy to the game and was a real game changer. He was our first star. As a Raptor he averaged 40.8 min., 18.9 pts, 8.6 dimes, 4.2 boards, 1.5 steals, .2 blocks and 3.4 turnovers. Then in Feb. 1998 he was traded and was no longer the man. He wanted to go since Isiah the Raptor killer was out of office. Little did he know that the best years for the Raptors and the best GM Glen Grunwald followed after he left. He had one good year with the Blazers and then he became a slightly above average player.

2. Alvin Williams

   Came to Raptors: Blazers Via Trade - Blazers sent Kenny Anderson,
   Alvin Williams, Gary Trent, two first-round draft choices, a second-round
   draft choice and cash. Raptors sent Damon Stoudamire, Walt
   Williams, Carlos Rogers

Total Games Played (As a Raptor): 417

Where is he now?: Assistant Coach of the Toronto Raptors

When he first came to the Raptors he was seen as a bonus trade chip with Anderson but when he didn't report the Raptors traded him and picked up Dee Brown and Chauncey. He was part of the rotation and after a few seasons he became the clear cut starter. He was big in the fourth quarter but seemed to shy away from the spotlight. He was a big part of our first play-off victory against the Kinicks. As a Raptor he averaged 23.8 min., 7.3 pts, 3.3 dimes, 2.4 boards, 1 steals, .2 blocks and 1.9 turnovers. Unfortunately, Williams had some sertious knee issues in the last few years he played. Some speculate he cut his career short to help keep the Raptors maintain some stability in the his last few seasons with the team.

3. Jose Calderon

Came to Raptors: Via Free Agency - Tau Ceramica, Spanish League

Total Games Played (As a Raptor): 333

Where is he now?: Playing for the Raptors

Convincing Jose to move across the water was probably one of the only good moves Rob Babcock ever made. He started his career coming off the bench and he was a serviceable back-up. T.J. Ford was traded for Charlie Villanueva and Calderon continued to come off the bench. He started a PG controversy as Ford got injured and Jose played great. It was clear that Jose would come off of the bench and Ford would not. Raptors resigned Jose and dealt Ford to the Pacers for Jermaine O'Neal. Jose is known for his amazing shooting, his assiost-to-turnover ratio and for not playing very good D. As a Raptor he averaged 27.3 min., 9.8 pts, 6.6 dimes, 2.4 boards, .9 steals, .1 blocks and 1.6 turnovers.

4. T.J. Ford

   Came to Raptors: Via Trade - Pacers sent Jermaine O'Neal and the
   41st pick Nathan Jawai. Raptors sent Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo
   Baston and the 17th pick Roy Hibbert.

Total Games Played (As a Raptor): 126

Where is he now?: Playing for the Pacers

This guy had 2 speeds a light jog and lightning running. He's a decent shooter, great at getting in the lane and could play some decent defense. T.J., T.J., T.J. you had a good thing going in the Tdot but you couldn't be a team player and that was a problem. The other half of the PG controversy T.J. made it clear he was the Raptors starting man and had no desire to come off the bench. His other big knock was the issues with his injuries. As a Raptor he averaged 26.7 min., 13.1 pts, 7 dimes, 2.6 boards, 1.2 steals, .05 blocks and 2.6 turnovers.

5. Your call! Leave your comments and let me know who you think the 5th best Raptor PG is. Jarrett Jack? Dee Brown? Mugsy Bogues? Chauncey Billups?

All stats taken from http://www.basketball-reference.com/

Bargnani's Big Blocks Seal The Deal

noreply@blogger.com (TdotHuskies) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:09:00 +0000

Game Recap

The Raptors (31-24) took on the Washington Wizards (19-34) Saturday Night on CBC and it was dubbed as "Basketball Night In Canada" and it even had Coach's Corner with the Coach Jack Armstrong. It was a scrappy game and the Raptors took it in the last seconds of the fourth 109-104.

It was Josh Howard vs Andrea Bargnani in the 1st quarter. Both were hot early on and they both finished with 11 pts to finish the 1st. The Raptors led by 34-32 to start the 2nd quarter. With 4:03 left in the 2nd the Raptors went on a run 15-8 run. The run was capped off by a nice take by Jarret Jack he didn't finish but he go to the line and put both of them in to give the Raptors a 64-57 lead.

The Wizards got back into the game in the 2nd half Andray Blatche had 14 pts in the 3rd quarter. Hedo Turkoglu got into a groove and dropped 9 and kept the Raptors in it but they trailed 88-85 going into the 4th quarter. The Wizards went on a 7-0 and were up 95-85. Jack hit a big 3 with 5:09 to go in the game. Bargnani had 2 big blocks to seal the deal and the Raptors came from behind to get the W on free throws 109-104.

Game Info Link.

Why we Won

It really came down to the play of Jack and our 4th quarter defense. He scored 9 pts in the last 5 minutes of the game. During those same 5 minutes the defense allowed us to go on a 18-4 run to finish the game.

Points to Mention

Raps

- Jack had 23 pts, 8 dimes, 4 boards
- Antoine Wright was big off the bench with 19 pts, 4 boards, 2 dimes and 2 steals
- Hedo had 16 pts, 6 boards and 5 dimes

Wiz

- Blatche had 24 pts, 6 boards and 3 dimes
- Howard had 17 pts, 7 boards and 5 dimes

Check out the highlights below.

Injuries

Chris Bosh was injured for the second straight game. Rumours are that he will play on Wednesday against Portland but there is no official word yet.

Next Up

The Raptors take on the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday Feb. 24 @ 7pm on the Score.