If the last few games is any indication of this teams potential there are a few things becoming clear:

1) Chris Bosh will NOT be returning, 2) Hedo Turkoglu may have been one of the worst signing in this teams history, 3) the playoffs will not last long for Raps fans (if they hang on to make it), 4) this team is no way near becoming an elite team.

That’s just a few of my gripes (can you tell I’m annoyed?). Let’s work backwards from last nights game.

March 10 Toronto @ Sacramento- classic let down game for Toronto. The high of playing well the night before didn’t continue into this game. Decent 1st half but as usual then came the 3rd meltdown. This time on an all new level. Out scored 43-23 by the SACRAMENTO KINGS!!!! Wow!! Not much else you can say to describe that.

March 9 Toronto @ L.A. Lakers- A gritty performance in a tough building to play in. This might sound like homer-ism but this was exactly the reason why most fans in the NBA hate the Lakers. What an atrociously called game by the officials. There was a great play from Antoine Wright where he kept his arms straight up but got called for a foul against Kobe. Then Bosh played great D on Kobe and was called for a foul, in both cases Kobe got the shot off and only when it bounced around and didn’t fall did the refs blow the whistle. Embarrassing NBA bias towards Kobe continues!

March 7 Philly @ Toronto- Raps lose an easily winnable game against the lowly 76ers. The worst part of this game? Toronto is trailing 114-99 with about 20 seconds to go when Jarrett Jack hits a useless layup to put the Raps on 101 points and the place goes nuts. Why? Because when Toronto scores 100points or more fans in the arena can take their ticket stub and pick up a free slice of pizza the next day. Who cares? They just lost by 13 to a terrible team at home! People should be pissed off!

March 5 New York @ Toronto- I went to this game and was annoyed. Not by the team but by stupid Raptor fans. Why? Fans are still booing Tracey McGrady. T-Mac left 10 years ago!!! Get over it! After the game a guy came up to me at a bar and said at least they beat T-Mac. I said I like T-Mac and applauded him while he was on the free-throw line. He seemed baffled by this and asked why? I replied he played well for us, put us on the map, got us to the play-offs and played out his contract never asking for a trade, to which he said true.

Time for Raps fans to get logical! Well at least I feel better now…..at least until Saturday night!

Toronto lost a heart breaker in O.T. last Wednesday to the Memphis Grizzlies. They then rebounded with wins over basement dwellers New Jersey Nets and the Washington Wizards. While the wins are nice there has been something bothering me about this team for a little while that no one seems to be talking about.

I'm of course talking about this teams inability to put teams away, and even more specifically a lack of energy in the 3rd quarter. A prime example of this is Saturday nights game against the high school team formerly known as the Washington Wizards. Toronto went into the half with a 64-57 point lead. Then came the usual 3rd quarter meltdown where they got outscored 31-21 and trailed 88-85 going into the 4th.

Thankfully the Raps ended up pulling out a 109-104 victory but the bigger issue is if this team continues to take the 3rd quarter off in games against some real teams they will get killed! Again right now with the weak schedule Toronto has enjoyed has allowed this lack of consistency to go largely unnoticed but with some big games against some good teams coming up it will have to be something they find a solution to.

Wednesday I will be at the Air Canada Centre to watch the Raps/Blazers game live in person and hope to see something encouraging against a good Blazers team that has been killed by injuries this year.

Here's hoping we get 4 quarters of solid play, something we haven't seen a whole lot of yet this season.

 Wow what a game! That was all I could say after arguably the most entertaining Raptors game in years against the Lakers on Sunday. This wasn't a great game because the Raptors won, it was great because it was back and forth the entire way and the ACC was loud and boisterous.

Imagine that? A great crowd at a basketball game in Toronto!!!! Something that happens far less than it should especially when you consider the alternative is one of the worst teams in the NHL. What made it even sweeter is the fact that a good portion of the crowd was Laker fans or should I say Kobe fans. Something tells me most of them weren't from LA, and they're probably also fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Yankees and New England Patriots! 

But enough about the front runners, Toronto played well on the offensive side of things which they usually do but they also came up wth big stops when they needed to. Hedo Turkoglu hit 2 clutch free trows which was nice to see considering how bad his season has been so far. Bargniani shot too many 3 pointer for my liking but late in the game drove to the hoop got fouled, made the basket and hit the free throw to trim it from a 4 point Laker lead to a 1 point lead. This is what you like to see from him and hope he will continue to do more of this in the future.

Great game and hopefully they will be able to bring the momentum from that game into tonights game against the Miami Heat. They will need the crowd to be as loud and electric as they were on Sunday, especially as it looks as though DeMar DeRozan will miss the game after spraining his ankle at practise yesterday.

This game is a very important game for the Raps because as of right now they trail Miami by a 1/2 game for the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight's game will have a playoff feel on the court, hopefully the crowd will match that intensity and drama. But don't be surprised if those Kobe fans changed jersey and are now wearing D Wade jerseys.

So Raptor fans at the game put down the sushi, pick up a beer and show the world why Toronto is 15-6 at home!!!!

 There has been a lot of rumors swirling around the Raps lately. The most obvious one is regarding Chris Bosh. The two trades I've heard about are regarding the Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers. The trade from the Bulls would involve Kirk Hinrich and Ty Thomas for Bosh. Obviously this would lead to moving one of the guards as T.O. would have too many.

The other trade is with the Lakers would have Bosh going to L.A. with Andrew Bynum as the main piece coming back. This one probably makes more sense for Toronto as it would give the Raptors a potential franchise center. The scary thing with this deal would be how good the Lakers would be and how many championships they could build IF they could re-sign Bosh, which they would have a shot at given the fact they could offer him more money and a longer contract because they would own his Bird rights.

The other option for Toronto is to keep him and hope you can re-sign him in the off-season. Is this likely? No. As much as I want Bosh to stay in Toronto, if you can't get him to agree to a contract before the trade deadline you have to move him. You can't allow him to walk away and get nothing for him ala Tracey McGrady.

Finally another trade option out there would be to move Jose Calderon. The reason I say this is because of the play of Jarrett Jack has made Calderon expendable. One rumour has Jose being moved to Sacramento for Kevin Martin, which would be great for the offense and terrible for the D (although it's not as tho Calderon is the best defender).

Either way the Raps have to do something at the deadline because as it stands this team will make the playoffs but WON'T make it out of the first round. They desperately need someone to play SG while DeMar DeRozan continues to grow and learn the NBA game. 

Should be an interesting trade deadline but don't be shocked if CB4 is wearing a different jersey in March! 

Well it's been a while since I posted a blog about the Toronto Raptors and a lot has happened but in the end nothing has changed. Make sense? It will.

What we've learned about this team after 30 games is that its' strengths and weaknesses are the same as they were last year. The team scores a lot and when they're hitting their jumpers it's a fun team to watch and a dangerous team to play against. Having said that (Curb Your Enthusiasm joke) when the Raps shooters go cold they go ice cold and get killed.

The D is awful and painful to watch as every team pulls down offensive boards one after the other. They lack grit and a mean spirit that hasn't been around since Charles Oakley's brief stint in T.O. And again a lack of solid game plan and poor coaching has reared its ugly head. Jay Triano although one of the nicer personalities in the league is clearly not the right fit for this team and I don't care what anyone says he WAS given the job because he's Canadian.

But ultimately some blame has to fall on the creator GM Bryan Colangelo. He has built a team similar to the one he left behind in Phoenix with one exception. The Suns have far m ore talent than this team does. It's clear the Raptors are no where near being one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference and this fact is thrown into our faces every time they compete with one of those top teams.

Oh and for all those people who are waiting for the savior Reggie Evans to come in and save this D…….give your heads a shake. He'll be coming off the bench and should improve the second units D but won't change the fact that this team is soft. Enjoy these last few months with Chris Bosh because I would expect he will be heading south with a new contract this summer. I mean why would he want to stay with a team that has made no significant improvement?

Oh well thankfully the East is so weak the Raps 13-17 record has them sitting in 7th place, a win percentage of .433 which in the West would have Toronto sitting in 13th place!

Toronto is averaging 103.8 points per game but are also giving up an average of 107.6 points per game.

Some things never change.

The season is 3 games old and Raptor fans have already been on a roller coaster of emotions.

Take game 1 for starters. The season opened up at home with a visit from LeBron and Shaq. This was a game many (and let's be serious almost everyone) thought the Raptors would lose. Instead the Raptors shot the ball really well, which everyone expected but bigger than that they played DEFENSE! And walked away from the game with a 1-0 record.

Next came game 2 on Friday night in Memphis vs. the Grizzlies. This was a game when you looked at the schedule to start the year sandwiched between games against the Cavs and the Orlando Magic you'd think this is the game the Raps will win. WRONG! Plenty of offense which won't be a problem this year. but no D means Toronto leaves Memphis with their tales between their legs after being handed a 115-107 loss from a team that could only score 74 points two nights before. The only bright spot was Chris Bosh's play. 37 points and 12 boards.

That birngs things back to the Air Canada Center Sunday afternoon and a date with the Orlando Magic. Keep in mind that this is a team that was missing Vince Carter due to injury (surprise surprise) and Rashad Lewis due to suspension. And instead of trying to make the Magic put the ball inside to Howard, the Raptors were allowing Orlando to try and beat them from the outside. Which they did. Easily. J.J. Redick, Jameer Nelson and Ryan Anderson all had five 3-pointers a piece. How in the world does Nelson have 30, Anderson get 20 and J.J. Redick drops 27?!?! oh wait terrible terrible D!

The season is still very young but if Toronto can't figure out a way to play some consistent D and soon, this season could go down the drain in a hurry.

Wow what a summer so far for the Toronto Raptors! Seven new faces have been added to this Raps team. Although if you wanna get technical Rasho Nesterovic is returning after a year in Indiana.

The off season began with the trade of Jason Kapono for Reggie Evans. Not a whole to this trade but it is a good trade for both teams. The Raps get a player that makes them much tougher. He will mix it up and fight for rebounds. Exactly what is needed. The Sixers get a great 3 point shooter which they haven't had since Kyle Korver. Good trade for both teams.

Next was the selection of DeMar DeRozan in the draft back in June. Easily the miost athletic player available in the draft I'm excited for when this guy finds his NBA legs. Don't expect too much too early from this kid. Let him develop at his own pace. He was ranked as the 5th best rookie in summer league which is a good sign but let's not read too much into that just yet. But if he works out it will make for a dangerous back court with DeRozan and Calderon for years to come.

Next up was the re-signing of center Andrea Bargnani. He got a 5 year deal worth $10 million per season. I've been thinking about this since it happened. And truthfully I'm not sure how I feel about it. Has his play warrented this kind of a raise? Probably not, but has he shown some potential to make you want to keep him around for a few more seasons to see if he can reach his potential? Probably.

Then the complicated sign and trade sending Shawn Marion to Dallas and Hedo Turkoglu coming north and signing him away from Portland. Which is a big kudos to the city of Toronto. Along with Hedo the Raptors also received Antoine Wright and Devin George.

Toronto then went out and signed Jarrett Jack from Indiana to a 4 year deal worth $20 million. Another good signing. Jack can play the point or shooting guard positions. And if Calderon gets hurt this season Jack can step in and take over. Oh and he once played college basketball with a guy named Chris Bosh. So is this signing based purely on his skills probably not. I think it's also a show of good will towards Bosh to try and get him to stay.

Wow I'm getting tired but we're almost there. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo traded Devin George (from the Dallas deal) to Golden State and got in return Marco Belinelli, which is a guy he coveted and tried to get him in the draft. A guy that can create his own shot, shoot a good 3 ball but has questions about his heart. Hence why the Warriors got rid of him. Hopefully he works out.

Colangelo also signed Rasho Nesterovic for next to nothing. A good pick up as he loves this city and will be a good big to come off the bench. And finally rumour has it the Raps are still try to bring Carlos Delfino back from Russia. We'll see how much money they have left to do this.

Overal Colangelo gets an A for completly changing the dynamics of this squad. The team was terrible last year and he didn't stand pat. Now whether it works or not only time will tell but at least they should be more fun to watch.

My hopes: this team should be in the top 5 of the Eastern Conference. They aren't on the same page as the Cavs, Magic or Celtics but could find themselves in the 4th or 5th spot.