Andrea bargnani booed back to Toronto

Andrea bargnani was booed when he was introduced as the first Knick in their opening lineup and every time he touched the ball and scored a point or even got a rebound. He was booed when he left the game or came back into the game and even when he picked up a foul he was booed. The only time he was laughed at / cheered is when he was dropped on his wallet or when he had a Raptor school him off the bounce. It is silly that booing guys who once wear a Toronto on his stomach gets booed especially in Bargnani's case where nobody would be brave enough to say they wanted wearing a Raptors Jersey it would be like a Nickelback fan as they would be hiding in the closet. The Raptors schooling Bargnani and the Knicks 115-100 was not about only booing Andrea it was also welcoming the Raptors back to the city after a shocking 3-1 road trip where they smacked the Mavs and OKC in the mouth and walked out the victor and the crowd was on fire and loved the D effort and loved the way the Raps shared the ball 23 times and were loud with lets go Raptors chants and D-fence chants all game long. Kyle Lowry fell 2 boards away from a triple-double (32 points, 11 assists, and 8 boards) while Terrance Ross put up 23 points including 7 of the 15 Raps from beyond the arc. DeMar DeRozan added 20 points as well even though he started slowly but ended up 6 of 7 from the line Jonas Valanciunas took control of the boards 10 helping the Raps out board the Knicks 45-37. The Raps swept the Knicks away as last night the Raptors went into MSG last night and were down 11 right after halftime and came back to win 95-83 with the Knicks being booed off the court at the end of the game and it was Jonas Valanciunas who took down 18 boards to go along with 16 points that bettered Bargnani's 12 boards but he did have a team leading 18 points. DeMar DeRozan put up 25 points on only 13 shot attempt and went 9 of 14 having trouble shaking off the Christmas hangover just like Kyle Lowry 5 of 8 from the line after only missing one free throw coming in and still had a double-double with 15 points and 11 of the Raptors 21 assists. The Raptors taught the Knicks in back-to-back nights as they had 95 boards to 79 for the Knicks and did not have anything early in the game at MSG and showed that they could battle through their problems and because of their strong D was able to hang around and beat the less defensive Knicks in the end which is not their style which is refreshing to see. The Raptors started the week in San Antonio and lost to the Spurs 112-99 and it was a tough battle and was decided by 13 turnover especially early in the game and the Spurs went into the offensive paint and took down 16 boards on the offensive board and took down 10 more boards (50-40) lead by Tim Duncan with 12 and Leonard with 10. Tony Parker lead with 25 point and Marc Ginobili who had 19 points. The Raps were in it down 6 (78-72) after three quarters but the Spurs controlled the fourth quarter 34-27 which is the worst fourth quarter since the Rudy Gay trade but Kyle Lowry and Terrance Ross put up 23 points each in a very tough loss. Raptors continued a great total game Tom Mehegan

Raptors beat Mavericks and Thunder on the road

The Raptors actually went on a road trip with the first two stops being Dallas to take on the Mavs and OKC to take on the defeated at home Thunder and one both games. The road trip did not start well on Friday as the Mavs just went to town inside against the Raptors getting out to a huge 41-22 lead only 3 and a half minutes into the second quarter. Then the Raptors got on the same page and went to work against the older but way more talented Mavs as they went on a 27-8 run that lasted almost eight minutes to tie it at 49 but the Mavericks Monta Ellis hit a bucket with just less than 24 seconds and was fouled and hit hiss free throw to put the Mavs up 3. Usually the Raptors fall asleep at halftime and do not recover but they shared the ball more in the third quarter as they had 5 assists in the quarter compared to 7 all the first half and broke even as the Mavs still lead by three (81-78) going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth the Raptors took a three point lead with 2 and a half minutes left in the game but the Mavs battled back with a 6-1 run to go up 101-99 and the Raptors had final shot DeMar DeRozan found an easy shot and took it early in the shot clock and hit it and left 16 seconds on the clock in a tie ball game for the veteran Mavs to win the game but Brandan Wright missed a buzzer beater. It went to overtime and the Raptors had a 109-108 lead with 11 seconds left in overtime and Monta Ellis took a game winning shot but missed and the Raptors chased after the Rebound and all fell on the baseline in celebration in their second win in Dallas in 15 tries. The Raptors were lead by Kyle Lowry who had 20 points and Jonas Valanciunas who had 18 points while Terrance Ross, Amir Johnson, and DeMar DeRozan had 15 each while Greivis Vasquez had 14 off the bench. DeMar DeRozan who had a tough night shooting (6 of 18) really showed maturity by getting 9 of the Raptors 17 assists and took down 7 boards and the Raps 32 defensive boards meant a lot of one and done for the Mavs. Sunday the Raptors went into OKC and took a 62-56 lead to halftime and did fall asleep as Durant and Westbrook outscored the Raptors 21-13 in the third and the Thunder went on a 28-13 third quarter to take a 9 lead to the fourth quarter (84-75). The Thunder and their perfect home record looked to be on ice as they traded baskets to start the fourth but the Raptors ended the last 10 and a half minutes on a 27-11 run lead by John Salmons who had of his 14 off the bench in the fourth quarter to take the game 104-98. Kyle Lowry had a big part of the lead in the first half with 17 of his team leading 22 points but it was the Thunder shooting less than 37% from the floor but they shot 35 of 36 from the line. Raptors shot just less 40% from the floor and had a lot less free throws (24 of 29) but did have more assists (22-17) and less turnovers (13-19). The Raptors beat mavs and OKC on the road after losing to the Bobcats at home Tom Mehegan

Raptors trusting each other after Rudy leaves

It took 5 days to get the new pieces into the city but when Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, and John Salmons finally dressed against the Sixers on Friday and the Raps set a season high in assists with 24 in a 108-100 victory. Terrene Ross feels comfortable in the starting lineup as he went 10 of 16 for 24 points included 4 of 7 from beyond the line while Amar Johnson is shooting over 70% from the floor since Tyler Hansbrough got injured and Amar got back into starting lineup and took higher % shots including 8 for 11 from the floor (17 points) to go with 10 boards. DeMar DeRozan lead the team with 27 points and Jonas Valanciunas ;ead the team with 13 boards and Kyle Lowery had more assists (11) than shots taken (9) to help even though he had a tough shooting night (2 of 9 from the floor). The Raptors set the pace by making 12 assists in the first 12 minutes and had 24 assists on 39 made field goals as the Raps really control the game as they shot 47.6% and when the Sixers got it close the Raps went on a run and it looked like they listened to Casey and stuck to the game plan. The next night the Raptors went to Chicago and took on the struggling Bulls and just continued the same game plan and just like against the Sixers the night before they bent but did not allow the Bulls to take over the game as every time they got it close the Raps pulled away and really kept the crowd quiet and won by 22 (99-77). They even set a new season high in assists with 26 and kept the turnover low (11) and Amar Johnson was not as hot as he had been (6 for 11) but still had 14 points and 8 boards and was one of the four Raps with double digits in points as did Jonas who had 15 points to go with 11 boards. Kyle Lowery lead the team with 16 points and was tied in assists with Greivis Vasquez (both had 6) while DeMar had 15 points and both went 7 of 14 from the floor. The Raps also set a season high in blocked shots with 11 and 13 Raptor players saw the floor and 9 of them played over 14 minutes and they are really playing like a team since Rudy Gay was sent to Sacramento and The Raps (9-13) again are in the mix in the Titanic division lead picture only a half game behind the Celtics (11-14). If the Raps stop putting up over 20 threes a game they would be even better Tom Mehegan

Rudy Gay Trade is a step in a better direction for the Raptors

Rudy Gay less than a year in Toronto had some great finishes but more hero ball forgetting about his teammates and created a culture of just looking to break down his opponent and not pass the ball which kept the Raps at the bottom of the league in assists and made it easy to stop them. The best part of the deal is that the Raps get flexibility under the cap and whatever Masai Ujiri does with the cap room will be make or breaks the deal. Grevis Vasquez who is coming to Toronto from Sacramento Kings is more a pass first and shoot second and will hopefully be a great backup to Kyle Lowery and if Lowery not able to find the ability to pass the ball to his teammates he will find his butt on the bench and Grevis Vasquez would become the starter. Chuck Hayes who is also coming will hopefully bring in more of the toughness that the injured Tyler Hansbrough has brought to the Raps when he finds the court. John Salmons was one of first contracts that Brian Colangelo in 06 when he came in and Salmons decided to refused the contract and went to the Kings and then bounced around the league and then there is Patrick Patterson who was a lottery pick in 2010 and Colangelo thought of picking him before Ed Davis fell into his lap. The Raps let go of Rudy Gay and his max contract along with Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy who do not have a full-time roll with Rapstors team. If the Raptors can bring the 72 paint points and 19-11 assist to turnovers that they used for their first win over Lakers in LA in 13 years this could help the raps in the TITANIC division but if they keep living and dying by the three ball nothing will change (26 three balls vs Lakers and it was more than that). I believe in Masai Tom Mehegan

Raptors need to play a lot harder at home

Toronto Raptors need to own their home court if these guys want to make the playoffs and a 0-3 week with all the games but if they want to win they diffidently could as the Atlantic division is now the titanic division. The Raptors on Tuesday with like four days off before hosting the injured Brooklyn Nets and lost 102-100 with Amir Johnson taken a three at the buzzer and missed it but there no excuse for the Raptors to be down 15 as late as 3 and a half minutes and outscored the Nets 14-1. They should of shown up a lot earlier in the game and would of won in a laugher and made it a bigger lead in the division and it was DeMar DeRozan (27 points, 9 of 15) and Kyle Lowery (24 points, 8 of 15) had 52 of the Raptors 100 points while taken 30 shots while the rest of the team took 48 shots to make the same 17 field goals. On Friday the Raptors faced the heat and they were completely out classed by the heat as they stepped in front of the Raptors and getting into the passing lane creating most of 17 turnovers and the 10 steals in the first three quarters of the game as they down 78-70 after three. They were down 20 (74-54) with 5 minutes left in the quarter and went on a 16-4 run to end the quarter down only 8 (78-70) and got it to two points (83-81) with 4:40 left and Lebron Raymond James outscored the Raptors 7-2 the rest of the game as the Raps did not make a field goal in the last 4:40 of the game as they lost 90-83. Kyle Lowery was shell shocked by facing the heat as he turnover the ball 7 times in the game and it showed on his face as DeMar had to take him aside and com him down in the third quarter as the heat were reading mail. On Sunday they faced the Denver Nuggets and got out to a huge lead 27-12 and DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points and the Raptors made 7 of their first 9 shots all with just less than 4 minutes left in the first quarter and then the Nuggets showed up and went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to 6 (31-25) after the first quarter. The Nuggets outscored the Raptors by 20 points (87-67) in the last three quarters as their bench outscored the Raps bench 72-16 as the Raps shot 28 of 78 after starting 7 of 9. The downslide started when Dwayne Casey went to the bench as Terrance Ross (10 points) and Steve Novak (6 points) were the only scorers off the bench even Amir Johnson who came off the bench had only 3 boards in 14 minutes. Even when the starters came back in it was just was not the same as Jonas Valanciunas had moat efficient shooting day as he went 8 of 16 from the floor (18 points and 11 boards). The Nuggets off the bench Nate Robinson had 23 points, Timofey Mozgov had 14 points and 15 boards, and Darrell Arthur was perfect from the field (7 of 7 ) for 14 points. So the Raptors are 3 and 6 (.333) and they are need to punch the opponents in the mouth and early and often like the teams in the league Pacers (9-0), Bulls (5-0),Heat (9-1), Portland (6-1), Clippers (8-2), and OKC (9-0) and none of these team lie down and let teams come into their own building unlike the Raptors do on regular basis. Raptors head into the mile high city with Nuggets (6-2) as they go party all the way with the Nuggets as they complete in the second half of a home and home series Tom Mehegan

Raptors matching up to their opponents abilities and lead the Atlantic Division

The Raptors are leading the Atlantic Division with a very soft 6 and 7 record and played two games between November 18-24 won both games and actually were sharing the Rock and are respectably 3 and 4 on the road and a not positive 3 and 3 at home, So Wednesday The Raptors went to Kyle Lowry's hometown of Philadelphia for a showdown for first place in the Atlantic division against the Sixers and won 108-98 and really put away with back-to-back 3-balls from Terrence Ross and Steve Novak respectively in the last 40 seconds to build a 87-77 to a 93-77 (16-point lead). The Raptors burned the Sixers by going 14 of 29 beyond the arc and it all thanks to care is sharing approach as they had season-high 24 assists which is a good start for the assist team in the NBA. The Raptors had an incredible 2.4 to 1 assist to turnovers ratio (24 assists to only 10 turnovers) and 24 assists on 36 made field goal and were lead the hometown kid Kyle Lowry who had 10 assists to only two turnovers to go with 13 points. Rudy Gay had 8 assists and had 18 points (6 of 16 from the floor) but it was DeMar DeRozan who stole the show with 33 points which the third 30-plus point performance on the season helped by getting 12 free throws and making 10 of them and was 10 of 19 from the floor. Terrence Ross had a good game of the bench with 12 points. If the Raps rely on the three ball as much as they are right now they struggle so I hope when needed they change their approach to fit what works as they really need to be two or three dimensional team to stay on top of the Atlantic. Friday night the Raptors came back home to the ACC and evened their home record at 3-3 with a battling victory 96-88 over rhe Washington Wizards with help of a sick Rudy Gay put up 11 points in the fourth quarter and had the Raptors last 9 points in the last two and a half minutes to put the game out of reach with a 9-4 run. The second half was a run away train named John Wall who had 30 of his 37 points in the second half and saving grace for the Raps was that the Raps bench outscored the Wizards bench 25-9 lead by another 11 points by Terrence Ross. The Raps starters all had double-digits in points lead by Rudy and DeMar's 17 each and Kyle had 12 points to go with 9 assists compared to only 3 turnovers (3-to-1) while the team had another 22 assists on 37 made field goals(55%) compared to 14 turnovers. Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards as the Raps out boarded the Wizards 46-39 and the Raptors outscored the Wizards 17-3 to battle back down 6 to up 8. So this a game that ended the Raps season last season on a Monday night after doing a Harlem Shake video that sent them in a huge tailspin that put them out of the playoff picture so it was nice to see them beat a weaker opponent instead of felling sorry for them and letting them win the game. On top of the world Tom Mehegan

Raptors are selfish group of players

Raptors came into the week 3-4 and then laid 3 pretty bad loses and they decided to get the only win against the Grizzles a team that scorned Rudy Gay by trading him north. In Houston to play the Rockets they went down 11 points in the second quarter as the Rockets reeled off 11 straight points as they tied at 20 with 2 minutes left in the first quarter and when 3 minutes into the second quarter DeRozan got a layup to cut it to 31-22 it 5 minutes of not even getting to the line. By the end of the half it was back up to 14 points and four minutes into the third quarter and the Raps fought back to 9 after three and took a 1 point lead with 40 seconds left and Gay had a chance at a jumper with 11 seconds left in a tie ball game and it went to two overtimes and the Rockets won 110-104 outscoring the Raps 13-7 in the second overtime. In the game the Raps put up 114 shots made only 38 of them and took 25 threes and made 8 of them and the shocking part is that they only shared the ball 10 times so everybody wants to be an one man army and that is why they lost this game and are at the bottom of the league in assists. Rudy Gay took almost a third (11 of 37) to get his 29 points and only 2 assists while DeMar DeRozan had 25 shots and made 6 (22 points) to make up 62 of the 114 shots just is incredible bad as they combined for only 17 makes in the game. Wednesday night in Memphis against the Grizzles Rudy Gay only put up 18 shots of the 67 shots (27%) and made 8 of the 31 made Raps field goals (25%) for 23 points in a Raps stream roll of the Grizzles 103-87. While Kyle Lowrie had 6 of the Raps 14 assists which is still horrible and put up 21 of his own and the Raps started off very well as they were up double digits with 2 minutes left in the quarter. It is like the game before heading to South Beach for a few days put everything together for an actual game Then Friday they come home and receive a very nice present as Derek Rose is resting for the Pacers and the Raps just mail it in the first quarter and were down 11 and were down 14 as they only scored 31 points in the first half (they have actually scored more than that in first quarters). In the second half DeMar DeRozan had 28 of his career tying high in points (37) and only 7 players scored points and Rudy Gay's 20 points was the only other player in double digits and they did have 19 assists on 36 made field goals which is a bit better but still not good enough. They have to do much better at home and own their home court and learn to share because kindergarteners know how to share much better than the Raptors do. Sunday the Raptors played no D in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers and neither did they but they still lead 31-29 after a quarter and the Raps actually shot 63% and had 18 points in the paint and the Trail Blazers played the better D in the second and third quarter having 20 assists to only 9 turnover and took a 17 point lead four minutes into the fourth quarter. The Raps ended regulation on a 28-11 run with 6 turnovers and Rudy Gay slammed home a dunk at the buzzer to tie the game @ 102 but the Raps had nothing left as they got outscored 16-8 in overtime to lose 118-110. Raps had more turnovers (16) than assist (15) and they allowed 44.4% shooting in the game after allowing 50% in the first quarter while the Raps went from 63 to 44.7% in the game as Gay had 30 points and DeMar had 29 in the game. They really need to get to more sharing as soon they will play inside their own division a lot and the division sucks a lot too Tom Mehegan

Raptors have a lot to learn about being a pro team and will have to do it without Lowery

It was a very bitter pill the Raps had to take in the second week of the 2013-14 season as they went 1-3 on the week and fell to 3-4 on the young season. It started off with a bang with LBJ and coming to town without CB1 in the lineup and the Raps punched LBJ and the Heat in the mouth going up 9 half way through the first quarter (17-8) with Jonas Valanciunas had 10 of the 17 points. Then they fought the Heat the rest of the quarter and took 5 point lead into the second and with 3 minutes left they were still up 8 (47-39) but that is when LBJ and the heat took control of the game as he scored 5 points in the last 71 seconds as the Heat went on a 12-3 run in the last 3 minutes of the half to take a 1 point lead (51-50) to the locker room. The Heat outscored the Raps 52-45 as LBJ along with 35 points he had a good chirping everything from the Raps bench, to the popcorn vendor, and even made babies in the crowd cry (not really but he did have a good time). The thing that sticks out in this game is that Kyle Lowery had 3 assists in the first 7 minutes of the game and then 2 the rest of the game as the Raptors had 21 assists on 31 buckets in the game and 6 in the strong first quarter and the start out going to the basket at the beginning of the game and forget the rest of the game and lose 104-95. Then the next night they are in Charlotte to play with the Cats and played with they diffidently did and a minute into the second quarter they were down 16 to the Cats and then they battled back to tie it at 53 @ half with a 13-3 run just like the heat did the night before but instead of putting their foot on their throat in the second half they allowed those furry fur balls to take a 6 point lead (68-60) half way though the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Raps got within 2 points 3 and a half minutes into the quarter before the bounced back up to 9 points with a 9-2 run which lead to the Raps being somewhat serious and got it 2 again with DeMar with 26 seconds having a shot to tie it but missed and instead of going into the contact he fell away from it. Dwayne Casey was so confused by the whole game that he thought there was 29 seconds (plus 5) instead of the actual 26 seconds (plus 2) and decided to play it straight up and Gerald Henderson hoisted up a shot at the end of the shot clock that bounced off the rim into the air and by the time it came down the Cats had a 92-90 victory. The reality is that Dwayne Casey and Sam Mitchell are not much different wins wise but season three this where Mitchell made a name for himself and he would not have them losing like that to Charlotte so Casey needs to be more aware of what is needed and needs to get more 48 minutes out of players. Then after a say off they play the 5-0 Pacers of Indiana and but up 32 points in the first quarter and have a 10 point lead (32-22) by getting the rock into the hole and were shooting 55% with 9 assists and Rudy Gay with 14 in the quarter. Then in the last three quarters they get 52 points and only 7 assists as they outscored by 23 points (50-27) in the second and third combined and seeing their shooting fall to 44% in the game. The Pacers outscored the Raps 69-52 in the three quarters to make it a laugher 91-84 with Gay having 30 in the game and his 14 first quarter points was more than any Raptor in the game. The Raps need to stick to the game plan for 48 minutes and that is exactly what they did the next night at home as the cooks made great meals for the boys before going out there against the Utah Jazz and put up 30 in the first quarter (plus 14), then beat that with another 32 (plus 12) and were up by 26 at half (62-36), and then came out in the third and put their foot on the winless Jazz team with another 29 (plus 5) and cruised to a 115-91 victory. They did lose Kyle Lowery sprained his ankle in the second quarter and now the likes of Dwight Buycks and Julyan Stone maybe relied on heavily for the next bit and it maybe good or bad but it is the facts of basketball that players go down given others opportunity to shine just Jeremy Lin did in the big apple. Tyler Hansbrough came up big in extra minutes to pick up 23 points in the game and is nice for a tough noise player like him to get this reward. So this week is a learn week with very good things and very bad things and it is now up to Casey to drill it into the players brains the good and that it needs to more of it and a lot less of the bad because it is a choice and a lot of them are settling for the easier bad choices over the more rewarding good choices. On ward and up ward (hoping) Tom Mehegan

Raptors in Milwukee for the first time in over 5 years to a great first week of 2013/14

1827 is the amount of days between w's in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as it took since November 1, 2008 to tonight November 2, 2013 (5 years and a day later)but it is now over as the 10 game losing streak broken with a huge 97-90 victory to move to 2-1 on the early 2013-14 season. So the five years has changed a lot as Sam Mitchell has gone from having a month left in his Raptors coaching career (he was canned on December 3, 2008) and now Raptors analyst. While the Raptors still had 147 games left with Chris Bosh (he did not play in all of them) and the guy we the rights to Roy Hibbert for Jermaine O'Neil was still on the team (he lasted the first half of the 2008-09). So now back to November 2, 2013 and the Raptors 97-90 victory which looked easy going into the fourth quarter after their first winning third quarter 26-19 and a 12 lead (77-65) but the Bucks came out ran a 10-3 run into a 5 point hole and a tied game with 5:53 left in the game. The Bucks down the stretch could not cash in on the Raptor's charity at the line they missed 5 of 6 from the line and then also a pair of three balls and it helped the Raps to fight back and finished off the Bucks with a 12-5 run to end the game. They show another side of them as they finished strong instead of the usual folded chair act that helped them to lose a lot of close games in the three games which is hugely refreshing. Rudy Gay had off night from the floor (4-14) but made up for 1t by getting to the line 10 times (making 8) and Terrence Ross was given a huge opportunity playing 22 minutes and was smart with a couple of the four fouls he used as he made the Bucks work for their points instead of easy dunk points that would of gotten the crowd out of their seats and he added 5 boards. Landry Fields is a much different so far this season with 5 boards and 4 assists to go with 11 points (3 for 7 from the floor) and has averaged 23 minutes and 6.9 boards and 7.7 points so the new dad is more at eaz. Another new dad DeMar DeRozan came up with 17 points against the Bucks after 31 against the Hawks last night in a losing effort and is averaging 37 minutes and 20.3 points in the first three games. Tyler Hansbourgh has been a reminder in the first three games off the bench to the rest of the team as he had 6 rebounds and took 3 shots in the game had 7 points in 16 minutes tonight and went to the line 4 times but he showed what he could do in the home opener against the Celtics in a 93-87 victory when played 25 minutes and it felt that half of his 12 boards came in the first 3 or 4 minutes of the fourth quarter and set the tone after the Raps destroyed in the third by the Celtics. The Raptors have two horrible third quarters as they got outscored by the Celtics by 12 points (34-22) and fought in the fourth quarter to win and then gave 30 in the third after getting into a huge hole in the second quarter -9 (24-15) and after a strong fourth quarter (27-23) it was not enough (lose 102-95). If it was not for the second quarter the Raps would be 3-0 and they still have work to do on the dirty half (defensively) as they allowed the C's 47% shooting (over 60 in the first quarter) and 48% shooting to the Hawks last night. It looks promising with more practice O YA the Heat and that LBJ guy come to town (piece of cake) Tom Mehegan

Toronto Raptors should be strong in 2013-14 and make the playoffs

The Toronto Raptors who ended up 34-48 and 10TH in the Eastern Conference in 2012-13 and now everything looks rosy as the Atlantic division is a train wreck as both the Boston Celtics (41-40) and Philadelphia 76ers (34-48) have sold off their talents in the off-season. So the weaker Celtics and 76ers makes the 2013-14 season looks more tasty for the Raptors in the 2013-14 as it looks more like another 2006-07 season where they went 47-35 and made the playoffs. Dwayne Casey is in the final year of his Raptors contract and he will drive home his defensive first mandate to his players because if they buy into the system the games will be tighter and less scoring i.e. 95-94 and those are more winnable than a 109-108 game. If they do not buy into Casey's system is a goner and they bring in another coach who will bring in another system and bring back the non-defensive system and they go back to playing the offensive end but not the defensive end and it will suck royally. Rudy Gay will be a strong player and put up big games and help win games for Raptors and he has been on strong defensive teams before (Grizzles) and hopefully bring that to the Raptors defensive and will like to have a great season to cash in as a free agent at the end of the season. Just like Tyler Hansbrough (Pacers) who wil bring his tough D off coming the bench and put his heart and sole on the court. Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas have a season under their belt and have an idea of what to expect in the NBA and hopefully take another couple of steps forwards while Amir Johnson who is now in the starting lineup and hopefully will be some much better than Andrea Bargnani with stick backs and rebounds. Kyle Lowery would be wise to pass more than shoot because the team success will help him more in the free agent market than jacking up shots. Then there is the rest of the Atlantic division which are burrows of New York as in the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets who the cream of the crop but they have warts starting with the Knicks as they now has Andrea Bargnsni and he will not help Carmelo Anthony keep his cool and will lost it on Andrea and Amar'e Stoudemire may continue to be hurt just Carmelo Anthony as he has not played a full in any of his three seasons of the Knicks while Carmelo has sent a lot of time in the past two seasons not playing on the court. While The New York Knicks point guard last season Jason Kidd now has to get guys like Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, and Brook Lopez to mesh with Kevin Garnett, Reggie Evans, and Paul Pierce and it will be fun the explosions will be specular and that thing could go down in flames as u got so many different strong personalities for a young Kidd to try to handle. So I feel that everything in the Raptors favor this season and for conference where a losing records make the playoffs that the Raps if they come to play on both ends of the court something like 45 w's could happen and maybe a second appearance (just hoping). I am Casey guy so I hope he is able to figure everything out and take this team to the promise land Tom Mehegan

Dwayne Casey is still head coach but scouting have been ripped apart

Masai Ujiri has cleaned house from the scouting staff starting with Ed Stefanski who replaced Ujiri as the assistant GM and it was to cut ties with Stefanski because if he was still was around he would be snitch for President Brain who is the former GM and now president of operation but he does not have any say in the dealings of the basketball operation. So it would be a total mess if Ujiri tries to make changes and Stefanski just holds things up because Brain does not want to happen. The scouting system starting with Maury Hanks who was the senior scout and it is about time that scouting was dynamited because the Raptors have let better players slip by the board to pick up lesser talents and Ujiri should bring in his own guys as he made the right moves in Denver. The guy that deserves to be with the Raptors and thankfully will be to start of the season at least and that would be Dwayne Casey who will be the head coach of the team for his third and final season in his original contract as the Raptors head coach and hopefully he will be able to channel his inner Sam Mitchell who in the same position came up golden and then won coach of the year. So he will need the players to finally buy in for 60 or 70 games at least this season where on the offensive end they need to get to the basket and start their own painting company as they will need to paint as much as possible. On the defensive end they need to be a hold up victim as they need to stand in front of their opponents with their hands up in their face with their fingers up their nostrils so they do not give up easy points in the paint so they can end the playoff drought. A guy who will not be rejoining the Raptors for the 2013-14 season will be Andrea Bargnani who will need to be dealt and it will be tougher than Carmelo Anthony deal from Denver to the Knicks Tom Mehegan

Masai Ujiri returns to Raturs as the new GM

Masai Ujiri who did as much as he could do in Denver except getting himself paid as the Wal-Mart people who owes the Denver Nuggets decided to not own up to paying Masai Ujiri who had to trade Carmelo Anthony and made the team better than it was before he was traded to the New York Knicks, Now after three seasons in Denver and he waited out his contract and was looking to get paid and he really wanted to stay with the Nuggets but they decided to not come even close to the 5 years and 15 million dollars that he got to come back North to take the reins of the good ship Raptors. He is going to make a lot of money and he will earn it if he turns this team around because it is a pretty big mess and I am talking about the players in the floor for the Raptors as guys like DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani who does not want to go to the basket and settle for jumpers and they are not the only ones u can put Alan Anderson and Kyle Lowery in that mix to. So there needs to be changes and with the new elevator tax system teams are getting as far under the cap as humanly possibly and Masai Ujiri will need to use a lot of smoke and mirrors to get rid of Bargnani and his 11 million in 2013-14 and 12 million for 2014-15 and not end up a bigger contract and with them picking up Kyle Lowery's option for 2013-14 they will be already ir the cap by something like two million and that would mean that the only way to bring in new players will be for trades or veteran minimums and in both cases they are not going to make yourself a whole lot better. If he decides to go in a new direction at point one Rudy (Gay)'s feelings will be hurt again and ywo you will be digging for another point guard just like seasons except u have no Jose Calderon to fall back on any more. But after the 2013-14 season the skies open up and he will have options to look at as he will have money to spend as Lowery\s contract is up and even more importantly Rudy will likely be ready to test the free agent waters and Masai Ujiri will be able to put his stamp on the team going forward at that time. To that point next season will likely be a see what he has kind of season and I am hoping that means thar Dwayne Casey gets a final season trying to put these square pegs into round holes and see if he has learned anything from the first 147 games and can have a Sam Mitchell kind of final season may not coach of the year but with a motivated Rudy this team will be better and maybe Lowery can become a team player (that might be asking to much). If Rudy does not want to be here long-term maybe getting something at the deadline would be good as the Lakers maybe wanting him in their rebuilding project and the Raptors get pieces to build with. Brain needs to stay out of Masai Ujiri or I personally put him on an one-way ticket to the middle of the desert again Tom \mehegan

Masai Ujiri top guy for Raptors

Masai Ujiri who is a former Raptors executive and is the current Denver Nugget GM put whose contract is up with the Nuggets. To make it clear the Nuggets will likely want to keep him in the fold especially after he got so much for the Nuggets for the talent that is Carmelo Anthony when he traded him to the New York Knicks for a package of Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and still have the Knicks first round pick next summer and they not missed a beat and have even bettered the Knicks. They have kept the Nuggets in the mix in 173 games since the trade and are 113-60 in a much more balanced Western Conference. So that kind of trade is why the Raptors would be going after him as the Raptors maybe in a position where the big boys like the Lakers (when Dwight Howard leaves) will be looking for a talent to stick into their lineup to keep that motor running especially with Kobe being a very old basketball almost 35 year-old and finished a tough 17 season. They also may not be the only one looking with the Boston Celtics big three now big two are getting older by the day as Pierce and KG are not spring chickens anymore and will want to re-tool like the Lakers. So who will they be looking at and that will be a player like Rudy Gay who is going to be 27 in August and will be focused on that next contract as it is a contract season and will have a good season. The Raptors will be able to give him a lot of money as they will be able to sign him above and beyond the salary cap next summer after bring in other pieces that build the Raptors into something better hopefully. The only problem is that the Lakers the Lakers have one contract on their books going into next summer and that is a cap hit of 9.7 million to Captain Canada Steve Nash so they will be able to rebuild their franchise going forward and will be able to give him the moon and the stars and everything else he is looking for. Then there is the Celtics who are not really in that position as they have just over 50 million on the books already for next summer and will need help to get a guy like Rudy Gay in the fold. So the Raptors need to figure out if they want Gay long-term and more importantly if he wants them and that is a problem that the Raptors have as they have been unable to figure out what they the guys wanted and have been left with nothing. So they need to trade him because he not want to be here and Masai Ujiri maybe the guy that can get that job done better than the others Raptors GM have. So Bryan is out and the Raptors have their eye on Masai Ujiri but are still looking Tom Mehegan

Raptors to sign Jason Collins

David Stern wants and needs a team to step up and sign free agent Jason Collins to be on their roster for the 2013-14 season and this maybe silly but because Jason Collins is an openly gay basketball player who split his time with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards last season. The reason that Stern wants and needs a team to pick up Collins is because if a team does not than the media will be outside his New York office asking him if the reason that Jason Collins is not playing in the NBA is because he is gay and Stern does not want to answer that question. If u ask players privately in the NBA they would likely say that they would not want him on their team as they do not want to share a locker room with an openly gay guy. So here is where the Raptors come in they are playing in Toronto a place that would handle the story correctly and MLSE who owns the Raptors would be able to sell the story to the public and sell more tickets to games and put a positive spin on the story. Also David Stern has something that the Raptors want which is the 2016 All-Star game to celebrate the 20TH year of the Purple dinosaur called the Raptor and would trade having Collins on their team for that All-Star game. In the end David Stern gets what he wants (no headache) and the Raptors get an all-star game (why anyone would want an All-Star game is beyond me) Tom Mehegan

Dwayne Casey should get another season

Dwayne Casey has wanted the same things I have wanted with guys on offense that can take that ball to the basket (pound the rock) and guys on defense that are willing to stick your fingers up their opponents noises. The only problem is that the players that Casey has had would rather take 15-to-20 foot jumpers instead of taken a higher % shot closer to the basket and on D they would rather be on offense so they are not in front of their guy with their hands up trying to make it harder to score a basket and the opponents end up with easy baskets. So I think that Casey should get to coach the final season of his deal because if Bryan had not allowed Sam Mitchell to coach the final season on his deal when Bryan came in then Mitchell would of been another Raptors coach that could not get the team to do the things to win as he was 60-104 in his first two seasons with the team and was unable to draw up plays at the end of games to win said game. Then in that third season the contract season he was able to put it all together and the Raptors went on to a franchise high 47 wins and the first Atlantic division title and it would of not been possible without having Bryan given him that opportunity. Dwayne Casey is 57-92 in his first two seasons and did not have Chris Bosh on his team as he only got Rudy Gay for the second half of his second season and the Raptors players did become one of the top 4 in scoring in the paint in March and in April they were able to put it together with that D and put together wins and finished tied for 10TH in the Eastern Conference. So with Rudy Gay focused on getting that not contract as it is a contract year he will be better than he was last season and maybe able to carry this team to the playoffs and coach Casey puts it together like Mitchell did in his contract year and lead the troupes to victory. Remember only 9 teams have won the NBA championship in the last 33 years its hard Tom Mehegan

Raptors looking for a new gm

So The Raptors have until Victoria Day Monday if Bryan Colangelo is the guy to start the 2013-14 NBA season as the Toronto Raptors General Managers or if Tim Leiweke will go in a different direction all together. So if that is the case it looks like Indiana Pacer GM Kevin Pritchard who was the GM for the past season for the Pacers and maybe able to bring some of the Pacer tough D to the city but he has only been there one season and before that he was the Portland Trailbrazers GM yawn. The other option is Assistant GM and assistant president of the OKC Thunder Troy Weaver who has seen the raise of the Thunder in his three seasons and maybe he will have learned how to make a great trade like the Thunder did trading James Harden for Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks and a second round pick. Weaver was not around the team the team when it drafted Kevin Durant but did see them pick Bryant Westbrook and James Harden in the top 5 picks in the following two years and maybe able to find a gem in the lottery. But the thing right now is that the Raptors are a couple million over the cap right now so if u try to get ride of the 10.7 million to Andrea Bargnani or the 9.5 million to DeMar DeRozan u would likely not have that 17-18 million to spend because team will likely not just give a draft pick for players with these kind of salaries. Instead the Raptors will likely have to eat another team's bad contract instead so it maybe best that Bryan sticks around for the beginning of the season because it is not likely that anyone coming in will be able to do anything with this team until Rudy Gay's contract and then the Lakers maybe lurking around and may want him i even if the Raptors can pay him more and he maybe gone. I hope the Raptors make the right choice Tom Mehegan

Raptor's D instinct

Raptors have decided to put all their efforts into half of their game and it is all offensive as they have scored 40 points a game in the paint for the month of March which was the fourth highest number for the month of March. Of course the Raptors players still have settled for jumpers and the ball is still very very sticky even in the hands of Rudy Gay who has been shot after shot and forgetting that the closer u get to the hope the better chance of the ball going into the basket. Last night when the Raptors lost to the Detroit Pistons 108-98 they proved that when they got the ball inside when down they make huge runs in the fourth quarter but then when they took the lead they went back to settling for jumpers as they now take 15 to 20 foot jumpers instead of threes from everywhere when they had the three-ball streak until it ended a couple of seasons back. Now if all their efforts since they decided to do the Harlem shake just before the end of February when they were still in a playoff fight and laid a stinky egg against the Washington Wizards 90-84 and started a 4 and 14 just mail it in on D on a nightly bases. Right now the Raptors are falling hard on their wallets on D because with their Swiss cheeses D they are now 18's in the league and are a couple of hairs under the century mark (99.5 points a game). This is the opposite of last season when they were in the top 10 in points against at no. 9 with 94 points a game which is 5.5 better than they have been doing this season especially lately. The Raptors points a game is up @ 97.1 points a game which is a bigger jump of 6.4 points a game but if the Raptors are unable to find their passion for playing on the defensive end of the court next season hopefully under head coach Dwayne Casey but with no room for movement under the cap. Just remember that Sam Mitchell turned a contract year into a coach of the year award Tom Mehegan

Rudy Gay's Raps debut a bundle of laughs

Rudy Gay came off the bench for his Raps debut against the L.A. Clippers first half on a 19-3 run in the last 5 minutes of the half to break open a 27 all tie and the Raps took a 46-30 lead into the half. Rudy Gay who played 33 minutes and put up 20 points shooting 50% from the floor (8 for 16) showed Raps fans how he could a buzzer beater as he hit a three-ball as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter and the Raps were just laughing into their huddle up 72-45. Gay played very well and him in the lineup boosted the energy of the Raps and the crowd as they won Gay's debut 98-73 and if it was not for a sneaky steal by Caron Butler as the Raps had Jonas Valanciunas holding the ball to run down the last few seconds of the game it would of been the Clippers lowest scoring output of the season at 71. Amar Johnson who was battling the flu almost had a double-double at half with 11 points and 8 boards and ended with 19 points and 16 boards in 38 minutes of playing time while DeMar DeRozan had 19 as well as the Raps had a very well balanced attack. Kyle Lowery had more assists than shots attempted 8 to 6 and ended up with 3 points while Lucas the third had more shots 9 and and made as many as Kyle attempted but I still think it is better to help than shoot. The Raps offensive was helped by 30 assists on 38 made field goals and shot just under 47% in the game but did take just less than a third of their shots from beyond the arc which still does not sit well with me even though they hit 12 of their 26 three attempts. What was awesome to watch was how they dominated the boards 45-37 with help from Arron Gray who took down 12 more tonight and the team played so tough D kept the Clips to 30.5% from the floor and they did not score more than 17 points going into the fourth quarter. .The Clippers put up 28 in the fourth and drove up their % to just under 35% for the game and Blake Griffen was as invisible as all the rest of the Clips but still got to the line 12 times and made 9 while ending with a team high in points with 17 and tied with DeAndre Jordan with 9 boards but the 19-3 to end the first half was their chance to mail the game in and they did. Sunday against the Heat will be much much tougher Tom Mehegan

Rudy Gay ready to spread his wings in Toronto

After the Raptors maybe getting another apology from the league as they got screwed by the refs keeping their whistles in their pocket as they lost 93-92 with DeMar DeRozan standing at the free throw line after being fouled going to the basket as the game ended and he still waiting for the free throws as he did not get the call. But at least the Raptors now have Rudy Gay and might be the best wing player the Raptors have had since Vince Carter signed his extension with the Raptors after working his butt off during his entry level deal. Rudy Gay who was drafted 9th overall in 2006 only eight picks behind Andrea Bargnani is coming to Toronto to join his buddy Kyle Lowery and it could be some chemistry and he might better than his 17 points a game and will hopefully earns his 39 million dollars over the next 2 seasons. The Raptors traded Jose Calderon and Ed Davis to Memphis for Gay and then they turn around and trade Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye. While the Raptors also sent a second round pick to Memphis and picked up Hamed Haddadi who is a rarely used center who averages less than 7 minutes a game. In the end I do not know why MLSE even allowed Bryan Colangelo the chance to make this deal because if Rudy Gay dogz it in Toronto and Colangelo does not get an extension in the off season this team in the Raps will be even more screwed bur lets hope Gay plays to his fullest and becomes the kind of player that the Raptors have been lacking since Chris Bosh a.k.a an actual talented player. Calderon will continue to be an asset but was not staying and Davis has shown spurts of awesomeness but still has growing to do Tom Mehegan

Quincy Acy comes up aces but Bulls still trample Raps

Quincy Acy in only 15 minutes on the court against the Derek Rose less Bull and was full marks as he worked his butt off and put Carlos Boozer in foul trouble as he created with taken four charges, It helped the Raps come back from a 76-57 deficit in the third quarter quieted down Boozer in the second half as he had 25 points at recess and had to sit a lot in the second half because of foul trouble and ended up with 11 points after the first half. Acy in 7 games in 2013 has stayed on the floor for double digits in 4 of the games and tied a career high in boards which he set on Friday when he had his career high in playing time with 18 minutes against the Bobcats but did set a career high in points with 8 on 4 of 4 shooting. He simply just set the tone for the Raps who a chance to go ahead with 12 seconds left in the game with Amar Johnson at the line but he missed his second free throw and the game was tied at 100 going into overtime where with a second left Amar Johnson gets fouled and as he gets hit he leans back and heavies up a shot but the Bulls had a foul to give. So it was a side out for the Raps and the ball got into Calderon's hands for a three to win it down by two at the buzzer but it was just the Raps luck as they watched the ball hit the rim and bounce up and end up falling harmlessly to the ground and the Bulls run out with a 107-105 victory and Raps lose three in a row. The Raptors got a strong performances from Kyle Lowery with 26 points and most importantly went to the line 11 times and made 8 of them as the Raps went to the line 32 times and hit 23. Alan Anderson who took a very stupid foul in overtime to foul out of the game as he grabbed a Bull in the offensive position and going back on D still lead the Raps with 27 points but did take half of his 18 shots from beyond the arc and made 4 of his 10 made field goals also from downtown. Amar Johnson ended up only 5 points and 1 of 4 from the line but did collect 10 boards while DeMar DeRozan who got to the line 6 times and made them all was the only standout in the starting 5 tonight and was 6 of 13 with Ed Davis 11 points being the only other starter in double figures. Luol Deng for the Bulls was second on the Bulls with 19 points which was just less than half of Boozer's 36 points while Joakim Noah had 16 but lead the Bulls with 14 boards which was 2 more than Boozer's 12 as the Bulls out muscled the Raps on the boards 46-43. The Bulls lost Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich who both fouled out but it was Boozer who finished the fourth quarter with 5 and the Raps did nothing to get him out of the game in overtime which was a mistake. Raps continue to try hard and look to be doing the right things but are coming up short Tom Mehegan

Raptors point guards do not score but get lots of dimes

Behind the combination of Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowery who only took 3 total shots did have 22 of the Raptors 34 season high assists on 41 field goals and they only had two turnovers in the game. Jose had 13 assists and no turnovers while Lowery had 9 assists and only 2 assists in the game and Ed Davis was the player that benefit with 10 first quarter and 9 more in the third while quietly collecting 7 boards after none in the first quarter. The Raptors lead 10-0 just 94 seconds into the game and rolled post to post in a 102-79 victory to even up the season series after getting Portland feeding the Raps their lunch on December 10TH. Terrence Ross lead the Raps with 26 points including a fade away three at the buzzer @ the half which was one of his 5 first half three and he ended up hitting 6 on 9 from beyond the arc and went 4 of 6 from the line. GM Brian may have to eat his words when he said earlier this season in the darker days that he wished the Raps had a few more games at the end of the season and before Lowery came back into the lineup Brian may of been most disappointed for a team that had won 5 in a row without his first draft pick with the Raptors (Bargnani) and the high priced trade player (Lowery) both out of the lineup. Amar Johnson had 17 points with 7 boards and added 4 assists and DeMar DeRozan had 24 points as four Raptors had at least 17 points while Landry Fields had 7 boards to be tied with Davis and Amar as the Raptors and the Trailblazers both had 36 boards in the game. Damian Lillard the rookie point guard of the Trailblazers had 18 points and 7 assists to go with 5 boards and LaMarcus Aldridge who was picked right behind Andrea Bargnani in the 2007 draft put up a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. On a sad note the Raptors lost one of their biggest fans Raptorized John who would phone the fan and talk Raptors and in other seasons he would talk other sports and truly missed Tom Mehegan