Raptors fans are finally receiving the respect they deserve

The Toronto Raptors fans have been told for seasons that they are not good enough by their own media because they supposedly don't boo the refs calls or do not cheer loud enough when the opponents take a timeout. Finally they are eaten the sushi at the beginning of the third quarter which is why the Raps suck huge in the third quarter and that is ridiculous to say the least. The 2014 playoffs has taught everyone is that Raptors fans can simply match up with another crowd in the league with the 20 thousands inside the Air Canada Centre are loud and proud and revived up even before the game has started and boo the Nets and cheer the dinos. That does not include the thousands outside of the Air Canada Centre braving the elements to watch on the big screen even when the Raps are in the borrow of Brooklyn to the point that coming into tonight's 115-113 Raps victory, which had a nightmare fourth quarter as the Raps were up 26 at one point, the Nets organization tweet their fans to watch and take notes of the Raptor's fan before coming to the game on Friday. It is not only the Nets that has taken notice as the other organizations and more importantly for the Raptors players The US Networks (TNT and ESPN) have taken notice and it was motivation of the Raps game 4 victory in Brooklyn as the Raptors origination piped in the seen outside the Air Canada Centre before they stepped out and evened the series at two. We The North is now a victory away from breaking through to the second round Tom Mehegan

Jonas Valanciunas a beast in first ever playoff game

Jonas Valanciunas was a beast against the Nets in his first ever playoff game and set a franchise record for rebounds with 18 and added 17 points and simply in position all 35 minutes on the floor to collect boards and put in the hoop on the offensive end. He should of most diffidently seen the floor a bit more maybe 3 or 4 minutes and it may of helped the Raps keep home court advantage 94-87 as the rest of the team was a bit stiff in the bright lights of the playoffs as DeMar went 3 of 13 but got to the line 8 times (14 points) and Kyle Lowry went 7 of 18 from the floor to get a team leading 22 points and also was second on the team with 7 boards. The Raps came out and could not hit a shot early and often as they only made 28 field goals on 71 shots (39.4%) and it was a lot worst in the first half and it was Jonas who kept it close at half only down 4 (50-46. The third quarter was interrupted by the shot clock and clock above the backboard going dead and they tried for 5 to 10 minutes to fix it and that extra intermission hurt the Raps as they came out flat after warming up and playing a few minutes and then a long cool down and then Herbie had to call went the shot clock (calling fresh 24), 10 seconds, and a 5 second count down to a buzzer that did not work the rest of the game. In the fourth quarter the Raps took a 76-75 lead with 5:15 left in the game and the Nets went on a 7-0 run to put the distance to seal the deal with DeRon Williams and Joe Johnson both had 24 points. It was hard for Terrance Ross to get his game in focus as he had only 16 minutes as he had two quick fouls in the first quarter and when he got in the second quarter he almost immediately got #3 and sat down til the second half were he pick up #4 quick and ended the game 1 of 4 from the floor and all from beyond the arc so he will need to take it more to the hope like most Raps will need to do as the team 33% of all shots from beyond the arc (23 of 71). Greivis Vasquez was bright spot off of the bench as he had 18 points of the benches 29 points which will need to be much better going into the second gam of the first round matchup between the Raps and the Nets. The strongest part of the game was the crowd which was simply amazing and was strong all game and the loudest Toronto crowd I have ever been apart of and that was amazing and that was inside the Air Canada Centre so u put that with the thousands outside building watching on the big screen look awesome. Game two Tuesday Tom Mehegan

Raptors ready for playoffs bring on Brooklyn

The Toronto Raptors Vs Brooklyn Nets is like Drake Vs Jay Z in that Drake is inexperience like the Raps and Jay-Z and the Nets has all experience going into this matchup. Drake's Raptors has only one edge in experience over Jay-Z's Nets and that is in coaching as Dwayne Casey has been their and done that as a coach as he came up with a defensive system that took down LBJ in the only time he lost a series in the 2011 NBA Finals when he was an assistant of the Dallas Mavericks while Nets coach Jason Kidd has done it on the court as he won with Casey in Dallas but he has not been there as a head coach. The Raptors are a younger/faster team that if they can push the ball against an older Nets would be the best way to win against the Nets. The D is very important in the playoffs and right now the Raps are waiting for the fourth quarter to play D and the Nets are a little bit better on D as they have guys like Paul Pierce and KG who have been there and down that in the playoffs. It will be up to DeMar DeRozan (22.4 points a game) to come in the clutch and battle through the none calls that happen in the playoffs and put up big numbers while Terrance Ross (39.5% from beyond the arc) hopefully has good games from beyond the arc and if it does not go lets hope drives to the hoop. Kyle Lowry needs to stay within himself and pass the ball to find the open guy first and taken his shot second and hopefully Jonas can handle the elbows and the hand slaps inside and is able to give as much as he receives and takes up the ball strong. Tyler Hansbrough, Patrick Patterson, Amir Johnson are tough on D and hack and slam the Nets and make them hurt for every point they get and Terrance Ross will need to be extremely tough against Deron Williams as he is the center piece for the Nets offence. The Raptors also need the loud and proud Saturday for a game at 12:30 and be as loud as any crowd in Toronto history and give the Nets everything they deserve as they want to be here and hope they enjoy the nightlife in Toronto Friday night and into early Saturday morning. The Raps hopefully wait til Saturday night to get their swagger on after they win game one. I am so excited to go to the ACC and see the Raps play in the playoffs Tom Mehegan

Raptors wins 21ST on the road

It took 19 seasons but the Raptors finally has a winning record on the road picking up their 21ST victory by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 102-98. The road have been very kind to the Raptors as they were the first team to beat OKC at home and the Mavericks and the Lakers road victories set the tune for the season as it was right after Rudy Gay was sent to Sacramento. It has been an exciting season for the Raptors and are 45-32 and are neck and neck with the Chicago Bulls who are also 45-32 and it will be huge 5 games to end the season to find out who will be the third seed. The Raptors have 3 home games (Sixers, Knicks, Bucks) and 2 road games (Pistons and Knicks) and the Bulls have 2 home games (Pistons and Magic) and have three read games (Timberwolves, Knicks, and Bobcats). The Raptors have four days before they face the Philadelphia Sixers on Wednesday which means guys like Amir Johnson and Kyle Lowry have extra days to heal up going to the playoffs. While Dwayne Casey gets three days to refresh the team on the concept of playing 48 minute D game as once again @ the Bucks the Raps took off the second quarter as the Bucks outscored them 15 points (34-19). Greivis Vasquez had a season high 26 points in the game to lead the Raptors while DeMar DeRozan had 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. It is still scary that the Raptors take a third of all their shots from beyond the arc which could hurt them in the playoffs Tom Mehegan