I’m just throwing this against the wall to see if it sticks, but I don’t think the Mavs would have been able to win a game that saw them go tit-for-tat for most of it against a better rested team. Carlisle got this squad to push super hard, grab an early lead, and never give it up, no matter what kind of pressure was thrown at them. The Raptors slower pace suited them just fine.

After playing 3 games in 5 nights, the Mavs shouldn’t have had the legs to wipe-out a well rested, hustle oriented Raptors team, but they did. Like the Pacer game, this one was a result of not having the horses in the barn. Building towards something means taking a 13 point loss, and saying “you know what, that wasn’t a bad game because…,” and it wasn’t. I mean, there were infuriating moments throughout the game, but when you just don’t have the talent…

Some of you might remember when Michael Curry played for this team. The guy sucked, he really did; one of my least favourite Raptors of all-time. He contributed next to nothing offensively, was even worse on defense, and for some reason, he started. Rasual Butler is the 2012 Michael Curry. Casey alluded to him being a leader on the team, so it looks like he’s here to stay. His one contribution was a pull-up jumper in transition early in the 1st quarter with his foot on the line. That’s all I’m going to expect form the guy for the rest of the year, in fact, I’m not even going to mention his name unless he does something special; dude is dead to me.

You know what I like about DeRozan? After two lacklustre 1st quarter performances, he got Casey’s message and came ready to play. The kid works hard, and it’s showing; that jumper didn’t just fix itself. After pulling up in transition for a sweet jumper early in the 1st, he followed it up with a Michael Jordan’esque fade from the corner. This is where the game fell apart for the Raptors; while the Mavs were clanking brick after brick and grabbing their own offensive rebounds (Brendan Haywood had 5 in the first 6 minutes of the game…Brendan f*cking Haywood hurt the Raptors yet again), the Raptors were settling for jumpers and not grabbing rebounds of any sort on either end of the court.

This is crucial to remember, the Raptors defense didn’t let them down to start the game; they kept the Mavs to 41% from the field. It was rebounding that did them in. 17-6 with 5 offensive rebounds; the Mavs controlled the flow of the entire 1st quarter. It’s amazing that the Raptors were only down 6 heading into the 2nd, especially considering they closed out the quarter with both Bayless and Johnson forcing things on offense.

The 2nd quarter opened with Bargnani not touching the ball until the 8:19 mark. It’s going to take me some time to get over this, but when I’m yelling for someone to get Bargnani the ball, I’m clearly free falling down the rabbit hole. Bayless is not a point guard in any real sense of the word. He doesn’t orchestrate anything but the draw strings on his shorts. 3 times he missed an open player at the top of the key, and three times a bad shot was forced or James Johnson made an ugly. You know what two and a half minutes of Jerryd Bayless and James Johnson looks like:

10:45 Jerryd Bayless defensive rebound
10:32 Jerryd Bayless misses 19-foot two point shot
10:30 Ian Mahinmi defensive rebound
10:22 Rodrigue Beaubois misses 25-foot three point jumper
10:21 Ed Davis defensive rebound
10:03 Ian Mahinmi blocks James Johnson’s two point shot
10:00 James Johnson offensive rebound
9:59 James Johnson bad pass (Dirk Nowitzki steals)
9:48 Vince Carter makes 16-foot jumper
9:37 Jerryd Bayless offensive foul (Ian Mahinmi draws the foul)
9:37 Jerryd Bayless turnover
9:18 Andrea Bargnani blocks Rodrigue Beaubois’s 6-foot two point shot
9:17 Ed Davis defensive rebound
9:14 Jerryd Bayless out of bounds lost ball turnover
9:07 Jerryd Bayless personal foul (Rodrigue Beaubois draws the foul)

Yea…

We learned that Anthony Carter is a poor man’s Derrick Martin, and really shouldn’t be trusted to play more than 8-12 seconds a game. With about 5 minutes left in the 2nd, I was considering shutting thing down for the night and winging this piece, until Calderon got into the game. It wasn’t so much that he was creating basketball goodness out of thin air, as he was making the right decisions with the rock. The ball made it’s way to Bargnani who was singled handedly keeping the Raptors close with some dead-eye shooting. Throw in a timely zone defense that threw the Mavericks off, and the Raptors went on a 12-0 run, holding the Mavericks scoreless for two and a half minutes. The half finished with Nowitzki and Marion quickly figuring out the zone, and getting 6 of those points back with some nice 1-2 action before the half.

In the 3rd, the Raptors were able to take a 7 point lead with a lineup of Calderon/Barbosa/DeRozan/Bargnani/Amir (really interesting lineup, Casey should explore this a bit more), but it’s hard to make any real moves when you go scoreless for 6:45 of a quarter. That was basically it, the Raptors couldn’t muster a point in just under 7 minutes of action over two stretches of the 3rd. Mavs go 1-3.

Additional Thoughts:

• I really have to wonder what kind of player Bargnani would have been had he had good coaches from the moment he came into the league. That we can put on BryCo. Smitch pissed on the guy, Triano coddled him, but a month with Casey, and the guy is a real basketball player
• While DeRozan’s jumper is actually becoming a weapon, I’m getting that Vince Carter flash back with the guy; he’s beginning to rely a little more on his shot, and less on athleticism off the bounce. 4 for 12 from the field, but only 3 shots inside of 9 feet. Going 3 for 4 from the free throw line isn’t going to cut it
• Having both Bargnani and DeRozan on the bench at the same time forces the likes of Bayless, Butler and JJ to have a larger offensive role than they should. Casey needs to have one of the two on the court at all times
• Casey calls timely timeouts; none more important than with 35 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. The Mavs just answered the Raptors 12-0 run with a quick 6 points of their own, and instead of riding out the quarter, and potentially giving the Mavs an opportunity of going into the half with momentum, the Raptors got organized, and executed a great high pick-n-roll between Calderon and Bargnani for a jumper from the elbow. It was subtle, but it took the wind out of them heading into the half
• You can add Ian Mahinmi to the list of guys who have career games against the Raptors: 19pts (6-6FG) 5rebs 2blks 1stl in 29min.
• Having a healthy Aaron Gray would have made all the difference in this game. You can’t tell me Brendan f*cking Haywood would have grabbed 5 offensive rebounds in the first 6 minutes of the game if he was getting some burn; no way

The draft lottery can’t come fast enough, after a massive win against the Magic on the weekend, the Raptors are 1 game out of 3rd worst; Wizards are holding tight. Including tonights game in New York, three of the remaining six games are against playoff teams, with the Bucks trying to sneak in past the Pacers, but are currently sitting three games out. Even though the Knicks have secured a playoff spot, they can clinch the 7th seed with a win tonight; it’s on yea?

In yesterday’s Power Rankings, Marc Stein (thanks weinermobile) had this to say about the Raptors:

Make that two wins over Orlando to go with an improbable season sweep of the Thunder as well as wins over Dallas (road) and Chicago (home). So give the Raptors this much: When they do win, it’s almost always an event.

Quick hits:

• Sonny Weems seems to have woken up from the three straight games of inducing projectile vomit in fans to a solid showing off the bench against the Magic. Expect that to revert tonight, and I’m glad his future contract worth is in the 2yr/$4mil range with the arrival of Johnson; if that.
• Bayless has the opportunity to continue the impressive run he’s been on in the last two games, wont be easy against Chauncey, but the Knicks as a whole could counter his effectiveness as an individual. Maybe; probably not…
• James Johnson can do us a solid by letting Carmelo put up 25+ shots; volume shots out of sync = good for the Raptors.
• Ed Davis vs Amar’e Stoudemire, very interested in this match-up.
• If Bargnani gets any more burn for the rest of the year, I’d like to see him sweat it out like a migrant worker in a strawberry field.
• Put me down as a ‘yes’ for Barkley taking over as the Raptors GM if BryCo is shown the door. Why? Why not! Seriously, how much worse could things possibly get? Charles may not be the smartest basketball mind in the world, but he’s smart enough to know he can’t do the job well and will need to surround himself with smart people to help in the decision making. Also, I miss the Sam Mitchell soundbytes somin fierce; Barkley will provide plenty of that. This is all about entertainment right?

The Knicks are 9.5 point favourites with an over/under of 219.5; this has the makings of the Nuggets game written all over it.

Shift Key Update: I’m learning to live with it, but at some point I have to call somebody to see if they can fix this bloody thing. Enough complaining, on to today’s post.

Sam Mitchell survived four seasons, Lenny Wilkens got through three without ever calling a play, Butch Carter could only manage two before an urge to fill an ill-timed lawsuit did him in, and Kevin O’Neill was fired after exhausting the supply of Canada Dry in only one season. The GMs fare a little better, Glen Grunwald lasted six years and Colangelo is entering his fifth; other notables include Isaiah Thomas’ three-year stint to start things off, and Rob Babcock’s forgettable tenure which saw Raptors basketball hit an entirely different kind of low.

Of all these coach/GM combinations, the longest serving one was Wilkens/Grunwald, which lasted three full years. Triano coached the team for 65 games after Mitchell was let go which is fairly close to a full season’s worth of basketball. Counting that as a season, the Triano/Colangelo combination is entering it’s third year, and if one of these two doesn’t leave the organization, they will match Wilkens/Grunwald as the longest serving GM/coach combination in Raptors history.

During the Wilkens/Grunwald years, the Raptors reached a modest apex in franchise history, it’s nothing to brag about but a first-round win and taking the NBA finalists to seven games is the best of what the Raptors have accomplished. Lenny Wilkens rode the success of that year for two more seasons before Grunwald decided to alter the course of the team by bringing in a hard-nosed defensive-minded coach. Although Grunwald’s intentions were noble, and O’Neill did produce the league’s 7th ranked defense, his hard persona and no-nonsense attitude did not mix well with the players (Vince Carter), and the franchise once again bended to its employees and let O’Neill go. All in all, Grunwald presided over three coaches before the ownership called it quits on him: Butch Carter, Lenny Wilkens, and Kevin O’Neill. Two were excellent hires at the time, and O’Neill was a debatable choice.

The often overlooked aspect of Bryan Colangelo’s tenure as GM is that, as much as he shakes up the roster year in and year out, he has yet to hire his own coach. He’s gone with Sam Mitchell, hired by Rob Babcock, and Jay Triano, hired initially by Glen Grunwald in 2002. In both cases his hands were somewhat tied. When Sam Mitchell’s contract came up for renewal, he had the Coach of the Year trophy in his pocket and Colangelo was almost coerced by it to hand him an extension. I fully believe if Mitchell doesn’t win that award, the Raptors make a coaching change that summer. Once Mitchell’s time ran out, the Raptors already had too much money tied up in coaches and Triano was selected as a cheap and convenient alternative.

Under the Triano/Colangelo combination, the Raptors have disappointed in back-to-back seasons, and you have to wonder how much more time these two are given to sort things out. Since the maximum any combination has stayed together is three years, you would think the upcoming season is the make-or-break year for them. If things go as expected, the Raptors will miss the playoffs under the banner of rebuilding leaving them shy of the post-season for three consecutive years, all under Colangelo and Triano. That has never happened to any Raptors coach/GM combination.

Is this the make-or-break year for these two, or do we stay patient and let them oversee the full rebuilding of the Raptors?

“I don’t get it, what did we end up with?”

“Limp noodle (Andrea Bargnani), is he still on the team?”

My girl said that to me as I sunk into my seat while TSN played the Bosh presser. I seriously don’t know where to begin, except to say that there is no hard feelings towards Bosh from this corner of the internet (Arse excluded). All my anger and disgust are squarely aimed at the brass for failing this city so miserably, yet again.

Some bad PR aside, Bosh stayed true to the tenets he had maintained since his exit interview:

• Be a core piece of a championship calibre team (think Pau Gasol)
• Max contract (the Florida tax situation puts him damn close without breaking out a calculator)
• That he will resign with the Raptors IF he feels they are doing everything possible to put a quality team around him

We can do nothing but speculate about what was said between Colangelo and Bosh’s camp up until yesterday, but one thing was clear: there was not enough communication between the two groups. For that, the blame gets spread around evenly. However, you can’t take a couple tweets about the excitement of getting courted from a 26 year old guy to heart, that’s all I’m saying. While I fully believe that Colangelo was working like a mad man to get Bosh to resign, clearly not enough was done to appease him. For starters, perhaps he could’ve made the trip to Texas last week instead of sending his assistants.

By signing outright (for now, Colangelo can still negotiate a max S&T) with the Heat, Bosh has put winning a championship above everything else. For that, we should ALL have nothing but respect for the guy. Sure, the Heat only have Wade, Beasley and Chalmers under contract; they will have a tough time filling out the roster with enough talent to be a championship contender next season, but Riley has built a championship team in Miami in the past without a running mate for Wade of Bosh’s caliber. Top four team in the East as things stand? I say that’s about right.

Where did it all go wrong?

Colangelo had three summers to improve upon the surprising 47 win team that raised all of our expectations. While there were a couple smaller moves that worked out fairly well, Amir/Belinelli/Jack, the larger ones failed miserably:

1. He underestimated the value of Jorge Garbajosa after he went down with a broken leg, and literally did nothing to replace him in the lineup. While Jorge wasn’t the most talented of players, he was a glue guy for the Raptors who did a lot of the little things necessary to win games. The thinking at the time went that the team didn’t need a whole lot of tinkering, so there wasn’t any at all. Foul ball: 0-1
2. After getting thumped by Orlando in the first round of the playoffs, the Raptors had a clear need for a second “20 point scorer” who could take some of the load off of Bosh, so defences couldn’t zero in on him and grind our offense to a halt. Jermaine O’Neal was obtained to be that guy who could come in and be fill that role. Seemed like this was the start of a couple other moves (a shooting guard in the mold of Mickael Pietrus would have been a good fit), but it was the only move. JO didn’t pan out at all, and things went from bad to worse prompting the premature (but widely expected) firing of Sam Mitchell. O’Neal was promptly shipped to Miami (with a 1st rounder to boot) for the expiring contract of Shawn Marion and the crippling contract of Marcus Banks. Strike two: 0-2
3. The Raptors still needed that second option on offense, so Shawn Marion was turned into Hedo Turkoglu who, while coming off a great playoff run, couldn’t recreate the Magic (sorry) he displayed for Orlando. Hedo literally provided no relief on the offensive end of the court, and the Raptors narrowly missed the playoffs. To make matters worse, Hedo made a bigger mess with his appearance on Turkish television saying he wanted out and that the organization was unfair in their handling of his going out on the town. To top it all off, Colangelo outbid nobody and re-upped Bargnani to a 5yr/$50million contract instead of letting him prove his worth in a contract year and relying on the qualifying offer. That still could work out, but so far it hasn’t. Strike three: 0-3

If you were given the choice to play for Colangelo and Triano alongside Calderon, Turkoglu and Bargnani, or for Riley and Spoelstra alongside Wade and anyone else in the league – in Miami of all places, who would you choose? I think he made a great basketball decision. Doesn’t even matter that LeBron wont be joining them, since the pairing of Wade and Bosh rivals that of Kobe and Gasol.

Where does that leave the Raptors?

There is still some hope. Colangelo can still swoop in and try to make some things happen by giving Bosh a max contract, while trying to make a couple other things happen. I prematurely posted a Bucher rumour the other day that looks MIGHTY fine to me right now:

To Miami
Bosh/Calderon

To Toronto
Chalmers/Beasley and a trade exception

It is doubtful we get any draft picks back since Bosh was willing to forgo some salary to sign outright with Miami; Riley has proved to be a shark in these matters. The Heat still need a top calibre point guard, which Calderon still is. This leaves them enough space to fill out the roster by signing a few of their own free agents, while grabbing some veterans. Not a bad start for the Heat.

Where do we go from here?

The short: it leaves a squad with a lot to be desired. You can’t expect that Beasley will replace what Bosh (you also can’t expect him to even be a part of our imaginary dream either) brought to the table, you just can’t. The kid has talent, there is no denying it but the other stuff that comes with him frankly has me nauseous. A front court of Turkoglu, Beasley and Bargnani doesn’t get me excited, but it does get rounded out with Johnson, Evans, Davis and Alabi. Chalmers and Banks back up Jack, with a trio at the wing of DeRozan, Weems and Belinelli. That isn’t terrible, but there are no stars, and no one who can create their own scoring opportunities AND get to the line like Bosh did. The playoffs would be an unlikely event with this group, though.

IF Colangelo can negotiate a S&T that includes Jose AND if he gets back a large enough trade exemption that we can land a star somehow (I hear Chris Paul is available if you take Emeka Okafor’s massive contract, just putting it out there) AND if said trade exception is properly managed, things are salvageable BUT I wont hold my breath based on this teams history.

Here’s another IF: LeBron James. IF he decides to sign in Miami, expect a deal to get done that includes Beasley. The Heat still need to clear some space to bring in the second max free agent. With LeBron’s ego LeBron James holding a presser at 9pm tonight, Colangelo has a small window of opportunity to possibly take advantage of Riley since the clock is ticking to get LeBron to sign in Miami. Fortunately this ordeal will be over with quickly, then we can get to the important business of debating the crap out of our secondary tier of players and what to do with them.

I’m on Twitter.

It's time to put your money where your mouth is, answer the following:

1. Number of Wins:
2. Final position in Atlantic:
3. Seed in East:
4. Bargnani Scoring/Rebounding Average:
5. Will Bosh get traded (Yes/No)?
6. Which rotation player will miss the most games due to injury?
7. Turkoglu Scoring Average:
8. Other than Jack, our best sixth man will be:
9. Record on January 1st (33 games):
10. One free prediction:

Raptors brush off pre-season slump

With just two wins in eight pre-season games, the Toronto Raptors will have no momentum heading into the regular season.

Worried much?

"No. It doesn't count. It's irrelevant," Raptors power forward Chris Bosh said. "Yeah, it's irrelevant."

Their record of 2-6 might very well be unimportant; some other numbers, though, are plainly disconcerting. Not that anything from October is necessarily transferable, but a shooting percentage of 44% is merely average for a team that is supposed to shine with the ball.

Coach wants Raptors to stop passing up shots – thestar.com

In trying to make sense of some abysmal shooting of late – 2-for-20 from three-point range in their final pre-season game, a 98-90 loss to Minnesota on Friday ? the team's head coach is looking for a bit more "me" and a little less "we" to get the percentages up to even mediocre.

"I think they're trying to fit so well that they're making unnecessary passes," Triano said yesterday. "What's happening is these guys want to learn each other and they want to get along with each other so well that I'm almost at the point now where we have to be a little bit more selfish."

The way Triano and a couple of players see it, passing up good shots has a twofold detrimental effect. Not only does it often lead to more difficult field-goal attempts, it's also creating more than a few turnovers because defenders know what to look for.

The Mystery of Marco, among other fun things – Doug Smith

We were discussing Marco Belinelli in a scrum with Jay yesterday afternoon while the struggling backup swingman was over on the other side of the gym getting in some extra shooting.

Dino Nation Blog: DNB SEASON PREVIEW IS HERE!!!

Atlantic Division

Raps and the rest. Just kidding it is Boston and everybody else. Raptors if you don't know what I think about them by now not much more I can say. I really like what I saw from Philly in the Pre-season. The Knicks are a little better but not much. Nets will much like the Raps had to need some time to recover from the Post V.C experience. Celtics are the clear cut favourites in this Division. So much so to see them go 14-2 in the Division would not be so crazy to think. Boston is focused on the Conference and not the division and they should be.

Toronto Raptors Season Preview – The Return of the Titanic?Division – Raptors HQ

As most readers know, I'm a big fan of David Berri's Wages of Wins website, and the "wins produced" (WP) metric he so often employs to measure player value and effectiveness.

Is the metric infallible? Of course not.

However I've found more often than not, that it's given a pretty acurate view of both individual and team performance.

RaptorBlog.com – NBA insight, analysis and humour since 2002

One of my main concerns with Turkoglu is that, for somebody who is lauded as a top offensive player, he's not a particularly efficient scorer. His field goal and three-point percentages last season and for his career (.428 FG% and .385 3P%) are nothing special. He could return to his 2007-08 percentages of .456 and .400 (when he won the NBA's Most Improved Player award) ? but as a 30-year-old, history shows that to be an unlikely occurrences.

Wright time limits Belinelli | Toronto Sun

Marco Belinelli's eight minutes of playing time on Friday during the Raptors' loss to Minnesota in Sioux Falls, S.D., raised some eyebrows because of its brevity. Head coach Jay Triano said it had as much to do with getting Antoine Wright playing time as anything else, but he didn't give Belinelli a complete pass either.

Mystery illness hits three Raptors – Posted Sports

The H1N1 watch has hit the Toronto Raptors.

Guard Jarrett Jack, swingman Antoine Wright and assistant coach Alex English were not with the team on Sunday when the team practised in preparation for Wednesday?s season opener against Cleveland. All three called in sick, and did not go to the Air Canada Centre. That is exactly the way the NBA wants it, given the flu scare.

Now, all three could be suffering from an unrelated bug. However, given the fear of the illness, there could be many more practices like Sunday?s.

“In the past, guys would come in and we’d evaluate them and think maybe it?s better to go in and sweat it off, or maybe not,” coach Jay Triano said. “But now we?re trying to stay away from guys spreading it.

“We just hope that it?s not something go around.”

Preseason statistical oddities, Eastern edition – Ball Don’t Lie – NBA – Yahoo! Sports

Starting center Andrea Bargnani(notes) decided to pick up a rebound once every 5.9 minutes. Good for him.

The 13POB13 Wave Continues | The AltRaps Blog

I was floored when the first offer came in to add to my initial donation tweet, shocked at the second, humbled by the third and lost my ability to speak soon thereafter. Emails, comments on the blogs, DMs on twitter, IMs on my Blackberry, GTalk. All contained offers of help financially, offers of retweeting or simply what this all started being about: following Patrick O?Bryant.

NBA East Preview: Raptors 5th in East – Fort Worth Star-Telegram

5. Toronto: If the Cowboys are America's Team, the Raptors are the World's Team. They have two players from Italy and one each from Turkey, Slovenia and Spain. Their key player, however, is Chris Bosh, who went to Lincoln High School in Dallas. Bosh, like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, will be a free agent at the end of the season. If the Raptors don't play to their potential and at least challenge the heavyweights of the East, Bosh could be traded at the deadline in February. Turkoglu will make the Raptors better and third-year center Andrea Bargnani is poised for a breakout season. Jose Calderon is one of the best, yet most overlooked point guards in the league.

Webber is wrong: Bosh could easily stay with Toronto Raptors

Recently, the analyst declared that the Toronto Raptors would miss the playoffs in 2010, which, in turn, would prompt Bosh and the club to cut ties through a trade or during free agency at season?s end.

To be fair, Webber has a unique perspective. Like Bosh, he was once an All-Star power forward. And like Bosh, he experienced a high profile contract negotiation with a franchise he helped rebuild -the Sacramento Kings.

On the one hand, Webber is also right. The results matters. For instance, a winning or losing season would have to influence CB4?s decision to re-up with the Raptors or migrate south to the United States.

On the other hand, Webber?s overlooking two factors. First, consider the economy. Unlike the free spending days of the 1990s, the NBA – like the rest of the business world – is in a recession. With a declining salary cap, less money is available for all players, including the big ticket free agents of next summer.

Accurate assessments of the Toronto Raptors – khandor’s sports blog

As regular readers of this space can attest, this is an observation which was made, repeatedly, by yours truly throughout the 2008-2009 season ? and going even further back than that ? based on Basketball Acumen, specific situational stats and Possession Outcome Charts, to the consternation of some Raptors fans obsessed with an individual player?s seasonal ?game stat averages? [i.e. basic and advanced] and/or drunk on the Kool-Aid distributed by the organization.

mitc ? Toronto Raptors: Sonny Weems!

There?s a lot of talk and hype behind DeMar DeRozan which has left some room for Sonny Weems to sneak in some of his own shine. Both of the aforementioned are incredible athletes and are also both former Slam Dunk Champs.

Look at these three slams from Sonny in the same game during pre-season action to add to your anticipation for this week?s home opener vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.

You feel the excitment, Toronto? – New Leisure Blog

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Prime Time Sports and Jack Armstrong was on, and they were talking about the lack of excitement in Toronto about basketball this season.

Actually, I sort of see that too. Last season, there were a lot more casual fans talking about the Raptors, and thinking the team was going to take the next step forward and Jermaine O?Neal + Chris Bosh would be the new twin towers, echoing what Sam Mitchell had said when they acquired O?Neal.

Of course we know what happened next. The team won the first 3 games and then it?s all downhill from there. Mitchell was fired after 40+ points lost in Denver, O?Neal was much less than advertised and the Raptors won a disappointing 33 games.

Six Spartans victims of ‘cybersquatter’ | Detroit Free Press

According to Chicago law firm Winston and Strawn, Zavala's Web site displayed ads using the name of Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh to create revenue for his company.

That is, until Bosh sued for the rights to return his domain name to his possession.

"I definitely didn't know about that," Lucas said. "I'm just finding out right now — I didn't even know anything about it. I'm going to sue, too."

Thanks to Bosh, there's no need. Bosh won his case and was awarded $120,000 under the guidelines of the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. He also won the rights to all of the domain names this month, and he'll donate them back to any affected athlete as well.

Eastern Conference Preview – CharlotteObserver.com

Toronto Raptors: This team could have a slow start and won't play much defense. However, Hedo Turkoglu's wide skill set will have a huge impact offensively. His ballhandling and shooting can't help but make Chris Bosh a happy teammate.

Toronto Sports Teams’ futility – Globe and Mail

TFC's collapse in New York is just the latest in bad news for Toronto sports fans; good thing for Maurice Johnston he has Brian Burke and Bryan Colangelo to help defend the MLSE fortress

Vince Carter can redefine his legacy — OrlandoSentinel.com

For another thing, he's matured since his young, foolish days, when he wrestled with then- Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell and wanted out of Canada so badly his motivation waned.

Former Magic Coach Brian Hill has said that Carter was the most coachable player he'd ever been around while an assistant with the New Jersey Nets the past few years.

Parker in great position with Cavs – Belleville News-Democrat

Anthony Parker likes the position he's in right now with the Cavaliers – right between LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal.

The 6-foot-6 forward, who was acquired during the free-agency period this summer, stands to benefit greatly from playing alongside the two as he assumes the starting job as the Cavs' shooting guard.

"They get most of the attention. They make it easier for guys like myself offensively," Parker said. And Parker has taken the opportunity to show what he can do offensively on a few occasions during the preseason. A couple of times, he has moved off O'Neal screens to make a quick jump shot with little difficulty. It's not something that the Cavs did with consistency.

Notes and Quotes from Raps Practice: Sunday, October 25th, 2009

- While we were waiting in the hallway, the place felt dead. Walking into practice, it was easy to see that the guys did a lot of running as everyone was dripping in sweat and most wasted no time in clearing out of the gym. Amir Johnson stayed to work on free throws with assistant coach Eric Hughes while Quincy Douby was at the other end of the court and went head-to-head against Alvin Williams to get some extra work in.

- We were notified that Antoine Wright and Jarrett Jack along with assistant coach Alex English were all absent from practice due to illness. Tough break for the Raps, especially in the case of Wright, who needs this extra time to get repetitions in as well as conditioning. Sidelined for most of training camp and almost all of preseason with the sore right knee, Wright was unable to keep up with his conditioning and the plan was to play himself back into game shape with practice.

NBA Preview, 2009-10 | New Jersey Nets – - Raptors 42-46 wins

WHO WON’T: We’re not seeing Toronto. Yet. Yes, the Raps turned half their roster over to add significant depth – Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack, Reggie Evans, Antoine Wright, and rookie DeMar DeRozan are the new recruits, but this is not the kind of group that will gain much traction in the postseason. Still, it bears watching: This team’s style will undoubtedly have a European flair (Hedo, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon), and everyone wants to see if it will make a guy from Texas (Chris Bosh) happy enough to stay.

Official Atlantic Division 2008-2009 Team MVPs | Bleacher Report

Toronto Raptors – Chris Bosh

The Raptors had quite a disappointing season finishing 33-49 but it was mainly caused by injuries and chemistry problems with the firing of former coach of the year Sam Mitchell and having so many lines up changes. Aside from the emergence of Andrea Bargnani late in the season, Chris Bosh was the only bright spot on this team during the year. Bosh had his healthiest season in four years playing and starting 77 games this year. He also put up a career high 22.7 PPG and led the team in rebounding with 10.0 RPG. Aside from Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson and Zach Randolph, Bosh was the only other player to average at least 20 PPG and 10 RPG this season. Unlike the other Atlantic Division teams, this selection was a no brainer and there is no other player on the Raptors that even comes close to match Chris Bosh?s contribution to the team. Without anything else to say, proclaiming Chris Bosh as the Toronto Raptors MVP of this season is without question.

But I have done well in tempering my expectations. I find 50 wins to be lofty, but am supremely confident that we are watching the molding of a top-5 team in the East. It certainly hasn’t been the presence (or lack thereof) of Turkoglu, the (lack of) health up and down the roster, inspired team-first offense from Marco Belinelli (uhh…), or the apparently pointless-in-game-situations added bulk to Bosh’s frame.

Instead, my expectations have remained buoyed on the life raft of Jay Triano. Long considered one of the top assistants in the league, Triano was largely respected by players and the basketball community alike for his work with Team Canada and then with the Team USA Selects. Handed a rag-tag roster at the end of a lost season, we saw little of what Triano was capable of last year.

Already this preseason, though, we’ve heard and witnessed things from a coach the good fans of the Raptors aren’t used to. Defensive focus that is more than lip service, the understanding of how to utilize role players, and the understanding that coaching is equal parts strategy and psychology.

Kevin O’Neill couldn’t handle the psychological part, and Sam Mitchell deferred the strategic to his staff of assistants. Triano seems to grasp the balance well, while bringing his unique vision of both to the forefront of Training Camp 2009. With zero results that could be described as positive in his career, Triano’s demeanor, approach, and basketball intelligence are all I need to convince me that this roster, which is the best top-to-bottom we have enjoyed in many years, is every bit as good as we are collectively expecting them to be.

There are a few key examples of what I mean that stick out, not the least of which is Triano’s insistence that rookie DeMar DeRozan will have to earn his playing time. It sounds simple, but most times franchises will force rookies into a role or minutes that they haven’t earned, or do the complete opposite and give them no chance to succeed. With the addition of Antoine Wright, Triano has a tool at his disposal to push and teach DeRozan. As he has indicated many times, the luxury of having Wright is that Triano can pull DeRozan at any point to coach him, without losing anything on the floor with the Wright substitution. I have seen far too many cases of coaching done by yelling from the sidelines or being left for the post-game, neither of which is an immediate nor effective teaching tool, it seems.

In addition, Triano seems to have a pretty sound grasp of how to run a training camp already. Whether it be bringing players along slowly, building from defensive basics upward, or bringing in notorious shooting guru Dave Hopla over a span of three non-game days, Triano appears to have found a balance between defense, offense, down time, and mental preparation. It sounds as if the amount of video time and “basketball study” is more than we’ve ever expected in Toronto, and it has me hopeful that this will be the most basketball-intelligent installment of the Raptors yet.

Of course, I shouldn’t have to convince you of Triano’s credentials. Coach of Team Canada, Coach of Team USA Selects, author of “Basketball Basics,” confidant of Steve Nash…the list of qualifiers goes on. Triano is without a doubt a great basketball mind. So far, it appears as though he’s doing a great job transferring that knowledge to his players, fostering a team vision that rewards defensive intensity, basketball intelligence, and a willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team (see Amir Johnson’s attitude on limited minutes, for a good example).

Whether this translates to Wins when the NBA season gets underway next week is yet to be seen. We’re all obviously on guard for a slow start given the training camp and conditioning troubles of the team, but a complete culture overhaul cannot be evaluated in just a few weeks anyway. At the very least, we’ll soon know if handling adversity and making adjustments is another skill to add to the lengthy list of Triano coaching qualities.

New Leisure Blog

What about defense? Jack, Reggie Evans, Antoine Wright and Rasho are above average defenders, but none of them are projected to be in the starting lineup. Although, I am curious to see a Calderon/DeRozan/Hedo/Bosh/Bargnani starting lineup, I don’t want to tempt fate here, we need one guy in the starting 5 who can play defense. So if I am Triano, I would put Wright in the starting lineup. Now, is Jack/Evans/Rasho/Wright combo better defensively than Marion/Parker/Pops/Joey Graham combo? Probably. But it wouldn’t matter if those guys doesn’t get the minutes. If Iveroni can turn this group around into an average defensive team or better than it will be quite an accomplishment.

The Root

This is all a bunch of hot air, however; cornerstone players rarely change teams and even fewer move through free agency. The league salary rules encourage this kind of stability. A player’s original team can offer a player a larger total package—one more year at a maximum salary—than a new team. While standout role players such as Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu occasionally change teams, superstars rarely do, especially not in their prime. Of the league’s 50 Greatest Players, a list compiled in 1996 to celebrate the league’s 50th anniversary, 33, or fully two-thirds of the players, played their entire career with only one team or moved late in their career when they were past their prime (Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards phase or Hakeem Olujawon’s Toronto Raptors season, for instance). Of the 17 players who did move, only Shaquille O’Neal’s move from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers and Scottie Pippen’s move from the Chicago Bulls to the Houston Rockets were facilitated by free agency.

Fan590

Sam Mitchell – The former Raptors Head Coach makes his return to the Morning Show with Don and Gord to discuss what he has been up to lately and what the future holds for the former coach.

Heels on Hardwood

There seems to be a major demand for Raptors schedule in different formats.

With the lull of August in full effect, I decided to go ahead and do the work for those who don’t have the time. Included are some different options to load your Mail Client/Phones/PDA’s with the Raptors schedule for the upcoming season – (If you plan to share it around please credit this site)

After signing Monday with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Parker believes he has a legitimate shot at winning his first NBA title.

"For me it’s always about who really saw me fitting in with what they’re trying to do," Parker said. "Cleveland has been that team from the beginning. They showed the most interest and pursued me the hardest. It just so happens they’re also a team that’s contending, which is even better. It was a fit all the way through."

Globe and Mail

But Howard, who was the league’s top defensive player last season after winning an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. men’s team, also saved praise for the Raptors and Turkoglu. He admitted that losing the 30-year-old Turk would hurt his team, and said the versatile 6-foot-10 forward would help his close friend Chris Bosh, Toronto’s franchise player.

“I think they’re going to be a contender this year,” the 23-year-old said of the Raptors, who missed the playoffs last season. “[Turkoglu] has helped my game in the past couple of years to get where it is today. … Hedo is a great piece to fit in their team, with his style and his ability to get to the basket and create for others.”

National Post

Still, at the very least, the offer to Jack should not hold the Raptors’ other business up too much.

They still have the bi-annual exception, worth about US$2-million per season, which remains unchanged regardless of what will happen with Jack. The Raptors will likely use that on some frontcourt depth, possibly Rasho Nesterovic, who has stated his desire to come back to Toronto.

The Raptors are also looking to bring back their own restricted free agent, Carlos Delfino, whom they can re-sign with no regard to the salary cap. However, they will likely wait until the Jack deal clears – or not – so they know how much money they have left beneath the luxury tax to spend on Delfino.

NBA.com

Raptors vs Trail Blazers Hilights

Long Beach Post-Telegram

DeRozan’s hasn’t done any serious spending yet.

"I’ve bought my parents a few things, furniture and stuff like that, but I haven’t really splurged on anything yet," he said, smiling.

The "toys" he spends most of his time with these days are his Twitter account and his Nintendo Wii console.

DeRozan (DeMar-DeRozan is his real account) keeps his followers updated on his workout – "I’m in the gym, lifting" – and eating – "At Benihana" or "Just got a French vanilla cappuccino" – and encourages responses by starting a campaign for Raptors fans who follow his account to coin a nickname for him.

He hasn’t decided upon one yet "but I’ve got some good suggestions, like `DeMoralize,"’ he said, smiling.

Ah, to be young and just be embarking on life as a pro hoopster …

Toronto Sports Media

In the piece today with Jack, Watters had the balls to ask Jack how much of raise he was getting as a result of the Raptors offer sheet, Jack, actually answered the question!(about three times what he made last year!). I can almost guarantee you that very few reporters have ever asked a player that type of direct question on the air. Fewer have ever answered it. Jack talked candidly about his relationship with Bosh, that he joked with Bosh that Bosh better be here for all 4 years of Jack’s offer if it holds. He talked about Bosh adding bunk beds to recreate their dorm room form Georgia Tech.

AM640

Jarrett Jack Interview (audio)

ESPN

Although former Wolves forward Sam Mitchell has been frequently linked with the position, ranking as a longtime favorite of team owner Glen Taylor, sources said Mitchell has not been summoned to interview for the post, with Minnesota believed to be intent on hiring an up-and-coming coach from a lower salary bracket than Mitchell’s after a stint with the Toronto Raptors that included NBA Coach of the Year honors for Mitchell in 2007

josemanuelcalderon.com

Accompanied by his coach (Joan Ramon Tarragó), Jose Manuel Calderon has initiated today in his first trip to China to promote its new sportswear brand, LI-NING. José Manuel spend almost a week touring several cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and doing promotional events for LI NING.

Mediocre Forever

there’s a lot of people out there saying, if we get J. Jack, Rasho and Delfino back… all of a sudden, the Raps are title contenders. The Raptors still need to get a really good guard, unless DeRozan turns out to be a superstar which we’re all hoping for in two-three years…
But right now, no way the Raps can win a title without having a superstar, other than Bosh… "superstar"… only team to win without superstars were the Pistons, but those guys are incredible together."

The Score

DeRozan finished with 15 points and six rebounds, but connected on just three of his six free throw attempts. It was a good game for him as he continued to look more and more comfortable asking for the ball. A nice surprise is his ballhandling. The guy has a nice handle and when he’s in the open court he is dangerous.

The 19-year-old forward from the USC Trojans, a projected top-10 pick, is one of several top prospects that have opted to go it alone during pre-draft auditions.

"I felt like coaches get the chance to see everything I’ve improved on without paying attention to other players, their whole focus is on me," DeRozan said on his decision to go solo.

DeRozan is an athletic player who’s one of the draft’s most-hyped prospects.

Toronto Star

The Raptors, given the option, would have loved to have seen DeRozan work under some sort of game conditions, even though they had scouts and front office personnel see him a handful of times in the college season.

But they didn’t get that option yesterday and getting him in the gym, even alone, was worth the effort.

"I guess that’s the agents trying to protect their players a little bit. The top guys would normally do that, we’ve seen that with him and (Arizona forward Jordan) Hill and (Connecticut centre Hasheem) Thabeet and all those guys projected to go in the top five, six," said Masai Ujiri, Toronto’s assistant general manager of player personnel.

Globe and Mail

Ujiri said he needs to work on his shooting, but sees in him a bit of Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, Portland’s Travis Outlaw or Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace.

“Those are guys we kind of compare him to, athletic guys in the beginning, they were crazy athletes, but the game was yet to be put together,” Ujiri said. “I think those guys have put their games together. He has to work on a couple of things, but I think he’s a great athlete, a great kid.

“It almost always pans out. They work hard, it might take a couple of years, but I think he grows into being a good player.”

Hoops Addict

9. Toronto Raptors - DeMar DeRozan SG/SF
19 years old, 6?7?, 207 lbs.
USC, Freshman

NBA Roundtable

Remember, if the Raptors choose to jettison Shawn Marion and spend their cap space on someone else, they would also surely lose the following — Anthony Parker, Joey Graham and Carlos Delfino.

So the option of re-signing Marion, should be considered Marion plus potentially those three plus the possible use of the MLE against the one $7.2-to-$9.2 million signing.

RotoRob

9. Toronto Raptors: DeMarr DeRozan, SF, USC – With Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion headed for free agency, the Raptors need an athletic wingman to fill the void. DeRozan really came on at the end of last year and showed some of the promise he had coming out of high school. I am not sure how the move across the border would affect a guy who is always been in the Southern California area. DeRozan is fairly raw still, but should get a good amount of playing time next year. Other possibilities: Holiday, Gerald Henderson, Earl Clark.

Examiner.com

Which brings me back to the explosive and athletic Gerald Henderson. The former Blue Devil would immediately upgrade Toronto’s athleticism while giving them solid defender who still has plenty of upside. He could easily develop into a Richard Jefferson type player. Henderson flashed his all-around game last year with Duke; scoring 16.5 PPG, grabbing 4.9 RPG and dishing out 2.5 APG.

He still needs to work on becoming more consistent with his jump shot and his ball-handling, but he has the skill-set to excel in both of those areas.

Pioneer Press

Former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell played 10 seasons for the Wolves and is one obvious candidate. He is considered more of a disciplinarian than a players’ coach, but center Al Jefferson said McHale was both of those.

"He was the type of guy who could communicate with you and also, if he was upset, he would get in your face, too," Jefferson said. "Most definitely I think it’s good to have a coach like that because some of us players are knuckleheads and some of us need a coach that is going to really get down on them and get in their face. … I think we need both of that."

Mitchell didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday, and Kahn insisted that the process of finding a new coach

FIBA

Australia’s men’s basketball team, the Boomers, will begin its first training camp for 2009 at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra tomorrow.
The Boomers will be without the services of 208cm Toronto Raptors power forward Nathan Jawai until possibly Sunday due to a stomach ailment.

Fan590

The Raps newly appointed Assistant Coach joins Jack and the always witty Doug MacLean to talk about how is hiring came to fruition and what Reggie Evans brings to the team.

Bullets Forever

Tier 1: Chris Bosh (16 million through 2010)

Notes: Toronto is Chris Bosh and a bunch of guys I don’t want.  Bosh has the highest value of anyone on this list.  He’s the only guy I’d trade McGee for and the only guy I’d consider giving up one of the Big 3 for. 

Potential offer: Bosh and Kris Humphries for Etan Thomas, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche, DeShawn Stevenson and #5. 

Big Green Machine

9. Toronto Raptors – Earl Clark, F, Louisville

This was one of the tougher picks to make as I was juggling between Clark, Wayne Ellington and Chase Budinger. For now, Clark gets the nod but in later versions of this mock, don’t be surprised if that changes. Clark is an all-everything forward, just like Shawn Marion, but doesn’t do any one thing very well. Those type of players don’t always flourish in the league, but Clark could prove otherwise.

Star Tribune

3. Hire Sam Mitchell

Mitchell is the perfect hire for this franchise. He evokes memories of the Wolves when they were at their best. He not only has head coaching experience, he was the NBA’s coach of the year, and after he was fired, the team he was coaching, the Toronto Raptors, went south.

He has enough charm to lure fans and free agents, and enough backbone to hold players accountable.

Strotty’s Blog

9. Toronto Raptors:Tyreke Evans, PG, Memphis

Tough pick here for the Raptors as I have them going with value.  Anthony Parker is more than likely leaving the Raptors next year via free agency and Evans is a good replacement.  He can play both guard positions and has outstanding size.  He is also great value right here.

NBA Comparison: Dwyane Wade

Other Options: Earl Clark, Demark DeRozan

Previous Pick: Gerald Henderson at #9

Bleacher Report

9. Toronto Raptors- DeMar DeRozan – SG, USC

The Raptors have been searching for an elite shooting guard ever since Vince Carter left, and in DeRozan, they may finally find him.

DeRozan is extremely athletic, but is still very raw.

His lack of inexperience and low skill-set could keep him out of the top ten, but his natural ability and fluidity could see him here, at the nine spot.

In The Game

The European contribution has certainly been stronger in several drafts before 2009, however this one features the without doubt biggest story of the whole draft, Spain’s teenage sensation Ricky Rubio. Then there’s Brandon Jennings, the first elite high school project to take a sabbatical year in Europe. And there are the Llull’s, Casspi’s and Dasic’s, all of them subjects of intrigue for teams picking early in the 2nd round. Here’s in the game’s look at the prospect from an European viewpoint.