Can I scalp my friend's courtside Raptors tickets?
A family friend has Raptors season’s tickets and gives me a pair of courtside seats every now and then. I’ve been out of work for a while and could really use some extra cash. How big of a faux pas would it be to scalp the tickets? If he ever found out, I could pretend I wasn’t able to go and gave the seats to some friends.
Raptors pull away from struggling Pelicans, win 100-81 – Raptors HQ
Despite DeRozan's poor shot selection at times, and his maddeningly slow pace (he always seems to see the pass a second too late), he finished with a well-rounded 15 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. But as had been happening all game, Jonas was the Raptors' life force in the game. He finished with a powerful 20 and 10 (on 8-of-11 shooting) and should rightly be credited with keeping the Raptors in the game while their offense sputtered. Patrick Patterson, who finally came alive with a few much-needed threes in the second half, summed it up best. "I'm so proud of Jonas, I'm hoping he makes All-Star," said Patterson after the game. "He works so hard in the summer time and everything is starting to pay off for him."
Raptors overcome slow start to blow out Pelicans | NBA | Raptors | Sports | Toro
Head coach Dwane Casey said to a reporter afterward that if he could help him figure out why the same group starts games so wretchedly, then looks like world-beaters in third quarters, he’d “go into business” with him. Whatever it was, one Raptor was consistent throughout — big man Jonas Valanciunas, dominant in a 20-point, 10-rebound effort. Valanciunas was a force inside at both ends — he blocked two shots and offered consistent resistance at the rim — and even hit a few jump shots to keep the defence honest. He started with six makes on eight attempts. Kyle Lowry added 20 of his own and DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and 11 assists, one off of his career-high and also rebounded well.
France's Ajinca plays with heavy heart in Pelicans-Raptors game – Sportsnet.ca
“All my family lives in Paris, I just found out everyone is OK right now,” he said moments after he scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench in the Raptors’ 100-81 win. “During this whole game I was trying to get this out of my mind so I could stay focused. It felt weird; I was thinking about it the whole game. “It’s scary. I don’t know what the government has to do to make the government more safe,” he said. “But it’s a crazy world, you just never know. I hope it’s not going to happen more often and everyone is going to be safe.”
Game Rap: Raptors 100, Pelicans 81 | Toronto Raptors
UNDERRATED RAPTORS PLAYER OF THE GAME DeMar DeRozan flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. He also added a steal and just two turnovers in 35 minutes. The 11 assists were one shy of tying his career-high, as he once again showcased his improved court vision.
Toronto Raptors’ DeMarre Carroll is tough and stubborn, for better or for worse | National Post
The Raptors, clearly, need Carroll in order to thrive. He is their best wing defender by a large margin, and a dangerous three-point threat. The team’s three-point shooting has been awful this season — it continued in the first half on Friday — and Carroll’s ability to knock down shots off of drives from Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan is essential for the Raptors to produce even an average offence. Without that shooting, defences will collapse on the guards and Jonas Valanciunas, and the Raptors’ attack will be squashed. There can be no doubt about his defensive value. In the first half, he drew a push-off charge from the scorching Eric Gordon about 20 feet from the basket, so desperate was Gordon to create some breathing room. He later took the brunt of an Omer Asik charge as he dogged guard Ish Smith. Let’s just say opponents were not cheating in order to shake Terrence Ross, Lou Williams or Greivis Vasquez last year. Carroll would swallow up Gordon in the third quarter on a drive.
What the Toronto Raptors said after their 100-81 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans | NOLA.com
Raptors coach Dwane Casey (On how DeMarre Carroll looked tonight) ''Well, the medical staff cleared him. They wanted him to workout yesterday, this morning, and test him tonight before the game. They tested him, and he's fine, no soreness. So knock on wood, hopefully nothing comes up from tonight. On DeMar DeRozan's play making… Well it's big because we put him in a lot of situations where he had to find. He was bringing a crowd with him (and) he took what the game gave him. They were trying to get the ball out of his hands, and he did a good job of finding, and it helps when you knock the three-ball down. Pat (Patterson) seemed like he found his jumper, his shot, and that really helps your assist total. The driving force behind the improved play of Jonas Valanciunas
Raptors shred Pelicans | New Orleans Pelicans | BourbonStreetShots.com
The Pelicans refused to respect Carroll as an offensive force, repeated putting their weakest defenders on him. Carroll kept trying to take advantage of this, but only managed 11 points on 14 shots. The first two times Valancuinas had the ball in scoring position, he immediately pump-faked. The first one was ridiculous because he was standing at a ninety degree angle from the basket. No one was thinking he was shooting that. Asik just stared at him. Asik had on display all his worst traits – stone hands, weak putbacks – and his strongest. With him in the game the Pelicans held their own on the boards and could actually slither into the paint off his picks. When he went out, they were crushed on the glass and the guards couldn’t get free. In the third, when the Raptors started to pull away, both Ish and Douglas went into hero mode. And it was terrible. Bad, bad decisions. They finished the game 2-16.
Raptors' Carroll relieves weight off his shoulders in return – Sportsnet.ca
After the game, Carroll said that as he watched the ball go in he sensed a weight come off his shoulders, and the shoulders of his team as well. “Oh yeah, that felt good. Once you see one go down, it makes it a lot easier,” Carroll said. “I felt great. My timing was a little off in the first half but it felt great to be back out there with my teammates and kind of be a relief for some of the guys like DeMar and Kyle on the defensive end.” Carroll’s talking about being back from his team-mandated three-game sabbatical, with strict instructions to stay off his feet as much as possible in order to rest, and hopefully heal, the plantar fasciitis in his right foot that he’s been playing through for practically the entire season. He never wanted to miss that much time, or any at all. But the Raptors coaching staff forced him to stay home, knowing the only truly effective treatment for plantar fasciitis is extended rest.
Toronto Raptors turn on the jets in the second half, defeat New Orleans Pelicans – The Bird Writes
The fourth quarter wasn't much worse, as New Orleans clanked their way to a 21% shooting quarter. It wasn't anything great, to say the least. Entering the quarter down the 11, the Pelicans, who weren't shooting well to begin with, didn't play offensively and the Raptors took advantage with another strong shooting quarter (55.6%), earning their seventh victory of the season. Is this a bad loss? I can't call it. I like to think of it as an expected loss, more than anything. Anthony Davis isn't just the Destroyer of Worlds, but he's also a conduit on the offensive end. Not only can he get you a bucket, but he's an astute passer, capable of creating some shots. You didn't have that against a good overall team and they turned on the jets in the second half. It happens sometimes. Just a personal comment, I think New Orleans should do something Toronto did in free agency this year. They should attack that middle. Carroll didn't have a fantastic game, but he played good defense and hit some
Five Hedo Turkoglu moments Raptors fans won't forget – Sportsnet.ca
The terrible contract: The signing of Turkoglu turned out to be one of the worst decisions of Bryan Colangelo’s time running the Raptors as team president and general manager. And there were a lot of them (remember Jermaine O’Neal?). Prior to the DeMarre Carroll signing this past summer, the Raptors handed Turkoglu the largest free-agent deal in franchise history – a five-year contract worth $53 million. They intended for him to be a perimeter creator for a team that lacked a consistent scoring option behind Chris Bosh but Turkoglu turned out to be a colossal bust. He not only did nothing to improve a sub-.500 team but hurt the Raptors' cap space for the next several years, even though he was traded to the Phoenix Suns after his only season in Toronto.
Raptors Welcome BioSteel As Official Partner | Toronto Raptors
"I have had individual Toronto Raptors players using my formulas for more than a decade, from the time they were just in their prototype stage,” said Nichol. “To see how our company has grown and evolved to the point that we are now able to be official partners is extremely exciting." As part of the partnership, the brand new, 68,000 square foot Raptors training facility will be named BioSteel Centre. The two-storey building located in Toronto’s Exhibition Place is set to open early February 2016, just in time for the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend. As a brand, BioSteel continuously looks to help improve athletic ability and performance and naming a space dedicated to the same principles was an ideal and obvious choice. “The new Raptors training facility is an example of investing all of our resources and effort into development and long-term excellence, so it's very fitting to partner with a company like BioSteel that shares the same purpose and vision," said David Hopkinson.
Will Toronto's changes equate to success in the postseason? | NBA.com
The Raptors rank 11th in defensive efficiency through Thursday, suffering a setback by losing Carroll (sore foot) for the last few games. According to SportVU, they're allowing only 42 percent of side pick-and-rolls to go toward the middle, down from a league-high 68 percent last season. Offensively, Casey wants his team to be more Spurs-ish. The Raptors are still going to let DeMar DeRozan go to work in the post and in isolation, but Casey wants them to be more adaptable offensively, so they can better take advantage of ball-denials and double-teams. The Raptors have had their ups and downs offensively so far, but they're averaging 3.33 passes per possession, up from 2.96 last season, according to SportVU. They've passed the ball four or more times on 42 percent of their possessions, up from 34 percent last season.
