Mirage Or Reality...Will Find Out Tonight

The Raptors truly have become like that box of chocolates that Tom Hanks spoke of. You truly to never know what your going to get. That is probably the biggest reason I have had no confidence that this team can put together a run to make it to the playoffs. All that being said, no matter what happens in these last 20 plus game sit will mean something. Tough choices lie ahead for all involved in this organization and it begins at the top with Bryan Colangelo. Next season will define this Raptor franchise for many years to come. That will all be tied to the future of Chris Bosh which is in serious doubt. Is he going to stay is he going to go? It has become the focus of this season already. No matter what lies ahead I am going to stick behind Chris Bosh. He has given all he has to this franchise and been loyal to it. I want him to remain and I hope that he will. The way some of tried to devalue his importance to this franchise is just silly. I mean is he Lebron James or Kobe Bryant? No he isn't but that does not mean he is not a very talented player. The thing I think that gets lost for Raptor fans is listen to what people say outside of Toronto. Chris Bosh is respected around the league and the fact that so many people are talking about him moving is a product of 2 things. First that Chris Bosh is a 4 time All Star that is clearly talented. The second is that the Raptors are struggling and that makes him the logical choice to be talked about.

This Off-Season will be the most important and interesting in the history of the Raptors Franchise. It is going to change the direction of this franchise one way or the other. Forgive me if I am not ready to embrace the idea of a team built around Andrea Bargnani. I have seen that movie in Dallas with a better actor in the lead roll and it has not worked out so well. I also don't get how people are so fast jump on board with some players. Andrea Bargnani for 3 years has been up and down and is finally getting to the point of being somewhat consistent. You have Joey Graham who you can just add a year to that and have the same answer. Yet the bandwagons for both are filling up fast as can be. I will stick with guy that has been a 4 time all-star and has shown improvement in almost every season he has been in the league. CB4Life hopefully here in Toronto but still I will always respect Chris even if it isn't. If there is anything you have learned in reading this blog, I hope it is that I am loyal to people and remain so. It may be an old outdated concept but it is not something I am willing to give up. However if Bosh does leave it will make it very hard for me personally to invest myself in the next face of the franchise. If that ends up being Andrea Bargnani it will be very easy not to get invested in him. I just have not really been a big fan of him. I don't know if it is because of his inconsistent play of the past. If it is the fact he is a European and I can't get into that. I mean there are some European players that I enjoy. Tony Parker is a guy that I like. Although if you didn't know any better you would swear he was North American. Whatever the case is I just don't seem to get into Andrea. But there will be lots of time to talk about the off-season when it gets here and it is going to be longer from what we have been use to.

Randy And D.J On The Raps

Randy and D.J who have been guests here get into a discussion about Andrea as well and talk about the past 2 games against the Knicks:



They also talk about the deadline and more NBA stuff is you want to check that out here is the link. So there is some love for them as they will be doing their thing on Court Surfing tonight.

Raps and T-Wolves Match-Up

I will be watching to see if the Raptors can make it two in a row. Here is the preview of this classic. The Raptors were 110-102 winners in Minnesota not that long ago. The T-Wolves are a team with out their best player in Al Jefferson. Kevin Love matched against CB4 is a huge advantage Raptors. This perhaps can be a jump off point for Bosh to get back in the flow after his knee injury. Here is your breakdown of the match up stats wise.

Dino Blogger Talking All Star Game For T.O In Industry

Lastly after the All Star Weekend was a complete dud it puts the article in a new light. Yesterday Eric Smith shared his thoughts on All Star Weekend and he was not impressed as well. That being said it has not crushed my hope that the Weekend should come here to Toronto. That was the topic of my article in The Industry Magazine which is a urban culture Magazine that I write on basketball for them. In this article you can find quotes on the topic from Chuck Swirsky, Jack Armstrong, Eric Smith and Scott Carefoot of RaptorBlog fame. But they also cover Music and the entire Toronto urban experience. So check out the Dino Blogger on pages 17-18, but check out the rest of the Magazine as well. Lisa and the entire crew at the Industry have a great magazine and are working hard at it.

Some Blog Notes:

Raptor Rewind will be a tad bit delayed, as I am going to be covering an NCAA Game for The Score doing the Live Blog of Florida and LSU. Even if it is just for fun, I think we will have a Dino Nation Blog NCAA Pool. I will put something together. Also be happy your a Raptor fan. Raptor tickets remain the same(according to Fan 590) but the Leafs tickets cost more. I can not imagine they had much choice at MLSE to not raise Raptor prices. However you want a reason I am not a Leafs fan that is a pretty good reason why. People are struggling out there and MLSE just keeps raising prices on the poor Leaf Fans. Just be thankful we were able to escape without having to pay more. Given the season for the team and TSN 2 debacle even folks at MLSE could see raising Raptor prices was not the right move. If they could only see that getting games on T.V is we would be getting somewhere. I mean they do I know but they have done little to act upon it. God forbid any Leaf Game was not broadcast there would be riots in the streets. In part because that is the only way the average fan can afford to see them. All this sports is a business stuff SUCKS. It may be true but I don't have to like it.