Demar DeRozan Gets A Friday Night Invite

There is not a lot to smile about with the Raptors right now. The team is currently stranded in Indy after their lose to the Pacers. In the midst of a 12 game losing streak. But good news late this afternoon for one Raptor in Demar DeRoazan. First he got into the dunk contest through the back door as an injury replacement for his good friend Brandon Jennings. But this time, he walks in through the front door to the Rookie/Sophomore game. He will go up against a rookie squad lead by his main competition in the Dunk Contest the next night in Blake Griffin. Here is a list of all the other Rookies and Sophomores that will be heading to L.A with those 2.

Rookies

• Eric Bledsoe L.A. Clippers G 6-1 195 Kentucky
• DeMarcus Cousins Sacramento C 6-11 270 Kentucky
• Derrick Favors New Jersey F 6-10 246 Georgia Tech
• Landry Fields New York G 6-7 210 Stanford
• Wesley Johnson Minnesota G 6-7 205 Syracuse
  
• Greg Monroe Detroit C 6-11 250 Georgetown
  
• Gary Neal San Antonio G 6-4 210 Towson State
• John Wall Washington G 6-4 195 Kentucky
• Blake Griffin L.A. Clippers F 6-10 251Oklahoma

Sophomores

• DeJuan Blair San Antonio C 6-7 265 Pittsburgh
• DeMar DeRozan Toronto G 6-7 220 USC
• Stephen Curry Golden State G 6-3 185 Davidson
• Tyreke Evans Sacramento G 6-6 220 Memphis
• Taj Gibson Chicago F 6-9 225 USC
• Jrue Holiday Philadelphia G 6-4 180 UCLA
• Serge Ibaka Oklahoma City F-C 6-10 235 Brazzaville, Rep. of Congo
• Brandon Jennings Milwaukee G 6-1 169 Lottomatica Virtus Roma
• Wesley Matthews Portland G 6-5 220 Marquette

There was some talk that Ed Davis may also get a chance to represent the Raptors as well, but missing the amount of time he did likely hurt his chances. However, if he keeps on the same path he may like Demar miss out on being selected as rookie and get in the game next year as a sophomore. He has really been playing well of late and was a big spark in the last game vs the Pacers.

Really happy for Demar who has stepped up his game in his 2nd year and is very deserving of this honour. In talking with him before he had been added to the dunk contest he really wanted to be a part of All-Star Weekend given it is taking place in his home town of L.A. Well now his friends and family will need tickets for Friday and Saturday as Demar will be front and center on both nights. In a season that has not been good for the Raptors this is a nice reward for a guy that despite that has been pretty good all season and is slowly growing into a consistent scorer for this team.

So now Raptor fans have more reason to pay attention to All-Star Weekend and have someone to root for. The Rookie Challenge will air here in Canada on TSN 2 on Friday February 18th at 9pm.

So congratulation to Demar DeRozan from us here at the Dino Nation Blog.