3 In A Row?

It has been a long time the Raptors could say they were on a winning streak. While two in a row is not anything stunning it is something. The people cheering for ping pong balls are screaming why now. But just like when you slap down 5 or 10 bucks in your NCAA Office Pool it is a gamble. Not a gamble based on skill either. There is also those who are not as trusting that feel the NBA Lottery might not exactly be on the level. But forgetting about the draft and lottery balls as a basketball team what you want to see is progress. We are seeing some of that. DeRozan has become a consistent scorer. James Johnson is becoming that defending wing player the Raptors have needed for a long time. Andrea Bargnani may still not be tearing up the boards or impressing anyone with his defence. But he is doing what we take for granted and that is score and doing a lot of it. Reggie Evans and Leandro Barbosa are playing well and making the choices the Raptors will need to make about them much tougher. Ed Davis who struggled last night has showed signs that he can be a part of the future. This team is starting to figure some things out. While it won't change the fate of this season it does help.

When you look across the way at the Denver Nuggets as Raptor fans you might just be a bit jealous. Why do I say this? Look at how the Nuggets dealt with the Carmelo Anthony situation. While Masai Ujiri who came from the Raptors Organization did not see the situation as ideal in what he was forced to deal with. I would suggest Denver fans are likely a lot more happy than Raptor fans or Cavs fans are. Toronto and Cleveland rolled the dice and lost. Having seen that from the inside in Toronto gave Ujiri the road map of what he knew he had to do in Denver. Shocking as it may seem the Nuggets are actually playing well with both Mello and Billups gone. It was a pretty unbelieveable deal that he was able to engineer under the circumstances. Cashing in on the Knicks desperation to bring Anthony home to N.Y.C. Going to do this a little different today for the rest of this preview check it out in audio form all the same stuff just in voice rather than words. Yes TSN and Sportsnet jokes too.

A Little Bonus Material:

Amir Johnson made his way through The Score and a number of other media outlets to promote his Roll With Amir Contest Here is that from his You Tube the interviews were prior to his return to the line up this past Friday vs the Wizards.

Here is the link to Amir's website. Tried to find him on Friday to talk about this with him. But could not track him down pre-game. But kudos to him for doing something great for you Raptor Fans. As

The Raptors look to the future and try some things, we at the Dino Nation Blog are going to be doing the same. The goal is to make this site much more of a Multi-Media platform. More Audio and soon to more video will eventually be the goal. While we make these transitions feel free to offer your input. In the comments, on DNB Chat, On Twitter, On Facebook, If you see me walking down the street when I am in Toronto. It is all welcomed. I thank all of you that support the Dino Nation Blog and it will continue to do it's best to make this a place that you want to check out everyday and be a part of. I get told a lot about all the great steps I have made in the 3 plus years of this blog. But trust me when I tell you that it is far from where I want it to be and where it will be. I work hard not just for myself but for all of you.