Gee Wiz

We will get to tonight's match-up in a minute. But there is a much bigger story to talk about first. Richard Peddie, it was announced earlier this week is stepping down as CEO/President of MLSE as of December 31st 2011. That would be big news on it's own kind of. But the bigger news is according to The Toronto Star it seems The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is in talks with Rogers Communications to sell them a majority interest in MLSE. This would be a huge move giving them control of all the major sports teams in the Toronto market place. They of course already own the Blue Jays. What this will mean for the Raptors remains to be seen. The future of Bryan Colangelo? Will Rogers take control of broadcasts has they have with the Blue Jays? More games on Sportsnet 1 in our future? There are about a million questions on what this would mean. Obviously the Raptors are just part of the package and the real jewel in this deal in terms of Rogers would be control of the Leafs. If this happens the price take is said to be over a billion dollars (1.3 B number is The Star) and would be the largest transaction in North America sports history. Will this mean good things for the Raptors? Up until recently Rogers track record with the Blue Jays has been not that great. But when you look at the major sports teams it is the Blue Jays with brightest future currently. Aside from them being doomed to be in the AL East and that makes getting into the playoffs a lot tougher in comparison to the Leafs or Raptors.

Now on to your regularly scheduled preview of the Raptors and Wizards. John Wall is listed as day to day and the Raptors have already avoided him once, not that it helped much. Still John Wall is a pretty amazing kid on the floor and his story off the floor is just as amazing. Take a minute to read this article on Wall from the Washington Post. Warm fuzzy feelings about Wall aside the Raptors would rather see him in a suit than in a uniform. Who will be in uniform and ready to play is Raptors rookie Ed Davis. Bryan Colangelo admitted that Davis' time table was moved up based on the injury to Reggie Evans. Speaking of Reggie he had surgery on his injured foot this morning. All the best to Reggie for a speedy recovery. Based on Raptors play vs Atlanta he is needed. But will not return anytime soon.

The Basics: Washington 5-11(Winless in 8 Road Games this season) Raptors 6-11(5-5 in Last 10)

When Last We Saw Them: The Raptors had their worst effort since a road loss to the Wizards. Josh Smith had a triple double and the Raptors had no answers and this game was never really close. Jay Triano said that each of his starters were out played by their counterpart on the Hawks and he was 100% correct.

Key Match Ups: Andre Blatche is a handful and he provides blocks, rebounds and hustle for this Wizards team. Who will match-up against him is kind of unclear. The Raptors started Joey Dorsey in place of Reggie Evans with not exactly great results. Amir Johnson had his issues with staying on the floor against the Hawks because of foul trouble. I highly doubt Ed Davis would start in his first game? But 1 or all of those 3 must find a way to deal with Blatche. Javale McGee should have his hands full with Andrea Bargnani. That is if Andrea shows up for 48 minutes. He didn't vs Atlanta after a decent first half he disappeared with only 2 points in the 2nd half. Demar DeRozan has been in a funk and battling a hamstring issue and he will have his hands full with Gilbert Arenas. If John Wall is not in the line-up that will give Arenas a lot more touches and shots(with a basketball) vs the Raptors. DeRozan needs to step up his game and with no games since Sunday you would think that Hamstring has to be feeling better.

In Case You Missed it: We have our 4 winners now for our MGD Contest and they will be joining Myself and Danielle for Raptors vs the Nuggets on December 10 in the MGD Best seats in the House. Congrats to Lanny, Mary Anne, Ray and Chi our contest winners. Thanks to all that entered the various contests we had. So on that night the Dino Nation Blog will be hosting that event. But every other Friday when the Raptors are at home I will be there covering the game with press pass in hand. Beginning this Friday with the Oklahoma City Thunder hitting the ACC. My surprise pick to win the NBA Title this year. Looking forward to it and excited to kick off DNB TGIF at the games with a bang.

I will be live blogging this one for The Score.com and Mobile tonight and will post the links later today. The Re-Cap might have to wait till tomorrow as after that game I am also live blogging Duke in NCAA action and after that it is on the Air on the Radio at midnight on CJLO on The Sports Grind. You can listen online at CJLO.com. Just the average busy evening in the life of the Dino Blogger.

As promised your links for tonight Raptors Game vs Wiz on Scoremobile and Score.com

Jack Goes Wild On Wiz

The Toronto Raptors were going for the 2nd night in a row without Chris Bosh and they once again found a way to escape with a W. Jarrett Jack came to life in a major way to spark a rally for the Raptors in the 4th quarter as the erased a 10 point decit and beat the Wizards 109-104. It was Jack's 23 points and 8 dimes that lead the way for Toronto. Calderon was also good in relief and playing with Jack at times with 10 points 4 dimes and 4 rebounds with a key one down the stretch that secured the win. Andrea Bargnani also had a solid night at the office with 18 points on the night. Hedo Turkoglu did a solid job as well with some big moments down the stretch. He had left the game briefly with an injury but returned. He and all the Raptors including Bosh will have lots of time to recover as they do not play again till Wednesday vs Portland.

The Raptors did a terrible job on the glass in this game and looking at it with an impartial eye the Wizards overall probably played well enough to deserve the win. Blatche was a man on a mission for them with 24 points and 6 rebounds and seemed to be the guy that every time the Wiz were on a run he was right in the middle of it.

Raptors did not play defense most of the night. However at the end of this one Bargnani turned into a blocking machine and single handed made key stops for Toronto down the stretch to secure the win. He had 4 blocks overall and most of them came when it matter the most at the end of the game.

Raptors had the good fortune of the meeting the Nets and Wizards without CB4. However the Wizards did come in off a big win over the Nuggets and were playing good basketball. Raptors will move on and face the Blazers who have a string of injuries and now have former Raptor and 2nd overall pick way back in the day in Marcus Camby.

As rough as the OT loss was to the Grizzlies, the Raptors seem to have bounced back strong without their star player. That will help build confidence in other players on this roster hopefully and in the end that can be important as the Raptors push down this stretch to the playoffs. 31-24 is their record in February that is a far cry from last season.

Raptors Rewind- Hassan Adams Era Edition

No Raptors Rewind Logo tonight as we pay tribute to Hassan Adams Raptor Career. O.K well it was not much of a career was it. Earlier today the Raptors traded Adams to the Clippers with Cash for a future second round pick. The Clippers would turn around and waive Adams and he is currently looking for a job. I would like to say something nice about the guy. I am told he was a good person and all of that. But where it counts on the floor he showed nothing and that is why the Raptors in a sense had to pay someone to take him off their hands. As for the game the Raptors will also be without Jamario Moon who is becoming a daddy in Alabama. He left the team to hopefully make it back to Alabama for the birth of his child. So that means Joey G will get the start tonight and the Joey G fan base will be no doubt excited by that news. It is Joey's first start of the 2008/09 season. Ex-Raptor Mike James will be matched up against a player many might have had flashbacks to James based on his poor performance the other night. That would be Will Solomon. So the Raptors would only have 9 players on the roster for tonight. It is time to get going in Washington D.C where history will happen on Jan 20th as Barak Obama will get sworn in a President.

1st Quarter

Raptor would get off to a 7-2 run started by a 3 pointer from A.P and continued by Bosh and Joey G. The Raptor run would march on though with a basket from Andrea Bargnani. After a 10-2 start a time out on the floor for the Wizards to regroup with 7:49 left in the 3rd quarter. Wizards after the time out would get it going a bit and get it to a 12-6 score with an Andray Blatche jumper. But an Anthony Parker basket and that was followed by an Andrea Bargnani with a 3 pointer. Raptors lead now 17-6. Chris Bosh would score and make the lead larger but Mike James would answer the Bosh score with one of his own. Will Solomon would make a shot and he was off to a better shooting night.

Andray Blatche would make another jumper. Chris Bosh was looking for a foul but not whistle was coming as Caron Butler went the other way and scored a second basket in a row for the Wizards. Raptors lead 21-12 and Jake Voskhul was in for Bosh. Raptor forced Wizards into their second shot clock violation of the quarter. Jason Kapono would make a basket and he needed it as he has struggled. Antwan Jamison would get a basket for the home side. Raptors would make a turnover and Wizards would turn that into 2 points as well. It was 25-16 late in the quarter. Will Solomon would close out the quarter with the basket and the Raps had an 11 point lead after one with the score 27-16.

2nd Quarter

Raptors were shooting an amazing 70% from the field. Jason Kapono would keep it rolling as he would make a 3 pointer and extend the Raptor lead to start the second quarter. Chris Bosh would get to the line and the Raptors looked good as a lesson may have been learned in Oklahoma City. Bosh would only go 1-2 though. Kapono was hot and how long has it been since you heard that. He was 4-4 with his latest a 3 ball from the corner. The youngster Nick Young would respond with a 3 pointer for the Wizards in response. Raptors still lead 34-21 with 8:18 to play in the half.

Chris Bosh was committed to drive and he was drawing fouls he was back at the line. Bosh mad both from the line. Jason Kapono was hooked up for the open 3 pointer but he would miss. But Jake Voskhul would draw the foul working hard on the offensive glass. But the Raptors would not get anything off the second chance. Antwan Jamison would hit a 3 pointer the other way. Roko Ukic would drive and score to answer that. AP would hit a jumper as he was on the move off a pick and roll. Raptors had built a 15 point lead and it was 40-25 Raptors with 5:29. Matt Devlin had mentioned that Jose Calderon had been recovering well and may be ready to come back as soon as Friday. But as for now Will Solomon was hooking up AP for a 3 pointer. Andrea Bargnani would take his time and gave a fake and then blasted in a 3 ball and Raptors lead had grown to 46-25. Antwan Jamison was one of the few Wizards that seemed interested. He scored and got a fouled and made the shot. Mike James would hit a 3 pointer and the Wizards had a much needed 6-0 run. Antwan Jamison was heading to the line fouled by Andrea Bargnani. He would be replaced by Bosh as that was his second. Another foul as Jamison missed the second free throw after making the first. Caron Butler would head to the line. It was a 9-0 run and Jay Triano had seen enough.

A Will Solomon missed jumper in the lane was not what Triano had in mind I am guessing. But Kris Humphries would draw a charge on Antwan Jamison. Will Solomon would make a shot after his miss out of the time out to end the Wizard run. The Wiz would respond but then it was a Hump throw down on the other end. But Jamison answer that with a basket. The Raptors shooting had cooled in this second quarter but the still had a 50-38 lead after one half. This was with only 5 points for Chris Bosh. Bargnani, Parker and Kapono all shared the Raptor scoring lead with 10 for each in the first half.

3rd Quarter

Raptors still were shooting 57% after a half of play. Raptors out rebounded the Wiz 20-14. Joey G gets the first bucket of the second half for the Raptors. Antwan Jamison would hit a 3-ball to get the Wizards started in the second half. Wizards would get a 7-0 run but Triano was letting Raptors play through it. Bosh would find Bargnani and he would dunk it and and get fouled for the 3 point play. It was back to 55-45 and Raptors were looking to hang on to control. Chris Bosh had a turnover and he was having a tough night shooting 1-8. Both teams were playing sloppy and Andrea Bargnani fumbled the ball out of bounds. Andray Blatche would score and the lead was down to 8 points. Raptors were giving the Wizards a lot of chances to come back but Washington was not converting on most of them thankfully for Raptor fans.

Chris Bosh had enough and just took it to the basket strong for the score to restore a 10 point lead. Andrea Bargnani would hook up Will Solomon for a score. He would follow up with a finger roll for himself the next time down the floor. Raptors had build back to a 61-47 lead with 5:14 to play in the quarter. Antwan Jamison was one of about a thousand folks that the Raptors have been rumoured to having interest in. If it was true after tonight they will be more interested as he had another basket as part of a great night for him personally. But unfortunately later on he would pick up his 4th foul of the night and got forced to the bench. AP would make a basket as he left. Raptors lead 65-51.

Andray Blatche would get another basket and he was looking good as well for the Wizards on the offensive end. Wizards had cut the lead to single digits again at 9 down. But Chris Bosh would make a key basket to push lead back to 11 points. Jake Voskhul would get a score and all 9 Raptors that could play tonight have and had scored. A steal and lay up for Mike James and it was 71-60 for the Raptors. Will Solomon would get a basket to extend that lead to 13. That would be how the 3rd Quarter would end as it was 73-60 after 3 quarters of play.

4th Quarter

Raps had 2 chances to score on their first trip and Ukic and Graham both missed. Jamison was back in the game and he scored and the Wizards had the first 4 points of the quarter. Roko Ukic would get a score to open up the books for the Raps in the corner. Jamison would get another basket. Score was 75-66 and Jay Triano decided to get Chris Bosh back in the game a little earlier than usual. The lead had been cut back to 7 points but Andrea Bargnani would make a big 3 pointer. But Antwan Jamison kept rolling and scored. Chris Bosh would answer for his side with a basket to respond. A turnover by Bosh would give Washington a chance to cut the lead to 5 and Nick Young would deliver and a time out was called and the Raptors needed it.

Bosh out of the time out would drive and draw a foul and get to the line and it was on Jamison which was huge. He would make both free throws and Jamison had to go to the bench and with foul number 5. Wizards would score and lead was back to 5 points. But Bosh would come back and make a jumper and draw a foul for a 3 point play. Caron Butler would score and the lead was cut to 6 points with the score 85-79 with 6:15 to play. Washington had a chance to cut lead to 4 points but Bosh stuck a hand out and caused a turnover. He would then make his way to the line for another pair. Which he would make and they had a 87-79 lead and that was a big moment. Jason Kapono who had been quiet hit a buzzer beater as the shot clock was expiring. Antwan Jamison would score again he had 27 on the night but his team was still down 8 points.

After a Kapono miss from the arc in transition Jamison would score and get fouled and the Wizards had cut lead back down to 5 points again. A Will Solomon turnover and Wiz had a chance to make it even closer but could not. They would have another chance and they would get called for traveling and anther chance was lost. Raptors lead 89-83 with just 2:21 to play. Andrea Bargnani has been clutch and he did it again hitting a dagger 3 pointer late in the game as Raptors lead was 92-83. Wizards refused to go away though as they got 4 straight points and the lead was down to 5 points again. Wizards were forced to foul Bargnani with 27.1 seconds left. He was calm and cool and made two from the line and it was 94-87 Raptors with under 30 seconds to play. Will Solomon would make a silly foul on Mike James sending him to the line. James had a chance to cut the lead to 5 but he would miss his first and make his second. Soloman had a very up and down night. Solomon had 14 points and 5 dimes and only 2 turnovers. The man of the night was Andrea Bargnani, who was not heading to Dallas he was in this game and scoring 23 points.Many of them that were clutch shots that Raptors needed. The foul shot game was dragging this thing out but the Raptors were going to have win number 15 on the year and the Raptors have won 3 out of 4. The Final score would end up 99-93 and Bargnani added two more points to have 25 points on the night. So happy times for the Raptors as Jamario Moon had a new baby girl and his team back in Washington had a win. All good news on this night. Check out the happy details in our Score Boxscore.

Raps/Wiz Boxscore

So the Raptors next face the best Rookie in this league in my opinion O.J Mayo. He and the rest of the Grizzlies will pay a visit to the ACC to take on the Raptors. Raptors will hope to win their 4th game in their last 5 games. They may have Jose Calderon back to help in that regard.