The We Lost Our Stars Bowl III

Yes the we got screwed by South Beach Series coming to a close tonight in Toronto. The Raptors have already won this series with a 2-0 lead with wins of 101-81 in Toronto on October 29th and in Cleveland on January 5th winning 120-105. But if you consider the entire package the Cavs have beat the South Beach Heat 102-90 in Cleveland. Raptor will have one last chance to do that a week from today.

The Basics: Cavs 16-61 (3-7 in last 10) Raptors 21-56 ( 3-7 in last 10)

When Last We Saw Them: This just in Tony Douglas and Mello just made three pointers. It was won of those epic Raptor failures in the first half that you have gotten all to use too. Andrea Bargnani was back on to disappear again he is the Magician after all. DeRozan got his first career double double to bad the tape of the game will be burned or should be. Knicks started on a 13-0 run and won by the same 13. But to suggest this game was even up the rest of the way would not be a realistic reflection of it.

Key Match-Ups: Let's go old Raptor vs current Raptor. How about a little A.P versus Double D. As mentioned Demar did get numbers last night in NYC and if you can make it there you better damn well make it against the Cavs. A.P is a decent defender at least decent compared to anyone the Raptors have at his spot. Will see how Demar matches up with A.P. Baron Davis is so slow that if Calderon plays even he can stay in front of him. But likely be Bayless and this is a chance for the J-Bay resurrection tour to gain some steam. But please play some D. Also will be interested to see Ed Davis and J.J Hickson get together in this one. Both young and talented should make for a good battle.

Other Things of Note: Even "The Miz" a native of Cleveland has sold out the Cavs. Let's Go to the YouTube Footage:

And just because we are playing the Cavs it is always fun to bust out this video that I am sure is played to potential free agents about coming to the Cavs.

Yes that always makes me smile. People that feel sorry for the Cavs that are Raptor fans I really don't understand you. Who has ever felt sorry for us losing star after star. It makes no sense to feel anything but joy that the Cavs stink. After all without them people might notice that Raptors have not exactly set the world on fire this season. So don't just beat the Cavs. Crush the Cavs and after last night's lacklustre effort in New York fans deserve it. Really? Yes REALLY. For The Cavs to make good on Dan Gilbert's claim to win a title before Lebron James, this would have to be the WWE where even a no talent reality show wanta be can be champion. But this is the NBA and thankfully that doesn't happen here.

Where Is It On?: TSN 2 (No joke today cause I screwed this up in last night's preview. I feel shame so TSN and Sportsnet are off the hook for today)

So that is it and as Jessie The Body Ventura use to say the pleasure was all yours. Least we hope so. Trying to keep it fun with a week to go in the season from hell.

A Game Not On ESPN Or TNT.

Unlike Jose Calderon, I still remember Chris Bosh and who he is, or maybe it is was. I say that based on Chris making comments that apparently if you don't get your games broadcast on TNT or ESPN you don't exist according to him. If you are on T.V that is all that matters. Really? I mean even Vince Carter never made such stupid statements after leaving. However, Vince would have no need to say that, as when he was on the Raptors they did get broadcast on national T.V in the U.S. So even though in Chris Bosh's world the team he left and the team Lebron left won't exist, trust me the Cavs and Raptors will play a game at the ACC. The Cavs coming in with a record better then the Heat as they beat the Celtics in their home opener. Raptors in their opener came up short against lesser competition in the Knicks.

Much like the Celtics had a letdown in their loss to the Cavs, could the same happen to Cleveland on the road at the at the ACC. Raptors will hope so but should not count on it. The Raptors really need this win badly as the team is off on a early season western road swing. It is crazy to call game two of a season as must win but for the Raptors this gets as close as it can get. Given the opposition they face the Raptors would be hard pressed to even get a split on this road trip. Not to be negative but it would not shock to many people if they went 0-4. The one some what winnable game is the first one vs the Kings. After that it is the Jazz, Lakers and Blazers.

At least in this match-up with the Cavs there will be 3 familiar faces for Jay Triano to game plan against. Anthony Parker, Joey Graham and Jamario Moon all former Raptors playing for the Cavs. No one will ever confuse Joey and Jamario with Lebron. But like the Raptors the Cavs do have some pieces. The one that most people seem to be excited about is J.J Hickson. He is young and will have a much larger role for this Cavs team. He did lead Cleveland with 21 points in the win over Boston. The Cavs also got this win with no Mo Williams. Will see if he suits up tonight in Toronto.

Not suiting up, but starting the road back is Ed Davis. He practised with team in all non contact drills for the first time. It will be a long road back for Davis and a rather larger learning curve. Missing half his college season and now all of training camp and pre-season is not going to make things easy for him at all. People should not expect much from this kid right now. It is going to take a lot of time. The Raptors have depth at his position so there is no need to rush him back.

I am going to be in the building but not covering this one. Doing some research for the DNB, and if all works out you folks will hear about it at a later date and you will be happy about it. In the short term will we all be happy as Raptor fans? Hey if you can't beat the Cavs there is no way you are going to be a playoff team. So forget it Celtics you are not making the post season. But seriously, for the Raptors a loss to the Cavs means a lot more then it does for Boston. The amount of winnable games for the Raptors and Celtics is vastly different.

The only other thing I will say is the artists formerly know as the Young Gunz now the Young Onez all need to step up and be counted tonight. The opener was not great for any of them. It is great they all love the city and the fans. However fans want effort and results and these guys need to learn to do that consistently.