Raptors Refused To Lose

Somethings stand the test of time. The Raptors have not lost to Minnesota in Toronto since 2004. That was so long ago K.G was still on the T-Wolves. However what was different was how the Raptors would beat the T-Wolves this time around. The Raptors are making you redefine what you have come to expect from this team. The poster boy for that change is Andrea Bargnani. In his 6 years prior to this one he was never good enough to live up to his selection at number one in the NBA draft in 2006. But it is not like that draft was without other failures. A draft that saw Adam Morrison go number 3 to Charlotte, Former Raptor Patrick O'Bryant was picked in lottery at number 9 by Golden State. Brandon Roy was not a bust talent wise but he now sadly is no longer around. But there is something about that tag of first overall pick that makes you either a complete bust or a franchise changing superstar. It was 6 years of trying to avoid that label of being a bust. But this year everything we thought we knew about Bargnani has changed or it seems that way. He can't defend but this year he can. He can't be consistent but this year he has been the most consistent Raptor night in night out. In a season that Demar DeRozan was suppose to take the mantel as the face of this franchise, DeRozan has been more like Bargnani than Bargnani.

The Raptors as group have with few exceptions in there history won games based on their offence and three point shooting and flashy dunks. This Raptor team can at times be challenged to score and they feature some players who clearly have nothing going for them on offence at all. Tonight James Johnson did nothing much on offence. He did make a three pointer but by and large his shooting is not good enough for most D-League teams. What he is though is the Raptors best defender. The Raptors lack the scoring and 3 point shooting that most teams get from the small forward position. But the defence part they seem to have covered. Still it is hard to watch Johnson and even harder to watch Rasaul Butler on the offensive end of the floor. In football this wouldn't be a problem but in basketball you need to play both offence and defence. It is probably the reality that the Raptors will be looking for a small forward in the draft or spend some of that cap room to find a true starter at the position. Truth is since Rob Babcock (who now works with T-Wolves) traded Vince Carter there has never been anyone close to replacing him.

Not everything has changed with the Raptors though. Amir Johnson is still the same player he just has a lot more help in terms of defence. His chemistry with Jose Calderon remains the same. But actually one thing has changed about Amir. No it isn't his bigger muscles that he bragged about here in the DNB. He has found a way to remain in the fight. In a game that was foul filled Amir Johnson managed to stay out of foul trouble and contribute. He was able to balance five fouls and play 30 minutes having a fantastic night with 19 points and 11 rebounds and 8 of those came on the offensive end extending possessions. That was the grit to go along with fantastic 31 point and 9 rebound night for Andrea Bargnani who played 45 minutes of a possible 48.

It was a scrappy night that featured a fired up Jose Calderon that was taking on his fellow countryman Ricky Rubio. Which in the end proved to be a pretty even battle in the boxscore. Claderon finished the night with 14 points 6 assists and a steal. Rubio had 10 points the same 6 assists and 3 steals. Kevin Love meanwhile did get some numbers but had a night full of struggle to get them. He had 13 points and 14 rebounds but shot 3-16 and T-Wolves as a team shot just 33. 8% on the night.

But perhaps the biggest change came in the 4th quarter. The Raptors nearing the end of the 3rd quarter had a 12 point lead and by the early stages of the 4th quarter it was gone. That is nothing new for the Raptors. However what happened next was. The Raptors had an extra gear on this night and picked up their defence and got their offence on track, in the end building back the lead they had given away. They fought through and were able to find a way to win. They had no breaks the whole night from the refs as the T-Wolves got to the line 33 times making 26 of those free throws. Dwane Casey earned one of those free throw attempts with a technical foul. However unlike in the past the Raptors did not complain about it, they did something about it. In the end they got a much needed 97-87 win to start the first game of 3 straight.

The Raptors move on to Washington to face a desperate Wizards team that is the only team yet to register a win in the 2011-12 season at 0-8. They have already had one of those famous players only meetings and Rashard Lewis missed their last game for apparently getting into a fight with assistant coach Sam Cassell prior to tip of the game. It is clear who is in charge in Raptorland his name is Dwane Casey. He has brought an accountability back to this franchise that has been lacking for a long time. Maybe not since Charles Oakley laid down the law in the locker room as a player. Casey demands maximum effort and will accept nothing less. It doesn't mean he will always get it as the last two games before this one proved. However he is always going to demand it. His demands might just have changed the reality that we have known as the Raptors. Change has come to the Raptors and it is starting to take shape.

Spain's Civil War Round One

Knowing Jose Calderon it is unlikely he is going to say a bad thing about Ricky Rubio. However it has always been a tense relationship between the two as they have battled for playing time in the summer for Spain over the years. That battle now hits the floors of the NBA and the first one will take place in Toronto. Rubio has dazzled the NBA after his long awaited debut. Drafted all the way back in 2009 he finally has made his way to the NBA. So if you are upset having to wait a year for Jonas Valanciunas think how people in Minnesota have felt. The Raptors only hope the transition for him goes as well as it has for Rubio. Personally I took a flyer on Rubio in fantasy basketball and am one happy owner. He has impressive stats across the board with 9.9 points per game, 7.6 assists, 1.1 steals and is averaging 50% from behind the 3 point line with a hair under 4 rebounds a game at 3.9 rebounds per game. Calderon has better numbers overall with 12.4 points per game, 9.4 assists the one major difference is in 3 point % where Rubio has the clear advantage with Calderon at just 38.7%. Spain will be watching even if North America in general might find the T-Wolves vs Raptors a snooze.

So three points for tonight's Match-Up:

Ed and Demar Please Stand Up- It has been a rough go for the Raptors two most recent draft picks on the roster. Both are in bad need of good nights. As the Raptors begin this back to back to back it is vital these guys get going in the right direction.

Energy Level- Raptors will have a tough time dealing with Kevin Love who is taking his "Numbers" to incredible levels. I mean his stats not his cheesy PR driven fragrance for men. The Raptors will need to match the T-Wolves energy and battle hard on the glass. If they don't you can see a result like they had vs the Nets or worse like they had vs the Sixers.

Limit Rubio- If there is anyone that would have a good scouting report on what Ricky Rubio can do it has to be Jose Calderon right? So will see if Jose is able to help his Raptor amigos in how to stop the Spanish Fly that is Ricky Rubio on defence.

Win lose or draw Raps will hop on a plane and head for Washington. They will not get to visit Obama though. The Mavs are doing that today and Vince Carter is meeting the President. Doesn't that just turn your stomach? Leave it to Vince to find a way to meet the President of the United States without winning a championship. That being said Lebron James has met him several times and campaigned for him in the last election. When people liked Lebron in Ohio which in politics is a big swing state. But that is a different story for another blog. In terms of this blog we are not asking for much, just a game that I can watch and not feel like I am being punished for doing something wrong.

Starting 5 with Justin Walsh From Slam Magazine

Today's guest has been covering basketball since the age of 17. He is now a contributing writer and on the editorial staff at Slam as well as a senior writer for Ball Is Life. I can not recall what I was doing at 17, but aside from playing high school football and partying...not much. I was not covering basketball I know that much. In his work Justin has always been doing a lot of working in scouting and evaluating talent. How I got to know him was in my work livebloging for The Score. Not knowing his background I was like who is this guy and how does he know so much? I to say the least was impressed. So much so that I found out his background and got in touch with him to come talk some ball here in the Dino Nation Blog. Given his background and the upcoming draft it seemed a logical time to have him as a guest. We talk about a number of the guys in this draft class starting at the top with Blake Griffin. Justin is not exactly on the Griffin bandwagon and He tells us why. Along with his thoughts on some of the Raptors options and give his take on why Demar Derozan may not be coming to workout with the Raps. That and a ton more of interesting stuff.



I hope you were as impressed with that interview as I was. Justin was great to talk with and I will be having him back in the future for sure. I thank him for his time and look forward to having him back in the Dino Nation Blog in the future. I do my best to find interesting and knowledgeable people to come talk with us in the Dino Nation Blog and Justin does indeed fit that bill.

Matt Devlin Talk Playoffs and Draft (Part 1 of 2)

Matt Devlin has been a busy guy since the end of the Raptors season just about a month ago. He has been working on TNT Broadcasting the Playoffs. I was able to catch up with Matt and we had a good conversation on the NBA and the Raptors. But in this first part we focus on the NBA and in Part 2 that I will be posting later we talk about the Raptors. But Matt had a chance to cover both the Magic who surprised the Cavs in game 1 along with the Nuggets who just tied up the Western Conference Finals heading back to Denver. We also chat about Shaq as a broadcaster and some thoughts on the top of the NBA Draft board with Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio being discussed.




I will post part 2 on Monday or over the weekend in that we talk Triano, Bosh, Calderon and players that play internationally. Along with that we explore one of the most up in the air free agent periods in the history of the NBA. We even talk about Twitter and if Matt is going to jump in on the latest craze sweeping the Internet and the NBA.

Draft Lotto Day And Conference Finals Picks

Well the Raptors have a 1.7% chance of winning the NBA draft Lottery. The Raps the last time they were in the NBA Lottery won it and used the 1st pick to select Andrea Bargnani. To be honest I am not really busting out the lucky charms for the Raptors to win this thing. I am not convinced that Blake Griffin will be a success in the NBA. I had the same kind of feeling about Greg Oden and so far so good on that front. Griffin despite my lack of faith is the clear choice at number 1 though. Ricky Rubio is also a lock for most at number 2. This is another one that I am not sold on. He could eventually turnout but to be an impact guy right away. I have said for awhile if there is a guy this draft that I would want it is Thabeet. The big UConn star from Africa and he is a defensive force and will be in the NBA as well. He has a long way to go on the offensive end. He also could use some time in the gym to bulk up. But that is the guy of the top 3 that gets me excited.

All this being said the Raptors should be just hopeful that a team does not leap frog them and they end up falling back further in the draft. The odds of that happening is more likely than the Raptors winning. There is a 3.7% chance of the Raptors having at least one team leap frog them. So realistically the Raptors should just hope to stay locked in at #9.

The Dino Blogger rebounded nice in the second round. I picked all 4 series winners and that was much better from my round 1 performance. So I am not going to go into to much detail about it but I want to get my picks on the record so to speak.

Cavs and Magic- Eastern Conference Final

At the start of the year I actually did pick the Magic to win the East. I had them going against the L.A Lakers. So not bad that my pre-season picks have made it to the final 4. That being said I have said many times since that point that the Cavs and Lebron James have changed my mind. Magic just would need a truly magical performance to knock off the Cavs. I don't see it happening.

Cavs Win in 5

Lakers vs Nuggets- Western Conference Final

I bailed on the Magic but I am not bailing on the Lakers. Lots of people our though. But I think the Lakers will be ready for the Nuggets who have indeed been impressive. Lakers will get their act together this series and they will need to. Carmelo Anothony will need to step up for Nuggets and traditionally he has not done that very well against the Lakers. Just a few thoughts but on to the pick.

Lakers in 7

So I am keeping it short this morning because I am going to be doing a live blog right here on the Dino Nation Blog for the Draft Lottery. I had done one last year and it was a lot of fun. So join the Dino Nation Blog at 7:30 pm that is an hour before the Lotto hits the airwaves and you can watch that on The Score. So please come out and participate. We will talk Raps and NBA as we build up to the NBA Lottery.




See you tonight. Get your popcorn ready...Oh wait wrong sport....I am betting whoever the Raps select does not get a key to the city.