Irony In OKC

I mentioned in the preview the last time the Raptors the last time Raptors won two in a row was on December 3rd. The team they defeated was the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Kevin Durant was a spectator that night and Thunder were coming into this one on a roll. Winners of six in a row. Not to mention this game was in Oklahoma City and the Raptors were in the midst of a team record 14 game road losing streak. Every single sign pointed to an easy win for the Thunder. But just like in March Madness upsets can happen and the Raptors would play like that plucky underdog in this one.

Raptors won the tip and Bargnani missed on a drive to the hoop. Kevin Durant nails a three, after a Calderon drive to the bucket Sefolosha would cut to the hoop and score and it was 5-2 Thunder. James Johnson would drive and score and make the and one free throw and it was tied at 5. Westbrook with a nice dime gave OKC the lead, after couple sloppy possession by both teams Perkins would get a slam to make it 9-5. Demar DeRozan and Kevin Durant exchanged hoops. Westbrook left Jose Calderon standing there. Then James Johnson made a three and was talking smack? Really James Johnson...not a smart idea. Not long after that Perkins would get in Amir Johnson's face and he would respond with a push and get teched up for it. Another Westbrook blow by and to this point this game was following the script you would have expected with OKC up 18-10.

Few empty trips for the Thunder and a wide open 3 from Bargnani combined with an earlier Raptor free throw would make it 18-14 Thunder. Speaking of the line Andrea Bargnani got himself there and made a pair it was a two point game. Reggie Evans checked in and got in the grill of Perkins and was able to draw a response and drew a technical on him. Calderon would make that and a jumper and Raptors led 19-18 currently enjoying a 9-0 run. Corner three would not fall for Westbrook and Raps would get out on break and make it an 11-0 run with Reggie of all people finishing on the break. Why Westbrook was not content going pick and roll and blowing past Calderon is a mystery to me. After a time out OKC would finally break free and get a couple baskets to re-take the lead 22-21. James Johnson on drive hits Reggie Evans who was being a factor scoring? No really he was. Westbrook took my advice but driving one against 3 was not what I had in mind. James Harden a frustration dunk after he was fouled on the floor. He would take an ill advised three and speaking of three on the other end Reggie Evans had his third basket since checking in. Evans almost had a 4th on a tap back at the end of the quarter but he would settle for 6 points and the Raptors happy to have 25-22 lead after 1.

Raptors started the 2nd quarter in a zone and James Harden made them pay with a 3 pointer and we were tied at 25. Barbosa the drive and the drop off for the offensive force that was Reggie Evans and he got fouled and heads to the line for 2. Not a good free throw shooter normally but makes both and Raptors were back up by 2. Thunder would hit another 3 and re-take the lead 28-27. Lead was flip flopping back and forth with the Thunder hanging on to the lead 30-29. Barbosa would get called for a charge but Bayless after a little trouble on the break would find Barbosa for the easy 2. Sonny Weems would add on two more to the cause and the Thunder had to be scratching their heads down 33-30 with a time out on the floor. Scott Brooks was coach of year for a reason as his team responded out of the time out again with two straight scores and were back on top 34-33. After the Raptors took the lead back another James Harden three would give the Thunder back their one point edge at 38-37 midway through the 2nd. James Johnson found a lane on the baseline and exploded down it for the slam. Thunder would answer that hoop and got a steal but James Johnson active hands would break up an easy score on the break.

Amir Johnson would draw a foul and get to the line and split a pair leaving this at even at 40. After a score on the next possession Thunder would make a sloppy pass and pay for it with a DeRozan dunk off the break and we were even again at 42 with a time out on the floor. Some Amir Johnson hustle gave the Raptors a couple extra chances to score that they failed to take advantage of. But the Raptors would gather a loose ball on the other end and a rare Bargnani hoop in the paint and the Raptors had a lead that Amir Johnson would expand on with his own bucket in the paint. After a couple OKC free throws a Barbosa drive and score gave the Raptors a pretty unexpected 48-44 lead at the half.

Thunder after a slow start for both teams a Westbrook drive to hoop not once but twice and this game was tied. He seems like he could do this almost anytime he wants why he not doing it more remains a mystery. Andrea Bargnani would get to the line and only manage getting 1 of 2 but nosed the Raptors back in front 49-48. Bargnani would miss a three but DeRozan got the board and put it home. Raps got on a roll and a DeRozan highlight worth dunk was enough to cause Brooks to call another timeout. Raptors after the Thunder had tied it went on a 8-0 run to lead 56-48. Perkins travelled as he put it in the basket but it would not count. Bargnani would extend the run on mid-range jumper. No travel this time and Perkins would finally end the Raptors 10-0 run with a nice lay in using the hoop to shield off the defenders. After Thunder got a couple hoops James Johnson who was doing a solid job guarding Kevin Durant got his offence on with a drive and score and Raptors were back up 8 with score 60-52.

Thunder would creep closer and the Raptors answer again to get the lead back to 64-56. Raptors were not going away but neither were these OKC fans who are some of the best in the NBA. Bargnani hit a shot and then got to the line made both and it was 68-58 Raptors with 3 to play in the 3rd. Bargnani had 10 in the quarter and DeRozan looking to match him with 10 of his own got called on the travel. But the Raptors were not stumbling at all in fact the got a Barbosa three to get lead to the largest point of the night to this point at 12. Kevin Durant was having a very quiet night thanks to James Johnson mostly but did manage to answer with a 3 of his own. Raptors were passing the ball well and Reggie Evans would benefit with a trip to the line and again made both. Raptors had a 10 point lead after 3. Raptors 76 Thunder 66 and the only question was could the Raps keep this up for 48 minutes.

A questionable foul call would go the way of James Harden and he made 3 at the line and Thunder were down a touchdown. Barbosa did not like the call but don't get made get even and he would nailing a three to get the Raptor lead back to 10. Thunder would get back to back hoops and crowd was getting into it. A steal and James Harden drew the foul heading to the line again. Thunder were having a bad night but Harden was keeping them in it. Made both and the Raptors lead the maxed out at 12 was down to 4. Another Raptor collapse coming our way. It was looking that way. Thunder had the crowd hyped and were trialling 81-77 with lots of time left. Demar DeRozan stepped up with a one handed runner and got Raptors back up a half dozen. It has hang on time for the Raptors. Bargnani gets a three after the Thunder split two at the line and Raptors led 86-78. But the Thunder were getting a lot of help from their 6th man and using it. Back to a 4 point game again but it would be DeRozan again stepping up to stop the Thunder burst and it was 88-82. Thunder got it back to 4 again and DeRozan slipped and had to call a time out as he was on the floor with no where to go.

Kevin Durant had been very quiet and well of his season totals but got to the line and made this a 2 point game the closet the Thunder had been in awhile. a loose ball and a tie up with exactly 5 minutes to go. Amir and Perkins would jump it up and Perkins would with the tap for OKC. K.D would hit a long two and tie this game up. This was looking like a case of close but no cigar for the Raptors. Durant on a jumper tried to give OKC the lead and could not hit. Raptors were struggling to get points as OKC had picked up their defence at the urging of their fans. Perkins got to the line and gave the Thunder the lead and you wondered if it would be for good. But he only made 1 of 2 and it was 89-88. James Johnson once again with a key basket on the drive and Raptors took the lead back. But the Thunder would answer and The Raptors failed to do so.

OKC called a time out with the ball up 91-90 looking to close this out and get a win. Thunder would turnover the ball out of the time out and Raptors would get a chance to re-take the lead that they had held most of the night. They could not and with 1:45 left the Thunder had all the momentum and it sure seemed like they could escape this one with a win. Durant got to the line again to chants of MVP he would make 2 at the line and Thunder led 93-90. The point was for most of this night Durant was not looking like an MVP and that is a big reason why Raptors were still in this. Barbosa tried for the tie and missed. K.D looked to close this out with a step back jumper but it didn't fall. Perkins would get fouled and get to line with 41.7 to play. He missed both and OKC was leaving the door open. DeRozan rebounded the 2nd miss and Raptors would call a time out. Barbosa has a easy look out of time out at 3 and nailed it. Raptors got a steal and had the ball tied at 93 with 21 seconds left. Barbosa would get the ball again and this time was the play maker getting a pass to Amir Johnson in the paint and a basket leaving OKC a little time left (1.4 seconds) to try to tie or win it. Thunder got the ball to K.D and a long 2 would not fall as it was an air ball. A stunning and fitting end to this game. 95-93 the Raptors shock the Thunder.

It was not a good day on the floor for Canada in March Madness. Texas on a questionable 5 second call lost to Arizona. Tristan Thompson and Cory Joesph's NCAA dreams were done for this season. Syracuse and their Canadian Joesph also fell. But the Raptors snapped a team record 14 game road losing streak in one of the tougher places to win in the NBA. It was unexpected and unreal. Full marks to James Johnson for taking up the challenge of locking down one of the best players in the game in Kevin Durant. Raptors had a tom of guys bringing it and they responded to the challenge and when adversity came in the 4th quarter they answered the challenge. Many times this season they have not. Full marks to the Raptors for a very unexpected win.

Oh Oh...OKC

The last time the Raptors won back to back games was December 1st and 3rd. That second win ironically enough was against Oklahoma City who at the time was without Kevin Durant. The will have him today and they will also have their big trade deadline pick up in Kendrick Perkins. The Thunder sit in 4th in the West with a five game lead over 5th for home court advantage. They enter the day two and half games out of 3rd. While the Raptors are fifth in the ping pong ball standings. There win over Washington left them two and half games ahead of the Wizards and Kings. Which in the ping pong ball standing is being behind. This starts a 5 game Western trip that will see the Raptors log some serious miles. After the game today it is a trip to Denver for a back to back tomorrow, then Wednesday visit to Phoenix, and another back to back in Oakland and L.A against the Warriors and Clippers on Friday and Saturday. After travelling to England earlier in the month they now face this road trip. It is just another difficult task in what has been a difficult season.

The Basics: Raptors 14-49 (3-5 in March) OKC 45-23 (6 Game Winning Streak)

When Last We Saw Them: Bargnani and DeRozan combined for 63 points. That was enough to power the Raptors past the Wizards at the ACC. Jose Calderon also played well and hit the shot that ended any doubt in the victory. While Reggie Evans is a rebounding machine and had 15 boards doing his thing as he has since returning to the line-up.

Key Match Ups: Westbrook the last time he played the Raptors had to be Superman. Today being the side kick or tag team partner of Kevin Durant for this one. Jose Calderon will have his hands full and this is a match-up he should lose 99 times out of 100. James Johnson who the Raptors have made it not secret is in their to play defence has one of the toughest assignments in the game today in guarding Kevin Durant. Then you have this new defensive duo of Ibaka and Perkins. This is without mentioning Thabo Sefolosha who could make life difficult for Demar DeRozan. Also without mentioning James Harden who since the trade at the deadline has an increased roll in the offence with Jeff Green off to Boston. Yeah there is a reason I picked the Thunder to make the NBA Finals. The reason is they are pretty good.

Other Things Of Note: Nate Robinson is out with a knee injury according to the Thunder's Game Notes. For people that have read the blog or heard me on the radio you will know how "disappointed" I am by this. Thunder/Sonics all time are 18-11 vs the Raptors. We all go on about Andrea Bargnani's lack of rebounding ability/effort, well he had 12 against the Thunder on December 3rd in the Raptors 111-99 win. Three things will be different today though, Kendrick Perkins was a Celtic when that happened, Kevin Durant was eating Pizza in locker room and was out with a sore knee and Reggie Evans is now back going after every rebound.

Where is it on? TSN (Wait aren't they suppose to be doing March Madness ??)

Young Onez Spark A Rally And Roll On Thunder.

Kevin Durant spoke with media pre-game but he did not play tonight. Russell Westbrook looked to lead the Thunder tonight against the Raptors coming off a big win vs the Wizards. Westbrook has been big for the Thunder with Durant out. In his last 3 games he has averaged 28.6 points and 10 assists. Jose Calderon you might have expected to be in for a long night. But sometimes what we think doesn't always happen.

1st Quarter:

OKC got it going early with 2 scores in the paint and had a 4-0 lead to get this one under way. Bargnani would draw contact and get to the line making both to get the Raptors on the board. That sparked an 8-0 Raptor run that featured a couple jumpers from Jose and set up Demar for the slam dunk. I watched Demar warming up prior to the game and you could see him feeling more confident in his hamstring. He confirmed later in the locker room it was feeling much better and it had showed in this performance vs the Wizards and was again tonight early in this one.

After taking that 8-4 lead the Raptors would not trail for the rest of the quarter. It remained close throughout the first but the Raptors were doing enough to stay in front. The largest lead they would have was 6 with the score 16-10 after back to back Bargnani buckets. Calderon and Bargnani were leading the charge. After hooking up Demar for a dunk he would also find Amir Johnson for an Alley Opp slam. Andrea had 10 points and 3 rebounds in the Quarter in 9 minutes of action and Calderon in same amount of floor time had 4 points 4 assists and a steal. Westbrook had 4 points as well and 3 assists and 1 steal. Jose with a slight edge in point guard battle. James Harden seemed to give the Thunder a bit of a spark off the bench at the end of the Quarter.But at the end of the first it was Toronto with a 28-25 lead.

2nd Quarter

D.J White who is becoming one of the Thunder's key players off the bench was able to block Bargnani a couple of times near the beginning of the 2nd. White unfortunately for the Thunder would get injured later in the quarter. Unfortunate for the Raptors was they lost the lead on Collison tip in making it 34-32 Thunder. Another sign of trouble was James Harden. He ended up with 7 in the Quarter that included a 3-ball That made it 47-41 Thunder.

Long time Raptor Morris Peterson checked in to a nice ovation. He was another before the game I managed to talk with and he seems content in his roll mentoring the youngsters on this Thunder team. But he still loves Toronto and feeling is mutual. One of the good guys in Raptor history. Peterson had only played in two games for the Thunder and the last time was on November the 19th. Another game with no Durant in which the Thunder hung on to beat the Celtics. That was followed by these Raptors beating Boston as well on the Sunday. Shifting back to Peterson he had just played 7 minutes all season and had yet to record a point for his new team that acquired him in a draft day trade with New Orleans. It would not come till the 4th but Peterson would record some points. A classy move by Scott Brooks giving Mo-P some playing time in his former home of Toronto.

The Thunder would close the half strong getting the lead all the way to 9 but having to settle for a touchdown lead at the half leading 59-52. Westbrook had 10 points 5 assists and couple steals. While Bargnani after a strong first had just 1 point in the second quarter. But had 4 more redounds for a total of 7. Calderon had just 2 more points with 6 but he had 7 assists. Barbosa had 10 off the bench and Harden 11 for the Thunder. Game's high scorer was Jeff Green who had 13 points and just 1 rebound. That is a Bargnani line.

3rd Quarter

How many times can you remember the Raptors storming out of a half last season to take back control of a game? The answer is probably not that often. Keep in mind this was a Thunder team that needed 3 overtimes to knock off New Jersey. On the same night the Raptors were pounding the Wizards and could afford to rest there players. It was the Young Onez that came out of the locker room on fire. Demar, Sonny and Amir all contributed in turning a 7 point disadvantage into a 1 point advantage in under 3 minutes. It was capped off with a DeRozan alley opp pass with Weems on the finish. Raptors took a 64-63 and they would never trail the rest of the night as it turned out. The Raptors would build the advantage to as high as 11 points and would outscore the Thunder 34-18 in the Quarter and when the dust cleared the Raptors had a 86-77 lead to take to the 4th Quarter.

This was the best quarter of basketball as a collective group from the Young Onez in this entire season. The group accounted for 22 of the Raptors 34 in the Quarter.

4th Quarter.

The Raptors had no intention of letting the Thunder off the hook. OKC was also starting to slowly run out of gas in this game. The effects of that Triple OT win was starting to show on this team. If they had been able to have Kevin Durant in this game, he would have helped a lot in the late going of this one. But K.D was not coming in to save the day.

Raptors as a group had done a nice job keeping Russell Wesbrook under control with 14 points and 7 assists . While Calderon was having a brilliant night with 15 assists and Andrea Bargnani already had his 1st double double of the season in the books after 3. It promoted me to ask on Twitter what was more shocking the Bargnani double double, or the game previous when the Raptors had 101 points after 3. Tonight reminded me of something Jack Armstrong said in his recent interview in the DNB. He said it was not making excuses for Andrea. but with Reggie Evans on the floor and some of the other guys on this roster the opportunities he has to get rebounds are vastly reduced. Now with no Reggie the rebound total for Bargnani has been on the rise. Bargnani mentioned the loss of Evans as the reason for his improvement in numbers in the post game scrum. He said that not just him, but everyone had to make a effort to make up for the loss of Reggie on the glass. Raptors would get the lead to 14 and it would slide to 9 late before the Raptors tromped on the gas petal and finished this off for the 111-99 win.

Post game I spoke with Demar DeRozan about the 3rd Quarter for him and the other Young Onez. Well to be more correct I slipped and said Young Gunz and corrected myself. I said that it was like an infomercial for the group and asked if they were feeding off each other. Got a smile and a bit of a laugh, not sure if it was for the Young Gunz slip or the infomercial line. Once that was over Demar had this to say about that.

Demar DeRozan: "Yeah, stuff like that you got feed off it. We were feeding off the crowd. Just having the opportunity to get on a run. We took advantage of it."

Jay Triano a couple games ago vs Atlanta was brutally honest saying his starting unit 1 through 5 had been beat. I asked if tonight was a flip of that script, as the starters played well outscoring the Thunder starters 72-56.

Triano "Possibly yeah, I would like to take back Sonny's turnovers in the first half. But he cleaned that up in the second half and had 8 points and just 1 turnover. Which was big. Amir played well, Andrea played well, I thought Demar was solid and Jose was good."

It was quite the turn around for the starting 5 in just a couple games. The Raptors have had back to back impressive wins after a horrible loss. When they had that bad loss to the Wizards they rolled off 4 wins. Now after a terrible loss to Atlanta they have made it 2 in a row. A re-match from opening night awaits on Sunday, and if the Raptors are starting to believe they can be a playoff team a win over the Knicks would be pretty important. Did I say playoffs? Long way off yet but the Raptors are ahead of last season record wise, and the only other thing different is the expectation levels. But this group seems to have faith in themselves, a lot more than anyone else did prior to this season. Watching the Cavs get demolished by the Heat was a clear sign the Raptors have a lot more talent on the Post Bosh Raptors in comparison to the Post James Cavs. While 8 and 11 is not cause for parades, it is a lot better than almost anyone expected. In an Eastern Conference of under achievers the Raptors are in the mix for now to compete for a playoff spot. Wins over OKC, Boston and Orlando only help the Raptors confidence grow.

James Borbath (Dino Blogger) Reporting From The Penthouse At The ACC

DNB TGIF Preview- Raptors vs Thunder

I am heading down to the T-Dot to watch the team I cover take on the team I picked to win the NBA Finals. I am pretty sure not to many people have the OKC Thunder to win the NBA Title. Sure that many folks are shocked that Raptors if the playoffs started today Toronto would be in them. Thunder have showed they are more then just Kevin Durant. They have been getting wins without their franchise player. The biggest reason for that has been the play of Russell Westbrook who has taken his game to another level. The Raptors even with some injures this season have still kept fighting on most nights. Durant status for this one is up in the air. But even without him this Thunder team is no joke. Raptors have beaten some marquee opposition in the best 2 teams in the East in Orlando and Boston. Oklahoma City is now in that elite class of teams.

The Basics: OKC Thunder 13-6 (7-2 On The Road) Raptors 7-11(1-5 vs West)

When Last We Saw Them: The Raptors could do no wrong. We mention taking it to another level in the opening and the Raptors did that against Washington. 72 first half points was more than enough to secure a Raptor victory from there. Ed Davis impressed in his NBA debut and DeRozan got back on track and led the team in scoring with 20.

Key Match ups: Russell Westbrook is playing at an all-star level. Jose Calderon I will admit has improved but can he match-up with Westbrook on D? Doubtful it might be one of those nights where we see Weems take Westbrook and Bayless when he is in there. If K.D does not play this becomes the most important match-up in this game. Andrea Bargnani needs to take advantage of his match-up. The Thunder do not have a big that can hang with Bargs. But we need a full 48 from Andrea in this one. The other match-up to keep an eye on is Demar DeRozan taking on Thabo Sefolosha. Should be a good test for DeRozan to see if he can string together back to back efforts.

Our DNB Game Plan: Now as I have mentioned in terms of getting interviews in pre-game it can be hit or miss. But I am going to try to talk with Jerryd Bayless and Ed Davis pre-game. May even wander over to Thunder Locker room and see If I can get K.D's thoughts on Texas having some Canadian Content in the NCAA. Just like with the Raptors the game plan might not work but will try to execute it.

In Case you missed it: This is the first of what will be every Friday that Raptors are at home the DNB will be in the house covering games. Hence the TGIF Preview. Also Vince Carter Via Twitter says you fans here in Toronto boo much louder in comparison to Cleveland last night. Lebron James put the wood to his former club throwing down 38. In case you have been living under a rock the Miami Heat take their talents north on Feb 16th just after Valentine's Day for the first appearance of Chris Bosh in an opposing uniform. Also according to local papers in OKC Kevin Durant is expected to take morning shoot around and based on that they will determine his status for the Match-up tonight at the ACC.

With all that said I will be taking my talents to the T-dot and keep it tuned in on Twitter @Dinonationblog for updates and info on tonight's game.

Update on K.D Status 11:30am: Word is no K.D tonight which is bad news in the sense he is fun to watch. But does improve the Raptors chances at sneaking out a win.

OKC Win Or Bust?

I think we are all guilty in the media be it blogging or the established media of using terms like "Must Win". However, I really can not think of a better term for tonight's game in Oklahoma City. The former Sonics turned Thunder have only won one game on their new home floor. They are looking at the Raptors as a chance to get win number two. The next team to come to town is Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavs. Not looking like a winnable game for any NBA team these days. The Raptors should remember that the Thunder do have talent as last year's rookie of the year Kevin Durant is not chopped liver. Russell Westbrook is turning heads as well. Not to mention Jeff Green who was a stand out in the Big East at Georgetown in his college days. However they are a very young team and that explains in part why they only have 2 wins. The Thunder last tasted victory on November 29th with a win over Memphis 111-103. There lone home win came way back on November 2nd against the T-Wolves 88-85.

The damage a lose could do to the Raptors could just be the final straw. The Hoops call in show on Raptors TV and the fan 590 showed you how this fan base is feeling. I had called in and expressed my personal dismay at this team and it's lack of emotion towards the losing. Paul Johnson and Sherman Hamilton responded to my comments by saying the players are programed to not get to high or to low. That it is a long season that is 82 game season that is long. These things are true and generally I'd agree that players should remain calm and not get to emotional. But the point that I was making was in two parts. First is why fans get so frustrated and express that emotion in booing and other forms. They want to see that the players they are cheering for care as much as they do. But the second part of what I was saying was that emotion was needed now. Reason is that we have reached a point that this season is truly hanging in the balance right now. It is not about the season being 82 games long at this point it is about having the games beyond December still mean something. Eric Smith the normal host of the show seems to agree on that point. He wrote yesterday that this current road trip is the season for the Raptors. I think I said in a lesser way that same point yesterday. The Raptors must at the very least split this 6 game trip. In fact going 4-2 at least might be required.

Chris Bosh Life Is A Two Way Street

I am a big fan of Chris Bosh as a person and as a player. Some of the crazy talk of trading Bosh and people taking shots at him is uncalled for and not logical. However the fact that they booed him the other night is not wrong. They have that right. Chris needs to understand it is a two way street. He called out the fans near the end of last year. He wanted you to make more noise and make the A.C.C a loud and tougher place to play. I supported him in making that statement. I thought it was a good idea on his part to call on the fans to do more. However that can be a two way street and just as I supported Bosh in his quest to get us as fans to do more, I support fans right to send him a message. It is not that the majority of fans have turned on Chris Bosh. That was the fans expressing to Chris that we need him to lead this team out of this mess.

I will say that Bosh was right in what he said yesterday. I am sure he feels worse about what is going on than any fan does. However we are expecting you to lead this team. Show us that emotion inside. We want to see it. Bosh recently has made some statements that have concerned folks about him and his future here. I honestly don't think Chris Bosh is thinking a bit about 2010 right now. He is thinking about how he can turn his season in 08/09 around. The panic nature of Raptor Fans needs to end. It is not logical to say that Damon left, T-Mac left, Vince left and so will CB4.

The more things get talked about the worse they become. I mean all the talk of the Ford vs Calderon debate did not help make the situation go away. In fact it poured gas on a very small fire that would end up burning out of control until it became a choice of Ford or Calderon. If the media and fans continue to focus on this idea of Chris Bosh and 2010 they will be pushing the topic and in the end could have some small form of impact on it. If this team was winning there would be far less talk on this topic and Bosh would not be as upset as he seems to be.

Back To The Task At Hand

This may point out just how bad the Raptors rebounding has been. The 2 win Thunder have averaged more rebounds than the Raptors[41.1(OKC) 38.8 (TOR) ]. The Thunder have been able to provide scares to a few really good teams like the Suns. But when they play lesser teams they have not been able to step up and bring that type of performance. That has been the focus of the Thunder heading into this game. The Raptors will look to get this road swing off on the right foot. Tomorrow night the Raptors face the Spurs and that will be a very hard win to get even if Raptors were playing well. If the Raptors were not in the struggles they have been I don't think anyone would be concerned about losing to the Thunder. But given the mood around this franchise more than a few fans have suggested what if the Raptors lost to the Thunder. Over on Raptors Forum, They are having folks betting their avatars and if they lose they must have someone they can't stand as their avatars for a week. That is one of the more fun posts I have seen all week. The majority not just on Raptors Forum but everywhere are posts on trades that will never happen, Bashing Bosh, Bashing Colangelo and a general negative tone. Imagine what will be getting posted if the Raptors were to loss in OKC. I try not to think about it. But needless to say if the Raptors lose thing game I think all bets are off for everything. Bryan Colangelo I think would be forced into action sooner rather than later.

Nathan Jawai Back On The Floor

You will forgive Nathan Jawai if he is happy during all this doom and gloom. He has been force to sit on the sidelines all season. He finally was able to get back on the floor and practice with his team. I expressed my best wishes to Aaron Fearne about the news of Nathan's return. He is going to come visit with us some time in the new year and give us an update on how Nathan is making out. But Nathan was speaking for himself yesterday and here is a link to what he had to say.

Jawai From Practice Dec 18th

Maybe there is a lesson in Nathan's return for everyone to remember in all of this craziness. Just to play or watch the game of basketball is a joy in itself. We get caught up in the winning and losing and everything else. But Nathan Jawai yesterday was just happy to be able to be out on the floor and able to play. Some times prospective gets lost in all of this madness. But if the Raptors were to loss tonight I don't think any words from anyone is going to calm down Raptor Fans frustration. I feel that frustration as well. The nice thing is if you are afraid to watch and don't get TSN 2 you won't have too. The Raptors finally return to regular T.V on Saturday on The Score vs the Spurs. The weather outside here in Hamilton in truly frightful a Raptor win would be more than delightful. If you are snowed in as well. Here is a favour you could do for me. tell some friends about the Dino Nation Blog. They can read up and get to know the blog. Not much else to do on a snowy day.