Do Raptors Have A Spell For Win?

The Raptors have had a lot of low points this season. They come off one on Wednesday and now they re-visit another tonight at the ACC. The Raptors were the first team to find a way to lose to the Washington Wizards. Since that time the Wizards have flipped off Flip and have 3 more wins to their total which stands at 4. Included in that is a road win, so at least it saves the Raptors the indignity of being the first to lose to Wizards at home as well. Wizards lone road victory comes over a team that would rival them as one the NBA's worst, with a 102-99 win over the team we affectionately in the DNB refer to has to Bobkittens. The Wizard actually have two wins over Charlotte, the only other win is an unexpected and miracle like win over the best team in the NBA the OKC Thunder. So, if the Raptors want to be considered better than Bobcats they better find a way to win tonight. If not they could be looking at how not to be the first team to lose to the Wizards 3 times. The Raptors have a home and home with the Wizards with the Miami Heat sandwiched in the middle.

First and foremost the Raptors have to figure out how the hell to score without Andrea Bargnani. 64 points is just unacceptable. Raptors have been below the the 65 point mark 3 times this season already. They have only reached 100 points twice and not surprisingly Andrea Bargnani was in the line-up for both of those games. Also one of those games was a double OT win vs Utah. Demar DeRozan has averaged 9 points less than Andrea Bargnani as the Raptors 2nd best point producer. To say that Demar's performance this year has been inconsistent would be the kindest way to put it.

What is up with Demar is up for debate. As for what is up with Amir Johnson we are not sure exactly what, but some light was shed on to why he may be having a difficult year. Dwane Casey revealed that Johnson aside from his problems on the floor had also been dealing with some personal issues. Johnson when asked about it did not want to elaborate on what these personal issues might be. He would suggest that it was in no way an excuse for his performance. But that said it is a reason. Which is more than what we have for a lot of guys on this roster. The Raptors seem to lack any kind of confidence on the offensive end of the floor. They miss shots and as in past prior to Dwane Casey's arrival that lack of success leaks to the other end of the floor. This perhaps explains the Raptors terrible starts to games as they come out cold on offence and that leads to no defence. Casey most nights can correct those issues but has failed to find the answers on the offensive side without Bargnani. Someone did ask about Bargnani yesterday and he is day to day but no where close to returning by the sounds of it.

This stretch in the sked will be an interesting test for this team. A game that you almost have to win tonight, a game that you will almost certain lose in Miami and then facing that same bad Wizards team in D.C where you have already lost. The Raptors collective pride is going to be tested in these next 3 games. The Wizards much like the Raptors are challenged to find scoring on a given night. When Nick Young leads your team in scoring most nights you have issues. Tonight's game has all the potential in the world to be one of the more ugly basketball games you might ever witness. However, stylistically appealing or not it is a win the Raptors desperately need to have. Raptors are a dismal 2-6 at home and the Wizards an equally horrific 1-9 on the road. Someone has to win tonight of this we are certain.

3 Keys:

Stay In Range: This is another way to say please do something in the first quarter. To many Raptor games have already been decided by the end of the 1st quarter. This is a team like you that struggles to score. So shots falling or not defend and hang around and chances are you will have a shot to take this game at the end.

Draw Contact: Wizards are a team with some ability to block shots. Use that aggressive nature against them and attack the basket, draw some fouls and get to the line. It helps in two ways. First you get some of there shot blockers in foul trouble making life easier for everyone. Two, you have struggled to score and at the line is an opportunity and easy points which the Raptors badly need.

Defend the glass: Be active and compete on the glass. Wizards are a team that can be challenged to find scoring just like the Raptors so don't give them 2nd chances to do it. While shooting % is a nice stat to measure defence it loses value every time you give up an offensive rebound.

So it may not be pretty but it is the best hop the Raptors have to get a win for Toronto since playing the Nets. You can feel confident that a win is not coming Sunday. So this is almost like defending yourself from a 4 game losing streak. Not to mention the Raptors owe their fans a good performance at home. There have been few of those this season. Not to mention few home games to begin with.

The Stupid Boo Or Not Boo Debate Is Back

I grow tired of media, fans etc weighing in on what people should do in terms of booing players. It comes up every time McGrady, Carter and now as of Wednesday Chris Bosh comes to town. Do we hear people losing their minds over Matt Bonner, JYD or Oakley getting cheers? Then why must everyone feel the need to tell others what they should do in terms of jeers. I just find the whole topic stupid to a point. Everyone connected to the Raptors have their own opinions on players that have played for this team good and bad. Where should I or anyone else get off in telling you what to feel and do?

I have said in this blog that Bryan Colangelo was wrong to call Bosh's effort into question at the end of his time here. He should have said nothing and left it alone even if he felt it was the 100% truth in his mind. But there is different because Bryan Colangelo is in charge of running this franchise. The paying customers at the Air Canada Centre do not have to show any restraint or professionalism in how they react to players. There is a line to how far it should go and that I will agree you can debate. But to debate if people should boo or not boo is beyond stupid.

Not to mention the fact we all know what will happen anyway. This is the city that has booed Vince Carter for years and T-Mac even longer than that. Chris Bosh is going to get booed out of the building at the ACC on Wednesday and everyone knows it including him. People make various arguments as to why you shouldn't boo him. He gave 7 years to this franchise and did lots of work in the community with charities and what not. He also far more than Vince Carter ever did connected with the fans and the city. He embraced Toronto in his time here. However his comments since leaving have not reflected that. He made one valid point in his final press conference as a Raptor. Never in the Bosh Era did the folks at MLSE invest in this team beyond the tax threshold. He felt that was a mistake and likely felt it was a lack of faith in him or in wanting to win. He did not go as far as that but it is a logical assumption. He also had the opportunity to play with two of the best players in the NBA, and guys who were his friends, although not to the point the media hyped it up. I can understand the fact he left and even if it just stopped there be supportive about it.

But it didn't just stay at that. He could have just attacked MLSE and said that he felt the organization was not committed to winning, and while he loves the fans and Toronto, he can not remain if that is the case. I mean heck to me that would kind of make him a hero in a way. Calling out MLSE and putting it on them to explain their actions was a much better exit strategy than the one he went with. No he decided to take to Twitter and turn his free agency into a side show. He decided to make some documentary about it that has still to see the light of day. He decided once he had chosen to go to the Heat to go on every single program in the U.S.A that would have him. Then their were the stupid comments he made. Saying that Canada was different. Now he explains it more when he gets ripped for it. But if he truly cared about his time here and organization he knows that people in the U.S will not see it as that. They will see it that were living here in igloos with no cable to get NBA League Pass. The one that irked me most of all was the now my grandmother can watch me play games. Excuse me Mr Millionaire Athlete you can't afford to buy her league pass? She was not living up here so she could get it right? But what Bosh was really saying was he could be on national television in the U.S on TNT and ESPN. Barkley jokes about TNT being bias against Canada aside the Raptors just to not draw for ESPN or TNT, and they gain no advantage in terms of advertising dollars. But all that being said, Vince Carter because he was more flashy and had more fans than Chris Bosh was able to break through on to main stream U.S television. He even got to play on Christmas Day before it was expanded to the 5 game festival it is now. So maybe it is just a case of in terms of popularity, V.C was better than Chris Bosh.

This is why many are mad at Chris Bosh. It is all this junk after the fact. Tweets like "Life has Changed" and willingly or ignorantly rubbing it in to Raptors fans. If people are mad and hurt by all that has gone on, they have every right to be. Chris Bosh made his own bed and as much as he may want to say that we had a great 7 years and life goes on. He knows that in Toronto that is not going to fly. Perhaps the thing that boggles my mind is he was here and saw it all go down when Vince Carter left. Was he not paying attention? If there is anything of all of this that totally stuns me, it is Chris Bosh managed to have a worse exit from Toronto than Vince Carter did. I honestly did not think that was possible.

Yet Bosh seems to legitimately care about saving his legacy such as it is in Toronto. What other explanation can be given for every time he is misquoted, or taken out of context, he comes running back to Canada on the radio or t.v. Which by the way he wanted no part of from the time the season ended until well after he decided to go to Miami. He shut out the media in Canada during that time. Surely he is not stupid enough to think he can save his legacy here is he? I still consider him the best player this franchise has had. But just as Vince Carter did with his exit, it will prevent that from ever being acknowledged.

Chris Bosh stopped doing the thinking and let "his people" do his thinking after he left from that final press conference in Toronto. While his people did an excellent job in getting him exposure in the United States, they did an equally horrible job in protecting his legacy in Toronto. If that in fact matters to Chris, he should have taken control. I wanted to just blame "his people" for what he has become, but ultimately the people work for Chris and he is in charge. If he let them take control that is his fault at the end of the day.

This blog in his time in Toronto supported Chris even at times when not a lot of people did. I am not ashamed of that at all. I have never said this in the blog but he once even messaged me and said he had read this blog before and liked it. I will assume that was the truth and be thankful for that. But ultimately there is no defending how he left, and I will not even attempt to do so. I have also never said this in the blog before, but while were on the subject it seems a good time to mention it. There was some talk about having him come in the blog for an interview. It was nothing I ever mentioned because I was not certain it would ever happen. Ultimately it never did. But I would get chances to talk with Chris in getting access with the Raptors so it really didn't matter. If people pay attention to my twitter account they can probably figure out who was making these promises about Bosh coming to the blog and did not come through. I don't hold that against Chris though. I would not be shocked if he was never even made aware of it. That same person accused me of changing. That I was not going to be taken seriously as a journalist because I had turned my back on Bosh or was bashing him. He can think what he likes. The reality is at the end of the day I am disappointed in Chris. I felt he was a better person than what he has shown since leaving Toronto.

But those are my feelings and you all have yours, so as it has been said in the past in this blog, it is not my right or anyone's to tell you what to do. If you pay for a seat in the arena, as long as you are not doing anything that would be against the rules the ACC has in place in terms of conduct, no one should have an issue with it. I have made my feelings known about how I hate people cheering for Pizza. But I only express why I feel that way and ultimately you don't have to listen.

These debates about fans booing or not booing need to come to an end, they are pointless and really are for no one to say other than each individual. Boo, Cheer or read the newspaper when Chris Bosh is announced at the ACC. It really is your personal decision. Your right as a fan. Don't let anyone take that right away from you.

Off To The ACC For Another Season

The Raptors come home for the first time this season to play a basketball game. They limp in after their worst performance of the pre-season. The Raptors are heading in the wrong direction after storming out and blitzing the Suns, hanging with the Celtics blow for blow, they get demolished by the Bulls. They will get a chance to redeem themselves a week from today. I will be in the house for that one too. But tonight it is the Philadelphia 76ers who looked to the broadcast booth and Doug Collins to be their new coach. A season under Eddie Jordan ending up being a disaster for the franchise. Collins has been out of the league for quite some time as his last coaching stop was coaching Jordan and the Wizards. The Sixers have a slimmed down Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala and the second pick Evan Turner to name but 3. Turner struggled in summer league and is already being labelled a bust by some.

Speaking of busts, Andrea Bragnani has done nothing to dissuade his detractors. He has been just awful through 3 games for the Raptors. So much so that the visiting broadcasters for both the Celtics and the Bulls made a point of ripping him for his performance. Bargnani actually had his best performance numbers wise last night going 3-9 with 11 points and 3 rebounds. To a lesser extent Demar DeRozan has been struggling as well and he was pretty invisible last night with 6 points 2 assists and 2 rebounds. If the Raptors were to have a face of the franchise emerge the safe money would be on one of these two guys. Perhaps that pressure is getting to them? In the case of Bargnani unfortunately I saw this coming. His performances with Chris Bosh out of the line-up did not instill confidence. In general in his career under pressure Bargnani has melted. I do not find it surprising that his largest scoring output, was in a game that the Raptors were never in it. You would be hard pressed to find a point in last night's 109-90 loss where the Raptors were in it.

Sonny Weems has looked good through 3 games and you could make the argument that the Young Gun making the least money is providing the most bang. Weems had 12 points and was 6-9 last night. But he was also a product of a terrible night on defence and the glass. He had no rebounds no steals or blocks. The Raptors were crushed on the glass 44-22. When you look at what the Raptors will miss in terms of Bosh his rebounding is likely at the top of that list. Finding those 10-12 rebounds for this group is going to be extremely difficult.

I am excited to start a second season of having some access with the Toronto Raptors. Last season was a tremendous learning experience for me. It gives you a different prospective when you are around these players. It is easy for us as fans to take shots and at guys. Knowing that it is highly unlikely you would ever meet that player face to face. Even less likely that most people would say those things to their face. But when you do get the chance to talk with these guys even on a infrequent basis you start to get to know them beyond just stats on a page. You get to know them as people and get a small idea of what they are like. Granted most athletes these days are aware when the media is around so it is not a perfect picture but it is a little peek into who they are as people. So it makes total sense that this group believes they can surprise people this season. If they didn't you would question them as people beyond basketball players.

I consider it a privilege to be in the looker rooms and get the chance to talk with these players both for the Raptors and the various teams that roll through. It is under the premise of a working environment. Not like you are getting autographs or anything like that. Still I know that there are many people that would be happy to just be in my shoes. Both fans and other people that are covering the team in various ways that don't have access.

I go into the 2nd year of doing this feeling a lot more confident in myself. Looking forward to the opportunity to do more and be able to bring you folks inside the locker room with me. Here is hoping it is a successful night and successful season of me doing that for all of you. During the game itself feel free to go on the DNB Chat as I will be checking in from the ACC. I also will be tweeting updates on how things are going down there. This game is being broadcast on Raptors T.V if you are looking for it on the tube.

My Night At The ACC

I thought, seeing as by the time that I get around to re-capping the game it is already old news at this point, I would do something different. So instead I will take you along for the ride with me for a night of basketball at the ACC. For me that starts with a quick drive out to Burlington and hopping on the Go-Train and getting on the 3:15 train. It makes sense for me to take the train rather than bother with the stress of driving and finding some place to park that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. So hop off the train at Union Station and walk over to the ACC in the comfort of the indoors. I decided to stop at Centre Sports and pick up a Raptors Dance Pak Calender. Yes pretty pathetic that I am getting a calender on February 3rd I know. Anyway from there I go make my way to get my media pass for the night. Nice that I have now been down enough that I know the people and they know me. After that off the the media room to hang up my coat grab a beverage and get ready to try get to talk to some folks pre-game. It is pretty nice to see a lot of the folks I interview in person in the blog. Saw Paul Jones as I was hanging up my Jacket as he was already getting set to get going doing his thing for T.V and Radio. The one thing I have learned is you may see a media room as being a very competitive environment. However it is actually pretty friendly. Everyone is there to do their own individual thing but everyone is friendly and it is a place I now feel comfortable being. At first to be honest there was a bit of "how the heck did I get here?" in me. But now I feel like I belong and that makes it a lot easier to focus on getting stuff done.

There is always a chance to chat with both coaches pre-game for the media. I tend to go and listen in on those but more for just my own interest and to make sure someone isn't a surprise scratch. There was a bit of a surprise when it was learned Jarrett Jack was coming into the game playing sick. It had already been confirmed no Jose, Hedo or Demar. Jack would end up playing and still despite not being at 100% probably took questions from the media post game for a good 10 minutes. Jack will answer pretty much ever question asked of him. I tend to wait till the very end to try and talk to guys. Jack will still answer those questions with as much detail as the first one thrown his way. After he answered what I asked told him to feel better which he thanked me. He is a really polite young man and I have talked about him being a leader for this team and part of that feeling is just getting to see how he acts in the locker room and interacts with his team mates. He was asked post game if he took some pride in the fact Sonny Weems got his first double double last night. Jack has been a mentor for both Weems and Demar to a great degree. He did seem proud of Sonny and how he played. He said he told him to get the boxscore and frame it.

When you try and get stuff pregame it can be hit and miss depending on who is hanging around when the locker rooms are open to the media. Like I always like to try and catch up with Reggie to see how he is doing. I was really excited to do so on this night as he is closing in on returning finally. But unfortunately Reggie was not around when I was wondering around the Raptors Locker room. Who was around was Sonny Weems and Demar Derozan. Ryan McNeil of Hoops Addict was setting up to shoot an interview with Sonny and Demar was heckling Sonny prior to them getting rolling. Demar and Sonny are just constantly taking verbal shots at each other in a joking and playful way. Anyone that follows the 2 guys on Twitter can see how close they are. It is rare they are not doing something together in their off time based on Twitter accounts from the 2. So I asked Demar if I could talk with him for a bit after he was done giving Sonny a hard time. He was willing as he always has been. Will have that for you in the next day or two as we talk a little on the Dunk Off and what he feels has improved for him and the idea of heading to All Star Weekend itself. He may just be bringing Sonny Weems along for the ride if I heard Demar correctly.

So after talking to Demar decided to head back and see about getting some food. Along the trip back I finally ran into someone who I had been trying to meet and say hello. We exchange tweets often but have never happened to bump into one another. Kat or @Raptorspacekat on Twitter and we had a nice little chat for a couple minutes. She then was off to do her bit on Raps-TV and I was off to seek some food. I was out of luck in the food department as the only pizza that remained had veggies and it may not shock anyone that I am much more of a Meat Lovers type of guy. So I just grabbed a pop and sat down with a bunch of folks. Ryan, from Hoops Addict, Holly Mackenzie from The Score and Zack Cooper from the Fan 590 (Have talked to him before but we had never met face to face) along with some others that were around the table. There were a bunch of topics kicking around the table. Not sure if any of it would be interesting for folks in the blog. However it just is to point out what I was saying earlier about everyone getting along. In all honest the Media Business is really not as big as you may think and eventually if you are around enough you will know everyone and vice versa. I guess the best feeling of last night for me had really zero to do with the game itself or who I did or didn't talk too. It was just that feeling of belonging. Best way I can put it is like when you start high school or go to a new school. There is a sense of feeling lost, awkward and feeling like you are an outsider. Last night from the minute I walked in the door till the moment I left did not have a single feeling like that the entire night. That is progress for me not unlike what Demar has been doing on the floor. My progress is far more easy but still it is a process as well. I have come a long way from wondering how the heck did I end up here when I was at training camp in Ottawa. So has Demar come a long way in his growth process as a player and he I think should be ready to get back at it Sunday vs the Kings. He did tweet that he thought he would be ready for Sunday as well earlier in the week.

So all this hustling around then it was time to head upstairs the press box and get ready to watch the game itself. In general the Raptors would pretty much survive to get a win over the Nets. The plan heading into the game according to Jay Triano in the post game was to just have Jarrett Jack go hard for as long as he could and see what happened. He would end up battling through and having a good night. The Raptors had another drought to start the 2nd Quarter as they did in Indiana. When asked about that disturbing trend Triano seemed to think the different rotations based on the injures could be the cause of that. Whatever it is the Raptors need to solve that before they start playing good teams again.

There were individual successes but this was not that pretty of a win but it was a win and as I always like to say that is all folks will remember a month from now. The Raptors will face the Nets 2 more times and they will look for a better effort than this one but the same result. The Raptors continue that streak of winning when they hold teams to under 100 points with a 108-99 win at the ACC.

As I mentioned on My Twitter last night I walked by Vanilla Ice on my way back to my seat up top after bailing out on his halftime show. Did not ask him for an autograph but I am told people did enjoy what he did at the half. I'll take there word for it. Also as many know that read this blog I am NOT a LEAFS FAN. So Ironically when I was leaving of course I walk by Matt Devlin talking with Phil Kessel and the Newest Leaf Dion Phaneuf. I just kept my head down and kept walking. But next time I have Matt in the blog I will try to remember to ask Matt about his meeting those 2 guys for any of you poor Leaf Fans that read the Dino Nation Blog.

Another thing that came out of last night is that CB4 is going to be coaching. No he is not taking over for Jay Triano and becoming a throwback player coach like a Bill Russell was back in the day. Chris will be coaching against Kevin Durant in the Rookie/Sophomore game. Bosh is set to coach the Sophomore side in the game. It looks to be a very busy weekend back home in Dallas for CB4 and I would imagine with it being in his hometown you should get to see a lot of CB4.

On to Post Game in the Locker Room. You have all likely seen the Post Game media scums on Raptor-TV or on the various sportscasts. The media scrum is quiet the experience as everyone try to get their recorders and microphones in position to answer the various questions that everyone has. The biggest of those is the one those is the one that goes around CB4. It is quite the experience to be in that organized chaos. In a previous visit this season Bosh turned around before he started answering question and for a brief second I thought I was going to catch a CB4 elbow to the head. It all moves pretty fast as the media will move from one guy to the next based on who played well on the given night. On this night Bosh, Jack, Weems and Wright drew the crowds.

After that it is all done and I head back to catch a train and head home after a long day and hopefully a productive one. I hope you enjoyed this rather than going through the blow by blow of the game. I had written a re-cap but thought this might be more interesting. I like to share these experiences with you because I look at getting access for the Dino Nation Blog as trying to represent you folks in what I am doing. At the core of what Media is suppose to be about is representing the people and gaining info for the masses. However when you work for a network or newspaper you are also doing what you are asked to do by who you work for. In the case of the Dino Nation Blog there is no really people to answer to other than you the folks that read it. So I try to represent you and do what I can to take you along for these adventures with me.

Any experiences that I have had is based on 3 things in my view. the first is my own personal hard work and effort. The second is having people have faith and belief in me to be professional and work hard. But the 3rd is you folks that have supported this blog and made it something that is worthy of getting these chances. So I thank you for that and I do my best to pay you back with my hard work and trying to help you come along for the ride with me where ever I end up going be it the Raptors Locker room or anywhere else.