Raptors Fight Themselves, Grizzlies and Refs To Win In OT

We start with kudos to Rogers Sportsnet who did the right thing and postponed showing the end of a tennis match in favour of showing the Raptors on time. TSN has screwed over the Raptors in the past for meaningless college bowl games and even NLL Lacrosse games. Sportsnet actually showing Raptor fans an element of respect. Now replace Leo with Jack Armstrong and I could be in love with this network. It is the only major sports network that I have yet to cash a check from so you never know. But for now the DNB is independently owned and operated. Speaking of jobs, Barbosa now works for the Pacers and Sam Young for the Sixers. While both Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph return to work tonight.

After Memphis took a 4-0 lead the Raptors would fight back and take the lead on Jerryd Bayless first shot of the night a 3 ball to make it 7-6. Grizzlies were wearing some hideous throw back uniforms and were not talking the teal ones with angry bear from Vancouver days. These were yellow and green and ugly as hell. Still it is not how you look it is if you win or lose. In that regard Gasol scored to give the Grizzlies the lead back in this one. Bargnani with some good defense and it angered Marreese Speights and he would get a technical foul. Raptors to their credit and the dismay of the idiots that still see tanking as good idea, were hanging around in this one leading 16-14 with 4:43 to go in the 1st. Raptors kept things rolling as DeRozan drove to the hoop and scored to make it 22-18 with just over a minute to play. The returning Zack Randolph barreled his way to the who and scored and made the and 1 free throw he picked up along the way. Demar DeRozan closed out a solid first quarter for him making the final shot to give the Raps a 26-24 lead after one. Demar had 12 points was 5-8 shooting and had a couple dimes as well.

Considering it was his first game back in quite awhile, Z-Bo looked in pretty good form not much rust. He was in the middle of everything early in the 2nd. Gave the Grizzlies the lead at the line 29-28, after Amir Johnson hit on the head like one of those gophers that pop up in the old arcade/carnival game. Gary Forbes was one of the guys that should see more time with Barbosa's departure. Nails a big three to give the Raptors a 33-29 lead. After the Grizz split a pair at the line Bargnani got his 3 ball game going and it was 36-30. Raptors got away with an over and back on a pass by Amir Johnson and he would get an offensive rebound as well but the Raptors couldn't cash in. Instead of being up 7 or 8 the Raptors would be up 3 as Rudy Gay also back after a mild concussion nailed a jumper making it 37-34 Raptors. Both Bayless and Forbes each had 8 points and were on the floor together. Still no Jose Calderon but Raps using both their options and point guard together. Grizz were starting to try and get it together as Gasol scored to make it a one point game. They had a chance to take the lead but Gasol would throw it away on the flashy pass. Raptors were doing a solid job wrestling these Grizzly Bears with a 47-46 halftime lead. It should have been a 4 point lead but a sloppy pass by Bargnani is picked and Memphis hits a buzzer beater 3.

Raptors have a sloppy possession as Gasol blocks a shot but eventually ball ends up in Bargnani's hands and he nails a long two. James Johnson would extend the lead to five points as the Raptors had first two baskets of the 2nd half. Mike Conley nailed a jumper to end a 6-0 start for the Raptors. Andrea Bargnani had not had his 3 ball working till tonight since returning, he nails another one making it a 9-2 start to the half for the Raptors. Make it 11-4 with a James Johnson basket and it was 60-50 Raptors. While most of the world was enjoying Duke dying a horrible death in the NCAA tournament, the Raptors kept chugging along looking for their own upset on a lesser level. They had lead up to 12 before a Memphis three made it 67-58 Raptors. A turnover and Zach Randolph dunk cut the lead to 7 points and cause Dwane Casey to call a time out. Time out could not stop the One Man Gang that was Zach Randolph who scored again. Memphis had picked it up on defense as well it was 67-62 Raptors. Bayless nails a much needed three to try and fight off this Grizzlies push getting the lead back to eight. It was more like a band aid though as the Grizzlies made back to back baskets and had lead down to 4. Raptors again another of those brain cramps up 5 appeared to commit a foul just prior to the buzzer. Refs would review it so score after 3 was for now Raptors 72 and Grizzlies 67 subject to change.

It would change as Grizz would go to the line and .6 seconds was added to the clock. Both free throws count and it is only a 3 point lead instead of 5. Little mistakes that if the Raptors go on to lose this game will be the difference. Jaamal Maglorie gets nailed with a flagrant foul add that to the stupid mistakes. But it ends up not costing the Raptors but not a smart decision. Raptors got it going again and after a great first Demar had done little, but came out to play with a jumper to make it a 77-71 Raptors lead. Amir Johnson follows that with a rain making jumper that went in and the Raptors had a 8-0 run and 79-71 lead. The broadcast was giving love to Jaamal Magloire. I say screw him and give some to Gary Forbes with a couple big buckets to keep Raptors on top. Jaamal meantime takes a stupid charge and goes back to the bench where he belongs. Raptors were hanging tough up 86-79 with 5:40 to play. Bargnani makes 2 at the line and with under 5 to play the Raptors were up 88-80. Marc Gasol was taking over for Z-Bo in dominating the action. He stepped to the line and mad a pair to give him 24 on the night and cut lead to 6.

This was heading toward a March Madness like finish potentially Raptors lead was down to 5. But maybe not as James Johnson got an NBA style continuation call, count the basket and the and 1 and lead was 8. Still the Raptors had no answer for Gasol as he scores to cut it to 6 with just under 3 to play. Demar with a clutch mid-range jumper makes the lead 8 once more. Bayless the blow by to the hoop with under 2 to play restores the 8 point lead. Z-Bo was back and he scores and Amir Johnson gets called for a foul as well. Could not hit the and one though. Raptors commit a turnover though and Z-Bo draws a foul on Bargnani and heads back to the line. He misses another and hits the 2nd to make it a 95-90 game in favour of the Raptors. Another turnover and Raptors again not closing out a quarter correctly. Gasol this time drawing a foul on Amir as it is a parade to free throw line for Memphis. He makes both with 42.5 seconds left and it was 95-92. This was NBA Style March Madness with a lot more on the line for Grizzlies in the Western Conference playoff race. Bayless almost turned it over but got the ball back and gets the lay up down the open lane 97-92. James Johnson lost a shoe and lost his man and Grizzlies score quick and it was three point game again with 22 seconds left. Bayless is fouled right away and heads to the line. He misses the first and makes the second to make it a two possession game. Grizz miss their initial shot but Z-Bo cleaned up the mess and scored to cut the lead to a deuce with about 14 seconds left. So Bayless is fouled and the Refs decide to add .7 seconds to the clock leaving 13.7 to play. That could mean something. Bayless 2 for 2 this time and makes it 5 point lead. Grizz get a quick three from Rudy Gay and Bargnani is fouled with 6.6 to play. Even if he makes both Grizz could tie with a three. He does and it is 102-99 Raps. James Johnson decides to foul that is one way to avoid a three. But that was not what Dwane Casey had in mind. Johnson had fouled out. Still 5.7 seconds left and Conley missed the first at the line and makes the second. Forbes is now fouled with a two point lead and 5.4 seconds to play. Makes the first and the key second one he missed. Rudy Gay nails a 3 and this game was tied with 0 on the clock but Refs were huddled and may be adding time to the clock. If not were heading to over time.

Regardless of how this turns out Raptors closing of quarters has been brutal on this night. The verdict would be .5 added to the clock. Raptors inbounding from their baseline. Refs were again conferencing and making a mess out of this. Raps did get a chuck up from Bargnani but it didn't fall. O.T here we come tied at 103. Gary Forbes drives and got a foul on Rudy Gay. His 6th and he joins James Johnson as a spectator. Forbes missed one that got us to OT and he misses one to start overtime. Mayo now was heading to the line on a foul on DeRozan. he makes both and Memphis has it's first lead since 29-28. They had a chance to add to it and turned the ball over on travel. Bayless misses a fading jumper and Forbes get the rebound and throws it back in for a career high 20. It was 106-105 Toronto with Austin 3:16 left in OT number 1. The strange things continue as Mayo misses a dunk. DeRozan drives on the other end and doesn't get a foul call. Raps and Grizz trade bucket and it was 108-107 Raps. Randolph would score and Bayless would answer it was 110-109. Let's add to fun as Andrea Bargnani with a huge rebound. Why not and Raptors have the ball up one with just under 1:30 to play. Bargnani misses a shot but Tony Allen fumbles the ball out of bounds. Gary Forbes has the ball stripped and Bayless bails him out on the other end drawing a charge with under a minute to go. Bayless misses a jumper and DeRozan picks up a foul with 26.7 to play. Amir Johnson alter a shot and got the rebound he might have blocked it but it happened fast. Bayless would be sent to the line and would make both but there was a lane violation on the 2nd? Apparently so Bayless foot was over the line on the 2nd? Well that leaves it a 2 point game with Raptors up 111-109 with 15.7 to play in OT number one. Memphis than gets called for the often done but never called carry in the NBA. This would end up with Amir Johnson at the line with 9.4 seconds left. Made the first missed the 2nd and it was 112-109 with 8.8 seconds left. So now Conley is fouled by Bayless in the act of shooting a 3? To the replay booth and this game may never end. 4.8 second left in OT number 1. It would be three free throws for Mike Conley. Bayless would also be out of the game with his 6th foul joining Johnson and Gay on the sidelines. First is made...Second is not and now will he try to miss the 3rd...he does but it ends up out of bound Raps ball with 3.8 seconds to play. Raptors after a time out can't inbound the ball but unlike earlier in the season with Butler the Raps do get a time out called in this one. DeRozan is fouled as he attempted to catch the inbound pass. Demar end this insanity please!!! And he does with two clutch free throws and that is it....114-110....Raps win!!! I am dead tired. So check the box score for all the goodies.

Grizz Not A Joke Anymore

Raptors are in Memphis minus one blur and the Grizzlies did their own subtraction by sending former Pitt standout Sam Young to Philadelphia. Memphis after a slow start to the season have slowly build their way up the Western Conference standings. It was a break through season last year for the former Vancouver franchise. While in Vancouver the Grizzlies never even came close to the playoffs. While in Memphis the Grizzlies had made the playoffs, but until last season had never won a game. They would roll into the playoffs and knock off the top rated Spurs and give OKC all they could handle.

Keep in mind the Grizzlies have not had Zach Randolph for a majority of the year and recently been without Rudy Gay. In terms of Gay he missed that entire run for the Grizzlies last year. We had a total of 10 trades over the last couples days and the deadline yesterday. You would be hard pressed to find a better pick up than what the Grizzlies got with Marreese Speights who they traded Xavier Henry way back in early January. It has been even more vital with loss of Randolph for the majority of the season. So if you shake you head as to why the Grizz sent Sam Young to Philly for basically nothing, it was safe to say the Grizzlies owed some thanks to the Sixers.

Marc Gasol was an all-star and his slacker brother Pau wasn't. Joking aside Marc Gasol doesn't have to take a back seat to his brother any longer. It was only a few weeks ago that Gasol had a dominant 21 point performance vs the Raptors on March 2nd. Mike Conley also had 21 points in that game. Gay lead the way with 23 but he will not be around tonight it looks like. Going back to Conley he played second fiddle to some guy named Greg Oden at Ohio State. After the Blazers release of Oden safe to say Conley has had the better pro career. He has really started to come into his own these last couple seasons.

For the Raptors it is all about opportunity the rest of the way. Bryan Colangelo freely admitted that organization wants to look at what they have the rest of the way. That doesn't mean Solomon Alabi is starting tonight at Center. But it will mean more time for Gary Forbes, Bayless and others. If your name is Butler or Jaamal you can get comfy on that bench cause it is likely where you will stay barring injuries or foul trouble.

3 Keys:

Bench Points: Where will they come from now for the Raptors. Linas Kleiza was the one guy beyond Barbosa that was doing it consistently scoring off the bench. But in recent games he has been slumping to a degree. Someone needs to step up and score and make up that 10-14 points you could count on from Barbosa night in night out.

Gasol vs Bargnani: Last time Bargnani was not around when Gasol was playing and scoring his 21 points. Bargnani had a step back in game 4 of his return. But with a day of rest under his belt will see if he starts to keep climbing back to what we saw pre-calf injury.

Bayless vs Conley: This is type of match up that Bayless if he keeps his head can be better than Jose Calderon. If he doesn't and it turns into a one on one shoot out he might lose in that with Conley. He can and should do a better job on defense in comparison to Calderon.

So that is it for Raptors and Grizz Round two. If you are busy watching your bracket and not the game will have a re-cap for you when it is done.

Update 9:10am : Looks like tonight got a lot tougher as Memphis Broadcaster just tweeted he expects Both Gay and Randolph to play. This is what I get for doing my preview early...LOL.

Raptors Get the Bear Claw In The End

Raptors return home to take on their former Canadian rivals. As I wrote in the in the DNB today the Grizz are on the upswing and the Raptors are on the downward trend. It is a major difference from where they started as franchises. That said on one night with the Raptors having the home court advantage could they cash in and break a 5 game losing streak to the Grizzlies?

A sloppy turnover from Calderon leads to a slam for Gasol to even up the game at 2. Calderon would make up for the mistake hooking up Amir Johnson for his second basket in a row with a jam on the break and Raptors had a 6-2 lead. A good start for the Raptors overall, but DeRozan was struggling with Tony Allen guarding him and could not get going. Over 4 minutes in and it was just 6-4 with Amir Johnson with 4 for the Raptors and Gasol with 6 for the Grizzlies. Calderon hits a nice three pointer and Raps had an 11-4 lead. A turnover and a crazy lob pass by James Johnson did not work out, But the Raps keep possession and get an Aaron Gray basket causing the Grizzlies to call a time out down 13-4 early.

Memphis responded coming out of the time out Rudy Gay hit a jumper to be the first man not named Gasol to score for them making it 15-10. Raps responded right away with the famous Calderon to Amir combo hooking up for two points. Memphis kept charging and had picked up their defense while starting to spread it around on offense. Raptors were hanging on though to a 19-14 lead with a time out on the floor. It was time to see if the Raptors learned something from the Hornets game and closed out the quarter strong. The answer early would be not so much with a made three, a turnover and an open look at three for Mayo that did not fall. A easy Rudy Gay slam would tie it at 21 then a turnover and put back and it was a 23-21 Grizzlies lead. Memphis closed the quarter on a 19-8 run and cashed in on 5 Raptor turnovers as part of that.

Jerryd Bayless with a nice spin to bucket and created contact made the basket and free throw for first points of the 2nd quarter. Then after a Grizzlies bucket he saved a ball then got the ball out to Kleiza for 3. Linas would return the favor hooking up Bayless for a 3 and the Raptors had a 30-25 lead. After a time out Mayo nailed a three pointer to make it a 2 point game. Raptors were getting a solid performance from Bayless and were bringing it on defensive end. Ed Davis an offensive board and a score with a foul and a chance to make it a three point play which he made and it was 39-30 Raptors with 6:48 to play in the half. Aside from some silly turnovers, the Raptors were doing well up 41-34 with five minutes and change left in the half. Demar DeRozan was having a quiet night by made a love move to the basket and finished off when the Raptors needed it as the Grizzlies pulled to within 4. That was followed by an Ed Davis jumper to make it an 8 point advantage. Raptors did a better job closing out this quarter unlike the first. They only lose one point on that lead in the final 2 minutes gave them a 52-45 advantage at the half.

Grizzlies come out firing in the 3rd with a quick 7-0 run to tie the game up and Casey has to call a time out with 9:25 to play and Raptors 0-3 to start the half. Rudy Gay keeps the run going and steal and layup and the added to that, 11-0 for the Grizzlies to start the half. Amir Johnson stopped the bleeding with basket to make it 56-54 Memphis. Raptors showed some life finally and got the game tied up at 60. The defense had picked up and the Raptors were very active looking to make steals. This had turned into a competitive close game again. Calderon a big three kept the Raptors close with the score 64-63 Grizzlies. Rudy Gay cut right down the lane for a slam to cap a 6-0 response after the Calderon triple. Dwane Casey decided to go to the bench and it worked well as the Raptors went on an 8-0 run to take a one point lead 71-70. Grizzlies would once again establish the lead again but a late basket by Barbosa would make it just a 2 point lead heading to the 4th with the score 77-75 for the former Vancouver Grizzlies.

The 4th quarter starts as the 3rd ended with a Barbosa bucket to tie the game at 77. Barbosa was Caliente which means hot in Jose Calderon's world. He was lights out hitting a deep three to give the Raptors and 86-81 lead. Grizzlies get it back to a one point game then Linas Kleiza made 3 big shots in a row and the Raptors had a 93-87 leads thanks to that. Grizzlies has they have many times tonight claw back and make it a one point game. A charge on Kleiza gave them a chance to take the lead back but they missed on a jumper. Raptors have a turnover and give them a second chance to take the lead and they take advantage. Basket and a foul sends Gay to the line and he makes the and 1. Grizzlies on an 8-0 run lead 95-93 with just over 3 minutes to play. Both team picked up the D and finally James Johnson got a score and a foul shot to make it 96-95 Raptors. Grizzlies answered with a bucket but then Calderon scores and is fouled with 1:07 to play. Missed the and one though and it was 98-97 Raptors. Grizz got a free throw to even it up at 98. Aaron Gray makes one of two at the line which is above his season average of 40% at the line. Rudy Gay scores and quiets the crowd momentarily. Raptors have the ball down 1 with 26.3 to play. Pass gets tipped out of bounces and Raptors keep possession but Kleiza misses an open look. Long bomb pass to Tony Allen and he scores and is fouled. If he makes the free throw it is a two possession game with 8.9 seconds left. But he missed it. Raptors call a time out and have 7.8 seconds to get a three to tie the game. Raptors bring in Butler for whatever reason he passes it to Jose who misses a three from the top of the arc and that is pretty much it. Grizzlies missed two free throws at the end but Raps had not time to even chuck up a prayer. Grizzlies with a quality win 102-99 doing what good teams do.

Raptors had 6 players in double figures but it was not enough. The Raptors failure to close out quarters and games comes back to bite them yet again. Demar DeRozan struggled on this night with just 4 points. Tony Allen is a solid defender but Demar has to be able to score on every night regardless. In a close game like this that is one of many things you can point to as a difference. Grizzlies had they not won could have pointed to the free throw line where they were 22-32 at the line. The Raptors were a solid 17-20 at the line. Ultimately the team with more talent found a way to win. That is the reality of the situation if you are being honest about it. You love the Raptors fight but they are very rough around the edges. They had 16 turnovers on the night which isn't that bad, but it seemed like almost ever mistake they made came at a bad time for it to happen and the Grizzlies made them pay almost every time. Grizzlies had 3 players with 20 + in Gasol, Gay and Conley. Gay was the highest with 23 points and played well down the stretch in this one.

Former Rivals Still Measuring Stick For Each Other

When all of this started it was the Raptors in Toronto and Grizzlies in Vancouver. In the comparison between the two, it became obvious fairly quickly which franchise was heading in right direction and which one wasn't. The most glaring and obvious early decision was the draft, in which the Raptors selected Damon Stoudamire and Grizzlies went with Bryant Reeves. Mighty Mouse went on to win the Rookie of the Year while Reeves became a bust despite lasting longer in Vancouver.

Reeves had a 6 year run with Grizzlies he never played for anyone else in his NBA Career. His best season was 97-98 where he averaged 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds. His worst was his final season where he 8.3 Points and just 6 rebounds in 2000-2001. That season was the same season the Raptors came a Vince Carter shot away from the Eastern Conference Final. Reeves career ended with him averaging 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds. In the two plus seasons that Stoudamire was with the Raptors clearly out performed Big Country. The fact he lasted 7 more seasons and played for 4 other franchises is also proof of that. Despite the fact Damon did not last as long he did bring back an asset in Alvin Williams that grew into one of the best all time players for the Raptors franchise. Reeves turned into nothing for the Grizzlies other than a big mistake.

The Grizzlies best season in Vancouver was the last season in Canada with just 23 wins. The Raptors had 23 wins in the lockout shorten season in 1998-99 and 3 other seasons had more than 23 wins. In the 6 years that they were rivals, the Raptors only had one season that they finished with a worse record than Vancouver. That was in 1997-98, the Raptors turned that disappointment into the draft day trade for Vince Carter. At the end of the day the Grizzlies failed for a lot of reasons, but the biggest reason is in their record for 6 years they called Vancouver home. That would be 101 wins and 359 losses, compare that to the Raptors in that same 6 year period who were 182-278. In those last 2 seasons, the Raptors were in the playoffs and had back to back seasons above .500. The Grizzlies in the tougher Western Conference never came close to making the playoffs in 6 years.

The fact the Grizzlies no longer exist in Vancouver based on that fact alone says the Raptors were more successful. That said, is that still the case? Do we still see the Raptors as the more successful franchise overall? Let's take a look at the last 6 years and see what we come up with? Entering into this season the Raptors were only 7 wins better than the Grizzlies over the last 6 years. That is compared to an 81 win difference in Raptors favor in the first 6 years. Now add in the current season with Grizzlies 20-15 mark and the Raptors 11-24 record and The Grizzlies are 223-304 and the Raptors are 221-306. So the Grizzlies have actually surpassed the Raptors in these past 6 years. How did we get to this point?

While the Grizzlies shocked the Spurs and gave the Thunder a run the Raptors were figuring out who should represent them at the NBA Lottery for another year. It makes you stop and think at where this franchise is heading doesn't it? Ask yourself if you would take the Grizzlies roster for the Raptors in the Eastern Conference. Chances are the Grizzlies would be even more successful than the Raptors in the last 6 years if that was the case. While the rivalry is dead the comparison of the two franchises is not.

What makes it even more sad is the fact the Raptors have a loyal and solid fan base that has endured from the start. Vancouver had they got the start the Raptors had maybe this still is a rivalry. Now Raptor fans are the ones that have had to endure with tough times. Stu Jackson was largely to blame for the Grizzlies horrible beginning. Bryan Colangelo has had his share of mistakes over the his time here. The difference is that Colangelo has proved he can produce a winner something Jackson never did. That said, the challenge to be successful is vital. While the Raptors are in a different business situation than the Grizzlies were they still need to win at the end of the day. If the Raptors are to truly get back to where they were that has to happen. Toronto has a loyal fan base that needs to be rewarded with a successful team on the floor. The fact the Grizzlies are closer to that goal should be a major wake up call to everyone that loves the Raptors.

Something to think about as you watch the Grizzlies come to town to visit the Raptors.

Just Another Memphis Monday

Raptors return home and maybe can end this losing streak. But wait a second they have lost 8 of the last 10 at home. If you take away the losing streak and what that does to a team mentally their next 5 games are ones I would class as somewhere between winnable and Raptors having a solid chance at a win. Check it out:

• (21-23) Memphis (At Home)
• (18-25) Philadelphia (At Home)
• (16-25) Milwaukee (At Home)
• (10-33) Minnesota (On The Road)
• (16-25) Indiana (On The Road)

But there is the fact the Raptors have lost 7 straight and have come close to winning a couple of those games. The last 2 games of the trip it seemed the Raptors had been beaten down and looked like the losing had caught up with them. Tonight vs Memphis is more than just one game it is about putting the 7 losses in the rear view just as much. Losing streaks can just be like a snowball rolling down a hill after awhile just ask the Cavs about that who are currently in a 16 game losing streak. But the Raptors have shown signs they can get out of this but it is not going to be easy. The one thing that has been lacking has been the ability to play a full 48 minutes. An effort like the Raptors had at times vs Atlanta, New Orleans and San Antonio is capable of beating any of the teams listed above.

The Basics: Memphis 21-23 ( 8-16 on Road) Toronto 13-31 (4-11 vs West)

When Last We Saw Them: The Miami/South Beach Heat only needed 1/3 of there Big 3 to take care of the Raptors. The Raptors made a case for the Raptors to have a big 4 as Mike Miller looked every bit an all-star thanks to the Raptors lack of ability to defend him. That along with what you have come to expect from Lebron vs Toronto was more than enough. No Lebron didn't come close to 81 points as Kobe did 5 years earlier but it was enough to get the job done. Raptors had good games offensively from DeRozan and Bargnani but this loss was all about the D or lack of it.

Key Match Ups: About the only thing that Marc Gasol and Andrea Bargnani have in common is they both come from Europe. If you can find two more polar opposites in the NBA at the same position you would be hard pressed. Gasol is a guy that fights and scraps in the paint and is a beast. While Bargnani is new bread finesse highly skilled big man. It makes for an interesting match-up. Rudy Gay vs Kleiza? Wright? Weems? Whoever is healthy that draws the assignment will have a tough job. Gay can be a dynamic player at times and has at times had some element of success vs the Raptors. The overall match-up for the Raptors that is of greatest concern is the on the glass. Memphis has the bodies to give the Raptors a tough time on the boards.

Other Things Of Note: Memphis is riding a 4 game winning streak vs the Raptors in the overall series. The last time they were at the ACC became a big focus of the whole post Bosh fallout. That was the first game after the All-Star Break that Bosh rolled an ankle and remained in the game only to see the Raptors fall in O.T. Bosh pointed to that game as proof of the fact that he had not given up on the team in his final season as a Raptor. Memphis had a 96-85 win to kick off the Raptors post Christmas schedule. In an odd stat the Grizzlies actually have a losing record vs the East at 7-9. The key might be Pizza in this one. Say What? If Raptor fans are eating Pizza they likely are celebrating a win. Memphis is a terrible 3-16 when they allow teams to score 100 points. If they do not then the Grizz are an impressive 18-7.

Where Is It On? TSN (Thankfully TSN no longer has WWE Monday Night Raw and Monday Night Football is Done)

"Behind Enemy Lines"

Good news. According to my calculations, things look good for the Raptors this week. Coming off a 5-game loosing streak, they need all the help they can get. The Raptors will be in Orlando and Miami, then hosting Memphis and Philadelphia - all games look good for a win. Sonny Weems was key against Philly and Miami in their last meetings and even with him out on the Raptors inactive list, it is still possible for Toronto to collect four wins this week. Let's dive in.

Toronto Raptors @ Orlando Magic - Friday, January 21st

• The one and only time Toronto and Orlando met this season was on November 12. Raptors took it 110-106.
• DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani did well against them with 26 and 27 points on the night respectively.
• That night Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson experienced similar production values putting up 25 and 23 points respectively. Mickael Pietrus had 24 points off the bench.
• Orlando Magic Inactive List: Malik Allen and Daniel Orton.
• Raptors need to watch: Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick. They saved the Magic in overtime recently over the 76ers with 4 -point plays.
• Key for the Raptors: Watch for Magic attempting to draw the foul. They have a habit of doing this when it counts.
  

Toronto Raptors @ Miami Heat - Saturday, January 22nd

• The one and only time Toronto met Miami this season was on November 13th. Miami won 109-100.
• Miami came out strong in the first half and although the Raptors lead the 3rd and 4rth quarters in scoring, it was not enough.
• Top Three that night for Toronto: Demar DeRozan (21 points); Andrea Bargnani (22 points) and Sonny Weems (15 points). Calderon had 15 points off the bench.
• Top Three that night for Miami: LeBron James (23 points); Dwayne Wade (31 points) and Chris Bosh (12 points).
• Miami Inactive List: Chris Bosh is out with a sprained left ankle and likely won't be back until the end of January. Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman are also out for the Heat.
• Key for the Raptors: The Heat have been playing out of sync and like they did at the start of the season. They are coming off a 4-game losing streak with Wade (bothered by knee soreness) and James (just back after being off with a sprained ankle) not playing at their full potential. Capitalize on their off-game as of late.

Memphis Grizzlies @ Toronto Raptors - Monday, January 24th

• The Raptors met the Grizzlies once so far this season on December 27th. Grizzlies came out on top 96-85.
• The Raptors came out strong in the first quarter but were dominated in the 2nd and 3rd in scoring.
• Linas Kleiza and DeMar DeRozan were both productive that night - 22 and 18 points respectively.
• The Top Two for the Grizzlies that night: Zach Rudolph and Rudy Gay - 21 and 18 points respectively.
• Memphis Grizzlies Inactive List: Xavier Henry (out 12 games so far with a sore right knee) and Tony Allen (day-to-day with a sore left knee).
• Raptors need to watch: Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol - both putting up double doubles as of late and playing solid.
• Key for Raptors: They need to shut down the Memphis bench. Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo were both strong off the bench in their last meeting with the Raptors. With Allen questionable right now, this may be an edge for Toronto.

Philadelphia 76ers @ Toronto Raptors - Wednesday, January 26th

• Toronto and Philadelphia have played twice so far this season. The Raptors took both contests.
• During their last meeting, the first three quarters were pretty close in scoring with the Raptors exploding in the fourth to take it 94-86.
• Sonny Weems (25 points, 41:43 minutes) and Andrea Bargnani (30 points, 36:44 minutes) were strong during the 94-86 win. DeMar DeRozan was not (4 points, 32:21 minutes).
• Top Two 76ers during their last meeting: Elton Brand (27 points, 40:52 minutes) and Jrue Holiday (17 points, 38:05 minutes).
• Philadelphia 76ers Inactive List: Craig Brackins (re-assigned to the Springfield Arms in the NBA D-League) and Andres Nocioni.
• Raptors need to watch: Evan Turner - he's putting up solid points, grabbing rebounds and playing solid minutes lately.
• Key for Raptors: If DeMar DeRozan is given 30 minutes or more in playing time, he needs to be more productive than 4 points.

Thanks for joining me this week. As always, you can find me on Twitter (@ddegraauw) or on Facebook (Danielle de Graauw, purple jacket/ red microphone). I enjoy hearing your comments - keep them coming. Before we part, I need to tell you about LeBron James' new show aptly titled "The LeBrons". It is about a family with his name and personalities, including: "Kid", "Athlete", "Business" and "Wise" LeBron. Love him or leave him, this show looks interesting and has peaked my interest for at least one episode. It will be coming soon to a computer near you and only available online. Have a great weekend and see you on Tuesday for more NBA coverage in "NBAz in 7 Dayz" right here on the DNB.

Short Handed Raps Visit Graceland

No Bargnani, No Weems and Johnson not 100 percent but will give it a go. Also no Peja and Reggie. In this one. What would a short handed group of Raptors have to offer a Grizzlies team on the 2nd half of a back to back? It was time to find out.

Kleiza gets Raptors off on the right foot with a basket. After a Calderon bucket Grizz would come to life and get a bucket in the paint and an easy slam off a steal by Rudy Gay were tied at 4. DeRozan sticks a jumper later after his turnover and it was 10-7 Raptors. Raptors shooting it well 6-9 to start the latest was a Calderon jumper and it is 12-7 men in Red. Grizz still in Christmas mood with 4 turnovers and Raps taking advantage as Kleiza hit again and Raps on a 10-3 run lead 16-8. Kleiza had a wide open 3 but missed it, stuck on 16-8 and the Grizz call a time out. Davis missed but Kleiza the tap back and he is 5-7 early. Derozan the hustle play leads to him getting the hoop and harm. Time out with and 1 to come and Raptors leading 22-10. DeRozan missed the and 1 after the break. Raptors had a 9 point lead with under 2 to play. Bayless draws a charge on Gay saves the Raps giving up an easy 2. But then Bayless Travel with 2.1 second left and Raps up 8. Grizz would do nothing with the 2 seconds and Raptors had a 24-16 lead after 1.

Bayless nailed a 3 ball and the streak lives for those who care but more importantly Raptors lead was 31-20. From that point the Grizz got on a run and cut the lead down to 5 with the score 31-26 with 7:07 to play in half.... time out Triano. DeRozan drives to hoop out of time out and draws contact get to the line....splits a pair and he was just 2-5 from the line. More double D with the slam in transition. However Rudy Gay would answer with a 3 pointer then a bucket and the foul. Gay a steal and a chance to tie it up but they throw it away. Only to have the Raps give it right back and Grizz tie it up at 34. Yet another turnover out of time out and Grizz take the lead 36-34. Just a very sloppy game by both teams the Christmas spirit of giving was in full effect. Kleiza nails a 3 to give the Raptors the lead back 39-38 with just about 3 to play. This was not pretty but the Grizz had fought back in front 44-41. Raptors had more turnovers in this half than people returned gifts today. Maybe not that many but seemed like it. A Conley bucket and a charge on Bayless was not improving anything. A buzzer 3 would make it look more respectable than it was but Grizzlies still up 48-44 at the half.

Well as bad as Raps played in the 2nd they were only down 4. Grizzlies had 8 and DeRozan had 4 to start the 2nd half. Raptors were struggling and the Grizzlies had built up the lead to a dozen with score 62-50 with 7:13 to play in 3rd. Raptors respond out of time out with 8-2 advantage. But a Conley 3-ball would get the Grizz lead back to 9. Raptors just didn't look good on D and giving up easy transition points was not helping matters. Grizz were back up a dozen and Raptors were struggling to get anything. A good example of what not to do was a Barbosa pass on a 2 foot shot to end up with a miss from 3 for someone else. Raptors were down 77-63 and Grizz were shooting 55% after the 3rd.

Really don't have a lot to say about the 4th the Raptors were there, and Grizzlies let them hang around at times, but eventually laid the smack on them to close the door. In the end it was an 11 point Raptors loss and it offered few positive signs after the 1st Quarter. Memphis take it 96-85 an Raps had 25 turnovers and were just 5-14 at the line that is 2 ugly stats in what was a pretty ugly game.

Welcome Back, Hello Grizzlie Bears

Got to get back in the groove. The Raptors last game before the Christmas break was forgettable hopefully you had a good holiday and have forgot about it. The Grizzlies played last night and defeated the Pacers 104-90. The Raptors are on this road trip minus Andrea Bargnani and face a back to back with Memphis and tomorrow the Mavericks. Given that, Raptors really need to get this one because the odds of them beating Dallas are fairly slim. Who will step up? Good question but someone needs to do so. The Raptors also added Ronald Dupree which is a curious move that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Dupree was cut loose in the pre-season to get the Raptors down to 15 bodies. The Raptors had been going with an open roster spot since the trade that saw Jack, Banks and Andersen shipped to New Orleans for Bayless and Peja.

The Basics: Toronto 10-19 (3-10 on Road) Memphis 13-17 (5-5 in Last 10)

When Last We Saw Them: Raptors checked out for holidays early even though they were there in body they were not in spirit. They also were a banged up group as Bargnani and Johnson never lasted the whole game due to injury. Jerryd Bayless never even made it to the floor with food poisoning. By the end of this game Raptor fans likely wanted to throw up themselves as the Raptors were pretty brutal.

Key Match Ups: Rudy Gay comes off a 30 point performance vs the Pacers and will match up with Linas Kleiza? Sonny Weems has had back trouble prior to the Christmas break and likely has lost his starting job to Kleiza. Gay would be a tough match-up for either. Marc Gasol can be a pest and with no Andrea Bargnani Ed Davis and Joey Dorsey will get all they want from him all night long. Last but not least if Amir Johnson is good to go he will have a big load to mange will Zach Randoplh. He comes off an 18 point and 16 rebound performance vs the Pacers.

Other Things Of Note: The Raptors have 6 of the next 7 games on the road where as we mentioned are 3-10 on the road. Andrea Bargnani did not make the trip with the Raptors. Toronto is just 2-8 in their last 10 games. Raptors have dropped 3 straight to their former Canadian rivals. The trail in the all time series as well with a 13-16 record.

Where is it On? Sportsnet UNO (In fact this entire Road Trip is)

Memphis Meltdown

The Raptors started awful and finished poorly and the result was an overtime loss to the Grizzlies. This despite a tremendous effort from Chris Bosh. It was much like when these teams met in October where the Raptors struggled the entire night to put away the Grizzlies. Bosh has 32 and 10 and appeared to have injured himself on a blocked shot but remained in the game through overtime. The Raptors in the end lose 109-102 in overtime.

The Raptors got off to just a terrible start and would trail by as many as 16 points early on. After the first quarter was through they had rallied to trail 28-16. The Raptors 8 game home win streak was in serious danger of being snapped from the start. The Raptors would fight back to trail by just 2 points at the half. Again they got off to a bad start to the 2nd half. However they rallied once more and appeared to have this game in control. Bosh was just off the charts down the stretch of this game and it appeared that Bosh was going to lead the Raptors to a victory that after the first 4 minutes of this game seemed improbable.

However with just over 30 seconds to go and the Raptors up 5 it would all go south. O.J Mayo would nail a 3-ball. Andrea Bargnani missed a shot and the Grizzlies scored in transition and the game was tied. Raptors would have just over a second left on the clock to pull it out of the fire for the win. Chris Bosh would get a decent look in corner for 2 and the win but it did not fall. The game was off to overtime. Raptors would score the first basket but the Grizzlies would get things rolling from there outscoring the Raptors 12-5 in OT. A game that the Raptors let slip away.

Jarrett Jack and Hedo Turkoglu lead the list of guys struggling in this game. Jack was just 1 for 3 from field with 3 points and 2 assists. While Hedo was 0 for 5 and had 1 point to match the 1 ball they played the game with and just 2 assists. He would force a 3 point shot with Bosh on fire that would cost the Raptors a possession down the stretch. Why Triano played Turkoglu in the stretch of this game is something most were asking. Yes Hedo was Mr. Clutch in Orlando but here in Toronto aside from a couple free throws to secure a win over the Lakers, beyond that not so much.

It was a solid effort from the bench lead by Jose Calderon with 12 points and 9 assists. The bench in total had 43 points on the night. Reggie Evans only saw 4 minutes of action but was productive averaging a point and a rebound per minute. But Amir Johnson was rolling he was 5 of 5 and had 10 points and 3 big blocked shots.

Raptors will chill out and wait to see if Bryan Colangelo keeps this team in tack after 3pm. The Raps hit the road to take on the Nets and that should be a good game to bounce back against. If Chris Bosh is healthy and good to go. After last night you have to cross your fingers and hope that is the case. He did play the entire game but appeared to be in pain at times down the stretch. Antonie Wright also took elbow and got a pretty nasty cut that would have put an end to any boxing match or MMA fight based on that cut. He got stitched up and did return in the game.

As I have been saying all week. Do not expect the Raptors to do much but if they do I will have it covered in the blog. Speaking of deadlines it is also the deadline in the Pros vs Joes contest. So if you haven not voted by now this is your last chance to do so. Vote with this link by 6pm today. Chris Bosh did his best to support my cause last night in how he played. The guy brings it and regardless of if I win or not, I am here to tell you that #4 with hang in the ACC one day retired for him.

Update 11:30am- I have decided to come on here and hold a chat when the deadline hits. Over on the right you will see DNB Chat. I will be there to talk with you about what the Raptors do or do not do come 3pm. So be hear at 3pm and let's talk BALL!!!

Raptors Rewind- Game Notes Edition

I was working for The Score tonight doing Boston and the Bulls. So I am checking out the game in an hour of Raps and Grizz. So that means staying up till 2:30am and also makes it hard to write a regular recap with little to no breaks in action. So I came up with the whole game note version last year. Hopefully it at least gives you some idea of my thoughts on the game. I do my best not to know the result but in today's world that becomes pretty impossible. In talking with Paul Jones prior to this one we mentioned the whole concept of "Trap" game. Seems that is what happened tonight in Memphis. Raptor fans may not even be able to take the frustration out by booing V.C because in case you missed it Vince went down with an injured ankle and did not return in a win over New Jersey. In 15 years now of Raptors ball there has just been things that don't make sense. Raps traditionally have had some unexpected wins and some equally puzzling loses. The one that stuck out last year was a loss in Oklahoma City in December. It was the lowest point of the Raptors season that had many to choose from. Hard to imagine the second game of the season being a low point. But this sure will not be a high point.

1st Quarter

• Bosh missed on a dunk makes up for it on D with a steal
• Bosh gets the putback bad transition D Grizz score
• Hedo makes a jumper answered by Randolph
• Jose makes a nice jumper.
  
• Bosh missed a jumper as he was being doubled
• drive does not fall for Bosh and Raps D not looking good early (8-8)
• Raps shooting is bad as Calderon misses
• Gay with a nice turn around ( Grizz lead 12-9)
• Raps can buy a bucket and D is awful (Grizz 16-9)
• Calderon scores out of time out.
  
• Bosh great move in post to score trail by 5
  
• Mayo hits and lead is 7 Raps score and Mayo makes it back to back scores
• Rasho to Bosh nice pay.
• Score on break with Jack in the game (Grizz 23-20)
• Raps get a bucket and the lead just 1
  

After One Grizzlies lead 23-22

1st QTR thoughts- Not the same energy on D. Bosh looks good Calderon too but no one else really stepping up. Where is Andrea as he has been the invisible man in the first quarter.

2nd Quarter

• Gay scores to open 2nd, Jack to Bosh and the score like the chemistry
• Marco off target as a lot of Raps are on this night.
  
• Bosh is a one man show with 19 and Raps up 6
• Jack out of control on drive and steps out.
  
• Gay scores and draws a foul.
• Williams ties it up for Memphis.
  
• Rotations and reactions on defense seem slow and a step behind.
  
• Hedo a 3 from the corner and Raps jump on top by 1
• Bargnani fumbles pass and Memphis cut through a see of Raps in the paint like butter
• B.C in stands does not look happy and he has reason not to be.
  
• Bosh has 23 and is bringing it, needs more to join the party.
  
• Bosh is a beast on the Offensive end, Randolph getting it done on O but not D
• Bargnani on bench with 3 fouls and he has done little.
  
• Jay Triano does not look amused on the bench.
  
• Grizz showing more effort and hustle and score couple easy ones off turnovers (6 in QTR for Raps)
• DeRozan drives and has it knocked out of bounds.
  
• WHAT A BLOCK BY DD

At Half Grizzlies 53 Raptors 49

2nd Qtr Thoughts- Bosh looks good on offense. No hustle on D beyond the big block by DeRozan at end of half

3rd Quarter

• Turnovers, Turnovers Turnovers (11 of them )
• Grizz just look hungry and Raps struggling to match that
• Calderon drives and draws foul
• Corner 3 wide open look for Grizz
• DD flies in for 2.
  
• Steal and leads to break and a foul called on Calderon
• Bosh count it and a foul.
  
• Bargnani good for 3 and game is tied.
  
• Another 3 and Bargnani is 4 for 4 in the QTR
• DD gets blocked by Mayo
• DD gets up and throws down on the putback.
  
• Randolph is killing it.
  
• Bosh with answer (30 point in 3rd)
• Rasho missed a chippy
• Rasho gets the putback

After 3 Raptors 79 Memphis 76

3rd QTR- A little improvement but not much. DD came alive that Quarter that block at end of half seems to have got him going, Grizz still giving the effort.

4th Quarter

• Rasho scores again on the inside.
  
• Gay on putback and he let's you know about it
• Jack hits jumper.
  
• Rasho checks out with 8 and 6...Bosh returns.
  
• Bosh denied by Randolph and score in Transition Memphis
• Calderon a miss offensive board leads to a Bosh score.
• Bosh Draws foul (91-91)
• Turnover and Memphis push it and draw foul on Bargnani.
• Gasol scores and Bosh called for the foul. (Grizz lead 98-94
• Randolph running and scores as trailer on the break
• Gasol has been a beast on the glass.
  
• Mayo big 3 extends lead to 5.
  
• Raps offense gone cold at bad time
• Turnover and easy score
  
• Jose make a big shot cuts lead to 6.
  
• Hedos shot rolls out
  
• Bosh scores make it 37 but in an L

Final Score- Grizzlies 115 Raps 107

Raptors did not have the complete team effort the needed. Beyond Bosh everyone else played in spurts. This was just not good enough and Bosh deserved more from his team tonight. If Raps want to be a contender or even a playoff team these are losses you can't have.

Sioux Falls, Memphis and Raptors...Oh My!!!

Today given the location of the Raps last pre-season game I thought it would be fun to get to know a bit about Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So are you ready to know all you wanted to about Sioux Falls than you every thought you would in life?

For starters the population of Sioux Falls is approximately 154, 997. It was founded way back in 1856 long before the game of basketball was invented. It is about 15 miles from the Minnesota border. The crime rate in Sioux Falls is about half the national average in the U.S. The Cities Motto is "The Heart of America". It is in the Central Time Zone. It is also the home to the D-League Sioux Falls Skyforce. Amir Johnson has you may have heard spend some time there. Here is what Amir had to say about Sioux Falls from his media scrum yesterday. If this is not enough info on Sioux Falls for you here is a link to the Wikipedia on Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

No matter if this game is played in Sioux Falls or Kalamazoo Michigan the goals for the Raptors are pretty much the same in their final pre season contest

1. STAY HEALTHY...Above all else that is the most important thing. The Raps have already seen Reggie Evans go down and do not need to see anyone else get hurt as the Regular Season is now under a week away. So for goodness sake be careful out there.

2. Improvement On Defensive End. It has to happen in this final tune up because the Raptors will be playing several teams that are no joke early on. So they need to show they are at least heading in the right direction on that side of the floor.

3. Extend those minutes and set some rotations for the season. Bosh and Turkoglu especially have yet to get to a point where they can handle the normal work load they will have in terms of minutes thus far. Bosh and Turkoglu I would expect will be called on to log heavy minutes during the season despite the depth that most feel this team has.

If you still believe the shoot guard starting spot is up for grabs than that is something that needs to be decided. However I think that this was always Demar DeRozan's spot to lose and he has not done anything that would make you think he can not play in the role of starter. The hope is that DeRozan can be similar to Lee in Orlando last season. I think it is the right call and should give Demar the confidence and allow him the thrill to here his name called.

The Raptors at least record wise have not had a pre-season to remember. As much as it really doesn't matter it would be nice to see them finish strong with a win. The talk out of practices this week has been how hard and intense they have been. So let's hope that is illustrated on the defensive end of the floor in Sioux Falls.

Also my my radio appearance out in B.C has changed from Monday to Wednesday. I am going to be pre-taping it as that of course is the debut for the Raptors that night. The ESPN Keeper League is set to draft today and is still not full so if you can get an e-mail to me by no later than 3pm TODAY. I will try to get an invite to you. All invites must be excepted by no later than 5pm. As I need to finalize things for the draft.

One last not one the power of Twitter. It seems Eric Smith who covers the Raps on radio for the Fan 590 will not be elected mayor of Memphis anytime soon. Eric tweeted a blog he wrote on Vancouver for Memphis being the worst trade in NBA history. Well a re-tweet from J.E Skeets of Yahoo and the Basketball Jones and another from someone working for a New York Newspaper and word got to Memphis. I have offered my services to Eric as a personal bodyguard as I want all my guests for the DNB to be safe. The Raps first road game is of course in Memphis if you did not know.

Air Canada Flight 10 Has Landed

It's over the Allen Iverson summer saga of where he will go is done. If you have not heard Allen Iverson will be suiting up for the Memphis Grizzlies this year. So now A.I has strange odd connections with both of Canada's franchises in the NBA. He will play obviously for the former Vancouver franchise in Memphis. He also could have been selected by the Raptors if not for the deal that restricted the Raptors from having the first pick. They would instead pick second and take Marcus Camby. This is a pretty sad thing to me. I started off hating Allen Iverson, but over time I came to respect and love him as a player. To see him now playing for a sad franchise in the Memphis Grizzlies, the only thing worse would have been seeing Iverson forced into an early retirement. Raptors wise, they will get to see A.I in his new digs right away as their first road game of the season against Memphis.

Iverson in his career has been a Raptor killer. Beyond maybe Kobe Bryant, I can not think of a player that consistently has laid the wood to the Raps. A.I was part of one of the greatest playoff series I have ever seen between the Raptors and Sixers. The duel he had with Vince Carter was truly fantastic.  This latest chapter of A.I's career is likely to be one of those things, where a great player finishes his career with a number of teams that we will try to forget.  When you think A.I you are going to think Philly and the Sixers...simple as that.

Welcome Demar DeRozan to his new home away from home in T.O.  Maybe one day we can say the same about him and a Raptor jersey.  It is going to be an adjustment from sunny California to snowy at times Toronto.  However judging by his Twitter does he see the outside of a basketball gym enough to notice? Some may remember, that I was hoping for Jonny Flynn to be the Raps pick. However I have really come to appreciate Demar DeRozan a lot.  Thanks go out to Justin Walsh and Holly Mackenzie for helping me get to know more about Demar over the summer. They both love the guy. After watching from a far, I am starting to understand why.

This kid works and works. He is what they like to say in basketball circles a gym rat. However he seems like a nice young man not sure I want to call him a rat of any kind.  He lives in the gym and is constantly looking to improve and grow his game. If he can carry this work ethic through his entire career he could be something very special indeed. It is always said you want your best players to be your hardest workers and it sure seems like Demar DeRozan has got that down. If he truly is to become "Heir Canada" it is going to take work. Ironically the original "Air Canada" often had his work ethic questioned. He for a lot of folks would just get by on his unbelievable skill and talent and not work to hard.  That is not DeRozan. He takes all his athletic skill and seems to want to get the absolute max out of it.

He also is concerned with caring for his mother who suffers from Lupus  and that at least was part of his choice to jump to the NBA early.  Vince of course also had a much noted relationship with his mother. The issue was never that Vince loved his mom. It was that his mom always seemed to have something to say and was all tied up in his business affairs.  Demar just wants to make money to improve the care his mother can get. If there every was a reason to be happy for an athlete getting paid a ton of cash is that not the best one you could have?

Will Demar DeRozan be a Vince Carter or an Allen Iverson? Long way to go on knowing that one. But what I think we do know is we have a very talented well adjusted young man that seems to have his priorities in order. Air Canada Flight 10 has touched down in Toronto and the quest to get his crown begins.

B.C Doing WORK!!!

So when you went to bed last night depending on when you did. You went to bed with A.P, Hump, Quincy Douby and Shawn Marion were Raps or FA's. Well Not anymore. There are new Raptors too but let's explain where the old ones are going. A.P is the easiest as he just signed on his own with the Cavs. One of the classy players in the history of this organization best of luck to him. Now the trade that was 3 teams that became 4 teams. The Raptors have traded for Hedo Turkoglu. What? Yeah that's right Hedo comes via sign and trade. Shawn Marion goes to Dallas Via sign and trade. Quincy Douby and Jerry Stackhouse go to Memphis. Also Hump goes to Dallas as well. Raptors get back Wright and George from Dallas and yes the all important MLE is back which means so to could be Carlos Delfino. Have you got all of that? If not perhaps ESPN explains it better than me.

Marc Stein on Marion Deal - ESPN

In short Bryan Colangelo is pretty amazing. I had said that you could not truly judge a half painted picture a few days ago. Well Colangelo as truly added some masterful Michaelangelo type strokes to his Raptors canvas. The Raptors have gone from DeRozan and Douby. To Wright, Delfino, DeRozan and George. That addresses the wing spot. About the only thing he could not manage to do in unload Marcus Banks. Had he done that as well there may well have been a Bryan Colangelo parade today in Toronto.

Suddenly, Chris Bosh wakes up to having a team build around him that is pretty good and has some options at pretty much every position. Hey the roll B.C is on maybe Bosh will sign and extension as well.That is not likely to happen but the odds on Chris Bosh coming back have greatly increased in the last 48 hours. The combination of the info on the cap, The Raptors making massive change. The future of Chris Bosh has become a lot brighter to stay in Toronto.

In the end that is what matters the most. That is why all of this has happened in a lot of ways. However even if Bosh were to walk the Raptors are much better prepared for that as well. I still have concern over some of the contracts in terms of Andrea and Hedo. Having a team with some depth makes me a little less worried about that.

People had said B.C was not done. I was sure that he was not done trying. But I wondered if he could pull anything off. Well B.C did that no doubt about this. Even with all of this the Raptors still at best are the 4th team in the East. Still who was thinking that or saying that as a best case even a week ago?

I still have a wait and see approach to all of this. However the big difference is I can't wait to see instead of dreading the rest of this summer. Will this finally put an end to all of you that were thinking/hoping Chris Bosh would be traded this summer?

I am hopeful this will be enough to convince Chris Bosh to remain a Raptor. I truly hope that he can play his career as a Raptor and one day see a #4 hanging in the A.C.C. I feel like, as I am sure most Raptor fans do, that we have all watched Chris grow as a player and a man before our eyes. That is why I am a card carrying member of CB4 Nation. There are some guys that I will always root for their entire career. Bosh is on that list. I just would prefer I am doing it with him as a Raptor.

I want to close with some thoughts on Anthony Parker. He has been one of the most classy and professional people in his time with the Raptors. He finds himself in a situation where he should have an excellent chance at winning a championship. Can you think of a person more deserving of that then him? It would be a short list. So I am extremely happy for him. I also think we are all better off at getting to know someone of such high character and classy. So best of luck to A.P. Here is a list of truly nice guys from Raptors history. They all had varying degrees of talent but all were people that made me smile and hopefully you as well.

#5- Matt Bonner AkA The Red Rocket.

#4- Dell Curry

#3- Muggsy Bogues

#2- Anthony Parker

#1- Morris Peterson.

There were others that you could add to this list. If you have some you want to include or have your own list feel free to make a comment.

Yesterday I decided to do a live blog of the Andrea Bargnani Press Conference. The numbers and turn out for that was fantastic. So if you came out for that thanks a lot. It went so well that I will be doing another one for the Hedo News Conference and I am going to consider some form of a weekly Chat/Live Blog. I really love interacting with folks as you can probably notice if you follow the blog on Twitter (@dinonationblog). So if that presser happens today look for a live blog to be posted here on the site.

I suspect the majority of Raptor fans will be happy today and after last season you have earned that right to be so. Bryan Colangelo took a large step back towards the super genius that got a standing ovation when he came to town.

Raptors Rewind- O.J Rock Bottom Edition

1st Quarter

I am fashionable in my late arrival. But we have not missed a lot. Grizzlies are up 8-6 as I settle in coming off my college live blog duties. UConn beat my Wolverines. Memphis scores as I was telling you where I was. Joey G now a starter and he scores looking to bounce back from a bad night last night. Darko lives and he is at the line. J.O that was his second foul and he checked out. O.J Mayo with drive and score. No Bosh for Raps so the J.O foul issues are big. Bargnani drives and is fouled. Makes a pair and Raps trail 12-10. Bargnani draws another foul on Darko that is 2 for him. Bargnani missed the first at the line. Rudy Gay is on the bench for this one he picked up a hip injury. Bargnani makes the second and Raptors trail it 12-11. Calderon is fouled and heads to the line. He makes two but the second almost popped out. Marc Gasol picked up his second foul on a moving screen. Raptors lead 13-12. Graham missed a fading jumper off the post up. Marc Gasol remaining in the game with his 2 fouls scores for the Grizz. They now lead 14-13. Kapono is in and missing he may get embarrassed badly in the 3 point shoot out. Calderon would get the drive and score after a Grizzlies miss. Conley is fouled and heading to the line for a pair. He missed his first and the second. Raptors still lead 15-14.

This is one ugly basketball game. Joey G would look to make it bit more pretty with a nice slamajama. Raptors have a 17-14 lead it a very lack luster affair in Memphis where their new promotion of bring an empty seat night is working well. Ex-Raptor Damon Stoudamire is an assistant now with the Grizzlies. He said in chatting with Matt Devlin he was hoping to remain playing and hoped Toronto would call him. So why the heck didn't they? A.P missed bad on a 3 pointer. Portland's favourite player Darius Miles with the score. Raps still up in this painful to watch basketball game. Jamario Moon makes a pair from the line. Raptors would be winning this ugly game 21-18 not that they care about style points as losers of 5 straight.

2nd Quarter

Raptors shot 22% in the quarter and lead by 3? You got to be kidding me? This is really bad. Roko Ukic would help that percentage with drive and score the Grizzlies would answer. Gasol picked up a foul which should be his 3rd and he checked. Raps get 2 and Juric 3 for the Grizz. Jason Kapono misses it for 3. Brutal but J.O would draw a charge. Kapono jacks another 3 ball and missed it 0-4 start for the guy that Scott Carefoot calls J-Nilla and he is earning that name as he missed another to go Nilla for 5. O'Neal gets a basket but Ross answers for Grizz with a 3 pointer and we are tied at 27.

Former Syracuse star Hakim Warrick with a Jam. J.O gets a tech and Grizz make it and are up 3 with score 30-27. Calderon miss for 3. Raptors get called for illegal defence. Raps and Grizz swap baskets. Kapono meanwhile is 0-7 and what the hell is he out there? Joey G draws a foul and he when things are bad is at his best. However Joey is far from my concern in watching this mess at least he is trying. Some other folks don't seem to be performing well. Starting with the guy that is 0-7. Jose another miss and Joey gets called for a foul fighting for the board. O.J Mayo with the score he has had a quiet 4 so far. Bargnani answers and Grizz lead 35-31. Moon takes a jump shot...No really he did...and predictable in the result a miss. Mike Conley a drive and score on the other end. Amazing the Raptors convert a 3 on 1 chance on the break as Calderon lays it in and draws the foul. Apparently the official stats man felt for Jason Kapono he is 0-6 for the record. Beyond Joey Graham the entire Raptor team was shooting awful. Calderon made the and 1. Grizzlies lead it 37-34. Parker misses a easy lay-up. Raptors got the rebound and are rewarded with defensive 3 second call and Calderon makes the tech. Bargnani missed a 3 pointer after that and Jake Voskhul hammers someone trying to get the rebound. Ross hits a open 3 pointer and he was so open he could have taken a nap and made it. Grizzlies up 40-35. Jake Voskhul called for defensive 3 second call and Grizz make the tech and lead by a half dozen. Conley missed a runner but Grizz clean it up with score on offensive glass and they lead it by 8 points with score 43-35. Raptors get misses from Kapono and Moon and this half is over and I wish it was the game. Pathetic does nor begin to describe it.

3rd Quarter

Since day one I have seen almost ever Raptor game that has been played I thought it over during halftime and I can not remember a more pathetic performance in this team's history. They shot 25% for the half. I mean give me a break. Bargnani opens the quarter with a miss and J.O a foul that is great. J.O chucks it out of bounds and it was tipped by the Grizz. A.P is the latest contestant on let's miss a jump shot and he does. Andrea Bargnani an offensive foul. Grizzlies had chances to kill this team but the to suck. But lead it by 8 points. Grizzlies break it open with a Ross 3 pointer and the Memphis Grizzlies lead by 11 points.

J.O makes a step back jumper and after 3 minutes plus the Raptors had a basket so you can start the parade. A steal after that and Grizzlies take it the other way and get fouled. Warrick has been fouled and at the line makes a pair. Memphis is up 48-37. This is so bad it is growing comical. Memphis makes another basket and it is 50-37. Jose Calderon gets a basket. Joey G makes it rare back to back scores but Marc Gasol score to push Grizz lead back to 11. Bargnani jacks and misses a 3 pointer. They are 0-13 and I may get some joy out of this night as that stupid 3 point streak could die right here in Memphis. That may make some folks sad but not me. I think it serves as a reminder of what has been wrong with this team over the years. To many shooters and not enough drivers. I want to see more and 1 scores instead of 3 pointers.

Jamario Moon makes a jump shot for 2. Conley answers and he has 11 points for the Grizzlies. Joey G the lone Raptor that you can give a pass to on this night with 14 points himself. He would pick up his 4th foul though and if he fouled out this game could get even worse if that is possible. Calderon makes a jumper but trading baskets was not cutting into this 9 point lead. A Darko slam says more than any words I could type. Jose Calderon screws up my dream of the stupid 3 ball streak ending. He makes a 3 and Raptors as Jack Armstrong likes to say were stuck 8. A tech foul on Jaric and Raptors were down 7. Kapono misses throw staying consistent as he has not made a shot and is 0-8. Makes you wonder why he is out there. Sam Mitchell is coach there is no way he would be. Raptors would cut it down to 5 points and Buckner would make a jumper at the Buzzer. They will review it so I'll start the 4th telling you if Raps are down by 5 or 7 for those of you that still care?

4th Quarter

So basket does not count and Raptor had increased their shooting percentage to 30%. I mean break out the good stuff. A.P open to quarter with a miss and he is a pathetic 1-7. Andrea Bargnani drives and draws a foul. He is 1-9 from the filed but 5 of 6 from the line. But he splits a pair. Jason Kapono made a 3 pointer stop the presses. Raptors were down 1 point even though they had no business at all being this close. Roko drives but can't finish to give the Raptors the lead. Kapono a second 3 pointer and shockingly they lead by 2 with score 62-60. Kapono hit wave ends as he missed on his chance to make 3 in a row. A travel and turnover and the Raptors have not been able to extend the lead. Defensive 3 second call on Roko. Mayo makes the tech. Raptors up one in one of the collective worst basketball games I have watched on both sides.

Darko gets blocked by Moon. O.J Mayo ends the stretch of no one scoring with a basket and Grizz back in front 63-62. Mayo would get a basket plus a foul and could make it a 4 point lead which in this classic would be like 12 point lead in a regular game. He would make Grizz lead 66-62. Mayo is on fire now makes a 3 pointer and the Memphis lead was 7 with the score 69-62. Parker presses and shoots an ill advised 3 pointer that he of course missed. J.O miss lead to an easy score for Gasol. Kapono would make a 3 pointer and Raptors were down 6 with score 71-65. Calderon is called for a charge and turns it over.

Kapono with honestly a pretty cool spin move only throw it out of bounds. An airball 3 point attempt for the Grizzlies both these teams stink. But someone would win this with under a minute to play and Grizzlies up 6. Jason Kapono from out of no where has got hot makes a 3 pointer. Raptors were down 3. Now win or lose how bad is this that you have to struggle to beat the Grizzlies. Sure no Bosh but they had no Gay. An open 3 from O.J Mayo would end any of those thoughts of winning a basketball game. So make it another loss and Raptors have dropped 6 in a row. Make the final Memphis 78 and Raptor 70. They shot 29% in this game and this is truly as bad as it gets.

Raptors/Grizzlies Boxscore

I have to apologize if you did not like the sarcastic tone of this Raptor Rewind. However truthful the ones that owe the apologies is the guys in the red uniforms cause they were pathetic and an embarrassment to everyone that calls themselves a fan of this team.

Round Ball Review- From The Home Of The King?

I decided instead of breaking down another painful loss, I would invest some time in making some laughs hopefully. J.B and Joey G when we last saw them were in New Orleans. They have now made their way to Memphis for the Raptors game tonight against the Grizzlies. Which no joking around has been switched to TSN from the orginally scheduled for TSN 2. No mention of that in this episode of the Round Ball Review. There is talk of....well just watch and you will see.



So that is all for them as they will be heading off to close the trip with T-Wolves and Raptors. If you are a college basketball fan I will be live blogging Michigan vs UConn and that is a 6 pm start right before the Raptors game. At this rate you should be checking out some college ball to see who is out there. UConn has some talented players but I like Chuck Swirsky am a big Michigan guy. So it should be fun. I will add a link to it as soon as I get it on just go to the score.com and click on liveblogs link and look for it. After that it will be right into Raptor Rewind for me. Take care and have a great weekend.

At 6pm(EST)...Come be part of The Score liveblog Huskies and Wolverines

Raptors Rewind- The O.J Show Hits T.O

So let's get started with a roster update. Jamario Moon is back the proud papa of a baby girl. Could having that behind him inspire him to play well. I sure hope so. He was back in the starting line-up. But no Jermaine O'Neal and despite some hopeful signs it looks like no Jose Calderon as well. Will Solomon would be your starting point guard tonight for the Raptors. This is a big game for the Raptors who could make it 4 out 5 wins for them. Also you have a back to back with a recently struggling Boston Celtics who are taking on a Cleveland Cavs team on a mission to keep them that way. That may not mean good things for the Raptors and it is why tonight against a Memphis team that is 11-25 is a must win type game. Raptors are starting to get it on track at home as well. They have won their last 2 at the ACC but are still only 7-9 on their home floor. Can Bargnani and Bosh keep things rolling as they have been of late? They will hope so as the will see a young and talented Marc Gasol.

1st Quarter

Raptors take the opening tip and we are off. Chris Bosh gets in going right away and he hits his first jumper. O.J Mayo would miss with his reply on the other end. Rudy Gay would make his first attempt count with a 3 pointer. Andrea Bargnani answered with a 2 not a 3 and Raptors were back on top. Jamario Moon made his first shot as a dad and Raptors had early lead 6-3. Anthony Parker the veteran with a basket and Darrell Arthur the rookie with the reply. Chris Bosh took a nice looking jumper from top of the key and he made it. Will Solomon found Jamario Moon for the easy score and it was Raptors off to an impressive 12-5 start with 7:15 left to go in quarter number 1 of 4.

Turnover for Memphis as Marc Gasol got called for 3 in the key. Bosh would make them pay with another jumper. O.J Mayo had another miss and his Canada debut was not off to a great start. Bosh though was having a wonderful start as he was at the line and made a pair. Raptors were building a lead that was up to 11 points with the score 16-5. Will Solomon would find a cutting Bargnani for the easy layup. Raptors would surrender a bucket to Rudy Gay and a turnover and a forceful jam for Gasol. The Grizz were on a roll as Rudy Gay scored another and it was a 6-0 run and Jay Triano had seen enough and called a time out. Raptors still had the lead 18-11 with 4:48 left to play in the quarter.

Jamario Moon missed a jumper badly out of the time out. He would make up for it with some hustle on the defensive glass but Raptors could get a score off of that as Kapono would miss. Raptors had gone cold as Bargnani had a lay up pretty much roll out. Kyle Lowry would finally make the Raptors pay cutting to the lead 5 points. But Jason Kapono answered that with a 2 pointer. After a 20 second time out for the Grizzlies Rudy Gay continued his great opening quarter with another basket he was 4-4 on the night. Marc Gasol was trying to make it a 3 point lead for Toronto but Bosh had other ideas with the block. But the next time down Gasol would get to the rim and be able to lay it in for two. Jason Kapono would get hooked up by Roko Ukic and he would make a 3 pointer. Gasol from the top of the key shows that he has a jump shot as he drained it. The Raptors were hanging on to a 23-19 lead after one quarter of play.

2nd Quarter

Teams exchange baskets to start the quarter. Raptors had most of the reserves in the game. Bargnani was still out there though and he grabbed a rebound on defensive end. But it did not turn into points. Both teams were looking sloppy with back to back travels on Conley and Graham one for each side. Warrick split a pair from the line. Raptors lead had been trimmed to 25-22 early in the second quarter. Jake Voskhul had his way to the line and massaged a couple through the hoop. Warrick would get a quick response for two for Memphis. That would get answered by Joey G who was set up by Kapono. Jason was not done as he hooked up Jake Voskhul for another 2 points for him. Raptors had build back up to a 7 point lead it was 31-24 with 8:08 left on the clock.

Jason Kapono would turn it over on a travel proving he was not exactly a point guard yet. Chris Bosh was back and he had a thunderous jam to let you know it. Memphis responded with a basket. Bosh would look to hook up Bargnani but instead it was stolen for a turnover for the Grizz. Raptors had really cooled off after a hot start but the Grizzlies were not taking advantage of chances. Joey Graham would get a basket driving to the basket and The Raptors were kind of on cruise control as they lead 35-28 with 4:49 and a time out on the floor.

Warrick made his way to the line and made a pair. Chris Bosh had a jumper rim out and Rudy Gay would come back and score and the Grizzlies were back to just 3 points down with the score 35-32. Bosh would get himself to the free throw line and he would make a pair. O.J Mayo apparently was suffering from a hip pointer but had checked back into the game. It was Mike Conley at the line and he split a pair. Rudy Gay was making up for a lack of Mayo he made a 3 pointer. The Grizz would score again to take a lead 37-36 and that brought boos from the crowd that was not impressed with the Raptor effort and honestly they had reason to be upset. Jay Triano in the time out did not have much love for his team as well. Chris Bosh would respond and get to the line. O.J Mayo got his first bucket on the night. Bosh answered that one with a basket. But the Grizz were inspired and made a basket to answer that. A slam dunk for the Moon man as the teams kept swapping a one point lead. Raptors would score again to end the ping pong match. O.J Mayo since checking back in looked better as he had another score. Will Solomon would close out the second quarter with a basket and it was 47-44.

3rd Quarter

Chris Bosh had 16 points shooting 5-7 from the field and a prefect 6-6 at the line. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 blocks but the rest of the team was sluggish at best. Rudy Gay had 14 for his side a perfect 2-2 from 3 point range and 6-8 from the field overall. Jose Calderon said in a halftime interview that he wants to return to the line-up on Sunday he said in a halftime interview with Rod Black. The will need him against the Celtics who were losing to the Cavs at the moment. But this game here was back underway. Rudy Gay was still hot and opened the half with a long 2 pointer. Chris Bosh also hot would answer with a basket for his side. Lowery had a score for Memphis and Bosh answered that. Rudy Gay as another answer for that. Defense was just a rumour at the ACC at the start of the second half. Marc Gasol decided to foul Bosh that was at least an attempt at defense. Nobody can stop Rudy Gay as he had another basket and had 20 points and we had a tie basketball game at 52. Bosh would take the ball at Gay and draw the 3rd foul on him that may be the only way to stop him on this night. Bosh who was perfect from line in first half started the second 2-4. Grizzlies scored a runner in the lane for O.J Mayo and they had the lead 54-53 with eight and change to play.

Andrea Bargnani with a nice pump fake was able to draw a foul. He would make a pair to put the Raptors back in front. A turnover forced by Bargnani playing good D on Gasol. Anthony Parker who had been really quiet made his way to the line. But he would miss his first attempt and make his second. Rudy Gay was showing the whole package with a running hook in the lane. Andrea Bargnani would answer with a much needed 3 pointer for the Raptors.That made the score 59-56. However Andrea was not done as he makes back to back 3 balls and it was a 6 point lead all thanks to Andrea with the score 62-56 and a time out called. The Grizzlies defense needed to be reminded to find number 7 and not let him do that.

Gasol out of time out drove to the hoop but missed. Bargnani tried to take advantage in the post matched up on Mayo but he could not score on the inside. He would look to drive the next time and drop it off for Bosh but it was stolen and lead to easy score in transition. Chris Bosh would get the ball the next time though and make a jumper. Gay had a rare miss from 3 point range that could have cut the Raptor lead to just 1 point. Andrea Bargnani would find his way to the line and have a chance to make a pair. But he missed both. Grizzlies again were getting chance to take control and not cashing in. Chris Bosh would make them pay with a basket. A steal that lead to a score for Will Solomon and just like that raptors were back up by 8 points with score 68-60 with only 2:42 to play in the quarter.

Out of a time out Grizzlies have an empty trip with a shot and miss. Jason Kapono makes them pay with a 2 ball from the corner. Raptors finally were showing signs that they wanted to put this one away. Jamario Moon was having a good effort as he got a rebound and then make me look bad my missing a 3 pointer. Warrick spilt a pair from the line to cut the lead to single digits. But an O.J Mayo turnover would lead to a raptor basket in transition. It was clear Mayo was not right but Raptors could care less leading 72-61. Will Solomon attempted a fading jumper in the lane at the buzzer but no dice. Raptors would have to settle for there 72-61 lead after 3 quarters of play.

4th Quarter

So the title of this Raptor Rewind was not looking like it would make sense tonight. O.J was not the guy it was Rudy that was the man for Memphis. Bosh was that man for the Raptors as he is on most nights. But Andrea Bargnani was starting to help out and he opened the quarter with a 2 point effort. Warrick and Mayo would answer with back to back baskets. Mayo looked for back to back buckets but his jumper would not fall. Bargnani wound O.J guarding him again and he took it right at him with the huge size advantage. Bargnani would dunk it on Mayo. Chris Bosh was resting up for a big finish as he would enjoy a Jason Kapono jumper as the Raptors had their largest lead of the night 78-66. Bosh had come back in the game at that point.

He entered the game for Andrea Bargnani who had heard his share of boos at ACC but on this night cheers would rain down on him. He had 18 points and Bosh was checking back in looking to build on his 22. Matt Devlin and Jack Armstrong were refering to them as the Killer Bees. But the look nothing like B. Brain Blair and Jumping Jim Brunzell. Busting out my old 80's wrestling knowledge. Kris Humphries could maybe have a career as a wrestler.He was in there and got himself a basket in his chosen profession of basketball player. Not starting trade rumours but Bryan Colangelo was working his blackberry hard as he looked on from his little bunker by where the players go in and out from the floor. Roko Ukic with a pretty feed knows who to pass it to. He found Bosh with the jumper from the top of the key and the lead was 82-69. Ukic later on made a pretty runner in the lane for himself. Chris Bosh was looking to close it out as he drove to the lane and would get sent to the line after the time out.

Bosh stepped to the line with 5:29 left. He would make both and it was an 86-72 lead for Toronto who had a much better effort in this second half. Kapono was making passes and dropping dimes a bit tonight. He found Joey G for the basket. Kapono had 5 dimes and so did Anthony Parker despite a quiet night scoring wise. Bosh had it going on tonight as he made the fading jumper and it was all falling for CB4. He was 11-13 from the field and had 32 points. Andrea Bargnani was back in the game and wanted a piece of the action he made a 3 pointer that caused Jose Calderon to stand up in his suit and do his 3 point deal when he makes one. It was all smiles as the Raptors were heading to winning 4 of 5, before a very tough test in a back to back with a Celtics team thinking they have a lot to prove. Bargnani had 21 on the night and they had a 21 point lead 95-74. Bargnani was not showing any sign of giving up he blocked a shot. But he and Bosh had done enough as they would leave to cheers from the fans. Raptors after a sleepy first half effort were putting it to the weaker opposition in the second. Kris Humphries was owning garbage time with back to back baskets. Will Solomon would deliver the pizza with a jumper in the lane. Raptors were running away with it leading 101-78. It was all over but the final score. The lines for Bargnani and Bosh. 53 points 18 rebounds and 4 blocks combined that is a heck of a night. You can make the final 103-82. Check it all out in a very fan friendly boxscore from The Score.

Rap/Grizz Boxscore

So the Raptors will hope to add some healthy folks back to the line-up but with no Jose and no J.O things were still A O K for the Raptors of late. They now will have an early Sunday date with the defending champs who had been playing like chumps of late. Should be fun.