Pre-season has begun! Raps win their first game, 104-84 in Cleveland.

I will be going to tomorrow night's game at the ACC: Raps vs. Knicks. Let's go Raptors!

Hey Mark:
My only pre-season game that I have a ticket for is next Tuesday when the Raps play defending Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow - who I know nothing about. So far I have tickets to 5 regular season games. Nov 21 against the Nets, January 11 - Boston, Feb. 18 - the Cavs, March 13 - the Pistons and then March 27 against the Thunder. I'm probably going to buy a few other games later on once I see how the season is shaking out and I'll try to convince somebody among the group who use the season tickets to both the Leafs and Raptors to take one of the Leafs games off my hands for one of their basketball games - since I think the Raps will be more fun to watch then the Leafs this year.

That Russian team has a couple of ex-NBA players: Victor Khryapa and Zoran Plananic.

The Raps 113-111 victory over the Knicks tonight was a good game. Solid all around performances, with the Raps shooting 49% from the field. Chris Bosh led the way with 20 points, 7 rebounds in 25 minutes. Bargnani looked good, with 15 points and 5 rebounds before fouling out after 27 minutes.

Kris Humphries has let his hair grow in, and is still cute as ever. Will Soloman looks to be a decent backup point guard. Roko Ukic reminds me a bit of Brent Barry (without the 3-point shot). Jermaine O'Neal looked a bit tired and played only 18 minutes. Hassan Adams looked pudgy and played only 4 minutes.

Are the Raptors players big on the single digit numbers?

#1 - Roko Ukic
#3 - Hassan Adams
#4 - Chris Bosh
#5 - Will Soloman
#6 - Jermaine O'Neal
#7 - Andrea Bargnani
#8 - Jose Calderon

Bought myself one of the new black jerseys (#8 Calderon).... $109.00+tax (yikes!).

Just so you know...if there's a Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night, the start time for the 76ers-Raptors game that night will be moved from 7 pm to 6 pm so people can get to watching the World Series afterwards...including keeping the the AT&T Pavilion at the Wachovia-soon-to-be-Wells-Fargo Center open after the basketball game ends.

The Raptors website is still listing the 7pm start time, but I'll take your word for it, JiP. Will have to rush home from work and will miss the opening tip. I will be going to the home opener on Halloween night.

Well, they won't change the time officially until there's officially a game 6. The earliest they can do that is after game 4 if it's 2-2, or after game 5 if it's 3-2. So for now it's still a 7 pm game, but stay tuned.

Raptors win game #1, 95-84 in Philly, despite starting the game 2-12 from the floor and being out rebounded 56-33. They also debuted the new black alternate jerseys.

And as much as I will miss Chuck Swirsky as the Raptors TV play by play guy (he's gone to Chicago I think as the Bulls radio play by play guy), I enjoyed the call of new play by play guy Matt Devlin who has come to Toronto from Charlotte and before that Memphis. He will do all 82 games on the various networks carrying the Raps this season.

However about 25 of those games are scheduled to be on TSN2 which Rogers Cable has not picked up yet due to a dispute. Every other major cable and satellite system in Canada is already carrying TSN2 with the exception of Rogers. I've already had to put up with missing a few games I wanted to see - although not that many as checking TSN2's schedule it does seem to be loaded up with Poker or late night replays of games that TSN originally showed . but tonight for instance they have the Houston - Dallas NBA game - but of course we can't get it because of Rogers.

So I've drawn my line in the sand. If Rogers does not have TSN2 by the time they are scheduled to carry their first Raptors game on November 16th - it is bye-bye Rogers, you will lose my account for HD Cable and internet and I'll switch providers.

Raps did look good last night though once they got the dreadful first 5 minutes out of the way.

Extreamely exciting home opener for the Raps on Halloween night, 112-108 overtime victory over G-State. Led by Chris Bosh's 31 point (12-22), 9 rebound performance, 23 points by Anthony Parker, 19 points by Bargnani, and 16 points and 13 assists (only 1 turnover) for Jose Calderon. Although they were outrebounded (get used to it) again 46-36, they shot 51% from the floor, had only 13 turnovers, made 9 blocks and 9 steals, and went 26-30 from the free throw line. Jermaine O'Neal showed off a Dikembe Mutombo-esque finger wag while lying on the floor after a spectacular block.

The Warriors are clearly lacking at PG following the departure of Baron Davis. They stared DeMarcus Nelson, but Stephen Jackson and Kelanna Azubuike did most of the work at the point.

Behind a career-high 25 points from Jose Calderon, the Raps send the Bucks to a 91-87 defeat to go 3-0 to start the season. Next game not until Wednesday, at home vs. Detroit Pistons.

Dismal performance by the Raps tonight, 110-92 losers to the 4-0 Atlanta Hawks. The Raps are now 3-2, the same record as the (gulp) Knicks.

The Raps jumped out to a 48-36 halftime lead in Boston, only to be outscored 57-39 in the second half (94-87 final)..Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics with 36 big points, many of those on clutch baskets down the stretch. The Raps will limp home and play Philly (again) on Wednesday. The one positive note: Jermaine O'Neal's 23 points (most of those in the first half), 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Raps fall to 4-4, as Jose Calderon leaves the game early holding his hamstring. Not a good sign. Raps don't play again until Sunday, so hopefully Calderon will have time to recover. However, if it's a serious pull or strain, the Raps may be relying on Will Soloman and Roko Ukic (although they had SG Anthony Parker handling the ball for part of the game last night).

Well, today's 107-96 Raptors victory over the Heat was indeed unavailable to Rogers subscribers in Toronto. I went to the store near the end of the game and listened on radio in the car.

Will Solomon started in place of Calderon and put up solid numbers: 15 points, 11 assists (4 turnovers), 4 rebounds and 1 steal in 34 minutes. Roko Ukic came off the bench with 4 assists (1 turnover), but 0 points.

Bargnani started at small forward in place of Jamario Moon and put up 12 points (6-12 shooting). Bosh led with 27 points, 7 rebounds. Jermaine O'Neal had 11 points, 18 rebounds.

Raps have a busy week, with games Tuesday (at Orlando), Wednesday (at Miami), Friday (Nets) and Sunday (Celtics).

I tried complaining to Rogers all weekend to no avail after 3 attempts and being on hold for 30 minutes each time 'due to a larger than normal number of calls' (gee - I wonder why?) - I gave up.

So when I get home from work tonight - I'm calling Bell to see what they can offer me for 2 regular TV's, 1 HD TV (with TSN2) and 2 high speed connections + home phone. If the price is comparable to what I pay now on Rogers - the switch is on.

I was only able to watch the first part of the Raptors-Nets game last night, but was shocked to find out they lost in OT 129-127 despite amazing performances by key players: 42 points from Chris Bosh (tied career high), 15 assists and 26 points from Jose Calderon (one off his career high in points and assists), 29 points and 10 rebounds from Andrea Bargnani (career highs in points and minutes played, one off career high in rebounds). When 3 of your 5 starters have career or near-career high games and you still lose, that's not good.

An ugly 118-103 loss to the Celtics has dropped the Raptors below .500 and last in the Atlantic Division.

Hey Mark - I was at the Nets game Friday night and in spite of the gut wrenching way the Raps lost that night - that was the wildest, craziest, most entertaining Raps game I think I have ever been to. Yes they had no business losing but that game had a bit of EVERYTHING!

The Raps blew at 18 point lead and the Nets had tied it at 93 with about 3 or 4 minutes left. If you asked me then - I would have said the Nets are going to win. But then the Raps turned it back on to go back ahead by 7. They even maintained that 7 point lead until there were 29 seconds left in the game. The turning point - after the Nets had scored to pull to within 5 points with about 21 seconds left the Raps could NOT inbounds the ball. The first time they tried Parker had to use a time out. The second time - it was Bargnani - who was BRILLIANT again - but he blew this play and got called for a 5 second violation. That set the stage for the dramatic last few seconds of regulation with Carter sinking an INCREDIBLE 3 pointer to force the OT.

THE OT was just like the game. Raps surge to the lead only to see the Nets come roaring back and go up by 5 with less than 20 seconds left. But this time cue the Raptor dramatics with both Bosh and Parker hitting unlikely 3 pointers in the dying seconds to tie the game again. The ACC was going ABSOLUTELY NUTS!

And then cue the villain - Vince Carter somehow gets wide open right under the basket with 0.5 seconds left for a dunk to end the evening. 19,800 literally just stood there in utter silent disbeief. Truly an extraordinary game.

And I think the gut wrenching way they lost that game clearly carried over to Sunday when they just simply did not even show up agaisnt the Celtics.

Mark - if you are reading this on Tuesday - check your email and let me know if you are free tomorrow night. I just had a friend cancel on me so I have an extra ticket for the game against the Bobcats Wednesday night.... Pat

WOW, Sam Mitchell finally got the ax. I am surprised, but I can't say I'm sorry for him. I really didn't like him.

I'm not surprised. There were rumors that Colangelo wanted to get rid of him last year. Considering that Bosh is playing at an MVP level (and Bargnani finally tapping some potential), the Raptors have sure been disappointing. I know Calderon had an ankle issue, but the role players who were such a revelation last year (Parker, Moon) don't seem to be playing their roles very well now.

While I was not one of those people calling for Sam Mitchell's head, I know that many were disappointed at the team's lackluster performance so far this season (not to mention their poor performances in the playoffs). They did seem to be out-coached at times, and Bryan Colangelo may now be paying for not going after a reputable name coach when he could. Further, I think Colangelo fired Sam to protect his own reputation. He came to the Raptors as the white knight, but now people are questioning the team he assembled, the lack of depth, the poor defense, and lack of toughness. Should the team continue to struggle, fingers will be pointed at Colangelo and he's going to have to answer up to his decisions.

Well, that's a good point -- defense and toughness weren't exactly Colangelo's legacy with the Suns either. And the Bargnani pick will continue to haunt him (even though the guy is starting to play better).

Still, the 2006 draft has to be among the worst in recent history, and one featuring some of the worst mistakes by teams with top picks. Just think, you could have had Adam Morrison or Tyrus Thomas.

Of course, Colangelo's old team did a fabulous job, by drafting Rajon Rando and then selling him to the Celtics. I don't why that doesn't get more press. The Celtics are probably sending thank you notes to Phoenix every day -- they wouldn't have won the Championship without Phoenix's help!

Actually I'm not that surprised they let Sam go - especially with the team just not showing up so many night's this season. He was being out coached and this team just was not playing for him. My roommate has been out for Sam's head going back to the playoffs last year and even more so the last couple of weeks.

And I was actually caught off guard with how much that sentiment had clearly gained traction among the Raptor fans. At the home opener this year there were big cheers when Sam was introduced. At the Nets game I went to 13 days ago - I thought I heard the odd boo - but basically there was no reaction at all to his name during lineup announcements. But then after the loss that night to the Nets and the absolutely embarrassing performance against the Celtics the following Sunday - when I attended the game last Wednesday against Charlotte there was a crescendo of boos when he was introduced. Not just a smattering - it was as if vince Carter was being introduced! LOL

And with the team not really playing well - other than Bosh since then - you knew his days were numbered.

And so now for the rest of this season we have Jay Triano - a Canadian as interim head coach. Good luck Jay! You'll need it.

New coach, same result: Raptors blown out in Utah 114-87. While Jay Triano is a nice guy (and being the first Canadian coach in the NBA, it's a good story), but he's been an assistant with the team for may years... during which time the Raptors were not known for team defense or running set plays. Can he turn it around? Can the existing coaching staff teach the players to play with the precision that the Jazz demonstrated last night? Can they show the kind of team defense you see with the Celtics, or will they continue to play a loose unstructured style like, say, the Knicks? It's gonna be a lonnnng season....

I tend to like Toronto teams, after all, Canada has legal abortion and marriage equality. But Steve Blake's shot made the difference between my starting the week miserable or ecstatic.

What a difference one point makes!

Go Blazers.

Teams must be just chomping at the bit to play the Raptors. They were steamrolled again tonight, 114-94 to the Cavs. Chris Bosh scored only 9 points. Jose Calderone coughed up 3 turnovers to just 3 assists. Bargnani, who had shown improvement, has regressed and was held to single digits for the 4th game in a row. Tomorrow night the Raps host Indiana: it's the return of T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic.

What do you think the problem is? After all, you're practically the same team as last year, plus J.O., who has actually played well (and filled a huge hole) when he's been able to play. Don't tell me you miss T.J. Ford.

The problem with the Raptors is coaching, IMO. Their weaknesses are being exploited and their strengths are not being taken advantage of. This has been most noticeable in the playoffs, where Raptor opponents clearly have a strategy of how to beat the Raps, whereas the Raps have not customized their play to suit their opponent.

That said, Jay Triano got his first win as an NBA coach, as the Raps defeat the Pacers at home 101-88. I didn't see the game, but the stats look good: Jason Kapono explodes for 25 (on 11-16 shooting; prior to this game Kapono had scored 7, 10, 5 and 0, an example of not finding shots for a proven shooter). Chris Bosh was 21/10. Calderone had 14 assists (to 2 turnovers) and set a Raptor record with 52 straight free throws made (previously held at 51 by Chauncy Billups). Jamario Moon and Joey Graham provide 17 and 12 points, respectively. T.J. Ford was held to 4 points and 4 assists and Rasho had 0 points in their first return to Toronto.

Raps get their second victory under Jay Triano, 101-79 over the Nets in Jersey. With neither Anthony Parker nor Kris Humphries available, the Raps dressed only 10 players. Scoring was well-distributed (Bosh 18, Kapono 16, Graham 16, Calderon 13, Bargnani 11). Roko Ukic produced 5 assists and 10 points in under 20 minutes off the bench. Although his shot is highly suspect, I like the way he goes to the basket. And he has a nice little floater. He's a future PG to watch out for.

Apparently the Raptors will sign Jake Voskuhl to add some, ahem, depth to the front court.

According to the Toronto Star, the Raptors are now being booed at home. I didn't see last night's loss to the Mavericks as it was on TSN2 (still unavailable on Rogers Cable in Toronto), but the fans are unhappy and letting it show.

Why didn't Bryan give Alex English a chance to coach the Raptors? I really like him. I don't know how good he would be as a head coach, but I would have let him try his luck for the rest of the season.

I don't know. Possibly Triano is being set up to fail. It would certainly be easy to remove him, a first time coach, at the end of the season and bring in someone new.

The other day someone told me there was a rumour that the Raptors were interested in trading for Shaun Marion's expiring monster contract. That sounds like desperation to me, a team that's thrown in the towel and is interested in building for the future. I don't think the Raptors are at that stage yet (in the Eastern conference, anybody can make the playoffs), if they continue the way they have they may have to consider it.

Have the Raptors hit a low point? After starting the season 3-0, they now stand at 10-16 and lost last night to the Oklahoma City Thunder--a team that had only 2 wins going into that game. The Raps shot 36% from the field, and only 2-17 from downtown (one of their strengths). Mercifully the last three games have been on TSN2 (still unavailable on Rogers Cable in Toronto), but how long before the fans revolt and start demanding action? GM Bryan Colangelo, new coach Jay Triano, Raptors players... your jobs are not safe!

It is always a mystery to me how a team can go from being pretty good one year, to pretty bad the next, without any major roster changes, injuries or players declining because of age. It's too bad, because without a stunning turnaround, you're going to lose Bosh for sure.

A turning point in the season? Missing Jose Calderon and Jermaine O'Neal, the Raps managed to defeat one of the top teams in the league, the Orlando Magic 108-102. Will Soloman and Roko Ukic shared the point guard duties, each playing 24 minutes, scoring 11 and 12, and dishing out 4 and 7 assists. Roko hit a key floater with 38 seconds remaining to seal the deal. Vintage Anthony Parker performance (26 points on 13-16 shooting), 23/11 from Bosh and 18 points from Bargnani. The victory comes off a 94-73 victory over Houston on Friday.

Just past the halfway point in the season and I have the sense that it's over for the Raptors. Despite being in the lowly Eastern Conference, I think they need to start thinking about lottery picks, scouting Europe and the NCAA, strategic trades, and so on. They also need to reconsider their coaching staff. Too many times they've bypassed experienced name coaches in favour of relative newcomers (Darrell Walker, Butch Carter, Kevin O'Neill, Sam Mitchell, Jay Triano), none of whom were able to elevate the level of play to the elite level, none who could teach skills, employ strategies (there's a reason why you see good play from teams coached by Jerry Sloan, Greg Popovich or Phil Jackson; there's a reason they're always competitive... and why they've kept their jobs for so long. The Raptors have had 7 coaches in 14 years.). The Raps have shown tantalizing flashes during the season, but overall their effort has been lackluster. Now 16-25, on a 4-game losing streak, they need to play it out as best they can--because every player and coach is playing for his job (either with this team or showcasing himself for some other team). And with about 8 of the next 20 games on TSN2 (which is unavailable on Rogers Cable in Toronto), I wouldn't be surprised if interest doesn't start to wane in these uninspiring Raptors. With the Leafs' losing record (17-21) and the Blue Jays' dim prospects for the season, it's not a good time to be a Toronto sports fan.

And speaking of strategic trades.... is a Jermaine O'Neal for Shaun Marion swap in the works? I've read that Marcus Banks may be the additional player shipped with Marion to make the salaries work. Marion's contract is expiring, which would give Colangelo some cap money to play with in the off season. The emergence of Andrea Bargnani of late (he's scored 17+ points for some 10 straight games) and the lack of scoring/rebounding from the small forward spot (Jamario Moon's 7.2 ppg, Jason Kapono's 8.2 ppg and Joey Graham's 6.5 ppg) make Marion's 12.3 ppg/9.2 rpg look enticing (and esp. that expiring contract). Jermaine O'Neal has averaged 13.6 ppg/7.2 rpg (in 29 games) and averaged 29 minutes/game.

Does this mean that good yet inexpensive tickets could be available if someone were to make a trip to Toronto in early March?

Five losses in a row now for the Raps. A good effort against the Suns Sunday but again they just are not good enough to win in spite of brilliant flashes at various times by different players. I was at the game and it really was a highly entertaining game that the full house of 19800 really got into. Of course it was a very tough ticket with Captain Canada in town - Steve Nash. And boy did he give a clinic on why the Raptors need a point guard desperately in the absence of Calderon.

Something like 18 assists for Nash! And what is killing the Raptors these days is turnovers. They are averaging well over 20 a game as of late and it is killing them. How well Calderon protects the ball is probably what they are missing most.

And again - after a one game 'guest appearance' in Indiana the other night - no O'Neal this afternoon and also there was no Jason Kapono today who was suffering from the flu. The Raps sure could have used his shooting ability as they got involved in a highly entertaining yet ultimate fruitless shootout with Phoenix. Great games (at least offensively) by all 5 of the makeshift starting lineup. Bosh with 20, Bargnani 15, Moon 16, Joey Graham a surprising 22 and Anthony Parker with a team high 26. Yet the end result a 117-114 loss.

Realistically O'Neal has been hurt so often it does not really seem like he is a part of this team. So if Miami want him and will give us Shaun Marion in return - sounds good to me. But if we are to have any chance to get on a roll - we need a healthy Calderon and his return from his hamstring injury does not seem imminent according to most reports I've heard.

Jose Calderon is back, and the Raptors losing streak is over. Against the Bulls, Calderon had 10 assists, 0 turnovers, and 23 points (on 9/10 shooting). His 83rd consecutive made free throw since the start of the season put him second all time in the NBA.

Have to say that I'm liking the L'il Jose and L'il Chris TV commercials for the Raptors for Kids Foundation.

Jose

Chris

Jose Calderon's free throw streak ended last night at 87, short of the NBA record of 97. And while Chris Bosh was invited to the All Star game, Calderon, fourth in the league in assists, was not (Jameer Nelson, who was invited, is 21st in the league in assists).

Hey Mark:
Too bad on Calderon's streak ending - along with the team's mini 3 game winning streak. What a disappointing performance last night. I just don't get this team. They finally seem to be on track having won 3 in a row and playing very well - especially offensively - and then they come up with a turkey like last night - especially the second half. They were playing against the Bucks - at the ACC - one of the teams they have to catch to make the play-offs. The Raps know the next 3 games are Orlando, the Lakers and the Cavs - and you figure it is a no-brainer must win game for them - and instead they come up with a stinker like that - deservedly losing by double digits.

And here is a trivia question for you - has a player ever been thrown out of a game before when it was his bobble-head night before? That's what happened to Jermaine O'Neal last night who got tossed after his second technical on his bobble-head night at the ACC. That kind of year for the Raps.

OK - I think I do get this team now. When the going gets tough - the tough get going - right? Well any time the going gets tough - or there is a 'big' game for this team - they simply disappear. The Star summed it up best. This team has no heart, no soul, no chemistry and this weekend they simply quit on their coaches and fans. One stretch in the third quarter yesterday was the most brutal display I have ever seen from the Raptors. Errant jump shot after jump shot or turnover after turnover at one end of the court - and at the other end on five consecutive trips the Magic ended up with uncontested layups or dunks. Ridiculous!

And Bosh who was brutal - has the nerve to blame the two dismal performances on the crowd - for a 'lack of energy' in the building. Give me a break. The entire team may as well have left for the Bosh's Super bowl party at half time because they certainly were not interested in playing any basketball.

This team and the effort of the players has been disgraceful - all season long. Colangelo - time to blow this thing up - NOW! We deserve better.

Given the Raptors position in the standings, Chris Bosh is trying out new careers... such as TV weatherman.

It's not easy being a Raptors fan. Interim head coach Jay Triano (25-40) given a 3-year deal.

Despite a disasterous season, which saw the Raptors finish 3rd last in the Eastern Conference (33-49) when they were supposed to definitely make the playoffs, the Raps seem to want more of the same. Don't understand it. You look at the top teams in the league and the quality of the coaches. And then you look at some of the inexperienced, no-name coaches that have managed the Raptors (Butch Carter? Darryl Walker? Kevin O'Neill?). I like Jay Triano, but I don't think he's experienced or skilled enough to coach a team run by Phil Jackson or Jerry Sloan, by Doc Rivers or Mike Brown, by Greg Popovich or Larry Brown, etc.

Now I wonde what Bryan Colangelo will do with Shawn Marion's expiring contract? Will we sign a quality free agent? And what about the draft? The Raps are in the 9th spot going into the lottery.

It's all about the Benjamins. It would cost a lot more to hire, say, Jeff Van Gundy or Eddie Jordan. It's too bad.

But even a high-priced "name" coach is much less than an overpriced player. This season alone, the Raptors had Jermaine O'Neal and Shawn Marion on the roster. Clearly, neither are worth $19/million (or whatever) for one season. Everybody knows that the Raptors are defensively weak. Why not get a defensive coach like van Gundy? Why not get a coach who knows how to draw up plays? Why not get one who can motivate players to maximize their ability? (Although perhaps they're atributing Bargnani's improved play to Triano. Although Triano was a Raptors assistant for the past several years, during which the Raps were defensively weak, underperforming, and Bargnani was wildly inconsistent).

Avery Johnson is your man. (Actually, he's even more grating than Sam Vincent, so it would be a short-term gig.)