- What’s the cure for a three-game losing streak? If you’re the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s a road date against the Andrea Bargnani-less Toronto Raptors.

- In the first game of a seven-game home stand, the Raptors offered little resistance on the perimeter, as the Bucks shot 12-25 from beyond the arc on their way to a 105-99 victory.

- Former Raptor Carlos "Count Chocula" Delfino accounted for half of those triples on his way to a season-high 25 points. DeMar DeRozan might have dropped 25 points on his own – but when you can’t check your man on defence, the scoring doesn’t mean as much.

- The free-throw disparity also played a role in this one. The Bucks connected on 27-for-37 while the Raptors shot 16-for-17 from the charity stripe.

- Somehow, the lowest-scoring first quarter team in the NBA (19.5 points) managed to take a 29-28 lead after one. However, all the offensive promise of the opening frame dissipated over the remainder of this sloppy matchup.

- Toronto managed to battle back from a double-digit deficit to tie things up at 69 in the third quarter. It was close the rest of the way, but ultimately the Dinos just ran out of bullets.

- The point guard battle never materialized, as potential All-Star reserve Brandon Jennings struggled to score 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting and Jose Calderon went 4-for-12 from the field. The advantage clearly went to Calderon, however, as he dished out 15 assists to go with just one turnover.

- Another lopsided matchup occurred up front, with Drew Gooden putting up 20-and-14 compared to Amir Johnson’s paltry 7-and-6.

- And in a two-possession game with less than a minute to go, Calderon’s inability to box out Jennings and the Raptors’ failure to secure a key rebound on a Stephen Jackson free-throw miss sealed it.

Things aren't so rosy in Milwaukee right now apparently, but that doesn't mean this should prove to be a tough game for TO. Scott Skiles' crew always plays tight D and considering Toronto's scoring woes this year (minus games against the Wizards obviously), it could be a painful viewing for Raptors' fans.

But minus Andrew Bogut, the Bucks' interior isn't so sturdy and if the Raps make it a point to attack on the inside, this could easily be a Toronto win.

GO RAPS!

Not exactly a rosy day for Toronto Raptors' fans.

First, the news regarding Ed Davis, who apparently was not invited to play in the NBA's upcoming Rookie-Sophomore game at All-Star Weekend. (Tiago Splitter appears to have gotten the nod.)

Maybe no surprise there based on Davis' play this season, but disappointing nonetheless considering his rookie campaign, which seemed to have him poised to be on the sophomore squad this season.

On top of this, ESPN.com just posted the latest update on its NBA Future Power Rankings...

...which the Raptors finished 26 in, even dropping a spot from last time. (ESPN Insider)

From the piece:

Virtually nothing has changed since we checked in on them last March. The Raptors are still a long, long way from coming together in a coherent fashion. Overall, they slipped another spot in the rankings to No. 26 as they continue to idle at the bottom of the East standings.

But there are reasons for optimism. For starters, many NBA scouts are very high on last year's draft pick, Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas...and (the team) is also in line for a high pick this June in what looks to be a very strong draft.

On the downside, much of their young talent is still a work in progress. After a terrific sophomore season, DeMar DeRozan has regressed quite a bit this season. The team also still has gaping holes at both the small forward and point guard positions going forward (Jose Calderon is solid, but he's not the point guard of the future). And even with the cap room, will it really matter? Lots of teams are poised to have major cap space the next few years, and Toronto hasn't really been a marquee destination for top free agents.

Yikes.

OKC comes out on top with Miami, Chicago, the LA Clippers and Indiana rounding out the top five.

The Raptors are now ahead of only New Orleans, Detroit, Phoenix and Charlotte, a fairly motley crew.

Unfortunately ESPN.com's assessment, based on various factors from current talent level to NBA market, is a fairly accurate one I'd argue, and the club really is going to be stuck in the mud until current youngsters like DeRozan and Davis take big steps forward developmentally and the team brings in some additional blue chip talent.

Let's grade our players, and offer some comments.

L. Barbosa --> B+ : consistent & effective

A. Bargnani --> B : mark will be higher next semester, we hope

J. Calderon --> B : reliable & hard-working; not likely to improve his mark

J. Bayless --> C+ : patience needed; increased signs of maturity

J. Johnson --> C+ : strong without the ball; weak with it

E. Davis --> C : a gamer who's slowly figuring it out; not the most gifted athlete, & tends to panic

L. Kleiza --> C- : 1 good game, 3 bad ones; good candidate for transfer to another school

D. DeRozan --> C- : chews up the minutes, but shooting woes are serious drawback

A. Johnson --> D : backsliding; is his head fully in the game?

A. Gray --> D : the epitome of a backup centre; below average in all skills

G. Forbes --> D- : needs a LOT of remedial work

A. Carter --> D- : presumably a good locker-room guy, 'cause he's not a good court guy

R. Butler --> F : "spirit willing but flesh weak"; time to leave school

J. Magloire --> F : sleeping in the back of the class consistently; why is he here?

S. Alabi --> inc. : no data on which to base a grade

Tonight we have some great games on tap including the Canadian St. Bonaventure trio of Andrew Nicholson, Matthew Wright and Chris Johnson as well as Kris Joseph leading Syracuse against my beloved Georgetown for the last time in Big East play and freshman Dylan Ennis looking to help Rice to win plus more all right here ...

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If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure you drop by HipHoopJunkies to check out the podcast I did with them this past weekend. Topics included the Raptors of course, plus the upcoming draft, DeMar DeRozan and um...my past life as a Cleveland Cavaliers' fan.

Today we have the Raptors weighing in on drafting a local talent, a few Steve Nash looks about his birthday and moving, Justin Edwards wins his 7th America East Rookie of the Week awards plus a whole lot of CIS and CCAA news all right here in Canadian Content ...

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After narrowly losing in Washington, the Raptors head home to contest the Milwaukee Bucks. Sasha Kalra previews the action...

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