Continue reading this post »

The Raptors fresh off a trade play short-handed against the powerful Celtics this afternoon at the ACC.  The HQ talks about today's match but more importantly, summarizes the trade...

Continue reading this post »

After two solid performances that had fans thinking the Raptors were back on track, last night's loss to the Wizards seemed more of a case of "3 steps back," after taking 2 forward...

Continue reading this post »

The HQ breaks down last night's huge win in Orlando, sets up tonight's game in Miami, and notes the importance of last night's roster...

Continue reading this post »

After a whirlwind of discussion about Andrea Bargnani, the franchise's future and even Marcia, Franchise looks at what he sees as the two main options the Raptors need to take with "Il Mago"...

Continue reading this post »

After a tough loss in Sacto, the Raptors are back at it tonight in Utah against the Jazz...

Continue reading this post »

-In a season of agonizing defeats and performances, Toronto's 113 to 112 loss to Golden State might have taken the cake.  Sonny Weems stole a Golden State inbound attempt with under 3 seconds left however Chris Bosh missed the lay-up ending the Raptors comeback attempt.

-It's hard to put much blame on CB4 however.  Without him tonight the Raptors would have lost by 20 as he did everything in his power to keep his team in the game.  He finished with 42 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, a block...oh, and got to the free-throw line 23 times hitting 20 of these.

-Unfortunately with the exception of Jarrett Jack, whose massive fourth quarter performance gave Toronto the push it needed to keep things close to the end, Mr. Bosh didn't get much help.  Jose Calderon, Sonny Weems, Antoine Wright and Hedo Turkoglu were a combined 6 of 26 from the field.  Even Andrea Bargnani, who was great at times and who finished with a solid 18 points and 9 rebounds, struggled shooting the ball.

-More frustrating though was Toronto's approach to this one.  After being blown out last month from beyond the arc and repeatedly settling for jump shots, it was as if the team learned nothing from that experience and made the exact same mistakes tonight.  Golden State hit 13 of 26 three-pointers and the Raps got caught up in G State's run-and-gun style, which meant way too many jump shots.  It was only late, when the Dinos started to run the offense through Chris Bosh on every occasion, that Toronto made a game of it.

-For Golden State, short-staffed again on this evening, it was the Steph Curry show once more.  He got some big help from Anthony Morrow (25 points) and Corey Maggette (31 points) but it was Curry who made some ridiculous shots to help his team keep the lead.  And, while he somehow bricked two free-throws that could have ended this one earlier, he made his final two, which ended up being the difference.

-Another tough loss for Raptors fans on a number of levels; from the way the game ended, to the team's lack of preparation throughout, to the fact that Golden State has but six road wins this season, one of these coming at Toronto's expense.  This was a match the Raps desperately needed to help secure a playoff spot with games against Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta coming up next.

-After two straight games of not getting any breaks, the Raptors finally caught a few when it mattered most, and the result was a 103 to 101 win tonight over the Charlotte Bobcats.

-This one wasn't pretty, especially through the first 3 quarters.  Both teams took suspect shots, turned the ball over at inopportune times, and looked out-of-synch offensively en route to a 47 to 43 half-time lead for Charlotte.  It didn't help that Tim Donaghy was calling the shots for the refs, who made bizarre call after bizarre call this evening.  (Or, didn't blow the whistle on obvious calls, like DeRozan almost getting his head taken off on a breakaway dunk.)

-Top performers?  How about Jay Triano for once.  He brought Hedo Turkoglu in off the bench tonight and Hedo had his best game in weeks.  Sure he stepped out of bounds on a key play near the match's end, but the Ottoman was 4 of 9 for 11 points to go with 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in just under 30 minutes.  And aside from Hedo, Triano's balanced rotation enabled the entire roster to shine in their niche roles.  For instance Antoine Wright had 15 points and 6 rebounds starting at the 3, and Chris Bosh looked a lot more like his old self, with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

-For the Bobcats, they got a fairly balanced scoring attack as well with Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes, Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton all hitting double figures.  However a key turnover by Felton with the 'Cats only down 2, as well as some questionable late-game offensive decisions from his teammates, helped Toronto put this one away for good.

-As a Raptors' fan, you've gotta feel good about this win, and hope it's a sign of things to come.  The rotations tonight were finally what many fans have been clamoring for all season, the effort was there for 48 minutes, and both Bosh and Bargnani looked much more interested than they have recently.  It's perfect timing considering the string of winnable games up next on the schedule, however it's going to take a lot more than one win to convince fans and the media that the Good Ship Dino is back on course.