Built Ford Tough

Now this is what you absolutely love to see from your $50M investment. http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketball/2010/03/28/13389321.html I actually find it funny how little Turkoglu cares after getting his big pay day this summer. He came to training camp in terrible shape (which he is still in might I add), has looked absolutely disinterested all season long, offers very little to the team in terms of productivity (at least in regards to what they need/expect from him) and now this. And the greatest thing of all? The Raptors are stuck with him for the next 5 years. Yay!

If he is going to continue to play the way that he has since the All-Star break then please, take him off of the Raptors hands. There is absolutely no way in hell that I would give this version of Chris Bosh a max contract. This was the ideal situation though. Raptors lost and the Bulls won. Now they are only a game back of the Raptors for the final playoff seed. I don't think that I have ever been happier to see the Raptors absolutely choke.

When responding to longer posts I like to seperate them into mutliple different quotes as I find it easier to respond and clearer for others to understand, so that is why in my response each different point of yours is put into their own quote. In regards to the Raptors youth, the only player out of those 4 that you listed who actually looks to have the potential to be more than an average player is DeMar DeRozan, and that is far from a given as well. He has shown signs of being a solid player this season but he has a lot of holes in his game that he needs to work out. He is only 20 and is a rookie so obviously I still have faith in him. Other than him though, I don't really think that the Raptors "youth" is going to get much better. They are still relatively young, but other than Weems, they have all been in the league for at least 4 years which is enough of a time to give you a pretty indication of what to expect from them for the future. From watching Bargnani over the last 4 years I don't think that he has the heart, determination, drive or whatever you want to call it to actually become an impact player. He is a very gifted player as his combination of size, shooting touch and athleticism is very rare but considering the fact that he has been in the league for 4 years now and that is usually around the time when a big man reaches his developmental peak (at least in most cases in my opinion) and he has shown that he is going to be a 18-19 ppg/6-7 rpg big man. Obviously those aren't bad numbers scoring wise, but having a center only grabbing 7 boards a game while playing inconsistent man-to-man defense and terrible help defense is just a recipe for disaster as far as I am concerned. In my mind, Bargnani is a 6th man on a legit contending team and nothing more than that. Johnson is what he is and that is a hustle/energy guy who will provide you with some rebounding, defense and a bit of offense mixed in every now and then. He doesn't really have any untapped offensive potential, at least from what I have seen, and I honestly don't think that he will get much better than he is, which isn't a knock on Johnson because he is a good player off of the bench and one of the few players on this team that plays with a backbone. These kinds of players are always going to have jobs in the NBA and no team is going to be successful without one, but then again, its not like these kinds of players are hard to find. Guys like Amir Johnson, while valuable to a team, are a dime a dozen kinds of players. Sonny Weems is hard to really judge though, so I will just simply say that I can see him becoming a solid player in the future good for 10 points a night while playing solid defense, but I can also see him being another Joey Graham, which all Raptor fans know isn't exactly a compliment. As for potential moves that the Raptors can make, I'm not even going to comment on that because if there is one thing that Bryan Colangelo is good at doing, it is making unexpected moves. However, the only problem is that Colangelo's ideology when building a team hasn't really accomplished anything. Sure the Raptors won the Atlantic Division his first season here, but that was more due to the East being absolutely pathetic than anything else. Outside of that the Raptors have been basically the exact same type of team (fringe playoff teams) just with different faces on it. While I do have faith that Colangelo will be able to make some moves, I don't have very much faith that the moves he will make will be the right ones. But the thing is even if these teams strike out in free agency and don't do anything of significance, they are all still aren't in a terrible position in my opinion. Maybe the Knicks would be considering the moves that they have made that have involved draft picks, but worst case scenario for the Heat and Nets is them being two of the worst teams in the NBA. I honestly don't think that is a bad position to be in. Sucking for 4 years while stockpiling young assets is hardly something that should be looked down upon, at least in my opinion. All would have cap flexibility and high draft picks while the Raptors would have $40M+ tied into a mediocore core that wouldn't be bad enough to land a top 3 pick, but wouldn't be nearly good enough to do anything of note either. In my opinion, the worst position to be in in professional sports is that of a fringe playoff team who either makes the playoffs and gets swept in the first round or just barely misses the playoffs each year which results in lesser draft picks. That is where I would see the Raptors if they resign Bosh. If they lose Bosh then maybe this situation would change as they would probably be bad enough to land a top 3-5 pick. Would their futures really be any worse than the Raptors though? Once all of their aging stars retire they will have cap flexibility and will most likely be bottom tier teams which would result in them having a higher chance of landing a franchise player through the draft, which is where you build a contender. The Pistons I agree with. They were the first team that popped into my mind when making this thread. They have terrible contracts in Gordon, Hamilton, Prince and Villanueva and their supposed "franchise player", Rodney Stuckey, is hardly anything to get excited about. I don't like the direction that franchise is headed at all. The Sixers are another team that you could argue, but on the other hand, they could land a top 5 pick this season which could result in them getting a young stud which would go along way for them. Say they land Evan Turner or DeMarcus Cousins in the draft, I think that a core of Iguodala/Turner (or Cousins)/Holiday isn't all that terrible. Then again, their cap situation isn't exactly ideal which is a cause for concern. Minnesota has a solid future, at least if they don't screw it up (like they usually do). They have Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn on the team already while having somebody like Rubio in a couple of years. They are going to likely land a top 3 pick this year which could easily end up being number one. Add somebody like John Wall (who makes the point guards on the team expendable) or Evan Turner and I think that they have a solid core heading forward. They also have Al Jefferson who they could move and gain something valuable back, as I am sure there are GMs around the league who value him fairly highly. I already talked about the Wizards above so I won't discuss them any more. With all of that said though, couldn't you say that the Raptors fall into this catagory of franchises who don't really have a direction? They don't really seem to have much of a plan either. See, this is where our view points are drastically different. I think that the absolute worst position to be in in professional sports is currently where the Raptors are, which is a fringe playoff team without very much young talent and little to no cap flexibility. Making the playoffs is nice and all, but honestly, in the long run is making the playoffs and playing 4 extra games (5 at best for Toronto) any better than being a bottom 5 team and landing a legitimate building block in the draft? The answer to that question is ultimately the base of this entire discussion. You're either on one side of the other as I don't really see any middle ground here. Honestly, unless Colangelo can pull a rabbit out of a hat and lands an All-Star caliber wing, or DeRozan develops into one, I'm at the point where I don't even know if losing Bosh is the worst-case scenario for the Raptors. Would they really be better off giving Bosh a max contract and comittng to a core of Bosh/Bargnani/Turkoglu/Calderon/Jack for the next 4 years? Considering the fact that we basically know what each player is going to give you night in and night out, and that has done nothing but lead the Raptors to a bottom seed playoff team, is it really worst-case scenario if Bosh leaves, assuming no changes are made to the core of the team? And again, it goes back to what side of the spectrum you fall in. Do you think that making the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed and getting eliminated in the 1st round is a good thing, or do you think it is the worst position to be in? Unless I am mistaken, Chandler is a free agent next season. Even if he was and the Raptors signed him for the MLE, I don't think that your scenario here is really all that appealing. Even if Bargnani puts it all together and develops into a bonafide first option and same with DeRozan as a 2nd option, this hypothetical team has basically all of the same flaws that the current Raptors team. Chandler is a good defender but he wouldn't be able to make up for the ineptitude of Bargnani and Turkoglu defensively, and even if he could, Chandler is completely unreliable taking his injury history into consideration. Best case scenario is this team being in the same position that the current Raptors team is, which is a fringe playoff team. I think that is pretty bad. Its actually pretty sad that we are even having this discussion considering 4 years ago the Raptors were looking to be in great shape. They had a 22/10 All-Star power forward in Chris Bosh, the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, great cap flexibility and the excitement of having a GM like Bryan Colangelo coming to the team. Just goes to show how difficult it is to actually maximize your assets and build a team in pro sports.

The Wizards don't have $40M tied into 3 no-defense, offensive oriented players in Bargnani, Turkoglu and Calderon (and Turkoglu, and Calderon to a lesser extent, bring next to nothing offensviely anymore either), 2 scrubs in Banks and Evans and an average/slightly above average point guard in Jack. They have enough cap room to offer a max contract this summer, I believe (correct me if I am wrong). I'm not saying that they are going to be signing a max free agent or anything, but it is never a bad thing to have cap flexibility. They also are going to likely get a top 5 pick in this years draft, which has some very promising prospects like Wall, Turner, Cousins, Johnson, Monroe, Favours etc... in it while the Raptors traded away their first round pick this season (looking to be a lock for the 15th pick) in order to be able to sign Turkoglu. The saddest thing is that the Raptors are just going to be finally getting out of the Bargnani/Turkoglu/Calderon/Jack contracts in 5 years. I agree with you that the future doesn't look to promising for the Wizards, but I definitely think that they are in a better position than the Raptors. I'd rather suck for 4-5 years while stockpiling on young talent like the Thunder or Blazers did than be a bottom tier, first round exit/fringe playoff team like the Raptors would be (assuming they re-sign Bosh).

Which teams, if any, have a worse future than the Toronto Raptors? The Raptors have a very realistic chance of losing Chris Bosh in the summer which would leave them with a pitiful core of Bargnani/Turkoglu/Calderon/Jack. Not only is that a terrible core considering none of them are anything more than average players (at best)for their respective positions, but they would have a total of $31.66M (add in Reggie Evans and Marcus Banks salaries and you have 41.492M) tied up to the four of them next season, and that number would be doing nothing but increasing over the next 3 years. They would be one of the worst teams in the NBA which should lead to the Raptors getting some quality young players, but their hands would be tied financially which would limit their ability to make any other moves. They are going to be the worse team in the playoffs this season, which means that they will be giving away the 15th pick in the draft this season, so they won't be able to add a cheap asset that way. They only have the MLE and LLE to use this summer as well. Even if the Raptors re-sign Bosh in the summer they are going to be a fringe playoff team (unless DeRozan turns into a bonafide 2nd option on the wing, which I wouldn't count on) with around $50M invested into 5 players. They would need a major shakeup to become contenders for a top 4 seed in the East, let alone contenders for an NBA Championship. It really is a shame that the Raptors future looks so terrible when you consider 4 years ago they were sitting with Chris Bosh, the 1st overall pick in the 2006 Draft and a significant amount of cap space. I'm a pessimistic fan by nature (can you blame me considering my two favourite sports teams are the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs?), and with the way that the Raptors have spiraled down the standings since the All-Star break my pessimism has only gotten worse, but I think this is a pretty valid question.

Thiago Alves wasn't cleared to fight by the New Jersey athletic comission so Jon Fitch is now fighting Ben Saunders instead. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Saunders-replaces-Alves-at-UFC-111?urn=mma,230216 This sucks. Outside of the GSP-Hardy fight, I was looking forward to this fight the most. I definitely thought that this fight had the potential to steal the show. Jake Ellenberger isn't fighting tonight as a result of this as well, as Saunders was supposed to be his opponent. Pellegrino vs. Camoes is now going to be on the main card.

And the Raptors are down by 20... Way to come out and play like you give a damn during the biggest stretch of the season.

This next 4 game stretch is going to make or break the Raptors season. I don't think that the Raptors are going to miss the playoffs or anything with the way that Chicago has played down the stretch, but if they have any hopes of moving up to the 6th seed, which is ideal for them, they need to take care of bussiness during their difficult next 4 games, starting tonight against Utah. It is fairly unlikely that they go any higher than 8th though, considering the Heat and Bobcats have pretty easy schedules to end the season while the Raptors play around half of their games against teams above .500 (at least I think that is the case for both teams, not 100% sure). After playing the Jazz tonight they will play Denver and follow that up with a back-to-back against Miami and Charlotte, the two teams that they are chasing. At the very worst they have to go .500 over this 4 game stretch to have any shot at moving up, and they cannot afford to lose to either Charlotte or Miami (if they win both they secure the tiebreaker which would be huge). Sadly both of those games are on the road and a back-to-back, both areas that the Raptors struggle in. Anyways, the Raptors need to win this game against the Jazz to gain some momentum. They had two uninspiring performances against the two worse teams in the league, but they still won. A win here would push the winning streak to 3 games and put them back into 7th place (not sure if Charlotte plays tonight or not). Hopefully Williams doesn't drop 30/10 tonight with Jose Calderon guarding him.

I don't think that he looked that bad last night, granted I fell asleep during the 2nd quarter so I could've missed something. He definitely looks like he needs to drop some weight in my opinion. He looked pretty out of shape last night, which isn't a shock considering he hadn't really played much for the better part of a year now. He showed a decent back to the basket game and touch around the rim, but then again, he was playing the Raptors. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I definitely think that Darko is an NBA caliber player and could contribute to a team for 15-20 minutes off of the bench. The only question is whether or not he would accept that role when he knows that he can just go to Europe and, concievably, see more playing time over there.

Just Triano shaking up the lineup after that terrible stretch of games where the Raptors went on that 5 game losing streak and losing 9 out of 10 (or something like that). Basically, what it comes down to is the fact that there is no way in hell Colangelo would allow Triano to bench his two Golden Boys in Andrea Bargnani and Hedo Turkoglu, and I think it is pretty clear that Triano is basically Colangelo's puppet. Speaking of Weems, if it were up to me I would have him starting at SF with DeRozan on the other wing. Despite the fact that both don't really have great range on their jumpers and it allows teams to collapse the paint on Bosh a bit, I just love the way that these two play together. Not to mention the substantial increase in perimeter defense that the Raptors would have with Weems starting as opposed to Turkoglu. But alas, Turkoglu will be spoon fed minutes and touches, regardless of whether or not he deserves them, for the next 5 years. Yay!

I've never liked Dan Hardy and never will. To be honest, if GSP hadn't already basically cleaned out the 170 pound division Hardy wouldn't be getting a title shot. Hell, if Rumble Johnson would've beat Koscheck I bet that he would've been given a shot instead of Hardy. I love the fact that he has made comments like "GSP is [expletive]ting his pants. I can smell his fear" and a bunch of other completely ridiculous crap like that. I just find it funny because what exactly has Hardy done that would make GSP "[expletive] his pants"? Hardy's only noteworthy UFC wins have come against Mike Swick and Marcus Davis (which was a very, very close split decision). Swick and Davis are good fighters, no doubt about that, but they are clearly not on the same level as guys like BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and a prime Matt Hughes. If GSP came into those fights and, for the most part, completely dominated his opponents, what exactly is Hardy going to do to him? I know it is pre-fight trash talking and Hardy is playing mind games, but I just love it when a fighter has to talk himself up into believing that he actually has a shot at winning. Its not like mind games work on GSP either. They didn't work for BJ Penn. They didn't work for Matt Serra. They didn't work for Matt Hughes. And they sure as hell aren't going to work for Dan Hardy. I actually think that Diaz was more impressive in his last fight than Gray Maynard was, and I thought that he should've won. Diaz was the aggressor in that fight and landed 25 more strikes (77-52) than Maynard did. With the way that the UFC is judged though, I understand why Maynard was the one with the decision but I definitely thought that Diaz looked better. I like Diaz moving up in weight though. He was wayyyyyyy too light at 155. Whenever he fought somebody with a good wrestling background he would get tossed around (like he did against Joe Stevenson) because he couldn't afford to add any more muscle to his 6'0 frame. The 170 pound division is the ideal division for him if you ask me. I don't know how he will do in his first fight, but I think that he will show that he is a legit fighter in the division sooner or later. Then again, I am a huge fan of both of the Diaz brothers, so there could be a bit of homerism whenever I talk about them. I think that Fitch and Alves will play out sort of similar to how GSP-Alves did. Outside of GSP, Fitch has the best MMA wrestling in the division and he is a huge WW as well, so Thiago might not have such a significant strength advantage. Alves is a very hard guy to take down though, and he is even harder to keep down with his stocky frame. If Fitch is going to win though, it will be in typical grind it out Fitch fashion. The one thing that makes me lean more towards Fitch is the fact that Alves might be a bit reluctant to utilize his vicious Muay Thai in fear of being taken down. Alves' biggest asset is his kicks and knees, but if he is worried about being taken down and controlled on the ground he might be a bit reluctant to let loose with those kicks and knees. Either way it should be a fun fight though.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/UFC_111_Poster.jpg/417px-UFC_111_Poster.jpg Main Event Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St. Pierre © vs. Dan Hardy Co-Main Event Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin Main Card Welterweight bout: Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek Free Preliminaries on Spike Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham Welterweight bout: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown Undercard Lightweight bout: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes Light Heavyweight bout: Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal Welterweight bout: Matthew Riddle vs. Greg Soto Anybody else plan on watching this on Saturday? The UFC has been putting on some fairly lackluster cards (at least in terms of star/drawing power over the past) few months but this card is looking like it is going to be amazing. Even the free prelims on Spike look like they are going to be very interesting fights. You have Nate Diaz making his debut at 170 after making the jump from 155. From the pictures that I have seen of Diaz he seems to be in the process of making a very successful jump to 170 as he is much bigger than the last time he fought against Gray Maynard. Ricardo Almedia will also be making his debut at 170 against a very entertaining and dangerous Matt Brown. Almedia was a very small Middleweight (he didn't even really cut to get to 185 pound limit) so the 170 pound division certainly seems like a better suit for him. On the main card you have some interesting fights as well. Mark Bocek is coming off of a highlight reel submission against Joe Brammer that earned him Submission of the Night honours at the TUF 10 Finale card. Jim Miller's only loss in the UFC was against Gray Maynard and he will be looking to try and climb the 155 ranks with a 4th consecutive win. Ben Saunders was originally supposed to fight Martin Kampmann which would've been a great stand up war, but Kampmann had to pull out due to injury and Ellenberger replaced him. I don't really know much about Ellenberger other than the fact that I thought he looked great against Carlos Condit back in September, despite the fact that he lost. And then you have 3 fights that are all capable of headlining their own card with Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves, Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir for the Interm Heavyweight Championship and, of course, GSP vs. Dan Hardy for the Welterweight Championship. Fitch and Alves are the two best fighters in the division outside of GSP and both are looking to get back into title contention. Fitch has won 3 straight fights since losing to GSP back on the UFC 87 card. A win against Alves could very well earn him another crack at the title. Meanwhile, Alves is stepping into the Octagon for the first time since his fight with GSP at UFC 100 and is looking to avenge his loss against Fitch during the beginning stages of his career in the UFC. In between his losses to Fitch and GSP Alves went on a 7 fight win streak that included wins over Chris Lytle, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. A win over Fitch combined with another win or two against a top contender in the 170 pound division could give Alves another crack at the belt. Should be one hell of a fight between the two. Then you have a fight that so many people have been waiting for in Mir vs. Carwin. Both of these guys have publically stated how badly they want to fight Brock Lesnar (although Carwin didn't go to nearly the same level as Mir did with his trash talking). Carwin may have the heaviest hands in all of the UFC and has yet to have a fight go any longer than 2 minutes. In his 3 fights in the UFC he managed to finish all 3 of his opponents by T/KO and it took him a combined 3:30 or so to do that. On the other side, Mir is coming off of a dominant performance against Cheick Kongo and is determined to get another shot at Lesnar. He has had 12 first round finishes of his own which gives the two a combined 23 first round finishes. This fight could end very spectacularly and very early. Last, but not least, you have GSP returning to the Octagon for the first time since he was injured at UFC 100 and he will be defending his 170 pound Championship against Dan Hardy. I completely expect GSP to put on an absolute clinic and dominate Hardy from start to finish, but Hardy has very good boxing skills and some serious power in his hands, which gives him a punchers chance. The last time that GSP was so heavily favoured in a fight was his first fight against Matt Serra and all MMA fans remember how that one turned out. Hardy has been extremely focal with his trash talk and has been trying to play mind games with GSP for a while now (including going and training with Matt Serra). GSP doesn't seem to be fazed by it and will look to shut up the Brit come Saturday. Well, there are my thoughts. I haven't posted anything MMA related on here for a while now and with this card having some star power on it that will attract casual fans I figured it would be worth a shot in making a thread about it. Oh yeah, here are my predictions (winners in bold) Georges St. Pierre © vs. Dan Hardy Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin (I just want to see Mir vs. Lesnar 3 and Mir's reaction after losing ) Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal Matthew Riddle vs. Greg Soto Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman (no prediction as I know nothing about the two).

Darko! I'm actually pretty excited to watch Darko play today. I've always liked him but I have yet to see him play a game this season. Hopefully he knocks some toughness into Bargnani.

Whoa, the Raptors played last night? Shows how much attention I am paying to the Raptors right now.

I'll take the Clippers. AIM: BFT1177

Nice 12-0 run from Siena to cut the lead down to 3, but they opted to gamble and foul Louis Jackson in hopes that he would miss from the line, but he converted on both free throws to increase the lead to 5. Siena took a questionable shot on the next possession as well which they missed. Looks like Purdue is going to come away with the victory unless they choke from the line.

So one person mentions not liking Riley and all Raptor fans are lumped into that group? I have nothing against Riley at all and think that he is a great basketball mind (I would lose some respect for him if he comes back to coaching next season if the Heat have a stacked team though), nor do I have anything against the Miami Heat either. However, having to constantly hear about how Bosh or Stoudemire are guarnteed to go play in Miami, as well as the fact that it is 100% certain that Wade is staying in Miami gets pretty annoying after a while, especailly when every single thread that mentions Bosh in the Raptors forum gets responses like that. With all of the cockiness that some (read some, not all) Miami fans have been posting with across various message boards I would just love to see them get knocked down a peg or two.

He has actually played pretty well for the past 3 seasons when he has started/played above 30 minutes for the Wizards. His averages as a starter 2007-08: 11.5 ppg / 8.1 rpg / 1.9 bpg on 47 FG% in 31 minutes. (15 games) 2008-09: 11.8 ppg / 6.3 rpg / 1.2 bpg on 47.4 FG% in 28 minutes. (36 games) 2009-10: 21.4 ppg / 9.3 rpg / 1.2 bpg on 52.2 FG% in 37.5 minutes. (18 games) His averages in games of 30+ minutes 2007-08: 14.4 ppg / 10.1 rpg / 2.5 bpg on 51.6 FG%. (11 games) 2008-09: 13.4 ppg / 7.7 rpg / 0.9 bpg on 44.9 FG%. (18 games) 2009-10: 21.2 ppg / 8.9 rpg / 1.3 bpg on 52.7 FG%. (21 games) Obviously I don't think that he is a legit 24/9 big man or anything like that and his numbers are inflated due to being the main offensive option for the Wizards, but he has proven in the past that when he is given minutes he is a pretty capable big man. This season he has just seen an increase in both his minutes and role on the team and he was ran with it tremendously. I wouldn't break the bank to sign him because I don't expect numbers like these on a consistent basis from him, but I definitely think that he is worthy of an MLE type of money at the very least. He has more than a 15 game sample size of quality play, in my opinion.

And Sam Houston manages to absolutely implode during the final 2 minutes of this game. 4 straight turnovers and Baylor has managed to increase the lead from 2 points to 8 points in under a minute to all but seal the game. Terrible finish to an otherwise great game from them.

Anybody else watch this game? This was a very good game with a great finish. What a tough jumper by Thomas over the Vandy defender to eliminate Vandy and pull off the first real upset of the tournament (at least as far as I know). Murray State played an awesome game. They really deserved this win as they simply wanted it more than Vandy did.

I'd rather him go to any team other than the Heat simply because I am sick and tired of hearing about how it is a guarntee that the Heat are going to land either Bosh or Amare to pair along with Wade.

Bosh just scored his 10,000th career point against Atlanta. Not only is this a great milestone for Bosh personally, but he also beocmes the first player in Raptors history to reach 10,000 points in his career. Figured that a milestone like this is thread worthy.

Yay, they are wearing the green jerseys. At least they will look good getting their asses kicked. :glasses:

Calderon will be making his first start since December 5th tonight. I don't have any problems with this move considering the way that the Raptors have played over the last 10 games. What I would really like to see Triano do is bench Bargnani in favour of Amir Johnson and bench Turkoglu in favour of Sonny Weems. This would give the Raptors a better mix of offense and defense on the floor with their starters as Johnson has been their best defender all season long and Weems has been playing pretty solid perimeter defense over the last month. On second though, i would really like to see the Raptors deport Turkoglu back to Turkey. Joe Johnson is out and Evans will start in his place. Shouldn't make a difference as Atlanta are probably going to drop 120+ anyways with or without Johnson. The only thing that I am looking forward to about this game? The Raptors St. Partick's Day green jerseys. I love those things. :glasses: Watch them not even wear them tonight anddisapoint me further.

The Blazers fans are absolutely retarded. Why on earth are they booing Turkoglu for not signing with you in the summer? They should be thanking Turkoglu for shafting them and signing with the Raptors instead. Also, I can't help but laugh at the Raptors making LaMarcus Aldridge look like Moses Malone on the offensive glass. Guy has 6 offensive boards in something like 10 minutes.