<font size=""4"">Raps get serious</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I know for a fact we don't get the kind of respect a Cleveland gets, so from that aspect, I think everybody thinks Cleveland is the better team. So, we're going out every night trying to get that respect," Parker said. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We need to pick up our intensity level," Martin said of the final 29 games. "It's not that we didn't play hard before or other teams didn't play hard and didn't want to win, but at the end of the all-star break you can really see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know what you're playing for. You are trying to get to that pot of gold and so everybody is playing that much harder and has picked up their level of play." </div> <font size=""4"">Sam mum on trades</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Pressed further about whether he'd like to see changes made even at the risk of destroying team chemistry, Mitchell replied, "Remember we're 29-24. It's not like we're 40-8 or whatever Dallas is. We are 29-24 so you have to remember that and always remember that you can improve." Mitchell summed up his thoughts on the deadline saying, "If Bryan doesn't make a move it will be because there's nothing out there to improve us." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">FORD IS FASTEST In a poll conducted by SI.com and released yesterday, out of 271 NBA players polled, 25% listed Raptors guard T.J. Ford as the fastest player in the league. A distant second with 18% of the vote was the Denver Nuggets' Allen Iverson. </div> <font size=""4"">Olympic dreams</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Rasho Nesterovic is not much younger than Nash -- the 7-footer turns 31 on May 30 -- and also is experiencing fatigue from the long NBA season, but the Raptors centre re-iterated yesterday he would represent his country, Slovenia, at the 2008 Olympic qualifying tournament this summer in Spain. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Even the Raptors two Spaniards -- Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa -- plan to take part in the Olympic qualifying tournament this summer and the Spanish team doesn't even have to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, having already done that by winning last summer's world championships. </div> <font size=""4"">Dialing and dealing?</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Raptors? Well, they won't do anything. Or maybe they will. "If there's something out there that can help us improve, then Bryan's going to do it, that's his job," coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday of his boss, general manager Bryan Colangelo. "We're 29-24, it's not like we're 40-8 or whatever Dallas's record is. We're 29-24, so you have to remember that and always remember you can improve.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">And while Peterson's agent spoke several times with Colangelo earlier this season and also came up with a handful of trade proposals on his own trying to get his client moved, according to team sources the urgency to get Peterson moved has abated.</div> <font size=""4"">Cavs at Raptors</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Cavs will be without C Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a bit of a break for Toronto; Daniel Gibson has supplanted Eric Snow as the starting point guard and he lit up the Raptors in a game earlier this season in Cleveland; Cavs are the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA, Raps are among the worst teams on the boards, which presents a troubling proposition for Toronto; Raps have won eight straight at home, one shy of franchise record.</div> <font size=""4"">Toronto aiming at higher seeding</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I don't think we can go into a stall and try to protect what we have," said Anthony Parker, the only Toronto player to appear in all of the team's 53 games so far. "I think we have to work on continuing to get better as a basketball team and whatever happens as a result happens. But as long as we're trying to play the best basketball we can and not look too far out, we'll be okay."</div> <font size=""5""><u>Covers</u></font> <font size=""4"">Cavaliers at Raptors</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The surprising Toronto Raptors hope the NBA All-Star break did not halt their momentum as they look for their ninth consecutive home victory Wednesday night in a matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Oddsmakers have listed the Raptors as 2 1/2-point favorites and the total is set at 197 1/2. One of the hottest teams in the league heading into the break, Toronto (29-24) is on its longest home winning streak since setting a franchise record with 10 consecutive victories spanning the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. The Raptors' longest single-season win streak at home is a nine-game run from March 7-April 4, 1999.</div> <font size=""4"">NBA Top 5: Hidden stats to boost your stash</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Must be something to do with the exchange rate The Toronto Raptors have been the success story of the New Year, rising to the top of the Atlantic Division and securing their place atop the leagues ATS standings. Chris Bosh is the Raptors main man, but the recent success also has to do with the leagues top point guard combination. T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon combined for 113 assists and only 29 turnovers in the Raptors seven February games. Thats an outstanding assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.90 for the pair, leading the Raptors to a 6-1 SU and 6-0-1 ATS record over that span. Ford and Calderons pre-February ratio was a still better-than-average at 2.72. For the season, Torontos 1.71 ratio is third in the NBA behind the Suns and Detroit Pistons, both of whom sit at 1.83.</div> <font size=""4"">Raptors a different team now </font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The last time the Cavs were in Toronto, the Raptors looked like they were ready to come apart at the seams. They were winless on a five-game West Coast trip, and rumors were flying about coach Sam Mitchell's job security. However, the Raptors outlasted the Cavs on Nov. 22, 95-87, which ended any talk about Mitchell going anywhere.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">They come into tonight's game having won 11 of their last 13 games, and lead New Jersey in the Atlantic Division by 4 1/2 games. The Raptors have shot 50 percent or better in six straight games.</div> <font size=""4"">Act II: The plot thickens</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Of the 10 Eastern teams with a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, some are headed upward, some are headed downward and some are going sideways. The landscape could change before Thursday's 3 p.m. trade deadline, but for now it's anybody's guess.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TORONTO (29-24) -- The Raptors are an emerging team with plenty of young talent, and Sam Mitchell is a legitimate Coach of the Year candidate. They're too young to make a playoff run, however. The five-game Western trip that began Tuesday will knock them back, but they should finish in the black.</div> <font size=""4"">LeBron says Bosh has put Raptors on his back</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Cavs know that Bosh makes the Raptors roar. "He's definitely put that Raptors team on his back. They're definitely trying to make a run for the playoffs, and they're in a great position right now," said Cavs forward LeBron James. "His game is definitely the reason they're playing the way they're playing right now."</div> <font size=""4"">NO-VIN SITUATION?</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">While several NBA execs put a damper on the possibility of Kidd moving anywhere by tomorrow's 3 p.m. deadline - one labeled a potential deal as "highly doubtful" - other league sources claimed new talks were initiated regarding Carter, despite his ability to opt out of his contract at season's end. One exec said there was a 50-50 chance of a trade. It was not immediately clear what teams pursued Carter, who will make $16.36 million next year if he bypasses free agency. </div> <div align="center"><font size=""5""><u>Sunshine Girl - 2/21/07</u></font> </div>
I find it funny how they threw the blanket statement "too young to make a playoff run" out there. First off all most of our key players outside of Bargnani aren't rookies and Bosh is in his 4th year. Maybe we "lack playoff experience" or are a little weak in some areas (rebounding for example) but saying were too young just makes me think of every other writer who watches one raptors game and does all their analysis based on it. The guy probably has no idea who guys like Parker and Garbajosa accomplished in Europe. edit: great job with the headlines, as always!
