<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>In their insatiable quest to fatten the bottom line, the crude capitalists who run the Raptors hit below the belt this year: specifically, they sold advertising space on the backsides of the resident scantily clad dance troupe. In doing so, they gifted the lecherous among their courtside seatholders a handy excuse. Something like: "But I was looking at her ad, honey." Branded heinies are but one of the relatively new developments casual observers might have missed in Raptorworld this season. So if you've been put to sleep by the 82-game snoozefest that ends tonight in Chicago, don't dismay. Here's an up-to-the-moment guide to the salient storylines in the lead-up to the first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic, which is expected to begin Sunday. You need to know about: # The Super Slovenian. Rasho Nesterovic, the 7-footer, is having a career season at age 31. The heart-warming explanation? He's been inspired by the recent birth of his son, Nikola, who, the proud papa reports, sleeps as soundly as a teenager at four months. The less heart-warming explanation? Nesterovic earns his $7.8 million salary in U.S. dollars. The buck is slumping horribly against the euro, the currency in which Nesterovic pays his off-season bills. Perhaps intent on earning another contract past his current deal, which expires next season, he is rebounding like a champ to stick around until the greenback does likewise. # The Moping Roman. Andrea Bargnani, the 7-footer, is regressing at age 22. Mired in a season-long shooting slump, his blasé performance – when stacked against management's expectation of a breakout season – is at the heart of the team's backward slide. # The slew of excuses. Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford, two-fifths of the starting lineup, missed a combined 46 games to injury. And, to be fair, watching Jorge Garbajosa swish practice-court jump shots yesterday underlined how much they miss the Spanish forward, who has been out all season with a bum leg. Garbajosa attacked his workout with a verve seldom seen here. But don't count on a pending comeback; Garbajosa's mobility is said to be nowhere near game-ready. # The Magic's problems. They haven't won a playoff series since Shaquille O'Neal led them to the 1996 Eastern Conference final. In the interim, they've stacked up six first-round exits, including last year's sweep to Detroit. # The other side of that coin. The Magic won 50 games this season for the first time since O'Neal called Orlando home. # How last year's Raptor strengths are this year's weaknesses. The point guard platoon of Ford – "Me J" to his detractors – and Jose Calderon, once a model of efficient co-operation, has been the source of a chemistry nightmare. If the duo doesn't raise its game this weekend, it's hard to imagine who will. Last year's other big ingredient to 47-win success, a relatively deep bench, is suddenly shorter. # How it could be worse. The Golden State Warriors found out Monday night that their 48 regular-season wins – more than the Raptors have ever won in a single season – wouldn't be enough to earn them a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. # The two solitudes. Sam Mitchell, the Toronto coach, calls the 41-win regular season "unbelievable," in a good way. Bryan Colangelo, the GM, calls it disappointing, in the six-wins-fewer-than-last-year way. The coach implies he has maximized a flawed roster. The GM, seeming convinced the Raptors haven't made the most of the assembled talent, presumably calculates the buyout on the coach's contract, currently $9.5 million (U.S.) and perhaps thinks, "Wait 'til next year." The fans will likely be saying the same thing soon enough, or so suggest the Vegas oddsmakers. While Toronto is listed as a 100-1 shot to win the NBA championship – the exact odds, coincidentally, of Bargnani actually bending his knees in Game 1 – the Magic, at 30-1, are the smart-money favourites to advance. Not that anybody in the organization would ever pay heed to where the money's going.</div> http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/414976
Where are the pictures of these ads? The Raptors have definitely missed the real #15, Jorge Garbajosa.
