<font size=""4"">Raptors won't let up</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There is nothing crazy about what the Raptors want to do over the next eight games. Toronto is 22-23 with eight games left before the all-star break and the players believe that it is important to win at least five of those. </div> <font size=""4"">Raptors get experts' nod</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In a recent article at ESPN. com, six of the site's experts discussed the first half of the season and what to expect in the second. Five out of the six experts predicted that the Raptors would hold on to first place in the weak Atlantic Division, mainly because they are a team on the rise, as well as the fact that the New Jersey Nets have serious injury issues (Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic), while the New York Knicks are just too inconsistent. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AROUND THE RIM The Raptors will make their annual visit to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto today, and event that brings out all the players, as well as the coaching staff </div> <font size=""4"">Surging Raptors hope to ride wave</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The next chunk of the schedule is full of good teams: Washington, the Clippers, Orlando, the Lakers and New Jersey at home; Atlanta, Detroit and Chicago on the road. There are no Bostons or Charlottes and is a true test of how far the Raptors have come and how far they have to go. One thing they have done is play well at home. With five of their next eight at the Air Canada Centre, if they can maintain what they've done so far, they aren't likely to lose much ground on either the Nets or teams like Miami, Indiana, Orlando and Milwaukee that are fighting them for the final few playoff spots.</div> <font size=""4"">The Ocho Special</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's a more confident Calderon this season and many opposing coaches are taking notice. "Man, he's playing well," said Darrell Walker, former Raptor head coach and current assistant for the New Orleans / Oklahoma City Hornets. Toronto is one of the teams Walker is responsible for scouting and he shakes his head at Calderon's improvement. "He could be a starter on a lot of teams in the league right now. I look at his decision-making and his assist-to-turnover ratio," remarked Walker, "he's doing a great job."</div>
Raptors are gunna make the playoffs, where they make is uncertain. All I know is this. Calderon has stepped up. Bosh playing consitintly. AP and Peterson wroking well togther with parker playing more, peterson not minding. I like this team better then the one that made the playoffs and lost to phill becuase a unnamed player missed a shot. This team will be good, they are ok now, but if they keep there componets and add new players, and possibly a little more help from Fred Jones, the Raptors could quite possible be one of the best teams in the East, and maybe the team to beat in a couple of years.
