<div align="center"> </div><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>As the Raptors celebrated their trouncing of the Miami Heat on Monday night, the giddy locker room was graced with the presence of Larry Tanenbaum, the Toronto scion of the NBA and NHL and NFL business. The bespoke sportsman was – gasp! – red-faced. And why? Was Tanenbaum finally expressing his pent-up shame for lending Vince Carter his private jet on the day of Game 7? Was he suddenly feeling bad about rubber-stamping too many years of ineptitude at Condos Not Cups Inc.? Or was he suffering a case of CFL-killing guilt? No, no and no. He was simply sunburned, rather badly. And considering the Raptors had landed in the south Florida swelter on Saturday night and only flew home yesterday morning – considering the weather report rarely veered from 25 C and sunny during their stay – he wasn't the only Rudolph in the group. "My skin," said Jorge Garbajosa, complaining that he'd emerged lobster-toned after the briefest of communions with the oceanfront rays, "is too white." The Raptors find themselves trudging through the Hogtown slush this morning – or, at least, exiting luxury vehicles in a parking garage that gets pretty darn chilly this time of year – en route to their Air Canada Centre practice court. And though they've left behind the sunshine state, their immediate future appears bright enough to still require sunscreen, ideally a magical one that guards against both overexposure and overconfidence. Nine of Toronto's next 11 games are against NBA bottom feeders with a combined winning percentage of .338 as of yesterday. The string begins with Friday's home game against the .333 L.A. Clippers. And the remainder of February also sees Toronto play two games against each of the .213 Minnesota Timberwolves, .292 New York Knicks and the .396 Indiana Pacers. In other words, it's an opportune time for an evolving team to rev a ho-hum season into a playoff-worthy gear. There is, even in the coldest analysis, plenty of reason for optimism. T.J. Ford, the indispensable point guard, returned Monday night from a 24-game injury absence with 18 minutes of astounding zip, not to mention words of encouraging accord regarding the man who has replaced him so effectively as the starting No.1.</div> Source: The Toronto Star
