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Thank God for the Heat. Over the last two seasons, as bad as things were for the Raptors, every time the Heat popped up on the schedule (home or away), the Raptors licked their lips and got themselves a win. Even though Wade and HO had their team 7-4 heading into the ACC, last night was no different. Before getting into it, how good is Wade? Miami is essentially a D-Lea...

Raps all Jacked up | Toronto Sun

Up front for the Raptors, it was the trio of Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and Hedo Turkoglu carrying the load. Bosh had a team-high 29 to go with 12 rebounds while Bargnani chipped in with 24 and 10 boards. Turkoglu had 19 to go with eight assists.

The Raps took a 20-point lead into the second half on the strength of a 43-25 edge in the second quarter. Their 69 first-hal...

The “the jumpstart my heart” edition.

Banks – my neighbours kid went out on Hallowe’en as a basketball player and wore a Banks jersey. He came back with a piece of double bubble, a vanilla tootsie roll and a bruised ego.

Bargnani – another double double. Did most of his heavy lifting in the first half where he followed his own shot a few times and pulled down his own misses. He’s had a quiet game ...

It is easy to get overexcited, as Raptor fans, about Chris Bosh’s performance through the first 12 games. There are reasons to be guarded, to be pessimistic, or to deem his success suspect thus far.

At the same time, it’s easy, as Raptor fans, to let his success thus far underwhelm you, to take the attitudes expressed above and use them to completely discount the tear that CB4 has been on.

C...

Real mixed bag | Toronto Sun

There's better cohesion on the team and the bench is beginning to take shape.

During the four-game trip, Marco Belinelli averaged 15.2 points, while Amir Johnson was active defensively and averaged 6.5 rebounds.

Sonny Weems stepped up, giving Triano another option.

One of the biggest keys, outside of defending better, is to get Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack to play b...

5-7 after 12. If you had given me that record on October 27th I would’ve gladly taken it. 6-6 would’ve been just terrific but 5-7 is just a missed shot at the buzzer away from that, so I can be convinced that this is an acceptable record given the early schedule. The defense on the other hand is not, and it’s far more worrying than the record. When will the bleeding end? Tonight against Miami...

At least it’s over. This killer road trip that everyone said would be the first true test for the Raptors has finally run its course. After dropping two tough ones in Phoenix and Denver, the hope was that the ‘moral’ victories and lessons learned would help the Raptors steal a game from an injured 4-6 Utah Jazz team. Didn’t work out that way, but the Raptors did learn a ...

Raptors running on empty | Toronto Sun

The game wasn't barely six minutes old when Triano called two timeouts, which is all one needs to know on how poorly the Raptors came out of the gate.

Utah scored the game's first eight points, made 10 of its first 14 shots from the field and was poised to bury the Raptors.

After the opening quarter, Utah led 33-17.

The Raptors then began to feed Bosh and pl...

The “the jumpers, the jumpers, the jumpers ain’t a-fallin’ edition.

Banks – gettin’ paid.

Bargnani – a double double from out of nowhere. His night played out like a Where’s Waldo story. He’s there, then he’s gone. Brutal defensively and a bad shooting night. This back to back killed him.

Belinelli – fantastic play in the third and he almost singlehandedly pulled his team back to within one point....

Too much Carmelo | Toronto Sun

Bosh is a lot of things, but he's not a ball-handler and you simply can't give him the ball in the open court and ask him to create.

He needs to play off people.

His frustration boiled over with 7:05 left when he got called for a technical foul. After Denver converted from the line, it led 111-93.

Bosh took a seat for good a minute later, making way for the return o...

Let’s make an obvious statement: The Toronto Raptors just aren’t in the same league as the Denver Nuggets. Even the homerest of all homers will concede this nugget of wisdom (pardon the pun). While it took some time for that sobering reality to manifest itself, the prodigious talents of one Carmelo Anthony and his talented supporting cast pounded and pounded the R...

The ‘*&$$!(*!’edition.

Banks – does he even exist?

Bargnani – rough night. His shots seemed to be either short or long. One of the rare nights this season that I audibly groaned when he hoisted a shot. Had a fantastic drive for a dunk in the second quarter and 2 nice blocks, but his greatness this night ended there. Needs to pass the ball more in certain situations.

Belinelli – he had 3 fouls at t...

That was a killer game against the Suns. Like tennis, this is a game of inches. Had Hedo nailed that shot at the buzzer, the Raptors would have been 2-0 on this four game Western swing, 6-4 on the season, and heading into Denver on a three game winning streak. You can hardly blame this on Hedo though, he had already stuck two clutch shots to give the Raptors a lead with a few seconds left in the g...

Winds of change | Toronto Sun

"There are just some little things that are keeping us from making that step to become a better team,'' Turkoglu said. "We could have a better record, but we're 5-5."

The glass, though, is half full.

Reggie Evans remains inactive (foot); Antoine Wright couldn't play on Sunday because of a sore left ankle and Turkoglu gutted it out, despite playing with a sore left hi...

A 2-2 week which could’ve been 3-1 or 4-0 if we had played a lick of D in San Antonio and Turkoglu’s effort had rimmed in. The disappointment in San Antonio was followed by two poor first half showings against the Bulls and Clippers, but the team found a defensive gear and pulled out wins in both instances. We’re 3-3 since the first roadtrip started and there can be few complaints, we’ve got two...

A few weeks back, Raptors Republic rolled out user forums as another way to become a one-stop shop for all things Raptors related. Some readers raised their dislike of blog comments being the only place they could speak their mind and having their viewpoints lost in a wave of 148 comments didn’t sit well. To be honest, this stopped some from commenting. The feedback prompted a move to bring on for...

Raps take it on the chin | Toronto Sun

Toronto led by as many as 10 points in the opening half and led throughout until Andrea Bargnani picked up a very careless foul in the second minute of the final period.

When he left, the Raptors were leading 84-79.

When he re-appeared five minutes later, the Raptors were trailing 91-87.

Adding to Toronto's inefficiency was its inability to protect the baske...

Sometimes it hurts bad to lose a game and this one brought that hurt big time. A one point loss to the Suns when we easily could have and probably should have won. Turkoglu misses one at the buzzer capping off an evening that saw the Raptors compete at every level against the NBA’s best. Nob...

The ‘that was pretty boring’ edition.

Banks – the anchor.

Bargnani – the return of the foul. He had one of those nights where you just wanted to push him to the basket more. Seems like the days of him finishing hard like he did the first few games of the season are already fading from memory. It’s fine when his outside touch is on, but he had a few opportunities down low tonight that could have co...

Raptors offensive run helps kick start their defence | Toronto Sun

"It was very important for us to get that first win because this trip is very difficult,'' Belinelli, who ended the evening by scoring a season-high 15 points, said.

Had the Raptors not won, it's possible the team could have gone winless during this four-game swing.

The team is now relaxed and brimming with confidence.

As long a...

Check out the game preview thread we got going, it’s a great place to catch up on lineup changes, injury etc.

The 8-2 Suns used to be 8-1 with everything going smoothly as ever, they were surprising people, dominating teams and proving the experts wrong. Then they went to LA and got theirs handed to them by the Lakers sans Gasol. The pundits gave the age old, worn-out but correct analysis tha...

Chris Bosh is playing harder than last year
He’s not playing harder, he’s playing inside. Fans have been begging him to do that for six years now and he’s finally shifted his primary offensive game from 15 feet to 7 feet and that’s made all the difference. Comparing his hotspots to last year (08-09, 09-10, you’ll notice that he’s taking 85% of his shot-attempts from close range which is a 27% inc...

That’s how you start a Western road swing, with a come-from-behind win over a team who let up just enough for the us to pull the rug out from under their feet. The Raptors got down 22 points early in the 2nd quarter but spent the rest of the game attacking the Clippers, finally taking the lead with a big 23-2 run to close out the ga...

Raptors claw back against Clippers | Toronto Sun

DeRozan did produce a basket on a driving layup in transition.

He didn't see the floor again until the beginning of the third quarter. On his first attempt from the field, he heaved an air ball.

But by then, the Raptors were much more competitive.

"He was pumped up for this game," Triano said of his rookie. "It was one of those learning experiences...

The ‘ain’t no reason to sleep on this team’ edition.

Banks – he was seen working on his tan behind the bench.

Bargnani – if I told you he had 1 rebound in 33 minutes, would you be surprised? The guy rebounds as well as a bag of water thrown at a brick wall.

Belinelli – must be his turn in the moon cycle, because he (and his mouthguard) hit stride in this game. Seemed to be raining 3s (even though ...