Built Ford Tough

I can understand the case for Bosh considering he spent more time with the franchise and holds a large majority of the franchise's all-time records (points, rebounds, blocks etc...), but I just can't put him ahead of Carter considering at the end of the day, a prime Vince Carter is clearly better than a prime Chris Bosh and Carter played enough games with the Raptors that it isn't a Shaq over Howard for Orlando situation either. So I'm going with Carter. Not only is he the most talented player to ever play for the team, but he also had the largest impact on the team and it is by a significant margin. There likely isn't a Toronto Raptors franchise anymore if Carter wasn't with the team in the late 90's/early 00's.

Anybody get the game yet? I want to, but I am completely broke after paying for tuition and books for this semester so I'm going to have to hold off for a while. If anybody has got it yet, is it enough of an upgrade over 2011 that it is worth the $60? Some have said it is basically a $60 roster upgrade and not worth while others have said it is worth it. I don't want to blow $60 bucks right now for a glorified roster update.

Any chance we could get a mod to unstick the other one and stick this one? I figured it was about time to make this. Rookie camps/tournaments started the past week and Training Camps are going to be gettng underway this weekend for most teams. The preseason is right around the corner as well, as I know Vancouver has a preseason game on Tuesday. Anyways, some news from today as the many Newport Sports clients finally signed contracts. Bruins re-signed Brad Marchand to a 2 year, $5M deal ($2M this year, $3M next). Jets re-signed Zach Bogosion to a 2 year, $5M deal ($2M this year, $3M next). Islanders signed John Tavares to a 6 year, $33M extension. Sabres are close to a long term extension with Tyler Myers rumored to be for 7 years with an annual cap hit of $5.5M or so. Leafs have reportedly agreed to a deal with Luke Schenn but it won't be announced until Friday (according to Nick Kyperos). Still no news on Drew Doughty's contract, though.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that he is leaving, he is a liar or anything like that. I completely see why he would want to stay with the team considering the circumstances around the move to Brooklyn, the willingness of Prokhorov to spend and the whole CBA thing up in the air. I'm just saying that just because a guy says one thing doesn't mean he is going to do it. There have been way too many cases of professional athletes saying one thing and doing the opposite when he becomes a free agent. For me, him saying all of this stuff wouldn't make me think he is more likely to stay or leave. It is just another case of an athlete doing the politically correct thing.

Where does Schenn pencil into the lineup? I'm guessing it will be as the 3rd line center with Simmonds on one of his wings and Talbot (?) on the other. I've been a fan of his ever since I saw him play against the Kelowna Rockets when he was 16 or 17 years old and I was furious when Toronto won their last game of the 09 season which resulted in them picking 7th instead of 5th and missing out on him (although I am fairly happy with Kadri). Even my hate for all things Flyers won't stop me from cheering for him

Alexander Galimov, who was the lone member of the team who survived, passed away today. It is probably for the best though considering 90% of his body was covered in severe burns and it was unlikely that he would be able to live any sort of life anyways. The other survivor, the crew member, is still in critical condition. Also, for those of you who were wondering what is going to happen with Lockomotiv, they aren't going to participate in the 2011-12 KHL season. Instead they will play in a lower league as part of a rebuilding process.

I don't think it is 100% official, but it sounds like it is a done deal. http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215560/Sources_Wolves_Hire_Rick_Adelman#ixzz1Xn2OP84K So Adelman leaves Houston thinking he would be getting the Laker job, but instead he winds up in Minnesota. Seriously though, nice hire for the Wolves. I'm not exactly sure how Adelman will do in a rebuilding situation as he seems to prefer veteran teams and I don't really ever recall him coaching a team that is built around youth, but he is a great coach. If guys like Love, Beasley, Williams and Rubio buy into his system they could be a pretty decent team next season. They won't be a playoff team, but I doubt they finish dead last again.

I kind of want to see them look outside of Canada and to the NCAA for their next coach. It worked really well for the Dominican Republic when they hired John Calipari, Coach K has done a fantastic job with the USA team and I believe there is another country that has an NCAA coach, I just can't remember which team it was (Panama, maybe?). A guy like Rick Barnes makes sense (assuming he would be interested) considering he already is very familiar with guys like Thompson, Joseph, Kabongo and many other of the upcoming Canadians. He isn't the best coach in terms of X's and O's and all that, but his relationship with so many of these young Canadian kids could prove to be invaluable when it comes to getting them involved with the team and all of that. I'm not expecting much, though. It will probably be somebody that none of us have ever even heard of before as Canada basketball isn't exactly a huge deal for any import coaches.

This was an ESPN Insider piece. His comment about if Valanciunas was coming out after a year at UNC he would've went 1st overall is interesting. I know he isn't the first person to say that if Valanciunas wasn't coming from Europe and played college in the United States that he would've went higher, but I think this is the first time I've read somebody definitively say that he would've went 1st overall (although I may be wrong). I don't want to get ahead of myself and get some unrealistic expectations for Valanciunas, but I would be lying if his play for Lithuania this summer (both at the U-19's and the EuroBasket) as well as comments like these from a respected basketball mind like Thorpe hasn't made me more and more excited to see him play for the Raptors. I just hope that other people realize that he will need time to adjust and don't start ripping on him immediately because he doesn't come over and win Rookie of the Year or something like that.

Still, there are plenty of examples in the past where players said one thing and did something completely opposite when they actually hit free agency. Just look at LeBron's comments about never leaving until he brings a ring to Cleveland, Bosh's comments about how he wants to be considered "the man" only to go to a team where he was the third option and, quite frankly, an afterthought, etc... I'm not saying that Williams will be like many other pro athletes in the past, but I wouldn't exactly take him saying positive things about the city or organization as a sign that he will stay long term. It actually wouldn't sway my opinion of whether or not he would stay one way or another.

Well, I don't know if you can say he was the main issue. He was definitely a huge issue, but the main issue is probably that the overall talent level of Canadian basketball just isn't on the same level as a team like Argentina, Spain, France, Lithuania, etc. The talent level has improved over the past decade or so, but the improvement is mostly in the high school/college ranks in guys like Myck Kabongo, Andrew Wiggins, Khem Birch, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Pangos, Kyle Wiltjer and Anthony Bennett who are all either fresh out of college (CoJo and Thompson), entering their freshman seasons in college (Kabongo, Wiltjer, Pangos and Birch) or a couple of years away (Bennett is the 7th ranked prospect in the 2012 high school class and Wiggins is considered the best player in the 2014 class). There are also guys like Rob Sacre, Kris Joseph and Kelly Olynyk who are currently playing for Division 1 teams (Syracuse for Joseph and Gonzaga for Sacre and Olynyk). However, even with that said, Rautins did an awful job of coaching the players that he had this summer and there is no excuse for Canada to not at least finish 5th and qualify for next summer's Olympic Qualifer Tournament. Even if he didn't have the full talent of Canada available, they were still clearly a top 5 team in this tournament behind Brazil (and without Barbosa and Nene you could argue Canada was more talented), Argentina, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (again, arguable). Every time an opposing team would pressure Canada they would commit turnovers and look very unorganized, even if they were just coming out of a timeout. His substitution patterns were suspect at best (leaving guys like Joseph and English on the bench for too long of stretches) and his in-game adjustments were brutal. In today's game against Panama Gary Forbes was lighting them up all morning long, including a stretch where he scored 16 consecutive points (finished with 39) but no adjustments were made. Anderson (Canadian point guard) was still left on him despite his inability to guard him, no help was given and they continued to allow him to go to his strong hand. When they did finally make the switch, Rautins left Joseph, who was the best perimeter defender on the team, on the bench and put Jevon Sheppard on him instead. Then there are the issues about many of the top Canadian players not wanting to play that you mentioned. His record as the Canadian coach was something like 13-27 (not exact, just in that general area) and the team never really took the step forward that you would've expected in his 6 years as the coach of the team.

I figured I'd post some highlights of Valanciunas playing for the Lithuania Men's National Team in Eurobasket action. Against Serbia: He is going to have to clean up some of the picks that he sets as a couple of these would definitely be called for illegal screens in the NBA as he wasn't really set on a couple of them due to his eagerness to roll to the basket. He just needs to slow it down a bit and he will be fine in that regard. It is encouraging to see a skinny 19 year old like JV not backing down and banging in the post against guys who are much more experienced and hold significant size advantages over him, though. It is going to be great to see how much more effective he can be when he bulks up and fills out his frame as that is one of the only things holding him back at this point. He already has fantastic touch and finishing ability around the basket. My two favourite highlights in this video is definitely the two that come at the end. The pass he throws around the 2:55 mark is very impressive and the move he puts on Kristic for the and 1 was brilliant as well. He finished with 18 points (8/9 shooting), 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 20 minutes. Against Spain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tX8mJ_el6c&feature=player_embedded#! Finished this game with 13 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes What impresses me most in this video is how he goes right at Pau and Marc Gasol (and Serge Ibaka at times) despite the fact that he is severely outmatched physically against all of them. It doesn't stop him from continuing to go inside, play physical and bang down low. He showed some nice touch on his outside jumper as well. I knew he was a very good free throw shooter for a center, but I didn't realize he could stretch the defense that far outside. Against Portugal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27OjWk3-yc&feature=player_embedded#! Finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in 27 minutes. The numbers aren't very impressive but this was his first game of the tournament where he got extended floor time (I think it was this game at least) and you could definitely tell that he was nervous on the floor. Anyways, just thought I would post some of these highlights for anybody who was interested.

http://www.canada.com/sports/Rautins+steps+down+national+basketball+coach/5372391/story.html#ixzz1XQ0x9AQz I know the guy was very passionate about the Canadian National Team and everything, but I am definitely glad to see that he decided to step down as the coach (although I think he would've been fired had he not stepped down). His entire tenure has been completely underwhelming especially when you consider that there has been much more talent coming out of Canada over his time as the coach. When you are the coach of a national team and you can't get the majority of the countires best players to play, there is a problem. Steve Nash, Samuel Dalembert, Robert Sacre, Tristan Thompson, Myck Kabongo and Kris Joseph all weren't on the team and I know that at least two of them (Nash and Dalembert) were because of Rautins. I know Sacre, Kabongo and Thompson all turned down invitations this summer (not sure what the deal was with Joseph as I don't even know if he was invited in the first place) so you can't completely blame Rautins for that as if the players don't want to play, they don't want to play, but you have to wonder whether having a more respected coach who actually knows what he is doing would've made these guys more willing to play this summer. Anyways, a change was needed, that is for sure. After a disappointing FIBA Americas tournament combined with some real stinkers earlier this summer (losses to teams like Finland), it is about time for a change. I hope that the next coach can take the groundwork that Leo built and get the program to the level that it should be at.

You are correct. Diaz is now fighting Penn at UFC 137. The guy is a complete moron, though. You get a championship fight handed to you on a silver platter (Condit deserved one over him if you ask me anyways) but piss it away because you are too much of a "badass" to follow company rules when it comes to media promotions and things like that. I'm somewhat disappointed as I was really looking forward to seeing GSP absolutely dominate him, but like I said above, Condit deserves the shot over Diaz in my mind anyways.

Well, that was a very disappointing loss for Canada today as they officially got eliminated from the Olympics after losing by 2 points to Panama today. There is no excuse for allowing Gary Forbes to drop 39 points and 16 straight at one point. There were no coaching adjustments as they continued to use Anderson or Shepard on him and they hardly ever sent a 2nd defender at him. If you insist on guarding him straight up, at least put Cory Joseph on him considering CoJo is easily the best perimeter defender on the team and is a much better defender than any one of Anderson, Shepard or Rautins are. It wouldn't have made a difference if they won or not since Venezuela defeated Uruguay by 12 anyways, but it was still a very disappointing loss considering Canada is clearly a better team than Panama is, and, to be perfectly honest, Canada is probably a better team than Venezuela is too. There isn't really an excuse for them to not at least finish top 5 in this tournament and make next summer's Olympic qualifiers. Anyways, the Semi-Final matchups are now set. Brazil will face the Dominican Republic tomorrow at, I believe, 4PM PST. Argentina will face Puerto Rico after that game.

For those of you that are interested, the November 12th card on Fox will feature the Heavyweight Championship fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Sontos. It was originally scheduled for UFC 139 (or around there) but they decided to pull it from PPV and put it on the Fox card.

What do you think the Nets need to do in order to convince Deron to sign an extension and stay long term with the franchise? The Nets rolled the dice last season by trading for Williams despite the fact that he could become a free agent this upcoming offseason and he had not agreed to sign a contract extension upon arrival in New Jersey. He wanted out of Utah because he felt that he could not win there, but the Jazz were clearly closer to winning a championship than New Jesery is, so I definitely think that if the Nets want to keep Williams around they are going to have to show some substantial improvement by the time he hits free agency. So what do you believe the Nets need to do to keep Deron around?

It is widely known that the Knicks want to add a 3rd member to their dynamic duo of Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony and the two most promminent names are Dwight Howard and Chris Paul with Deron Williams receiving some talk as well. If both of them wanted to sign in New York but you could only afford one of them, which one would it be and why? Paul has injury concerns but in the past he has proven to be arguably a top 3 or 4 player and has had a couple of the greatest statistical seasons from a point guard in NBA history. Him and Amare on the pick and roll would absolutely terrorize opposing teams as we all saw how effective he was at running it with Tyson Chandler who isn't nearly as good of an offensive player as Stoudemire is. He has proven chemistry with Melo in the past as well and I don't think there are any questions that he would fit in with the team very well. On the other hand, Dwight Howard would give the Knicks the best defensive anchor in the league and give them a big man duo that hasn't been seen since the likes of Tim Duncan and David Robinson. There could be concerns about how him and Amare would be able to co-exist beside each other and there would definitely be some chemistry issues and a huge adjustment process as opposed to adding a player like Paul. However, he doesn't have nearly the same amount of injury concerns as Paul does and you can definitely make the case that a healthy Howard is better than a healthy Paul anyways. So who would you choose and why?

How many more years do you think the Celtics window as a contender in the East will be open for? 1 year? 2 years? 3 years? Or is it already closed? I know the Celtics are arguably the 3rd best team in the East as is with the Heat clearly being better and an argument can be made for the Bulls as well, but it is obvious that they are still a great team and capable of making some noise in the East for at least another year.

Purple Conference Game 3 #1 2000-2001 Raptors vs #8 1997-1998 Raptors Results: 2000-2001 defeat 1997-1998 115-94 The number 1 overall seeded 2001 Raptors dominated the 3rd quarter outscoring their opponent 35-17 en route to a 21 point grubbing to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the 1998 team. Vince Carter had another great game scoring 30 points, hauling down 6 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists, although he shot poorly from the field at just 9-24. He did make up for it a bit by going 9-11 from the chairity stripe. Alvin Williams had a strong game as well scoring 18 points and passing the ball well for 7 assists while the Raptors three headed big man trio of Antonio Davis, Charles Oakley and Jerome Williams continued their domination of the glass by grabbing a combined 31 rebounds between the three of them. Damon Stoudamire carried the offensive load for the 1998 team by scoring 25 points and handing out 10 assists. Doug Christie scored the ball fairly well with 16 points, but did an awful job of taking care of the ball as he committed 7 turnovers. Marcus Camby finally woke up on the defensive end of the floor by blocking a very impressive 7 shots and grabbing 8 rebounds, but he continues to struggle offensively scoring just 6 points on 3-8 shooting. Vince Carter was named Player of the Game. #2 2001-2002 Raptors vs #7 2002-2003 Raptors Results: 2001-2002 defeat 2002-2003 112-94 After two single digit victories to take a 2-0 series lead, the 2002 Raptors turned on the heat in game 3 and won this one by 18 points to take the commanding 3-0 series lead. Things didn't look good early for the 2002 Raptors early on as the found themselves trailing 35-26 after the 1st quarter but they dominated the 2nd and 3rd quarters outscoring the 2003 Raptors 57-33 before coasting through an easy 4th quarter as the game was decided by midway through the 3rd. Vince Carter led the way with 26 points and 8 rebounds and Antonio Davis chipped in with his best game of the series by scoring 20 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Morris Peterson added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. For the losing 2003 Raptors, Alvin Williams had 18 points and 4 rebounds, but turned the ball over more times than he handed out assists (4 turnovers to 3 assists) and his inability to get his teammates open looks was evident by the 40.5% that they shot from the field. Jerome Williams had a strong night on the glass with 14 rebounds in the loss. Vince Carter was named Player of the Game. #3 2007-2008 Raptors vs #6 2005-2006 Raptors Results: 2007-2008 defeat 2005-2006 130-105 For the 3rd straight game, the 2008 Raptors crushed the 2006 team by double digits, winning this one by 25 points behind an offensive explosion that saw them score 109 points in the final 3 quarters. Chris Bosh led the offense with 33 points, TJ Ford added 18 points in 18 minutes and Jose Calderon had a brilliant floor game scoring 15 points to go with his 16 assists and only 1 turnover. Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon both chipped in with 12 points each. The 2008 Raptors shot nearly 60% for the game (59.8 to be exact) as they put on an absolute offensive clinic in this one. Morris Peterson and Mike James both had strong offensive games scoring 29 and 19 points respectively and both of them shot 9-15 from the floor. Once again, though, Chris Bosh struggled shooting just 6-14 from the floor and Jalen Rose was absolutely invisible all night long scoring just 3 points for the game. Charlie Villanueva also struggled scoring 11 points on 3-9 shooting as he has had a miserable series thus far. Chris Bosh (2008 version) was named Player of the Game. #4 2003-2004 Raptors vs #5 2008-2009 Raptors Results: 2003-2004 defeat 2008-2009 94-87 In the first close game of the day, this back and forth battle between two evenly matched teams continued as neither one has been able to win conescutive games in this series. The game got off to a very sluggish start as the score was just 17-12 in favour of the 2004 Raptors after the first quarter, but the 2004 team found their offensive legs in the 2nd as they put up 34 points and looked this game looked over as they took a commanding 17 point lead into halftime. The 2009 team wouldn't go away, though, as they bounced back with a strong 3rd quarter holding the 2004 team to just 12 points while putting up 20 of their own. They managed to win the 4th quarter 33-31 won, but they just didn't have enough left in the tank to dig themselves out of the hole that they put themsleves in during the 2nd quarter. Donyell Marshall bounced back from his poor game 2 performance in a huge way as he was 1 rebound shy of a 20/20 game. He finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks on 7-12 shooting. Vince Carter scored 25 points but it took him 24 shots to get those points and Jalen Rose had a near triple double of 10 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. The rookie Chris Bosh had a solid game as well scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. It was the Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh show for the 2009 Raptors as they combined for 41 points, 22 rebounds and 6 blocks, but unfotunately for them, they receieved no help from the perimeter as Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono and Jamario Moon combined for 15 points on 5-25 shooting (although Parker did have 10 assists). Donyell Marshall was named Player of the Game.

Since it has been 2 weeks since I have posted in this thread, I have two more entries to add to the list. Number 24 is... Amir Johnson http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2011/08/31/ultimate-raptors-rankings-%e2%80%94-no-24-amir-johnson/ As I am sure most of you know, or at least those of you who semi-frequently visit the Raptors forum or read anything Raptors related that I post, I am a big supporter of Amir Johnson and think that he is one of the better backup big men in the NBA. I also think that if he could ever get his fouling rate down to the point where he could play 30 minutes a game that he could become a solid 12/10/1.5 on 55% shooting type of big man. Unfotunately for Amir, he looks like he may end up being the odd man out in Raptorland after they spent two consecutive lottery picks on big men (Jonas Valanciunas and Ed Davis) and also have Andrea Bargnani on the roster. I know that I will be very disappointed if Amir is eventually traded as I think that he could be a very valuable player off of the bench for the Raptors for many years to come. Number 23 is... Oliver Miller http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2011/09/07/ultimate-raptors-rankings-%e2%80%94-no-23-oliver-miller/ His first season with the Raptors was very solid, like the author mentions. He actually had a lot of skill for a man his size but as everybody knows, he really struggled with his weight and conditioning and those struggles eventually took its tool on his career and his skills declined to the point where he was out of the league. I think if he could've stayed in shape that Miller could've become one of the better centers in the league and consistently put up averages of around 13-14 ppg/7.5-8.5 rpg/3 apg/1.5 spg/2 bpg which is a very respectable statline for a center.

A crucial win for Canada today against Uruaguay as they won 80-78 to keep their slim hopes of finishing in the top 5 alive. After losing that overtime game against Venezuela earlier their chances to finish in the top 5 and make the Olympic qualifiers next summer were basically crushed, but the win today did keep them mathematically alive. Now all they need to do is beat Panama tomorrow (which should be fairly easy) and hope that Uruaguay can pull out the win against Venezuela otherwise Canada will finish 6th and miss out on next summer's Olympic qualifiers. Unfortunately for Canada, they eliminated the Uruguay team today by beating them so they don't have anything to play for tomorrow other than pride. Hopefully they will still go out and give it their all, but who knows how motivated they will be to play knowing that the game is completely meaningless for them.

Sorry for the delay. I have been busy getting organized for college and all that as classes started today. I had a class get canceled tonight so I'll sim the next round of games right now. Red Conference Game 2 #1 2006-2007 Raptors vs #8 1995-1996 Raptors Results: 2006-2007 defeat 1995-1996 105-96 After the upset in Game 1, the heavy favourite 2007 team came out looking to avenge the loss. They got off to a decent start and held a 1 point lead after the 1st quarter, but turned it on in the 2nd extending the lead to 10 going into half time. From that point on the two teams played each other to pretty much a standstill and the 2007 squad came away with a 9 point game 2 victory to even the series at 1 game a piece. Chris Bosh led the 2007 team with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks but the difference in this game was the much improved play of their starting backcourt of TJ Ford and Anthony Parker who combined for 30 points and 4 steals on 12-24 shooting, which was twice as many points as they scored in game 1. Joey Graham also chipped in with 16 points in 22 minutes off of the bench. For the expansion Raptors, Damon Stoudamire continued his superb play from game 1 and put up 25 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, but Alvin Robertson struggled only scoring 7 points on 3-10 shooting in the loss. Chris Bosh was named Player of the Game #2 1999-2000 Raptors vs #7 2010-2011 Raptors Results: 1999-2000 defeat 2010-2011 121-101 After a fairly close 7 point win in game 1, the 2000 Raptors looked to have another tight game on their hands as they were outscored 31-28 in the 1st quarter. After the 1st quarter, Butch Carter ripped into his team and they responded by outscoring the 2011 Raptors by 7 points in the 2nd quarter, 6 in the 3rd quarter and 10 in the 4th to come away with an easy 20 point game 2 win. Doug Christie led the way for the 2000 Raptors with 21 points and 7 assists while Vince Carter added 18 points and 5 assists of his own. Tracy McGrady chipped in with 15 points and 8 rebounds in the victory and Dell Curry came off of the bench to hit 4 threes for 12 points. For the losing 2011 Raptors, DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, but Andrea Bargnani was shut down by the Antonio Davis/Kevin Willis duo as he scored just 14 points on 5-15 shooting and was held to just 3 rebounds. Reggie Evans continued his strong work on the glass with 14 boards. Doug Christie was named Player of the Game. #3 2009-2010 Raptors vs #6 1996-1997 Raptors Results: 1996-1997 upset 2009-2010 107-97 After a 22 point game 1 shellacking, the 1997 Raptors bounced back and came away with a 10 point game 2 win to even the series at 1 game a piece after outscoring the higher seeded Raptors by 13 points in the 2nd half, including a 25-18 4th quarter. Doug Christie and Walt Williams both had very strong games in the win. Christie had 25 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on a very efficient 10-14 shooting and Williams added 24 points and 10 rebounds on a respectable 9-16 shooting of his own. The strong play from these two made it so that the 1997 team was able to overcome a poor performance from Damon Stoudamire (11 points, 9 assists on 5-17 shooting) and pick up the much needed victory. Sonny Weems led the 2010 Raptors with 15 points on 7-12 shooting, but the rest of the team struggled mightily from the floor highlighted by Chris Bosh's 4-14 shooting performance. He did manage to grab 15 rebounds but his complete lack of offense (10 points total) was too little for the 2010 team to overcome. Doug Christie was named Player of the Game #4 1998-1999 Raptors vs #5 2004-2005 Raptors Results: 1998-1999 crush 2004-2005 106-75 Unlike game 1 that was a back and forth affair throughout the game that ended up being decided by just a single point, this game was not a closely contested contest, despite a 2 point game after the 1st quarter. The 1999 team took control of this game in the 2nd quarter and didn't look back after that as they cruised to a 31 point game 2 win and a 2-0 series lead. After a tough game 1, Vince Carter bounced back in a big way in game 2. He scored 27 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and blocked 3 shots in the win. Oh yeah, he also shot 10-13 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line. Doug Christie added 18 points and 6 rebounds and the starting frontcourt of Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis combined for 28 points and 16 rebounds on an 13-22 shooting. Unlike Carter, Chris Bosh's game 1 struggles continued in game 2 as he scored just 12 points on 6-16 shooting. Also unlike game 1, Rafter Alston was unable to make up for Bosh's struggles as he scored just 13 points on 5-14 shooting of his own. Jalen Rose was the only starter who had a decent game with his 13 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists on 5-9 shooting, but that was hardly enough to counter the dominant player of Vince Carter on the other end of the floor. Vince Carter was named Player of the Game.

Dustin McGowan pitches in his first big league game since 2008. What a remarkable comeback story for him after all that he has had to deal with in terms of injuries, rehab and the like over the past 3 years. So far he has pitched 3 innings, given up 3 runs, 1 walk and struck out 4 against the Red Sox. He will likely be pulled next inning as he is at around 60 pitches for the day. I have always liked him and you can't help but be happy for the guy to make it back to the bigs after all he has gone through.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2011/09/02/argentina-wins-battle-of-unbeatens/ The Canada game was at 7:30 AM so I didn't watch it, but it was good to see them get a 20+ point win over Cuba. Them blowing that late lead against the Dominican Republic and falling apart in the 4th quarter against Brazil may really come back to haunt them. If they managed to at least keep the game against Brazil to the 5-7 points that it was for the majority of the game and then hold onto their 10 point lead against the DR, they could possibly be looking at a first place finish in the group. Instead, it is looking like they are going to finish 3rd unless they manage to put together a fantastic game against Venezuela tomorrow. For anybody that is interested, the Canada/Venezuela game tomorrow is at 7:30 AM Pacific Time. If I manage to wake up in time, I'll post a link in this thread for the game, assuming I can find one.