Built Ford Tough

I didn't say that the Wolves would do it. All I was saying is that from a Raptors perspective that is about the only trade that I would like to see them make. There is no way in hell I would want to see them give up any of their "core" players for Flynn considering I think that Bayless is the better player and the better prospect than Flynn, so it doesn't really make much sense, from a Raps point of view, to give up a legitimate asset for a guy like Flynn. The Raptors and Wolves are terrible trade partners in general. They don't really have anything that would interst the other team and any move that they did make would be lateral moves at best that would see similarly talented prospects being swapped. Unless the Wolves are so desperate to get out of Pekovic's contract that they would use Flynn as bait (and the Raptors would offer Evans' expiring deal), they are just poor trading partners. PS: It was Weems and filler (Miami 1st, Joey Dorsey, Alabi etc...), not just Weems. I clearly stated the word filler. EDIT: This is all basically irrelevent, though. I would be absolutely shocked if a trade even happened. This seems to be purely speculation and nothing will come of it.

Why would they go after Ridnour? Trading Calderon for Ridnour is a lateral move at best, doesn't do anything for their future and ties their hands with a longer term deal than Calderon (although for less money). If they traded for Ridnour while keeping Calderon on the roster, well, I would contemplate handing in my Raptors fan card. The Raptors should stay as far away from players like Luke Ridnour as possible.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18320#ixzz19WZmgDAf I know that Hoopsworld isn't exactly the most reliable site, but they do seem to be a lot more accurate when they talk about the Raptors than other teams. As for this rumor, isn't Flynn just as much of a combo guard as Bayless is? I don't claim to be an expert on Flynn, but from what I gather he is pretty much the same as Bayless when it comes to being a point guard. What makes them think that Flynn will be any better as the backup PG than Bayless will? With that said, if it is a buy low situation or the Raptors move Calderon (which I don't see happening considering the report suggests they are trying to find a PG to backup Calderon), I would be all for it. He is young and has talent, so it would basically be the same kind of trade that they made earlier to land Bayless. I wouldn't give up anything of real value for him, though (so no Davis, DeRozan, Johnson, Bayless or draft picks). Weems and a filler would be something I would do, but not sure it is really worth giving up much more than that for him.

Because this is probably only the first or second game that Davis has actually outplayed Johnson (and even then, Johnson has been playing injured for the past 3 or 4 games). They are about equal defensively (Davis a better shot blocker while Johnson has better rotations), but Johnson gives the team more offensively due to his ability to stick mid range jumpers relatively consistently as well as him being a better finisher around the rim. I'm all for giving him more minutes, but I still like bringng him off of the bench as long as Johnson continues to play like he has been lately. He doesn't deserve to have his minutes cut or be sent to the bench because he has played well since being inserted into the starting lineup. The increase in Davis' minutes should come at the expense of Joey Dorsey and Linas Kleiza (who plays the 4 way too much).

Exactly. This game can be summed up in one play about half way through the 4th quarter. There was a missed shot by a Raptor player and there was a battle for the rebound between Ed Davis and Brian Cardnial (who had inside position) and through sheer effort Davis was able to keep the ball alive and tap it out. The tap went all the way into the Raptors zone and Julian Wright sprinted towards it and dove on the ground to try and keep it in play, even though there was basically a 99% guarantee that the ball was going out of bounds. He wasn't able to keep the ball in play, but that one possession showcased exactly why the Raptors won this game. They showed more energy, emotion and life in that one 5-10 second stretch than the entire Mavs team did for the duration of the game (at least the 3 quarters that I saw). And believe me, MainEv3nt, thre is no offense taken to your statement. I agree with you 100% that there is no way in hell that the Mavs should've lost this game. There really is no reason why they shouldn't have come away with an easy victory tonight. All the credit in the world should be given to the Raptors for their heart and hustle tonight, but that doesn't change the fact that the Mavs should've won this game easily.

No they got outworked and outhustled. It really is as simple as that. Toronto worked twice as hard as the Mavs did tonight and they won the game because of that. You can't use fatigue as an excuse when Toronto has Bargnani, Evans, Peja, Weems and Calderon not in the lineup, lose Bayless and Kleiza half way through the game and have Barbosa and Johnson playing through injuries. The Mavs have no excuse. They came into this game thinking it was going to be an easy victory and because of that they lost the game. That is what you get when you give a half assed effort and take a team lightly. Hell, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Mavs beat the Heat and Magic on back to backs nights (on the road no less), so there is no way in hell that you can use fatigue as an excuse for a home loss to a team like the Raptors.

And now Bayless is hurt with what looks to be a sprained ankle. So the Raptors healthy body count is down to about 5 (and one of those healthy players in Kleiza got ejected earlier) .

Kleiza is so much better when he is decisive with the ball and doesn't screw around with the ball. When he immeidately shoots the ball after the catch or puts the ball on the floor only a couple of times, he can be a really effective player. Same with DeRozan, too. When these two guys don't hesitate they are so much better.

Did I see Davis' statline right? 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals on 5/6 shooting already? Nice! Maybe he will actually get minutes now.

You can't use fatigue as an excuse when: 1) You are playing a clearly inferior team 2) The team you are playing played the previous night 3) The team you are playing has about 8 healthy players If by some miracle the Raptors do win this game, the Mavs have no excuse. I'm watching the end of the Leafs game, so I missed most of the 1st quarter, but it looks like DeRozan has gotten off to a nice start with 7 points. He is pretty much the only reason to watch Raptor games at this point, considering Davis hardly even plays for some unfathomable reason.

No Dirk for Dallas tonight, not that it really matters. Also, from my understanding, Calderon and Barbosa are game time decisions tonight as well. That means the Raptors could be dressing around 9 players tonight with Weems, Evans and Bargs out. Johnson's back is still bothering him as well. So, in conclusion, this game is going to be U-G-L-Y! (not that it wouldn't be even if the Raptors were healthy )

http://twitter.com/samickAOL Judging from his brutal play this season, I'd say just do it now and get it over with. From what I've seen of him so far this year, he has been absolutely awful and if his plantar fasciitis is the reason for his struggles, you might as well go ahead and get it over with. Besides, its not like the Kings are going to be missing him. They are the worst team in the league with him in the lineup as is.

Yeah, I loved Doakes as well. I think that they really need somebody on Miami Metro who is suspicious of Dexter and Doakes was perfect for that role. They seemed to try and make Quinn into that character, but he doesn't play it as well as Doakes did (although I do like Quinn). As for Season 3, I don't really remember it all that well, like I said before. It has been about a year and a half since I've seen it and it is the only season of Dexter that I haven't watched at least twice (5th season excluded) so if I watch it again I may notice things about Prado. I just remember thinking that he was a bit of a let down after the awesomeness that was Rudy and Doakes.

I wouldn't say he doesn't have any strengths. He is a pretty solid perimeter defender and has a good IQ on the defensive end of the floor as he generally knows where he should be on the floor at all times. Not saying that I agree with this move because I don't, as I would much rather see the team fill that 15th roster spot with somebody who has a little moe upside than Dupree. Or just keep it open and don't even bother filling it.

Doakes vs. Dexter >>> Prado vs. Dexter Trinity vs. Dexter >>>>>>>>> Prado vs. Dexter Honestly, I thought season 3 was the weakest season (this latest season may have surpassed it, though. It has been a while since I've watched season 3) of Dexter and it was in large part due to the fact that Prado was such a lackluster character, at least in comparision to the usualy antagonists that Dexter faces.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/raptors/article/912410--ailing-andrea-bargnani-on-shelf-as-raptors-hit-road Why on earth is it a question about who should start between Dorsey and Davis? Start Davis for crying out loud.

http://twitter.com/#!/raptors Championship, here we come! :glasses:

How is it "not that tough of a schedule"? They have a 12 game road trip (11 if you don't count the Laker game but even that can considered a road game as it is 90% Laker fans at those games). In a 7 day stretch they play 4 of the 5 best teams in the Eastern Conference, 4 of which are on the road and one is a back-to-back against Orlando and New York. They also play another Eastern Conference playoff team in Milwauakee. Then they go and play the Hornets, Thunder and Lakers in a 4 day stretch. Thir first home game in 24 days just so happens to be against arguably the best team in the NBA in Boston, which also happens to be the 2nd end of a back to back, the first of which is against the Lakers. Sure, there may be some tougher stretches for other teams this season, I don't really care enough to look, but it is laughable to say that the Clippers schedule in February isn't that tough.

Just a glitch that happens every now and then. The player will get 6 fouls and should foul out, but he is never removed from the game.

Who's pretending that this wasn't an impressive win for the Heat? They absolutely dominated the Lakers, Wade was blowing by Kobe all game long, James dropped a triple double and Bosh was the best big man on the floo (which is supposed to be the Lakers biggest advantage over the Heat). Their defense was incredible and they were absolutely clicking on offense. Nobody is acting like this wasn't an amazing performance for the Heat. The only thing that guys like lkr are saying is that people were saying the same things at this time last year after Cleveland beat the Lakers by 20 on Christmas. I agree that the Lakers did care about winning this game and it is foolish to say that this is "just another loss" because guys like Kobe and Jackson definitely wanted this game, but at the end of the day, this is one game. Just because the Heat dismantled the Lakers today doesn't mean that they would walk through them in the Finals (should they meet). It would still be a very competitive series. That is basically what some Laker fans like lkr are saying in this thread. Really, what is wrong with that?

This Heat team is absolutely unstoppable in transition. If you turn the ball over or take a bad shot and allow them to get out and run, you are compltely screwed. Their defense today has been top notch as well. They have done an awesome job on Kobe and Gasol while not allowing many good looks to the Lakers shooters because of how quickly they are closing out. The Lakers have missed some easy looks and haven't played as well as they usually do, but a lot of credit should go to the Heat for their play. They have simply outworked, outhustled and outplayed the Lakers for the entire game (or at least all of the game that Ive seen).

I worded that wrong, I know he is a dick to Sager, but usually he will start laughing or smile to show that he is clearly just messing around or whatever. He doesn't seem to be joking around with the other interviewers and genuinely seems to want to tell them to just [expletive] off and leave him alone.

Phil Jackson is such a dick in these interviews to everybody other than Sager.

I've watched this game since about 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter and if somebody would've told me that Bosh has around 20/10 already I woud've told them that they were crazy considering I've barely even noticed him on the floor at all, yet he has those numbers. Question to Miami fans, is it always like this? I haven't caught too many Heat games, but is Bosh always this unoticeable on the floor, even when his numbers are very solid. James jumper has been awesome tonight. 5 threes from him and some nice mid range shots. It has been a while since I've seen his jumper look so good. And as I type this he misses a three, haha.

I think I've made it perfectly clear before that I think Andray Blatche is just completely terrible and the Wizards should do whatever they can to move him. He has decent talent and all, but the guy brings way more negatives to the table than positives. He is the perfect example of a player who puts up empty stats on a team. I don't hate too many players in the NBA, but I can actually say that I absolutely hate the way that he approaches the game. Everything that he does on the floor seems to annoy and rub me the wrong way.