10 Days and Counting

That is your newest Raptor folks. Linton Johnson has had his share of NBA jerseys.  He is 6 foot 8 and plays small forward. Another guy to take Joey Graham's minutes. For all of you that like Joey Graham I think this is another sign that Joey just hasn't turned out as the Raptors would have hoped. Jamario Moon rocketed past Graham on depth chart.  This addition of Johnson meant someone had to go and that someone was Darrick Martin. Martin who may have his most famous accomplishment in his time with the Raptors be making a 3 point shot to continue a record streak for the Raptors. The truth is to many he was thought of as more coach then player by most. He may be heading in that direction as the Raptors have said he will remain with the organization. Most of Martin's worth can be measured in his help of his team mates through his veteran experience. He has got a lot of credit for his work with Jose Calderon and T.J Ford. Those things can not be measured and easily exaggerated but the players have given him credit and that is good enough for me. If you want to learn more on the newest Raptor I will give you a link. The fact he had some time with the Suns would suggest Bryan Colangelo would have got some feedback from the Suns on Johnson.

http://aol.nba.com/raptors/news/pr_032708.html

So the beat goes on with a new member of the band. The lead members of the band will remain the same. In other words the starting line-up change remains and based on Calderon's post game comments it will for the rest of the season. So anyone that was thinking this change was not going to last it would seem you are mistaken. The New York Knicks and former Raptor Fred Jones head into the ACC tonight. For those of you RAPTORS TV lacking we will have the Raptor Rewind up with the Recap, Boxscore and Podcast.  Hopefully that will give you a good idea of what went down beyond what you get in the highlight shows. What the Raptors will hope I will be relaying to you is a dominant victory. But let's not forget the Raptors did drop a contest to the Knicks on the Road at MSG. There really is no room for taking any team lightly at this point. Lots of games like this are ahead for Toronto but if they do not get wins it really doesn't matter how easy the schedule looked.

The Wizards have called off an Arenas return and the superstar I would imagine is not all that thrilled. I mean this is far from the all star game return that Arenas had proclaimed to fans if they would vote for him. Guess you can't believe everything you read in a blog. On Behalf of all Bloggers THANKS GILBERT for trashing bloggers reputations around the world. If I want to wreck my reputation I would tell you where Arenas will end up next year. But with him who can ever know what he will do.  The Wizards even though they are ahead by a nose in this race for 5th place. I would say are the least likely to get it done. Sixers are just to hot for words at this point and the Raptors have the schedule advantage the rest of the way.  When everything stops spinning the Wizards could end up with the Detroit Pistons. Not the ideal first round match-up for any team including the Wizards.

Yesterday marked this Blog's 4 month anniversary. Except for a Computer dying and shutting it down for about 3 weeks everyday I have had the chance to share my thought and opinions along with info on the Toronto and The NBA. It has been a lot of fun and I look forward to it continuing and growing. 

Part of that growth is giving you all a say. So next Thursday your questions will be needed to make this blog. So put on your thinking caps and contribute your questions and or comments. 

Send them Here:
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This has been are largest month as far as hits go and it is because of all of you. Thanks for choosing us each and everyday as many of you do. With the Playoffs coming it could get even bigger. But you that read now can all proudly say you did not jump on the Bandwagon as far as this blog goes. You are the Core of it's foundation and it means a lot. if you use RSS Or XML you can add us with this address.

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However you get here each day I thank you. Tell a friend, bring a friend it is all good. Now that Leafs are done do a leaf fan a favor and drag him to the Dino Nation So talk to you all again after tonight's game. Jack Armstrong doing a game on Raps TV I will do an update on the save Jack effort tomorrow. But first the Knicks circus is in town.

War is Declared

VS 

War may be to strong a word for what is going on between Spain Basketball and Toronto Raptors. That is not to say that both parties have serious concerns. You all will recall that Jorge Garbajosa played for Spain this past summer and Raptors were not really crazy about the idea. But they came to an agreement that if Spain and Garbajosa could find insurance he could play. Well Raptors are now looking for the money from Spain as they have filed legal action to get the money from that policy. A legal battle has started between the 2 parties. I know what does this matter to you as a Raptor Fan. So MLSE is out a few dollars on a contract why should you care about that. I agree that you should not. However you do care about Jose Calderon I am guessing right?

The fact of two things is going to put Jose in the middle of this war. The first is the fact that Spain needs Calderon to play in the Olympic games in China. The Raptors need to resign Jose. However as a restricted free agent have the option to keep him no matter what. The Toronto Raptors have been painted as the bad guys in this story from day one in Spain. They wouldn't let Garbo play and were seen as the evil North American sports franchise.  Now with taking legal action against Spanish basketball that is not likely to improve that. Jose will get pressure from his country to depart from the Raptors. Most fans in Spain would love to seem him join Pau Gasol with the Lakers. But they may not realize that Raptors can prevent him from going anywhere. 

Where things get cloudy is what about the Olympics in China. Could the Raptors effectively hold Calderon hostage by not allowing him to play to make Spain pay up. Well if he was under contract and did not have his right to play for Spain in that contract than they would. However Jose will not have a contract until he resigns. I do not claim to be an expert in the way the collective bargaining agreement works. I do not know if Calderon signs a offer sheet with another team if things like playing for Spain would be part of that. I would think not that it is just about money and term that the Raptors would have to match. 

What all could happen is very confusing to be honest. But in the simple terms things just got a little more complicated in re-signing Jose Calderon. It is not that Calderon is unhappy in Toronto but the fact his entire country may not be would not sit well with him. If Raptors attempted to stop him from playing in China that also would not go to well. They even might have to buy out his friend Jorge Garbajosa which is another thing that would not make Jose happy.

The news of this legal action came out just yesterday. But you must think that Jose was made aware of the matter. I think it is a huge stretch but it could be that Raptors not getting a long with his native land could be at least on his mind. He has not played to the high level he had early in the year in replacement of Ford. Things are not going well for Calderon or the Raptors.

So things off the court are not all that good for Raptors as well. The whole Garbogate issue has become a big under the radar story through out this season. The impact on Jose Calderon and his future could be the greatest issue out of all of it. Should the trouble with Garbajosa has lead to a feud between his country and the Raptors.  It is in both Spanish Basketball and the Toronto Raptors to get this issue resolved and re-establish a relationship that will benefit both parties. No one wants to see this situation get ugly but the potential is there for a messy situation. 

Mark Cuban has always been strongly against NBA participation in international events. While I do not completely agree with Cuban, I do agree the time has come for David Stern to regulate these situations and limit the amount of time that players under contract to  can play for any other organization such as national teams. Player like Jose get put in unfair spots and deserve not to have to choose between country and team.

Bosh Will Be A Spectator On The Road Trip

Bad News for Raptors out of Raptor Practice on Saturday. Chris Bosh is going on the Road Trip but is not expected to play for the Raptors in any of the games. This includes the important rubber match with the Orlando Magic which could have major impact on the Raptors Playoff seeding. Sam Mitchell said he will insert Rasho Nesterovic into the starting line-up which would move Andrea Bargnani to his natural power forward position. The thought is that if Bosh had to play he could. But he has had swelling and was still a bit gimpy at practice on Saturday in which he did not take part but was on hand to get treatment on his injured knee. No word on Bosh's Status Beyond this three game road trip. Thoughts and opinions on what this all may mean in tomorrow's blog.