Today’s Toronto Raptors player review focuses upon the club’s third-string point guard Marcus Banks. To most Raptors fans Marcus is known as the overpaid and underused guard that was thrown into the deal with the Miami Heat to get the contract of Jermaine O’Neal off of the Raptors books prior to the 2009-10 season. Marcus for the most part, rode the pine for the Toronto Raptors, but did find himself thrust into the back-up role when Jose Calderon went down to injury -and stood as much more steady back-up than Raptors fans probably expected. Let’s take a look at Marcus’ [...]

Today’s feature is focused upon another new acquisition for the Raptors in 2009-10, point guard Jarrett Jack, who signed as a free agent with the Raptors after spending some time with the Indiana Pacers. Jack was brought on with the intention of being a solid back-up to Jose Calderon, that would provide the Raptors some leadership and scoring punch off of the bench, something they lacked the previous year in Roko Ukic. Another factor that drew Jarrett to Toronto was the year he spent together with Raptors all-star Chris Bosh at Georgia Tech -a camaraderie that many organizations love to [...]

With the 2009-2010 Toronto Raptors season in the books, I have decided to dedicate the next portion of my blogging duties towards a player-by-player analysis -in numerical order -of the Raptors roster. Today’s feature is the smaller of Toronto’s Italian stallions, Marco Bellinelli, who decided to dawn the number 0 in hopes of symbolizing a fresh start north of the border -after being dealt to the Raptors from the Golden State Warriors for Devean George. In coming to Toronto, both Marco and the Raptors brass hoped to find a consistent point producer off of the bench, with a touch of [...]

With the Toronto Raptors 2009-2010 campaign coming to a much earlier halt than I had expected, I am now given the honor of reviewing what exactly transpired over the course of the season rather then pumping you up for a first-round playoff series. This entry will be focused on the team as a whole, something that only seems fitting to do the day after official locker clean-out. Just incase you haven’t seen the interviews yet, be sure to stop by the Raptors official website for full-length interviews from Bosh, Bargnani, Jack, Calderon, Turkoglu, and Triano -all of which seemed to [...]

The Toronto Raptors 2009-2010 campaign officially came to an end on Wednesday night with an astounding 131 – 113 victory over the New York Knicks. The win meant that Toronto did their part of the equation to make their final push for the playoffs, unfortunately the Bobcats failed to chip in their half.  The Raptors finish the season with a 40-42 record, 1 game back of the 8th and final playoff spot in the associations Eastern Conference. This result is definitely one that will leave all Raptors fans shell-shocked until a new season tip’s off, especially considering the Raptors firmly [...]

With the Raptors season being a roller coaster ride thus far, it only seems fitting that the playoff fate of the beloved red, white, and black will be decided on the final night of the regular season.  This is the case as a result of the Chicago Bulls passing their test on Tuesday night, dropping the Celtics 101-93, re-increasing their lead to 1 full game over the idle Raptors. For the Raptors to claim the 8th and final playoff spot, they will require both a win versus the New York Knicks and Bulls road loss to the 7th seeded Charlotte [...]

It came one night later than they had hoped for, but the Toronto Raptors played a high-quality of basketball for a full 48 minutes on Monday night against the Detroit Pistons. The final as a result of it, was a 111-97 victory moving the Raptors to a mark of 39-42.  With the win the Raptors pull to within a half-game of the Chicago Bulls who they handed the eighth seed to just last night. The Bulls were idle on Monday, but face the tough task of the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in what will be the first game of [...]

With yesterday’s loss, the Toronto Raptors officially let the fate of their season slip out of their hands and into the hands of Vinny Del Negro and the underachieving Chicago Bulls.  The least the Raptors can do at this point is secure victories in their final two contests and just hope that the Bulls slip up at least once against either the Celtics or Bobcats. Toronto’s first test is tonight in Detroit, where Amir Johnson will lead his squad into his second homecoming since coming to the Raptors.
If there is one team who has managed to make the Raptors inability [...]

Coming in, it was undoubtedly the biggest game of the season for the Toronto Raptors. Unfortunately their effort level throughout did not dictate that and it cost the Raptors big time in a 104-88 home loss to the Chicago Bulls. With the loss the Raptors fall out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, one game back of the Bulls with both teams still having two games to play.
In the disheartening contest, the Raptors were led by a mediocre 18 from both Bargnani and Weems, who both took far too many shots to accumulate those totals. The victorious Bulls were led [...]

This is what it all comes down to – David versus Goliath. Or in this case it would probably be more accurate to label this one as the inconsistent injured guys versus the cocky yet pathetic ones.  Yes, I am referring to the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls, who face off on Sunday evening in a game that will more than likely dictate which of these two clubs qualifies for the 8th and final playoff spot in the eastern conference.  Both teams come into this one with identical 38-41 records, with the Raptors holding the tiebreaker after having won [...]