Today’s player review will be focused upon the Toronto Raptors 1st overall pick in the 2006 entry draft, 7 foot center Andrea Bargnani. In his fourth full season in the league, Bargnani once again took several strides in developing every facet of his game on both ends of the floor. Although Bargnani is still quite a few steps away from being a part of the league’s elite, he truly is beginning to show that he can be an instrumental part of any organization. Let’s take a look at Il Mago’s stats over this past year:
Andrea Bargnani – Center/ Power Forward [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

For the third game in a row, the Toronto Raptors found themselves in a game that was decided in the final seconds.  For the first time in those three, the Raptors walked off the court with a win -one that every Raptor fan knows was desperately needed.  The final in this one was the Toronto Raptors 103, the Charlotte Bobcats 101.
With the win, the Raptors remain in the 8th seed of the Eastern Conference and once again hold a bit of breathing room -albeit only 1 game -over the 9th seeded Bulls. The W also keeps the Raptors in contention [...]

Things in Raptorland have shifted. Unfortunately, its not from bad to good. It’s shifted from ugly to heartbreaking.  For the second consecutive game the Toronto Raptors squandered a lead they held going into the 4th quarter, this time at the hands of the Miami Heat 97-94.  The lead reached it’s peak in the 3rd quarter when the Raptors took a 16 point advantage, but quickly dissipated and fully collapsed when the Raptors ran a 3:27 span without a single point.
To make matters even worse, both the Milwaukee Bucks, and more importantly the Chicago Bulls were victorious in Sunday play. For [...]

After being absolutely demolished by the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, the Toronto Raptors entered Friday’s contest with the Denver Nuggets as the heavy underdogs despite being on their own home floor.  To help combat that, head coach Jay Triano made several changes to the Raptors starting line-up, inserting both Antoine Wright and Sonny Weems for rookie DeMar DeRozan and the flu-ridden Hedo Turkoglu.  Despite an incredible display of effort and intensity particularly on the defensive end the Toronto Raptors fell short 97-96 in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd.
After three quarters things seemed stellar in Raptorland, particularly [...]

If the Raptors are doing one thing effectively right now, it’s that they are making a strong case for CB4 to pack up and leave once the offseason hits. On Wednesday night the Raptors dropped their third in a row 113-90 to the bottom-dwelling Sacramento Kings.
With the loss the Raptors move into a virtual tie for 6th in the Eastern Conference with both the Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat. If the Raptors continue to play at the level they have been since the all-star break it won’t be long before they find themselves on the outside looking in at a [...]

The Toronto Raptors will be back in action on Friday night against divisional rivals the New Jersey Nets. This will be the 3rd of four scheduled meetings between the two teams, and the first to occur at the Izod Center in East Rutherford.  In their two previous meetings the Raptors manhandled the Nets -like most teams have this year -relying in both games on a well-balanced attack.
The Raptors will need more of the same tonight, as for the first time all season they will be without their leader and all-star Chris Bosh -who sprained his ankle late against the Memphis [...]