Scoring seems to be up.....The East finally looks stronger than the West.....My Nets were horrible on opening night.

Well, my Raptors are 0 - 2 to start the season but there are some signs of hope. Our young guns have been firing on all cylinders and I don't think that we will be a pushover for any of the playoff teams this season. A couple of things that I think will happen this year: 1 - Jose Calderon or Charlie Villanueva will win the R.O.Y. Award, 2 - Vince Carter will most likely have his annual injury either right before or right after the All Star break and 3 - The San Antonio Spurs will not repeat as World Champions because the Miami Heat will beat them in the Finals.

The Wizards are 2-0. That's good, but as they say, it's a looooooooooooooong season. I watched the first half of the Wizards/Knicks game. The Wizards were walking all over The Knicks in the first quarter. And in their house. Of course, in true Wizards fashion they fell apart in the second quarter, but still managed a win, even if it was a low scoring game. I guess plaw would consider that a "lucky" win. Either way, Larry Brown can't be too pleased this morning.

There was nothing "lucky" about it. The Knicks just plain stink (which is fine with me, BTW )

(N.B.: what makes the wins "lucky" or the losses "tough" in fantasy football is the fact that unlike in real sports, your defense has no control over your opponent's score)

It may look like the Raptors are playing lousy but we're actually going for the 0 - 82 perfect season. Seriously though, Rob Babcock needs to get rid of Loren Woods, Aaron Williams, Rafael Araujo, Eric Williams and maybe even Matt Bonner. If we can get a decent Center and a 1st round draft pick for the whole lot of them Babcock should pull the trigger and make the deal.

PLaw's Nets lose a heartbreaker to DA's Heat, 90-89.

Wonderful defensive play by D. Wade at the end.

Wonderful non-call by the ref as Carter got fouled at the end. :rolleyes:

The Toronto Raptors win! The Raptors win! Against Miami no less!

The Raps got two first-rounders from the Nets in the Carter deal.

Of the three players they got, Mourning is gone, and you propose getting rid of Aaron and Eric Williams.

Unfortunately, these guys have basically no value. Maybe a second-rounder from a contender who could use some help up front, but that's about it.

And second-rounders aren't worth much in today's 30 team N.B.A., altho if the Raps finish with the worst record, a second-rounder could be the 31st pick.

I do like the way Villanueva and Calderon looked in the one game I saw them, and their boxscores look good in the games that I didn't see, so maybe you guys have a future.

Hard to believe, though, that at one time they had both McGrady and Carter on the same team.

Yup, we've been through some triumph and a lot of hurt in our young life as an NBA franchise. We had Marcus Camby, Doug Christie, Keon Clark, Antonio Davis, Mark Jackson, Donyell Marshall, Lamond Murray and Damon Stoudamire not to mention those two other guys. You put all those players together minus Carter and T-Mac and you've got a playoff team. You put all those players together with Carter and McGrady and you've got a Championship contender.

Looking at the situation today, Raptor management has to realize that the future of the team is Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, Joey Graham, Morris Peterson and Charlie Villanueva. As far as I'm concerned Rafael Araujo, Matt Bonner, Aaron Williams, Eric Williams and Loren Woods are dead weight. We should swap all of them either together or separately for whoever is available.

You sound like a real fan, and a knowledgable one too, Don J.

Have you ever checked out this site?:

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap.php

They have a separate message board for each NBA team, and most of the discussions are fairly intelligent.

Thanks for the compliments plaw, and thanks for the link! I've only given it a cursory lookover but from what I've seen this will be a very good resource. The beauty of the site is that it has MLB, NHL (coming soon), and NFL sections in addition to the NBA one. Thanks again!

Wizards baby, all the way! We don't need Larry, we are better off without him. We will make 4th or 5th seed this year, and we'll win!! GO WIZ!

I thought that this was pretty funny and some of you might get a kick out of it. From Toronto Star sports reporter Dave Feschuck referring to Jalen Rose of the Raptors: "The 32-year-old veteran has been awful in every thing but the press conference. He's shooting 17 per cent from three-point range. There are War of 1812-era muskets that fire more accurately."

Must be tough being a fan of the 1-15 Raps these days, huh?

They play the Nets on Saturday.

You've no idea. My brother and I went to the game against Dallas on Monday and to lose after being so close to beating a quality team was really deflating. That's the story of our season so far, we always find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I guess its a very good thing that we're playing the Atlanta Hawks tommorrow.

Yes! The Raptors beat the Nets! I didn't get to see the game cuz I went to see Syriana (great film by the way) but I just checked nba.com and I couldn't believe my eyes! The final score was 95 - 82 and Chris Bosh had 29 points, 1 block shot, 2 assists and 13 rebounds. He was also 15 of 16 (94%) at the free throw line! Bring on Washington baby!

The Toronto Raptors Win! The Raptors Win! Granted, it was only against Orlando but it is truly sweet to beat any team with Steve Francis on its roster. 92 - 90! Put that in your pipe and smoke it "Stevie Franchise!"

What do you have against Francis, DJ?

Not that I'm a big fan of his; I traded for him on one of my fantasy teams, and since I got him he's sucked, but he was never on the Raps, was he?

No, he didn't play for the Raptors but he was originally drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies and fussed over how he didn't want to play in Canada. I also recall an interview some time ago where he mocked Canadians and gave his best "hoser" impression. He gets booed every time he touches the ball at the Air Canada Centre and he should be booed in every NBA city. He didn't want to play in a place that I'm almost convinced he knows nothing about. He's an overrated, untalented, ignorant pissant and it looks like he always will be. Steve Francis is a dimwitted, moronic, idiot, not to mention a very poor basketball player. Fu** him, Antonio Davis, Alonzo Mourning and the horses they rode in on!

So I guess you don't like him, huh?

Yeah, you could say that.

Jeez, Kobe scores a carerr-high 62 points tonight in just 3 quarters! Imagine what he would have finished with had he played the fourth

A great road win for the Raptors tonight against T-Mac and the Houston Rockets. Mike James was the player of the game, Chris Bosh had 17 points, 1 block, 2 steals, 3 assists and 8 rebounds, and Morris Peterson and Joey Graham had solid games as well. Also, Jose "El Matador" Calderon continues to play well, he had 6 points, 2 steals, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. I don't know whether I'm happier that the Raptors won or that Rafer Alston had to watch it all on the Rocket bench, either way its pretty good. It's just too bad that we have San Antonio on Friday and the Pistons on Tuesday. At least we get to play the Atlanta "Rocks" the next day.

Oh my goodness, the East better beware of these Miami Heats. They're gonna tear up the place and there's no stopping the machine now. Go Riles!

They'll lose to Detroit in the playoffs again

Excuse me, is that a Knicks fan talking?? :p

Wow, Gary Payton had 21 pts, 2 st and 2 reb against the Lakers. The guy is 37 and he shows no signs of slowing down. At this rate it looks like he could play until he's 45! Payton is a first ballot Hall of Famer in my book.

A great win for the Raptors tonight against a quality team. The Pacers were without Ron Artest (that's another post for another thread) but we had injuries to Jose Calderon and Joey Graham. Mike James had 19 Points, 1 Steal, 10 Assists, and 5 Rebounds. Morris Peterson had 16 pts, 2 blocks, 3 steals and 4 rebounds and Chris Bosh was good for 22 pts, 2 steals, 4 assists and 12 rebounds. And Charlie Villanueva, this kid is a real treat to watch. He had 25 pts, 1 steal, 1 assist and 10 rebounds. If Charlie V. played in Los Angeles, New York or Boston he would be well known to absolutely every one who follows basketball.

Chris Bosh had 27 points, 1 block, 3 assists and 12 rebounds tonight. Why are Tayshaun Prince, Grant Hill, Paul Pierce, Chris Webber, Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal ahead of him in the A.S. voting? Bosh for Prime Minister...er...I mean NBA All Star!