Who is our franchise player???

With the trade deadline gone and all trades finalized the answer to this question may seem plain and simple to most, but we must remember that nothing is for certain. Before I talk about the obvious player that we are all thinking about (Rudy Gay); I would like to look into the Raptors history on who their previous franchise players have been, what they have done for the team and why the Raptors might have been struggling in the past few years.

Without going too far back, we all remember the “invincible” Vince Carter who led the Toronto Raptors to their very first playoffs ever in 2000. Vince came into the league in 1998 and brought with him a lot of buzz. Vince Carter was added to the Raptors lineup in 1998 and was named rookie of the year in 1999. Everything was going great for Vince. He was voted an NBA All-Star in 2000 and also won Slam Dunk Contest that same year. All of this praise for Vince Carter was bringing with it a lot of praise for the Raptors. There was no question that Vince was the Raptors Franchise player and arguably the best player they’ve ever had with a career average of 22.2 points per game. Sadly however things took a turn for the worse in the year 2003 when Carter started to have problems with management and was then traded the next year. Luckily for the Raptors the year before Vince’s departure they acquired new talent Chris Bosh. Almost simultaneously as Carter left, Bosh was named the team’s new focus and was being built upon. Bosh was a 1^st round 4^th overall draft pick and like Carter he was also showing impressive numbers and doing big things for the Raptors. In the years following, it was soon made official that Bosh was Toronto’s new franchise player and was voted to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star game (He has continued every year since). Bosh had a steady run with the Raptors averaging 20.3 points per game. But like Carter, Bosh came to the conclusion that he would not likely win a ring with the Raptors anytime soon. So he decided to leave the team that helped make him into who he was and left to become part of the big 3 in Miami, alongside LeBron James and Dwayne Wade in 2010. After Chris Bosh left Toronto it would appear as though Toronto was trying to focus on being and all international team with a focus on European players. It was in this time that Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon were at the forefront of the raptors line up. Hedo Turkoglu also played with the Raptors for a little while. With Bosh’s absence it would seem as though the Raptors no longer had a drive or determination to play as hard or with as much heart as they use too. During this time many would say that Bargnani was the new franchise player, but this was only because he was able to steadily put up the points. However he was still getting the biggest paycheck which is something that is usually reserved for a team’s franchise player but many doubted that he deserved the title. Bargnani was the 1^st round 1^st overall draft pick by the Raptors back in 2006, this made him the second player ever without experience in the USA to be drafted first overall. Ever since then Bargnani has earned a career average of 15.2 points per game. His average has been steadily dropping in the last two years. Bargnani has never been an NBA All-Star and he was unable to lead the Raptors to the playoffs after Bosh left. It is because of this as well as Bargnani’s off and on game performance that has caused Toronto fans to frequently boo him in recent games. However, all of this being said it would seem as though all hope is not lost for Toronto, as new Star Rudy Gay has joined what seems to be a new and greatly improved Raptors team. Gay brings with him a career average of 17.9 points per game. But more importantly it would appear as though he brought a certain fire with him that has once again ignited the Raptors team. The new lineup is indeed an impressive one and alongside Gay is DeMar DeRozan who is averaging 14.9 points per game and continues to be one of Toronto’s most reliable players. DeRozan performance along with the entire team has risen since the arrival of Gay. In the past one could say that Toronto could almost be considered somewhat of a starter team as former players have developed their skills there and then moved on elsewhere. With the acquired Gay however, Toronto has for once picked up a player who is already well established. Toronto fans can only hope that Gay continues to be a positive move for the Raptors as they fight for a spot in the playoffs. If great things are in the future, one can only hope that this is just the beginning for the Raptors and they well continue to rise up as a team with Gay Leading the way.

New Slam Dunk Champ / Grizzlies Loss

This past weekend was an exciting one, not only for the Toronto Raptors but for the entire NBA. This is because it was the All-Star weekend. Fans and players from all different cities and countries gathered together to witness the NBA’s best players in action. Certain events that were held were things like the celebrity game, where comedian Kevin Heart was voted mvp for the second year in a row.  Other events were the rising stars challenge, the three-point shootout, the skills challenge, the shooting stars competition, and of course the NBA all-star game etc. However out of all of the events that took part over this past weekend, the one that stands out most to Raptor fan is definitely the Sprite slam dunk contest; where its 2013 champion was none other than our very own Terrence Ross. Ross’ participation in the competition was due to all of his fans voting for him and creating a tremendous amount of buzz over the internet through the use of Twitter hash tags #LetRossDunk and #RossShallDunk. His first dunk made fans a little nervous as he had almost run out of time before he finally completed his dunk. But none the less he refused to settle and made the dunk that he had planned on. In doing so it seemed the judges acknowledge his determination and gave him a perfect score. Another memorable moment is when Ross surprised everyone by coming out in a throwback #15 Vince Carter jersey to perform his third dunk which secured his spot in the finals. No doubt with thoughts of the former Raptors star player, Ross’ final dunk was between his legs with the added difficulty of jumping over a young fan. All of these spectacular dunks awarded Terrence Ross with the Slam Dunk championship and once again showed the world that Toronto has some amazing basketball players.
In the latest news, our Raptors team went up against the Memphis Grizzlies and are new star player Rudy Gay had to play against his former team face to face for the first time. Although Gay has been explosive and nothing but good for the Raptors, it would seem as though his old team new all of his moves and were able to keep him completely scoreless for the entire first quarter. After this rough start though we started getting back into the swing of things and playing the way we have been that led to our 5 game winning streak, something that the Raptors have not been able to do for years. The game was tied in the fourth quarter at 77 with 4 minutes to play. However even with this push by the raptors to tie the game it was not enough to pull ahead and the Grizzlies won the game 88-82. This now puts the Grizzlies on a 5 game winning streak and ended the Raptors run who are now 7-2 with Gay.

Winning Streak

This past week has been a great one for our Toronto Raptors. Since our back and forth game against the Boston Celtics where we lost by 4 points in the fourth quarter, we have been on a 4 game winning streak. Because of the Raptors hard work they have been able to beat the Pacers 100-98, the Hornets 102-89, the Nuggets 109-108, and most recently the New York Knicks 92-88. The two games that stand out the most would definitely be the one last night against the knicks, and the one on February 8th against the Pacers. Like all of the Raptors victories, these games were held close right up until the final seconds ran out on the clock. In the game against the Pacers it seemed as though the Raptors were playing catch up basketball because they were down at the end of every quarter. However, once the clock started to run out in the fourth quarter our players determination levels went up as they started driving more and putting up points. The score was 88-90 with only six seconds left when West made a bad pass and caused the Pacers to turn over the ball and allow Gay to make the steal. The ball got into the hands of Johnson who unfortunately missed his jump shot but was able to get his own rebound and make a tip shot to tie the game at 90-90 and send it into overtime. Near the end of OT the game was tied again at 98-98 with a minute and thirty seconds left on the clock. There were shots taken and missed by the raptors but fortunately for them the Pacers went out of bounds and caused another turnover. With the clock still winding down Gay Makes a jump shot and puts us up 100-98, witch ends up being the final score as the Pacers last shot by George was missed.
The Game against the Nuggets was just as interesting if not more because our star Player Rudy Gay had to be seated on the bench for most of the 4th quarter because he had received five personal fouls. Even with Gay being benched our team was still able to step up to the plate and stay in the game. It was a big game for John Lucas III as he made four 3pt shots in the 4th quarter and finished with 14 points. However our star player was once again none other than Rudy Gay who came back into the game and made a tough jump shot to put us on top at 109-108, this would end the game.
With these last four games the Raptors are now 5-2 with Rudy Gay being on the team. It is obvious that Toronto definitely made the right decision with adding him to the lineup. His game winning shots are what help the raptors when they need it most and his overall presence is nothing short of an energy boost for our team.

Bosh refuses to lose / Bargnani returns

The Last two Raptors games were nothing short of interesting. On February 4 the Toronto Raptors went up against the Miami Heat and former Raptors franchise player Chris Bosh. It was an intense game and to many it was surprising that the Raptors were able to stay in the game and be able to hold onto a small lead up until the half. During the second However Miami deciding to take control of the game and continue their winning streak over the Raptors with a final score of 100-85. With an 11 game winning streak over the Raptors, Chris Bosh has still never lost to his former city.
                On February 6 Raptors star Andrea Bargnani made his comeback appearance against the Boston Celtics. Do injury in his right elbow Bargnani had missed the previous 26 games, meaning that he missed playing in the debut game of Rudy Gay. This being said however Bargnani made no excuses for playing his best this game. Coming off of a loss from the Miami heat, the Raptors had to try and pull themselves back together if they wanted any chance of beating the Celtics. It was a high adrenaline game that could have gone either way. The Raptors were winning 23-20 at the end of the first, and then the Celtics took the lead with 50-45 at the end of the second. However, with the Raptors refusing to give up and determined to make their opponents fight, they took back the lead and lead 79-69 and the end of the third. Sadly, in keeping with the back and forth quarters the Celtics took the lead within the final six minutes and ended up beating the Raptors with a final score of 99-95. The Raptors played a fierce game and continue to look like a strong team that has the ongoing potential to become great. Bargnani finished the game with 13 points, along with DeRozan doing the same and our top leading scorer was once again Rudy Gay with 25 points.