Dino Nation Blog

I have to say that was a pretty nice start for this new group of Raptors. It was a real team effort and a second half comeback to boot. Sure Lebron James did not play much in this game but it is the pre-season. When I am watching it is more to me about how the Raptors are playing and not as much about who they are on the floor against. It was not like the Raptors played Jose Calderon all that much from their side of things. We got to see a number of people making contributions and that was the exciting thing to see. Andrea Bargnani was getting rebounds and driving to the basket. Those are good signs for him and hopefully things he can build on. He even got a blocked shot in the second half.

Back-Up Point Gets Thumbs Up For Game 1

Will Solomon also had a good night on the floor and showed he may be able to handle the back up role behind Jose Calderon. We also saw one of the ways Sam Mitchell may plan to help Roko Ukic early on in his time on the floor. When Roko entered this game late in the fourth, Solomon remained on the floor with him shifting over to the other guard spot. It is a way to safe guard for Roko and his learning on the job and it is a pretty good idea.

Do the Hump?

Kris Humphries is having a great pre-season so far. It reminds me of the first time he showed up in Toronto when he was the surprise of the Raptor pre-season. It really isn’t clear how much of a roll the Humphries can play. Sam Mitchell has been preaching the idea of a smaller rotation on most nights and that is not in Hump’s favour. However Kris Humphries just gives 100% of what he has got and leaves it all on the floor. It makes you wonder what went wrong for him with the Utah Jazz.  How bad could he have been to trade him for Hoffa?  I still can’t believe that Hoffa is back in the NBA. Rob Babcock may be a lot of things but you have to say the guy is loyal.

AP Looking To Cash In This Year

When all is said and done it was a pretty good night overall. Anthony Parker had a nice night to as he was the spark plug at the start of both the first and second half to get this offense rolling. I have always thought that AP could do more for this Raptor squad and maybe this will be the year. It is a contract year for Anthony Parker. There is a lot of people thinking he will make a return to Europe after this season. However regardless of where AP is going to be heading next year it is in his best interest to have a good year this season. Parker has been known as a slow starter in the past, however it seems at least early that Parker has hit the ground running this season.

Bring On The Knicks

I am curious to see what the Mike Dantoni system looks like operated by the New York Knicks. I some how think it will not look like when Steve Nash is at the controls. Chris Duhon is not Steve Nash and it is a long road ahead for the New York Knicks and I really question if Mike Dantoni can last in New York long enough to get the type of players it will take to run his system. What often is forgotten is that prior to his job with the Suns, Dantoni was a failure with the Nuggets. I still have faith that the Knicks can hold on to the basement in the Atlantic Division. This is going to take a long time to clean up the mess that was left in the wake of the Isiah Thomas Era.

Nash in 2010?

No Steve Nash is not retiring and entering politics in 2010 that I am aware of. But you may have read Michael Grange yesterday who was suggesting that Nash may welcome a move to the North in 2010. Hey that is when the contract for JO runs out. Chris Bosh has his contract opt out in that same year. Steve Nash signs with the Raptors that would seem a good incentive for Bosh to remain a Raptor. It is all in theory and but we have a long way to go till we get till 2010. There are reasons to be excited about this season right now let’s leave 2010 in the future for now. It is not that I am against Steve Nash coming to the Raptors to finish his career if he is healthy and still productive. I am just not focused on that at the moment. I like Michael Grange and his work but on this one let’s focus on what is in front of us right now shall we?

Good Luck Matt

I wanted to close today wishing my best to Matt Devlin who will be calling his first Raptor game tonight on Raptors TV. Matt has been really great to get to know and has been a guest on this blog a few times and he will be back on Thursday as well. It is going to be a tough job to replace Chuck Swirsky but I think Matt will do his best to do a good job. There is going to be a shock value to hearing someone new calling games but once that goes away I hope most fans will give Matt a chance. It is a very hard job to call any sport on T.V or Radio and it is a challenge. You may think it is easy but it is much tougher than it appears to be.  I am hopefully that Matt will have a good run here in Toronto. He has been very kind with his time and I feel has made a great effort to get to know the Raptor Fan Base. Tonight he will be calling the game with Raptors T.V Sherman Hamilton as the duo will be teamed up for all the pre-season games on Raptors T.V

Pre Game Chat Room

I am going to be hanging out in the Dino Nation Blog Chat Room for Pre-Game. Last night I got locked out by my computer but I will be there tonight. Also you will have another Raptor Rewind later tonight after the game. In between all that I ave my first Fantasy Draft of the year with the good folks over at Raptors Forum. Our Fantasy League on Yahoo has it’s draft Sunday. But if you missed your chance to get in that one I started a second and you are welcome to join that one. All details are on our Fantasy Sports Page.

So see you tonight and I think we all look forward to seeing our Raptors hit the floor at the ACC for the first time this season.