On Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors began their sixteenth season by losing to the New York Knicks at home. New York amassed a significant lead and Toronto’s second unit chipped away until the team was able to claim a single point lead in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Amare Stoudamire was able to gain excellent position in the paint and score repeatedly turning the tide in favour of the Knicks. Many fans have taken the opportunity to cast aspersion upon the squad though they can react with indignation all they want and the Raptors will carry on without them. It’s certainly more …
A Bad Week for the Raptors
The Raptors demonstrated some horrible execution this week. On Tuesday, they lost to Washington in overtime. To give credit where it is due, they ran a very cute side out for Charlie Villanueva to create a baseline jumper before the halftime buzzer. Usually, I find that Sam Mitchell’s quick hitters are dry and predictable, especially compared to what Kevin O’Neill would diagram. Occasionally, Mitchell comes up with a well-conceived, effective play. In overtime, I appreciated how the Wizards ran Gilbert Arenas off repeated dribble picks. Given that Arenas had dropped over thirty points, I don’t know why the Raptors did …