The Full Court Press

In the beginning of the season i was HYPED!! and right now imm still HYPED!! I look at it this way, it's just the beginning and a lot of our players are starting to get into their game mode and many are slowly recovering from surgeries. They still have flaws to work out such as getting their boards, defence, boxing out, and just getting to teh rim. In our last few games we were just slacking off in those areas, and we were just not playing as a team. Instead they played by themselves. it's still the beginning and our players like Kapono are just started to get used to the home court, and before you know it, he's gonna have a HOT hand, and we're gonna have our own Jesus, who can do what Ray Allen does best! So we gotta stay positive, we have about another 80 games, we have time.Oh an one more thing... WE DEMOLISHED CARTER AND THE NETS!! =)

I don’t even know why this has become a huge issue when the season is only 5 games young for our Raptors. I’m sure the players know what needs to be done, and if aiming to win the Atlantic Division will help them work out their kinks, then all the power to them – Go Raptors Go. Is the repeat as Division Champs likely? I strongly doubt it, but I do strongly believe they will make the playoffs again this year and hopefully they can advance beyond the first round. Lastly, to comment on what "GJ" said – sorry, Kapono is no where near the level of skill or consistency compared to Jesus aka Ray Allen.

I agree with the article. We can't be so reactionary to the raptors thus far. This city is just so used to being like this with the leafs that they got to put the same pressure on the raps. (Too many bandwagoneers in the city if you tell me) The raptors are deep and they are just still working out the kinks. The recent move of rasho into the starting lineup is a good start. Talk me to in february and the raptors are first in the division. All the naysayers will be eating their own words and jumping back on the bandwagon as usual(when the leafs are statistically out of the playoff picture)

I'm alone out west here, but watch my Raps religiously! I like the changes the team has made coming in, and I love our point guard tandem. If was can stay mostly healthy this year, and not lose our big Euro's, I think we can take this division again. Boston is a concern, but they may not come together as a team this year...so we have a shot. As long as I don't see the big men go down for the season, I won't sweat it for while. They are a great team, and will do Canada proud again. Viva La Raptors!

The defence ability is there but other NBA teams can make a crack look like a hole. Part of the problem is that there are too many outside shots for the RAPS, not a lot of rebounding, equals more time in the Raps end and more scoring chances for the opposition. Solution is to fill the crack, drive to the rim, draw fouls, spend more time in the other end, equals more chances for the Raps. Chris has to be thinking before he gets the ball not after, that second of hesitation is making it easy for the defence. I watch every chance I get and believe me, if the money and committment is there this is going to be a great team. Sam will mix and match until the chemistry is right.

Bring back the OAK!

Another issue that will make wins tougher to come by this year is the east is much stronger. Teams like Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Orlando, Jersey, Knicks have improved. How much? Time will tell.

As for the Raps, someone must step up at the 3 position. They have a surplus of players but no one is getting it done- yet. Kapono, Delfino, Graham, Garbo and even Parker are not providing what we need at the wing. We are a Michael Redd type player away from being a contender. Redd was a second round pick- the above mentioned players have an opportunity with the Raps to have a breakout season. Lets hope someone takes advantage of the opportunity.

Bargnani is a double edged sword. Mitchell has not gone "big" yet this year- Andrea can play a 3 in spurts. There are times where we need a power center more than we need a 7' three point shooter on the court- especially with Bosh not yet 100%.

Once Sam gets the rotation worked out and if we play each night with some desperation, we should be ok.

they should win in philly, they match well against them.

The Raptors are slow as a team and lack athleticism and strength.Therefore they are too slow to get back on defence and pushed around on the boards.It is nice to have guys who can shoot,but when they are not scoring 110 points,their weaknesses begin to show.Get Joey Graham and Humphries in the mix.The Raptors are using too many scorers and not even athletes.

Hey Jason B in Calgary - You're not alone out west. I'm flyng the Raptors flag on Vancouver Island. I'm new out here from Southern Ontario and trying to get something going. So far though I'm watching the games alone. Too bad you're not a bit closer. Come on Vancouver Island Raptor fans. Show yourselves. It's Canada's team, right? Now's a great time to hop on board.
Go Raptors nation!

The problem with the Raps thus far as one poster mentioned is that they have gotten away from their strongest asset, Team Basketball. This Raptors squad does not have a player like Lebron who can carry the team to victory (Bosh can play the role at times, but not this early in the season and not every game), we don't have an Arenas or Kobe who can score at will without being set up first (and frankly I'm glad we don't). What we do have is an unselfish team who will pass up a shot they believe they can make in order to set up a teammate with an even better looking opportunity. Sadly that has not happened enough this year as players are taking the first decent look that presents itself rather than moving the ball around the perimeter and working for the best shot possible. The success of last season has created a confident locker room, which is great, as long as that confidence does not inflate egos and lead to individualistic stat-stuffing play to the detriment of team success.

I say the Raptors are a good team, but as was said above they've got some issues, certain of which I'm not sure will improve. The main one being that they are simply not athletic enough. Bargnani will never be a good player until he learns to play defense. Bargnani would be an amazing player if he would get a little bigger and tougher, while keeping his shooting touch, he'd be comparable to Arvydis Sabonis but with more speed and athleticism. I think he should be playing the center position or atleast sharing it with Bosh. Keep Nesterovic out of the lineup, he's a 2nd or third string player at best at this point in his career.

When it comes to the small forward issues, Kapono is a shooter but isn't athletic enough to play defense, he'd never be in Toronto if he could, Miami would never have let him go. Graham is out best bet, because he is physical and athletic, able to help with the defensive rebounding. He should be getting more playing time than the others but a good rotation of the three works. I think the guards are pretty good, point guards you can't ask for much more, and shooting guards, well, Parker is a wicked defender and can do most of what you need out of an off guard on offense so we're okay.

The answer to all our problem's is "JAMARIO MOON"