Location: Toronto, Ont. | Arena: Air Canada Centre (19,800) | Chairman: Lawrence M. Tanenbaum | GM: Bryan Colangelo Head Coach: Sam Mitchell | Titles: 0
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Everyone connected with the Raptors will now begin the painful process of self-evaluation, secure in the knowledge that no matter what they said or thought, it was proved quite conclusively they are not now as good as the Orlando Magic, let alone the top echelon of NBA teams.
Losing the best-of-seven series in five games will be a bitter pill for management, coach Sam Mitchell and the players to swallow. Losing in the manner they did will be even more difficult to accept.
It is the failing of the Raptors' roster that they lack that player for crunch time -- or that none emerged over the course of the season.
After clawing back from down seven to within 84-82, the Raptors went four straight possessions without scoring a point, and Orlando's 8-0 run with about four minutes left effectively ended the season.
"If we have somebody that is aggressive on the offensive end, creating plays, making shots and getting to the basket ... I think we have some shooters, but if our shooters develop a talent where they can take guys off the dribble, that'll make us a lot better," said Chris Bosh.
MAGIC 102, RAPTORS 92: Once again, it came down to late game execution, and, once again, the Raptors came up short, another illustration of the shortcomings of a roster that muddled through a 41-41 regular season. The roster will have to be remade in at least some aspects before next season.
After clawing back from an eight-point deficit to cut an Orlando lead to 84-82, the Raptors came away empty on four straight possessions with Carlos Delfino missing two shots and Chris Bosh each missing one.
And as they did for almost the entire series, the Magic answered Raptors failings with their own big plays as Keith Bogans and Jameer Nelson hit critical 3-pointers to put the game out of reach.
With the sellout crowd of 17,519 on its feet for most of the final two minutes, the Magic rolled to a victory that moves it into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons.
Chris Bosh didn't have a brilliant game -- 16 points and nine rebounds -- and it's proven virtually impossible for this team to win if he doesn't explode. T.J. Ford, who finished the game on the bench while Jose Calderon played, had 14 points, as did Carlos Delfino. But that wasn't nearly enough to hold off the Magic.
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Losing to the Magic in 5 games, well there's always next year. But today, well this is just heartbreaking.
In case you haven't already heard, Chuck Swirsky said today he will be leaving the Raptors organization and head back to Chicago, where he will become the r
I can see that sman1965 bothers almost every team on their message board. While trash talking is fun, just seeing this guys posts makes me fell like I am back in the 3rd grade.
I am proposing a boycott of any thread he starts, and to any posts he makes on other threads as well...
Maybe he will start to talk smart sports conversation or maybe he will jus
I know Im not the only raptor fan who feels this way, in fact I dont think there are many fans in TJ's corner right now, and for good reason. Ford has gone from a great pass-first pg with incredible court vision to a crazed gun slinger who shoots his team into and back out of games. I noticed this disturbing new side of him against Orlando, and its been getting steadily worse since, last night
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the best announcer in the nba is gone. no more chuck swirsky and as a raptor fan i am very disappointed, chuck has always been very optimistic and he is the voice of the Raptors, i think the organization should do something to honor this man for all of his great work for this
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Rebounding needs to be addressed in TO as the Raptors are consistently being out rebounded. Emeka Okafor is a restricted free agent this summer and is a very underrated and consistent 10 13 guy.
Disagreeme
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Thank God that's over. That series truly shows how poor of a coach Sam Mitchell is. He had that Defense chasing the ball like a bunch of squirt players.
Chuck Swirsky kept going on and on about how dominating Dwight Howard is, well I guess he's dominating if he's the only one on th
Well here is my assesment. I think we should sign Eduardo Najera from Denver. He is the type of player we need, will do the nitty gritty stuff. We package Ford and Bargnani to Charlotte for Okafor (I think he still wants out). If we dont get Okafor, then we sign
Hey Raptors fans, despite your loss I would like to congratulate you in a great season in which you took another step in the right direction as a franchise. Hopefully next season your team improves even more and can get even further into the postseason.
The two players I like and respect the most is of course former
This site rocks. You get a free starting balance to bet on any games. If you work it up to $10 or more, you can cash it out and get a check in the mail. There are no catches and NO DEPOSITING is even allowed on the site. If you lose your first bet, you don't even go to zero balance. They give you your starting kitty over and over again. This is a lot of f
In no particular order, Colangelo HAS to do the following if were going to be any good next year, especially with young teams like Atlanta and Philly improving, and Miami probably going to be a playoff team next year:
1. Fire Sam Mitchell, and hire a seasoned veteran head coach like Rick Carlisle, Mike Dunleav
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Toronto did such a great job in today's game at choking. They (the Raptors) had the officials in their pocket and still you found a way to lose. You wanted Dwight and the Magic, well you got us and you blew it eh? Don't worry, its not t
game 3, ACC. its time for the Raptors to show the Magic how its done in TO. I think that since kapono is playing so well they should start him at SF and Bargani has to contribute in a big way tonight.
