As echoed here before the season, Jacks all around game and superior defensive abilities vis a vis Calderon, led one to believe that it was only a matter of time before Jack took Calderon’s starting job, much like he did to T.J Ford last season in Indiana.

Jack has been on fire in March, and has surprised Raptor fans with his spectacular play since the All-Star break. He is showing glimpses of being able to take a step not many casual fans knew he had coming into the league and becoming an elite level (2nd tier) point guard in the NBA.

Jarrett Jack likely would have been a lottery pick in 2005 when he went 22nd overall in the NBA draft; his draft position has caused many to overlook him his entire career, especially considering all the teams he left still need to or needed to address the point guard position after he left.

Jack was not short on lottery talent, but with Chris Paul, Deron Wiliiams and Raymond Felton going to point guard needy Hornets, Jazz and Bobcats respectively, Jack surprisingly stayed on the board until the PG needy (at that time anyway) Denver Nuggets called his name (he was subsequently dealt to the PG needy Blazers for the draft rights to Linas Kleiza and Ricky Sanchez).

Jack has been quietly posting solid fantasy lines/box scores since his time with the Blazers, but somehow he always finds himself competing for a job in a time-share.  First it was Steve Blake in Portland, than former Raptor T.J Ford in Indiana, and now the man who replaced T.J Ford in Toronto, Jose Calderon.

Will Jack be able to take the next step?? Ultimately, only time will tell, but given the requisite opportunity, Jarrett Jack definitely has the skill set and the intangibles to make that leap.

Jarrett Jack’s steady improvement is good news for Raptor fans, both because he is a Raptor, and also because his role on the team will play a factor when Chris Bosh sits down and tries to decide exactly where he wants to play for the next few years. Seeing his good friend and old college roommate blossom as a starting point guard on the same team as him will undoubtedly help the Raptors case.

What do you think Raptor fans? Should we move on with Jack as our starter and find a taker for Calderon?? Or is Jack the better trade bait due to his strong play? Should the Raptors just stick with them both?
We want to hear your comments Raptor fans!! Leave a comment below or send us an email at raptorcity@raptorsdigest.com. You can also follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/raptorcity

Tyreke Evans is a super-talented NBA player, never mind rookie, but the Kings should have never beaten the Raptors in what was for the Raps a must-win game against a lesser opponent.

The Toronto Raptors shot themselves in the foot by allowing a whopping 43 points in the third quarter.

If you can bear it, see the highlights below:

Despite the Raptors strong effort against the Lakers, the Lakers locker room was clearly discontented with the victory, as they felt the Raptors are not even in the same league with them, the following comments highlight this sentiment:

“They don’t deserve to score 100 points on us.” – Lamar Odom

“I’m throwing this [expletive] in the garbage,” Bryant said.

Source: ESPN

The fact of the matter is, the Raptors are still a league laughing stock despite Chris Bosh’ best effort and being as much as 6 games over .500 this season.
The Raptors now find themselves at 32-30, and 3-7 in their last 10, which has dropped us to 6th place in the standings behind the Bucks and only 1 1/2 games out of 9th place and back into the lottery.

The Raptors MUST make the playoffs for Chris Bosh to even consider staying in Toronto, so we have to get it together now, or else….

Raptor afterthought, point guard Marcus Banks bedazzled Raptor fans by coming off the bench, to, get this, lead the Toronto Raptors in scoring.
He chipped in 4 steals to go with his game high 15 points.

Needless to say the Raptors, minus Bosh and Calderon, and Hedo who left the game due to injury, came up extremely short.

The Rockets back court of Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks destroyed the Raptors to the tune of 28 points a piece.

The Raptors are looking like a lottery team without Bosh and Raptor fans can now truly appreciate the magnitude of importance Chris Bosh’s decision to stay or go will have on this Toronto Raptors franchise.

The Raptors will likely continue to struggle while Chris Bosh is out with injury, and with our playoff hopes being threatened, one can only hope he makes a speedy and full recovery.

With Chris Bosh nursing his plantar fascia, the short-handed Raptors faced off against a Cavs team that was without Shaq.  LBJ and the Cavs were put to a serious test on the second half of  back to back by Hedo Turkoglu and the Toronto Raptors. Despite LBJ’s 36 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, the short-handed Raptors were able to force the game to the extra frame.

Reggie Evans electrified fans with his solid play, and actually led the team in rebounds with 5, he also got to the line 9 times, and finished the game with a solid 13 points.

Andrea Bargnani had 24 points to go with 4 rebounds and Jarret Jack, who has continued his stellar play as of late contributed 24 points as well.

There will not be many times when three Raptors take double-digits shots, hit over 50% and the Raptors still lose; but playing against LBJ, it becomes a plausible possibility.

Hedo Turkoglu once again showed why he is indeed an invaluable piece in the Raptors big picture, as thanks to spirited efforts from both himself and Reggie Evans, the Raptors were able to go punch for punch in a prize fight with the leagues best.

The Raptors square off against the exciting and rolling Thunder led by 21 year old phenom Kevin ‘Durantula’ Durant on Sunday. With Bosh not expected to play, the Thunder should take this one on their homecourt rather easily. It should be a good game and is one to watch.

As stated above, Bosh is expected to miss tonights home game against the new look Washington Wizards. The Wizards will be a tougher test than the Nets were, but since the venue is the ACC, the Raps still should not have much of a problem putting them away with relative ease.

Interesting numbers as most of us Raptor fans probably thought it was closer:

“Cleveland’s LeBron James received two votes and Toronto’s Chris Bosh received one.

The panel consists of nine media members and three fan votes Wade wins All-Star MVP by vote of 9-2-1 based on online polling. The player with the highest online vote total gets two votes and one vote goes to the player who finishes second in fan balloting.”

Source: Marc Stein of ESPN

The Toronto Raptors for one, believed to be positioning themselves to be deadline sellers, have righted the ship and have become deadline buyers.

We have learned that Bryan Colangelo is, and will be active up to the deadline trying to improve our Raptors squad.

Other deadline rumblings we have heard from other NBA teams include Amare to be trade from the Suns, Tyrus Thomas to be traded from the Bulls, Marcus Camby on the market with Portland aggressively pursuing, T-Mac to the Knicks for Hill, Jeffries and Harrington or Hughes. Roger Mason on the market and more.

Where there is smoke there is usually fire and there is reason to believe that Bryan Colangelo is holding out for the Sacramento Kings Kevin Martin.

However, the Boston Celtics have surfaced as a more likely trading partner, especially if the Maloof brothers are looking for salary cap relief. If they are looking for talent and fit, one has to believe the Raptors potential offer trumps the Celtics offer.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets in response to Raptors Digest question: Boston. But how good would K-Mart look as a Rap. RT @raptorcity Is Toronto or Boston more likely for K-Martin if he is traded?

However Raptors nation doesn’t completely agree, in a recent poll run by Raptors Digest, while roughly half of Raptor fans do favour a Calderon for Martin swap, the other half would rather keep Calderon or find someone better to trade for.

Whether or not BC should pull the trigger on such a deal remains a hot topic, but the general consensus still remains that the Raptors, should and will likely make a move before Thursday’s trade deadline.

What do you think Raptor fans?? Is this a deal the Raptors should make now that Jose has been relegated to a $8.5 million dollar backup?? If not for Martin, who else should BC be aiming for?? We want to hear your thoughts!!
Leave a comment below or send us an email at raptorcity@raptorsdigest.com. You can follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/raptorcity

Chris Bosh undoubtedly gained some more notoriety as he is quickly becoming recognized as one of the top 2 power forwards in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki. Charles Barkely called Chris Bosh the most underrated player in the NBA, and with averages of 24 and 11 and not being voted in as a starter, the general public will soon start to agree.

Chris Bosh plans to ride the momentum the Raptors had garnered before the break to make quite the run over the last third of the season as the Raptors play roughly half their games against teams under .500.

Lets just hope the Raptors don’t fall into that old trap of playing down to the level of their competition….we know Bosh won’t

P.S. Loved Alicia Keys and Shakira in the half-time show, wow!! Just had to throw that in there….