Last night we welcomed back our superstar Demar DeRozen (#NBABallot) and Philly could not have come at a better time in the schedule. After dropping their Monday night game at the ACC against the Pistons, the Raps needed a W. We dropped to third in the East with that loss, but fortunately maintained our spot at the top of the Atlantic Division. Well, the Atlantic Division might also be the worst conference in the league- the Knicks are currently riding a 15 game losing streak and hold a record of 5-35. I have an inkling they aren’t going to fair much better this afternoon when they play the Bucks across the pond at London’s O2 Arena.
I digress, DeRozen’s return could not come at a better time. Our Bulldog of Bay Street’s shoulders are tired from putting the team on his back practically every night and seemingly sacrificing his body for a win. The Raptors barely made it out of our six game road trip at the end of December, finishing with a 2-4 record. However, one of those wins was against the all mighty Clippers and the loss to the Trailblazers I am still questioning due to the COUNTLESS reviews the referees called in the dying minutes of the game. I also question Casey not playing GV nearly as much as he should be in the fourth, but I’m getting off topic. We’re also playing sloppy D and our once spectacular defence efficiency rate is dropping by the game. Giving up 100+ points a game means we aren’t doing our job on defence. Let’s get that fixed okay? You know the age old saying about defence winning games? Don’t make me repeat it.
DeRozen’s return could not come at a better time. With the first place team in the East, The Atlanta Hawks, travelling to Jurassic Park on Friday night we need to be firing on all cylinders. The Raptors are once again the underdogs. Despite showing we can get Ws without our All Star, Toronto haters, and there are a a lot of them, took the Raps record from the road trip and chalked us up to not being able to compete with the stronger Western Division. So here we are again, not on anyone’s radar and dropping in the many power rankings posted on the inter-webs. CBS actually gave us a top spot in the power rankings back in December, the same week Yahoo! tossed us a #5 spot. Gee thanks, Yahoo!. I liked AOL better than you anyways and I’m shocked you’re still in existent. Maybe look to follow Target’s lead in Canada and just get out. Okay, vent over about Yahoo!
So, how do the Raps move forward? Well, many will point to the coaching decisions of Casey. Vasquez needs to take better care of the basketball and Lowry needs to keep being the All Star we know he is, despite the voting- that being said go now and hashtag #NBABallot to vote for Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozen on any social media, or via the NBA All Star website– and we need to play like the deep, talented, energetic and talented team we are. I miss that team. So welcome back DeRozen, we’ve all missed you terribly.
Claire McArthur 