Raptors new additions making their names heard

The Toronto Raptors, winners of four straight, with an overlooked 6-9 record are looking to continue their trend of “going young”, after adding 22-year old former Arizona standout Jerryd Bayless. The team traded their starting point guard Jarrett Jack, along with benchwarmers David Anderson (C) and Marcus Banks (PG) to the New Orleans Hornets while receiving Bayless as well as former all-star Peja Stojakovic in return. Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo’s former relationship with Bayless most likely did not influence the trade, however, but instead was the expiring contract of Stojakovic ($15 million), who though in the twilight of his career can still “bring it”, in a sense.

The two new Raptors certainly brought it tonight, with Bayless coming off the bench, scoring 13 points in 15 minutes, while converting on all three-point shot attempts – one by which, was a buzzer beater to end the first quarter of an eventual Raptors win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The 6’10 Serbian native also added a spark to his new team, by scoring 7 points within just 3 minutes of playing time, totaling an insane statistic average of 93 points per 40 minutes.

Don’t get too excited though, because with the decline of Peja as a threat in the NBA, that number should decrease to about 12-15, at best. All jokes aside, Stojakovic kept his composure as a professional basketball playing veteran, while allowing the small forward tasks to be allotted mostly to Toronto’s starting forward, Sonny Weems.

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The Toronto Raptors got right to it in this particular ball game, scoring 33 points in the first quarter, and never giving up the lead at any time. The high-scorer was starting center Andrea Bargnani, totaling 24 points on 50% shooting. While every Toronto fan wishes Chris Bosh’s replacement would pick up his defense and increase his rather dismal rebounding average of 4.8 boards per game (tied for the rank of 90th along with Thunder starting shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha), the Italy native chipped in a respectable three blocks against a defensive-minded 76ers team.

Toronto next faces the league’s Beasts of the East in the Boston Celtics, host to TD Banknorth Garden (Boston, Massachussetts). The Celtics, with an 11-4 record look to continue their winning streak by slaughtering the dinos, as they have in every home game dating back to 2008, when Ray Allen missed a 7-footer to win the game.

By Sean Ruth
Probasketball-fans.com Staff Writer

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