Toronto Raptors’ center Andrea Bargnani is having the best season of his four-year career and has been one of the Raptors most consistent scorers.  Bargnani is 7′0″ and 250-pounds, but he is far from a low-post, back to the basket type of guy.  Bargnani is the epitome of a big European player, as the Italian native has a great stroke and loves to shoot the three.  This season Bargnani is shooting 47% from the field (career-high) and 36% from three.  He  is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and blocks with averages of 17.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 assists.  Bargnani is turning out to be a very good player and worth the number one pick in the 2006 draft when many thought he may turn into another bust like Darko Milicic.  Each year his numbers have improved and he could turn out to be an All-Star in a few years.

Chris Bosh has been playing at an MVP level for the Toronto Raptors this season, leading them to a 26-22 record and 7 wins in their last 10 games.  On the season Bosh is averaging 24.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 blocks, and a 52% FG percentage.  Bosh has been nothing but outstanding ever since they took him 4th in the 2003 draft, but his days in Toronto are likely numbered with Bosh becoming an unrestricted free-agent after this season.  In his career with the Raptors Bosh has played in 487 games, averaging 20.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 blocks, 0.8 steals, and has shot 49% from the field.  This may be Toronto’s best shot at making a run in the playoffs for years to come, as Bosh will likely be gone next year.  They are starting to play very good basketball, and with Bosh doing his thing the Raptors could make some major noise once the postseason rolls around.

After helping the Orlando Magic make it to the NBA Finals last season, the Toronto Raptors signed the free-agent Hedo Turkoglu in the off-season in hopes that he could help take their team to the next level.  Well, Turkoglu has not looked very comfortable with the Raptors this season and his numbers are all down this year.  After averaging 19.5 points in 2007-’08 and 16.8 points last season with the Magic, Turkoglu is down to 12.5 points this season and is shooting only 40% from the field.  He is also averaging 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 39% from three, so he is not having a horrible season for the Raptors.  Its just that they expected more from Turkoglu this year after signing him to a 5-year $50 million contract.  The Raptors have hovered around .500 this season and they will likely not make it out of the first round of the playoffs unless Turkoglu really steps it up and helps out Chris Bosh more with some of the scoring.

Point guard Jose Calderon is being a great sport for the Raptors as he is playing behind Jarrett Jack. But, instead of pouting Calderon has come back more focused and he is helping the team big time off the bench. Calderon has played in 31 games (22 starts) for the Raptors this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He is also shooting pretty darn well from everywhere on the court hittting 51.5% of his shots from the floor, 40.8% from three point range and 82.3% from the free throw line. A lot of players could learn from Jose Calderon who is putting the team first over his own playing time and stats.

The Toronto Raptors (12-11) did not come ready to play Tuesday night and were blown out by the Miami Heat (11-16).  They were outrebounded 45-32 and shot 45% from the field, while the Heat shot 52%.  The Raptors need to do a better job rebounding.  Center Andrea Bargnani and power forward Chris Bosh combined for only 9 rebounds.  Bosh did his job on offense though, scoring 28 points and dishing out 4 assists.  The Heat didn’t even get a huge night out of Dwayne Wade, who had 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 7 assists and was able to sit out the fourth quarter due to the large Heat lead.  The Raptors let Michael Beasley do whatever he wanted, as he tied his career high with 28 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.  This was a poor effort by the Raptors.