#toronto-raptors

#toronto-raptors

Peas are as polarizing as they are populous, with people's opinions on the vegetable often boiling down to one thing: perspective. My wife, for instance, loathes the voluminous green bulbs because of the taste and texture, which "feels like pimples popping in your mouth," and the fact that she hardly ate them growing up, as her mom didn't like them either.

So, every game has been an exhibit, mostly, of the Raptors forwards trying to power them through to a victory, with maybe one or two role players managing to hit shots alongside them. It's usually a player elevated into the starting lineup. If Sandro Mamukelashvili starts? Open looks, and points. Ja'Kobe Walter? Usually the same. If Agbaji starts? Just the looks, maybe.

Poeltl was out there for Toronto's most recent game and win on Monday, December 15, against the Miami Heat when he contributed eight points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action. He's featured in 20 games so far out of a possible 27 and has seen his numbers dip from last year, but he still remains a big part of the team, as his absence is very noticeable when opponent teams crash the glass on a Poeltl-less Raptors squad.

Toronto has finally had a well-deserved break after a tough four-game losing streak, which included being knocked out of the NBA Cup quarterfinals by the now-finals-bound New York Knicks on December 9. And it was during that game that a young Raptors player received a lot of criticism for his poor performance. Despite only playing eight minutes, Gradey Dick had two careless turnovers, adding to the ongoing criticism of the Raptors during what was already a rough night for Jakob Poeltl.

Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic exited early against the Toronto Raptors on Monday game with a right elbow injury.

Ginger Baker was a brilliant drummer and, if reports are to be believed, something of a mess of a man. He blended rhythms like a fusion restaurant and was one of the best drummers in the world in the 1960s, even joining former bandmate Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton in supergroup Cream. He once slashed at Bruce with a knife during a show. He was a brilliant drummer and a troubled man.

That may not have happened, as hoped, but the Raptors put Mount Olympus on notice, surely earning the respect of the West - we are no fluke now. However, Toronto has seen last night's story play out many times. An underdog Toronto team keeps fighting, gets close to pulling an upset, and then gets its heart stolen and stomped. What seemed like a game that would go into overtime ended in regulation as Rui Hachimura cashed the buzzer-beating corner 3.

When Toronto was awarded an NBA franchise in 1994 and it chose the team name, "Raptors," the initial public reaction included plenty of mockery. But kids like dinosaurs, and Jurassic Park had just been released in 1993, so the jerseys sold well. The kitsch factor perhaps overshadowed the silliness of a name that truly had nothing to do with the city of Toronto.