Spotlight on…Toronto

The Skinny: General Manager Bryan Colangelo's vision and rebuilt roster (nine new faces including a heavy international influence this year) are beginning to take hold in a big way for the Raptors as this team shook off a tough, road-heavy 7-14 start when it decided to abandon the high-tempo offense it had been employing. The results have been astonishing: an 18-9 record since, including 8-2 over the last 10 and three straight wins. Now sitting at 25-23, the Raptors, by virtue of their first place standing in the Atlantic Division, are holding down the No. 4 seed in the East. It's the latest in the season this club has been over .500 since 2001-02 – which is also the last time the club made the postseason. Last year, for instance, the Raptors took until March 21 before hitting the 25-win mark. Team depth that can match up with the best in the NBA has helped the Raptors create a balanced attack capable of withstanding injuries to key personnel (they've already proved they can win without stars Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford). After an incredible January that saw Toronto become the first team in league history to sweep the three monthly awards (Eastern Conference Player of the Month to Bosh, Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month to Andrea Bargnani and Eastern Conference Coach of the Month to Sam Mitchell), the team looks to continue its spectacular home cooking with five of the next seven at the ACC. Considering the Raptors are 16-7 at home so far, including five straight wins, they have a chance to put some serious distance between them and the second-place Nets. And without looking too far ahead, don't bet against Toronto come playoff time. With a 17-9 record against Eastern Conference foes, this is a team that could surprise many people.

Strengths: Smart, disciplined play with scoring balance. The Raps protect the pumpkin (tied for second fewest turnovers per game and No. 1 in fewest steals by opponents) and don't hurt themselves, as their eight technical fouls is far and away the lowest total in the NBA. Five Raptors average over 10 PPG and the team goes 10 deep when counting players who average better than 6 PPG.

Weaknesses: Working the opponents' glass. Toronto ranks second last in offensive rebounds per game (9.4) and is giving up the second-most defensive rebounds to their opponents.

Lineup

PG: Jose Calderon is finally starting to make a name for himself. The second-year guard stepped in when T.J. Ford's ankle knocked him out of the lineup, and the Spanish Fly made the transition seamlessly. The club continues to bring Ford along slowly off the bench behind Calderon, but right now the Raptors' guard play is the envy of the league. Sunday, the pair combined for 27 points and 19 assists, so Toronto seems in great hands regardless of who is running the show. If Calderon starts again as expected tonight against the Magic, he'll match the entire number of starts he had as a rookie. Not bad for a guy who looked like he was falling out of favor with Coach Mitchell for a while earlier this season.

SG: Two-time Euroleague MVP Anthony Parker has made a triumphant return to the NBA, and is one of the main beneficiaries with open looks as teams try to double team Bosh. As he's regained his comfort level with the North American game, Parker has become more and more integrated into the team's offense (10.3 PPG in November, 11.6 in December, 13.1 in January, 14.5 in February).

SF: Jorge Garbajosa, headed to the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge (although calling the Euroleague veteran a rookie is akin to calling Kirstie Alley thin – it's all relative), has struggled on and off with his shot this year. Since taking over as a starter early in the season, however, Garbo has supplied the Raps with superb defense and is tied for the team lead with 1.2 SPG. He's spent plenty of time working with team shooting coach Dave Hopla and Sunday it paid off when Garbajosa drained four 3-pointers as he re-established his hold on the small forward job over fellow rookie Bargnani.

PF: Two-time All-Star Bosh bounced back from a knee injury last month and continues to develop his game into one of the more impressive packages in the NBA. He's even added a bit of an outside touch this year, having already more than doubled the number of treys he hit in his first three years combined. If that trend continues and Bosh becomes a legitimate outside threat, it will open up even more space for him and his teammates as opposing shot blockers will be forced to play away from the basket.

C: Rasho Nesterovic benefited the most when Toronto ditched the Phoenix East impression and went back to a more traditional offensive approach. He looked lost early, but has become a more important part of the offense, and is getting more touches than he did as a Spur while shooting the best percentage (52 percent from the floor) he's shown since his final year in Minnesota.

Bench: Morris Peterson has been the consummate professional, never moaning when he lost his starting job or as the number of plays being called for him dried up. He's been on the trade block for some time, and while his overall numbers have dropped, MoPete remains a big threat from the perimeter; Ford arrived in Toronto with a reputation as a poor shooter, but he's shown a much-improved touch and, in another unselfish move by a Raptor, Ford actually told Coach Mitchell to start Calderon while he works his way back to full strength; No. 1 overall pick Bargnani has made an easier and quicker transition to the NBA than anyone expected. He's already a dangerous outside shooter, but what's most exciting is that you can see the progression in his overall game on a daily basis; on the flipside, Joey Graham hasn't shown much progression in his sophomore season. He remains part of the rotation, but tends to disappear when he doesn't play with aggression; Kris Humphries' role has diminished since he arrived in Toronto, but the former University of Minnesota rebounding stud brings more energy to the floor than the man he was dealt for, draft flop Rafael Araujo; former NBA Dunk Champion Fred Jones is currently nursing a dislocated finger that's kept him out of the lineup for the past three games, but it's hard to tell the difference as he really lost his way in the rotation some time ago. Expected to show more offense once freed from the conservative Indy offense, instead Jones has gotten the fewest touches he's seen in three years; Darrick Martin supplies capable backup when required and shows a nice outside shooting touch as the third-string PG, but his real value to Toronto is as a mentor to the youngsters; Uros Slokar has only seen action in four games this year, but has proved valuable as a European teammate of Bargnani's to help ease the super rookie's adjustment to the NBA; Pape Sow has only appeared in three games, but that he's played at all is a much bigger deal. Getting back on the court and completing an unlikely comeback from a broken neck suffered in summer leagues is one of the great stories of the year; P.J. Tucker has been recalled to the team this week after averaging over 10 PPG and 3 RPG in 14 games in the D-League. The rookie brings some energy off the bench, but isn't expected to have much of a role down the stretch.

On the Rise

• With Allen Iverson. sidelined, Steve Blake has enjoyed a fantastic week, playing a minimum of 39 minutes in each of the past four games. Note, however, that if A.I. (game-time decision tonight because of his ankle) returns, Blake's value will plummet. Still, with 31 assists over the past three games, Blake deserves a second look.

• The return of Stromile Swift this week has wreaked havoc on the value of Hakim Warrick and Brian Cardinal as the second unit frontcourt players on the Grizzlies are all cannibalizing each other's PT. Cardinal had been inactive for three games before making a less-than-impressive appearance on Saturday that earned him another DNP last night. Warrick was getting some great action lately and to begin the week, he was still looking strong with 15 points off the bench. But since Swift has returned, Warrick has played in just 21 minutes over the past two games combined, so it looks like you can cut him loose again. Swift, meanwhile, hardly lived up to his namesake in returning from back spasms. He missed 11 games and says he's still dealing with pain, so he does not appear ready to make a run for his old starting job any time soon. He's certainly been better that he was in Houston last year, but Swift remains both an enigma and injury prone – a difficult combination to deal with from a fantasy perspective.



• Rasheed Wallace has been all over the map lately, making it hard to get a good read on his value. He began the week with a stinker, going scoreless while managing just six rebounds in New Jersey. 'Sheed then put together back-to-back strong efforts including a double-double in Cleveland. But last night, he bookended the week with another substandard game, managing just eight points, two boards and one assist with no steals or blocks. When Detroit's starters retook the court to stem a Boston comeback on Tuesday, Wallace stayed on the bench. Keep your eyes on this situation, and watch the two most likely candidates for increased playing time – Jason Maxiell and Antonio McDyess. Of course, Wallace will soon be missing time because of technical fouls. He's just two techs away from the automatic suspensions kicking in, so watch for Maxiell and McDyess to pick up the slack when the time comes.

• Judging by the 49 minutes he logged in last night's overtime loss, any concern over Brandon Roy's heel is long gone and the rookie is doing his best to lock up the ROY Award for himself of late. He's averaging almost 39 MPG over the past five with almost 21 PPG over the past half dozen contests. Roy does a bit of everything, recording back-to-back steal games, and last night throwing down his sixth block of the year while dishing five dimes to go along with 27 points.

• Calvin Booth is expected to replace Jarvis Hayes in the Wizards lineup tonight. The two have been taking turns at PF with Antawn Jamison out, but Booth hasn't done much even when he's had significant minutes. The most intriguing player on Washington in the absence of Jamison, however, appears to be Andray Blatche. He's been getting decent minutes off the bench and judging by the results (21 points and 12 boards combined in the past two games), I expect him to start seeing more PT while Jamison remains out.

• You've got to love what Leandro Barbosa has been doing lately. Normally a potent scorer off the bench, he got a chance to start with Steve Nash sidelined last night. He's played at least 33 minutes in the past four and how about back-to-back 20 point-games? Regardless of when Nash returns, Barbosa remains of the better reserves for fantasy purposes.

• Sebastian Telfair saw his heaviest minutes since January 15 on Tuesday, scoring 13 points with seven assists and a steal in 23 minutes. Before you get excited, note that Boston was getting blown away by Detroit by 22 points heading into the fourth. Still, this can't hurt Telfair's chances of regaining a consistent role in Coach Rivers' rotation.