The Greatest Toronto Raptors Roster Ever Assembled

As a Canadian, loving the Raps is like having a nerdy little sister, you're forced to love them. Of course, I've been a Spurs fan before the Raps were even born but you just grow to love the Raps, no matter how bad they stink. If you like basketball and you live in Canada...you're pretty much forced to be a Raptors fan. It's the only team you can get extensive coverage on and you can catch every game on TV. After watching the Raps lose another one last night, I was looking at through Wikipedia and the all-time Toronto Raptors roster. I was like "Damn, I never knew he was a Raptor" or "Wow, I forgot about that guy"

Well, if I could assemble one Toronto Raptors all-time greatest roster (past or present, that at one time in their playing career sported a Raps jersey), this would be it:

At point guard, Chauncey Billups
Chauncey had a brief stint with the Raps in '98 but if his prime was on the Raptors we'd have a killer team. He's been a NBA champ and an NBA Finals MVP and look at how well he's turning around the Denver Nuggets. Look at us now, we're dealing with Will Solomon and Roko Ukic at the point, Mr. Big Shot would be a blessing at this point.

At the shooting guard, Vincent Lamar Carter
The most hated man in Toronto. Arguably, he's the best player to ever play for the Raptors and whether you like him or hate him, he's taken the Raps deep into the playoffs and put the city of Toronto on the map. 8-time all-star, Olympic gold medalist and 2000 slam dunk champ (and probably one of the best dunkers to ever play in the league)

At small forward, Tracy McGrady
Sure he hasn't been passed the first round of the playoffs and he's always injured but this guy has turned into such a dominant scorer since his days in Toronto. The guy averaged 32.1 points in 02-03 with Orlando and is a 7 time all-star and 2 time scoring champ.

At power forward, Chris Bosh
What's not to like about this guy? He loves playing in Toronto, Olympic gold-medalist, he is a product of one the best draft classes in NBA history and he is currently the face of this franchise. He's only 24 and will only get better. He has set Raptor all-time records in rebounds, blocks and double doubles.

At centre, Marcus Camby
Camby was ok when he played with the Raps from 96-98 but after his stint with Toronto, he had developed into a defensive monster. He has always wore the "injury prone" label but in the past couple of seasons he has stepped up to be a premier defender, rebounder and shot blocker. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in the 2006-2007 season.

The Bench

Jermaine O'Neal
C'mon, the Raps aren't dishing out 20 mill for nothing, he is a 6-time all-star and a 20pt-10 reb with a couple blocks kind of player.

Matt Bonner
The Red Rocket is a baller. He's a Toronto fan favorite and is a three point threat when in the right system. Man, Matt Bonner is the guy who threw down KG! Probably one of the greatest Matt Bonner moments.

Jose Calderon
Jose has four Olympic medals including a gold one from the '06 Summer games. His international experience alone warrants a spot on this team.

Morris Peterson
MoPete is a fan favorite, Toronto loved him as a player. He's probably best known for nailing ridiculous shots.

Hakeem Olajuwon
Well, he may not have done much with the Raps but this guy has such an impressive resume. Former MVP & 2-time NBA champ and probably one of the greatest centres to ever play in the league.

Damon Stoudamire
But it would have to be the Toronto Damon Stoudamire, the Rookie of the Year that averaged 20 pts and 9 assists not the marijuana smoking "Jail Blazers" Stoudamire.

Coach
As far as the coach, Lenny Wilkens or Smitch. Probably Lenny with Smitch as the assistant, Lenny got the Raps to the conference semi finals.

What do you think, who would be on your roster?

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Rockets Couldn't Stop It, The Rockets Couldn't Stop, Raps Kept Ticking and Tocking.....

....Raps worked it all around the clock.

I guess the Raps played a full 48 minutes of good basketball. Wow. A Raps blowout? Hassan Adams got minutes?

I don't know....Yao, TMac and Artest all played. The Raps were short J.O. and Jose Calderon and the Raps still won against the Houston Rockets. That is just nuts.

The Raps either played a really good game or the Rockets just played a really bad one. I think it was a little of both. Andrea Batgnani took advantage with his speed and shooting ability against Yao Ming. With Andrea being a three point threat, it drew Yao out to the three point line, opening opportunities for shots down low. This led to an early 14 point lead over the Rockets. Former Raptors, Rafer Alston and Tracy McGrady were non-factors with a combined 12 points.

Jose Calderon left in the first and came back in the second quarter but then left soon after with a strained hamstring. The Rockets were able to make a run as Carl Landry hit a jumper to get within 2. Ron Artest had a hot hand for the Rockets and had three threes in the first half with his third three bringing the Rockets to within one point. Will Solomon get some extra run with the Calderon injury and had nice pass to Joey Graham down low with the easy layup. Raps as usual played a good first half and led by ten, 48-38 at halftime.

In the second half, Bargnani used his speed against Yao, beating him down to the Raps offensive end, getting some easy opportunities. Jamario Moon had a nice open slam with one minute left in the third quarter. Toronto built up their lead 68-49. Jake Voskuhl played some great defense where his defensive plays led to some great shots. The fourth quarter was just garbage time and the Raps emptied their bench. Every member of the Toronto Raptors roster had at least one basket. The Toronto Raptors just blew out the Rockets, 94-73.

Key Notes
The Houston Rockets were a horrible 28 for 82, shooting only 34%
Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh eached scored 19
Every Raptor had at least one basket
Jake Voskuhl had a good defensive game: 3 pts, 8 boards and 1 block in 17 min of action

Hopefully 2009 leads to more of this type of Raptors basketball. Orlando is up on Sunday in Toronto.

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The Crying Game - NBA's Best Crying Moments

Here are the NBA's top 5 crying moments:

Runner up: Charlotte Bobcat, Adam Morrison while at Gonzaga



The Top 5:

5. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics



4. Former Raptor, Tracy McGrady



3. Former Raptor, Vince Carter



2. Sasha Vujacic, LA Lakers



1. Glen "BIG BABY" Davis (shoutouts to the thehoopdoctors.com for the clip)



Yes, Big Baby. The origin of his nickname?

“Ronald Glen Davis was born in Baton Rouge on Jan. 1, 1986 to Donald Robertson and Tonya Davis. He got the nickname big baby when he was playing in peewee leagues. Because he was bigger than the other kids his age, he was playing with older kids and would whine at times and they would call him a big baby and the name stuck.”

It's ok Big Baby, it's ok.

Honourable mention goes to this guy.

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