From: www.madeinthecity.ca

As the Raptors pre-game show started, I was spiced like Richie to say the least. Their intro did not disappoint either, Kardinall’s “Clear” hit the stereo system and the Cavs lineup was announced. I was happy to see Anthony Parker get a cheer from our usually bitter Toronto fans. However, I can’t say that I was happy for Jamario… mixed feelings about him.

Then the lights were shut off for the home team and a live orchestra, situated at half court, started playing Nasir Jones’ – “Hate Me Now”. I instantly got to my feet like there was a soca fete about to go down in my basement and raised up the surround sound to 100MAX. The Toronto Raptor mascot was then hoisted up to the ceiling with a huge “NOISE” banner and the arena went ballistic. The bench was announced and I’m pretty sure Rasho got the biggest cheer lol (other than Assistant Coach – Alvin Williams). Now it was time for the starting line-up, they came out in an All-Star’esque’ formation from behind a curtain out of the tunnel.

Andrea Bargnani got the festivities going with a baseline up fake, followed by a driving one-hand slam. What a way to start off a season!? The first half was amazing and the Raptors looked flawless other than a couple of factors. The first being Andrea’s missed breakaway slam, and the second being a lack of interior post presence on defense in particular. My first sleeper pick was Sonny Weems, but he was on the injured reserve for some apparent reason. The second sleeper pick I was looking forward to seeing was Marco Belinelli. He most certainly did not disappoint with his Harlem-like swagger on the court. After shooting a couple of treys he took it to the rack with a driving two hand slam and a timeout was called shortly after. The Raptors took an 18pt advantage to the locker room at half and I’m almost certain that this was a shock to even the Raptor faithful.

The Raps had many problems last year as I’m sure ya’ll are fully aware of. One of the biggest was not being able to deal with the opponents runs; something they were able to do this game. I’m extremely proud of the entire team and how well they gelled on the court today, from Antoine Wright to Marco Belinelli to the 4th ever rookie Raptor starter, DeMar DeRozan.