The Raptors have a three-game winning streak for the second time this season, with the first one coming at the beginning of the year.
They need to push it to four Friday night against Milwaukee who comes in limping having lost its sharp-shooter Michael Redd to injury for the remainder of the season. After Friday's game against the Bucks, Toronto gets a quartet of tussles that will give a true indication of how much they have improved.
In his pre-game chat with the media last night, Jay Triano answered questions from many of the national members of the U.S. media who happened to be based in the New York/New Jersey area. Chris Sheridan from espn.com is putting together a piece on Jose Calderon's free throw shooting streak, and the line of questioning pursued the improvement of Calderon's shooting technique. Triano's comments were nothing new to local media that covers the team regularly. The genesis of Calderon's improved stroke has been well-documented locally as Calderon credited Triano and shooting guru Dave Hopla for helping him remake his shot.
There was one humourous moment when Triano talked about putting stretchy resistance bands normally reserved for helping leg muscles fire around Calderon's arms to keep his shooting elbow in line and his balance hand in the proper position. When Calderon was asked how many shots he took wearing the bands, he laughed and said, "Not too many, because it's hard and it hurts." You can read all about it here.
Sheridan also gave his take on the calm before the storm that is the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 19. In a nutshell, he said the Raptors-Heat transaction is holding things up around the league and other dominoes will fall after that deal is done.
-----
The all-star reserves will be named Thursday and surely there will be some feelings hurt. So following the formula that the coaches are bound to (two guards, two forwards, one center and then two others regardless of position), here are mine:
East -- Devin Harris (New Jersey), Joe Johnson (Atlanta), Paul Pierce (Boston), Danny Granger (Indiana), David Lee (New York), Jameer Nelson (Orlando), Chris Bosh (Toronto)
West -- Chauncey Billups (Denver), Brandon Roy (Portland), Carmelo Anthony (Denver), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas), Shaquille O'Neal (Phoenix), Tony Parker (San Antonio), Al Jefferson (Minnesota)
But don't be surprised to see some players left off who are having a good season in favour of players on winning teams. With coaches, winning trumps all -- as it should -- and they will lean towards a player on a winning team. They especially like veteran stars who have checked their egos and made sacrifices to help their team win. So in that regard, players like Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Hedo Turkoglu, Mo Williams and Pau Gasol will be in play and don't be surprised to see them included as reserves at someone else's expense.
-----
Following the game last night in New Jersey, I listened intently as my broadcast partner Eric Smith approached Chris Bosh to get his opinion on Jalen Rose's comments on his future. Rose has emphatically, with conviction, stated that Bosh will leave Toronto when his contract expires following the 2009-2010 season. You can listen to Bosh's response here.
