Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

The Mile High city of Denver always seems to be a tough place for the Raptors regardless of how the Nuggets happen to be playing. Tuesday night was no exception as, for at least a little while, maybe a half, it was all good for the Raptors, and then things fell apart in the second half. Denver bullied its way to a win over Toronto dropping the Raptors to 5-6 on the season and the Raptors have the dreaded back-to-back here in Utah Wednseday night.

Denver's a running team so while some fans might look at last night's result and say how come Toronto could not stay with the Nuggets after playing the Phoenix Suns so well a couple of nights ago? Well, not all fast break teams are built the same. The Suns are more of a run and shoot fast breaking squad while the Nuggets are a more physical group. With the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Nene, Denver can score on the inside. Witness the fact that they scored 68 points in the paint against the Raptors.

Boy do the Raptors miss the presence of Reggie Evans as the one guy that is not occasionally, but always willing to "push back". Evans is still nursing what is called a mid-foot sprain and there is still no timetable set for his return. Antonie Wright was the last one to leave the locker room in Denver after having his left foot in a bucket of ice. He has said he's giving all he can but he is not 100% and as with all injuries he needs to rest the ankle for it to fully heal, the problem is, the Raptors don't have that luxury right now.

Over the last three-plus seasons, this being the fourth, where the Raptors will play 21 sets of back to back games, Toronto is 24-32 on the second night of these encounters. It won't be easy tonight as the Jazz always have a pronounced home court advantage. Here are some tough numbers if you are the Raptors. Utah has defeated Toronto in eight straight contests and the Jazz have a home winning percentage of .854, a 70-12 mark over the last two seasons at home and overall since the 2006-07 campaign have the second best winning percentage at home in the entire NBA posting a 103-24 record. To spice up the challenge just a bit more, it sounds like Deron Williams, Utah's all-star point guard, will be back in the line up after missing a couple of games due to personal reasons.

Consistency is always a key word in pro sports and the Jazz have had the same coach leading the way for the last 22 years in Jerry Sloan. Since he has been the coach in Utah, there have been 234 coaching changes in the NBA with Denver and New York heading the list making 12 changes over that same time period. Sloan is the longest tenured coach, 22 years, not only in the NBA but in all of the major professional sports (MLB - Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves 22 seasons, NFL - Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans 16 seasons, NHL - Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres 12 seasons). Sloan ranks fourth on the all-time wins list behind Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson, and Pat Riley. Expect to see the Jazz play the same system the have for years under Sloan and safe to say the Raptors had better have their pick and roll coverage down for tonight's game. With all the success being stated, the Raptors may have a chance tonight if they can muster some consistent energy at the defensive end of the floor. The Jazz have not bolted from the gate posting only a 4-6 mark in its first 10 games this season.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some outlets will do anything to make sales or get attention huh? How about this headline that will stir up the worry amongst many Raptor fans when they read it? Not that anything has or will be decided with Chris Bosh, but just to keep it on the front burner in seemingly every city Toronto visits, we bring you the latest after a Denver based reported scratched it into print. Just think, we're only 11 games in and there are a still 34 more road games to go and more headlines and stories of this ilk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bad luck continues for Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic as he will be shelved again thanks to arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Just wondering aloud here, last season when Nelson was injured GM, Otis Smith swung a deal for Rafer Alston. This season if there is no deal, do the Magic dare tinker with the chemistry by adding Allen Iverson? Just wondering?