The Sports Corner

Bosh player of the week, Raptors undefeated

Three wins to start a season really shouldn’t be something to get too excited about, unless you’re a Toronto basketball fan.

How many times have we seen the Raptors start seasons with huge losing streaks? Too many. But this year is different.

The Raptors are 3-0, their franchise player is the NBA East’s player of the week, they have a true, established point guard, and a huge defensive presence. Along with Jason Kapono’s money three balls, Toronto surprisingly enough looks like a championship calibre team.

I know it seems like this is a bandwagon post, but in the public eye, you’re only as good as your last game.

Jose Calderon’s clutch three two nights ago was what ousted it over the top. Jermaine O’Neal’s rejection of ex-Raptor Charlie Villenueva’s attempted dunk signified the passing of the torch from Rob Babcock’s team to Bryan Colangelo’s.

Problem is, from what little knowledge we have about strength of schedule right now, they haven’t played a contender yet. Let’s be real here. Milwaukee isn’t going to do much this season, everyone can agree on that. No, the real test comes Tuesday when the defending champs come into town.

In a perfect world, Bosh will bring his A-game and drop 28-32, Calderon can pick up 11-13 apples, maybe three or four blocks by O’Neal and a consistent effort out of Andrea Bargnani, this could be a good ball game. With Kevin Garnett in check, it should be a highlight filled battle with Paul Pierce and the reigning player of the week, whatever that means after three games.

If anything, the Eastern Conference looks quite a bit stronger with a solid Raptors team in it.