Photo Courtesy: USA Today The star player on a team will always have the responsibility to carry his team to victory. If the team is successful, he gets the praise; if the team is not, he gets the blame. Sometimes this is an unfair critique. Obviously, there are more factors involved with a team’s success or failure than just the star player’s performance; but, in terms of the Toronto Raptors and DeMar DeRozan, this critique is justified. I’ll explain why. When asked who the

The All-NBA Defensive Teams were announced just a few days ago, now we have the big one: the All-NBA Teams. Who was snubbed? Who was lucky? Who’s gonna get paid? Who’s not? Let’s take a look at all the questions surrounding the announcement of the fifteen players who were lucky enough to make one of the three teams. For record here’s the teams with all the corresponding votes: Courtesy: Twitter, KCJHoop Should Giannis Have Made The First Team Over KD? The Greek Freak had a be

Every year, the Christmas day showdowns are a way for MVP candidates to put an exclamation mark on their case at capturing the Maurice Podoloff trophy. This season, few of the leading candidates managed to truly take advantage of the stage; however some of the more fringe candidates were able to seize the opportunity and use the showcase as a way to catapult themselves up the rankings. Let’s start with every basketball fan’s favorite ex-teammates, Kevin Durant and Russell Wes

For the last decade or so, the NBA had seen a huge change in the type of player that dominated the hardwood. Due to some convenient rule changes, point guards had become far more important than in previous eras of basketball. These modern point guards were being asked to score the ball more than ever before, leading to blurred lines between the traditional guard positions. Consider this: in the forty years between 1965 and 2004, only one point guard won the MVP award, and tha

The basketball world was wondering how the Cleveland Cavaliers would come out after an eight day lay-off. Mystery solved. The Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors in convincing fashion 116-105 as they take a 1-0 lead. The Raptors worst nightmare came to fruition, as the Cavs looked the best they have in a long time. LeBron James and co. came out of the gates with tremendous energy and put up 30 points in the first quarter. The offense had great synergy, as the Cavs clearly show

In a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Toronto Raptors will get a second shot at taking down LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last year’s series was fairly close with the Raptors taking the eventual NBA champions to 6 games, before being ousted in a blowout at the Quicken Loans Arena. This year, the Raptors return to the playoffs with a roster that has been specifically retooled to defend LeBron James. Expect to see both DeMarre Carroll and P.J. T

DeMar DeRozan has always been a good NBA player. In seven years as a pro, the USC product is a two-time all-star and has complied career averages of 18.5 PPG and 4.0 RPG, shooting 44.4% from the field and 82.4% from the free throw line. He has been the one constant for a Raptors organization that has transformed from a bottom-dweller in the Eastern Conference to last year’s 56-win title contender that came 2 wins shy of their first appearance in an NBA Finals. Fresh off of si