I was at the Toronto Raptors game on Sunday November 6th. Here are some of my thoughts from that game, and the previous three games as well.

Vince Carter can jump through the roof. He has the best hops I've seen since Dominique Wilkins. Damn, he's scary. Although he has improved his jump shot, he's fallen in love with it. Sure, defensive players will give him the jumper, and he's taking it, but his game is inside and then out. Not the other way around. When he was taking the ball to the hole, he was more effective. He's a great post player as well. When he's taking the 20 foot jumper that is not in the flow of the game, he's just not as effective. The Raptors might as well have Dell Curry taking that shot. Speaking of Dell Curry, he has the quickest release this side of Dan Marino. He can heave up a shot so quickly, you barely notice it. He's a calming influence on the Raptors. He knows what he's doing. He was running the show for a couple of minutes when the Raptors were falling apart. Smart player. He's a great player to have out there when Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are out there. Those two can get a little wild. Curry can be a calming force. So can Mugsy Bogues. Bogues has played very well for the Raptors. I thought he would be used as a change of pace point guard. But Butch Carter has fallen in love with him. It is unknown how the return of Dee Brown will affect Bogues' playing time, but in the mean time Mugsy is getting it done. He's a defensive liability, as David Wesley put 20+ up on him, but he can run an offense. I thought he'd get about 8-10 minutes at point. Alvin Williams would get about 25 minutes there. And Tracy McGrady would get the rest of the time. But when a player is playing this well, you run with him until it's over. And Mugsy's run it's over.

Antonio Davis is playing well. Just like in Indiana, he's banging down low. Showing the Toronto fans why Indiana was reluctant in giving him up. He's a force down on the defensive boards. Oakley is playing typical Charles Oakley ball. He's shooting really well and immovable on the boards. Kevin Willis is taking very well to his new role as the big man off the bench. He takes a couple of minutes to get warmed up, but with Curry and Bogues on the 2nd unit, they can provide all sorts of scoring punch.

Butch Carter still has some problems with substitution patterns. He has Alvin Williams on a tight lease, but not Tracy McGrady. Williams made two shots in the flow the offense and then forced one up and missed. He was yanked. T-Mac makes bad passes and takes bad shots, but isn't pulled. Go figure. McGrady is supposed to be the immature one out of the two. Michael Stewart hardly gets any playing time and he's a good defensive player. Still you can't really complain about the results, 3 and 1 is a great start.