LUCY NICHOLSON
1. As the Eastern Conference gains star power, the Toronto Raptors are bordering on irrelevance. It's kind of harsh to say, but with the Miami Heat delivering on the hype (21-1 since their 9-9 start) and Boston remaining Boston, the Magic exploding, the Bulls and Hawks lurking and the Knicks emerging as a legit playoff team and now the Nets on the verge of landing Carmelo Anthony (though this breakdown by ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan certainly raises it's share of questions) the Raptors are not only bad, but worse, boring; with no star power and no brand identity. The fan base remains tremendously loyal in that they remain a middle-of-the-pack team, attendance-wise, but the proper reward for them is a high, promising draft pick, not a fool's gold duel with the Philadelphia 76ers for the eighth playoff spot in the East.
2. Two things have come to pass in Miami: the Heat, as mentioned, are the best team in the NBA right now, and Chris Bosh is very clearly the third wheel: The Heat's Big Threeishness may have peaked the other night against Portland when Bosh, LeBron and Dwyane Wade and combined to score 89 per cent of the Heat's points, but Bosh had 18 while Wade (34) and LeBron (46) had 80. It's par for the course: Bosh is taking about three shots less per game than he did last season, but even more tellingly is attempting three less free throws a game; meaning those Raptors bread-and-butter isolation plays when he used to drive and force contact -- the privilege of a primary option -- are a thing of the past.
3. The basketball game I wish I'd seen this weekend was the finals of the St.Michael's College tournament, where they play for the Leo Rautins Trophy. It featured what are almost certainly the most intriguing Canadian-based high school basketball prospects in a decade or more. The winner was Vaughan Secondary led by Andrew Wiggins, an athletic phenom who has the potential to be a high first-round NBA pick if he puts in the kind of work into his game that point guard Kevin Pangos of Denison has. The pair were teammates on the bronze-medal winning Canadian team at the U17 world championships this past summer. Pangos is two years older and in the minds of a lot of people one of the most mature and dedicated athletes his age anywhere. I saw him play for the first time on Saturday and it was instantly obvious, based on his fitness level and near flawless skill set, that he takes his game very, very seriously. He scored an easy 36 points and had to be close to a triple double. He then chipped in 48 points in the final but Denison simply does not have the horses to compete with a well-rounded Vaughan team. Wiggins doesn't always assert himself because of his youth and the various weapons elsewhere on the floor. He looked a bit bored when I saw him on Friday morning -- and I can't help but wonder if he's bound for the US sooner than later -- but he led Vaughan with 28 in the finals.
4. The mental state of Ron Artest is a fragile place; just ask him. His massive hand around the neck (however briefly) of the Knicks Shawne Williams brought back memories of crazed, violent Ron-Ron; but have no fear. Despite his brief relapse he made clear via Twitter that he's not going back there saying first: i wont be that aggressive if yal looking for that just mental toughness that was the old ron today i dont know where he came from and then: b ye bye old RON too much emotion for me i am getting old.
5. Is Orlando is some kind of parallel universe; an alternate dimension? Must be, because in Orlando there is a general manager who will say, on the record, that he was wrong when it came to letting Hedo Turkoglu skip town (via Truehoop). Maybe a nine-game winning streak just makes you light in the head. Somewhere Bryan Colangelo is going: just you wait.
And as a bonus: A compilation of Blake Grifin's top-10 dunks: I bet the 11th one is still really good.