These are my Toronto Raptors Linkage links for February 1st from 08:09 to 23:49:

• Sikh Raptors Fan Gets Roughed Up By Security At Toronto’s Air Canada Centre – Just when you think that everything is hunky-dory for Sikhs in Canada, you hear of an incident like this that makes your cringe. Here’s a first-hand account of an incident that took place at the Toronto Raptors game last Friday night.
• Magic Coach Van Gundy unaware victory was a career milestone – Van Gundy won his 200th game as an NBA coach with his club's victory against the Toronto Raptors.

  He said he didn't realize it until Rodney "Sid" Powell, the team operations manager, reminded him after the game. Powell said he kept the basketball for posterity, and center Dwight Howard said players would celebrate their coach during the plane ride home to Orlando.

• Bad Day, Bad Data , Season Looks Doomed – Stephen A Smith who you will recall insulted Bosh last year and made some rather less than kind comments about him. In other words I am sure he is super tight with Bosh. Hell I may be tighter with Bosh and we have never spoke a word to each other or have met one another in life. We are facebook friends and follow each others twitters. Something tells me Stephen A Smith would get rejected by Bosh. So having said all of this the ESPN so called Insider, or whatever they are calling him this week, claims that Bosh has told Colangelo he is gone in 2010. The real shame is there is not a story about Stephen A going somewhere in 2010.
• Bosh and LeBron in NY in 2010? – The report suggests Donnie is looking for a big man to go along with LeBron when he goes for two maximum free agents – with Chris Bosh of the mighty Toronto Raptors the better fit with LeBron. In Mike D'Antoni's offense?

  I think Mitch, who was with me in Indianapolis, was effected by the two-degree weather Friday night after the Heat-Pacers game.

• SAS: Bosh tells Colangelo he’s not resigning; trade discussions ongoing –
• Magic Put A Spell On Toronto – “The lack of effort and energy is become a disturbing trend over the last couple of games. *30* losses on February 1st?! Wow. This was not a good game at all today.”
• The Worst Crowd In The NBA – I couldn't believe our poor showing this afternoon, but more importantly I couldn't believe how bad our crowd is. It's no wonder so many players refuse to come here when our home crowd is more of a 6 man for the enemy. I think the worst part of this whole situation is that the other teams can't believe its happening.
• Howard toys with Raptors – The look of complete and utter frustration on Chris Bosh's face Sunday summed up a horrible afternoon for the Toronto Raptors.

  Dwight Howard poured in 29 points and added 14 rebounds as the Orlando Magic routed Toronto 113-90, handing the Raptors their second straight loss.

• Howard paces Magic to road win over Raptors – Dwight Howard scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Sunday afternoon, leading the Orlando Magic to a 113-90 rout of the Toronto Raptors.
• Raptors provide a ticket to ride – You can hardly call it a token effort. Yesterday, the charitable arm of the Toronto Raptors team gave $25,000 — the largest grant amount the Raptors Foundation gives out — to Pathways to Education, a local organization dedicated to improving education for high school students who live in Regent Park. The money will be used to buy TTC tokens to get kids to and from school, an expense many families in Regent Park can't afford.
• Raptors powerless against Magic – Toronto's brutal stretch of five games in seven days began with a resounding 113-90 loss at home to the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
• Howard has 29 points, 14 boards in Magic’s 113-90 route of Toronto – The lethargic Raptors never led against the Southeast Divison leading-Magic, whose 18-6 record on the road is the best in the NBA, and trailed by as much as 24 points late in the third quarter. The Magic took an 87-65 lead into the final 12 minutes.
• <b>Raptors vs Magic Stream #1</b> –
• Daunting times ahead for Raptors – Toronto will face Orlando team with a glossy 35-10 record, and then head to Cleveland's building on Tuesday, where the Cavaliers are 22-0, and host Western leaders the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

  The week concludes with games Friday in New Orleans and the following night in Memphis.

  No sweat.

• Time to court some passion – O'Neal, who could be on his way out of town any day now if that rumoured trade to the Miami Heat for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks comes to fruition, admits the Raptors for the most part seem to require some form of external motivation. Self-motivators these guys are not.

  "It's like we need something to get the blood flowing," O'Neal said.

• O’Neal’s protege – O'Neal says the biggest change in Bargnani since those Vegas days is his confidence level.

  "You have to have the tools to be doing what he has been doing the last month or so," O"Neal said of his younger teammate. "You don't just get that."

• No break in schedule for struggling Raptors – "Hopefully a game like (Friday) night hurts enough that your self pride and your motivation says: `I've got (this) afternoon, I can put this bad taste out of my mouth real quick,'" coach Jay Triano told reporters after yesterday's practice. "If there was three or four days, I'm sure it would linger."
• To Trade or Not To Trade – From my standpoint, I think Miami is better off with making some big signing two seasons from now. Why? Because Wade has shown a much stronger commitment to Miami and winning his championships there, after all, he already has one and lets face it, Miami is probably a harder city to leave than Toronto. It's probably much safer for them to wait for the best free agency class in history and make a run at say Stoudamire or ….. yep, Bosh. From Toronto's side however, I think they have to do something this season or this offseason. They need to have talent here waiting to convince Bosh to stay, and more importantly, they have to do something with that talent.
• Game 49: Raps vs. Magic – Pre-game – There’s something about the Magic that brings out the best in Chris Bosh. Whether it’s trying to outdo his friend Dwight Howard, whether he just likes the competition or whether he is auditioning for a spot in the Magic’s lineup, he comes to play when the Raptors face Orlando. In 15 career regular season games versus Orlando, Bosh is averaging 23.9 points and 9.9 rebounds. Back in November, he went off for 40 and 18 against the Magic, which might be the kind of numbers the Raptors will need on Sunday.
• The Start of The End Of 08/09 For Raps? – After A lose to the Bucks and 4 of the NBA's toughest teams to face on the horizon is it all but over for the Raptors? Even Chris Bosh has said that this team is running out of time.
• Magic Full Of Confidence Entering Tilt With Raptors – Winners of nine of their last 11, the Magic are likely to continue their winning ways against the Raptors, who had a three-game win streak snapped on Friday, suffering a 96-85 decision to the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Related posts:

1. Toronto Raptors Linkage for February 14th through February 15th
2. Toronto Raptors Linkage for February 17th through February 23rd
3. Toronto Raptors Linkage for February 10th through February 11th
4. Toronto Raptors Linkage for February 13th through February 14th
5. Toronto Raptors Linkage for February 24th through February 25th