the toronto raptors - the 08-09 nba season begins

in rotation: reef the lost cauze - a vicious cycle

in approximately nine hours, the toronto raptors will play their first game of the 08-09 regular nba season. my beloved raps will be playing a philadelphia 76ers team who with the new addition of elton brand, hopes to contend with both the celtics and the raptors for the atlantic division crown. it is going to be a tough match.

for those that dont know, i am a diehard raptors fan. whilst many teams have added some new pieces this upcoming season, the raptors have been no different. with the offseason acquisition of six time nba all-star jermaine o'neal, toronto is looking to get past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since vince carter donned a raps jersey. jermaine o'neal brings a rugged edge that the raptors have lacked in previous seasons. jermaine can score, is a defensive force in the paint, and is a tenacious rebounder. he brings a swagger to the raps which could potentially take them that one step further.

a new season marks a new journey, and i have a million questions which can only be answered as the regular season progresses. jermaine has been injury plagued over the last four seasons - can he remain healthy? with tj ford out of the picture, can jose handle the starting point guard position? is sam mitchell going to draw up a play this season? can cb4 and jo co-exist together as the newly formed twin towers? will kapono actually be utilised this season? apparently bargs has bulked up and worked on his midrange and post game - will he continue to regress or will the addition of jo lighten the load? will jamario drive it more this season?

these are questions which cannot be answered immediately. tomorrow at 9:00am eastern daylight time (i live in australia), the first regular season game of the raptors schedule will be played - a new opportunity to make some noise and really move forward as a unit.

this is a clean slate - tabula rasa.

my questions will be answered.

tomorrow, it begins.

attached below is the toronto raptors regular season schedule. let's go raptors!