RAPTORS: DOWN AROUND SAN ANTONE

Suffice to say, our Raptors are have exceeded the pre-season hope that "like the Blue Jays, they can give Boston a run for second place in their division."

At this writing, the Raptors are four and a half clear of New Jersey for first place in the Titanic Division, and the Celtics are in the basement, a mere 17 1/2 behind. Anyhow, the feeling still here is that coach Sam Mitchell is getting a little closer to saving his job, but please, can the coach of the year talk]. (Avery Johnson in Dallas, anyone? Jerry Sloan in Utah?)

At the the start of the month, the feeling was a 9-3 month would go a long way toward showing that the Raptors could actually reach their potential under Smitch. Well, they're 8-2 for the month (loss at Detroit, the East's top team, and by a point to the Cleveland LeBrons) entering their Texas two-step this week (San Antonio tonight and Houston on Wednesday). Damnit, Smitch might stay employed yet.

As for the new guy, second-team guard uan Dixon (pictured), hopefully someone can hypnotize him into believing it's 2002 and he's a senior about to lead Maryland to the NCAA championship. He'll be good for the occasional scoring outburst, then disappear for a couple weeks -- a smaller Dell Curry. Nothing to see here.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.