Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian basketball team of North American professional basketball league National Basketball Association (NBA) from Toronto in the province of Ontario. It was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA expansion to Canada and has been the relocation of the Vancouver Grizzlies to the 2001/02 season to Memphis, Tennessee, the only Canadian franchise in the league.
The Raptors are the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference within. Their home games wearing the Raptors from February 1999 at the Air Canada Centre, formerly SkyDome was the home ground.
After sporty initially unsuccessful early years the obligation of Vince Carter in June 1998 was mainly attributable to the athletic recovery; 2000 to 2002 were three times in a row reached the playoffs and set up the internal team record of 47 wins this season. After Carter's departure in December 2004 to the New Jersey Nets, Chris Bosh became the new star player of the Toronto. Reinforced by Andrea Bargnani Neuprofi and some experienced players succeeded in the 2006/07 season by winning the Atlantic Division of the return in the final round. Since then, the team was unable to repeat this success.
Team History
On November 1, 1946 were the Toronto Huskies hosted the first league game of the Basketball Association of America, as they faced the New York Knicks and documents with 66:68. The Huskies missed in her only season to the playoffs; end of the season the team has already been resolved. In the spring of 1993, the National Basketball Association was considering the 1995/96 season to Canada to expand, with Toronto and Vancouver were considered as the most promising locations for expansion teams. The fee for placing an expansion team in Toronto amounted to 125 million U.S. dollars. As an epithet Raptors was chosen, this was influenced by the media hype of the commercially successful streak of Jurassic Park. Finally, in addition to the Vancouver Grizzlies were the Toronto Raptors founded in calendar year 1995 and integrated for 1995/96 season in the NBA. As the first head coach Brendan Malone was hired, who was previously employed by the Detroit Pistons in the position of assistant coach.
Your first NBA game of the team completed on 3 November 1995 at home in the SkyDome against the New Jersey Nets. In front of a crowd of spectators from 33 306 visitors the Raptors won with 94:79. The first points ever for the Toronto recorded Alvin Robertson. The Raptors defeated on 24 March 1996 in a home game, surprisingly, the Chicago Bulls, who finished the season with 72 victories, with 109:108. The first season ended the team with 21 victories and 61 defeats in the last rank of the Central Division. Neuprofi Damon Stoudamire was an average of 19 points per game and 9.3 assists, the most successful actor in the Raptors and received at end of season award as rookie of the year.
The sporting highlight for the Raptors has been the 2000/01 season, when the team under the leadership of Vince Carter in the second round of the playoffs, after a series against the Philadelphia 76ers with Allen Iverson, retired. The to date, five time All -Star Carter was transferred in December 2004 against Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two first-round draft picks to the New Jersey Nets, which began a new deal for Canadians. The new leader of the Raptors was Chris Bosh, they had drafted in the NBA Draft 2003. Chris Bosh joined in the summer of 2010 as a free agent with the Miami Heat and forms there with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James together the new triumvirate.
When NBA Draft 2006, the Raptors decided to Italian Andrea Bargnani, who was selected as the first Europeans in a NBA Draft in the first place. In the season 2006/ 07 they won under the leadership of Chris Bosh, who had become the second time All- Star 2007, the first time the Atlantic Division. At this time, Bosh was the first time in the Starting Five at the All -Star Game and was recorded in the season in both points and rebounds for the Career - Highs. The Raptors despite these best performance in the first playoff round against the New Jersey Nets, because they had lost the series 4-2. Bosh reached at the end of the All- NBA Second Team, the All- NBA Rookie Bargnani First Team.
After the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, it was confirmed on 21 September 2011, leaving assistant coach Dwane Casey (54 ) the Texans to hire as head coach with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors Dwane Casey follows the Canadian Jay Triano, who had recently missed with the Raptors three times in series a place in the play-offs and then became an advisor of the club. In the 2011/12 season the play-offs were not achieved.
The Raptors hold an inglorious record: 998 games in a row since March 23, 2001 as the last Alvin Williams succeeded, no player was able to achieve a triple double more. Ben Uzoh ended, in his most recent NBA game on the final day of the 2011/12 season with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on 26 April 2012 against the New Jersey Nets this series.
During the 2012/13 season, the Raptors reached the fourth place in the Atlantic Division and thus missed the fifth time in a row the playoffs.