Overreaction: Raps 117, Magic 104

• We won the game when: Pascal Siakam pressed the R2 button the entire 4th quarter
• A good sign: OG's 2nd straight game where he was not invisible on offence
• Should we be concerned: OG went down with a mild ankle sprain

OG Anunoby sustained a sprained right ankle and will not return tonight at Orlando. @Raptors

— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) March 1, 2018

• Partners in crime: Pascal and Poeltl provided excellent 2 way play the entire game and shut down the Magic in the 4th
• Should we be concerned 2: When CJ Miles is not hitting his shots, he looks like a liability out there
• Powell with a dozen of donuts: Powell played 10 uneventful minutes with zeroes across the board
• Misleading stat line: The Raptors only committed 12 turnovers, but it felt like they committed way more than that
• An Exercise of patience: excellent job by DeMar DeRozan not forcing the issue and trusting his teammates
• An exercise of patience 2: Kudos to coach Casey for letting the bench mob work through their struggles in the 2nd half and not putting Lowry/DeRozan til halfway through the 4th. Great learning moment and more tight game reps under their belt.
• Friends forever: It's very touching to see the Raptors holdovers go meet TRoss and our father Bismack Biyombo after the game

Prospect Report: McKinnie and Miller shine while we learn more about Malachi

Last week, the Raptors 905 played 3 games: the team took a loss against (Markham's) Xavier Rathan-Mayes and the Westchester Knicks; cruised past Jeremy Evans and the Erie BayHawks; and punked Wisconsin Herd's green bin collection of Brandon Jennings, Ricky Ledo, Joel Bolomboy, and a random Plumlee.

Over at RaptorsHQ, I wrote about how Alfonzo McKinnie and Malcolm Miller are thriving post-Bruno, and we are getting more and more sample size of what Malachi Richardson can do.

Overreaction: Raptors 123, Piston 94

• We won the game when: The starters hung it up on the pistons in the 3rd quarter
• A good sign: Kyle Lowry shooting 6-8 from deep, 6-10 overall. Since returning from his injury, he only had 4 games where he had at least 50% FG. Tonight makes it 5 in 18 games.
• Should we be concerned: CJ Miles ain't exactly killing it on the offensive end, and he's looking more and more of a liability on the defensive end.
• Disappointing night: "Hey, you are way better than Drummond" Masai yelled at JV. Drummond is now a 2x all-star, and he's the better player today. Still, I was expecting a better fight from JV.
• Bounce back: Good to see  OG Anunoby bouncing back from a horrible streak of games where he's been producing eggs.
• Bounce back 2: It's garbage time, but good to see Norm looking sharp. Is it time to see him back with the 2nd unit instead of Miles?
• Not going to be intimidated: Loved how Jak, Siakam, and FVV didn't back down from Blake Griffin's bullying.
• Multi-faceted player: back in 2011-2014, if you would tell me that DeMar is capable of getting 20pts without volume shooting AND drop 7 dimes on the same game, I'd say BS. It's amazing that we're currently watching DeMar DeRozan for almost a decade, and his game is still growing.
• Growth spurt: Siakam was thrown into the lion's den last season when Sully got injured. But watching his game grow in the G-League throughout last season, I'm not expecting this rapid development from him. He could be a really important piece for this Raptors' playoff run (and maybe the Raptors future too).
• Flying under the radar: Delon Wright shot almost 29% from the perimeter prior to his injury, and he's now just below 37%.
• Positive aggression: This game might be Jak's best game in terms of showing aggression, power, and excellent motor movement. I didn't know he had those lateral quicks to guard Blake Griffin, and that dunk tho.

REDEMPTION! pic.twitter.com/tOmOHaiGrx

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 27, 2018

• Anger issues up north: I'll shamelessly put my tweet below

Why does Blake Griffin seems to have anger issues every time he's in Canada? If I'm the @DetroitPistons trainer i wouldnt be anywhere near Blake after the game #rtz #WeTheNorth

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) February 27, 2018

• Lost opportunity: I wanted the camera crew to focus Dwane Casey's face as the clock was about to expire and the Pistons still trying to score. I'm almost convinced that he would've said BAMF!
• #BB3: Bebe 3. no need to elaborate. I'm gonna go back to this post and update this with the video.

Overreaction: Raptors 119, Bucks 122

• We lost the game when: Near the end of the first half, down 4, DeRozan fouled Middleton for an And-1 and got T'd up. Went into the half down 8, and that's the cushion that they tried to erase for the majority of the 2nd half.
• Should we be concerned: Lowry's offence has been sputtering and showing no signs of an upward tick. Not only is he struggling to score from the perimeter, he hasn't been able to get to the basket like he used to.
• A good sign: Siakam continues to be a revelation as the season progress. His D is so well ahead of his offensive game, and I won't be surprised if he's one of the most improved players next year.
• Should we be concerned 2: OG's defence is good, but he's not doing much else other than doing a good job staying in front of his man. Even Roberson would get a rebound and/or assist/steal every game.
• A good sign 2: Poeltl and Siakam can bring it against the Bucks. Last year, they were unplayable. If we can find the right mix with Poeltl and Siakam during crunch time, we should be able to take care of these reindeer easily.
• Battling demons: This game showed 2 sides of DeRozan. The new version where he demonstrated that a. He can and will pass,  b. He'll hit perimeter shots,  and c. He can score inside against the Bucks' defence. We've also seen DeMar lose it for a few possessions where he went pure iso and just drove with his head down, which led to turnovers/bricks.
• Big 3: We didn't lose because Giannis was hitting those long 2s; We lost because we let old man Jason Terry, John Henson, and Thon Maker. 
• A good test: The bench (mob) squad often feast on other team's bench players, and some starters but nothing like this kind of playoff atmosphere. I expect the kids to learn from this experience and get better.
• Bad Call?: Siakam was playing well in the 4th quarter, why did Casey had to replace him with Ibaka? Siakam's side was always stronger in defending the high pick and roll that the bucks were running.
• Incompetent zebras: 3 referees, with all 6 eyes on the basketball. How can they miss the and-1 foul on JV? which led me to call out our airport security brothers and sisters:

Calling to arms all of our brothers and sisters working at the airport security to put a wanted poster of all the refs that wronged us and give then every hard time possible before they leave the Canadian soil #rtz #WeTheNorth

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) February 24, 2018

RaptorsHQ post: Fixing the All-Star Weekend

After watching pretty much all the events available (I missed the ASG halftime show) during the All-Star Weekend, I came to a conclusion: The ASG is not the only thing that needs fixing - the entire All-Star Weekend is a joke.

Since the late 90s, I always look forward to the All-Star Weekend. It was fun to watch the young players prove that they belong, the three-point shootouts were consistently good, and the slam dunk had a few good moments.

Lately, the entire weekend is so underwhelming, boring, and feel so broken, so I came up with some ideas (some are outlandish, I know lol) and posted it on RaptorsHQ. 

Prospect Report: The Malachi Richardson Experiment Begins (Feb 12-18)

For those who don't know, I contribute at RaptorsHQ, mainly covering the Toronto Raptors' prospects (assignees, and two-way players) while they are playing for the Raptors905 team. I look at how these players perform during the week, provide some insight regarding what's trending up/down regarding their development, and some random things/tidbits that I liked during that stretch.

For example, last week, the Raptors905 played against Maine Red Claws (Boston Celtics affiliate) and the Windy City Bulls (Chicago Bulls affiliate), and I wrote about how Lorenzo Brown went down with an injury, Alfonzo McKinnie stepped up big, Malcolm Miller's got a lid on that basket, and Malachi off to a slow start.

Please check out RaptorsHQ, it's part of the SB Nation, and there are a lot of excellent content (and writers of course) about the Toronto Raptors.

How the ASG Team Selection Went Down

LeBron: Alright Wardell, we've both given ourselves the night to think this over, let's get started and pick teams!

Inner Steph: What's this mofo up to now?

Steph: Leggo, let's get started and give the people what they want!

LeBron: are you guys all ready?

Inner Lebron: Alright King, let's think strategy.  Let's think big picture. Let's cause an internal rift so that we can divide and conquer the Warriors once we meet them in the Finals.

LeBron: For my first pick, I select KD!

Steph: 😱

Kevin Durant: On to my next chapter!

Draymond Green: KD, you snake! 🐍

Inner Steph: dammit, I knew it. At least he hasn't seen through my plan yet. It'll be fun to see LeBron ice Kyrie, and Kyrie tries to win the MVP over LeB***h. I know he'd rather have me pick Kyrie, but where's the fun in that?

Steph: Ok, my first pick is The Beard!

James Harden: Steph, you be the chef, and I'll be cooking all day! 👨‍🍳

Draymond: Imma call Myers and ask for the trade right now 😡!

Giannis: *Looks at the voting results* Dray only got... 41 player votes. I mean, he didn't make it as a starter, right?

LeBron: Good pick!

Inner LeBron: I see what you're doing here. This ni*** out here tryna make a fool outta me by having me pick Kyrie, putting me in a tight spot. Should I pick him over DeMar? Damn if I do, and damn if I don't smh.

LeBron: Since you picked "The Beard", my next pick is "The Brow"

Inner LeBron: Let's see you guys guard me, KD, and AD

Inner Steph: Crap, he just took my pick. Hmm, Bob said to enjoy the weekend, but use this opportunity for tampering 🤔. Let's get on the Greek Freak's ear so that he can force a trade next year.

Steph: Alright, since we are going with nicknames, I'm taking "The Greek Freak"

Inner LeBron: Boogie or Embiid. Tough choice here. Embiid's gonna play at the Rising Stars, party after the game, and will party the entire Saturday. Man, that's like a back-to-back-to-back. Jo-Jo's gonna suck, he's gonna play like Ibaka on the second day of a back-to-back, I can't have a starter with a DNP-Rest, so imma have to go with Boogie.

LeBron: I got Boogie next

Steph: Ok, so Jo-Jo's with me

Inner LeBron: Got an image to protect, so I can't look like the bad guy if I don't pick Kyrie. Oh well.

LeBron: My last pick would be Kyrie

Kyrie: Let's get this, brother!

Inner Kyrie: See, the earth is flat, and the sun and everything revolves around LeBron 🙄

Steph: Done, I got DeMar

DeMar: last pick FOH #proveem

LaMarcus: Why are you pissed DeMar? at least you're not the last pick overall

Draymond: Yooooo who invited LaMarcus? I thought this is for all stars only?

Steph: Ok, let's finish this up, I gotta go before Ayesha finds out that I'm not home.

LeBron: Aiite, make your pick Wardell

Inner LeBron: Please pick Kevin

Steph: I got KAT

Draymond: That's it, pick me LeBron! 😡 😡 😡

Inner LeBron: mofo stole my pick! WTF the next best player available is Russ, it'll be weird having KD and Russ on the same team. Hmmmm what to do? Alright, I'll just tell him that I heard rumours that the guys on the other team think that bush face should have won the MVP award last year.

LeBron: I got Russ

Everybody except KD: *whistles*

Kevin: What? Team LeBron rawr!

LeBron: Wait, where's Russ?

Victor: we were walking together and both got held up at the security. Apparently, nobody knows me nor heard of my name 😢 I got in after showing my youtube highlights.

Jimmy: Oh crap, I knew it was him! I saw a bunch of security guards arguing with a homeless guy that looks very agitated trying to make his way to the door. He keeps shouting "WHY NOT?!?!" when they wouldn't let him in.

Inner Steph: Wow, might as well name his team Team Cavs errr Team Dysfunction.

Steph: LeBron, since you've watched The Godfather a million times, I'll make you an offer that you can't refuse: Let me take Jimmy Buckets and Klay and I'll let you keep the best backcourt in the East, Kristaps, and Dipo. What do you think?

LeBron: But you already have DeMar, I don't think we're allowed to trade since Woj already leaked the starters 💣

Steph: Haha you're funny, I'm talking about the self-proclaimed best backcourt in the NBA - Wall and Beal.

Bradley Beal: Why do we have to be on the same team?

John Wall: LOL

Draymond: I swear if I get the chance to play against you, I'll kick you in the nuts!

Dame: that's not how you beg to get picked, Dray

Kyle: We're the best backcourt in the East!

DeMar: Wizards best backcourt? FOH #proveem!

Inner LeBron: That looks like a sweet deal, and besides, who would want these Raptors who can't shoot smh. Wardell should have 4 picks left to my 2 picks, and he should be able to get Kevin Love with one of those picks.

LeBron: Deal!

Inner Steph: oooh he fell for it! now, let's finish this up and complete his Team Wreckage 😏

Steph: alright, since you have 2 picks left, and since I get the pick first in this round, that means I get to pick 3 players before you get your turn again 😏

LeBron: I knew you're up to something!

Steph: here we go - Dame, Kyle, Draymond. Boom!

Inner LeBron: a**hole forcing me to pick Kevin. No point to make him the last pick, he'll just go emo on me all over again

LeBron: Ok, I got my brother, Kevin

Woj: LeBron's last pick is LaMarcus 💣

LeBron: F U Woj, how did you know that

Steph: Do I have to announce that I picked Al?

Woj: I ain't even tweeting that 💣

A Blog (again), Finally.

I've always wanted to have my own blog, and I've been meaning to have one for over a decade now. At first, I thought I should make one about the books that I'm reading, an op-ed, shows that I'm watching, or the games that I'm playing. Most likely there would be more posts about the sport that I love.


They're all random ideas and a little bit all over the place. Well, that's what this blog is all about.


I'm going to talk about anything related to me: sports, work, fitness, nutrition, pop culture, books, games, and whatever's trending on interwebs (sorry for those who hate that word, trying to be hip here).


In the future, maybe I'll start a comic strip as well, as I've always wanted to make one. Another thing that's on my list is to make an online short story series.


I'll try to make a post a least once a week and as time permits.