Maccabi comes to Toronto... this is one of Euro's premier teams coming to Canada for an exhibition game...
Do they play FIBA or NBA rules?
This should give us a decent indicator of the level of competition over seas.

Lottery team vs Euro power house (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1129413010404&call_pageid=969907729483&col=970081562040)

Raptors lost 105-103. Maccabi or whatever this team is called hit a last second jumper to win the game.

Definately a bad idea to have Toronto play them. Bosh hates losing with a passion. Now he's losing to a team that's not even in the NBA? Man, don't expect him to resign when his contract is up.

wow..well, that's embarassing. lol.

I'm mightily frustrated. I went to the university library today and saw the Globe and Mail newspaper (big newspaper in Toronto). Big headline: RAPTORS SINK TO NEW LOW.

Sam Mitchell vows he'll make the team better, even if it kills him...An NBA hasn't lost to an international team in 15 years. The people at the ACC were all Israeli supporters...this is a horrendous. How can we have a home crowd cheering for the visitors? I'm guaranteeing every single person on that Raptor team, from starter to 12th man, all the way to the coach does not want to stay in Toronto after an event like that.

I don't blame you for being ticked. :mad:

Were they putting forth any effort and playing with pride but they just stink? Or was it more of a case where they just came out and gave a half-hearted effort? Either way it's pathetic.

I think you guys are underestimating just how good Maccabi is.

They are the elite European team. Like the Spurs of Euroleague.

That they squeaked out a win against an NBA lottery squad does not mean the sky is falling.

Now if SarJar was still playing for them and hadn't signed with Indiana, they probably would have blown the Raptors out.

I read an interesting article on this.

Yao Ming is a top 5 center. Chinese.

Steve Nash was the MVP last year. Canadian.

Andrew Bogut was the 1st overall pick. Australian.

The Spurs are the NBA Champs (and arguably the most dominant team in recent history). Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are all foreign born.

Basketball is changing.

Basketball is changing, yes, but when a foreign team comes onto a foreign land and gets more support than the home team? Canada is a very diverse country but there's no fan loyalty anymore for the Raptors and its gonna kill us. That's one thing that the Raptors had, a strong based basketball-smart country, and with this bad publicity going around, its gonna kill the attendance this year.

The Maccabi may not be bad, but they're not good. With NBA rules and refs, they shouldn't have won. In the olympics, the USA players struggled with the concept of 5 fouls and the three point line being closer killed them. This was simply embarrassing. 15 years since the last win and now its a blemish on the Raptor franchise for a long long time.

rdang, don't take it so hard. They play Orlando next. :D

Basketball development in Canada sucks. I like having the Raptors, but I was a Grizzlie fan back in the day. People in big cities are fickle and expect a winner particularly in an entertainment rich town like Toronto.

I'll say one thing. The Raptors probably did not market this game effectively and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment was probably happy to sell seats (to anyone) period.

1st I have heard about this. Hill is out in Orlando so that may be another win for the "Jordans"

At least schedule it near the end of pre-season when teams have cut down their rosters and are warmed up.

I still even think Orlando will win though. Jalen Rose was talking about how these guys all dream about coming to the NBA and playing here and that they were trying a lot harder than the Raptors were. If that's the case I'm very worried about the effort and lack of wanting to win (Bosh on the other hand scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rbs).