The Pope of Basketball Community

At the post-game press conference, Billups and Yang Rui praised each other.

Yang Rui took the opportunity to advertise the Minion Farm. "Chauncy is a dedicated player and an underrated point guard. It is difficult for opponents to take advantage of him. The same is true for him in life. For example, he can always collect vegetables on time at the Minion Farm, and our whole team is farming. , no one has ever stolen his crops.”

This became hilarious news and was reported by many media outlets. "The Raptors' unique way to relax and farm together on the net."

Billups was getting media attention, and manager Glenn Gruward was starting to have a headache.

Billups, McGrady, Christie, Cato, Ryan Bowen, etc. are all free agents in the summer, and it is difficult to renew their contracts. Veterans Detrev and Hornacek are likely to retire after winning the championship. They will have a heavy workload in the summer.

There will definitely be teams willing to provide McGrady with a maximum salary. He is a restricted free agent. Once he accepts a contract from another team, if the Raptors match, the pressure on others to renew will be too great.

Tracy McGrady's annual salary is over 10 million. If he renews a mid-level contract and adds role players, the Raptors' salary will reach 50 million, which is the level of the Lakers.

The only good news is that according to the new labor agreement, Carter signed a four-year rookie contract, with a salary increase in the 2002-03 season and a two-year buffer. In short, if this situation develops, if the Raptors want to keep the lineup intact, they will definitely have to pay a large amount of luxury tax.

The biggest tragedy of small teams is that they cannot retain players and develop stars, and they will switch to wealthy clubs after only a few years of playing.

Regardless of football or basketball, nothing can change this. Just like football stars want to go to Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern, Manchester United, Milan and other teams, it is a symbol of status.

On the 8th, the Raptors defeated the Clippers 101-94 in an away game.

Someone on the team was injured again in this game. Doug Christie slipped on the ground when he was saving the ball. He made a "single horse" and tore his egg... He tore his pectineus muscle and will miss the game for at least two weeks.

Christie was injured in such a shameful way, and Yang Rui was also drunk.

On the 10th, the Raptors challenged the Kings away from home. In order to avoid a sweep in the regular season, the Kings players increased their running and confrontation, and used inside support and defenders to attack the basket.

Curry replaced Christie and was in good form, hitting two three-pointers in the first quarter. Unfortunately, he played two minutes in the second quarter and was injured in the knee by Kings substitute power forward Lawrence Funderburk and was forced to leave the game.

In the second half, O'Neal was troubled by foul trouble.

Webber showed off his strength, scoring 25 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, and led the team to victory together with Collis Williams, who had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Raptors had a chance to win, but Carter and McGrady each missed a three-pointer at the last moment. They lost 98-103, their sixth loss this season.

Curry underwent an MRI examination and found that the injury was more serious than expected. The tendonitis in his right knee recurred and he will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. Tendonitis has been bothering him for years, otherwise the Bucks wouldn't have let him go so easily.

The Raptors have fewer outside players, so Carter has to switch to shooting guard. Marginal players Ryan Bowen and Boykins also got opportunities to play.

On the 12th, the Raptors defeated the SuperSonics in an away game, which had an incomplete lineup and lacked power forward Vin Baker. The road trip finally came to an end. Their opponents on the 14th were the underdog Warriors, so they could breathe a sigh of relief.

On the afternoon of the 13th, Glenn invited Yang Rui to the office to discuss the summer contract extension with him. The boss had given clear instructions, which rookie to choose, what kind of deal to make, and how to renew the contract, all must follow Yang Rui's ideas.

"Jerry, I don't want to distract you, but if we wait until the end of the season to talk, I'm afraid you will have a grudge against the Raptors." Glenn said with a wry smile.

"It's okay, what's the matter?"

"After this season, I think it will be difficult to renew Tracy McGrady's contract. If he and Carter both get the maximum salary, everyone else will have to leave." Glenn sighed.

Yang Rui has thought about this problem for a long time. Tracy McGrady has shown his worth in advance and will become a "big fish" in the summer. He can definitely go to big cities to develop. Unexpected opponents may appear in the future.

"Renew the contract as much as possible, it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out. When I first came here, no one was optimistic about the Raptors, and we have reached this point today." Yang Rui smiled and said: "If Tracy McGrady leaves, you must renew the contract with others. Lupus has to stay, he has the potential to be a star."

It's not the end of the world if McGrady is gone. Renewing Billups's contract doesn't have to be too big and is cost-effective.

Small teams may not be unable to win the championship, but they have a lower error tolerance rate in terms of transactions. Because he has to sign players and make money, the boss is not a charity, so he can't invest crazy money without considering management. The Spurs' model is the most worth learning, with one superstar as the core, paired with two stars around him, and then equipped with capable role players to assist.

The Raptors easily defeated the Warriors at home. Jamison was injured and did not play, and he did not come to Toronto with the team. Now the eldest brother does not know how to face his former younger brother.

After defeating the Magic and Rockets, the Raptors' record remains stable, six wins ahead of the second-place Lakers in the league with 12 losses.

With 17 games left before the end of the regular season, the Raptors are likely to break the record. Even if they lose four games, they can tie the Bulls and share the record.

This is not easy. Other teams don't want to see the Raptors break records. They work extremely hard when playing against each other. Even if they are a bad team, they want to prove their team's strength by defeating the Raptors.

After defeating the Nets at home for five consecutive victories, the Raptors lost again on the 22nd, losing to the 76ers 103-106 away from home.

The 76ers traded forward Toni Kukoc, adding a powerful scoring point and improving the team's offensive power a lot. In this game, the 76ers had trouble from the outside, making 9 of 17 three-pointers, which was a superb performance. They averaged 7.8 three-pointers per game and only scored 2.5 goals.

His teammates opened up to attract defense, and Iverson showed off his strength, making 17 of 29 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 9 of 9 free throws, and scored 44 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

One day later, the Raptors narrowly defeated the Hornets by 1 point at home. Eddie Jones and David Willis performed well. Power forward Coleman, who scored 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, hit a 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left.

Carter did not disappoint again. In the last attack, he caught the ball and shot a three-pointer, and hit a pull-up to complete the victory.

This buzzer beater greatly increased the players' confidence in breaking the record. They then defeated the Timberwolves 121-106, the Cavaliers 119-96, and the Nets 113-107.

On the 31st, the Raptors lost to the Hornets 106-110 in overtime, ending their winning streak.

Without Christie, the Raptors' perimeter defense was affected. The Hornets are fighting fiercely. They are competing with the 76ers and Knicks for fourth place. Every victory or defeat may affect the final result.

Hornets coach Paul Salas had no reservations and won the game with only eight rotations.

Anthony Mason Jr. scored 31 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, using his experience to suppress O'Neal Jr., who only had 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Eddie Jones also scored 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.

Carter did not fall behind in the matchup with Jones, scoring 31 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. However, his teammates performed generally. McGrady made 6 of 20 shots, 4 of 5 free throws, and only had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raptors lost Game 8 and ended March with a record of 64 wins and 8 losses.

Other teams in the Eastern Conference have poor records, and the second-ranked Pacers have lost 24 games. With the best record and the best statistics on the team, Carter continued to win the Eastern Conference Player of the Month.

Fans all over the world are focusing on the Raptors. There are only 10 games left. If they want to break the record, they need a 90% winning rate!