Thursday... it's February already?!

I rarely make public predictions but I'm glad that my Raptor forecast earlier this month came true, and the Raps finished the month at .500, going 7-3, which is exactly what I'd forecasted... the Raps are in good position right now for the playoffs... If I were them, I'd set my sights on the Indiana Pacers, and the falling Orlando Magic, who are surprisingly only 1 game ahead of us now in 6th in the Eastern Conference (if you disregard the seeding bonus for winning the Atlantic). I'd feel much more comfortable about the playoffs if we could get some breathing space between us and the Miami Heat, who sit 2.5 games behind us, but are the only real threat to take us out of the playoffs at this point... (Atlanta, Charlotte, Philly and Boston are unlikely to compete, and Milwaukee has had too many injuries which has pushed them 5 game back at this point)... New York is the only other wild card at only 4 games back, particularly given their ability to bring in high-priced talent before the trade deadline. Depending how long Richard Jefferson is out, I can't see New Jersey staying with us, barring injuries to Bosh, as teams will start doing what the Pistons did to the Nets last night... wear down Vince, and there's no other scoring on this team...

Raps have a challenging next few games... Atlanta always plays us well, then three winnable but tough games at home against the Clippers, Magic and Lakers, then on the road in Detroit and Chicago, before playing Vince and the Nets on Valentine's Day (and the all-star game). I think this is a good part of the schedule to test just how good this team is... if it gets through 5-2 or 4-3, then I think that'll bode very well for the playoffs... the Raps from last year probably would go 1-6 in this stretch... we'll see which team shows up... I see them winning a close one in Atlanta, beating the Magic, and taking down the Nets (after getting murdered the last time), but I'm not convinced about the other four games. We'll see...

Still coughing up a storm... hope this throat of mine gets better soon!...

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