Campus Maximus » he season, on a team desperate for goals. W

The Toronto Raptors played their way out of a four-game slide on home court on Saturday and will try to continue that momentum tonight against another weak Eastern Conference squad in the Detroit Pistons. You can watch the game on TSN2 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt, with coverage available on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. Toronto (25-11) found itself trending in the opposite direction with a season-worst four-game skid before notching a 109-96 win over Boston on Saturday. The Raptors had allowed 114.0 points per game during their losing streak, but forced 13 turnovers in the second and third quarters while outscoring the Celtics 63-39. I thought our defensive mojo was back, coach Dwane Casey said. I saw guys moving their feet, cracking down, rebounding, doing the things we needed to do with activity and anticipation. DeMar DeRozan will not dress for the Raptors tonight. The team still hopes to have him back this week but are without a specific timetable. DeRozan was injured on Nov. 28 vs. the Dallas Mavericks James Johnson, who started his sixth game of the season Saturday, figures to receive plenty of playing time Monday against Detroit after he recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks against Boston for his second double-double this season. He can guard the bigger wings, he can block shots, he can handle the ball, he gives us another ball handler, Casey said. We knew that with James. Hes a talented young man. Johnson had 12 points off the bench when the Raptors beat the Pistons 110-100 at The Palace on Dec. 19, though that game might be best remembered for his extracurricular activity with Andre Drummond. Detroits big man smashed into Johnson with his forearm and hip after being dunked on in the fourth quarter, setting off a melee that saw Drummond get a flagrant foul and four technicals called. Kyle Lowry had only 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting in that win, Torontos fourth straight in the series. The Detroit Pistons recent play has them more closely resembling one of the leagues top teams rather than the last-place club in the Central Division. The Pistons (13-24) have won eight of nine contests since they waived Josh Smith on Dec. 22. Their offensive output has risen from 94.4 to 106.2 points per game, their field-goal percentage has jumped from 41.3 to 46.5 percent, their turnovers are down (13.8 to 12.6), their assists are up (20.4 to 22.8) and theyve allowed 94.3 points per game after yielding 101.1 in their first 28. Its fun, man, Jonas Jerebko told the Pistons official website. Its fun back at The Palace. Ive seen it a few times, but its fun seeing it two days in a row. The city is really coming behind us. Were trying to show them a good product thats easy to sell. I think its pretty fun to watch us play right now. Since Dec. 26, the Pistons are 5-0 on the road and 3-1 at home, losing only to Southeast-leading Atlanta 106-103 on Friday. They bounced back the next night at The Palace, downing Brooklyn 98-93 behind 20 points and 11 assists from Brandon Jennings and 17 rebounds from Greg Monroe. After owning the NBAs third-worst record on Christmas, Detroit now finds itself just three games out of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with 45 games to play. It was big, Kyle Singler said of Saturdays win. Coach (Stan Van Gundy) said something after the game last night saying were not falling back into losing and going backwards. This was big for us. Matthew Dellavedova Jersey . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jersey . Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. http://www.cheapbucksjerseys.com/. 1. Lions WR Calvin Johnson (6 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD, 10 targets) leads receivers with 1,299 yards and 12 touchdowns, though his 118.1 receiving yards per game ranks second behind Clevelands Josh Gordon. Gordon (10 REC, 261 YDS, 2 TD, 15 targets) is emerging as a superstar, putting up huge numbers even with Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden at quarterback. Ray Allen Jersey . Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Eric Bledsoe Jersey . Harrison Barnes had 15 points and Reggie Bullock scored 11 for the Tar Heels (17-3, 4-1 ACC), who took the court for the first time without starter Dexter Strickland. The junior guard tore his right ACL last Thursday at Virginia Tech and will miss the rest of the season.Ten games into a Premier League season is slightly more than a quarter of the campaign. Or exactly 26.3 per cent for the perfectionists amongst us. It is the equivalent of 42 games into a major league baseball season, just under 22 games of an NHL season, or 132 miles into the Indianapolis 500. Assumptions can be made, premature conclusions will be drawn but at the end of the day, there remains a long way to go in the race. During the first quarter of the season, the team dominating many of the storylines has been Manchester United. Collectively, they have been the leagues most underwhelming side and certainly its biggest underachiever. However, United players are not alone when it comes to struggling in the Premier League this season. After 10 matches, here is the top 10 players so far who have been more than just a disappointment for their team. Nicolas Anelka (WBA) - No one at The Hawthorns expected the Frenchman to fill the void left behind by Romelu Lukaku, scorer of 17 league goals last season, but they certainly hoped he would be better than what he has done so far. A total of six shots in the seven games he has played leaves him still searching for his first goal of the season, on a team desperate for goals. West Brom started the campaign without a goal in their first 360 minutes and, although they have been better lately, they still look like a team that will struggle to average more than a goal per game over the entire season. Home form will keep the club safe but it is worth noting their only away goals scored from open play this season came in the stunning 2-1 win at Manchester United. They need Anelka to find his scoring boots but at the moment, he looks more like a player who is finished at this level. Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) - When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and it appears Berbatov goes hiding. Scorer of 15 goals for Fulham last season, the Bulgarian looks back to his lazy best this season. Fulham have looked far too open under Martin Jol, but this has been an attempt by the Dutchman to get more people in the attacking third to connect with his star striker, scorer of just one goal so far. It hasnt worked. Berbatov remains the most natural goalscorer on the team but now has just three goals in his last 17 league games, dating back to April. Three goals in his next 17 league games will likely put Fulham in the bottom three by March. He has to be better. Papiss Cisse (Newcastle) - In his first 87 days as a Premier League player, Cisse scored 13 goals in his first 12 Premier League games. He took on the iconic number nine shirt at St James Park and looked every bit like a player who deserved it, scoring a wonder goal at Chelsea that took his face into homes around the world. All of last season, he carried those high expectations into each Newcastle match and rarely delivered. This season, much like last, he is off to a terrible start and hasnt found the back of the net yet. Thankfully for Alan Pardew, the Magpies got Loic Remy on loan, and only Daniel Sturridge and Sergio Aguero have scored more than the Frenchman so far, but Cisse has now played his way out of a starting spot in recent games. When he is given his chance, he looks lost in front of goal. He may never be the star he was when he arrived in England but Newcastle fans will take somewhere in between that and the liability he is right now. Andreas Cornelius (Cardiff City) - When I met Cardiffs head of recruitment, Iain Moody this summer, we talked at length about the need for newly promoted teams to find a striker who can score between 12 and 15 league goals a season. A week later, Moody splashed 5 million pounds on the Danish Superliga top scorer. Ten games into the season, Moody has been let go (although that is a different story itself) and Cornelius has played just one minute in the Premier League. Two separate ankle injuries have hampered his progress and Peter Odemwingie and Fraizer Campbell have filled in very well up to now but it is a long season and Cardiff fans need to see soon what Moody saw in the 20-year-old striker. Marouane Fellaini (Manchester Utd) - Fellainis Premier League performances this season have not been as poor as some have made out but when the champions splash 27 million pounds on a player who is dropped for three weeks, during a rough time for the club, it is clear he has been underachieving. Fellaini began the year as a deeper midfielder for Roberto Martinezs Everton at Norwich and, despite allowing Steven Whittaker room to score Norwichs opener, impressed in a role he has always said he prefers.dddddddddddd However, since coming to Old Trafford, he has struggled to enforce the usual physical presence he has on games. He was overrun by a powerful and fast Manchester City in the derby and again against Southampton was exposed by not protecting his full back, an essential part of a central midfielders job. Since signing his Manchester United contract, the Belgian has started two of seven league games for David Moyes. Joe Hart (Manchester City) - With headline stealers Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Roberto Mancini all out of the club, this was supposed to be a season of smooth sailing for City. In truth, they have played some blistering football at times and remain the most talented squad in the league, but in goal, they have had major issues. Blunders against Cardiff, Aston Villa and Chelsea have cost Hart the number one position as City go about using a goalkeeper who cannot lose them any more points. New manager Manuel Pellegrini does not have history of knowing how much he can rely on Hart. It could be some time before the Englishman is trusted again between the posts for City. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - It is difficult to know whether Lampard is playing poorly this season or whether this is just a veteran struggling to play a position that is so vital in the modern game. Chelseas performances away from home in the league this season have been very average. When they have been in control of the game, they have struggled to maintain quick tempo and good possession. When they have lost the ascendancy in a game, their central midfield have been overrun. Lampard is at the heart of both these issues. Jose Mourinhos decision to keep playing the 35-year-old with Ramires in the double pivot is puzzling but may change soon. Lampard has been taken off in each of their last two matches and Mourinhos loyalty towards him will be tested between now and May. David Luiz (Chelsea) - Mourinho has used three centre-backs in 10 games this season (John Terry 10 times and Gary Cahill and Luiz five times each alongside him). They have won four and drawn one, including matches against Man Utd and Man City, with Cahill. They have won two, drawn one and lost two with Luiz. The two losses, at Everton and Newcastle, exposed Luiz as a defender prone to poor decision-making at crucial times. He was out of position and failed to track the run of Steven Naismith at Goodison Park and was called out by BBC pundit Alan Shearer this week when he failed to win a crucial challenge against Newcastles Shola Ameobi. Under Mourinho, this Chelsea team will not destroy many teams, making it even more important they do not concede the unnecessary goals they have let in when Luiz has been on the pitch. Ashley Westwood (Aston Villa) - He is not a household name to many Premier League fans, but those dressed in claret and blue each week know the value his ball treasuring skills bring to the club. Westwood is on this list because of the standards he achieved last season. The young English midfielder was the face of a new system and approach under Paul Lambert in his first top-flight campaign but this season has struggled to maintain a high level of consistency. Westwood has missed games through injury and played some of the best midfields in the league already, but he needs to improve his passing ratio (down to 82 per cent this season) if he is to get to a level where he will one day be considered for England, something that very much could be in his future. Ashley Young (Manchester United) - Of all the players on the list, it is a real possibility that the first one to move clubs will be Young. The former Aston Villa creator has regressed badly in the last 12 months at Old Trafford. The winger used to be an explosive threat on the flanks who could turn defenders either way, while also providing some excellent defensive coverage for his fullbacks. Now he is known as a notorious diver, a winner of disputed penalties, the king of the con merchants who can cheat a fellow professional to gain a massive advantage in a game. Youngs antics could be tolerated if he produced consistent performances when he plays but the truth is, with every showing in a Manchester United shirt, he is giving more and more evidence that he is simply not good enough to play for a club of that stature any more. ' ' '