TORONTO

The angry bear portion of the schedule is now upon the Raptors.

Starting with Friday's game against East-leading Atlanta, the team has a slew of back-to-backs and many games in not so many days against excellent teams on the way.

It is not going to be easy by any stretch and in an effort to try to take some of the pressure or stress of facing such hefty competition off, Dwane Casey has devised a plan.

“I was telling them we have 29 (games) to go, we’re going to divide them up into five game series (the last one will be a four) but we got to look at it as a number of mini series like that,” Casey explained earlier Friday.

“They are going to go by fast. They are probably going to be the 29 hardest games we have had since I’ve been here because everyone is going to come out with their A game. We are not sneaking up on anyone so we have to bring the effort.”

Toronto sits second in the East, so Casey is probably right on that front. Everyone now gets up for a contest against the Raptors. My, how things have changed.

General manager/president Masai Ujiri feels his charges are up for the task. He didn't make any moves at the trade deadline and believes this group can keep it rolling, as is.

“They play well with each other. Hey, go forward, we have 29 games left and hopefully the post-season we go from there,” Ujiri said.

“There is good chemistry on the team, the coaches will keep plugging away.”

To that end, Casey revealed that his staff isn't going to be quite as nice the rest of the way. The team has made a lot of repetitive mistakes and they either fix them, or don't get to where they want to be.

“The intensity of the coaching staff is going to go up,” Casey said.

“Nitpicking on the little things - footwork, position on the floor defensively, rotations, boxing out- all the little things we can control. We as a staff will be more nitpicky and more intense about those situations going down the stretch ... Every time we walk on the floor, just like this morning when we had a little accelerated shoot around, we gotta make those times precious to get better and know what we are working toward at the end of the year. Not like before when we were hoping to get there. Unless something terrible happens we are going to be there so we have to keep that in mind. It’s a different approach for a lot of those guys who haven’t been in that position before (only Chuck Hayes has gone on a deep playoff run).”

WASTE OF TIME

Toronto badly needs to get its own NBA Development League affiliate. The current situation, which sees the Raptors share an affiliate (Fort Wayne) with a third of the league, is a complete waste of time. Players sent there compete in a different system, for a franchise that has no reason to try to develop prospects since it is one of the more competitive D-League squads. As a result, someone like Bruno Caboclo sees spotty minutes (only about 10 per game in four appearances before Friday's game) whereas on an actual Toronto affiliate, he would be playing 35 minutes a night and could be doing so for a coaching staff that is assembled to use the same systems and terminologies as Casey and his staff. Getting a Canadian affiliate is a non-starter for a variety of reasons, but one in nearby New York State would make a lot of sense.

The good news on that front is the Raptors are aggressively pursuing their own affiliate and had productive talks with D-League officials during all-star weekend in New York City, Ujiri told the Sun on Friday. The team has aggressively pursued a solution and believes significant progress was made. The hope is it will be in place for next season.

LOOKING AHEAD

Since the Raptors are clearly looking ahead to this summer and the next, which free agents are out there? This year, expect many teams to show interest in Atlanta's DeMarre Carroll (including, quite Likely, Ujiri, who once invited him to training camp and saw him play in a few games in Denver), Memphis forward Jeff Green, Dallas centre Tyson Chandler and point guard Rajon Rondo, Detroit's Greg Monroe (but likely not Toronto, since he is a bad fit) and ex-Raptor Ed Davis. Expect Marc Gasol to stay put in Memphis. Ujiri could also make an offer on a restricted free agent (Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, Cory Joseph or Kyle O'Quinn) that he senses might be pried loose by overbidding and if that fails, he can save his space for 2016, which boasts a deeper and more top-heavy free agent class.

He could also offer lucrative one-year deals which won't mess up future cap space.

The Raptors also own a first round pick this year that should fall somewhere in the 20s and has its own, plus a valuable first from either the awful Knicks or horrid Nuggets next year (Denver gets the better of the two picks and gives Toronto the other), plus its own 2016 1st (but no second rounders this year or next).

AROUND THE RIM

Buyout season is now here. All players must be signed by March 1 in order to be eligible to suit up in the playoffs ... Funny how things work. Tony McIntyre, father of Tyler Ennis and the CIA Bounce co-founder had a flight scheduled from Pearson for Milwaukee, to see son Dylan Ennis and Villanova play on Saturday. On Thursday, another son, Tyler Ennis, was dealt by the Phoenix Suns to the Bucks, meaning dad will be around to help with the transition and see his first two games Friday and Sunday.

@WolstatSun