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Bosh and his teammates better get used to Ford being away for a little while longer. While the diminutive guard, who has been out action since suffering another arm stinger on Dec.11 in Atlanta, was spotted at the ACC yesterday, general manager Bryan Colangelo confirmed that the club plans to pursue other professional opinions on the state of Ford's injury.

"You just try to behave yourself and watch your language the best you can," said Mitchell, one of the more colourful and outspoken coaches in the NBA. "But I have confidence that the NBA is not going to let me embarrass myself or the organization. You just try to keep your emotions in check.

Raptors NBA TV produces the team's games and tomorrow's home game against Detroit will air on Rogers Sportsnet. Since ESPN is not on Canadian cable and satellite systems, Raptors fans won't get to hear what Mitchell has to say.

"We had hoped to let Canadian fans hear whatever Sam is saying, but the league has denied our request," said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. "They have only been doing it for three weeks and are reluctant to pass it on to other broadcasters until they've got the bugs worked out.

"People just assume because you're at home, you're supposed to win and that's just not the case," he said yesterday. "You still have to play well, you've still got to out-work a team and play better. The fans just need to realize, you're not going to come out and be up 25-10 every game at home. We've got the type of team where we're not going to stop playing. We're going to play 48 minutes and sometimes you're not going to play well for 48 minutes so their support is important."

January could be a big month for the Raptors, as they try to cement themselves as an upper-tier Eastern Conference playoff team. Here's how it shapes up:

Jan. 6 vs. Detroit

Pistons: 24-7; season series: first meeting

As the Raptors worked out yesterday in the friendly confines of the Adidas Practice Court for the first time since Dec. 15, the hope is 2008 will work out much the way the early months of 2007 did.

The difference is if Toronto can go 34-16 over the last 50 games of the regular season