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"A lot of repetition, a lot of practice,'' Bosh said yesterday. "(The change in mechanics) isn't really that big a deal, but just enough to affect the shot a little bit.

"And now it's going in."

As odd as the back-to-back appears, even odder will be the calibre of foes that await the Raptors in February.


Toronto's 12-game dance card for the month features only three teams currently above the .500 mark.

"You don't want to get into that type of game when CB is going to force people to double-team him," said Mitchell. "Chris has been a tough matchup for Jamison and if you put Jamison on him, how quickly do you come (double-team) Chris? What if Jamison screws around and gets a couple of fouls early or if Haywood gets a couple of fouls early, now who do you go to?

"You don't want to get into an up and down game like that, because my advantage is Chris and Chris, to his credit, has been pretty good getting the ball out of double-teams."

While some coaches would rather have all their players on vacation all-star weekend to rest up for the grind of the final post-season push, there are those who actively campaign to have someone chosen.

Denver's Karl, for instance, told reporters last week about Camby that "it will be interesting to see a coach who doesn't pick him ... I'll make some phone calls."

Scott, meanwhile, said he'd make some calls about Paul, who is bidding to be an all-star in front of the hometown fans.

If you look at trends, you'd have to think the Raptors might just get it, too. The Raptors went 3-1 against Washington last season, with much of the credit going to Bosh, who averaged 30 points on 60.3-per-cent shooting against the Wizards.

And the strange thing is that it was barely a change at all. Bosh shifted his left hand slightly to the right, and loosened his left wrist, just enough. It was not as if Bosh had decided, after a lifetime of left-handed jump shots, to start jacking them up with his right. But still, despite shooting every day, it took Bosh a year and a half to feel fully comfortable with minor changes.

Hopla, who worked for the Raptors last season as a consultant, breaks down a basketball shot the same way baseball hitting coaches break down a player's swing.

He pays attention to technical matters, like how a player gets his legs into a shot, foot placement, elbow position, release point and follow through. But regardless of an individual player's shooting style, he believes that documenting success and failure is one of the keys to developing a consistent shot.

Hopla keeps a color-coded chart on each player's shooting patterns by quarter. When reviewing tape of a given game, Hopla sees a player miss a shot and jots down something like: DLH (dropped left hand), BS (bad shot) or TQ (too quick).

Raptors will challenge the Wizards