by Mike Ball
--raptors.com
January 2, 2003

More Winds of Change
Just prior to Friday's 86-74 loss to the Hornets, the Raptors announced they had acquired Robert Archibald from the Orlando Magic for Mengke Bateer.

Archibald has the distinct honour of being the first Scottish native to appear in an NBA game. The Scot, however has seen very limited action and this becomes his fourth NBA team since being selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2001 draft.

Glen Grunwald has said that Kevin O’Neill knows the forward’s game from coaching in the college ranks when Archibald was patrolling the paint for the Fighting Illini of the Unversity of Illinois. Not only that, but the fact that talent-spotter extraordinaire, Jerry West selected the big man has to say something.

Unhappy On The IR
In an unsurprising move on Thursday, Lamond Murray voiced his displeasure with the lack of minutes he has been receiving and the fact that his role has been reduced to a safety net for any injuries that might arrive in the future.

Murray told the Toronto Star that he would speak to Grunwald on Friday and request a trade.

He has described his main beef as being that no one has told him that he has done anything wrong or isn’t doing enough, but that it is more a preference issue with the coach and who he wants to go with in his rotation.

There weren’t a lot of losers on the Raptors roster after the trade with the Chicago Bulls, but if there was one it was Murray.

The simple fact that the Raptors traded their two main frontcourt players for a new starting point guard and a perimeter power forward spelled the end of minutes for either Murray or Morris Peterson.

The bottom line is Peterson impressed the coach with the minutes he was given more so than Murray. There are only so many minutes to go around.

Whenever a player makes such statements as Murray has in the media however, one has to shake their head.

Murray must know that his value on the NBA market isn’t exactly sky-high after missing all of last season injured and this year on the pine. By coming out in the media and publicly stating he has asked for a trade only brings his value down further.

Which begs the question; If you really want to be traded, why would you make it nearly impossible for management to deal you?

Audio - Hear what Murray said at Friday's Shootaround: Part 1 | Part 2

Maybe It’s the Teal?
Perhaps the bright teal unis blur their view of the basket, but there’s something about the New Orleans, or even the Charlotte “brand” of these Hornets that just doesn’t agree with the Raptors.

Including last year’s campaign, the Raptors have lost five straight to the Hornets and haven’t beat them since the move to New Orleans after the 2001-02 season. Overall the Raptors are 8-24 vs. the Hornets.