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In the 2005 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors had two first round picks — 7 and 16 — and there were rumblings that they might use the 16th pick on a scrawny 21-year-old point guard from Split, Croatia. Then-GM Rob Babcock used that pick on Joey Graham (and not, sadly, Danny Granger) but when the Raptors' 41st overall pick rolled around, Roko-Leni Ukic was still on the board so the Raptors snapped him up.
As is usually the case with foreign players, Raptors fans had a wide range of expectations about Ukic after he was drafted. Message boards scrutinized boxscores of his performances in the Spanish League, wondering when Ukic would come to Toronto and dissolve his mystery. Three years later — after two seasons in the Spanish League and one season in the Italian League — Ukic finally signed a three-year contract with the Raptors.
By this point, reactions to Ukic's arrival ranged from "Finally!" to "Who?" Rob Babcock was long gone, Jose Calderon was firmly entrenched as the Raptors' starting point guard and it was widely expected that free agent signee Will Solomon would be the primary backup. Most people didn't expect Ukic to get much more than garbage minutes, and their attention was mostly focused on Andrea Bargnani, anyway.
Fifty-five games into the season, Ukic had played a grand total of 526 minutes while showing some intriguing slashing ability along with a horrendous shot. He had mostly become an afterthought in this disastrous Raptors season, and it's safe to say that almost nobody would have predicted he would have a breakout performance against an elite team like the San Antonio Spurs.
Well, if you were lucky enough to have TSN2 (or a link to an online stream) last night, then you witnessed "The Revelation of Roko" — a career-high 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including five of the Raptors' last six points in a shocking 91-89 upset victory. Two of Ukic's nine field goals were three-pointers but the remaining seven were a dazzling array of layups and runners within 10 feet of the basket. In a game without Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon or Joey Graham (he bruised his shin in the first quarter and sat out the rest of the game), Roko miraculously turned into a seemingly unstoppable scoring machine. The Spurs and their fans had to be asking, "Who the hell is this guy?"
Raptors fans knew who he was — but only now are we starting to discover what kind of player he might be. He still needs a lot of work on his shooting (he's shooting 23 percent from three-point range so far and his mid-range game is non-existent) but Roko Ukic is one hell of a slasher. Go to 4:57 of this Youtube clip to see Roko's clutch three from the corner and then watch in awe as he crosses over Tony Parker, drives, spins, and then lays in a beautiful floater over the outstretched arms of Parker and Tim Duncan. The more I watch his final basket, the more I find myself asking, "Who else on this team could actually do that?"
Sure, it's only one game in an overall miserable season, but this was a welcome respite for Raptors fans who have been understandably losing hope in both the present and future of this franchise. It certainly gives us something to talk about over the All-Star break.
Here, I'll start... Should Jay Triano replace Anthony Parker with Ukic as the starting point guard when Calderon is out? I know that's what I'd like to see. No offense, Jose, but take the rest of the season off to rest that hammy if you want. I've developed a jones for some hot Roko action. Who's with me? 
Note: My wife, Katrina, is a finalist in a blogging contest where she'll win a trip to Chicago if she gets the most votes. Please take a minute to click the "Send Kat to Chicago" graphic in the right column (scroll up to see it) and register a vote for "Katrina @ Fickle Feline 2.0: The Rewards & Benefits of Blogging". If she wins the contest, she's promised to watch a Raptors game with me and make a guest post in this blog before the end of the season. If you followed this blog back in its 2002 inception, you'll recall that her RaptorBlog posts were often hilarious and usually got twice as many comments as mine (which pissed me off to no end). A vote for Kat is a vote for RaptorBlog entertainment!
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