Naismith Cup

Naismith Cup

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1995
Country(ies)	Worldwide
Ceased	2004
Last champion(s)	Toronto Raptors

The Naismith Cup was an annual pre-season National Basketball Association (NBA) exhibition game. From 1995 through 2000, it was played between the two Canadian NBA rivals, the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies, at neutral venues across Canada.^[1] Following the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis, the cup was laid dead.^[2] The cup was named for James Naismith, the Canadian inventor of basketball, and was originally created to raise money for Canada Basketball. The Raptors won the Vancouver series 4–1.

In 2003, the cup became an international match between the Raptors and a European team, played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. In 2003 the opponent was the Panathinaikos A.O. of Athens, Greece, while in 2004 the Benetton Treviso of Treviso, Italy visited Toronto.^[3] The final season saw the Raptor's only international loss, against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Tel Aviv, Israel.^[4]

Results

Season	Date	Location	Arena	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Attendance	Ref
Toronto-Vancouver series
1995	October 21	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Winnipeg Arena	Toronto Raptors	98–77	Vancouver Grizzlies	11,203	[5]
1996	October 27	Calgary, Alberta	Canadian Airlines Saddledome	Vancouver Grizzlies	80–77	Toronto Raptors	15,104	[6]
1997	October 20	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Halifax Metro Centre	Toronto Raptors	107–98	Vancouver Grizzlies	8,190	[7]
1998	October 19	Vancouver, British Columbia	General Motors Place	Cancelled due to 1998–99 NBA lockout				[8]
1999	October 18	Edmonton, Alberta	Skyreach Centre	Toronto Raptors	110–84	Vancouver Grizzlies	12,852	[9]
2000	October 12	Ottawa, Ontario	Corel Centre	Toronto Raptors	97–92	Vancouver Grizzlies	14,783	[10]
International series
2003	October 10	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	Toronto Raptors	100–76	Panathinaikos BC	17,749	[11]
2004	October 20	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	Toronto Raptors	86–83	Benetton Treviso	10,668	[12]
2005	October 16	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	Maccabi Tel Aviv	105–103	Toronto Raptors	17,281	[4]

References

1. ^ "Raptors romp over Grizzlies in annual Naismith Cup". Kitchener Record. October 19, 1999. 
2. ^ Feschuk, Dave (March 8, 2007). "Time for some bonding Mitchell; Team unity crucial for the stretch run". Toronto Star. 
3. ^ Quinn, Jennifer (October 11, 2003). "Lights out for Greek side; ACC goes dark at Raps' game with Panathinaikos Crowd of 17,749 watches visitors get trounced". Toronto Star. 
4. ^ ^{a b} MacLeod, Robert (October 17, 2005). "Homes isn't so sweet for Raptors". The Globe and Mail: p. S3. 
5. ^ Roberts, David (October 23, 1995). "Raptors maul tame Grizzlies". The Globe and Mail: p. E7. 
6. ^ Clarkson, Michael (October 28, 1996). "Raptors unprepared for season". Toronto Star: p. D5. 
7. ^ Smith, Doug (October 21, 1997). "Nasty win for Raps". Toronto Star: p. C1. 
8. ^ Kingston, Gary (October 6, 1998). "NBA cancels rest of the pre-season". Vancouver Sun: p. E3. 
9. ^ Smith, Doug (October 19, 1999). "Raps devour Grizzlies for first win". Toronto Star: p. C3. 
10. ^ Smith, Doug (October 13, 2000). "Raptors win the Cup". Toronto Star: p. F3. 
11. ^ MacLeod, Robert (October 11, 2003). "Game zapped at finish". The Globe and Mail: p. S5. 
12. ^ MacLeod, Robert (October 21, 2004). "International flavour just not in the mix". The Globe and Mail: p. S3. 

External links

• "2010-11 Toronto Raptors Preseason Media Guide". Toronto Raptors. http://www.nba.com/raptors/photos/2010-11_Toronto_Raptors_Preseason_Media_Guide.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-15.