In a game that evoked memories of an era of purple pinstriped uniforms and horrid Grizzlies' draft picks, at least one team showed the savvy, if not the skill, of an experienced crew last night.

Clearly not operating anywhere near peak efficiency, the Toronto Raptors nonetheless managed to steal a 91-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies before a sold-out crowd at the Air Canada Centre.

But for most of the game, it could have been Toronto-Vancouver circa 1996 with a combined 40 turnovers, a litany of blown opportunities and all the tempo of a sprint through a swamp.

"We didn't make great plays but we made enough plays," said Toronto coach Lenny Wilkens. "So you just have to be thankful for the win."

YOU'D HAVE thought a moment of silence would have been mandatory.

Being the Grizzlies and Raptors, though, and therefore old hands at delivering stupefying moments, that particular hush and an accompanying round of slack jaws was held in escrow all the way until the second quarter.

Hey, same spit, different day. Anyone who's followed the Raptors' Team Sybil act over these long years know this is the way it goes. They refuse to put an opponent away early when they had the chance ? who'd have thought that? Vince Carter and Morris Peterson prefer to put some extra mustard on their hot dogs, and Hakeem Olajuwon looks 38 going on social security ? there'll be nights like this, because we've seen them before. And how about a stretch in the fourth quarter when they combined for four turnovers in eight seconds ? among 17 giveaways in the fourth quarter alone, and 40 for the night?

As for Vancouver, Memphis, wherever, they'll be fine once they figure out that making shots is the name of the game. The way they were going early on, they couldn't have found a basket if you put `em on a ladder underneath it and spotted 'em three rungs. It's like that old saying goes. You can take Big Country out of the country, but you can't take the pooch out of the Griz (at least, not until his contract runs out).

Antonio Davis, in a performance reminiscent of last season, took on all comers in the Air Canada Centre paint last night and emerged with another double-double statistical evening.

And to the surprise of no one, it also meant the Toronto Raptors won a game.

"We have to find a way to soften the other team's defence and one way to do that is to attack the middle," said Davis, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Toronto's too-close 91-88 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies last night.

"I think I'm going to force the issue some more, I'm maybe going to demand things a little more and I also think it'll just come with time."

This is how it's going to go. You are going to give me the ball. Now.

Antonio Davis has been saying just that for the past couple of weeks.

He has spent more time speaking up about shouting out than any other Raptor.

Last night, in an evening in which his Raptors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 91-88, a night that featured scattered boos as well as cheers, the shout that mattered most was the sound of Antonio Davis calling for the ball.

"I'm trying to force the issue," Davis said, "and I'm going to be more vocal about it because I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the position."

Give me the ball. Sweet words for the Raptors, who need Antonio Davis to justify any claim that they, not the Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks, are the class of the NBA Eastern Conference.

This is one of those bad news-bad news situations.

Not only do the Toronto Raptors get to the free throw line with troubling infrequency but when they do manage to shoot foul shots, they make them at an unacceptably bad clip.

And when all the ugly numbers get tallied up, they could mean problems down the road for the would-be Eastern Conference contenders.

Heading into tonight's game with the Memphis Grizzlies (6:30 p.m., Sportsnet, FAN 590), the Raptors are among the dregs of the 29-team NBA in both free throws shot and free throws made.

On an average, they get to the line just 23 times a game, which is seven behind the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.

And of those 23, the Raptors manage to make only 16.3, for a 71 per cent inefficiency mark that puts them 24th of those 29 franchises. In fact, in raw numbers only the Miami Heat (14.2), Boston Celtics (16.1) and Denver Nuggets (16.2) make fewer foul shots, on average, each game

Born on the same date as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, soon Keon Clark may be looking like him.

The big centre wearing the big goggles.

It all started a week or so ago when a shipment of Clark's belongings finally arrived from Denver. Stuff he hadn't bothered with since being traded to the Raptors from the Nuggets last January.

He opened the packages and found things he'd all but forgotten about. In one were a pair of glasses he used to wear on occasion.

So he tried them on, and suddenly the world and the basketball court looked different to him. The images were sharper. "I could see the rim a whole lot better," Clark said. "I figured I've got to try this."

And hence prescription goggles were ordered and any day now the new, improved Keon Clark should be arriving in a Raptors uniform. Not that there was anything wrong with the old, blurry-eyed version.

The old Clark has been doing just fine, thank you. In fact, on the fan meter, he's something of a rising star. Part of the deepest bench in basketball.

Last year was the Junk Yard Dog's turn at becoming a local legend. But right now with quick feet and long arms and a name built for this city, Keon Clark, 26, is the new flavour of the month.

They've worked on their defensive assignments, foul shooting and added a few offensive plays.

While Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens bemoaned the team's three-day break, the period of inactivity did have its merits.

"I think it's wonderful to be at home for three days and we've used this time to our advantage," veteran centre Hakeem Olajuwon said yesterday.

"You can get rusty, but the practices have been good, the mood has been good and we expect to play with focus and to play well. We've worked on a lot of different things."

Olajuwon is confident the Raptors will carry their intensity from the team's scrimmages into tonight's game against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies (note tonight's tipoff at the Air Canada Centre is 6:30 p.m.).

Even though they've moved from Vancouver, the Grizzlies remain a bad team, especially on the road where they are winless this season.

With the Raptors having played their best game of the season on Sunday against a good Philadelphia 76ers team, Olajuwon isn't expecting any let downs tonight.

Seems this lot is just as grisly whether it says Memphis or Vancouver on the front of the jersey.

Now, that shouldn't really come as any great surprise given the fact the Memphis Grizzlies, in an effort to woo fans in a new market, traded away their two best players and replaced them with an unproven 21-year-old from Spain, a college senior who has a great mind and a still-developing NBA game and a point guard who was cut adrift because he was too out of control for one of the league's most potent offences.

So that Memphis squad that pays its only visit this season to the Air Canada Centre tonight, comes in much like those old Vancouver squads did, with a bad record and little hope for immediate improvement.

Carlos Arroyo's chance to shine may be coming sooner than anyone expected.

Chris Childs, the Raptors' second-string point guard, did not practice yesterday for the second day in a row because of an injured left Achilles tendon.

If the veteran Childs can't play in tomorrow's home date against the Memphis Grizzlies, coach Lenny Wilkens will look to Arroyo ? an ultra-green rookie ? to be the primary backup to starter Alvin Williams.

"Certainly if he (Childs) can't go we would use Carlos in his spot," Wilkens said yesterday.

With Jerome Williams and Keon Clark becoming a 1-2 punch off the Raptors bench, the latter will need a nickname.

"I tried to give (Clark) one, but he doesn't like nicknames," said Williams, who is known as the Junk Yard Dog. "It's just Mr. Clark. He says it's either Mr. Clark or Tree."

Some images come to mind about what dogs usually do to trees, but it's best to push those aside. The Raptors prefer to focus on the fact they have one of the deepest frontcourts in the NBA, thanks largely to the continued development of Williams and Clark.

The 6-foot-9 Williams and the 6-foot-11 Clark don't have the same style. But both are in the business of changing the mood and pace of a game when they enter it.

"They are a little bit different but they do provide a big spark for us off the bench," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "The nice thing is, Jerome can play (small forward or power forward) and Keon can play (power forward or centre). They give us versatility."