The video was the most innovative approach to earning a starting spot in the NBA All-Star Game that anybody had seen. And by the time the starters were named, more than 100,000 people had seen Chris Bosh's nearly 80-second video, which he produced, of a pseudo cowboy car salesman encouraging fans to vote for him as a starter for the East All-Stars.

Unfortunately, the creativity did not earn the sweet, southpaw forward a starting spot from the fans vote, but his 22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game made him a lock for his third consecutive trip to the mid-season extravaganza anyway. The bizarre thing about it is that the video appears to be about the only recognition for the 2007-08 Toronto Raptors - a team that seemingly treads anonymously among the top 4-5 teams in the Eastern Conference.

Never mind that they are the defending Atlantic Division champs and have the reigning coach of the year in Sam Mitchell and executive of the year Bryan Colangelo. Has anybody noticed the Raptors lost starting point guard T.J. Ford for 24 games to yet another frightening spinal injury and Jose Calderon stepped in seamlessly and deserved strong consideration by the coaches to join Bosh in New Orleans as an all-star? And what about Jamario Moon, a solid candidate for rookie of the year - a 27-year-old multi-skilled athlete plucked out of a career in the minor leagues and overseas by Colangelo to start 41 games already?

Could it possibly be because the Raptors play north of the border? It is no more preposterous to believe they get less attention because they are in Canada than the lack of attention the Jazz get because they're buried in the Wasatch Mountains - or that the best players in Seattle and Portland rarely get noticed because the Pacific Northwest may as well be Alaska.

However, the obscurity in which the Raptors are succeeding is totally illogical considering how poor the rest of the Eastern Conference really is. Sure, the Celtics are deserving of all the attention they have reaped with their spectacular 37-9 start, the Pistons remain as consistent as the cold in the Great Lakes region, and Dwight Howard has earned all the plaudits for jump-starting the Magic into a dominant first place in the Southeast Division with the third-best record in the East.

And every time LeBron James breathes, everybody virtually faints in admiration of the Cavaliers' young superstar. But how many people even realize the Raptors are just a half-game behind the Cavs for the fourth-best record in the East heading into the weekend and just two games behind the Magic in the loss column?

And things figure to get better. Foremost, they get to play in the East, where the majority of the NBA's weak sisters attempt to perform, and nine of their next 11 games come against teams that have barely won a third of their games.

Additionally, Ford just returned Monday for his first game in nearly two months and showed no ill effects of his horrible fall against Atlanta, playing 17 minutes that were filled with his trademark breakneck speed, four assists, four points and two steals. But the irony of his return is that it comes with Calderon tearing up every net from coast-to-cast with the most remarkable shooting numbers of any point guard in the NBA. Along with the 12.4 points, 8.1 assists and 1.1 steals he's averaged while running the team, the 26-year-old Spaniard is connecting on 52.9 percent of his shots from the field, 44.5 from 3-point range and 91.6 from the free-throw line.

He's just reflective of this cast of characters put together by Colangelo that shoots the lights out from all over the floor - given that Jason Kapono (.510 3-point percentage), Anthony Parker (.492), Juan Dixon (.447), Carlos Delfino (.414) and Andrea Bargnani (.402) are also dead-eyes from long-range. Their .425 shooting percentage from 3-point range is by far the best in the NBA, and nearly four percent better than second place Phoenix. They are seventh in overall field-goal percentage at .461 and their .810 free-throw shooting is second only to Dallas.

Some of the change of style has been out of necessity. The no-nonsense Mitchell has had to soften his touch with Bargnani, the 2006 No. 1 overall pick who has struggled with his confidence as he continues the adjustment as a slim 7-footer more inclined to be on the perimeter than play center. Last year's surprisingly effective center, Jorge Garbajosa, squabbled with the organization over what to do with the serious leg injury he suffered last March and isn't expected to play at all in the wake of surgery he had at the beginning of the season. And veteran 7-footer Rasho Nesterovic has deteriorated into a bit player with little to contribute than to fill in some blanks.

The discovery of the lanky 6-8, 210-pound Moon has allowed for all of that. His total floor presence has altered the style of play to the speed game that Colangelo hoped to bring with him from Phoenix - although Mitchell's desire for discipline does tempo the game down for the Raptors to average just less than 99.0 points a game. Nonetheless, Moon is the X-factor, playing the role as the poor man's Shawn Marion. Although lacking the scoring ability of the man infamously dealt for Shaquille O'Neal this week, Moon is the one diving on the floor for loose balls, grabbing the long rebounds, following shots at the rim, and blocking shots at the other end to the tune of 7.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 steal per game.

But the numbers don't quantify the energy he brings to the table that allows for the likes of Parker, Kapono and Delfino to run the floor at will, while Bosh delivers in the post or out to the 17-foot range, and Bargnani is capable of doing all of it. This is not a great team, but it is a good team that has become arguably the most fun team to watch in an otherwise dull Eastern Conference.

Now if we can just get the NBA nation to know who they are ... perhaps that, too, will be left up to the tech-savvy Bosh with a sequel video selling the hot-shot Raptors as the sleeper team in the East.