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TORONTO -- When basketballs best young players were in Brooklyn, N.Y., waiting to hear their name called in the NBA draft Thursday night, Bruno Caboclo was in a taxi. Caboclo had been training just outside Houston, and he and his personal advisor Eduardo Resende had hopped in a cab when somebody from Brazil tweeted "Oh my god, Bruno at 20." "The taxi driver didnt understand what was going on, we were screaming back there. It was crazy," said Resende. "He was jumping out of the roof (figuratively), he was very excited. Its a dream come true for a young Brazilian player that only can see (the NBA) on TV, and then all of a sudden hes part of it." The 18-year-old Caboclo was a virtual unknown when he became the Raptors surprise 20th pick in Thursday nights draft -- a selection that general manager Masai Ujiri admitted was an "outright gamble." Ujiri had another player in mind for the 20th pick, and had planned to take the Brazilian at No. 37, but when he lost out on the first player, he wasnt taking any chances on Caboclo. The young Brazilian arrived in Toronto on Friday night -- and upon finding out he had the practice gym at the Air Canada Centre at his disposal, headed there at 11 p.m. to shoot. The Raptors staff put him through his first official workout Saturday morning. He then met with a curious Toronto media contingent that numbered in double digits, an immediate measure of how much his life has changed in two days. "His Twitter two days ago had 19 followers (hes now at over 5,000)," said Resende, who also acting as Caboclos translator in Toronto -- the youngster speaks only a few words of English. "You become like a public person. The biggest change for him is this (press) conference here. I dont think he would ever imagine he would be here one day." Caboclo grew up Pirapora do Bom Jesus, a tiny town outside of Sao Paolo. He comes from a "difficult family, financially," according to Resende. "Even at his age he support his family." Ujiri wouldnt reveal much about Caboclos upbringing except "He grew up tough. I dont want to say too much about his family, and some of the things we know. He grew up in a not-so-great environment. Basketball was his love." He has two sisters, aged 22 and 26, who play volleyball. He played soccer as a child, but said he was only "so-so" at it, and switched to basketball at age 13, when he was already five foot 10. Within a year, he could dunk the ball. The Raptors had tracked Caboclo since he was named most valuable player of the Basketball Without Borders tournament last summer, first sending a team of scouts to watch the six-foot-nine player with the eye-popping seven-foot-six wingspan. "We felt like he was somebody we needed to follow. Our scouts did a phenomenal job of going and seeing him and gathering information," Ujiri said after presenting Caboclo with his jersey. The Raptors GM took some heat after Thursdays selection, from fans and the media, but shrugged it off Saturday morning. "Honestly I dont do it for reactions of anybody. I dont care. Were in a business where I cant react to anything, I just have to do my job, and you hope the best comes out of it," Ujiri said. "Is it a gamble? Yes. But do we remember who the 20th picks of the last 10 drafts are?" Ujiri sat courtside at the ACC as Caboclo practised. Resende helped translate the instructions. He dunked the ball with ease, shot well from long range, and was fluid as he moved around the court despite his long limbs. "We thought from the little information we have, hes young, hes long, hes tall, hes skinny, he likes to play basketball, hes got a little bit of skill, he can shoot a little bit, maybe theres something we can mould there," Ujiri said. Ujiri expects Caboclo to be a solid defender because of his length. "He moves his feet pretty good, hes got a touch, he likes to shoot it, so if he can be a two-way player where he can shoot the ball a little bit and he can defend. . . We picked him because we feel theres some good upside there, it will take time, and were ready to be patient for him," Ujiri said. "Hes a great kid, but loves basketball, he wants to be in the gym every second, which is what you want in an 18-year-old." Caboclo said he tries to model his game after his idol and Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. He feels they have the same body type. Caboclos strength is among the things hell need to work on during what should be a tough rookie season, between being so far from home, having to learn English, and adapting to the NBA. The Raptors will immediately implement a couple of measures to help him adjust -- a weight training program and his own English teacher, Ujiri said. Hell also fly to Los Angeles on Sunday to work with new teammates DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson, and fellow rookie DeAndre Daniels, taken 37th overall Thursday night. Caboclo will play with the Raptors in the summer league, plus Ujiri expects him to spend some time next season down in the D-League. Resende said the young player knows the road ahead wont be all smooth sailing. "Last night he came to my room and he said Its a great responsibility," Resende said. Because getting there is one thing, now the real work is going to begin now." Pittsburgh Penguins Pro Shop .C. -- Kurt Busch put his chances at "70 per cent" at running the Indianapolis 500 this year because of recent developments that have pushed a potential program along. Penguins Jerseys 2020 . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/. The 25-year-old Lu, a regular on the Japan LPGA Tour after giving up her LPGA Tour membership in 2010, shot an 8-under 64 in windy, wet conditions at Kintetsu Kashikojima. Pittsburgh Penguins Shirts . Hernandez (3-0) struck out 11 and shut down Oakland for the second time in a week, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to win three times in the first nine games of a season. With the usual "Kings Court" for Hernandez home starts expanded to a "Supreme Court" encompassing the entire stadium with yellow shirts and "K" cards, Hernandez gave up four hits in the 28th double-digit strikeout game of his career. Penguins Jerseys 2019 . - Connor McDavid scored twice and added two assists as the Erie Otters beat the Sarnia Sting 7-3 on Saturday night in Ontario Hockey League action.ANAHEIM, Calif. - The width of Alec Martinezs shin guard was the difference between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks in their playoff series opener. Corey Perry had the puck on his stick with a nearly open net early in overtime, but Martinez managed to block the shot by the Ducks best goal-scorer. It happened in an instant, but both players were still thinking about the pivotal play a day later as they prepared for Game 2 on Monday night. "I guess I channeled my inner goalie, playing in the driveway when I was younger," Martinez said Sunday after the latest round of congratulations for his game-saving block. "I just tried to get in front of it, and maybe got a little bit lucky, too." No hockey game turns on one play, and the Kings wouldnt have even made it to overtime without Marian Gaboriks tying goal with 7 seconds left in regulation in their 3-2 win. Several minutes after Martinezs big save, Gaboriks game-winner put the Kings up 1-0 in the second round with their fifth consecutive playoff victory. Both teams expect a long, taxing series between evenly matched opponents with a thorough mutual familiarity. They wont be surprised if more games in the series come down to one blocked shot, one extra pass or one big save. Perry still wont soon forget his missed opportunity to put the Ducks in front in the series. "Ive seen it a few times," said a grimacing Perry, who scored 43 goals in the regular season and two more in the first round against Dallas. "I was up for a while. You think about what it could have been. "He made a great play," Perry added. "I thought I had an open net, and obviously I tried to put it in, but he just got his leg on it, and I missed the rebound. Hopefully its a different bounce next time." Even before the late theatrics, the Southern California rivals first playoff meeting was every bit as entertaining as expected. The Kings have little trouble winning on the road, while the Ducks were a dominant home team this season — but neither team is likely to have a distinct hoome-ice advantage.dddddddddddd "I thought the atmosphere was great," Kings forward Justin Williams said. "A lot of times when youre on the road, all you want to hear is silence. But there wasnt even much silence when we scored. There was a lot of Kings fans there and a lot of support for us, so that was the extra added element to the game. Usually when you score an overtime goal, its crickets in the building, and we heard a little something, so Kings fans are making their way down the freeway." Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne all had big moments for the Ducks, who controlled play for long stretches and got a strong performance from new starting goalie Jonas Hiller. Anaheim still couldnt capitalize on its opportunities to pull away, failing to crack the NHLs best defence with its habitually struggling power play. The Ducks might have more offensive ability than the Kings, but they also know it wont matter unless it leads to goals. "We didnt bury our few chances," Getzlaf said. "I dont think theyve changed much. Theyre still the team we know. Theyve just upped their intensity, and weve got to match it." The defence-minded Kings have been impressive offensively during their playoff winning streak. Los Angeles has 21 goals in its last five games, and Anze Kopitar has become the post-seasons leading scorer so far. The Kings are scoring well, but their defensive depth became even shallower in victory: Veteran defenceman Jeff Schultz could make his debut for Los Angeles in Game 2 if injured Willie Mitchell and Robyn Regehr must sit out. Down to five healthy defencemen for much of Game 1 at Honda Center, the Kings still managed to limit the Ducks to two goals. "I had a little chat with (coach Darryl Sutter), and he said, Just go out there and play," said Schultz, who played for Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau in Washington during his 399 games of NHL experience. "Its hard to replace a guy like Robyn, but I feel like Im capable of doing a similar job to what he can do." ' ' '