Neues » He was put on the disabled

Welcome Back! Toronto Raptors training camp begins today with Media Day and Im thrilled to be back for my 17th season as a Raptors broadcaster. How time flies. I can remember like it was yesterday calling Raptors games in my first season with players like rookie Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis and now its a whole new era. Its been a fun ride and fingers crossed the success of the franchise becomes a more consistent happening for you wonderful fans. Here are five quick thoughts as we look ahead to the season. 1. LOU WILLIAMS and JAMES JOHNSON: These two veteran players will be critical to the success of this team. These are the two newcomers that will realistically have a chance to make an impact on a daily basis. They bolster the strength of the second unit and both bring a significant skill to the table. Williams will give you instant offence and a nice jolt that you like in your back court. Johnson has the ability to guard 3s and 4s and has a knack for making plays with his athleticism and toughness. Dwane Casey will regularly be able to go 9-10 deep this season when he wants to. Its a long season and you must have depth and more importantly guys that can produce and get you over the hump. These two werent the sexy/flashy acquisitions of the NBA offseason yet they make sense for this franchise. 2. TYLER HANSBROUGH and CHUCK HAYES: Who is going to be the fourth big man this year? I think it will likely be similar to last year depending on the opposing front court match-up that game. Both are free agents at the end of the season as well as Amir Johnson so all have lots to play for. Again, depth over the course of the 82-game regular season is huge. Not lots of flash and dash with Hayes and Hansbrough but both are consummate pros and their energy, smarts and team first approach will help a great deal. 3. DWANE CASEY: The challenge that I call a Positive Problem of expectations is something he has to deal with this season unlike his previous years as the Raptors head coach. Lets be real, the Cavs and Bulls will get all the hype in the Conference and the Raps are in that next group of teams that might be able to make noise in both their divisional and conference races yet he has to make sure that this group doesnt buy into the nonsensical hype that folks will try to put on them. Kudos for winning the division and 48 games yet theyve got a long way to go and both he and Masai Ujiri know it. Keeping each player focused and prepared at times will be a bit of a challenge. Internal leadership will be critical from the players as well reminding themselves every day that theyve got bigger goals to achieve and lots to earn and prove. Nice to say, yet will they do it? This 2014-15 campaign can be successful if they stay healthy and humble and locked in on improvement yet their margin for error isnt huge. Coach Casey and his staff are grinders each day and dont get too high or low over anything. I like that. Is this team an NBA championship contender this year? Highly unlikely. Solid incremental steps are what Im looking for in a winning environment. Keep building the right foundation and tune out the noise and unrealistic expectations that a small minority will try to put on this team. Easier said than done. Tough battle to fight but it has to be fought. This is about trying to achieve multiple winning seasons and playoff appearances and providing young players with the experience and then making the signature deals when you get closer to being a legit contender based upon the foundation you set. Creep-Crawl-Walk-Run. Easy does it. Be steady. Dont try to skip steps or cheat the process. He knows that and Im sure will have this group hearing that message on a daily basis. 4. TERRENCE ROSS and JONAS VALANCIUNAS: I expect solid next steps from both of these guys. The third professional season is when you really start to see whether guys are figuring it out. I give huge credit to Bryan Colangelo, Dwane Casey and Masai Ujiri for investing the playing time and patience in these guys and the time for more consistent return on investment begins this season. Both have shown nice flashes that they can be good pros on a daily basis. Now the high-end consistency has to come to the scene. Theyve been nurtured, developed and mentored quite well and Im really excited to see the next steps both guys take. Both are terrific young men that are willing students and are figuring it out. You want the Raptors to improve? Like any good organization - your high draft picks have to deliver. The proper patient long term approach with both has been taken and the next step will play out before our eyes this season. Will be fun to watch that growth. 5. DEMAR DEROZAN: Congrats on winning the gold this summer with Team USA. Neat opportunity for him to play with and against the best in the world and to be coached by an outstanding staff. That Residue of Success really helps him as he continues to mature as a pro. Fabulous experience for him. Give him credit. Hes taken advantage of the chances hes gotten and grown from them. Hes a hungry and motivated Gym Rat who has the love affair with the sport that excellent players have and its no surprise hes becoming a really nice player. He doesnt take short cuts and respects the game. Nice to have one of your top players with this makeup. I think youll see this team take on that approach even more due to his presence, increased confidence in being vocal, accomplished resume and experience. Need your better players to really set the tone and Im confident his tone will be all business. Fernando Tatis Jr. Jersey .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday. Manuel Margot Jersey . After all, the No. 8 seed is chasing far loftier goals. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Wimbledons second round on Thursday. http://www.padressale.com/padres-tony-gwynn-jersey/.Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide. Randy Jones Padres Jersey . Johnny Manziel, college footballs most entertaining player with the reputation for pulling off magical plays, was selected with the No. Greg Garcia Padres Jersey . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Shin-Soo Choo is already having a positive influence at the top of the Texas Rangers lineup. Adrian Beltre has been clutch for them since 2011. For the second night in a row, they played big in a winning ninth-inning rally. Choo drew a bases-loaded, game-ending walk against Jonathan Papelbon as the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Wednesday to clinch the season-opening series. "Its really special for us," said Choo, who signed a seven-year free-agent deal with the Rangers this winter. "Thats why you play nine innings, and thats what we do every night is play nine innings," manager Ron Washington said. "In the end, we did what we had to do. We got focused and put some good at-bats together and made things happen." Beltre, whose ninth-inning single Tuesday night drove home Choo with the winning run, started this three-run rally with a leadoff single. After Mitch Morelands double, pinch-hitter Jim Adduci had an RBI infield single and Leonys Martin singled home the tying run. Donnie Murphy walked on four pitches before Choo got to full-count pitch before walking. Adduci reached on a slow roller down the third-base line with one out before Martin grounded a single through the drawn-in infield. "The whole inning was kind of just one of those innings. You get a cue ball down the third base line. Then you get a double-play ball, which you think is the game-ending double play. Its not," said Papelbon, who gave up four hits and two walks while retiring only on batter. "My whole focus was get a ground ball, get a double play and get us out of the inning." Seth Rosin (1-0) worked two scoreless innings for his first major league victory. Moreland had a triple in the seventh and scored on Martins two-out single. "Its a nice way to start the season," Moreland said. "We really came together these last couple of games.dddddddddddd" Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Kyle Kendrick allowed only one run over seven innings for the Phillies, who still havent won a road series since Ryne Sandberg took over as their manager last August -- first on an interim bases before getting the full-time gig. The Phillies lost 24 of 32 games over their final 10 road series last season. They split four games against the New York Mets last August in Sandbergs first series on the road -- but had dropped the previous five series away from home, and then lost the last four. They won this years season opener 14-10 before consecutive ninth-inning losses. Texas left-hander Robbie Ross struck out seven over five innings in his first major league start after 123 relief appearances the past two seasons. He allowed three runs and seven hits with two walks. Howards homer made it 3-0 in the third. It was his first homer since July 5, when he went deep in his final game last season before going onto the disabled list because of left knee inflammation. After Philly got an unearned run in the first after centre fielder Martin bobbled the ball for an error, Texas failed to score in the bottom of the inning after two hits and two errors by the Phillies. Choo got caught in a rundown and tagged out between third base and home after Kendrick initially dropped a grounder. NOTES: The Phillies were a player short after SS Jimmy Rollins returned home to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. ... Texas said ace RHP Yu Darvish will make his season debut Sunday at Tampa Bay. He was put on the disabled list because of neck stiffness. ... Rangers INF Adam Rosales cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Triple-A Round Rock. ... Both teams are off Thursday before road games Friday. The Phillies play the Chicago Cubs for the opener marking the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, and the Rangers are at Tampa Bay. ' ' '