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Wow, the Raptors play soccer? Who knew?
Media Day in Toronto is this Friday- minus about 1/3 of the team- and then they all head to Italy to meet up on Saturday.
Here's a basic schedule of events:
The Raptors will train in Treviso from Sept. 29-Oct. 4, before heading to Rome for pre-season games against the Boston Celtics (Oct. 6) and home side Lottomatica Vitrus Roma (Oct. 7).
After the two games in Rome next week, the Raptors head to Madrid where they will play European powerhouse Real Madrid on Oct. 11.
There will be a number of open practices and scrimmages, including an Oct. 3 scrimmage in Treviso before 200 U.S. military personnel and their families.
After touching down in Rome on Oct. 4, the Raptors will attend a meet and greet session at the Canadian Embassy and, the next day, some players will take part in a court dedication, along with the Celtics and the Virtus Roma team.
In Madrid, members of the team will take part in a Basketball & Education Youth Outreach reception at the U.S. Embassy.
On top of all that, the Raptors management plans some other social events for the team, such as spending an afternoon touring Venice....
Raptors in Europe
Wow, the Raptors play soccer? Who knew?
I'm assuming that Sho, Jose, and Jorge are still in Europe and are part of the 1/3 of the team that will be missing on Media day.
Accurate?
So is this going to be the official thread or is this one?
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthre...oronto+Raptors
Rasho, Jose, Jorge, and Andrea were given permission just to meet up with the team in Italy instead of having to fly to Toronto after Eurobasket and then all the way back to Europe. Darrick Martin is also in Europe because he spent about a month working out with CSKA Moscow because they had four guards all playing at Eurobasket.
Vlade Divac is their head of basketball operations. Madrid will host next year's Euroleague Final Four.
Look who is even on their team:
http://www.euroleague.net/compe io...=mad&pcode=CTN
Real Madrid has a soccer and basketball team.
Treviso, Italy -- The Toronto Raptors opened training camp here Saturday night, and if Raptors head coach Sam Mitc was planning to send a message, it was heard.
What was expected to be an easy start to training camp to loosen up after arriving Saturday morning by way of an overnight flight on the Dallas Mavericks' Boing 757 was instead a tough, intense, practice that went a full two hours.
“A tone was set,” said Raptors president Bryan Colangelo.
Mitc was hoping for a compe ive training camp and with only three starting spots confirmed heading into the season – Chris Bosh at power forward; Anthony Parker at the two-guard spot and T.J. Ford at point – there should be plenty of battles for players looking to carve out some minutes in the rotation.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../WBglobesports
Few pictures.
Raptors CentreHead coach Sam Mitc expects a heated training camp this week with two starting spots wide open.
The big fight will be at the centre position. Last year's starter, the veteran Rasho Nesterovic, was replaced in the first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Nets by rookie Andrea Bargnani. Now it will be up to the 21-year-old Bargnani to out-perform the 10-year veteran Nesterovic this pre-season.
The Raptors are hoping that Bargnani earns the spot, as it will show that his game has improved from last year.
"I'm going to give (Bargnani) every opportunity, again based on what he did in the playoffs," Mitc said yesterday. "But, if he's going to start at that position, he's got to rebound. That's part of that position."
The 7-foot Bargnani averaged 11.6 points but his 3.9 rebounds were not particularly impressive for a player of his size and athleticism.
As for Nesterovic, the Slovenian has said that he is fine with the prospect of having to fight to hold on to his starting job, and Mitc is thankful for that.
"All I know is, if you're pouting, then you really don't have a chance," the coach said, adding that the players should be pleased that there are starting jobs open at certain positions, although T.J. Ford (point guard), Anthony Parker (shooting guard) and Chris Bosh (power forward) are locks to start.
"If anything they should be: 'Hey, coach has an open mind.' So they should be pleased," Mitc said.
"Those jobs are going to be determined through the scrimmages and how you play."
The battle at small forward should be interesting, although newcomer Jason Kapono is expected to emerge as the starter.
If Kapono falters, another newcomer, Carlos Delfino, could emerge, or could second-year NBAer Jorge Garbajosa, who started 60 games for the Raptors at the small forward or power forward last year.
Garbajosa, however, is coming off a serious leg injury.
Mitc said that the battle for minutes at camp in the pre-season should lead to some tension on the court.
"But that's good tension," the coach said. "Right now it's too early to even try to contemplate who is going to start at what position. And it may come down to that decision not being made until a week before opening night (Oct.31)."
No one gives a damn about the cRaptors
^Please, do speak for yourself. Nobody forces you to click on the link.
BTW: Thanks for updates, Ploto
Can someone post the roster?
With 10.7 seconds left in the game, and the Raptors down 85–82 with possession of the ball, Chris Childs raced down the court and shot a three-pointer that missed badly, apparently trying to draw a foul on the play,[30] instead of passing to a wide-open Dell Curry. In a post-game locker room interview, Childs repeatedly insisted that the Raptors had been down four points, not three....smhIn 2002, Childs also made the news when he was robbed at gunpoint in an incident at a Manhattan nightclub owned by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. He allegedly lost over $30,000 in jewelery and cash.
I am so excited about the start of the season.
I cannot wait to see the team play- both the familiar faces and the new additions.
Great pics, Ploto!
Mike Ulmer Goes One on One With Jason Kapono
http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/kaponoulmer_092707.html
All times Eastern:
NBA TV
Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics
6-Oct
2:30 P.M.
Real Madrid vs. Toronto Raptors
11-Oct
3:30 P.M.
ESPN-2
Lottomatica Virtus vs. Toronto Raptors
7-Oct
12:30 P.M.
everyone cares about them more than NY knicks who are a joke team
hvala! I'll ask a friend to tape the ESPN 2 one for me.
Spurs fans should root against Raptors this year given that Spurs have their 2nd round pick.
Go whoever plays against Toronto.
VENICE, ITALY -- The least likely member of the Toronto Raptors to be standing among the plentiful and overzealous pigeons in Piazza San Marco may be Juan Dixon.
The shooting guard from Baltimore is one of the team's most stylish and fastidious dressers, yet there he was posing for a picture with his equally well-turned-out wife, Robyn, laughing and being laughed at as the birds flapped and hopped and flew around looking for something to eat.
Dixon had company. Raptors teammate Kris Humphries bought some seed and found himself fighting for position with perhaps a dozen of the big birds. Toronto newcomer Jason Kapono got a similar result without the feed. Leading him to wonder, "Do I smell like food or something?"
Not all the Raptors took part.
"Not me, man, them birds are dirty," Chris Bosh sniffed. But that didn't stop him from howling with delight as he watched his teammates make like everyday tourists in the ancient city, only way taller.
"This is something totally different," said Dixon, who, like many of his American teammates, had never been to Europe. "Coming to Italy and seeing Venice with my wife, it's something I never expected."
It's not as if the Raptors are seeing all the sights during their two-week European training camp. Yesterday was the first day the team didn't have an evening practice, so most of the squad took advantage of a side trip to Venice and a team dinner that night.
It's almost routine to consider professional athletes as perhaps falling short when it comes to life experiences others take for granted, or at least might wish to have.
But as you canvass the various Raptors about places they've been and things they've done, it becomes clear: For the most part, they haven't had time to do much outside basketball because they've been too busy travelling, just not on vacation.
Not surprisingly the only no-shows for the team outing were from the Raptors' European contingent: Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia, Andrea Bargnani of Italy and Jorge Garbajosa of Spain.
They've already been everywhere.
"We travelled a lot when we were younger," said Nesterovic, whose hometown of Ljubljana is about a 90-minute drive from Treviso, Italy, where the Raptors have been training.
"Mostly in Italy. I was in Verona, Padua, Florence. Most of the time there would be a tour or something. And I travelled with my parents also.
"Americans like to stay home, but if you want to learn something, you can learn things by travelling more than you can learn in books. You can learn about cultures, lifestyles."
Lots of pictures from training camp are HERE
I like the pigeon pictures.
The pigeons in Trafalgar Square in London, England are friendly that way too.
They're silly.
Doug Smith's chat from Italy:
Q: Hey Doug. I read all our your columns and you have great insight (even though I don't agree with you on everything).
Now that you've been seeing the team practices in Italy, who is looking good for the Raps? Any surprises?
I have a feeling that Delfino might have a greater role than many think. He's much better then he's shown on the Pistons.
Shomit Ghosh, New York
A: It's really too early to tell; I know that's a cop out and all but it's been five practices and two scrimmages only.
The people I talk to and trust say Rasho's been the biggest surprise right now, in great shape and playing well and Jamario Moon isn't up to speed and hasn't shown his true game yet.Much more: Raptors Q & AQ: Hi Doug. Love the column.
A lot is being assumed about Andrea ostensibly becoming the new full-time centre. Given this will probably be the case - and perhaps rightly so - my question is this: How would you describe the relationship between Rasho and Andrea, and how is Rasho as a mentor and teacher? Will he play a significant role in Bargniani becoming a better post-up player, rebounder, etc.?
Marc Silver, Newmarket
A: Rasho's what, about a hundred years old and has played in a million games? He's being a huge help to Bargnani, working with him, Bosh, Baston and Humphries every day after practice and with him during drills on such things as footwork offensively and how to hold a guy off in the block.
Rasho's a pro; he'll help a teammate get better any way he can.
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