Raptors take notice

Raptors take notice – BostonHerald.com
Toronto won the Atlantic Division by six games over New Jersey last season, finishing 23 games ahead of the Celtics. But Ainge’s changes have put some pressure on the Raptors.

“Different teams are at different stages in their overall life cycle, and people were anxious for us to do something in reaction to Boston’s changes because we’re in the same division,” Colangelo said. “We just took the (approach) that we’re going to be patient with what we’ve done. We made some great strides last year, and as we look at tweaking our team and improving our team, we want to keep these young guys together. Last year we had one of the younger, better teams, and we wanted to get better from within more than anything.”

GM still believes Ukic will be Raptor some day

TheStar.com | Sports | GM still believes Ukic will be Raptor some day
“There is an awareness of him around the league,” said Colangelo, admitting he’s had at least one team call to enquire about obtaining him. “There is debate about a whether he’s going to fit in the NBA.

“I still think his game is more suited for the NBA.”

Ukic is known now more as a creator on the court than a scorer and there are deficiencies in his game and his body. He’s not a good enough shooter right now, he admits, and he needs to put some muscle on a slight frame.

But the Raptors remain in the forefront of his mind, too.

“They have to tell you what they plan to do with me,” he said. “For me, I just need to … make them to want me more and more. Get more mature in the game and see what happens next year, or in two years or in five years, I don’t know.”

K.G. steals spotlight in Celtics win

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – K.G. steals spotlight in Celtics win
All-star forward Chirs Bosh finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds.

More importantly, his left foot, which bothered him most of last year, was fine.

“I’m going to try to play in all the pre-season games, so when the season comes, I’ll be full swing, unlike last year when I was forced to take some time off when I hurt my foot,” Bosh said.

“I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”

SportingNews.com – NBA – Raptors preview: International house of hoops

SportingNews.com – NBA – Raptors preview: International house of hoops
After the season, Colangelo didn’t sit by idly. He made some critical moves that he hopes will keep this franchise’s momentum going.

Toronto surrendered two second-round draft choices to Detroit for Argentinean swingman Carlos Delfino, who got lost in the talent shuffle with the Pistons. A member of Argentina’s 2004 Olympic gold-medal team, Delfino is not a pure shooter, but he’s fearless going to the basket like his Olympic teammate, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili. He will likely take advantage of the extended minutes offered north of the border.

And while Morris Peterson has left for New Orleans, Toronto upgraded its perimeter game by signing Miami free agent Jason Kapono, who is coming off a year in which he led the NBA in three-point percentage (.514).

“Kapono is considered one of the best shooters — or arguably is the best shooter — and will complement our driveand- kick game,” Colangelo says.

Last season, Toronto was fifth in field-goal percentage (.463) and ninth in three-point accuracy (.363), and now the Raptors appear to be improved in both areas.

Raptors exercise option on Bargnani

globesports.com: Raptors exercise option on Bargnani
The Toronto Raptors exercised the third-year team option on forward Andrea Bargnani’s rookie contract Friday.

The move, made during a press conference in the office of Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, locks up the seven-foot Italian through the 2008-09 season. The team retains a fourth-year option on Bargnani for 2009-10.

“Andrea has more than lived up to the enormous expectations thrust on him last season as the top pick of the draft,” Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo said in a release. “Exercising the option while in Andrea’s hometown of Rome could not be more fitting.”

For $225, Colangelo’s shirts had better fit

TheStar.com | Sports | For $225, Colangelo’s shirts had better fit
The question marks that loom over Raptorland are many and profound. Who’ll start at small forward? Can they win a playoff series? And more to the crux of the intrigue, where, in the name of Giorgio Armani, does Bryan Colangelo, the general manager, get those high-collared, high-style shirts?

The answer to the latter is here, in the shadow of this northern Italian city’s 14th-century clock tower, behind the glass door of a tiny storefront in a cobblestoned square. Signor Colangelo, as he’s known at Manifatture all’Orologio, is one of the shirtmaker’s best customers. He buys his custom-cut, French-cuffed duds in batches of 12 or 15, usually a couple of times a year when he’s in town on scouting trips. The shirts are made off the premises, in a nearby village by a 60-something grandmother named Luisa. She can cut and sew approximately one shirt a day, and there is no quickening the pace of production. Though the shop employs several shirtmakers, Luisa alone fills all of Colangelo’s orders in the interest of continuity.

Raptors may need $5 million to keep Calderon

Raptors may need $5 million to keep Calderon – Rumors – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
A free agent after the season, Toronto may have to pay starters money for the back-up to T.J. Ford. Colangelo is optimistic that he can keep Calderon in Raptor red next year despite the fact that the cost may be prohibitive. The Raptors will pay Ford $8 million next season and if Calderon has another good year in Toronto, he could be looking for close to $5 million per year.

Calderon a hot commodity for Raps

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – Calderon a hot commodity for Raps
Calderon, who averaged 8.7 points and 5.0 assists last season, insists that he is content in Toronto. But many basketball insiders believe that a player of Calderon’s calibre would be crazy to continue as a backup, given the fact that he has the talent, and will soon have the opportunity, to be a starter.

Raptors smiling all the way to the bank

globesports.com: Raptors smiling all the way to the bank
The NBA reduces the financial risk by underwriting most of the cost of the trip. The league pays the commercial travel expenses for a party of 40, and pays participating teams an appearance fee for each game (typically between $75,000 and $150,000 when they play on the road in exhibition season; the average is about $85,000).

The Raptors brought more than 50 people on a private jet rented from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, which added to the cost.

“But the whole thing is a wash,” Colangelo said. “We may not make money on the trip, but it’s not a money-losing venture, and there’s the big picture to think about also.”

Sports Media Canada names Colangelo executive of year

globesports.com: Sports Media Canada names Colangelo executive of year
Bryan Colangelo, president and GM of the Toronto Raptors, is this year’s recipient of Sports Media Canada’s executive of the year award.

Training camp starts

globeandmail.com: Globe on Sports
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.

European invasion begins

TheStar.com | Sports | European invasion begins
“It’s going to expose our product to a host of people who have expressed a lot of interest in our team,” president and general manager Bryan Colangelo said in a telephone interview this week of the Raptors’ journey that starts this morning. “We are clearly the NBA’s only truly international team.”

Martin re-signs

TheStar.com | Sports | Smith: Nothin’ but (Inter)Net
Darrick Martin has agreed to terms on a partially-guaranteed, one-year contract and will meet up with the team to start training camp in Italy.

ESPN – Stein: Ranking the East teams on their offseason moves

ESPN – Stein: Ranking the East teams on their offseason moves – NBA
It’s better to do what Colangelo did, opting for subtle tweaks and rewarding coach Sam Mitchell with some security while waiting to see how the Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani tag team progresses.

Raps throw caution to off-season wind

TheStar.com | Sports | Raps throw caution to off-season wind
If any of them need a rest, Toronto’s European training camp starts in less then two weeks. And it makes one wonder: With so much of the lineup so actively engaged in summertime hostilities – and with Chris Bosh excusing himself from the U.S. national team to nurture that worrisomely persistent case of plantar fasciitis – aren’t they setting themselves up for a late-season energy crisis?

Garbo passes first test

CANOE — SLAM! Sports – Basketball – NBA Toronto: Garbo passes first test
The Toronto Raptors will have forward Jorge Garbajosa undergo another series of tests on his injured left leg this week.

Fresh off helping to lead Spain to the gold-medal game at the European championships on Sunday (a heartbreaking 60-59 loss to Russia), Garbajosa has been directed to have the leg examined and evaluated again — even though he managed to get through the tournament without seemingly aggravating the injury. Late last season Garbajosa fractured his left fibula and tore ligaments in his left ankle after an awkward fall in Boston.

From T.O. to Moscow and back for Martin

TheStar.com | Sports | From T.O. to Moscow and back for Martin
Handling the rigours of training camp should be a snap for Darrick Martin, seeing how he’s been through one this year already.

The veteran Raptors point guard, whose negotiations on a new deal with Toronto are progressing smoothly, has been on loan to Euroleague giant CSKA Moscow for about the last three weeks. Martin has lent them his playing expertise and it has allowed him a chance to get in top shape before NBA camp begins later this month.

Martin, a free agent looking at another one-year deal in Toronto, was farmed out to CSKA Moscow because four of its top guards are playing for Russia in the European championship and the team needs to get ready for the domestic season, which begins in October.

TSN looks at the season ahead.

TSN : NBA-RAPTORS – Canada’s Sports Leader
no matter what, the key to this season is going to remain Bargnani and his ability to adjust to life against NBA starters. Bosh thrived in that position when he was thrust there at Bargnani’s age and eventually reversed the fate of the team, now it’s up to Bargnani to push that momentum even further forward for Canada’s lone franchise.

Game on for Garbo

CANOE — SLAM! Sports – Basketball – NBA Toronto: Game on for Garbo
The Raptors have given forward Jorge Garbajosa permission to play in the European basketball championships, but have done so with the proverbial gun at their head.

Garbajosa allowed to play.

http://www.topix.net/nba/2007/09/raptors-jorge-garbajosa-will-play-the-european-championship

After two weeks training with the Spanish National Team and being the 13th member of the allowed 12, the Raptors will finally let Jorge Garbajosa play this championship that, not as the Americas Championship, is much more than a Preolimpic tournament but an old appreciated and valuated title.