Dein erstes Forum » one of those guys who can lead the rush

TORONTO - There was a feeling of restrained joy in the Raptors locker room Wednesday evening. Amir Johnson video-bombed a teammate during their post-game scrum, a semi-regular occurrence in Torontos dressing room following a win. Rudy Gay showed off his best Johnson impression. Players cracked joked and debated where they were headed for a late bite to eat. They were 1-0, undefeated after a gritty 93-87 opening night win over Boston. They were in good spirits, understandably, but they were not celebrating. Dwane Casey would never allow a celebration. They just barely stole the victory in their season opener and with each glance toward the white board, located on the front wall of the room, they were reminded that theres a long way to go. "81 more!" was written with an exclamation mark in the centre of the board. "One game at a time," Gay said, referring to the significance of that board. Not the first athlete to utter those words but given their increasingly difficult early-season schedule the cliche does apply. "We have 81 more but we have to take it one game at a time," he continued. "Were just trying to get [off to] a good start and [build] a cushion because theres going to be times where you cant find a win but we want to prepare for that by getting these wins in the beginning." This isnt the way they envisioned their first win of the young season but the rust they displayed was not a big surprise to Casey or his players. "It was a grind," said DeMar DeRozan, who struggled in the victory scoring 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. "We were rusty but we just went out there and tried to play hard, tried to scramble as much as we [could] and fight it out." Four of Torontos five starters played over 30 minutes (Johnson battled foul trouble and played 24), the first time theyve logged that much playing time after resting in the fourth quarter of all seven preseason games. Accordingly, the team strung together some great moments - holding Boston to 11 second-quarter points - along with some stretches theyll likely hear about in practice Thursday, including a 34-point third quarter for the Celtics. "[It was the] first game of the season, first real minutes weve played all season," said Gay, who scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the final minutes to help seal the win. "I think we did pretty good. We were a little rusty in the beginning, shook the rust off, they came back and we closed the game. Its all about Ws in this league." Grinding it out Much of the discussion in camp focused on rising above adversity and grinding out close games, things the team didnt do especially well last season. Toronto will face stiffer competition and tougher tests than the young Celtics but to Bostons credit they hung around - as they will do throughout the season despite their lacklustre offence - and fought their way back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit. A Brandon Bass buzzer-beating dunk tied the game going into the fourth and the Celtics would take a three-point lead on a Jeff Green three pointer shortly after. Tied again at 78 with 7:41 remaining, the Raptors ripped off a 12-2 run led by Gay and Johnson, each of them scoring five during that stretch. "A lot of times last year when a team [came] back or a team [made] that run we kind of let that get the best of us," DeRozan said. "We [understood] they were going to come out and make a strong run we just had to sustain that the best way we could, and we did." Work in Progress Although the gritty performance matched the identity Casey wants this group to uphold, the Raptors coach knows his team was lucky to come away with the win given their aforementioned early-season rust. Boston scored 25 of their 87 points off 18 Toronto turnovers, the Raptors registered just 15 assists, made 12 of their 23 free-throw attempts and allowed the Celtics to shoot 49 per cent from the field. "We have a lot of work [to do] defensively," Casey said. "Thats not who we are, thats not we have to stand for. I thought we grinded it out when it got tough. They made their run and like I said at halftime, a team worth their salt in the NBA is going to make their run, and they did. I like the way our guys bounced back but we should never put ourselves in that hole." Stagnant down the Stretch Torontos 15 assists are indicative of the teams lack of ball movement, especially late in the game when they relied heavily on isolation sets, settling for a series of difficult shots. "Too many one-hand passes [and] too much one-on-one," Casey said of the teams late-game offence. "A good defensive team is going to shut that out. Weve got to get that ball moving and we had been doing a good job but for whatever reason in the fourth quarter we got standing." Gay and DeRozan were the primary culprits in that department. "Shot selection was little tough today," Gay admitted. "They forced us into some tough shots but again, its the first game. Well get better at that." Rough Night for the Guards Both DeRozan and point guard Kyle Lowry had rough shooting nights in Wednesdays season debut, the backcourt duo combining to shoot 8-for-27 from the field. DeRozan was suffocated by a trio of larger, veteran defenders - Green, Gerald Wallace and Courtney Lee - and was routinely double teamed in the post, where he had excelled in the exhibition season. Uncharacteristically, DeRozan only got to the line twice and missed both shots. "They did a good job of sending people to him," Casey said of the coverage on DeRozan. "Anytime he drove in there he drew a crowd. What weve got to do now is find a draw and kick combination with him because hes got their respect now. Lowry had 11 points and a promising eight assists but shot just 2-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-12 at the line. The point guard was playing in his first game with the protective splint wrapped around his injured left ring finger, which hell require for the first six weeks of the season. Although Lowrys injury is on his non-shooting hand, the splint is something hes having to get used to playing with. Up Next The Raptors will play six of their next eight games on the road. First up, theyll travel to Atlanta and Milwaukee for a weekend back-to-back on Friday and Saturday respectively. Fake Ultra Boost For Sale . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. Adidas Tubular Sale Uk . The 23-year-old Poland international is back as first choice at Arsenal after losing his regular spot in the team on occasions over the last three seasons. http://www.nmdukonlinestore.com/nmd-chukka-trainers-outlet-deals.html . - The Baltimore Ravens and tight end Dennis Pitta reached agreement on a five-year contract Friday. Cheap Fake Nmd . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning, general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday in announcing the signing. Nmd r1 Uk Sale .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday.A good way to describe Morgan Riellys season would be a gradual build. It started in training camp when there were questions about whether Rielly would crack the Leafs opening day roster or be returned to the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL. While he broke camp with the Leafs, Rielly had to wait until the teams third game of the season to see action. Then he played his tenth regular season game on October 26th against the Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning the first year of his three year entry level contract had kicked in. On January 15th against the Buffalo Sabres, another threshold reached as Rielly played his 40th game, meaning this season would count as a full season of service toward the seven required for unrestricted free agency. All the while through the first two months Rielly fought to claim an everyday spot in Torontos top three defence pairings, forced out of the line up on nine different occasions as a healthy scratch. But that appears to be a thing of the past now too; Rielly has not watched from the press box since December 8th against Boston. “Obviously he feels a lot more comfortable,” said Randy Carlyle, before the team departed for Florida on Monday afternoon. “Were starting to see the true Morgan Rielly. I think like any young player, theyre conservative in the early going; they dont want to make any mistakes.” Now a fixture among the Leafs top six defencemen and also seeing time on a second power play pairing with Jake Gardiner, Rielly is beginning to emerge in the form of a confident puck carrier. “I think over the course of the year so far, Ive been able to gain some confidence and Ive really got pretty comfortable jumping up in the play and trying to carry the puck a bit more,” said Rielly. Now with points in six of his last nine games (1-5), Rielly has moved into third among Leafs defensemen in scoring. Paired with Tim Gleason since midway through last Thursdays game against the FFlorida Panthers, the veteran defenseman has been impressed with the 19-year-olds poise with the puck.dddddddddddd. “I notice how well he skates with the puck and how confident he looks skating with the puck,” said Gleason. “Its something that I wish I had when I was 19, 20 years old. Hes ahead of the game I think at his age, especially as a defenceman.” After playing with Jake Gardiner for a stretch of 10 games, a partnership with Gleason might be just the recipe to free Rielly up to take chances carrying the puck up the ice. “I hope thats the case,” said Gleason. “Hes a puck moving guy who skates well; hes one of those guys who can lead the rush and thats tough to do in this league. He can go whenever he wants and Im more than happy to kind of keep the fort down and do my thing. I think its a good mixture for sure.” The reassurance that Gleason wont stray too far from home has been beneficial for Rielly. “I like playing with Jake but playing with Timmys been great, hes always back there playing good ‘D and that helps me because I like to jump up a little bit.” So far, the feeling has been mutual for Gleason. “I have a good time playing with him,” Gleason explained. “If he has any questions, were different types of players so I dont know if Id have all the answers for him on the offensive side of things but hes grown really well since he started.” As Rielly continues to develop into the player the Leafs hoped they were getting when they drafted him fifth overall in 2012, Randy Carlyle insisted the Leafs will remain cautious in their approach with the young defenseman. “We dont want to get too far ahead of ourselves with any young player, we want to make sure we continue to measure and afford him the ice time that allows him to develop but, again, we dont want to put him in situations that he cant possibly have success in.” ' ' '