Inland Waterways » Barea during a three-game shooting slump that

TORONTO - 12 months ago DeMar DeRozan carried the weight of an expiring contract into training camp as he prepped for his fourth NBA season with the Raptors. In many ways he was a different person with different responsibilities, different motivations. He had a lot to prove but he wasnt fully ready to prove it, not like he is now. He was still a young man. A year later, DeRozan finds himself in a similar setting - looking to end the Raptors playoff drought and reach the postseason for the first time in his professional career - but as training camp winds down and the regular season approaches, he appears to be a noticeably changed man. Now, hes a young adult. Fresh off the most eventful year of his life, the 24-year-old says he feels a lot older than his age suggests. The day after opening night will mark the one-year anniversary since DeRozan signed a $38 million extension keeping him in Toronto through the 2016-17 season. Since inking his new contact he put up career numbers playing in all 82 games last year, he participated in Team USAs minicamp this summer and more personally, he became a father. As he notes, he has grown up off the court just as much as he has on it. "I see a lot of film and a lot of pictures from my rookie year, my second year, my third year," DeRozan said in an interview with TSN.ca after a weekend practice in the Raptors gym. "You [can] just see how much Ive grown personality-wise [and] as a basketball player, especially now as a father, having a daughter and having [those] responsibilities to take care of. So its definitely [been] a major growth year." On May 12, DeRozan and his fiancee, Kiara, became first-time parents to daughter Diar; a day that forever changed his life, a day thats largely responsible for his transformation. "I cant even tell you in words, to explain it," he said, struggling to articulate how he felt in that moment. "It just put life all together for me and helped me understand the important things in life. Its definitely big, it means the world to me and theres not a word I can find to sum up the feeling." "It changes you most definitely for the better, it helps you become more of a man." Entering his fifth season, DeRozans growth has not gone unnoticed in training camp. As his coach and teammates have pointed out, that sense of responsibility and maturity has transcended his personal life and carried over on the basketball court where he seems poised to take his game to the next level. "Hes growing up," Rudy Gay has noticed of DeRozan. "Hes a father now, he has a family he has to provide for. Its the little things, not little things to him, but those little things on the outside make him seem more grown up, and he is. Hes spending more time in the gym, other than being with his kid. Hes really hungry and everybody around here sees it." "DeMar has grown," coach Dwane Casey echoed. "Hes grown as a person, as a young man, as an NBA player. Hes doing things now just instinctively where my first year, two years ago it was more teaching and talking to him about those situations where now theyre natural. So thats a sign of growth, thats a sign of maturity and he has really, really grown as a basketball player and most of all as a young man, which is great to see." Praised repeatedly throughout his time in Toronto for his unrelenting work ethic, DeRozan continued to refine his game this summer. When he wasnt changing diapers you could find him in the gym hoisting three-pointers - he would shoot until he made at least 300 per session - or perfecting an array of post moves he has displayed to perfection in the preseason. The fruits of his labour, for now, have resulted in a number of dominant moments during the exhibition season. Building off of last years improvement in the post, DeRozan has impressed with his footwork and creativity around the basket, getting to the rim and to the line with ease. He has handled the ball with confidence, passed out of double teams and shown improvement on defence. "Its beautiful because he is such a wonderful young man," Casey said of DeRozans evolution on the court. "Hes paid his dues, hes paid the price, hes put [in] his time in the gym. Hes done it himself. Every phase of the game hes worked on in the summer." To take the next step as an NBA player, DeRozan knows he has to put everything hes worked on together, staying consistent and efficient on both ends. While many professional athletes are motivated by money and the prospect of making more of it - something he already has covered, at least for the next four seasons - DeRozan is fuelled by his appetite to win and the fact that through four NBA seasons, he hasnt tasted much success. "[Making the playoffs] would completely mean everything," said DeRozan, now the longest tenured Raptors player (he and Amir Johnson are both entering their fifth year with the team). "Thats my biggest goal, just get us back there and get us back to winning and just get that joyful feeling again from the fans." Losing hasnt been easy on DeRozan, a born competitor, and hes done a lot of it since the Raptors selected him out of USC with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft. The team narrowly missed the postseason in DeRozans rookie season, going 40-42 before Chris Bosh bolted to Miami. Over the next three years Toronto had a combined record of 79-151. It hasnt been easy but its been a learning experience for DeRozan, an experience thats allowed him to play through mistakes and another contributing factor to the growth process. "When you go through rough times it helps you grow that much more and understand what you have to do to get better and help your team get better," he reflected. "Going through four tough years really helped me grow in every aspect. [Im] more of a leader, more of a man, more of an athlete." Leadership has been the biggest adjustment for DeRozan. A self-proclaimed recluse, he is reserved and mild mannered as a person but, with time, is becoming a more vocal player. "Hes still young," Gay pointed out. "I dont think people realize how young he is. You cant really expect him to know all the things there is. Hes played a lot of basketball but its a different kind of feel when youre playing winning basketball, and [its] not his fault at all, but now we have a team that can win and I think that everybody thats here that has won hes listening to and hes figuring out how to do it himself." "Everybody goes through it, Ive been through it so I can relate to him a lot," Gay continued, having also missed the playoffs in his first four seasons before reaching the postseason with Memphis in his fifth year. "Yeah, I can see hes hungry, hes talked about it a lot during the summer with me and I think we all are." DeRozan has experienced more in the last 12 months than most do in a single year. Hes come a long way since being drafted as a 19-year-old and playing his first game a couple months after his 20th birthday. Hes gone through things, both good and bad, that have forced him to mature faster than most people his age. Sometimes its easy to forget that hes only and just barely-turned 24. "Thats the thing about the NBA, you want players to dominate right now but when guys are young coming into the league its virtually [impossible]," Casey said. "I havent seen it happen yet and Ive been in [the league] now 21, 22 years. Any time a player comes in there is a growth process and you want it to happen yesterday but it takes time." "DeMar is right on schedule. Its time for him to do that, to grow and to be the player he was drafted to be. In some players the light doesnt come on and youll know that after the four-year period, or five-year period, but with him the light is on and theres someone in the house and hes ready to roll. Nows the time for him." Jonathan dos Santos Jersey . Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting. Hugo Ayala Jersey .C. -- Ryan Sproul scored the winner late in double overtime to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Friday in Game 1 of their American Hockey League playoff series. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/raul-jimenez-mexico-jersey/ . “Momentum is only as good as the next days starter,” the long-time Baltimore Orioles manager famously quipped. Edson Alvarez Jersey .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity. Diego Reyes Jersey .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas Jayhawks play their last non-conference road game of the regular season on Monday, as they travel to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Temple Owls at the Wells Fargo Center. Bill Selfs Jayhawks have just one loss on their resume and that came in humbling fashion to top-ranked Kentucky (72-40) back on Nov. 18. Since then however, Kansas has reeled off eight straight wins and moved to 9-1 on the season with Saturdays 96-69 rout of Lafayette. Fran Dunphys Owls are 7-4 on the season, but have won three of their last four games to provide some stability as the calendar year closes. Temple posted a lopsided win at Delaware in its last outing (82-62) and newly eligible players like senior Jesse Morgan and junior Devin Coleman played big roles in the win. Kansas has won the last three meetings with Temple to take an 8-3 series lead. The Jayhawks held on for a win last year in Lawrence against the Owls, 69-62. The Jayhawks put on an offensive clinic in blowing by Lafayette this past weekend, as the team shot a cool .500 from the floor, including an impressive .522 from behind the arc (12-of-23). Five players notched double figures in the win, but no one had as good as game as Kelly Oubre Jr. In just his second start of the year, the freshman guard erupted for his first double-double, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Frank Mason III put up 14 points and just missed his own double-double with nine assists. Wayne Selden Jr. added 12 points, folllowed by Svi Mykhailiuk (11 pts), Jamari Traylor (11 pts) and Cliff Alexander (10 pts).dddddddddddd The offensive proficiency is a bit of an anomaly for Kansas, which has modest numbers at that end of the floor on the season. The Jayhawks enter this contest averaging 72.0 ppg on .426 shooting. The team does however, hold a strong +7.2 rebounding margin. Perry Ellis is tops on the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per outing. Mason is next in line at 10.9 ppg. Selden isnt in double digits at this time, but is eager to join at 9.4 ppg. Temple is also coming off a rather strong offensive showing, as the Owls used 16 3-pointers to make light work of the Blue Hens last week. Morgan tied for team-high honors with Quenton DeCosey, as the pair put up 16 points apiece. Will Cummings was instrumental in the win as well, recording a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. Coleman added nine points in 10 minutes of work off the bench. Long known for strong defensive play, Temple has exemplified some of those attributes this season. The Owls are allowing 62.9 ppg and holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.391). The 3-point barrage against Delaware however, has not been the norm for Temple, which still shoots under 30 percent from long range on the year (.295). Morgan sits atop the stats page in scoring but has played just the one game. Consistent contributors though have been DeCosey and Cummings, who are netting 14.8 and 14.5 ppg, respectively. Wholesale MLB Orioles Jerseys Red Sox Jerseys From China Discount Yankees Jerseys Online Rays Jerseys For Sale Blue Jays Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB White Sox Jerseys Indians Jerseys For Sale Tigers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Astros Jerseys Cheap Baseball Angels Jerseys Athletics Jerseys From China Mariners Jerseys For Sale Cheap Baseball Rangers Jerseys Braves Jerseys For Sale Discount Marlins Jerseys Online Discount Mets Jerseys Online Phillies Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Nationals Jerseys Cubs Jerseys From China Discount Reds Jerseys Online Brewers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Pirates Jerseys Wholesale MLB Cardinals Jerseys Diamondbacks Jerseys For Sale Rockies Jerseys For Sale Discount Dodgers Jerseys Online Discount Padres Jerseys Online Giants Jerseys For Sale ' ' '