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TORONTO - No more excuses. This has become the Raptors mantra as they embark on a new era with a new regime and, in the not-so-distant future, a new image. Those three words were echoed again and again by Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, during Mondays busy media day proceedings and have been filtered down throughout the organization. The truth is, up to this point, there have been plenty of excuses. The schedule, its been difficult. The injuries, theres been a lot of them. The officials, they havent been kind. All valid excuses, but in the end, theyve amounted to perennial heartbreak to the tune of five straight playoff-less seasons. From the top, Leiweke, down to the general manager, their new global ambassador, the coach and the players, the message is clear; there are to be no more excuses. "None of us have an excuse," insisted returning head coach Dwane Casey, who is entering the final year of his contract. "Theres no out. What is your cop-out? Its right here, its the same team, same group." "Thats why Im saying were past the talking stage. This is our team, our group, so lets go to work." In addition to a punishing stretch to begin last season - 15 of their first 22 games on the road - they had a built-in excuse, getting three rookies and a couple of key additions acclimated on the go. Thats not the case this year. The only rookie on the roster is undrafted signee Dwight Buycks, who doesnt figure to have a significant role out of the gate. Despite the change in management, incoming GM Masai Ujiri has opted to stick with the group that closed out last season in the starting five. For those returning players, the grace period has ended and the pressure is on them to put the excuses aside and perform. "Weve just got to take advantage of every opportunity," knows DeMar DeRozan, the longest tenured Raptor. "Weve got to take advantage this week in training camp of [us] all being together, take advantage of [the] preseason and continue to get better and, as soon as that home opener starts, weve got to take advantage from game one to game 82 and just put it all out there because we have no excuses." For the team, its clear the bar has been set high but intentionally unclear where that bar sits exactly. "Im not even going to talk about playoffs," Casey said, tempering expectations after last seasons failures. "My mentality right now is to get better and all those other things are going to take care of themselves. Im not even going to mention it to our players tonight in our meeting when we talk about getting better. When you do that, good things are going to happen." If things go south in a hurry, this group may not have much time to forge its path, whatever it may be, as the leash on the returnees could be a short one. "We cant make any excuses of [a] tough schedule," Ujiri said. "So yes, how we start the season will be very important and then thats our jobs to make adjustments and the players jobs and coaching." "Chemistry is very key for us," he continued. "A lot of people think its individual talent, at the end of the day, it all has to come together. Were hoping these guys come together quick." Monday was overloaded with optimism for this Raptors franchise. With the addition of Drake to their staff, they will host the 2016 NBA All-Star Game with a brand new look expected to be unveiled that season. The organization, its players, coaches and fan base have experienced the feeling of optimism in the past and, needless to say, it hasnt necessarily translated in the standings. "Were going to find out pretty quickly if we have enough to be a playoff team," Casey said. "If we make continuous growth, we should be going in that direction but were not going to talk about it because talk is cheap. Its about doing it." "I thought we talked about it a little bit last year and we started out 4-19. So I dont want to talk about where we should be, what we could be doing or anything. I want to talk about how hard the guys are going to work to get there." Thats what this season will be about for Casey and his brigade, many of whom - like their coach - are in the hot seat. To the dismay of some fans, they will not be tanking, its simply not in the makeup of anyone currently affiliated with this organization to roll over. The mentality that is being preached, and will continue to be preached, is quite the opposite, in fact. "No more excuses," Leiweke repeated. "I think what Drake helps us do is he sets a tone and I like the tone, which is; were going to get better, were going to get rid of the excuses [and] were going to get rid of all the distractions." "And for our players," he continued, "for the other players in the league and for our fans, now we talk about the positive and we talk about what were going to be. For me, [its about] accountability here, about our brand, our image, our buzz and our potential, thats what Drakes helping us do." "I want accountability. No more excuses." Back on the Defensive It should come as no surprise that Coach Casey has committed to re-emphasizing defence in his third and most crucial season with the Raptors. In his first year with the team, during the lockout shortened 2011-12 campaign, the Casey-led Raptors began to shed the perception that had been haunting them. They were, up until that point, a perennial doormat, a soft team. In 66 mostly hard-fought games, Casey changed all that. He took a team that ranked at the bottom of the league in nearly every defensive category the year prior and made them competitive. The Raptors finished that season as the NBAs most improved team in opponent field goal percentage (from .482, 29th in the NBA to .435, 8th) and opponent scoring (from 105.3 point allowed per game, 26th to 94.0, 9th). Then, just as quickly as the defensive renaissance came to be the year prior, that progress was undone during a turbulent 2012-13 season. "Last year," Casey said, "I dont think it was a mistake, we had to get better offensively, but we tilted the pendulum a little bit too far to the offensive side. This year, its going to be back to the defensive side." "When you emphasize something the way we did offence going into training camp last year, it took [on] a personality of its own. Somewhere down the line, youre going to rest and I thought our guys took a step back with the focus and the spotlight not being on the defensive end." A Refocused Rudy Gay is coming off an emotionally and physically exhausting campaign. He battled injuries and brushed off ongoing trade speculation as a Grizzly, eventually giving way to a midseason shakeup that took him from the only NBA home hes ever known - a winning team in Memphis - to a city over 900 miles away, one that hasnt seen playoff basketball in five years. "Last year was kind of like a whirlwind for me," he admitted. "Not even having any place to stay or even put my clothes." He comes to training camp this year - his first with the Raptors - 100 per cent healthy and refocused after a busy offseason of hard work. In addition to his day-to-day training, Gay worked on his post game with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, underwent a procedure to correct ongoing vision problems and added a noticeable 20 pounds of muscle. "My trainer basically lived with me," said the Raptors seemingly invigorated forward. "I worked all but three weeks this whole summer, after my eye surgery." Admittedly, Gay feels underestimated and has his eyes - which now work as theyre supposed to - set on proving his and the teams naysayers wrong. To do that, Casey wants to see his go-to scorer become more efficient offensively while bringing consistent effort on the defensive end. DeMars Shot As last season came to a disappointing close for DeRozan, who has missed the playoffs in each of his four years in the league, the Raptors guard vowed to return an improved three-point shooter. According to DeRozan, who has shot the three-ball at a 24 per cent clip over his career, he spent the bulk of the summer making good on his promise. "Any type of way I could have the ball in my hand[s] and get off a three-point shot, [I did]," DeRozan said. "I definitely feel the most comfortable Ive ever felt from the three-point line and Im going to continue working on it day in and day out." The 24-year-old spent Sunday morning hoisting up jump shots, knocking down 300 triples prior to his mandated physical. Despite this seasons tempered expectations, failure is not an option for the young veteran. "Personally, the way I approach workouts all summer is, this is my fifth year [and] Im tired of going home early, watching everybody else play, watching my friends play," he passionately exclaimed. "Its sickening to me, I get tired of [it]." "Me personally, I work my ass off so we can play in that moment. Be a team in that 8, 7, 6, whatever spot it is, to have the opportunity to play. So thats my goal and Im sure everybody on this team feels the same way." Levine Toilolo Jersey . Nine-year veteran Danny Granger did not make his debut with the Clippers because of a technicality on the teams active list, which is signed by coach Doc Rivers before every game and relayed to the officials. 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The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal.HAMILTON - Playing their third game in as many days, the Hamilton Bulldogs salvaged their weekend with an energetic, 60-minute effort on Sunday. Martin St. Pierre scored two goals, including the game winner in the second period, as the Bulldogs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the San Antonio Rampage in the American Hockey League. "Travelling has been hectic this weekend, but were not a team that makes excuses," said St. Pierre. "If we lose while were working hard, well take the loss. We felt that we played well this weekend and just didnt get the bounces. "We knew that it has to be mind over matter when you have three games over two and a half days." Mike Blunden also had a goal for the Bulldogs (23-25-5) and Dustin Tokarski made 32 saves. Quinton Howden scored the lone goal for the Rampage (23-23-8), while Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 shots in a losing effort. Hamilton got off to a promising start, challenging Markstrom early and often in the first period. Offensive pressure paid dividends when the Bulldogs opened the scoring through their captain at 7:25. Greg Pateryn carried the puck in from the blue line and released a low, hard shot toward the far post that Markstrom kicked into St. Pierres path as he streaked in from the left wing. St. Pierre reacted quickly and fired the puck past the sprawling goaltender before he could recover his position. The Bulldogs lead nearly doubled three minutes later, when Sven Andrighetto threaded a centring pass through the San Antonio defence that found Maxime Macenauer in the low slot. But Markstrom slid to his right and snared the centres ensuing wrist shot with his glove. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre was encouraged by his teams strong start, and argued that it had become a recent trend. "The one thing that stood out this weekend was that we started all three games very strongly," said Lefebvre. "Tonight, we stuck with it and kept going." A bright first period was dimmed sommewhat when the Bulldogs were assessed two minor penalties at the same stoppage of play at 19:26, as Gabriel Dumont was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after arguing a slashing penalty to Blunden.dddddddddddd. The exchange meant that Hamilton would have to survive 1:11 of 5-on-3 hockey early in the second period. Those penalties passed without incident, but the Rampage made the most of their next power-play opportunity when Louis Leblanc was whistled for hooking at 7:10 of the second period. Tokarski knocked aside Ryan Martindales initial shot from the slot with his blocking glove, but the forward recovered his rebound and chipped a quick shot that Howden tipped past the goaltender at 8:06. Markstrom was tested several times as the Bulldogs pushed for a second goal, and came up with consecutive saves to deny St. Pierre and Sven Andrighetto in quick succession midway through the period. But there was little that he could do to prevent the eventual breakthrough, as Nathan Beaulieus point shot rebounded high into the air, and St. Pierre was waiting as it dropped to slide it past the goaltender at the near post at 12:15. The Bulldogs added some insurance on the power play at 6:29 of the third period. Markstrom turned aside Nick Tarnaskys initial shot, but Mike Blunden was posted in the low slot and corralled the rebound, easily slotting it past the goaltender. Hamilton successfully crowded Markstroms crease on Sunday, and Lefebvre stated that the Bulldogs will have to continue that tactic in the future. "We need to do that," he said. "We dont score too many highlight-reel goals. We grind them out, and thats our trademark. Thats who we are. "Some nights we dont want to pay the price as much and it shows. But this weekend we did, and we competed all weekend." The Bulldogs went 1-4 with the man advantage, while the Rampage were 1-3. Note: The Montreal Canadiens announced the call up of Hamilton defenceman Jarred Tinordi midway through Sundays game. 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