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gửi bởi **Dogcat250** » Thứ 5 Tháng 2 14, 2019 10:10 am

TORONTO - On the eve of his memorable exit interview, Greivis Vasquez sat down for dinner with the leagues most famed and influential global ambassador, carrying on his mission to secure a new contract with the team that gave him new life in the NBA. In Vasquez time, the meal may have lasted six hours. What did he and Drake discuss? Perhaps a certain 2013-14 MVP came up in conversation. Thunder forward and four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant has been on the minds of Raptors fans for the better part of the last year. Could Drake help lure Durant from Oklahoma City when he becomes a free agent following the 2015-16 season? He may have found a partner in crime. "Hopefully I get to play with him one day in the NBA," Vasquez said of Durant, his high school teammate and old friend, guesting on TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday. "Hopefully its here in Toronto." He wasnt done. "Imagine if we get KD, Kevin Durant in 2016 and he leads us to a championship," the Raptors point guard added, unprompted in an interview with Bryan Hayes on TSN 1050 the following day. "I think hed have statues right outside the ACC." Well played, sir. Vasquez, the quote that keeps on quoting, is angling for a new deal and with the offseason barely a week old, he has positioned himself favourably. In case you havent heard, Vasquez is quite fond of being in Toronto. A week ago, on a day in which Kyle Lowrys impending free agency took centre stage, it was his backup, Vasquez, that stole the show delivering an emotional 19-minute soliloquy, with the occasional question sprinkled in. He thanked the city, its fans, his teammates, coaches and general manager. He thanked the Toronto school board. "My son cannot wake up at 8:00 in the morning, he wakes up at six because hes excited to go to school." He thanked his waiter at the local all-you-can-eat Brazilian steak house. So, he was thorough. It was exit interview meets academy award acceptance speech, only no one had the heart to play him off with music. "Thats Greivis," GM Masai Ujiri said a day later. The 27-year-old point guard rarely holds back on the court, playing the game with a refreshing passion that helped spark Torontos remarkable turnaround in 2014. The same could be said about his approach away from basketball. "Id use the word passionate for Greivis," said newly extended head coach Dwane Casey. "He has stones. Hes probably, truth be told, probably the most confident player on the team. He feels like he can score on LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan in his prime, which is great and you need that." "If you tell him, Greivis, run through that window right there, hes going to do it. Now he may look at you a little bit, but hell do it." Vasquez, a restricted free agent this summer, is sincere in his sentiments, he truly hopes to remain a Raptor and the way hes gone about publicizing it could go a long way in ensuring hes back with the team next season. "It would be heartbreaking if I dont come back," Vasquez exclaimed on a Monday afternoon in the bowels of the Air Canada Centre. "Im an emotional guy, so I really embrace, Im really committed to the team, to the city, to this franchise." Seven days later, there was Vasquez, on stage shaking hands with Torontos Deputy Mayor and representing the organization as May 12 was proclaimed "Raptors Day". After arriving in an early-season trade from Sacramento - where he says he lost his passion for the game - Vasquez averaged 9.5 points and 3.7 assists in 61 games for the Raptors, his fourth NBA stop in four years. He has not wasted the opportunity. Hes gone all in. The Venezuelan-native has established himself as an emotional leader on the team and an ambassador in the city. For good measure hes also offering up his services in recruiting one of the NBAs premier talents, should he still be around in 2016. But will he be around? Ujiri will not be pressured, not by elaborate speeches or the promise of an endorsement in two years from now. Vasquez will be retained if Ujiri determines it makes sense in basketball terms, and it may. Still, the extracurricular incentives cant hurt, especially if the Raptors GM values continuity and chemistry as much as he has indicated. "We hope to get something done," Ujiri told TSN.ca, in reference to Vasquezs contract status. "Hes one of those pieces on the team where you know that hes always going to be a great teammates and hes going to go out and compete." As Vasquez walked off the podium, an audience of assembled media brimming after he captivated them with a season-ending speech for the ages, he left the room the same way he entered it 20 minutes earlier. The "loveable underdog" - as he once referred to himself - wore a black cap decorated with the words "We The North" on his head and a big smile across his face. "Im not taking this for granted," he told the city and its acting mayor on Raptors Day. "Im saying it because I mean it." And he does, but he knows exactly what hes doing. Dwight Howard Jersey . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. Jason Williams Jersey .com) - World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and four-time Australian Open titlist Roger Federer were among Mondays fourth-round winners at Melbourne Park. http://www.magicbasketballprostore.com/ ... ic-jersey/. -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. Tracy Mcgrady Jersey . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. Mohamed Bamba Jersey . Neither player was available Saturday for the Knicks 107-98 loss in Atlanta. "Were going in a different direction and weve got to figure out another spot or two for our ballclub," coach Mike Woodson said before the game.The Toronto Argonauts have a lot to look forward to in 2014. Long gone are the glory moments of the 100th Grey Cup, back to reality, which is an almost total rebuilding effort on defence in effort to get back to the 102nd Grey Cup come November 30th. First and foremost, this year has such special optimism because they get their quarterback back. With Anthony Calvillo out of the picture, Ricky Ray is the best in the league. He did have issues staying healthy last year but in the time he played he was remarkable. Completing 77 per cent of your passes and finishing with a 21:2 touchdown to interception ratio is an accomplishment that other quarterbacks envy and respect. His quarterback rating was 126.4. If Ray can stay healthy for the year, the Argonauts will always be in position to win it all. Health really is the only issue as age, now creeping into the mid 30s, is still not a significant detriment. Other positions? Absolutely. If you are a running back or defensive back, when you lose that athletic burst or reactive ability, you lose a lot. But quarterbacks, more than any other position, are cerebral more than physical and as long as the first dominates the second, you can continue to play at a very high level. The next aspect of success could be a re-designed defence. Losing Chris Jones, now the head coach with the Edmonton Eskimos, was intense as Jones transferred his intensity successfully to the players he directed. But when a coaching void is opened it is usually filled quickly, and the combination of Tim Burke and Casey Creehan will develop their own style based on experience, not experiment. Toronto will be a much more "upfield" team, depending on a front four to pressure and a back eight to react. As a coordinator, Burke has always been successful, and as a linebacker coach so has Creehan. Then after Mike OShea left to become the head coach in Winnipeg, the void was filled by Jim Daley, who knows this league better than any. Losing two assistants to head coaching jobs says a lot about how good the defensive staff was, but it could be even better potentially with the positions filled in the present. Running back will be a battle. With Chad Kackert retired, it appears to be a three-man competition between Steve Slaton, Curtis Steel, and Anthony Coombs. Can Cooombs be an 18 game starter? Very unlikely, but possible.dddddddddddd Nothing would be better than to see the University of Manitoba star be the next Jon Cornish. If he does, then everything falls into place on offence and with ratio flexibility. Overall, from last year there are major priorities for improvement. Toronto ended the season with the best red zone offence and the best red zone defence. 69 per cent of the time the Argos produced touchdowns over field goals on offence. And only 46 per cent of the time Toronto allowed touchdowns, forcing opponents into field goals. Inside the 20, the Argos were the best in CFL football. Outside the 20s: a priority to improve. On average, teams produced 389 yards of offence, 289 of which was through the air. Those totals were both eighth in the league. Toronto finished dead last in rushing yards as well, with only 85 produced per game. And that eighth-place reality is for the second year in a row. But you can rationalize that with a +18 takeaway/giveaway number and arguing what happens between the 20s is not as significant as what happens from the 20 in. But all that yardage against takes time away from Ray and the offence; that has to be improved. So looking into the future one year at a time, Toronto will have a good team. Looking into the future more than one year, Toronto needs a new home for the team. BMO Field is an excellent choice but the financing is still floating in space. Because the stadium was built with tax payer money, there is no reason not to include all. If it was privately funded, than those who paid for it can use it as they see fit. But it was paid by the public so should be open to public use, and that includes the Toronto Argonauts. To me, expansion will create more revenue for all and the location and design can be adapted for all. Where there is a will, there is a way. Both Hamilton and Montreal will be better and are better right now than at this time last year. Ottawa is a complete unknown but is not to be looked at as a guarantee win day. Toronto is somewhere in the middle, catching up perhaps to Hamilton and Montreal but way ahead of Ottawa. But with Ray at quarterback the catch up is more of a threat than a desire. Two years removed from the Grey Cup means a new team in Toronto. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet