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Happy 2013-14 Raptors Training Camp all!
The club got to work this morning kicking off their camp, and will be here for the next few days before heading East again this year to beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Yesterday marked the team's annual Media Day, and while there were no killer quotes this year, nor were there any playoff guarantees, there were still some interesting takeaways.
-Kyle Lowry has great expectations for himself and the team this year, and admitted that last year was a disappointment in every sense of the word.
-Jonas Valanciunas has bulked up and is ready to take the next step in his development.
-And Dwane Casey is taking the "no more excuses" approach to the upcoming season.
-Former RHQer Chris Walder does a great job of summing up the rest of the Media Day takeaways here, and includes his thoughts on the team as they get ready for the 2013-14 season.
Oh...and wasn't there something about that Drake guy?
Yes, with the announcement that Toronto would be hosting the 2016 NBA All-Star game and have Drake involved with the club going forward, I could easily throw in 82 Drake links here.
Drake, Drake, Drake, Drake, Drake, Drake.
Those links above though are some of the better reads from yesterday along with this one from the National Post's Eric Koreen, and this one from...a music site, AUXTV!
And of course this links post wouldn't be complete without the obligatory Drake/Rob Ford link via Deadspin!
As noted in a few of the links above though, all of the Drake talk won't matter one-iota if the team continues to perform akin to the Charlotte Bobcats and that's why this whole process looks to be Superstar CEO Tim Leiweke's toughest test yet.
A test that might result in a year-one playoff birth, or a descent towards Mr. Andrew Wiggins...