Raptors renaissance? The mission starts tonight

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This article was published 28/10/2009 (5803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Nine new players and less than a month together — but ready or not, the regular season is upon the Toronto Raptors.

The new-look Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at the Air Canada Centre (The Score, 8 p.m.), eager to put last season’s dismal 33-win campaign behind them.

Head coach Jay Triano has had the tough task of trying to make a polished, unified team out of a group of players that barely knew each other when they gathered for training camp four weeks ago.

He admits he would have loved a little more time.

"Of course, like three years. With this group? Three years would be great," Triano said, joking.

"We kind of cleaned house and we’ve got very quality people here, we’ve got guys buying into what we’re trying to teach and do, and now it’s a matter of gaining the experience with each other and the team."

Several prognosticators picked the Raptors to finish around sixth or seventh in the Eastern Conference this season. Raptors captain Chris Bosh has learned not to pay attention to predictions.

"It really doesn’t matter, how many prediction polls have actually been correct in the past 10 years? I’m sure nobody picked the (Orlando) Magic to be the Eastern Conference champs last year, look what they were able to achieve," Bosh said. "We just take that as motivation and move on."

Jose Calderon echoed Bosh’s sentiments, saying "Why are we going to put limits on us, let’s see what happens. It’s a long season, a lot of things can happen."

On the heels of last season’s debacle, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo made major changes to the team roster, adding all-star Hedo Turkoglu, bruising forward Reggie Evans and athletic swingman DeMar DeRozan, the team’s ninth pick in the NBA draft.

The Raptors went 2-6 in the pre-season, looking out of sync on most nights, and it remains to be seen how the team will ultimately turn out once they finally get to know each other on the floor.

"I think a lot of people, they really want to see how this team is looking," Bosh said. "It’s a big home opener, and we’re playing a good team so that makes it exciting."

The Raptors captain, who could be playing his final season in Toronto, said he believes the team has lots of potential, but whether or not they realize it is far from a given.

"We can either be good or bad, it depends on us," said Bosh, who arrived at camp 20 pounds heavier after hitting the gym over the summer. "I think we’re going to be good, but we’re only going to be as good as we want to be. We have to believe in ourselves and we have to put in the work to be good."

Turkoglu, who will make his regular-season Raptors debut at the Air Canada Centre, led the Magic to the NBA finals last season, and believes Toronto has what it takes to be a playoff team.

"I’m confident in myself, and my teammates, I’ll tell them, too, that we have to have confidence in ourselves, we’re as good as anybody out there right now," said the Turkish forward. "We don’t get a lot of credit from outside, but I really don’t care about that."

The NBA schedule-makers didn’t give the Raptors any breaks. They head to Memphis for a game Friday, then return home to host Orlando on Sunday followed by the Detroit Pistons next Wednesday. They have nine road games in November — matching March as the busiest road months of the season. Seven of those games are against Western Conference opponents.

The Cavaliers, runners-up in the East last season, went 4-4 in the pre-season, also adjusting to several new faces in their lineup. The Cavs acquired Shaquille O’Neal in the off-season and how well the big centre and superstar LeBron James can combine forces will surely be one of the most compelling stories this season.

— The Canadian Press