DieBruderschaft.com

TORONTO - When the Raptors reconvened in Washington following Februarys All-Star break, Dwane Casey had a hand-drawn contract waiting for them. Nike Air Force 1 Clearance . It wasnt legally binding. "It probably wouldnt hold up in court," Casey joked. It was more of a symbolic gesture. "[It was] a document committing to the team, committing to the process, leaving their egos at the door." With two-to-three sentences scribbled up top and a row of lines indicating where to sign, Casey had everybody pledge allegiance to the (Raptors) claw. Players, coaches, trainers, equipment managers, the media relations staff, everyone came up to sign, one-by-one. The first signature belonged to Kyle Lowry. "If [they] didnt want to sign it, you would have been able to tell right off the bat, if guys wanted to read it," said the Raptors head coach, who kept the contract in his briefcase, traveling around with it for the duration of the season. "Everybody stepped up and didnt hesitate and the next night we went out and beat [the Wizards]. Guys probably forgot they signed it, but I didnt" "Im all in, was the head of the document. And they were." On Tuesday, Masai Ujiri and the Raptors went all in on Casey and, in two months, they will do so with the teams core group of players, namely Lowry, making every effort to keep the band together. A year ago, just around this time, Casey and former general manager Bryan Colangelo met with the media to deliver their annual end-of-season post-mortem. They conducted their press conferences separately, unsure of their own futures, let alone the direction of the organization. Now, Ujiri sat adjacent to Casey at the podium, announcing that he and his coach have agreed to a new three-year deal, using this strange, foreign word over and over again; "continuity". "We plan on growing as a team," Ujiri said. "Im not going to make any crazy, quick-fix decisions here. We want to keep building and one of the things weve talked about is continuity." If you take one thing away from Tuesdays proceedings its that message. Ujiri has every intention of doubling down on this past seasons surprising success. Naturally, Casey was the first domino, a quick decision, no-brainer and an easy deal to get done. In his third year with Toronto, Casey led his team to a division title and franchise-record 48-win season before bowing out in the seventh game of the conference quarterfinals. He has more than earned the opportunity to stay on and see this through. In fact, Ujiri was hoping to open talks of an extension with his coach in late March, but as the team stumbled - they had lost four of six games at the time - Caseys preference was to hold off until the end of the season. With that said, the 57-year-old never intended to test the market or throw his hat in the ring for another job. He felt it would be disingenuous and knew where he wanted to be. "My heart is here, my mind is here," Casey said. "Im committed to this organization and to these players going forward." Locking up Casey was the first step, and a logical one. For him, it made little sense to jump ship now and start fresh elsewhere, likely with a losing program, after working hard to change the culture and build an identity in Toronto. The real sales pitch will come in two months, when Lowry - an impending free agent - must decide whether to finish what he started with the Raptors or make like so many stars of the franchises oh-so-painful past and split. Thats why this day was important, thats why it was necessary. Ujiri and Casey were at the podium for over 46 minutes. They were speaking, at least indirectly, to Lowry. "Its very important for us, in terms of continuity," Ujiri said, using that word again - "continuity" - when asked about re-signing Lowry. "For me, negotiating is easy if we want Kyle to be here and Kyle wants to be here." "I think well be fair with Kyle and well figure it out and I think its important. So well go through that process but were optimistic stuff will happen." With Casey in place at the helm of the ship, Lowry knows exactly what he would be signing up for and familiarity - or "continuity" - could go a long way in wooing the star point guard. Despite various reports of a rocky start to their relationship, Casey and Lowry have become close. Theyve lost together, theyve grown together and most importantly theyve won together. "Kyle came into a tough situation," Casey admitted before using a fantastically strange, albeit accurate, metaphor. "Its almost like coming into a relationship where you already have a girlfriend and a new girl comes in, because Jose [Calderon] was already here. We already understood Jose knew the system, he knew the calls. Kyle came in trying to learn them, and Kyle is a very prideful man and should be. Kyle came into that situation as kind of second fiddle and if you know Kyle, hes not a second fiddle kind of guy." "But again, he grew from that. Once Jose was traded, it got closer, it got closer. He understood what we were doing, I understood what he was going to do in certain situations [and] trusted him." Ironically enough, the two bonded at the wedding of former Raptor Rudy Gay, Lowrys best friend, last summer when they were able to get to know each other away from basketball. This summer should start off quietly for the Raptors, at least over the next couple of months. With Casey now part of the recruiting party, the focus immediately shifts to locking up Lowry, a process that they can begin on July 1. Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez - who spoke passionately about his desire to return on Monday - are both restricted free agents and also appear to be part of Ujiris offseason plan. "As far as Im concerned, keeping our core group going forward, with Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patterson and Nando (De Colo), those guys are priorities for us," Ujiri acknowledged. "And if you want to build, I think, a team where we have young players, we have to build continuity. When free agency comes, we have to attack our guys first." Theres still "building" to be done, but its looking likely that those tweaks will be made around the teams current foundation. Internal growth will be crucial, as Casey alluded to. He wants Terrence Ross to get stronger, Jonas Valanciunas to expand his post game - hell work with hall of fame centre Hakeem Olajuwon this summer - and DeMar DeRozan to improve defensively. Its hard to believe that this franchise is just 12 months removed from a summer plagued by uncertainty and indecision, though theyve had their fair share of them over the years. It seems like decades ago now. For most of that year Ujiri kept us guessing. What was his plan? On Tuesday he laid out his blueprint. "For me, theres not going to be any crazy decisions made, theres no quick fix," the Raptors GM said. "Were a growing team, and were going to grow gradually. I really dont care what the expectations are. The way to build in this situation were in is to continue to give our young players the opportunity, to try and draft well and make sure we figure out the right players to sign." The Raptors know what they want and are making no effort to hide it - continuity. Cheap Nike Air Force 1 Uk . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday. Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to stay unbeaten in road games since last July, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. http://www.cheapnikeairforce1uk.com/ . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury.LONDON -- Exactly one year ago, as the worlds best tennis players faced each other in London at the season-ending finale, Rafael Nadal couldnt even practice. Trying not to look too far ahead, the Spaniard was at home in Spain, just thinking about his badly injured knee. Nadal didnt know if he would play competitive tennis again. "The thoughts about the future? Just focus on recover, focus on try to find a solution for my knee, and thats it. Working every day, trying to do different things to try to be back," the 13-time Grand Slam winner said Wednesday of his feelings at the time. Things have changed dramatically. Twelve months later in London, Nadal capped his remarkable comeback on Wednesday by clinching the year-end No. 1 spot for the third time in his career. Just nine months after returning from his career-threatening injury, Nadal became the first player to hold, lose and regain the year-end No. 1 spot twice by beating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) at the ATP finals. Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl did it once in their careers. Nadal, who beat Wawrinka for the 12th time in as many matches, cant be overtaken by No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Its the first time since 2010 that the Spaniard, who returned from a seven-month injury layoff in February, ends the year as the top-ranked player. "It is one of the best things that I did in my career: come back to No. 1 after three seasons. Thats very difficult in our sport, and after a very important injury," Nadal said after celebrating with fist pumps and leaps as if he had won the tournament -- the only major event missing from his victory collection. Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the year-end tournament because of his straight-sets victory over the Swiss. The Spaniards season will be remembered as the story of a stunning comeback during which he captured 10 titles -- including two Grand Slams. Following his defeat in the second round at Wimbledon last year and the extended absence that followed, only the boldest of bookmakers would have bet on Nadal achieving such success in 2013. When he resumed playing, his left knee was still causing him pain. However, Nadals confidence grew during a Latin-America tour which produced a 12-1 match record, including titles at Sao Paulo and Acapulco. After securing his eighth French Open title, the only real disappointment of the year came at Wimbledon, where he lost to Belgian Steve Darcis in the first round -- before adding a second US Open title. The 27-year-old Spaniard also won five ATP Worrld Tour Masters 1000 events and went undefeated on hard courts (26-0) through to the China Open final, where he lost to Djokovic. Nike Air Force 1 Sale. Nadal, who overtook the Serb for the No. 1 ranking last month, said he started to think seriously about the No. 1 spot after his triumph at the U.S. Open. "Because after winning five Masters 1000, two Grand Slams, all the things, I felt that I had everything to be there," he said. "But at the same time, I have a zero in Australia, I have a zero in Miami, I have a zero in Wimbledon. A lot of zeros to be No. 1. I think it is a great effort because I have unbelievable competitors in front. That makes the year end No. 1 very, very special." Nadal beat David Ferrer in his opening match on Tuesday and kept the momentum going against Wawrinka. After breaking him in the fifth game, he looked in complete control. Raising his game on important points, he erased Wawrinkas two first break points to build a 5-3 lead and looked set for an easy victory. But the tournament debutant held on as Nadal served for the set, sending a sizzling crosscourt backhand that the top-ranked player returned out of court to earn a third break point. He seized his opportunity, wrongfooting Nadal with a crosscourt forehand. The tie break was a tense affair. At 5-5, Nadal defended superbly to return a devastating forehand down the line from his opponent, who shanked his next shot. Nadal sealed the set at the first opportunity -- as Wawrinka stumbled as he went for an easy volley before smashing his racket on the floor. Nadal then converted the second of three break points in the fourth game of the second set as Wawrinka sailed a forehand long. But as in the first set, Wawrinka battled his way back into the match, winning his next service game at love before taking Nadals serve for the second time with a volley that clipped the net cord and bounced over. Both played more aggressively in the closing stages and held serve until a second tiebreak. Nadal made the most of Wawrinkas mistakes to take a 3-0 lead, but his gritty Swiss opponent took a series of risks with his returns and rallied to reach set point at 6-5. Nadal saw off the danger with a smash, pumping his fist in relief, before sealing victory on his first match point. "He is playing better tennis than me," said Wawrinka, who has yet to win a set against Nadal. "When it gets important in the match, for him its just normal. Hes just playing his best tennis or he is playing even better." ' ' '