TORONTO -- No bold predictions or promises of playoffs. But theres a quiet sense of optimism around this seasons Toronto Raptors squad. A year after Bryan Colangelo preached patience with a young, building team that was all about gaining experience, the Raptors made several key moves in the off-season that -- on paper at least -- have Toronto looking significantly better. Colangelo added three potential starters to the roster in bulldog point guard Kyle Lowry, Lithuanian centre Jonas Valanciunas, whos proven to be a quick learner, and athletic swingman Landry Fields -- and lost little in the departure of Jerryd Bayless and James Johnson. "Theres that feeling there could be something special abut this group, but time will tell," Colangelo said in a recent interview. The Raptors, who raise the curtain on the regular-season Wednesday when they host the Indiana Pacers, finished 23-43 in the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season of few expectations. But Colangelo is done talking just about development, saying this is a season to start winning some games. And theres some cautious optimism around the Air Canada Centre about the potential for Torontos playoff appearance since 2008. Basketballs experts, for the most part, disagree. Most predictions pick Canadas lone NBA franchise to win somewhere between 30 and 40 games. An ESPN report last week had the Raptors winning 33 games. Coach Dwane Casey, in his second season with Toronto, said the criticism can work in his young squads favour. "With that lack of respect, that should get us motivated to come into this gym each and every day to bust our tails." Casey said. "That right there tells us how much lack of respect the league has for us, and how much we have to continue to work to perform every day we walk on the court." Casey is a big reason for Torontos optimism. The former Dallas Mavericks assistant took a team that was at the bottom of the league in defence to finish in the top half last season. They remained in the bottom third in offensive stats, however -- something Casey focused on with a benefit of a full training camp this season. "The numbers are staggering what happened last year (defensively)," Colangelo said. "But with respect to the pace, the offence, offensive efficiency, offensive production, we talked a lot this off-season about how were going to improve that." There hasnt been a clear face of the franchise since Chris Bosh patrolled the ACC floor, and Vince Carter before him, and this season is no different. The team will look to centre Andrea Bargnani to provide a good chunk of its scoring. Bargnani was having a breakout season last year -- and showed an uncharacteristic enthusiasm for defence -- before a calf injury cost the teams leading scorer 35 games. The Raptors season unravelled right along with him. Bargnani, the No. 1 pick from the 2006 draft, and Valanciunas could team up for a formidable front court. The Raptors selected Valanciunas with their No. 5 pick in the 2011 draft before leaving him in Lithuania for a year of development. The 20-year-old, touted as the future of the franchise, definitely gives Raptors fans something to be excited about -- rare athleticism for a big man coupled with a puppy dog enthusiasm for the game. The 20-year-old topped the leagues annual general managers poll as the international player most likely to have a breakout season, garnering 17.2 per cent of votes. Lowry received a vote in the same poll as the "most under-rated player acquisition in off-season," and didnt take long to show why that might be true. Acquired from the Houston Rockets after a failed bid to land Canadian star Steve Nash, Lowry is expected to add heart and hustle to a Toronto team that hasnt enough of either in recent seasons. The 26-year-old, a vocal leader who will push his teammates, is expected to start ahead of veteran Jose Calderon, who will lead the second unit as one of the better backup point guards in the league. Fields, who signed a three-year deal worth about US$20 million reportedly as part of the failed Nash bid, has been touted as Torontos so-called "glue guy." Hes an intelligent player with speed and vision on the wing. Out of Torontos returning players, athletic swingman DeMar DeRozan has polished his post-up game and along with Bargnani, will be a focal point of Torontos offence. The 23-year-old remains among the weaker starters on the defensive end however. "DeMars one of the most talented wings in the league and hes learning every day to be efficient," Casey said. "He understands that, hes getting to the foul line, doing what we ask him to do, going in the low post." Torontos three new starters have bumped players onto the bench, which gives the Raptors more depth than theyve seen in a while. Calderon, Alan Anderson, Linas Kleiza, Amir Johnson and Ed Davis averaged 24 starts last year. Theyre joined by hard-working guard John Lucas III, athletic rookie Terrence Ross and Dominic McGuire, a strong defensive player who was given the Raptors final spot on their 15-man roster. cheap nfl jerseys . On Wednesday, Saskatchewan head coach Corey Chamblin guaranteed Cornish wouldnt surpass 100 yards rushing when the Riders host the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday. wholesale nfl jerseys . The payroll-slashing Marlins dealt the shortstop and his $5 million salary across Florida to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night for minor league infielder Derek Dietrich. http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysst... . Marcus Kruger, Staffan Kronwall, Erik Karlsson and Gabriel Landeskog each scored for Sweden, which pulled even with Russia on points atop the Stockholm pool. [url=http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/]cheap jerseys nfl store . He scored twice and had an assist in the Prince Albert Raiders 5-3 win over the Kootenay Ice in Western Hockey League play. wholesale jerseys china . -- Inspiration one week, domination the next.Dmitrij Jaskin extended his point streak to 10 games on Saturday as the Moncton Wildcats doubled up the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 4-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. The 19-year-old Russian had a goal and an assist for the Wildcats (31-16-1), who extended their win streak to seven games, and during his run he has 10 goals and 27 points. Jaskin has picked up a point in 25 of his last 26 outings and has rocketed up the league-scoring leaders to fourth with 72 points in just 38 games played. Danick Emond also had a goal and an assist for Moncton, Ivan Barbashev and Christophe Lalonde added a goal apiece and Allain Saulnier, Alex Saulnier and James Melindy each chipped in with two assists. Michael Beaudry and Zach OBrien scored for the Titan (18-26-6), who are now winless in six contests, and Francois Godin had two assists. OBrien moved up to fifth in QMJHL scoring with 34 goals and 69 points in 48 games. Cole Holowenko stopped 27-of-29 shots for the win as Jacon Brennan made 35 saves in a losing cause. Moncton went 1 for 4 on the power play while Acadie-Bathurst scored twice on six chances with the man advantage. Elsewhere in the QMJHL, it was: P.E.I. 4, Cape Breton 2; Quebec 4, Halifax 2; Sherbrooke 3, Saint John 2; Blainville-Boisbriand 9, Shawinigan 0; Rimouski 4, Drummondville 1; Rouyn-Noranda 6, Chicoutimi 2 and Baie-Comeau 3, Victoriaville 2 (OT). At Moncton, N.B., Jaskin opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:31 of the first period for the Wildcats, but Beaudry responded with the man advantage one minute into the second period for the Titan. Lalonde regained the lead for Moncton at 9:20, however OBrien evened the score at the 15-minute mark with Acadie-Bathursts second power-play goal of the period. It looked like the game would head into the final 20 minutes tied 2-2 until Barbashev put Moncton ahead wiith just 54 seconds remaining in the second.dddddddddddd Emond made it 4-2 Wildcats just 51 seconds into the third period. --- Rocket 4 Screaming Eagles 2 At Sydney, N.S., Josh Currie scored his league-leading 39th goal and added an assist and Antoine Bibeau turned aside 18 shots as P.E.I. (26-20-2) doubled up Cape Breton (10-31-8), which is 1-8-1 in its last 10 games. --- Remparts 4 Mooseheads 2 At Halifax, Logan Shaw had a goal and two assists and Quebec (28-16-3) scored three straight goals in the third period to come from behind and beat the Mooseheads (39-5-3), who had their seven-game win streak snapped. --- Phoenix 3 Sea Dogs 2 At Saint John, N.B., Jacob Gervais-Chouinard stopped 32-of-34 shots and Denis Kamaevs goal at 4:09 of the third period stood up as the winner as Sherbrooke (14-28-6) handed the Sea Dogs (19-28-0) their fourth straight defeat. --- Armada 9 Cataractes 0 At Boisbriand, Que., Marc-Olivier Roy scored two goals and added three assists and Etienne Marcoux only had to make 16 saves as the Armada (28-14-5) blanked Shawinigan (10-31-5), which has lost three games in a row. --- Oceanic 4 Voltigeurs 1 At Drummondville, Que., Robun Gusse stopped 22 shots and Francis Beauvillier had a goal and an assist as Rimouski (33-11-5) extended its win streak to eight games by defeating the Voltigeurs (25-18-4). --- Huskies 6 Sagueneens 2 At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Nikita Kucherov and Mathieu Brisebois each had a goal and two assists and Alexandre Belanger made 19 saves as the Huskies (29-18-1) halted their four-game slide by beating Chicoutimi (24-22-4). --- Drakkar 3 Tigres 2 (OT) At Victoriaville, Que., Petr Straka scored the winner 45 seconds into extra time and Philippe Cadorette stopped 27-of-29 shots as Baie-Comeau (33-12-4) improved to 8-2-0 in its last 10 outings by downing the Tigres (19-21-8). 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