Warum Feedern » ly four times in 29 games of the lockout-

TORONTO - If the Toronto Raptors are fuelled by the chips on their shoulders, Dwane Casey firmly planted a couple more there Tuesday.And its good timing for a team off a disappointing 2-4 road trip that cost them the Eastern Conference lead.Casey was angry Tuesday, first, by the fact Kyle Lowry is ranked a lowly fourth among Eastern Conference guards in all-star voting. And second, the coach was cranky over post-game comments levelled at Toronto by Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek.The one positive out of his post-practice chat with reporters: DeMar DeRozan is still on pace to return this week, despite missing practice to undergo more diagnostic tests.Lowry was named the East player of the month for December, but he remains fourth in voting for next months all-star game behind Washingtons John Wall, Miamis Dwyane Wade, and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers.Very surprised. I hope our fans get out and vote, dont put it in the hands of the coaches, said Casey — fans vote for the starters, while coaches vote for the reserves. And if the coaches dont do it, Im probably going to get physical and fight with those guys.Casey isnt a big believer in fan voting.Sometimes fans have their favourites, and its nothing to do with basketball, the coach said. Its not fair, but its the system we have right now, and the only thing Kyle can do is go out and continue to compete and play with that chip on his shoulder, and show the league, to embarrass the fans and let them know that they made a mistake, or are making a mistake in their voting.Hornacek got under Caseys skin after the Raptors 125-109 loss to Phoenix on Sunday. The Suns coach was quoted as saying, We could have won by 40 if we left our starters in.The last time I checked, we beat them here at our place, Casey said, in reference to the Raptors 104-100 win over the Suns on Nov. 24 at the Air Canada Centre. Those types of things put a chip on our shoulder. Kyle being fourth in voting, that should put a chip on our shoulder. (Hornacek) saying they should have beat us, how weak the Eastern Conference is, that should put a chip on our shoulder.Because the last time I checked, we beat them at our place, and they beat us at their place, no matter what the score was. Karma is something in this league. Weve got to play with that edge, and that type of edginess to make sure that we prove that were for real.The Raptors (24-10) were happy to be back at the ACC on Tuesday, where theyll play their next six games, beginning Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets.Their road trip began with a loss to Chicago and solid wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets, but began to unravel with an overtime loss in Portland. Mental and emotional fatigue set in at that point, Casey said. The Raptors ended the trips with blowout losses to Golden State and Phoenix, resulting in Torontos first three-game losing skid in more than a year.But any of that is no excuse for this league, because this is a non-forgiving league, emotional, physical, whatever fatigue you have, the league doesnt feel sorry for you, the coach said. We got our butts whooped, now weve got to come back here and regroup, refocus, especially on the defensive end, and get our act together.No surprise, defence was the focus of what Lowry called a short, crisp practice. Casey reached way back to his defensive teachings at training camp, he said, to reinforce his principles on that end of the floor.And having DeRozan back in the lineup should help tremendously. The Raptors were in top-10 in the league defensively when the teams all-star and leading scorer tore a tendon in his groin on Nov. 28. Since his injury, theyve dropped to 22nd in points allowed.In DeRozans absence, the Raptors have morphed into a faster, running team.I think that affected our defence, Casey said. DeMar coming back will give us more of a slow-down, semi-postup game, which will slow us down a little bit, which will in turn help our defence.DeRozan rejoined practices last week, although it remains to be seen how quickly hell be back at full speed.Hes getting there. Hes getting better, Lowry said of his teammate. I think hes going to come back aggressive. . . we cant force feed him, weve got to be patient with him.Lowry joined Chris Bosh as the only Raptors players ever to receive player of the month honours (Bosh won it in January of 2007). Lowry, who posted averages of 22.3 points, 8.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds to lead the team to an 11-4 record in December, said the honour was cool and an incentive to work even harder.Teammate Patrick Patterson weighed in about the honour, saying an all-star nomination would be a better way to reward Lowry.Of course, hell get player-of-the-weeks, hell get player-of the months, but the only recognition I care about with Kyle is that he gets all-star, Patterson said. We all know hes an all-star on this team and we want the rest of the world to know that, so hopefully before all is said and done, he will be an all-star and get the recognition he deserves.Note: Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged Canadian basketball fans to vote Lowry into the all-star game. Canadian basketball fans should get behind @Klow7, who deserves to be an NBA All Star, he posted on Twitter account Tuesday. Doug Flutie Jersey . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. Dan Fouts Jersey . Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? "I do believe that if youre as transparent as we were at the time - with our season seat holders, our fans, the market place and the media - everybody knew what the plan was and what we were going through. http://www.cheapchargersjerseysauthentic...adderley-jersey. Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves. Lance Alworth Jersey . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada. Drue Tranquill Jersey . The 12th-ranked Haas served well throughout the match at the Ibirapuera arena, allowing only one break point to the 152nd-ranked Italian. Both players held serve until the first-set tiebreak, when Haas stepped up his game to easily clinch the set.Former Colorado Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk announced his retirement on Monday. "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. "I realized my lifelong dream of not only playing in the NHL but winning a Stanley Cup. My family and I are proud to call Denver home and are enjoying our time together." The 38-year-old native of the Czech Republic spent 14 seasons in the NHL, all with the Avalanche. "Milan was one of the most humble players I ever had the privilege of competing with," said Joe Sakic, the Avalanches Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations in a statement. "On the ice, he had one of the quickest and smoothest hands of any teammate I ever played with. His release, along with his hockey sense and vision, made him one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL during his prime. Milan was a true winner and would do anything he could to help our team win. He was a quiet leader who led by example andd always represented this organization and himself with class.dddddddddddd" Hejduks career was a decorated one. The three-time All-Star won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001 and two Olympic medals (gold in 1998 and bronze in 2006). In 2002-03, Hejduk won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for finishing the season as the NHLs top goal-scorer with 50. He eclipsed the 30-goal plateau five times and scored at least 20 goals in 11 times. Last season saw Hejduks worst offensive output, scoring only four times in 29 games of the lockout-shortened year, finding himself a healthy scratch at times. The Avalanche did not offer Hejduk a contract following last season, although, Hejduk did express desire to play on. He finishes his career with 375 goals and 470 assists in 1020 games played, the second-most in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. He holds the franchise record for most overtime goals with nine. Hejduk is the third-highest scoring Czech player in NHL history behind Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias. 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