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TORONTO -- With their run to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals last spring, Raptors guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry received a detailed education in playoff basketball. En route to gold at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Torontos All-Star teammates got what coach Dwane Casey considers the best graduate course they could take.Now, as a new season approaches, DeRozan and Lowry hope theyll get a shot to finish at the top of the NBA heap and earn that coveted class ring.Me personally, I think its time, Lowry said as Toronto opened training camp Monday. I want a ring, I want to win a championship.Five years after going 22-60, the Raptors won a franchise-record 56 games last season and captured their third straight Atlantic Division title. They advanced in the playoffs for the first time since 2001 with a Game 7 victory over Indiana, then pushed past Miami in another Game 7 to reach the conference finals, winning Games 3 and 4 at home to even things up with eventual champion Cleveland.It taught us a lot about our basketball abilities, Lowry said of the deepest postseason run in Raptors history. It taught us the mental capacity we have to have, the physical strength and the body maintenance we have to have. It taught us a whole lot and it definitely prepared us for the upcoming season. Rio actually helped us even more. I know (DeMar) feels really good about his game and the level hes playing at, and I feel good about the level Im playing at.Its never being satisfied with `OK, we did this. Whats next? Weve got to find it. Weve got to figure out whats next and get to that next level.Besides his gold medal, DeRozan earned further riches with the five-year, $139 million deal he signed to stay in Toronto without testing the free-agent market. But all summer long, armed with his new understanding of the playoff blueprint, DeRozan burned to get back to work in Toronto.As crazy as it sounds, even during the Olympics as we were playing and practicing, at the same time I was working toward this season, understanding what I need to do to get better, DeRozan said. Working on my body, working on everything that needs to be done for me to be able to withstand another long season and get back to the point we were at. It was great having my teammate there at the same time and being able to talk about what we need to do to be better.Casey, who received a three-year, $18 million extension this offseason, continues to be impressed with the maturation of his two main stars.Theyre growing up, Casey said. Theyre men now. I can just see the confidence over the past few years, not just last year, of them establishing themselves as two of the top players in the league, establishing this team. No longer do they have to go out and prove that theyre two of the top players.Both Lowry and DeRozan struggled offensively at times during the playoffs, but each battled through tough stretches to provide key performances later on. Their will to win impressed forward Jared Sullinger when the Raptors came calling in free agency.These guys didnt care about stats, said Sullinger, who left Boston for a one-year deal with Toronto. What they cared about was winning and they found a way to win every freaking night. Thats what separates them from a lot of the teams that went out and tried to get me.Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who signed off on Torontos summer spending, considered it necessary after watching several conference rivals swap stars and restock rosters.The East got better, Ujiri said. People talk about the West and talk about the West. Well, the East is creeping up now. We recognize that its going to be harder. Astros Jerseys China Cheap Astros Jerseys .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/ .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Wholesale Custom Astros Shirts . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Custom Astros Jersey China . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation.LONDON -- When Any Murray dropped the first two sets of his Wimbledon quarterfinal Wednesday, the 15,000 Centre Court spectators were reduced to a silence so complete that birds could be heard chirping. By the time his five-set comeback was nearly complete, more than two hours later, the fans were greeting each point that went Murrays way with celebrations of the sort normally reserved for a championship. Its been 77 years since a British man won the countrys Grand Slam tennis tournament, and thanks to the second-seeded Murrays 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over 54th-ranked Fernando Verdasco, the locals still can hold out hope the wait will end Sunday. Murray will play in the semifinals at the All England Club for the fifth consecutive year Friday, facing No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. The other semifinal is No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia against No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. There is no doubt who will be the recipient of the most boisterous support. "Great atmosphere at the end of the match. ... I love it when its like that. It was extremely noisy," said Murray, who lost last years Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. "They were right into it, pretty much every single point." Murray needed to summon some strong tennis, and plenty of grit, for his seventh career victory. He never panicked -- no matter what all of his self-admonishing muttering and gesticulating looked like -- and eventually figured out how to handle Verdascos powerful serves and high-risk, high-reward style. "When you play more and more matches, and gain more experience, you understand how to turn matches around and how to change the momentum of games," Murray said. "Maybe when I was younger, I could have lost that match. But Ive learnt how to come back from tough situations more as I got older." Hes only 26, but he truly has matured as a player over the past 12 months. After shedding tears following the 2012 Wimbledon final, Murray returned to the same spot four weeks later and beat Federer to win a gold medal at the London Olympics. Then, at the U.S. Open in September, he defeated Djokovic to win his first Grand Slam title. Wednesdays other quarterfinals lasted a mere three sets each and the most compelling segments came at the very beginning of 2009 U.S. Open champion del Potros 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5) win against No. 4 David Ferrer, and the very end of Janowiczs 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 130th-ranked Lukasz Kubot in the first Grand Slam match between two men from Poland. Janowicz, 22, reached his first major semifinal -- the first for a man from his country -- by pounding down 30 aces, and saving all six break points he faced. When it finished, Kubot walked around the net to Janowiczs side of the court and the pair of Davis Cup teammates embraced and exchanged shirts. Janowicz sat in his sideline chair, covered his face and sobbed. "Its not easy to control all of the feelings inside my body," he said. "I was never in (a major) quarterfinal before. I never had a chance to be in (the) semifinal of a Grand Slam. I never played against Lukasz before." Janowicz gave a succinct answer when asked for his thoughts about the semifinal between Djokovic vs. del Potro: "I dont care." On the fifth point del Potro played Wednesday, his left foot slid out from under him as he sprinted to reach a ball. Del Potros heavily wrapped left knee, which he hyperextended on a face-first tumble in the third round, slackened, then bent backward. "Really painful," del Potro said. "I was scared.&qquot; He fell to the turf and rolled over twice, then stayed down until a trainer came out to check on him and dispense anti-inflammatory medicine.dddddddddddd "Magic pills," del Potro called them. After a 10-minute break, he resumed playing -- and playing quite well. He hasnt lost a set en route to his first Wimbledon semifinal. Djokovic also has won all 15 sets hes played, including in a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 7 Tomas Berdych to reach a 13th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, the second-longest streak in mens tennis history behind Roger Federers 23. Djokovic entered Wednesday with a 13-2 lead in their head-to-head series, but one loss came at Wimbledon in 2010, when Berdych was the runner-up, and the other came in their most recent meeting, at Rome in May. The first set was tight, and Berdych led 5-4 in the tiebreaker before faltering. He sent a return long, badly missed what should have been a routine backhand, then pushed a forehand wide for another error. That gave Djokovic the opening set, but Berdych responded strongly, breaking twice to lead 3-0 in the second. Not surprisingly, Djokovic awoke again, taking seven of the next eight games. "I dont know how I managed to turn the second set around," said six-time major champion Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in 2011. "I managed to step in and just tried to be a little bit more aggressive. That brought me a victory." Hes 8-3 against del Potro. The last time they met, though, in March at Indian Wells, Djokovic lost. And the last time they played at the All England Club, in the bronze-medal match at the Olympics, Djokovic lost, too. "Hes very tall, so he uses that serve as a powerful weapon. And of course (the) forehand, that is his signature shot," Djokovic said. "You know, its semifinals, so everything is open, on the table." The early eliminations of Federer and Rafael Nadal from the tournament opened up the draw for Murray, who has as good a chance as anyone to claim a trophy no British man has earned since Fred Perry in 1936. That certainly seemed in peril when Verdasco grabbed a two-set lead. "The second set," Murray said, "was a bad set of tennis for me." But he broke to go ahead 2-0 in the third, which he wrapped up rather easily. "Gave him a lot of confidence," Verdasco said. Trailing 3-2 in the fourth, Murray faced two break points. Said Verdasco: "The match wouldnt have been over, but I would have been real close." Murray erased one break point with a service winner, the other with an ace. Then he broke in the very next game, during which Verdasco complained to the chair umpire about too much noise during the course of play -- the "oohs" and "aahs," the yelps of excitement, the groans of disappointment. Quickly, Murray took the fourth set, too. In the fifth, Verdasco led 4-3 when Murray fell behind love-30 while serving. Again, Murray came through, taking the next four points to make it 4-4. "They gave him strength," Verdasco said. "How much, you dont know. But having the crowds support can help." At 5-5, a 21-stroke exchange closed with Verdasco dropping a backhand into the net to give Murray a break point, the last he would need. Murray came up with one of several superb returns, and Verdasco missed a forehand. That made it 6-5, and Murray served out the match to love. "Verdasco played very well," said Murrays coach, eight-time major champion Ivan Lendl. "Andy did what he had to do to win." ' ' '