ng centre had been a spectator since late in the third quarter,

TORONTO - As Amir Johnson took a seat, having just picked up his sixth foul towards the end of Thursdays first overtime period, Patrick Patterson fouling out minutes earlier, Dwane Casey and his coaching staff mulled over their next move. Cheap Lazio Jerseys . Huddling up, Casey consulted with his assistants for over 30 seconds before looking to the far side of his bench and reluctantly calling for Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors starting centre had been a spectator since late in the third quarter, amounting to roughly an hour of real time spent on the bench since he was last on the floor. As his coach feared, Valanciunas was more than a little rusty, playing 25 seconds in the first OT frame and the bulk of the second until Casey opted to go with Tyler Hansbrough to close the game in the third and final period of extra time. "It really wasnt fair to Jonas," Casey said in hindsight, following his teams marathon 134-129 loss to Washington. "It wasnt his fault." Upon reentering, Toronto immediately ran a pick-and-roll for Valanciunas, however the pass from Greivis Vasquez - who was trapped on the right elbow - was mistimed and ultimately deflected before it reached Valanciunas in the middle of the key, the turnover charged to Vasquez. A few minutes later, Valanciunas received the ball on the left block and with the clock winding down he flipped up a quick shot that was swatted by Marcin Gortat, his first of two field goal attempts in the period, both blocked by Gortat. With just over one minute remaining in double OT, the game tied at 116, Valanciunas negated a Vasquez runner, needlessly tipping in the shot that was already on its way down, above the cylinder. The look of frustration on the sophomores face said it all. This was not his night. The Raptors were outscored by 14 points in the 29 minutes that Valanciunas was on the floor. "I feel really sad," Valanciunas lamented, with his head down after the game. "I feel really bad right now. I could do a much better job than what I did." Valanciunas lost more than his rhythm, sitting as long as he did in the second half of Thursdays ball game. His confidence appeared to be at an all-time low. The second-year centre has had a rough couple of weeks, averaging 7.1 points and 7.6 rebounds, shooting 45 per cent in 24 minutes per in his last eight games. Over the previous eight contests, he put up averages of 15.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, shot 58 per cent from the field and logged just over 29 minutes a night. Perhaps fatigue has played a factor - he eclipsed his minute total from his rookie season last week - but the most noticeable variation in his approach hinders on an immeasurable concept that he has downplayed in the past. Swagger. Valanciunas is a different animal when he plays with that edge, anger and fire, when he gets outside of his head, stops over-thinking the game and just plays basketball. Too often you can almost see his thought process on the court, his movements are robotic as he aims to avoid disaster, fearful of making a mistake that will draw the ire of his head coach. However, hes at his best when he plays freely and Casey knows it. "The key is patience, not getting down on yourself, have fun," Casey said after morning shoot-around on Thursday. "I mean youre playing basketball. Theres no pressure on JV to produce. The pressure is on DeMar (DeRozan) and Kyle (Lowry) and Amir, the older guys." Given the unreasonably high preseason expectations its easy to overlook the fact that Valanciunas is still only 21-year-old, playing in his first full season after missing a sizeable chunk of his rookie campaign due to injury. Hes had an eventful year, participating in Summer League for the Raptors and competing with Lithuania in the FIBA qualifying tournament during the offseason. Hes still learning the NBA game, getting fully accustomed to his surroundings and most importantly finding his way as a player. None of that is lost of Casey, who refuses to put the cart before the horse when it comes to the development of his young centre. "I told him to stay with it," Casey said after Valanciunas logged just 17 minutes in Tuesdays win over Cleveland. "Right now hes pressing so much. [I] just told him to relax [and] play basketball." On account of their unexpected success this season the Raptors ultimate objective has been altered slightly. Although theyre now looking ahead to the playoffs and hoping to make some noise come April, their primary goal has not changed. Casey is still focused on developing his young players, namely Valanciunas and fellow sophomore Terrence Ross. "The hardest thing to do is to develop and win at the same time," Casey said. "Luckily weve got some wins and these guys are developing at the same time. Its the hardest thing to do because a lot of times theyre in there when they really dont deserve to, not as much lately but in the first part of the year." However, Casey wont coddle either sophomore with unconditional playing time. Valanciunas, like Ross, has had the opportunity to play and learn through his mistakes but the criteria for remaining on the floor long enough to do so has been made clear since the get go. "Offensively right now, hes not making his post moves, but thats going to come," Casey said. "Get some sweat shots, get some tip-ins, go to the offensive boards, screen. Do some of the sweat jobs and that will help him get his rhythm in the post." The process is gradual and, as Casey reminds us, its not going to happen overnight. Valanciunas possesses the ability, the desire and the work ethic to be a top tier NBA centre but its not going to happen in the middle of his second season. It takes time and no one in the Raptors organization will rush him. For now, Valanciunas is a matchup play. His minutes will continue to be sporadic as Casey leans on quicker, more experienced and versatile defenders in Johnson and Patterson some nights, depending on the opponent and whichever version of Valanciunas comes to play. Through it all, he cant lose focus and most importantly he cant lose his confidence. Hes got to keep his head up - on and off the floor - continue to work and learn whether hes in the game or on the bench. The Raptors are exercising patience with their young big man but he needs to be patient with himself.cheap jerseys . The Texans sunk to a new low on Sunday with a 13-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars to extend their franchise-record skid to nine games.Cheap Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . - Eries top line of Dane Fox, Connor Brown and Connor McDavid combined for six goals and 14 points as the Otters crushed the visiting Windsor Spitfires 9-0 on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League play.DORAL, Fla. -- The new Doral in raging wind looked a lot like an old U.S. Open on Friday. Matt Kuchar played out of the rough to tap-in range for birdie on the 18th hole for a 2-over 74 that allowed him to join an exclusive group at the Cadillac Championship -- one of only four survivors to par. The Blue Monster gobbled up just about everyone else. Dustin Johnson bogeyed three of his last six holes for a 74. Patrick Reed made only two birdies in his round of 75. Hunter Mahan atoned for a triple bogey with a 4-iron into 5 feet for eagle on the eighth hole, giving him a 74. They joined Kuchar atop the leaderboard at 1-under 143. "I felt stressed all day, because I knew every shot had big penalty written all over it," Mahan said. "It was a really tough day. There wasnt an easy shot out there. One of those rounds where it could go south pretty fast, so youve got to grind it out and find a way to get a number up there and get to the weekend." Only three players broke par in the second round. No one shot in the 60s. The average score was a fraction under 76. "I dont think Ive played in conditions this difficult in the U.S.," Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland said after a 71 that left him one shot behind. "Its an Open Championship day. Its a real Friday afternoon at St. Andrews in 2010 before they called it. It was hard out there -- really, really hard." Rory McIlroy (74), Francesco Molinari (75) and Jamie Donaldson of Wales (70) also were one behind at even-par 144. Tiger Woods hit three balls in the water and scraped out a 73, thanks in part to a 90-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth hole. Phil Mickelson made back-to-back double bogeys, and then laid on his back along the bank of the fourth tee during a long wait. He got up, hit into the water and made another double bogey. Lefty shot 75. Both were still in the mix, only six shots behind. "Its a tough golf course as it is," Reed said. "And with how hard the wind is blowing, it made it even tougher. Almost felt like we were playing at a major today." At times, it looked even worse. Fist pumps were replaced by players stretching out their arm to take a penalty drop from the water -- 113 balls in the water, which is everywhere on the course that Gil Hanse redesigned under the direction of new owner Donald Trump. Trump described it as bold. It turned out to be brutal. And just like a U.S. Open, there were plenty of complaints. The greens were always going to be firm because the course was built in under a year. There was always going to be concern about the sharp edges of fairwayss and greens that sent balls down the bank and into the water. wholesale jerseys. Throw in gusts that topped 30 mph, and any score was possible on any hole. "The setup is horrendous," Webb Simpson said after a 78 that included a bunker shot that went onto and over the seventh green and into the water. "Even if we had a 10 mph wind, it still would have been bad. I played terrible. I want to get that out there. But when you have conditions like this, and a setup like this, so much luck comes into play." Henrik Stenson prefaced his comments by saying, "How do you say something you might regret the rest of your life?" So he didnt. Stenson, part of the Nos. 1-2-3 grouping from the world ranking, had a 76 and joined Woods at 5-over 149. Masters champion Adam Scott, the other member of that illustrious trio, had a 73 and was at 4-over 148. The group was a combined 14-over par for the tournament. Stenson was walking off the 15th green Friday morning while finishing up the rain-delayed first round. Spotting a small group of reporters, he said, "Are you having fun watching?" And then as he walked away, he smiled and said, "Because its sure as hell not any fun to be playing." Johnson managed for the longest time. Even as everyone was succumbing to par, he was at 3 under with a birdie on No. 12. But he dropped a shot on the par-3 13th. His short iron into the 15th hit the green and rolled over the back and into the water. And on the 18th, his fairway bunker shot came out too strong and over the green, and he missed a 6-foot par putt that would have given him the outright lead. The forecast is for less wind on the weekend, and surely a sigh of relief from the players. And this World Golf Championship is wide open. "Weve all got a shot at it now," Woods said. "No one is going anywhere." Woods, like so many other players, could have gone south. He was 7 over for the round after a wedge tumbled into the water on No. 3. But he made the long birdie on No. 4 and hit wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the next hole, and then managed to avoid bogeys the rest of the way. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., finished the day in a tie for 34th place. McIlroy went out in 40, but he made three birdies on the back nine. A 74 was enough to move up the leaderboard on this day. "It was a day where you obviously couldnt win the golf tournament, but you could let it get away from you, and you could rack up a few big numbers and play yourself out of contention," McIlroy said. Luke Donald did just that with an 82. So did Victor Dubuisson, who had an 81. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '