TORONTO - It just wouldnt feel like the start of a new Raptors season without a little bit of expectation tempering. Mike Reilly Jersey . Dwane Casey got the ball rolling on the eve of the opener. It started with a question. Reporter: When you take a unit and it hasnt changed that much, and last year no one gave you a chance and this year theyre saying youre going to get 50 wins… Casey: Whos they? Whos they? I want to know who THEY are. Reporter: Just people. Critics. Hows that? How do you take that same nucleus, and all of sudden it was nothing and now it is something, is it just the shear expectations of how you ended? Casey: Well the one thing we have to do as a team is we cant listen to the noise, because that same they are going to be on us if we lose a couple games. So I dont pay attention to that. Yes, the Raptors are coming off their winningest campaign in the franchises soon-to-be 20-year history. Theyve had nearly six long months to reflect on it and the league - and its pundits - have had time to react. The basketball universe has taken notice and suddenly Toronto is back on the map. Sports betting site Bodog.ca has set the over/under for Torontos regular season win total at 48.5. Should they exceed that mark it would be a new franchise best. Twenty-six of 28 ESPN prognosticators have them defending their Atlantic Division title, and yes, some believe they could be a 50-win team, a plateau they have never reached. But success in the NBA, like professional sports in general, can be fickle and Casey - head coach of last years most improved club, with over three decades of experience in basketball - knows that as well as anybody and as a result hes continued to pump the breaks, preaching patience. We havent done anything, he continued. Were still in the building process, growing. Along with that we have expectations, so its a double whammy. Im pushing us to grow and everybody around us is saying, hey you gotta win, youre supposed to win. Im reminding the guys that reality is were still a young team. Internally those expectations are consumed differently. Their locker room is filled with optimistic and ambitious personalities but Casey has worked to manage their enthusiasm while igniting their competitive spirit. Balancing confidence and humility has been his focus this fall. Now we know that were a good team and we know what we can do, said Amir Johnson, who - along with DeMar DeRozan - is the teams longest tenured player, entering his sixth year in Toronto. Theres a lot of stuff we can definitely clean up, and were working everyday, but we know that were good and we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it on the court. What would make this a successful season for the club? In my eyes, Patrick Patterson said, winning more games than what we did last year and going further in the playoffs. A reasonable answer and pretty straightforward method of evaluating growth, only Casey knows its not always that clear-cut. Theres a great possibility we could win less games than we did last year and be a better team, said the Raptors coach. Thats a distinct possibility and if that happens so be it. So Im not going on wins and losses or what we did last year. Im more concerned about our development and getting better. To no surprise, neither Casey nor DeRozan were especially interested in playing the how many wins are you targeting game. Nah, I think once you look at it like that youll get caught up in it, said the Raptors All-Star guard. And once adversity hits you might panic because its not going as planned. Thats why weve got to take it day-by-day. However, repeating as division champs is one specific expectation that no one is shying away from. I think defending our division [makes] a successful season, Casey admitted. The Raptors appear to be in an ideal spot to do so, as the Atlantic continues to underwhelm entering the new year. Philadelphia and Boston are still entrenched in the rebuilding phase, New York is in transition learning a new system under a new regime and Brooklyn is another year older and, presumably, slower. With most of the East in flux, there will be pressure to hit the ground running. Doubling down on last years success, the Raptors roster features 10 returning faces. Couple that with a forgiving early-season schedule - nine of their first 12 games at home - and they could have an opportunity to set the bar in their conference. Assuming they take advantage of it. Theres always pressure, Casey acknowledged. I felt pressure back when we won 23 games, even when we were developing and growing. So theres always pressure. Pressure to win, pressure to perform, pressure to produce. So thats always there. The pressure for me is the pressure to continue to grow, at the same time trying to produce. Their biggest test and most accurate barometer of team growth will come in April and May. A 50-win season would be nice - theyve gone without one longer than any current NBA franchise - but their first ever seven-game playoff series victory should top their list of goals for this coming campaign. We dont [know what to expect], Casey said. Nobody does. Thats why I say, when they say 50 games, they dont know. Whoever they are. You dont know who we are until we throw it up for real. Well find out who we really are over the next couple weeks. Patrick Roy Jersey . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. Tomas Tatar Jersey . Ryu (8-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings and struck out six in his 13th start. In his first 13 starts last season -- his first in the major leagues -- the left-hander was 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. This was the ninth time this year that Ryu has allowed fewer than three earned runs, and he is 7-0 in those games. http://www.authenticcanadienspro.com/Paul-byron-canadiens-jersey/ . - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore.Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist in Nashvilles 5-1 win over Arizona Thursday. Fisher, who missed nearly the first two months of the season due to an Achilles injury, netted his first goal of the campaign that ended a long power-play drought for the Predators. Pekka Rinne made 28 saves in Nashvilles second straight win. James Neal also tallied a goal and an assist, while Shea Weber and Filip Forsberg each had a pair of assists. Ryan Ellis, Olli Jokinen and Calle Jarnkrok all tallied goals for the Preds. Mike Smith allowed five goals on 38 shots in the Coyotes fourth straight loss. Antoine Vermette scored the lone Arizona goal. Two minutes after Vermette gave Arizona a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal, the Predators got a chance with the man advantage themselves. After going scoreless on their previous 28 attempts, the power play finally came through when Fisher redirected a Weber shot by Smith to tie the game. Seconds after its second power playy expired, Nashville went ahead 2-1. Mats Naslund Jersey. Smith allowed a huge rebound off a shot by Fisher, then Neal knocked the puck by Smith to give the Predators the lead. With 1:30 remaining in the first period, the Predators extended their lead when Neal puck-handled around three Arizona defenders through the neutral zone and made a cross-ice pass to Ellis crashing the net at the opposite post. Ellis was able to tap the puck in for the 3-1 lead. After a scoreless second period, Arizona returned to the ice putting pressure on Nashville. The Predators called timeout and not even 20 seconds later, Jarnkrok poked the puck by Smith in a scramble in front to extend Nashvilles lead to 4-1. Jokinen added a goal five minutes later to account for the final margin. Game Notes Arizona is 0-12-0 when trailing after two periods ... The Predators were 1- of-5 on the power play, and the Coyotes were 1-of-3 ... Nashvilles Roman Josi played in his 200th NHL game. 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