as we had hoped. We have nothing but good things and

TORONTO -- Rudy Gay launched a long lob to a soaring DeMar DeRozan, who finished with huge one-handed dunk early in the third quarter Wednesday. The Toronto Raptors dropped a 101-89 pre-season decision to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the highlight-reel connection between the two athletic Raptors was perhaps a promise of more to come for the two whove now had the benefit of some time playing together. "Its going good, I know where his sweet spots are, and vice versa," said DeRozan, who topped Toronto (1-1) with 17 points. "Were just trying to put it together, especially when we need to get a bucket, and be aggressive, and get other teams in the penalty. Thats one thing were trying to do." Gay finished with 11 points. "Were trying to get in the rhythm of the offence, being aggressive, trying to create for others, trying to get that down pat," DeRozan said. New Raptor Tyler Hansbrough had nine points and seven rebounds, while Jonas Valanciunas had nine points and five boards and Kyle Lowry had eight points to go with four assists. Kevin Love led the Timberwolves with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Nikola Pekovic had 12 points and eight boards and J.J. Barea added 12 points. Its a new season under a new general manager in Masai Ujiri, but there is stability in the Raptors starting five that didnt exist at this time last year. All five are returnees compared to a year ago when three of the starting five were newcomers. Added to that, Gay was acquired during the mid-season trade that sent Jose Calderon to Detroit, and had to learn on the job without the benefit of training camp or pre-season. Together, DeRozan and Gay can open up space for each other, and pose a huge threat to opponents defences, who have to decide whos the more important player to focus on. Apart from the alley-oop, Wednesdays game at the Air Canada Centre was typical pre-season, not a pretty performance for either team, featuring mis-timed alley-oops and sloppy turnovers. "Its pre-season," coach Dwane Casey said. "I dont think you can talk to a coach in the NBA now that is where they want to be. We are definitely not where we want to be defensively." Valanciunas said it was a "bad effort on defence tonight." "We still have time and a lot of things to fix and were going to start tomorrow," he said. The Raptors sophomore centre, who was beaten up by the leagues top centres early in his rookie campaign, had some trouble with Minnesotas centre Pekovic on Wednesday. "Hes a really good player, and its not easy to go up against him," Valanciunas said. "Its easier than last year, but I still have to fix a lot of things." The Raptors, who won their pre-season opener 97-89 over the Celtics in Boston on Monday, trailed the Timberwolves 29-22 after a sloppy first quarter. New Raptor Steve Novak drained three three-pointers in the second to help Toronto take a 59-55 lead into the dressing room at halftime. Ronny Turiaf led the TWolves with seven points in a third quarter that saw the visitors regain the lead, up 83-75 with a quarter left. Casey went with mostly newcomers down the stretch as he continues to get a feel for what they have to offer. Toronto next hosts former Raptors No. 1 draft pick Andrea Bargnani and the New York Knicks on Friday. They open the regular season at home against the Celtics on Oct. 30. Notably absent on the night was The Raptor, the teams much-beloved mascot, whos out for the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon. Casey said he called The Raptor after hearing of his injury, which required surgery. "I was disappointed, my daughter cried, she was upset," Casey said. "(The Raptor) is a good man, but hell bounce back, hes in good hands with the physicians. The Raptor will be back." The Raptors will hire a replacement for the man under the costume, whos been with the team since Day 1. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Louis Cardinals have agreed to a one-year contract. Wholesale Predators Jerseys .C. -- The Steve Smith era in Carolina is over. http://www.adidaspredatorsjerseys.com/ . Even if he is shooting 38 per cent from the field overall this season, the Utah Jazz rookie always feels like his final shot is going in. Cheap Predators Jerseys Authentic .com) - Even on the day his New Hampshire football team became the nations top-ranked team two weeks ago, coach Sean McDonnell conceded something about the team they replaced at No. Cheap Predators Jerseys China . -- The Guelph Storm are moving on to the Western Conference final after defeating the London Knights 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action.Tim Leiweke has regrets.Jermain Defoe got homesick after less than a year in North America and wanted out. Toronto FC failed to make the MLS playoffs as promised. Good people lost their jobs.That was not part of the plan for the big-thinking president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.It meant, after some heavy lifting behind the scenes in the wake of Defoe, Leiweke has had to orchestrate yet another reboot of the MLS franchise.Were trying to get it right and were not done, he told The Canadian Press on Friday after Jozy Altidore was unveiled at the Air Canada Centre. I believe in the next week or two, people will feel very very good about what our ownership has committed to here. Its pretty remarkable.Defoe, and the gymnastics Toronto had to do to get him here, are behind him. The 32-year-old striker is back in England with Sunderland.In his place is Altidore, a 25-year-old American striker looking to reclaim his glory after a bleak stint in England.Altidore is seen as major boost if for nothing else that he wants to be here — and is being paid a lot to do so.We ended up with a guy who wants to be here and a guy whos very predictable, said Leiweke, essentially summing up the Defoe issue.Toronto has more moves to make, with possibly more big news to come in the form of a Grade-A attacking midfielder. But a lesson has been learned. Any new marquee addition will be a young talent committed to the cause.Leiweke sees that in star midfielder Michael Bradley and Altidore.In a franchise devoid of consistency, Leiweke says he sees some light at the end of the tunnel.We have a chance now to build around these two guys. Theyre young, theyre committed and they want to be here, he said. And they like each other, theyre best of friends. I think were in a fortunate position.Leiweke says Altidore wouldnt be a TFC player had it not been for Bradley. The 27-year-old Bradley is also helping recruit the desired attacking midfielder.Asked whether Bradley restructured his contract to help pave the way for Altidore, Leiweke said: I would say Michael went above and beyond the call of duty here.He is a remarkable young man and I am in awe of how he handled himself these last two weeks. He is a class act.Altidore has a five-year deal worth less than the reported US$30 million, according to the MLSE boss. That number, not oonly its not correct, its not close.dddddddddddd Speaking diplomatically about his last big-ticket purchase, Leiweke said its good to get Jermain settled. Were happy for him back in the EPL (English Premier League), he said. Its what he wanted.We understood he was homesick and we dont fault him for that. I think the only thing was the dance played as to was he really happy or was he not happy and if he wasnt happy then lets figure it out.Still Leiweke is not about to throw Defoe under that double-decker bus. The English striker collected 11 goals in his first 13 MLS games and Toronto never lost a game when he scored.But injuries and a desire to be elsewhere took their toll.Look Jermain was what we thought — which is a difference-maker, said Leiweke. He was a guy that would be just a pure gifted natural goal-scorer. And he was. And Jermain, by the way, was a delightful guy to be around. ... I think the only issue was the communication.Leiweke is grateful to Defoe in that Sunderland was not his first choice. But the striker knew it was the deal that did the most for Toronto, because of Altidore.It was a good experiment. It didnt work out as well as we had hoped. We have nothing but good things and wishes for Jermain. And we move on. Defoe told a different story than his advisers apparently.It was always an awkward communication, Leiweke said. Because if you talked to Jermain, hed be like Well, Im OK either way. But if you talked to his agent and those around him, there was no doubt that somewhere in July he had a change of heart. And, as I said, I do not blame him.I think it worked out as well as it could.In fact, Leiweke is cheering Defoe on in Sunderland.The more goals, he scores, the better for us, he said.We get some upside in this deal, he added when asked what that meant. Youll see in the very near future some of the things we did as part of this deal.That explains why the Defoe-Altidore deal is being described as a swap with cash considerations. Leiweke credited MLS vice-president J. Todd Durbin for helping shepherd the deal.We had to use our allocation, he said. Other clubs had a shot at him (Altidore). Fridays news conference to introduce Altidore came the same day as the deadline for Toronto season ticket-holders to renew at the same price as last year.Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '