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TORONTO - 12 months ago DeMar DeRozan carried the weight of an expiring contract into training camp as he prepped for his fourth NBA season with the Raptors. In many ways he was a different person with different responsibilities, different motivations. He had a lot to prove but he wasnt fully ready to prove it, not like he is now. He was still a young man. A year later, DeRozan finds himself in a similar setting - looking to end the Raptors playoff drought and reach the postseason for the first time in his professional career - but as training camp winds down and the regular season approaches, he appears to be a noticeably changed man. Now, hes a young adult. Fresh off the most eventful year of his life, the 24-year-old says he feels a lot older than his age suggests. The day after opening night will mark the one-year anniversary since DeRozan signed a $38 million extension keeping him in Toronto through the 2016-17 season. Since inking his new contact he put up career numbers playing in all 82 games last year, he participated in Team USAs minicamp this summer and more personally, he became a father. As he notes, he has grown up off the court just as much as he has on it. "I see a lot of film and a lot of pictures from my rookie year, my second year, my third year," DeRozan said in an interview with TSN.ca after a weekend practice in the Raptors gym. "You [can] just see how much Ive grown personality-wise [and] as a basketball player, especially now as a father, having a daughter and having [those] responsibilities to take care of. So its definitely [been] a major growth year." On May 12, DeRozan and his fiancee, Kiara, became first-time parents to daughter Diar; a day that forever changed his life, a day thats largely responsible for his transformation. "I cant even tell you in words, to explain it," he said, struggling to articulate how he felt in that moment. "It just put life all together for me and helped me understand the important things in life. Its definitely big, it means the world to me and theres not a word I can find to sum up the feeling." "It changes you most definitely for the better, it helps you become more of a man." Entering his fifth season, DeRozans growth has not gone unnoticed in training camp. As his coach and teammates have pointed out, that sense of responsibility and maturity has transcended his personal life and carried over on the basketball court where he seems poised to take his game to the next level. "Hes growing up," Rudy Gay has noticed of DeRozan. "Hes a father now, he has a family he has to provide for. Its the little things, not little things to him, but those little things on the outside make him seem more grown up, and he is. Hes spending more time in the gym, other than being with his kid. Hes really hungry and everybody around here sees it." "DeMar has grown," coach Dwane Casey echoed. "Hes grown as a person, as a young man, as an NBA player. Hes doing things now just instinctively where my first year, two years ago it was more teaching and talking to him about those situations where now theyre natural. So thats a sign of growth, thats a sign of maturity and he has really, really grown as a basketball player and most of all as a young man, which is great to see." Praised repeatedly throughout his time in Toronto for his unrelenting work ethic, DeRozan continued to refine his game this summer. When he wasnt changing diapers you could find him in the gym hoisting three-pointers - he would shoot until he made at least 300 per session - or perfecting an array of post moves he has displayed to perfection in the preseason. The fruits of his labour, for now, have resulted in a number of dominant moments during the exhibition season. Building off of last years improvement in the post, DeRozan has impressed with his footwork and creativity around the basket, getting to the rim and to the line with ease. He has handled the ball with confidence, passed out of double teams and shown improvement on defence. "Its beautiful because he is such a wonderful young man," Casey said of DeRozans evolution on the court. "Hes paid his dues, hes paid the price, hes put [in] his time in the gym. Hes done it himself. Every phase of the game hes worked on in the summer." To take the next step as an NBA player, DeRozan knows he has to put everything hes worked on together, staying consistent and efficient on both ends. While many professional athletes are motivated by money and the prospect of making more of it - something he already has covered, at least for the next four seasons - DeRozan is fuelled by his appetite to win and the fact that through four NBA seasons, he hasnt tasted much success. "[Making the playoffs] would completely mean everything," said DeRozan, now the longest tenured Raptors player (he and Amir Johnson are both entering their fifth year with the team). "Thats my biggest goal, just get us back there and get us back to winning and just get that joyful feeling again from the fans." Losing hasnt been easy on DeRozan, a born competitor, and hes done a lot of it since the Raptors selected him out of USC with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft. The team narrowly missed the postseason in DeRozans rookie season, going 40-42 before Chris Bosh bolted to Miami. Over the next three years Toronto had a combined record of 79-151. It hasnt been easy but its been a learning experience for DeRozan, an experience thats allowed him to play through mistakes and another contributing factor to the growth process. "When you go through rough times it helps you grow that much more and understand what you have to do to get better and help your team get better," he reflected. "Going through four tough years really helped me grow in every aspect. [Im] more of a leader, more of a man, more of an athlete." Leadership has been the biggest adjustment for DeRozan. A self-proclaimed recluse, he is reserved and mild mannered as a person but, with time, is becoming a more vocal player. "Hes still young," Gay pointed out. "I dont think people realize how young he is. You cant really expect him to know all the things there is. Hes played a lot of basketball but its a different kind of feel when youre playing winning basketball, and [its] not his fault at all, but now we have a team that can win and I think that everybody thats here that has won hes listening to and hes figuring out how to do it himself." "Everybody goes through it, Ive been through it so I can relate to him a lot," Gay continued, having also missed the playoffs in his first four seasons before reaching the postseason with Memphis in his fifth year. "Yeah, I can see hes hungry, hes talked about it a lot during the summer with me and I think we all are." DeRozan has experienced more in the last 12 months than most do in a single year. Hes come a long way since being drafted as a 19-year-old and playing his first game a couple months after his 20th birthday. Hes gone through things, both good and bad, that have forced him to mature faster than most people his age. Sometimes its easy to forget that hes only and just barely-turned 24. "Thats the thing about the NBA, you want players to dominate right now but when guys are young coming into the league its virtually [impossible]," Casey said. "I havent seen it happen yet and Ive been in [the league] now 21, 22 years. Any time a player comes in there is a growth process and you want it to happen yesterday but it takes time." "DeMar is right on schedule. Its time for him to do that, to grow and to be the player he was drafted to be. In some players the light doesnt come on and youll know that after the four-year period, or five-year period, but with him the light is on and theres someone in the house and hes ready to roll. Nows the time for him." Rod Woodson Jersey . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. Mike Wagner Jersey . Both moves were announced Tuesday. The Titans had waived Matthews on Saturday when they promoted wide receiver Michael Preston from the practice squad. http://www.officialpittsburghsteelersfootball.com/authentic-heath-miller-jersey-womens . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. Jack Butler Jersey . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. Joshua Dobbs Jersey . However, Jim Popp isnt sure how long hell be able to admire wide receiver Duron Carter.GREENSBORO, N.C. - Gracie Gold practiced making eye contact with the audience. She did so many spins it drove me nuts.What the reigning U.S. figure skating champion couldnt do for nearly all of December was jump. Shes now had 3 1/2 weeks to work on her triples to try to defend her title when nationals open Thursday.I still feel almost as if Id been training the whole time, Gold said Wednesday.Gold and Ashley Wagner were the only Americans to qualify individually for the Grand Prix Final. Gold had to pull out because of a stress fracture in her left foot, while Wagner went on to win bronze.Wagner will be seeking her third U.S. title, winning two straight before Gold broke through last year. So both know they can thrive on the national stage. This weeks competition is also a chance to show they can put together the kind of program to win a medal at the world championships. No American woman has accomplished that feat since Kimmie Meissner won gold and Sasha Cohen took bronze in 2006.Before last years U.S. Championships, Wagner, now 23, figured the 2014 Games would be her last chance for an Olympic medal. In Sochi, she decided shed progressed so much in six months with coach Rafael Arutyunyan that she wanted to see what they could achieve together in four more years.A win this week to open the cycle before the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Wagner said, would mean starting in the right direction to the Olympic podium.Wagner was seventh in Sochi. Her solid performances were redemption for last years nationals, where she fell twice in her free skate to finish a distant fourth, earning one of the three Olympic spots based on her previous successes.Polina Edmunds was ninth in Sochi at age 15, competing in her first international competition at the senior level.Gold, now 19, was fourth, though well out of the bronze position. She thinks she initially dislocated a bone in her foot during off-ice training this fall — an injury thats common among runners but not figure skaters — which led to the stress fracture. So Gold isnt allowed to run right now, but she can cleanly land a triple luttz-triple toe loop combination.ddddddddddddGold has needed to limit the number of triple toes she attempts in practice, but otherwise shes been pleasantly surprised at how quickly her jumps came back.Now shell try to land them in competition starting with Thursdays short program at the Greensboro Coliseum, best known for hosting college basketball during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The pairs short program is earlier Thursday, with the competition wide open after two-time defending champs Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir split in the spring.In ice dancing, which opens Friday, Olympic gold medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White are taking a break, leaving Madison Chock and Evan Bates as the favourites.The mens short program follows later Friday. Jeremy Abbott won his fourth U.S. title a year ago at what was supposed to be his last nationals before retirement. Then he rethought those plans, still seeking to match his success at U.S. Championships at a major international event. The 29-year-old Abbotts father, who suffered from Parkinsons disease, died earlier this month.Jason Brown joined Abbott as the two American men on the 2014 Olympic team. Brown, who turned 20 last month, still isnt ready to add a quad, which is all but a prerequisite to win major international medals. For the first time, Brown doesnt come into nationals as an underdog.His frenetic Riverdance long program that went viral after last years U.S. Championships has been replaced by a more sombre piece, a chance to challenge himself in a new way.Max Aaron, the 2013 U.S. champ, is back, while big-jumping 15-year-old Nathan Chen will be competing at his first senior nationals.They could all be chasing Brown, who can find a positive spin for practically anything, including the pressure of his sudden status as the favourite.Dont come in and think I have to be any different than I was the year before, he said of the advice hes received. Just being myself through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, being that genuine same person that I am no matter what success I have. 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