e. Though hes no Peyton
e. Though hes no Peyton
WASHINGTON - Even the most well-crafted and sensible play can be changed at the line of scrimmage. Though hes no Peyton Manning, Masai Ujiri recognizes the value in allowing circumstance to dictate his next move. Like everyone else, the Raptors first-year general manager has been pleasantly surprised by how well his team has performed in the aftermath of the Rudy Gay trade and as a result, the rebuild has been put on hold for as long as they continue to win, maybe permanently. "These guys, theres a good spirit about them," Ujiri gushed moments before his team made quick work of the Wizards, 101-88 Friday evening, winning their fifth in a row. "They like playing with each other, they play hard, they give it their all on the court and in the NBA that goes a long way." "So well keep it going and this is credit to the players and the coaches." When Gay was shipped to Sacramento - along with his $17.8 salary and $19.3 player option for next season - nearly a month ago, Ujiri was admittedly looking ahead to the future. "Long-term, I would think," he responded when pressed about the expected payoff of the deal the day it was made official. The move was executed with roster flexibility in mind. Many believed it would be the first in a series of changes made with the intention of gutting a roster that started the season 6-12 and, at the time, seemed universally flawed. "Well watch this team and see where it goes from there," Ujiri said back on December 9th. "I couldnt tell you where the team is going to go from here. Sometimes you have to make change. Were trying to figure out how we can make this team better whether its now or in the future, we have to keep that in mind." Fridays win in Washington - a game that was over before the end of a 36-point third quarter - was Torontos 10th in 13 games since the trade was made on that fateful night in Los Angeles. The Raptors have recorded 20 or more assists in 10 of those games - culminating in a season-high 29 assist performance against the Wizards - a feat they accomplished in just three of 18 games to begin the campaign. "Besides the winning it just feels good, were all playing together," said DeMar DeRozan, who had five dimes to go along with a game-high 20 points against the Wizards as the Raptors moved above the .500 mark for the first time - this late in the season - since April of 2010. "I think you could tell, were just going out there and having fun, were playing with one another." Ujiri gave the Gay experiment an 18-game audition. It was an unmitigated disaster. With a little help from a historically terrible Eastern Conference, this group of holdovers - a roster pieced together to kill time and lose games before the next domino was ready to fall - has earned the right to ride this out. "The NBA is a crazy league, one day its great, the next day its tough," Ujiri acknowledged. "I think everybody is encouraged. Im really happy how everybody has taken the opportunity and everybody is growing in the organization." For Ujiri and company the goal is to win, that has not changed, but taking a few steps back to take the ultimate step forward was - at least at one point - being strongly considered and could be revisited when and if this team comes back down to earth. "Ive communicated to everybody where we stand," Ujiri insisted. "We want to be a good team, we want to be a winning team and if its not that way we have to figure out a way to rebuild the team or figure it out. So I think everybodys clear on how this thing works." At least for the moment, that rebuild does not seem necessary and Ujiri is savvy enough to know when to hold em. Not only are the Raptors turning heads with impressive victories in Dallas and Oklahoma City, or at home to Indiana, but theyre taking care of business against beatable teams, which was the case Friday against an overachieving Wizards club. "Youve got to look at it like, a woman is a woman," DeRozan said with a smirk on his face, perhaps realizing the outlandishness of his analogy after he was asked about a "less-sexy" match-up against the Wizards following morning shoot-around. Washington had won five of its last seven but that team was nowhere to be found as the Raptors ran them out of their own, unsettlingly quiet arena. Toronto was on cruise control after outscoring the Wizards by nine in the first quarter and 20 in the third. Again, Kyle Lowry was brilliant, scoring 19 and assisting on 11 buckets. The Raptors will face Miami and Indiana - the Easts two best teams - on the road next but dont seem like a team anyone would or should feel comfortable betting against. "You feel good but again, I know what a marathons all about," said Dwane Casey, the Conferences reigning Coach of the Month. "Ive been in it too many years, seen it too many times to get too excited or too low. Im going to be the same way if we lose five in a row or win five in a row, you have to be in this league because it can turn around and knock you in the butt and thats what Ive got to get these guys to do." One day at a time. Thats how Casey and his players are approaching it, despite a remarkable run that has them sitting on top of their division, bearing down on third-place Atlanta. That is also the mantra of Ujiri, the Raptors patient assassin, who has wisely altered his game plan and may do so a few more times before the season comes to a close. Wholesale Mariners Jerseys . 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Siddikur, who shot a bogey-free first round to share the lead with five others, eagled the par-5 first hole before bogeying twice and rebounding with six birdies. Cheap Seattle Mariners Jerseys . Kadri was dressed in a green jersey at Thursdays practice and skated as an extra forward on the teams fourth line as the Leafs.CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon is feeling rejuvenated as the NASCAR Sprint Cup season winds down. Gordon carried over a strong performance in Kansas last weekend to Thursday night by winning the pole for the race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon, who is fourth in the Chase standings, said its been a frustrating season but that hes feeling better with each passing race. "I feel like we knocked it out of the park tonight," Gordon said. Gordon turned a lap at 194.308 mph to edge Kevin Harvick for his ninth pole at Charlotte, tied for the second most in track history. Greg Biffle qualified third for the Saturday night race, Jimmie Johnson was fourth, and Kasey Kahne -- who held the pole for most of the night -- will start fifth on Saturday night. Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his 39th birthday by qualifying sixth for his 500th Sprint Cup start. Ryan Newman was seventh, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Gordon was upbeat after the qualifying, saying things are finally starting to mesh for the No. 24 Chevrolet team. "The thing is its really hard to maintain your confidence in what youre doing when youre struggling," Gordon said. "I felt like all year long we have been racing better than we have been qualifying, but that qualifying was a weakness for us and we needed to get better track position. Its hard not to get down when things arent going well. ... Its hard to come in here all bubbly and having fun, because honestly it wasnt fun." The 42-year-old Gordon hasnt won a race on the Sprint Cup series this year, but believes hes going to need to win one to have a legitimate shot at winning is fifth Cup championship. Gordon enters the weekend 32 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with six races left. Kenseth qualified 20th. "This will be one of our worst qualifying efforts of the year so we have a lot of work to do," Kenseth said.dddddddddddd Kahne was hoping Thursday night would give his team momentum after what has been a disappointing showing so far in the Chase. He enters the weekend in 13th place, 83 points behind Kenseth. For a while it looked like his early lap would hold up. But then a series of drivers eclipsed his time, capped finally by Gordon, who had the last car on the track. "There were a lot of good cars at the end of the session and that kept leading up to things getting faster and faster," Harvick said. Gordon called it "the most exciting qualifying pole ever." Harvick said he would have been happy starting on the outside row had he not won from the pole last week at Kansas. "Obviously we wanted to be greedy and get that again tonight," Harvick said. "But its been nice to see the speed. It seems like everybody is able to find a little more and dig deeper when it is Chase time." Kyle Larson, making his Sprint Cup debut in Phoenix Racings No. 51 Chevrolet, qualified 21st. Johnson, who has had incredible success at Charlotte, is hoping for a good finish to jump ahead of Kenseth. Johnson enters the weekend three points behind Kenseth. "Weve had some really strong runs here over the years," Johnson said. Travis Kvapil qualified 41st one day after being released from police custody on $2,000 bond. He was arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanour assault on a female and false imprisonment. "Im obviously embarrassed about the situation," Kvapil said. "I dont like the negative effects that it has brought on. So I apologize to NASCAR, my team, supporters of my team, my fans and anyone else that was impacted by Tuesday night." ' ' '