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TORONTO — Do you think the Toronto Raptors wish head coach Sam Mitchell sounded a little more enthusiastic about going to Europe for training camp?
In a telephone conference call this week, Mitchell made it clear that if it were up to him, the NBA team would be training somewhere in Southern Ontario, as has been the norm in recent years.
Going to Treviso, Rome and Madrid as part of the NBA's 2007 Europe Live campaign doesn't hold quite the allure for him as it might for others.
"We as basketball coaches don't like change and we don't like situations that you can't control," Mitchell said in a transcript of a conference call with European media posted on globesports.com.
Raptors guard Jose Calderon is thrilled that his team will be opening training camp in Europe later this month. (Getty Images)
"And right now, going with your team going to another country for training camp with an eight-hour flight, in unfamiliar circumstances, doing things totally different, you're going to have to adapt. …
"But I think it's logical to say that every time you jump on a plane for an eight, nine-hour flight and any other requirements that we're going to have as a team or players, it's going to be tiring."
Well, not so tiring, at least according to a clarification of sorts put out by the Raptors' communications department yesterday.
"We have all heard talk of postcamp concerns facing teams that participate in training camp overseas," the Raptors said. "[We] wanted to take a moment to communicate some of the things we have done in an attempt to aid our players with any rest and recovery needs from our trip.
"Here are four key points: 1. When we return, we do not have another preseason game scheduled for five days.
"2. We only scheduled seven preseason games this season as opposed to eight in past years.
"3. We scheduled our four remaining preseason games at home. We have no out of town travel.
"4. Our first regular-season game isn't until Oct. 31, and we have five days between our final preseason game and the season opener."
Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said the lighter travel and playing schedule the team will face when it comes back from Europe was designed intentionally.
"Everything was really intended to create a chance for guys to acclimate when they get there [to Europe] and acclimate when they get back," he said Thursday.
Point guard Jose Calderon said he's excited about the opportunity for his teammates to train in Italy and spend some time in Madrid.
"I'm waiting for that day, for the Raptors to come to my country, it's going to be great," said Calderon, who was on a conference call from Spain Thursday. "It will be exciting with me [and Raptors teammate and fellow Spaniard Jorge Garbojosa] here. We'll bring the team together to go to Spanish restaurants and same for Andrea [Bargnani] in Italy.
"It's going to be a great experience with the team," he said. "Sometimes, it's a little easier to play together when you know each other as a person and not just a basketball player."
The Raptors will open their training camp in Treviso on Sept. 29 and play the Boston Celtics in their first exhibition game on Oct. 6 in Rome. They will play again in Rome on Oct. 7 against Lottomatica Virtus Roma before heading to Madrid in preparation for playing Real Madrid on Oct. 11.
The Raptors' first exhibition game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto will be on Oct. 17 against Zalgiris Kaunas, a Lithuanian-based club.
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