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Treviso, Italy -- The Toronto Raptors opened training camp here Saturday night, and if Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell was planning to send a message, it was heard.
What was expected to be an easy start to training camp to loosen up after arriving Saturday morning by way of an overnight flight on the Dallas Mavericks' Boing 757 was instead a tough, intense, practice that went a full two hours.
“A tone was set,” said Raptors president Bryan Colangelo.
Mitchell was hoping for a competitive training camp and with only three starting spots confirmed heading into the season – Chris Bosh at power forward; Anthony Parker at the two-guard spot and T.J. Ford at point – there should be plenty of battles for players looking to carve out some minutes in the rotation.
At least the players can have some respite that they normally wouldn’t as each team member was allowed to bring one guest. Some opted for their wives or girlfriends, while others simply brought friends from home.
The only news that came out of the first day of work was that Wayne Embry, the senior advisor to Raptors president Bryan Colangelo, had his contract extended for two-and-a-half seasons.
The downside for Embry? Colangelo threatened to make him pay as the coaches and head office went out to dinner Saturday night.
In addition there was a Darrick Martin sighting. It’s expected the veteran point guard will sign a one-year contract shortly.
