Halifax,Toronto Raptors training camp is finally here

Welcome to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Home of the Toronto Raptors training camp.

This young, new-look Raptors squad will all get on the court for the first time today at the Canada Games Centre here in Halifax.  The Raps are set for a busy four-day training camp that is capped off with an inter-squad game at the Halifax Metro Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned to the site, as our blog brothers Hoop Heads North and ourselves at Hip Hoop Junkies will be in attendance at training camp this week taking in all the sights and sounds.  We'll get an early look at some of the new faces:  point guard Kyle Lowry, the new floor general for the Raps and potentially the next leader of this team and we'll also get our first look at Jonas Valančiūnas, the prized big man from Lithuania.  There's also the returning faces: DeMar DeRozan who may be due for a breakout season and Andrea Bargnani, a potential NBA All-Star if the first part of last season was any indication.

It should be an interesting year for the Raptors.  Whether Coach Casey likes it or not, this team has a lot of high expectations coming into camp after finishing 23-43 last season.  Bryan Colangelo has done a decent job of bringing in a young crop of players that should fit in perfect with Casey's defence-first philosophy.  Now, it's just a matter of seeing if all the pieces fit together as Raps fans would like to see more W's in the win column this season.

Training camp kicks off today with two practice sessions that continue until Friday.  So stay tuned to HHJ, the Facebook page, the Twitter account as we'll keep you up-to-date on camp.

It should be an interesting week, Halifax.    

(Photo via TSN.ca)

'Like' us on Facebook!

Subscribe to RAPS TALK, our audio podcast on iTunes
If you don't have iTunes, you can subscribe here
Follow @hiphoopjunkies on Twitter