In a game that was supposed to be all about the new youngster, it was the old youngster that stole the show. Wednesday nights preseason outing in Detroit was the first NBA action for last years fifth-overall selection, Jonas Valanciunas, a player that fans have been eagerly waiting to see play, and while his debut was perfectly fine, it was DeMar DeRozan who, for the second game in a row, grabbed the attention of anyone who was watching. The edict for DeRozan coming into the season is to be aggressive and get to the free throw line. In just 27 minutes against Detroit he got himself to the line 10 times (making nine) by simply being relentless at attacking the basket off of the dribble. He put tons of pressure on Detroits perimeter defense with his assertiveness, and he kept Toronto in the game early when their defense was simply nowhere to be seen (they let Detroit shoot over 70 per cent in the first quarter of play). What was most impressive about his outing was that he had opportunities to force some semi-open jumpers, shots that he wouldnt have hesitated to take last season, but he turned them down and instead looked to go hard to the basket and draw contact. That mindset helps offset to a certain degree DeRozans lack of court vision, because if hes not going to pass at least hes getting himself to the line instead of just dribbling into a block or a turnover. The other impressive player to hit the court for Toronto was John Lucas, the diminutive backup guard that went off for 16 points, nine of which came from behind the arc. The situation facing Lucas is fascinating. He has a huge fan in head coach Dwane Casey, but he also has two standout guards playing in front of him in Kyle Lowry and Jose Calderon. Now, if Calderon is traded during the season then Lucas will slide into the backup role and minutes wont be an issue. Until that happens it will be interesting to see if Casey works his lineups to get Lucas onto the floor. The Raptors can use all of the outside shooting that they can get, and in preseason no one has been as prolific from behind the arc as Lucas. While its unlikely hell steal minutes from either Lowry or Calderon, he could perhaps snag some minutes at the off-guard spot in the right situations. Its a storyline worth keeping an eye on. Considering that the Raptors lost the game there were also imperfections that need to be sorted out, mainly the highly inconsistent defensive rotations that saw Detroit shoot 50.6 per cent on the game. It wasnt just botched close-outs on jumpers, either, as the Pistons were able to get 60 points in the paint, several as a result of missed assignments under the basket. Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson and Ed Davis all took their lumps in this area, and the club in general needs to be more mindful of the action all over the court, not just in the action happening between a man and the man hes guarding. Something else to watch out for has been the lackadaisical play of Bargnani through two games. Last year Bargnani was out to prove himself to his new coach and a skeptical fan base and he played his butt off right up until he strained his calf and disrupted his season. So far in preseason Bargnani has looked very disengaged at both ends and that can be read one of two ways: it can be a case of a veteran player easing his way into the preseason, loafing a bit through inconsequential games, or it can be a return to form for a guy that was never too interested in playing all-out for long stretches of time. Hes played 53 minutes and only grabbed five rebounds, a pathetic per-minute rate, and as was mentioned before, he has botched plenty of rotations on defense. All of this can be corrected by the time the season starts, and it wouldnt be fair to assume that it wont be, but with five games left in the preseason sched its going be a storyline that gets more attention the closer the team gets to opening night. The Raptors get another shot at Detroit on Friday, this time at the ACC, and you can expect two things after tonights outing. First is that the club will not be so sloppy at the defensive end to start the game. Casey is going to want his team to show him that they can suffocate an opponent like they are supposed to and hell probably less lenient about leaving guys in the game who arent making the right reads. The other thing you can basically bank on is more minutes for Valanciunas. He was a part of one of the clubs most positive runs at the start of the second half and gave the lineup a real pop when he was on the floor. He also defied expectations somewhat by managing to get through 13 minutes of play while only picking up one foul. He had the teams best plus/minus rating (plus-8) on the night and so long as hes pain free today and tomorrow he should probably see a small bump in minutes and an appearance with a few different lineup combinations. The Raptors play Friday and then get five days to practice before their next contest against Washington. Theyll have plenty of time to sort out some of the troubling issues that have cropped up as well as time to start locking in certain playing combinations that have worked so far (and eliminating the ones that havent). Well see how the approach to the Pistons changes between Wednesdays and Fridays game, especially since Casey will no doubt start turning the screws at the defensive end of the floor. Keenan Allen Womens Jersey .Va. -- Brendon de Jonge rode a wave of Hokie fever to a share of the second-round lead at the Greenbrier Classic. Junior Seau Chargers Jersey . - Green Bay Packers cornerback Casey Hayward, who led NFL rookies last season with a team-high six interceptions, may miss two weeks of training camp because of a hamstring injury. http://www.chargersstore.us.com/Black-19-Lance-Alworth-Womens-Jersey/ . Mathieu, who was injured throughout 2011, edged the key points with the third-seeded Wawrinka converting just two of nine break chances in the second-round match. A former top-20 player, Mathieu is ranked No. Jason Verrett Womens Jersey . Headlining the list of Rock signings is 2013 first round pick (9th overall) Ethan OConnor. The 22-year old Milton, Ontario native agreed to a one-year contract and is the highest player selected by the Rock since the team selected Garrett Billings (6th overall) and Joel Dalgarno (7th overall) in the 2009 NLL draft. Mike Scifres Youth Jersey . -- The Washington Redskins have released running back Ryan Torain, who started four games this season, but fell behind rookies Roy Helu and Evan Royster on the depth chart. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Russell Westbrook is putting to rest any doubts he has recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss the first two games of the season. Westbrook scored 27 points and added nine assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 116-100 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. Westbrooks performance against the Grizzlies followed double-doubles Tuesday night in a win over Atlanta (14 points, 11 assists) and Sunday in a victory over Indiana (26 points, 13 assists). "Im great, I feel good," said Westbrook, who was sidelined by a lateral meniscus tear to start the year. "Im taking it one day at a time and Im taking care of my body, which is most important. Im trying to get us wins." Kevin Durant, the NBAs leading scorer, added 18 points and six rebounds. Reserve guard Jeremy Lamb scored a career-high 18 points to help the Thunder to their fourth straight win and 12th in 13 games. Neither Westbrook nor Durant played in the fourth quarter, when the Thunder maintained a double-digit lead. "Russell is calming down, relaxing and just playing his game," Durant said. "He is getting confidence. We tell him when he does no one can stop him." Westbrook scored 12 points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter, including a three-point play after the Grizzlies had trimmed the Thunder lead to 13 points. The Grizzlies never got closer than 13 the rest of the way. "Russells a no-excuse player," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We could play back-to-back, we could play four in five nights, we can play every night for a month and hes going to come in and play the game that he loves to play every night. He sets the tone for us and our guys do a great job following his lead." Mike Conley had 20 points for the Grizzlies and Zach Randolph and reserve Jon Leuer scored 17 apieece.dddddddddddd Memphis ended a season-long six-game homestand with the loss. A depleted Grizzlies squad -- missing starters Marc Gasol and Tony Allen with injuries -- stayed close to the Thunder through most of the first half and trailed 40-37 after Conleys floater in the lane with 4:19 to go in the second quarter. Then the Thunder put together a 17-5 run to end the half for a 57-42 advantage at the break. During the run, Durant had two driving dunks and Westbrook added a 3-pointer and four assists. Oklahoma City opened the third quarter by extending its lead to 20 points as Westbrook scored nine points during a 13-8 start. The Thunder boosted their advantage to as many as 24 points in the second half on several occasions giving the Thunder the luxury of resting Durant and Westbrook. "The first five minutes of the third quarter were probably the most important of the game," Westbrook said. "We wanted to come out and set the tone early defensively and we did a good job of that." The Thunder were playing back-to-back games after defeating the Hawks Tuesday night in Atlanta. The Thunder, who shot 61 per cent in a win over Indiana on Sunday, shot 56 per cent against the Grizzlies. Memphis shot 42 per cent and was outrebounded, 42-33. "The Thunder is a good team," Leuer said. "This is what they do. They go on runs. We tried to limit their easy stuff, but they got a few open looks and got into a rhythm after that." NOTES: Thunder reserve centre Steven Adams sprained his right ankle in the second half and didnt return. ... Grizzlies guard Tony Allen missed his fourth straight game with a right hip contusion and reserve forward Ed Davis missed his third straight with a left ankle sprain. ... The Thunder won for the first time this season on the second night of a back-to-back. They had been 0-2 in such games. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '