TORONTO - Part of DeMar DeRozans summer improvement project involved writing out the ABCs for his daughter Diar a€” with his left hand.It was a chance to both spend some quality time with his 16-month-old, and to strengthen his weaker hand. All summer long, the Toronto Raptors all-star used his left hand to do things like eat, tie his shoes and carry his bags, all in an effort to become a more versatile player.When I was kid, I would be frustrated, I would always ask my dad why I couldnt do certain things with my left hand that I can do with my right. Just a curious kid. Ever since I was young I always tried to get as comfortable doing stuff with my left hand, DeRozan said Tuesday. So just reverting back to that, to when I was a kid, getting more comfortable. In a game, we naturally want to finish with our right hand, because thats our dominant hand, but just being comfortable doing it with our left hand, if you happen to need it.The 25-year-old wrote out the alphabet virtually every day during the summer, he said. It looked like my daughters writing, he said, prompting laughter from the couple dozen journalists at training camp.On whose writing is more legible: Were neck and neck right now.More laughter.DeRozan cracking jokes in front of the cameras says plenty about the once-shy Raptors guard who has evolved into a strong and vocal leader in his five seasons in Toronto. Before the Raptors took the Air Canada Centre for their opening day of camp Tuesday, coach Dwane Casey gave DeRozan the floor.DeRozan told his teammates Hey, lets have a good practice, this is where we start creating defensive habits, it starts now, not next week or after the first game, it starts today, Casey recounted. So that was huge too.I knew it was going to happen, I just didnt know when, because he was such a quiet kid, Casey said of DeRozans evolution. DeMar is a young man, hes a father, a proud father, family man, and a lot of that just goes right into maturity. We all want to rush it, especially in sports, but it something that just takes time.DeRozan took two big steps toward being a more mature player last season, said Casey a€” first, when Rudy Gay was traded to Sacramento last December, and then when he was named an all-star.I just thought last year after the trade, he just took off after that. He made huge strides and said Hey look, Im putting this team on my back, and were going with it.It kind of shifted over. . . Rudy was the guy so-to-speak and it just shifted over back to DeMar and to Kyle (Lowry) and I thought that gave him a voice in the locker-room.DeRozan is coming off a breakout season, leading the Raptors to their first post-season appearance in six years and then helping the United States to gold at the FIBA World Cup.For all he has accomplished, he still feels disrespected in some circles. Sports Illustrated put DeRozan 61st in the league in their pre-season rankings, lowest out of all the returning all-star players. He took to Twitter and wrote Real disrespectful! #ProveEm Those slights might as well be motivational slogans for DeRozan. Thats fine with me. I like having a chip on my shoulder. It just gives me another reason to work hard whatever it may be, it gives me another reason. I feel like theyre doing me a favour, honestly, he said.I dont let anything go over my head at all, Ill use every negative thing, not just about myself but my team, as motivation. You need to. Im never going to get comfortable with the accomplishments Ive made.DeRozans left-handed project was just latest in his neverending quest to improve.His experience with the American team at the World Cup was another chance to learn. It took him out of his comfort zone, he said, which he relished.Raptors GM Masai Ujiri met with DeRozan upon his return.I asked him what he had learned from his experience there, and to show you how hes matured as a person, he said he respects players that come off of the bench more just because thata€?s what he did there, said Ujiri. He treats them great anyway. But he said he has more respect and hed treat them with more respect because of what they have to do night in, night out when they are called upon. I thought that was great maturity on his part.Casey echoed Ujiris thoughts.I think thats going to be very important for him, to have empathy for his teammates. . . he already does. Hes one of the best teammates that guys could have, as a leader and as a star. Theres not a selfish bone in his body as far as not respecting guys at the end of the bench.The Raptors travelled to Vancouver on Tuesday and will continue camp in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday. Theyll host the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in their pre-season opener in Vancouver.NOTES: The Raptors had Brent Gleeson, a Navy Seal, speak to the Raptors on Monday night. He talked about his experience of being a navy seal and how teamwork has to be part of, in his business, living, Casey said. In our situation, its not as dire, not as serious, but a lot of things that he said, we can connect with as a team, togetherness, talking about trust, talking about communication, talking about togetherness. All those points hit home. Wendell Carter Jr. Jersey . Here are some of the best from Week One and some to watch in Week Two: TOP PERFORMERS Anthony Allen, RB, Saskatchewan (176 YDS, 2 TD, 30 touches vs. Hamilton) - Powerfully-built back burst onto the scene in his CFL debut, after a couple of years in the NFL, playing 21 games with the Baltimore Ravens. Zach LaVine Jersey . -- Brendan Leipsic had two goals and an assist and Nicolas Petan extended his point streak to 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks slipped past the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.bullsofficialsshop.com/kids-chandler-hutchison-bulls-jersey/. Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better. Cameron Payne Jersey . Ryan Getzlaf certainly got them started in the second. Getzlaf scored the first two goals in the second, and Teemu Selanne scored the go-ahead goal late in the period as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night. Michael Jordan Jersey . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. LOS ANGELES -- Everything went right for Madison Bumgarner. He pitched well, the Giants provided him more than enough offence and they played strong defence behind him. The bullpen pitched in, too. Bumgarner struck out 10 while working into the seventh inning and San Francisco beat Los Angeles 7-2 Saturday as Yasiel Puig returned to the starting lineup for the Dodgers. The Giants got home runs from Michael Morse, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey. "Weve always had a good defensive team, and were starting to swing the bats now," Bumgarner said. "So were a pretty well-rounded team. Today the bullpen came in and did a great job, and the offence was unbelievable again. Its nice to have that kind of support. It makes it easier to go after guys and challenge them." Puig returned to the Dodgers starting lineup, playing right field and batting leadoff a day after he was benched by manager Don Mattingly for arriving late for stretching and batting practice before Fridays home opener. Puig went 1 for 4 and was picked off first in the third inning for the final out with cleanup-hitter Adrian Gonzalez at the plate. Bumgarner (1-0) was charged with two runs and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings in his second outing. "I was throwing a little bit of everything," the left-hander said. "It seemed like they had a lot of baserunners today, but I felt like I made good pitches all day. The command was there and my stuff was pretty good." Bumgarner has a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.65, which is better than that of All-Star teammates Tim Lincecum (2.77) and Matt Cain (2.48). Last season, he came within one strikeout of becoming only the second Giants lefty since Ray Sadecki in 1968 to finish a season with 200 or more. "You dont want to give guys free passes at any time. You have to make them earn it of you can," Bumgarner said. "But at the same time, you dont want to just give in and just throw a meatball up there. Youve got to make pitches and work on command and get ahead of guys." Bumgarner is 4-1 with a 1.53 ERA in his last five starts at Chavez Ravine. "He was commanding both sides of the plate and locating," Gonzalez said. "Hes just like anybody else.dddddddddddd If he can command down and away, down and in, up and away and up and in, and crisscross the strike zone, it makes it tough." Puig came up in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out after Giants skipper Bruce Bochy replaced Bumgarner with Santiago Casilla. Puigs flyball to right field was too shallow to score Scott Van Slyke, but pinch-hitter Andre Ethier followed with an RBI single. A.J. Ellis tried to score behind Van Slyke and was thrown out by Hunter Pence for the third out. Mattingly came out to discuss the call with umpire Joe West and used his one challenge for a video replay ruling, which upheld the original call. "I had to make a pretty good throw and Buster had to make a great tag," Pence said. Paul Maholm (0-1) gave up five runs and seven hits through 4 1-3 innings in his first start for the Dodgers. "Maholms got a lot of different pitches that he throws it in a lot of different ways, and he located really well. So its always tough," Pence said. "You just battle, make him get the ball over the plate and be aggressive." Morse, playing for his fourth team in a span of three seasons, gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead when he drove Maholms first pitch of the fourth deep into the pavilion seats in left-centre for his first homer with the Giants. Sandoval, the Giants slimmed-down third baseman and 2012 World Series MVP, parked Maholms 80th and final pitch over the left field fence in the fifth for with two on for his first home run of 2014. Posey then greeted rookie Jose Dominguez with a drive into the lower seats in the left field corner. NOTES: Maholm had allowed only three homers in 62 innings during his 10 previous career starts against the Giants, all of them solo shots. ... Maholms official Dodgers debut was March 23 against the Diamondbacks in Australia, when he pitched in relief for only second time in 244 big league appearances to that point. ... Angel Pagan worked out an eight-pitch walk to open the game and was erased on a double-play grounder by Pence, who was robbed of a hit up the middle by shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Maholm has induced a major league-high 185 ground-ball DPs since the start of the 2006 season. 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