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TORONTO - Sitting in the home of assistant coach Bill Bayno one February evening, Jonas Valanciunas fretted over the slump that had befallen him. Sony Michel Jersey . "Im not scoring," the young centre griped, as he and his most devoted mentor watched film, hoping to get to the bottom of the recent on-court funk that was beginning to wear on his confidence. JV, youre 21-years-old," Bayno responded. "Theres no centres in the league your age that are even playing much less averaging 10 points a game. Youve had great games [but] when you have a two-point game, going up against a really good, tough [centre], you cant get upset about it." His message, the teams message, has never wavered. "Youve got to do the other things to help us win." With that in mind Bayno put pen to paper, drawing up a list of attainable goals for Valanciunas, a cheat sheet consisting of basic fundamentals that can now be found taped to the right side of his locker. Outwork, outrun, sprint[Set] great, legal screensStep to [your] manBlock out And it goes on like that. "He got really down on himself when he went through that tough stretch," Bayno explained. "So we just really sat down and talked and [I] said, look, its no secret, JV, these are the things youve got to do." "Youre going to have some ups and downs," he told the second-year pro, "but Im going to write it in your locker, so every day before the game you see, this is what you have to do on a nightly basis." "Everything thats on that sheet is what we work on." Its a simplistic tool but one that the Raptors first-year assistant feels strongly about, one that has yielded proven results throughout his coaching career. Admired for his innovative player development techniques and his passion for molding young talent, Bayno first adopted this method of teaching on one of his regular trips to Africa, about a decade ago. There he met Michael Scholl. The two would become good friends and Bayno eventually hired Scholl as his assistant at Loyola Marymount University in 2008. Scholl - who spent eight years in Africa running an AIDS prevention campaign and implementing youth basketball leagues - introduced Bayno to an old Harvard study, something he used himself to motivate the children he taught there. The study correlated the success of students with writing down their goals and displaying them in their dorms. Bayno, like Scholl before him, applied that principle to basketball. "Having those goals, having them written out where they see them every day I think is huge and its been proven," said Bayno, who is also planning on employing that strategy with the Raptors other sophomore, Terrence Ross. "The vets dont need it. The vets will laugh at you if you try to do it. They really dont need it anyway. I could say to Chuck (Hayes), remember five games ago, you had that kick out situation, you missed a kick out. Hell say, yep, and hell know exactly the play. But the young kids need it." Bayno has spent more one-on-one time with Valanciunas than anyone on the staff this season. Whether hes sparring with JV in the post - wearing his trademark forearm pads to simulate in-game physicality - throwing out-of-reach passes to him in practice or hosting him at his house for an extra film session, Baynos fingerprints are all over the sophomores continued development. "He works with me a lot actually," Valanciunas said of Bayno. "Hes helped me a lot, especially on the post-up moves. Now I feel much more comfortable going against those guys, like big centres. What were working on every day is helping." Bayno, like head coach Dwane Casey and the rest of the Raptors staff, has worked to manage Valanciunas own expectations and lesson the external pressure that he faces as an emerging star in the league. Theyre not overly concerned with his scoring totals or the number of touches he gets in the post. He shouldnt be either. They know his value, at least this season, cant be measured using a box score. Instead they hope to lay down a foundation for the future. His role is to do the things he can control, to master the basic fundamentals of the game that will ensure his longevity in the league. The "little things" as Bayno calls them. "Were a good team because hes accepted his role and hes done all the little things," said Bayno, formally an assistant in Portland and with the Timberwolves. "I really believe hes going to be a good scorer in this league." "Im not expecting a lot of point production every night out of him," echoed Casey. "If he gives it to us, its great but I dont want to put that kind of pressure on him. Hes growing, hes a second-year guy. Im not going to expect him to get 23 points, 24 points every night. If he does, its gravy. If he runs the floor, rebounds, plays defence, for this team, this year, thats great. I promise you, his offence is going to come. We all want it to hurry up and get here yesterday but Im more concerned about him picking up the speed of the game, the rebounding, defending the low post, defending his position and reacting in the half-court game. His career is going to be long enough. Hes going to be a scorer in this league two or three years from now." A month ago at this time Valanciunas was pressing. The touches were not there every night, his scoring numbers dipped, as did his playing time. More often than not Casey would opt for a smaller, more experienced lineup late in games. Valanciunas was frustrated. Then the card went up in his locker. He sees it nearly each day, before and after every home game. Currently, hes playing some of the best basketball of his young career. Whether his improved play is related or a happy coincidence, he has been carrying out the very tasks Casey and company have been emphasizing. In Sundays win over Atlanta, Valanciunas recorded his team-leading 19th double-double of the season after totaling eight as a rookie a year ago. He played 33 minutes, attempting just four shots while matching a career-high with nine made free throws. His impact on the game was understated, yet significant. His point production has gone up but, as Casey points out, hes not necessarily seeing more touches. Instead hes working for them. Hes running the floor, hes rebounding, hes getting to the line and as a result hes playing more and closing out games. He understands how his bread is buttered, at least for the time being. "Im not a scoring machine," Valanciunas acknowledged. "Im a worker. My job is to get a rebound, to set a screen to make DeMar (DeRozan) open, or Kyle (Lowry) open, or [Ross] open, whoever is playing on the perimeter. My job is to box out [and] go for offensive rebounds. Thats my job." In less than four weeks, Valanciunas will make his first playoff appearance. Although hes peaking at the right time of season, the internal expectations havent changed. Outwork your man, set hard screens, box out, run the floor, do the little things. Hes heard them every day since arriving in training camp five months ago. Hes practiced them. Only now, handwritten in bright, unmistakable lettering, they stare him in the face. James Develin Jersey . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments. Brandon Bolden Jersey . "I was so nervous," Hadley said Sunday after winning the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour victory. "I did not eat well last night. http://www.officialnewenglandpatriotsfootball.com/authentic-trent-brown-jersey-womens . According to a report from the Hamilton Spectator, Infrastructure Ontario has informed the City of Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats the stadium may not be ready by the June 30 deadline.SEATTLE -- The guitar riffs ripped from the hotel ballroom where owner Paul Allens band was performing and filled the lobby. Down on the lower level, Hall of Famer Walter Jones posed for pictures with exuberant fans. This celebration in the wee hours of Monday morning was what Pete Carroll envisioned when he arrived in Seattle in January 2010 and was finally given the full say over an NFL franchise in the hopes of replicating at the professional level what he was able to accomplish in college. Celebrating was standard practice when Carroll was at USC. But the party that followed Sundays 43-8 blowout of Denver that gave Seattle its first NFL title topped all those previous celebrations. It may just be the beginning for the Seahawks. "This is exactly what we envisioned from day one. We were going to be right here and win this football game -- and it just happened to be in New York. which makes it even more special -- in the fashion that we were able," Carroll said. "We deserved it and we earned it because this is exactly what weve been preparing for, and we expected it. That may sound cocky. That may sound arrogant. But its a mentality you cant get in one week." Seattles coronation was the culmination of an overhaul that Carroll and general manager John Schneider embarked upon when they took control of the Seahawks. Nearly 1,000 roster moves later, they could finally take the ultimate satisfaction in what they had created: the envy of the NFL. The Seahawks are mean and talented on defence. They have one of the most dynamic young players in the game in quarterback Russell Wilson. And the surrounding cast complements him well. There is very little indication this will be a one-year flash. "One of the things that happens every so often is teams have a big fallout after they win the Super Bowl," Carroll said. "Were not in that situation." Seattles title will be remembered for a dominating defence that will be regarded among the best in league history. Richard Shermans play at cornerback -- and sometimes his mouth -- drew the attention but that defence was far more than Sherman and his "Legion of Boom" teammates in the secondary. Linebacker Bobby Wagner was even better in his second season, while Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith was called upon to play different positions throughout the season. The signings of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett on the defensive line, and the re-signing of Clinton McDonnald after Week 1, gave the Seahawks the deepest defensive line rotation in the league, all with plenty of energy to chase Colin Kaepernick in the NFC title game and harass Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl. Matthew Slater Jersey. Offensively, the Seahawks were without their top two wide receivers for most of the season between Percy Harvins preseason hip surgery and Sidney Rices midseason knee injury. But Harvin showed just why the Seahawks made the investment with his 87-yard kickoff return touchdown that was essentially the final blow in the Super Bowl. Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin believed they were disrespected all season and were intent on proving critics wrong. For the most part, they did, while Jermaine Kearse continued to play the role of another undrafted gem discovered by Schneider. The offensive line missed both starting tackles -- Breno Giacomini and Russell Okung -- for more than half the regular season due to injuries but managed. And Marshawn Lynch continued to go "Beast Mode" at just the right times. Seattle should be able to keep its core together but there will be difficult decisions to make. There are key free agents, including Baldwin and Tate. There are also potential salary cap decisions to be made with players like Rice, Zach Miller, Chris Clemons, Brandon Mebane and Red Bryant. Then there are the two looming extensions that could get done this off-season -- Earl Thomas and Sherman. Both players can be extended before the start of next season, but the likelihood is that Seattle tries to get a deal done with Thomas first and then see if an extension will work for Sherman. So far, Sherman has been the ultimate bargain for Seattle, scheduled to make less than $700,000 in base salary next season. Thomas and Sherman are entering the final year of their rookie contracts in 2014 and with both now two-time All-Pro selections, each is likely due a hefty raise. If Seattle can get both extensions done, it would allow them to focus on Wilson during the 2014-15 off-season when his rookie deal can be redone. "We are looking two to three years ahead so last year we knew we were going to have some things coming and how to handle certain players and to know just where we are headed," Schneider said recently. "We put different models together. Matt Thomas does a phenomenal job with it. Figure out the best way to navigate it. They are really good problems to have." 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