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TORONTO - With just over two minutes remaining in the first half of Mondays win over the lowly Bucks, Kyle Lowry dumped the ball into Jonas Valanciunas on the left block. Isolated against Ersan Ilyasova, Valanciunas turned to face up, took one dribble and barreled into the smaller defender, who took the charge. As Milwaukee called a timeout, Lowry followed the Raptors promising sophomore centre straight to the bench. “Know your opponent,” he implored, instructing Valanciunas to post-up when he has a size and strength advantage over the defender. The Raptors were up by 14 at the time, they would go on to win by 22 and Valanciunas would register his 12th double-double of the campaign, four more than he totalled as a rookie last season. Still, Lowry was all over the gaffe. The two have developed a mutually beneficial mentor-protégé relationship. "Hes kind of like a coach," Valanciunas said of Lowry after practice the day prior. He knows a lot, he tries to help everybody, especially me because Im the young guy." Lowry has been as tough on the young centre as anyone in the Raptors organization and as such his fingerprints can be found all over the 21-year-olds continued development. "Hes been great," coach Dwane Casey told TSN.ca, speaking of Lowry and the leadership role hes taken with Valanciunas. "He has a way of getting on him but yet still he has a relationship with him that he can talk to him that way. "Other people may not understand it but Kyles done a great job of working with Jonas, letting him know what he needs to do. [Hes] just been a great mentor to him. Thats been huge for Jonas." Both players are approaching the middle of their second season together in Toronto. Lowry was acquired in a trade from Houston in July of 2012, just around the same time Valanciunas - Torontos fifth overall pick in 2011 - had arrived from Lithuania. After missing the bulk of training camp with injuries last season, both of their Raptor careers got off to shaky starts. While Lowry struggled through injuries, fluctuating playing time and philosophical differences with the coaching staff, Valanciunas experienced the growing pains you would expect from a 20-year-old getting accustomed to his surroundings in a new country, in a new league. Valanciunas has seen his playing time increase by five minutes per night in his second season; hes regularly on the court during crucial moments at the end of games and he is becoming more of a focal point in Torontos offence. However, as both his coach and his point guard would tell you, hes far from a finished product. He continues to make nightly mistakes - with his positioning, in the pick-and-roll game, and on defence, particularly as the help man - and Lowry is usually the first person to let him hear about it. "Every time he messes up we talk about it," Lowry said. "I tell him what he did and then he fixes it and I congratulate him when he does it [right]. "I think he has the skills and he has the heart and he has the right mentality to be one of the best bigs in the league," the Raptors point guard continued. "My constructive criticism is just tough, big brother love. I think the world of him, I think he can be so good [and] thats why I push him. Im always going to be tough on him because I know how good hes going to be." Lowry, an eight-year NBA vet, is also coming into his own, playing the best basketball of his career and spearheading the Raptors recent resurgence. "Thats just coming from buying in if you ask me," former Raptors teammate Alan Anderson said of Lowry. Most importantly - for a player that will be in the market for a new contract this summer - he is well on his way to shedding the reputation that has followed him like a dark cloud over the years. "Kyles showed hes been a positive leader," Casey said over the weekend. "I think that was the biggest question among coaches around the league, could he be a positive leader and be productive on the court." Not only has he been productive, averaging career-highs across the board, but hes been the consummate professional his team has desperately needed him to be while remaining a positive influence on his younger teammates, namely Valanciunas. Occasionally combative, Lowrys fiery nature has often been misunderstood. The reality - which his teammates and coaches have come to accept and appreciate - is, he holds himself and everyone around him to an incredibly high standard. He is a fierce competitor with an unrelenting will to win. Lowry is a strong personality, certainly not the first Casey has coached. The Raptors coach worked with future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett in Minnesota and current Nets bench boss Jason Kidd in Dallas, but Lowrys leadership style reminds him of another hard-nosed point guard from his past. "The guards that Ive had, Gary Payton was one of the [toughest]," Casey said, having coached ‘The Glove as an assistant in Seattle. "He would use some colourful words to talk with his teammates but they understood it, he had a relationship with [them], just like Kyle. Kyle reminds me so much of Gary in the fact that he can talk to players in a certain way that they understand because he has their respect and he has a relationship with them. "As long as you have that relationship and you back it up with love and real sugar than you can get on guys but I havent seen Kyle be overly tough on JV, just when he needs it and just the right amount." As Casey points out, Lowry walks a fine line between tough love and going too far, but he does it with precision. Hes hard on Valanciunas because he recognizes the young mans upside but also, and most importantly, he knows the seven-footer can take it. "Hes really receptive," Lowry said, "because I tell him, I tell him why Im so tough on him and he understands that. "He knows how to do it," said Valanciunas, who has thick skin, having played professionally in Europe since he was 15. "I understand hes my teammates, he wants me to do good and [Ive] just got to live with that." Whether or not Valanciunas realizes or fully appreciates it now, Lowry should have a long-lasting impact on his auspicious NBA career. As for Lowry, his future with the team remains uncertain but wherever he ends up, after cashing in on this seasons revival, his Raptors legacy will live on in the growth of the franchises emerging centre. J.J. Watt Jersey . James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said. Keke Coutee Jersey . Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton and TEAM 1410 on Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt. http://www.officialhoustontexansfootball...n-jersey-womens. Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Benardrick McKinney Jersey . Golden States second straight road win wasnt painless. David Lee scored a season-high 29 points -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and Nate Robinson added 17 points, leading the Warriors to a 105-95 win Tuesday night over the road-worn Cleveland Cavaliers. Zach Cunningham Jersey . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna.P.K. Subbans Norris Trophy-winning talent and style of play often make him a highly-visible figure on the ice. But recently, hes also become a highly-visible figure on the Montreal Canadiens bench. Subbans lack of ice-time – particularly in late game scenarios – has become something of a trend over the Habs most recent stretch. In the Canadiens 3-2 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, he watched the final four-plus minutes of regulation time from the bench and didnt come out until the start of overtime. He was also fourth in ice time among Montreals blue liners, trailing Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges and Raphael Diaz. "I will not comment on the ice time of any player," head coach Michel Therrien said Wednesday morning when questioned about Subbans minutes. Therrien did, however, add that Subban played "a hell of a game for us...exactly what we needed from him." TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie found the timing of the most recent focus on Subbans ice time to be interesting. "Its a real interesting dynamic at a real interesting time that all this is happening probably a week or two before P.K.s representatives are going to start contract negotiations with the Canadiens," McKenzie told TSN Radio 690 Montreal on Wednesday morning. Subban is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed with the Canadiens during the 2012-13 NHL season. That deal, signed after Subban missed the first four games of the truncated 48-game season, was worth a total of $5.75 million, with $2 million going to Subban in the shortened season and $3.75 million coming his way this year. So with a couple of years before Subban is eligible to test unrestricted free agency, it could be argued that the two-year bridge deal that he signed last season may now play in his favour. "There are some people who think that a lot of wwhats going on now might be contract-related and that the Montreal Canadiens want to be able to say to P.dddddddddddd.K: "Look, we dont trust you defensively. Youve still got so much growing to do before you can justifiably ask for $7 million per year like Drew Doughty," McKenzie said. But as McKenzie pointed out, a two-year deal could now be what Subban seeks, especially should he elect to go to arbitration where his offensive numbers and Norris Trophy would likely net him a handsome dollar figure on a one- or two-year term, getting him one step closer to the open market. McKenzie also noted that there are mitigating factors beyond Subbans perceived defensive responsibility or lack thereof in the case of Tuesday nights loss. "If you look at it, yes, he didnt play in the last four minutes," McKenzie told TSN Radio 690. "But he had a 1:54 power play shift right at the 14-15 minute mark. Think about that for a moment. He just played a minute and 54 seconds on a power play. So, hes not coming out on the next shift, no matter what. "What were talking about here is – and Im not saying that theres not an issue – but in last night specifically, he probably missed one shift of five-on-five hockey in the last minute of that hockey game." That said, how do you think this saga will end? The Canadiens arent even a quarter of the way into the 2013-14 season, so plenty of time remains for the situation to play out. Will the Habs continue to limit Subbans ice time late in close games, or will they let the defender grow and accept that the game may swing for the better or worse with him on the ice? And will Subbans upcoming contract negotiations lead to a short-term deal that sees him hit the open market earlier or that big multi-year contract that keeps him in Montreal for the long term? As always, its Your! Call. 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