Not only was Bruno Caboclo a relative unknown to many NBA insiders, but according to Dwane Casey, the 18-year-old Brazilian was a player only a handful of teams knew anything about. The Raptors head coach joined TSN 1050 to shed some light on the teams surprise selection and defend the criticism of the pick by ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla who described Caboclo as being a player that was “two years away from being two years away.” “Which is totally untrue.” Casey said of the criticism. “He is a basketball player. He has NBA skills, but hes just raw. “This is a young man thats going to go through our program, develop and if this young man hits, weve got something special.” Admitting Masai Ujiri was initially set on taking Toronto-native Tyler Ennis, before Phoenix nabbed him two picks prior, Casey commented that the GM felt like his team couldnt wait on taking the teenager with their second round pick because they felt like the Jazz and Suns, who had the 23rd and 27th selections respectively, would have scooped him up. “Originally we wanted to take Tyler Ennis and that was going to be our first pick at 20,” Casey said. “We had heard rumours that either Utah or Phoenix down behind us was going to take Bruno, so thats just when we moved him up and took him at 20.” To scout the Brazilian, Casey headed down to Houston for a pre-draft workout with Ujiri, who went out of his way to keep the visit under the radar, not revealing to his coach which player he was set to scout until he got off the plane. Casey, along with Ujiri came away impressed with what they saw, with the head coach saying Caboclo reminded him of another teenager who came to the league straight out of high school and who would later develop into an all-star forward: Rashard Lewis. “Hes got the athletic talent, the wingspan – hes got the same wingspan as Javhale McGee – hes athletic, has defensive ability, defensive instincts, he can shoot the three ball.” Casey: Caboclo raw, but could be special NCAA Jerseys China .com) - The Miami Heat will try to close out the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first round series. Wholesale College Basketball Jerseys . LA (SportsNetwork. http://www.jerseyscheapncaa.com/ . "It was a little weird looking over and seeing all the green uniforms," he said of his first game against the Boston Celtics. Discount College Jerseys . Mako Vunipola was promoted from the reserves, with Matt Mullan called up to the bench on Thursday. "It is important that Joe is with his partner at this exciting time," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. College Jerseys Outlet . They know how difficult it is to beat the San Antonio Spurs. George scored 28 points and Indiana defeated San Antonio 111-100 on Saturday night, snapping an 11-game skid against the Spurs.PITTSBURGH – Sergio Santos arrived at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon and met with manager John Gibbons, who delivered the news everyone was expecting he would. "Were moving Sergio out of that role," said Gibbons of the closers spot, less than 24 hours after Santos blew his second save of the road trip and third of the season. Until Casey Janssen returns, Gibbons will go with closer-by-committee. "It could be Loup," said Gibbons. "It could be Cecil. Over the next few days it could be any of those guys." The change is necessary and while fans arent about to take pity on a multi-million dollar athlete, Santos struggles are a reminder of the human element of sports. There he was on Friday night, having blown a two-run, ninth inning lead, hunched over at his locker, his head in his hands for what seemed like an eternity. Santos then stood up and addressed the media. Later, once the ballpark lights had dimmed and he was back in his hotel room, Santos sifted through the litany of text messages he gets after each appearance, good or bad. His wife had written him and so had his parents. One of Santos brothers, Gabe, chimed in. He got messages of support from aunts and uncles, too. Like the goal crease in hockey, the pitching mound can be a lonely island when things arent going well. Out on the road, its easy to get lost in your thoughts. "You go to the hotel and that night, the night of the game, its usually the hardest, you know what I mean, that whole night," said Santos. "I mean, you close your eyes and you cant help but think about it. You think about a million different scenarios, what you could have done different." The sun, as they say, always comes up the next day. "The second you wake up the very next day youre presented with, basically, a choice," said Santos. "You couldd either feel sorry for yourself and say poor me or you could use the next day as an opportunity to know that what happened last night is not who I am.dddddddddddd." Santos turned to an old teammate and friend for advice. He often plays the online game Words with Friends with Darren Oliver and on Friday night, Santos sent Oliver a message. He wanted to talk. Oliver invited Santos to call on Saturday morning. "He said, Ive been through this a million times. I was in the game for so long. You go through stretches where theyre rough and theyre ugly," said Santos. "He says, its up to you to put a stop to it. They can go on for the whole season or you can nip it in the bud, get that confidence back and go out and pitch." Santos need only look at his numbers for a stark reminder of how bad things have been. Hes taken two losses, has blown three saves and has posted an ERA of 10.61 with a WHIP of 2.250. He insists he wont dwell. "For me, my edge has always been my confidence," said Santos. "Even in the midst of the biggest adversity, confidence, I think, is the one thing thats such a useful tool. So to even lose that, and dont get me wrong doubt creeps into your mind all the time, you get there, youre going, "Crap, is it going to happen all over again today? Whats going to happen? But its so important to just push those thoughts out of your mind." Santos is powerless over his role in the bullpen. He cant disagree with Gibbons decision and he wont. All he can do is wait until Gibbons calls his name again. "My whole thing is to help this team win in any way I can," said Santos. "Whether right now thats me throwing in the seventh, eighth, okay so be it because I know when Im going good I can help this team win. More importantly, for this team to win, Ive got to get right." ' ' '