Raps look to camp in Spain
Gold-medal duo in town early
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
Bryan Colangelo can't sign every European to an NBA contract, so it looks as if he is going to do the next best thing -- take the Raptors to Europe.
The Raptors general manager said last night there is a good chance the club will play exhibition games in Europe in the fall of 2007 and hold a training camp there, as well.
A Spanish newspaper reported this week the Raps have agreed to play an exhibition game against the Spanish elite team Unicaja in Malaga next October.
And while Colangelo said no firm deal has yet been made, he certainly is open to such a trip. Colangelo was instrumental in organizing the Phoenix Suns' trip to Europe this fall, when he was president and GM of that franchise. The Suns will play a game in Rome on Oct. 6, followed by games in Cologne, Germany, on Oct. 10 and 11.
Colangelo has extensive contacts with European basketball and has turned the Raptors into one of the most multicultural teams in the NBA, with five Europeans on the roster, including 2006 No.1 overall draft pick Andrea Bargnani.
Colangelo believes European trips are an excellent bonding tool for teams, while adding that competition overseas has become tough.
"You get a wakeup call pretty quickly when you're playing a scrappy international team that would like nothing better than to beat an NBA club," Colangelo said last night. "We're extremely interested (in Europe) if the deal and the travel arrangements make sense for us."
Colangelo said the team may even play exhibition games in Slovenia, from which Raptors Rasho Nesterovic and Uros Slokar hail, and Tel Aviv, where free-agent signee Anthony Parker made a name for himself.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball...38579-sun.html
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