SALT LAKE CITY - Sporting a Seahawks cap during afternoon shootaround, coach Dwane Casey reinforced a sentiment hes preached ove

SALT LAKE CITY - Sporting a Seahawks cap during afternoon shootaround, coach Dwane Casey reinforced a sentiment hes preached over and over again since coming to Toronto. Leander Dendoncker Jersey . "Relentless defence wins in any sport," he said after watching the hard-hitting, opportunistic Seahawks stymie the Broncos and their high-octane offence. Casey didnt have to say much as he and his team watched Seattles dominant Super Bowl victory from their Salt Lake City hotel Sunday night. The message had already been engrained into the mindset of his players and stuck with them in Utah the following evening. "We cant control if our shots go in, we cant make every shot but we can control when we play hard on the defensive end," DeMar DeRozan said after holding Utah to 41 per cent shooting in a 94-79 win over the Jazz Monday. "Were understanding that more and more every game." Again, the Raptors got off to a slow start on the defensive end, something that plagued them in Portland Saturday as their comeback bid eventually fell short. The Jazz shot 50 per cent and scored 27 points, closing out the opening quarter with a three-point lead before Toronto tightened the screws in the second frame. Utah scored just 17 points in the second quarter, shooting 35 per cent from the field, 0-of-7 from three-point range and was held without a single assist. The Jazz didnt score more than 18 points in any quarter after the first. "Thats an issue with our team," Casey said before the game. "For whatever reason we turn up the intensity after halftime. I dont know if they like hearing me go ballistic at halftime." "Its one of our unfortunate traits, I would say, but again well take [the win]." The Raptors resiliency was tested again as Kyle Lowry - fresh off being named Eastern Conference Player of the Month - left for the locker room late in the third quarter to get treatment on a sore right knee. Lowry has been the teams most consistent contributor but seemed off his game, shooting 1-for-8 in 25 minutes before he was ruled out for the fourth quarter. The good news is the injury doesnt appear to be a serious one. Lowry has been battling soreness in the knee for about a week, playing through it and playing well, but on Monday he couldnt get it loose. "I couldnt help my team as much as I wanted to," said Lowry, who expects to play in Sacramento on Wednesday. "I trust my teammates would get the job done and thats what they did tonight." Torontos depth and team chemistry came through with Lowry on the sideline. Greivis Vasquez, who returned from a bout of the flu, stepped in at the point and scored 12 off the bench. Amir Johnson - playing on a sore right ankle - looked better, recording a double-double. Jonas Valanciunas had one of his better games in a tough matchup against Enes Kanter and John Salmons chipped in with 13 off the bench. As it has been when one Raptor struggles or gets hurt, the next man steps up. "Thats what it is, I think were playing for each other," Vasquez said. "I want Kyle to get healthy, I want the best for each and every one of us so thats important, man. When you have a team that has such a great atmosphere in the locker room, that care about each other, its going to be scary." Most importantly, it was the defensive effort that carried them to their sixth win over the last eight games. Casey preaches it every day and his troops have all bought in. Theyve seen how far it can take them. "The good thing about it is our players were talking about it last night watching the [Super Bowl]," said the Raptors coach. "Our guys were talking about how [the Seahawks] were hitting people and thats what Ive been preaching and am preaching, hit first." "Basketball-wise, its a little bit different but you can be aggressive for 48 minutes, take away options, take away passing lanes, bump cutters, box out [and] hit people coming for rebounds." Casey, an assistant with the Sonics for 11 years, resides in Seattle during the offseason and was invited to visit the Seahawks training camp a couple summers ago, where he - along with Blazers coach and good friend Terry Stotts - got the opportunity to watch Pete Carroll at work. The takeaway for Casey was to fully embrace and stay true to his philosophy as a head coach. "[Carroll is] a guy thats comfortable in his skin and Im at that point in my career too," he said. "In his first couple of tries he tried to do it the way the organization wanted to do it and he was trying to please everybody. I think you have to coach to your personality and to the personality of your team and thats what he conveyed to [Stotts] and I when we met with him" That philosophy - defence first, second and third - has been hammered home since day one and the results are beginning to reflect it. Entering Mondays games the Raptors ranked sixth in defensive efficiency, just behind the leagues heavy hitters (Indiana, Chicago, Golden State, Oklahoma City and San Antonio). On Monday they surrendered just 79 points, matching the second lowest total theyve given up all year. "I dont care who is playing, when you play the Utah Jazz, its a brand of basketball thats very difficult," Casey said. "Youre going to have to grind it out, youre going to have to earn every inch, every yard in this place and we did tonight." "The rest of the way, before the [All-Star] break, were going to have to grind it out mentally and physically," he continued. "Thats how its going to be because people are going to come out throwing haymakers at us and weve got to be physically and mentally prepared for it." On the season, theyre now 22-6 when holding teams under 100 points. Theyre 20-4 when opponents shoot below 45 per cent. Vincent Kompany Jersey . The Union looked to have grabbed a big win in the 88th minute when Amobi Okugo finally put the hosts in front. But a terrible giveaway by Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi handed Earnshaw the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, keeping the Union two points back of fifth-place Red Bull New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Custom Belgium Jerseys . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Romelu-Lukaku-Belgium-Jersey/ .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings take aim at an eighth straight victory on Monday night as they wrap up a road trip versus the Calgary Flames.NEW YORK -- Two championships and eight successful seasons in Boston brought Terry Francona exactly zero first-place votes in Manager of the Year balloting. It took him one year with the surprising Cleveland Indians to bag the prize. Francona and Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates won the Manager of the Year awards Tuesday after guiding their small-budget teams to charming turnarounds. In a close vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America panel, Francona edged old friend John Farrell of the World Series champion Red Sox 112 points to 96 for the American League honour. "I have a feeling he wouldnt trade what they did for this any day of the week," Francona said on a conference call from Tucson, Ariz. Hurdle was a runaway winner in the NL, selected first on 25 of 30 ballots after taking the Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992. "It is so rewarding for me to see whats happened, the synergy in the city," Hurdle said in Pittsburgh. "To be a small part of a group thats able to bring joy at so many different levels -- thats whats rewarding to me in life." It was the first Manager of the Year award for Francona even though -- in an interesting twist -- he steered the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. During his initial season with the Indians, he directed them to a 24-win improvement and a late surge that produced their first playoff berth in six years. Cleveland lost the AL wild-card game to Tampa Bay, but voting is conducted before the post-season. Francona said he called Farrell, a longtime colleague and his former pitching coach in Boston, on Tuesday morning because he thought it was funny they were up against each other as finalists. If they heard such news years ago, Francona said, "both of us would have laughed each other out of the room." Hurdle also was quick with a self-deprecating joke after he won. "Theres guys laughing all over the place," he said in an interview on MLB Network. "The players know so many times this season wed have a big series, getting together just trying to break the ice Id tell them, Hey, look guys, youve got to step it up, play big this week because Im going to get outmanaged. I can tell you one thing thats going to happen: Ill get outmanaged. So really step it up. And they did. They believed me every series." Just like Francona, the 56-year-old Hurdle won Manager of the Year for the first time. His highest finish had been third in 2007, when he led Colorado to the World Series. Don Mattingly of the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers came in second and Fredi Gonzalez of the NL East champion Atlanta Braves was third. "Im grateful," Hurdle said. Nacer Chadli Belgium Jersey. "But its kind of weird." The only other Pittsburgh manager to win was Jim Leyland in 1990 and 1992, the bookends to three consecutive division titles for the Pirates. After that, they endured a record 20 straight losing seasons -- the longest drought in any of the four major professional sports -- before going 94-68 this year to capture an NL wild card. Riding a wave of excitement from a rejuvenated fan base in a city finally enthralled by baseball again, Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati in the wild-card game before losing to league champion St. Louis in a division series that went the full five games. "I know were scratching the surface of something thats dynamic," said Hurdle, who has managed the Pirates for three seasons. Hurdle was chosen second on the other five ballots and was the only manager picked on every one. He had 140 points in the 5-3-1 scoring system to 68 for Mattingly, who received two first-place votes. Gonzalez got three firsts and 43 points. Mike Matheny of the Cardinals was the only other skipper to appear on an NL ballot. He was tabbed second by four voters and third by seven. The 54-year-old Francona garnered 16 first-place votes to 12 for Farrell, who lifted the Red Sox from last place to first in the AL East in his debut season as their manager. Boston won 97 games, tied for most in the majors, one year after going 69-93 under Bobby Valentine. Bob Melvin, last years winner, received the other two first-place votes and came in third after his low-payroll Oakland Athletics won their second consecutive AL West crown. Francona never received a first-place vote during eight seasons as manager of the Red Sox. He had never finished higher than fourth for this award in 12 years as a big league skipper, including his stint with Philadelphia. After a messy split from the Red Sox following their 2011 collapse, Francona spent a year in broadcasting that he said helped him become more patient and less stubborn. This season with the Indians was among his most fun in baseball, he said, and he loves the people he works for because when challenges arise "we tackle them together." "Boston is, youre not really supposed to ever lose a game, and thats difficult to do," Francona said, adding the job there is "to manage all the noise thats around the team so the guys can play." "You cant have all that passion and not have some of the headaches that come with it," he explained. "Its a little different in Cleveland because its more just baseball, which I enjoy." Cy Young Award winners will be announced Wednesday evening, and MVPs on Thursday. 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