TORONTO - 12 months ago DeMar DeRozan carried the weight of an expiring contract into training camp as he prepped for his fourth NBA season with the Raptors. In many ways he was a different person with different responsibilities, different motivations. He had a lot to prove but he wasnt fully ready to prove it, not like he is now. He was still a young man. A year later, DeRozan finds himself in a similar setting - looking to end the Raptors playoff drought and reach the postseason for the first time in his professional career - but as training camp winds down and the regular season approaches, he appears to be a noticeably changed man. Now, hes a young adult. Fresh off the most eventful year of his life, the 24-year-old says he feels a lot older than his age suggests. The day after opening night will mark the one-year anniversary since DeRozan signed a $38 million extension keeping him in Toronto through the 2016-17 season. Since inking his new contact he put up career numbers playing in all 82 games last year, he participated in Team USAs minicamp this summer and more personally, he became a father. As he notes, he has grown up off the court just as much as he has on it. "I see a lot of film and a lot of pictures from my rookie year, my second year, my third year," DeRozan said in an interview with TSN.ca after a weekend practice in the Raptors gym. "You [can] just see how much Ive grown personality-wise [and] as a basketball player, especially now as a father, having a daughter and having [those] responsibilities to take care of. So its definitely [been] a major growth year." On May 12, DeRozan and his fiancee, Kiara, became first-time parents to daughter Diar; a day that forever changed his life, a day thats largely responsible for his transformation. "I cant even tell you in words, to explain it," he said, struggling to articulate how he felt in that moment. "It just put life all together for me and helped me understand the important things in life. Its definitely big, it means the world to me and theres not a word I can find to sum up the feeling." "It changes you most definitely for the better, it helps you become more of a man." Entering his fifth season, DeRozans growth has not gone unnoticed in training camp. As his coach and teammates have pointed out, that sense of responsibility and maturity has transcended his personal life and carried over on the basketball court where he seems poised to take his game to the next level. "Hes growing up," Rudy Gay has noticed of DeRozan. "Hes a father now, he has a family he has to provide for. Its the little things, not little things to him, but those little things on the outside make him seem more grown up, and he is. Hes spending more time in the gym, other than being with his kid. Hes really hungry and everybody around here sees it." "DeMar has grown," coach Dwane Casey echoed. "Hes grown as a person, as a young man, as an NBA player. Hes doing things now just instinctively where my first year, two years ago it was more teaching and talking to him about those situations where now theyre natural. So thats a sign of growth, thats a sign of maturity and he has really, really grown as a basketball player and most of all as a young man, which is great to see." Praised repeatedly throughout his time in Toronto for his unrelenting work ethic, DeRozan continued to refine his game this summer. When he wasnt changing diapers you could find him in the gym hoisting three-pointers - he would shoot until he made at least 300 per session - or perfecting an array of post moves he has displayed to perfection in the preseason. The fruits of his labour, for now, have resulted in a number of dominant moments during the exhibition season. Building off of last years improvement in the post, DeRozan has impressed with his footwork and creativity around the basket, getting to the rim and to the line with ease. He has handled the ball with confidence, passed out of double teams and shown improvement on defence. "Its beautiful because he is such a wonderful young man," Casey said of DeRozans evolution on the court. "Hes paid his dues, hes paid the price, hes put [in] his time in the gym. Hes done it himself. Every phase of the game hes worked on in the summer." To take the next step as an NBA player, DeRozan knows he has to put everything hes worked on together, staying consistent and efficient on both ends. While many professional athletes are motivated by money and the prospect of making more of it - something he already has covered, at least for the next four seasons - DeRozan is fuelled by his appetite to win and the fact that through four NBA seasons, he hasnt tasted much success. "[Making the playoffs] would completely mean everything," said DeRozan, now the longest tenured Raptors player (he and Amir Johnson are both entering their fifth year with the team). "Thats my biggest goal, just get us back there and get us back to winning and just get that joyful feeling again from the fans." Losing hasnt been easy on DeRozan, a born competitor, and hes done a lot of it since the Raptors selected him out of USC with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft. The team narrowly missed the postseason in DeRozans rookie season, going 40-42 before Chris Bosh bolted to Miami. Over the next three years Toronto had a combined record of 79-151. It hasnt been easy but its been a learning experience for DeRozan, an experience thats allowed him to play through mistakes and another contributing factor to the growth process. "When you go through rough times it helps you grow that much more and understand what you have to do to get better and help your team get better," he reflected. "Going through four tough years really helped me grow in every aspect. [Im] more of a leader, more of a man, more of an athlete." Leadership has been the biggest adjustment for DeRozan. A self-proclaimed recluse, he is reserved and mild mannered as a person but, with time, is becoming a more vocal player. "Hes still young," Gay pointed out. "I dont think people realize how young he is. You cant really expect him to know all the things there is. Hes played a lot of basketball but its a different kind of feel when youre playing winning basketball, and [its] not his fault at all, but now we have a team that can win and I think that everybody thats here that has won hes listening to and hes figuring out how to do it himself." "Everybody goes through it, Ive been through it so I can relate to him a lot," Gay continued, having also missed the playoffs in his first four seasons before reaching the postseason with Memphis in his fifth year. "Yeah, I can see hes hungry, hes talked about it a lot during the summer with me and I think we all are." DeRozan has experienced more in the last 12 months than most do in a single year. Hes come a long way since being drafted as a 19-year-old and playing his first game a couple months after his 20th birthday. Hes gone through things, both good and bad, that have forced him to mature faster than most people his age. Sometimes its easy to forget that hes only and just barely-turned 24. "Thats the thing about the NBA, you want players to dominate right now but when guys are young coming into the league its virtually [impossible]," Casey said. "I havent seen it happen yet and Ive been in [the league] now 21, 22 years. Any time a player comes in there is a growth process and you want it to happen yesterday but it takes time." "DeMar is right on schedule. Its time for him to do that, to grow and to be the player he was drafted to be. 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Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Jonathon Nieses final start of the season ended sooner than expected.Niese exited in the sixth inning with an elevated heart rate, a condition hes dealt with before, and the Houston Astros rallied Friday night against Mets reliever Carlos Torres for a 3-1 victory over New York.I have an idea of whats going on; its not that scary, Niese said. I know its going to go away eventually, but sometimes it just lasts longer than others.Niese said hes only experienced the rapid heart rate when pitching. He went through all sorts of tests three years ago and was cleared by doctors, so he doesnt take any special medication.After the game Friday night, he said he was still deciding whether to have more tests.Unless I got a procedure done, theres a chance that it can come back. But it really isnt worth doing anything about because it doesnt happen that regularly, he said. I think its just physical stress. ... Adrenaline ... kind of spikes it, and thats kind of one of (those) things where thats the way my heart is built.Jose Altuve, closing in on the American League batting title, hit a tying single off Torres in a three-run sixth inning. Chris Carter and Robbie Grossman doubled, and Matt Dominguez capped the outburst with an RBI single.New Yorks relay beat Altuve to the plate on Carters double to deep left-centre, but catcher Anthony Recker was charged with an error when he dropped the ball while attempting to apply a tag.The diminutive Altuve, generously listed at 5-foot-6, is trying to become the first Astros player to win a batting crown. He went 1 for 4 and finished the night at .342, six points ahead of Detroit slugger Victor Martinez.It would mean a lot to me, Altuve said. But five, six points I think is nothing for Victor in two days.Altuve said hell play Saturday and Sunday no matter what.Im going to win it outside on the field, not sitting on the bench, he said.Kevin Chapman (2-0) got two outs, Tony Sipp tossed two perfect innings and the Astros (70-90) snapped a three-game skid by winning for the third time in 10 games. They reached 70 victories for the first time since winning 76 games in 2010.Big improvement from last year to this year, Altuve said. Next year were going to do even better and I think we can be in the playoffs.Chad Qualls worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 19th save.Curtis Granderson hit his 20th homer for thhe Mets, already assured their sixth straight losing season since moving into Citi Field.dddddddddddd They are 38-41 in their own ballpark, guaranteeing them a losing record at home for the fourth year in a row.Niese was working on a three-hit shutout when he ducked under a throw to second base by Recker in the sixth. The left-hander bent over to stretch his arms and back after the play, bringing trainer Ray Ramirez and manager Terry Collins out of the dugout.Following a discussion on the mound, Niese walked off the field.I feel great, Niese said after the game. It went away as soon as Terry and Rey got out there. But until then, it was kind of still racing.Torres (8-6) was summoned and given all the time he needed to warm up.It didnt help.Niese left an outing at Texas in June 2011 when he struggled to catch his breath and another about a year later due to a rapid heartbeat. He had a battery of tests in 2011 that revealed nothing abnormal about his heart and was cleared to make his next start. He even wore a monitor for 24 hours to measure his heart throughout the day.This is the first time its happened since, Niese said. So once every two years, I will take that.Niese also underwent an extra EKG at spring training in 2012 and was declared healthy.It just comes out of nowhere. I just threw that last pitch and it just feels like your heart is beating really fast and really hard, he said. It can come back at any moment. It just happens.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: Interim manager Tom Lawless said relievers Josh Fields and Darin Downs, both sidelined by oblique injuries, remain day to day. ... CF Dexter Fowler was checked by a trainer in the sixth after getting hit by a pitch on the right wrist. Fowler stayed in the game and made a sliding catch moments later with two runners on.Mets: OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis was scratched from the lineup because he felt ill when he arrived at the ballpark. ... C Travis dArnaud will miss the final few games of the season because of a bone spur in his right elbow. He said he is scheduled for surgery Wednesday to remove the spur.UP NEXTLawless will formally interview for Houstons permanent managerial job with GM Jeff Luhnow on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.Mets rookie RHP Rafael Montero (1-3, 4.38 ERA) makes his eighth major league start Saturday night against Astros RHP Samuel Deduno (2-6, 4.66). ' ' '