With a new management team in place and the addition of a couple of key role players, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is hopeful his team can make the jump into a playoff position in 2013-14. Speaking on TSN 1050s Macko & Cauz show on Tuesday, the third-year bench boss is excited to see how his new pieces blend with the teams young core. “We needed toughness inside to go along with Jonas Valanciunas), Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray and we brought in Tyler Hansbrough, who I think our fans will be excited about.” To go along with the former Pacers power forward, the team addressed its perimeter shooting need via the Andrea Bargnani deal and in free agency. “We needed three-point shooting and we got Steve Novak and Austin Daye, who is a young untapped talented player who has three-point shooting ability.” Following a 17-32 start, the Raptors played the rest of the season one game over .500, in part because of a renewed emphasis on the defensive end. “We will get back to defence and let the offence take care of itself,” Casey said. “I thought Masai (Ujiri), Jeff (Weltman) and our management team did an excellent job of bringing in the type of players that will fit our needs.” Still, the team finished four games out of a playoff spot and new president and CEO Tim Leiweke decided to make a change in the basketball operations department, replacing former GM Bryan Colanagelo with Ujiri. Casey said Ujiri and Leiweke operate differently than Coloangelo in that the former GM took a more hands-on approach than the current structure. “Bryans management style is more hands on. Hes there every day, hes involved…Theres nothing wrong with that, its just a different management style.” Casey is confident where the team is headed, but noted that the expectation of a playoff spot last season may have been too unrealistic. “I thought we put the cart before the horse last year in talking about the playoffs too soon, we were still building…Adding Rudy, adding some of the pieces we have now, weve accelerated that building.” Casey mentioned that while the team is positioned to make a playoff push this season, the overall focus is still on growing and developing the talented core they have in place. “We have good young talent thats getting better, but at the same time we want to win. We owe it to our fans, we owe it to our organization to put our best foot forward and go out to compete to win.” http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Marvin-Jones-Jr-Draft-Jersey/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Matthew-Stafford-Draft-Jersey/ . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Graham-Glasgow-Draft-Jersey/ . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Tj-Jones-Draft-Jersey/ .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Jake-Rudock-Draft-Jersey/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- For the first time, the Brewers learned what its like to keep an opponent from crossing home plate. Pretty nice feeling, actually. Juan Francisco drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly and homer in a ballpark where hes had some big moments, and Yovani Gallardo pitched six innings on Saturday, leading Milwaukee to a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. It was the Brewers first shutout -- they were the only team in the majors without one. Milwaukees staff came into the game with the NLs worst earned run average, giving up more runs and homers than any other club. "Theyve gotten us pretty good in this park this year," manager Ron Roenicke said. "6-0 -- we dont have too many of those. Its nice to kind of be able to relax." The Brewers have lost 11 of their last 14 games at Great American Ball Park. It was the first time theyd shut out Cincinnati since 2009. Logan Schafer had three hits off Homer Bailey (4-5), his second straight three-hit game. Schafer is filling in for Ryan Braun, who went on the 15-day disabled list with an injured right thumb after the series opener Friday. Schafer has filled in for Braun the last five games and gone 8-for-16 with the first back-to-back multi-hit games of his career. "Its nice to play every day and get that comfort level," Schafer said. "I felt good all day. One thing Ive been doing a little better lately is swing at strikes and not going out of the strike zone." Gallardo (6-6) gave up three hits and a pair of walks in his second straight impressive start. The right-hander threw eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits, during a 6-1 win at Miami on Monday. "I feel good -- the past three starts, actually," Gallardo said. "It seems like things are finally falling together. Ive been able to find a rhythm." Three relievers completed a seven-hitter for Milwaukees first shutout. The Reds didnt get a runner to third base and were out of sync after playing extra-inning games the last two days. "None of us looked like we had any rhythm," said manager Dusty Baker on his 64th birthday. "It was one of those low-energy days that usually doont happen.ddddddddddddIt just wasnt our day. "Thats not the way you want to spend your birthday. If Id known that was going to happen, I wouldve tried to get kicked out in the first inning." After going 6-22 in May, the injury-depleted Brewers are 8-6 in June, winning six of their last eight games. For the second time this season, the Reds couldnt overcome a homer by Francisco, who played for them from 2009-11. He hit the second-longest homer in ballpark history during his final season in Cincinnati, a 502-foot shot. He returned with the Braves this season and had a breakthrough -- his first career grand slam off reliever J.J. Hoover during a 7-2 win on May 8. The Brewers got him for a minor league pitcher on June 3, and hed struggled until getting back to Cincinnati. Francisco was in an 0-for-15 slump when he had a pinch-hit single in Cincinnatis 4-3, 10-inning win on Friday night. He hit a sacrifice fly and two-run homer that smacked off the bottom of the left-field foul pole on Saturday, giving the Brewers a 4-0 lead. It was only his third hit in 25 at-bats as a Brewer. With that, Francisco has one of the longest and one of the shortest homers at Great American. "Hes got big power everywhere and it was nice for him to get that," Roenicke said. Bailey gave up eight hits in seven innings and threw a wild pitch that let in a run, leaving him 1-6 career against Milwaukee. Schafer, taking over in left field for Braun, had three hits for the second straight game. His two-run double in the sixth made it 6-0. NOTES: The Brewers called up OF Caleb Gindl from Triple-A Nashville to replace Braun. He pinch-hit and struck out. Gindl is the sixth Brewer to make his big league debut this season. ... The Reds put RH reliever Jonathan Broxton on the 15-day DL, a day after swelling was detected in his right elbow. RH Pedro Villarreal was called up. ... Gallardo picked Joey Votto off first base in the first inning. ... The Brewers expect LH Chris Narveson, on the DL with a sprained finger, to return next week. ... The Reds plan to activate RH Johnny Cueto off the 15-day DL to start the series finale on Sunday against Milwaukees Wily Peralta. 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