Raptors hungry as they open camp in Vancouver

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are coming off a remarkable few months that included a berth in the NBA’s Eastern Conference final and a pair of Olympic gold medals.

The basketball slate has been wiped clean with a new NBA season set to tip off, and the star Toronto Raptors guards are hungry for more.

“We’re at the bottom of the hill now, we’ve got to work our way up, and take on every challenge we’re going to face,” DeRozan said Monday. “That’s the beauty of playing sports, being a competitor and facing challenges.”

Behind DeRozan and Lowry, the Raptors won a franchise-best 56 games in the regular season, and came within two wins of a berth in the NBA final, in an historic and thrilling post-season run.

“Me personally, I think it’s time,” Lowry said matter-offactly. “I want a ring, I want to win a championship.”

They kicked off the new campaign with Monday’s traditional media day, an assembly line of photos and interviews before flying to Vancouver, where they’ll open training camp today.

DeRozan, who goes into the season with a new $139-million US contract, and a new baby daughter, teamed up with Lowry to help the U.S. to Olympic gold in “something that will go down in my family’s legacy forever,” Lowry said. “I’ll always be known as a gold medallist, an Olympian.”

But even then, the two all-stars were itching to get back on the NBA court, to get back on that wave of last season’s success.

“As crazy as it sounds, even during the Olympics as we were playing and practising, at the same time I was working toward this season, understanding what I need to do to get better,” DeRozan said. “Working on my body, working on everything that needs to be done for me to be able to withstand another long season and get back to the point we were at. It was great having my teammate there at the same time.”

Coach Dwane Casey said the continued maturation of his two “old heads” is important on a team that features 10 players under the age of 25.

“They are growing up,” Casey said. “The experience they had in the summer is the best graduate course they could take in basketball and in life is to be a part of a gold medal team.”

The Raptors maintained their core from last season, Bismack Biyombo being the one major loss. They acquired Jared Sullinger, and the former Boston Celtics has impressed Casey so far.