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Nik Stauskas was nine years old and already thoroughly smitten with basketball when a chance meeting with Vince Carter sealed his fate. Stauskas and his family were at a Toronto Raptors open practice at the Air Canada Centre when he was plucked out of the crowd to shoot hoops with Carter and Morris Peterson. "He hit a three-pointer on Vince Carter, so Vince tackled him to the ground and gave him a noogie," dad Paul said, laughing. "We got pictures of all of it, it was great. That was the tipping point I think." The sweet-shooting 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is one of six Canadians at the NBA pre-draft camp this week in Chicago, hoping to catch the favourable eye of league general managers and scouts. The others are Jordan Bachynski of Calgary (Arizona State), Khem Birch of Montreal (UNLV), Tyler Ennis of Brampton, Ont. (Syracuse), and Torontos Melvin Ejim (Iowa State) and Dwight Powell (Stanford). You can watch live coverage of the NBA combine on TSN2 and TSN GO on Thursday and Friday at 1pm et/10am pt. Canadian star Andrew Wiggins, considered a top-three prospect in the June 26 draft, isnt attending the combine. Stauskas is part of a growing crop of Canadian kids making their mark on the game. The six-foot-six guard earned Big Ten player of the year in his sophomore — and final — season with Michigan, leading the Wolverines to their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournaments Elite Eight. Stauskas, who had a career-best seven three-pointers at Illinois in March, is known for killing defenders with his quick step-back and release. Its ". . . so fast, youre not going to (defend it). Hes quick. Hes like a cat," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said of Stauskas after his teams loss to Michigan in January. Stauskass accuracy was developed over thousands of hours chucking up shots, first in their driveway and then on their custom-made backyard basketball court. The day nine-year-old Stauskas squared off against Carter, Paul Stauskas said his son already "had range. At the time he would shoot with two hands, he only developed his one-handed shot probably when he was 13, 14. So it was more of a chest pass. But he was very accurate doing it." Stauskas first played when he was seven, on a Lithuanian club team in Toronto coached by his uncle Vic Simkus. Even then, he was three inches taller than any kid on the court, so he played centre. He scored four points in first game — a 6-4 victory. "Nik had this big smile on his face, because we were all so enthusiastic, we were cheering for him, Go Nik go! He just had such a good time. Thats kind of what started it," Paul Stauskas said. "And if a kid enjoys doing something, whether theyre golfing or skating or whatever, when you do it enough times, you become really good at it." Stauskas became really good after the family moved to their Mississauga home when he was in Grade 5. His dad wanted to install either a pool, a putting green or a basketball court in the backyard. They went with the court, because Nik was "just so enthusiastic about basketball and went above and beyond the call of duty to work on his game," Paul said. The dad wanted the best for his boys — Nik has an older brother Peter — so had the court installed by a company that specializes in modular sports flooring. The backyard court, the first by this company in Canada, is made of interlocking tiles that both gives the feel of a real court surface, and help prevent ankle problems and shin splints. Good thing, because Stauskas would practically live on that court for the next several years. In the winter, he would plug in a space heater to warm his hands. Its also a good thing, Paul said, that he chose the court over the putting green. "Maybe Id be a much better golfer," he said. "But Im 100 per cent convinced Nik would not be where he is today if we had not done that. "This was just one of those things, he could be by himself and he was just happy as a lark, he didnt need anybody, he could be there for hours, flicking shots. And you know how kids get, they start playing games in their head and they start fantasizing that theyre hitting the last-second shot in an important game. Hed just play games with himself, just very happy." Stauskas shared his backyard shooting exploits online, turning into a bit of a YouTube showman. In one video, shot on Christmas Eve of 2012, Stauskas, in tuque and track suit, dropped 45 of 50 three-point shots. In another, shot on a rainy day last spring, he made good on 70 of 76 attempts — including 46 in a row — in the span of five minutes. That YouTube video has over 500,000 views, and even caught the attention of Stephen Curry. Golden States star guard retweeted the video, and wrote: "3pt contest sometime @NStauskas11 ????? this is Impressive." Stauskas tweeted: "I love waking up to a challenge by the best 3 point shooter in the world!!! Today might be a good day HA!" The Canadian quickly gained a fan following in his rookie year at Michigan. Paul Stauskas remembers it was a couple of tuba players on the school band that came up with the maize-and-blue version of the Maple Leaf that flew at games in Ann Arbor. The tuba players then created a T-shirt with the maize-and-blue flag. Underneath the Maple Leaf it read: "The best Canadian import since Molsons." For a pre-season game this past winter, Paul Stauskas and 50 friends, neighbours and family members chartered a Greyhound bus from Mississauga to Ann Arbor. They all wore the T-shirts. "We were the Nik Stauskas cheering section," Paul said. He and his wife Ruta were regulars at Wolverines games, attending about 15 games in each of Niks two seasons. "Weve followed him all over the country, to Atlanta, to Dallas, all over the place, and those road trips for us were a ton of fun," Paul said. "The whole point is, my wife and I, were financially secure. We never needed our kids to Oh youve got to get this good job to get me out of a bad situation, go pro. It was always just having family fun. And Nik just happened to be really good at what he was doing. "Its been fun, the entire ride. You think Disneyland is fun. This is a helluva ride." The family is happily buckling up for what lies ahead. Most mock drafts have Stauskas going anywhere from 11th to 14th (Denver, Orlando, Minnesota and Phoenix). Next seasons NBA rookie scale has the No. 11 pick getting paid just under US$1.9 million in the first year. "Its really exciting to think of the teams he might play on, and the players he might play with and against," Paul Stauskas said. "Nik has idolized LeBron James from the second LeBron stepped on the court. I was just saying to Nik Nik youre going to be playing against him! "The first time he steps out on the court, and he plays against LeBron, I think hes going to be shell-shocked. Hes probably going to go up to him and ask him for his autograph," he added, laughing. Paul Stauskas cant help but imagine the possible roster permutations. Hes heard the Chicago Bulls — who have the No. 16 pick — might like his son. "We were sitting there thinking Can you imagine Nik, youre playing with (Derrick) Rose? WOW. . . I can just hear it now: Rose to Skauskas, Stauskas back to Rose, OH AND ITS INNNN! That would be fantastic." He thinks Boston — which has both a lottery pick and the No. 17 pick — would be a good fit. "With Rajon Rondo there, I can imagine Nik playing with Rondo," Paul said. "When Rondo first came in the league, both me and Nik saw his very first game and we looked at each other and we go, Wow, is this guy good. So imagine we see this guy and a few years later (Niks) playing side-by-side with him. Its crazy." Rowan Barrett, the assistant GM of Canadas mens basketball program, saw Stauskas play in high school when he was a 15-year-old at Mississaugas Loyola Catholic School. "It was clear that there was talent, there was ability," Barrett said. "The keys you wanted to know were: What was his mind like? And how much would he be willing to work at it? The great thing is he is excellent in both of those areas. Tremendous work ethic and definitely has the mind of a winner. You put those things together with size and length and skill, and you can find yourself a pretty good basketball player. "Im very excited for him." Wiggins, Ennis and Stauskas are all projected lottery picks, which would make this years draft the most successful, in terms of numbers, in Canadian history. Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be picked No. 1 overall when he went to Cleveland last year. Canadian Kelly Olynyk (Boston Celtics) was the 13th pick last year. Barrett, 41, said the Canadian growth in the game is a product of opportunities and exposure that werent there when he was growing up in Toronto. "Night and day," Barrett said comparing the generations. Wiggins, Stauskas and Ennis grew up watching the Raptors. Barrett aspired to be a track and field athlete. "I played many of the sports but at that time in Canada, you just had some tremendous athletes in track and field who were bringing home medals from Olympics Games. So those athletes were the ones you wanted to emulate," Barrett said. "But a funny thing happened, I kept growing. "Its a tremendous environment right now for these kids." The 60 participants in this weeks NBA combine will be tested on skills such as vertical leap, shooting, lane agility, and speed. Each team is also allotted a half-hour interview with 18 players of their choosing. Authentic Dolphins Jersey . 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Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes.TORONTO - Rudy Gay could barely stand as he prepared to speak to the media minutes after a back-and-forth affair with the Wizards. The Raptors forward, who has been battling the flu since Thursday evening, skipped shoot around Friday morning but played 31 minutes in his teams resilient 96-88 victory at the Air Canada Centre. "I actually came here feeling worse than I did this morning, but there was no stopping me. I was going to play," Gay said, sitting down. "I was out of breath and theres other things that happen when youre sick, but I had to push through it for my team." Gays first-half performance reflected his pain and was just about the only thing that went wrong for Toronto in the opening 24 minutes. The Raptors shot 51 per cent, held Washington to 38 per cent - allowing 11 points on four-of-21 shooting in the second quarter - and took a commanding lead at home despite Gay going just two-of-10 from the field. As he missed a jumper, his team up 14 late in the second quarter, the home fans - unaware of his illness - began to boo. "He had the flu and [high] temperature and gutted it out," coach Dwane Casey said. "I was proud. He struggled a little bit, but down the stretch he came through for us." With Gay struggling, the Raptors good fortune finally ran out in the third quarter, an ongoing concern for the team. The Wizards outscored Toronto 32-15 in the period. John Wall had 18 alone. A 13-point halftime lead quickly became a four-point deficit. Gay had just six points on three-of-13 shooting. "You can see why he got paid all that money," DeMar DeRozan said of Wall, who scored 30 of his game-high 37 in the second half. Toronto had no answer for Wall. Thats when Casey and the Raptors threw the Wizards a curve ball. For the first time in four games, D.J. Augustin checked in to spell Kyle Lowry at the point. Terrence Ross, coming off a couple strong performances, and Steve Novak shared the floor as the Raptors regained control of the game with the help of Gay and their zone defence. "We had to mix it up," Casey admitted. "Our man [defence] wasnt working. We had to go to something else and it had to be our zone.dddddddddddd It worked for us, it got them out of rhythm and it got us into rhythm. We work religiously on the zone and guys are still learning it. It worked out for us tonight." After losing his job as the back-up point guard four games into the season, Augustin got a rare opportunity. It was one that he received in an unfortunate circumstance with rookie Dwight Buycks - the acting back-up - away from the team following the passing of his father. Still, it was an opportunity he didnt waste. Augustins first shot was a three-pointer, the first hes made all season after missing nine straight attempts. His quickness and knack for the draw and kick helped turn the momentum back in Torontos favour. "Hes a pro," Casey said of Augustin. "He kind of fell out of the rotation. To his credit, the young man has worked at it. Hes stayed after practice, worked late, come back at night and worked on his shot. It paid off." "Im a firm believer, if youre heart and your mind is in the right place good things will happen for you," said the coach. "And if theyre not, youre sitting on the bench pouting and upset because somebody is getting an opportunity, nothing good is going to happen for you. His heart is in the right place, his mind is in the right place." Augustins resiliency sparked his team and its leading scorer. Gay was a perfect three-for-three in the fourth quarter and added three of his four blocks - one of them of the highlight variety - in the final frame. "It just slowed down," Gay said. "I feel like I was trying to fight through the fact that I was a little sluggish, a little slow. In the fourth quarter, I just let it come to me and it was a lot easier." Exceeding 20 assists in back-to-back games, both victories, the Raptors offence is coming along as they continue to sit atop the Atlantic Division with a 6-7 record. Up next The Raptors will have the day off Saturday, a day of rest Gay plans to take full advantage of, and return to practice on Sunday ahead of their next game at home to the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. 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