TORONTO -- When basketballs best young players were in Brooklyn, N. Cheap Air Max 90 White .Y., waiting to hear their name called in the NBA draft Thursday night, Bruno Caboclo was in a taxi. Caboclo had been training just outside Houston, and he and his personal advisor Eduardo Resende had hopped in a cab when somebody from Brazil tweeted "Oh my god, Bruno at 20." "The taxi driver didnt understand what was going on, we were screaming back there. It was crazy," said Resende. "He was jumping out of the roof (figuratively), he was very excited. Its a dream come true for a young Brazilian player that only can see (the NBA) on TV, and then all of a sudden hes part of it." The 18-year-old Caboclo was a virtual unknown when he became the Raptors surprise 20th pick in Thursday nights draft -- a selection that general manager Masai Ujiri admitted was an "outright gamble." Ujiri had another player in mind for the 20th pick, and had planned to take the Brazilian at No. 37, but when he lost out on the first player, he wasnt taking any chances on Caboclo. The young Brazilian arrived in Toronto on Friday night -- and upon finding out he had the practice gym at the Air Canada Centre at his disposal, headed there at 11 p.m. to shoot. The Raptors staff put him through his first official workout Saturday morning. He then met with a curious Toronto media contingent that numbered in double digits, an immediate measure of how much his life has changed in two days. "His Twitter two days ago had 19 followers (hes now at over 5,000)," said Resende, who also acting as Caboclos translator in Toronto -- the youngster speaks only a few words of English. "You become like a public person. The biggest change for him is this (press) conference here. I dont think he would ever imagine he would be here one day." Caboclo grew up Pirapora do Bom Jesus, a tiny town outside of Sao Paolo. He comes from a "difficult family, financially," according to Resende. "Even at his age he support his family." Ujiri wouldnt reveal much about Caboclos upbringing except "He grew up tough. I dont want to say too much about his family, and some of the things we know. He grew up in a not-so-great environment. Basketball was his love." He has two sisters, aged 22 and 26, who play volleyball. He played soccer as a child, but said he was only "so-so" at it, and switched to basketball at age 13, when he was already five foot 10. Within a year, he could dunk the ball. The Raptors had tracked Caboclo since he was named most valuable player of the Basketball Without Borders tournament last summer, first sending a team of scouts to watch the six-foot-nine player with the eye-popping seven-foot-six wingspan. "We felt like he was somebody we needed to follow. Our scouts did a phenomenal job of going and seeing him and gathering information," Ujiri said after presenting Caboclo with his jersey. The Raptors GM took some heat after Thursdays selection, from fans and the media, but shrugged it off Saturday morning. "Honestly I dont do it for reactions of anybody. I dont care. Were in a business where I cant react to anything, I just have to do my job, and you hope the best comes out of it," Ujiri said. "Is it a gamble? Yes. But do we remember who the 20th picks of the last 10 drafts are?" Ujiri sat courtside at the ACC as Caboclo practised. Resende helped translate the instructions. He dunked the ball with ease, shot well from long range, and was fluid as he moved around the court despite his long limbs. "We thought from the little information we have, hes young, hes long, hes tall, hes skinny, he likes to play basketball, hes got a little bit of skill, he can shoot a little bit, maybe theres something we can mould there," Ujiri said. Ujiri expects Caboclo to be a solid defender because of his length. "He moves his feet pretty good, hes got a touch, he likes to shoot it, so if he can be a two-way player where he can shoot the ball a little bit and he can defend. . . We picked him because we feel theres some good upside there, it will take time, and were ready to be patient for him," Ujiri said. "Hes a great kid, but loves basketball, he wants to be in the gym every second, which is what you want in an 18-year-old." Caboclo said he tries to model his game after his idol and Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. He feels they have the same body type. Caboclos strength is among the things hell need to work on during what should be a tough rookie season, between being so far from home, having to learn English, and adapting to the NBA. The Raptors will immediately implement a couple of measures to help him adjust -- a weight training program and his own English teacher, Ujiri said. Hell also fly to Los Angeles on Sunday to work with new teammates DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson, and fellow rookie DeAndre Daniels, taken 37th overall Thursday night. Caboclo will play with the Raptors in the summer league, plus Ujiri expects him to spend some time next season down in the D-League. Resende said the young player knows the road ahead wont be all smooth sailing. "Last night he came to my room and he said Its a great responsibility," Resende said. Because getting there is one thing, now the real work is going to begin now." Air Max 90 White Outlet . Claude Noel will be the man behind the bench when the team hits the ice of the MTS Centre to begin its inaugural season. Air Max 90 Womens Clearance . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. DENVER -- Peyton Manning stuffed the football into his helmet and handed it to an equipment man for safekeeping. The connection: Flawless, as usual. The keepsake: Certainly one hell want to hang on to. The Broncos quarterback had an answer for everyone Sunday -- from Tom Brady to the New England defence to anyone who thought he couldnt win the big one. Manning is taking the Broncos on a trip to New York for the Super Bowl after another of his impeccably crafted victories -- this time, a 26-16 win over the Patriots on Sunday in the AFC title game. "Being in my 16th season, going to my third Super Bowl, I know how hard it is to get there," Manning said. Especially this time. Only three years ago, he could barely grip a football as he started the long comeback from surgeries that ravaged his neck and nerve endings. And only 53 weeks ago, he suffered a devastating loss to Baltimore in the divisional playoffs that derailed what looked like a Super Bowl trip in his comeback season. But Manning will get his chance for a second Super Bowl ring, after all. Hell try to become the first starting quarterback to win one with two different teams, at the Meadowlands on Feb. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, who beat San Francisco 23-17 in the NFC title game. "Hes been remarkable," said Broncos coach John Fox, off to his second Super Bowl as a head coach. "Its unprecedented what he did." After packing away his football, Manning ran to the 30-yard line to shake hands with Brady. A bit later in the locker room, he celebrated with his father, Archie, and brothers Cooper and Eli, the Giants quarterback who surprised Peyton much the way Peyton surprised him by showing up at the NFC title game two years ago. The Indy-turned-Denver quarterback improved to 5-10 lifetime against Brady, but is now 2-1 in AFC title games. "I have a lot of respect for him," Brady said. "Certainly, hes a great player and he played great today." Though Manning threw for 400 yards, it was more dink-and-dunk than a fireworks show in this, the 15th installment between the NFLs two best quarterbacks of a generation. Manning set up four field goals by Matt Prater and put his stamp on this one with a pair of long, meticulous and mistake-free touchdown drives in which nothing came cheap. He geared down the no-huddle, hurry-up offence that helped him set records for touchdown passes and yardage this season and made the Broncos the highest-scoring team in history. The result: 93- and 80-yard touchdown drives that each lasted more than seven minutes; they were the two longest, time-wise, of the season for the Broncos (15-3). The Broncos held the ball for 35:44. They were 7 for 13 on third-down conversions. "To keep Tom Brady on the sideline is a good thing," Manning said. "Thats something you try to do when youre playing the Patriots." Manning capped the second long drive with a 3-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas, who got inside the overmatched Alfonzo Dennard and left his feet to make the catch. It gave Denver a 20-3 lead midway through the third quarter. From there, it was catch-up time for Brady and the Pats (13-5), and they are not built for that -- at least not this year. "We got in a hole there," Brady said. "It was just too much to dig our way out." A team that averaged more than 200 yards on the ground the last three games didnt have much quick-strike capability. Brady, who threw for most of his 277 yards in comeback mode, actually led the Patriots to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. But they were a pair of time-consuming, 80-yard drives. The second cut the deficit to 26-16 with 3:07 left, but the Broncos stopped Shane Vereen on the 2-point conversion and the celebration was on in Denver. "Losing is never easy," Patriotss defensive lineman Rob Ninkovich said. Air Max 90 Essential White. "But when you have somebody as talented as (Manning), who puts in as much work and effort, and has done it for so long, its a little bit easier to swallow." The trip to New York, where it figures to be at least a tad cooler than Sundays 63-degree reading at kickoff, will come 15 years after John Elway rode off into the sunset with his second straight Super Bowl victory. The Broncos have had one close call since -- when they lost at home to Pittsburgh in the 2005 seasons AFC title game -- but what it really took was Elways return to the franchise in 2011. He slammed the door on the Tim Tebow experiment and signed Manning to a contract, knowing there were risks involved in bringing to town a thirty-something quarterback coming off multiple operations to resurrect his career. Even without Von Miller on the field, Elway put enough pieces in place around Manning to move within a game of the championship. Thomas. Wes Welker (four catches, 38 yards). Eric Decker (5-73). Tight end Julius Thomas (8-85). "Its been a terrific group," Elway said as he hoisted the AFC championship trophy. "They worked their tail off all year." Manning knows how to make the most of all the options hes been given. This game started getting out of hand at about the same time Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib went out with a knee injury. Nobody else could cover Thomas, and Manning, who finds mismatches even under the toughest of circumstances, found this one quickly. "Talibs an excellent player," Manning said, "but Demaryius was going to be a big part of the game plan, either way." Thomas finished with seven catches for 134 yards, including receptions of 26 and 27 yards that set up a field goal for a 13-3 lead before the half. Denver got the ball to start the third quarter and Manning hit Thomas for 15 and 4 yards as part of the 80-yard, 7:08 touchdown drive that gave Denver the 17-point lead. It was 23-3 before Brady began the comeback that came up short. "Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning," Patriots defensive end Andre Carter said. "Hes a smart player and able to make adjustments when he needs to." New England came up a win short of the Super Bowl for the second straight year. The thought this week was that Bill Belichicks team was playing with house money, having well exceeded expectations for a team that lost a number of stars -- Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski -- and has been plagued by injuries all year. But a loss is a loss and facts are facts. Belichick is stuck on three titles and hasnt won one since the NFL busted him for the Spygate videotaping scandal. "There were a lot of opportunities in the game that, if we were able to coach better, play better, execute better in any of those areas, it would have given us a chance," Belichick said. Manning said Belichick is the best coach hes ever had to go against. The quarterback insisted this weeks showdown against Brady was more Broncos vs. Patriots than Manning vs. Brady. He lets others decide whos the greatest at this or that. But he earned a chance to improve on his already-sterling legacy -- one that figures to leave him holding his fifth MVP trophy come Super Bowl week. A win at MetLife Stadium in two weeks would put him in the same company brother Eli, along with Elway, Roger Staubach and a few others as a two-time Super Bowl winner. Two weeks for Manning to prepare might feel like a lifetime. At times, his long, difficult comeback has felt like a lifetime, too. "Weve definitely come a long way in two years," Manning said. "And bouncing back from last years playoff loss to put ourselves in this position, it definitely feels very gratifying." ' ' '