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It looks like the sun has finally set on the Bryan Colangelo era in Toronto. After a weeks-long dance, the club announced on Tuesday that Colangelo will be stripped of his general manager title and will now serve exclusively as the teams president, a shift that will see him lose the power to influence the decision-making process as it relates to players and coaches. The incoming general manager, who will purportedly be hired within a month, will report directly to MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke. The move is an unexpected concession to a controversial figure in Toronto. Colangelo will be allowed to maintain employment while also retaining the right to vacate MLSE for a shot at running a different organization should the opportunity present itself. Colangelo established many ties within MLSE during his seven-year stint with the Raptors and no doubt those ties came to his defence over the last few weeks as Colangelos fate was being decided behind closed doors. Even still, for a basketball lifer like Colangelo, it must be a bittersweet victory to be allowed to stay within the organization only to watch somebody else restructure and reshape the team he spoke so glowingly of at the end of this season. Still, the NBA is a results-based business and the higher-ups at MLSE, including Leiweke, clearly felt that the net result of Colangelos seven years of service did not entitle him to another shot at running the Toronto Raptors. Yahoo!s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that the Raptors have now targeted Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri to replace Colangelo, and are preparing a "serious financial and organizational commitment" to lure him back to Toronto (Ujiri spent three years under Colangelo, including two as his assistant GM). Ujiris contract is up in Denver and while the organization has insisted that they want to retain his services after winning this years Executive of the Year award, Denver has a reputation for front office frugality and MLSE has very deep pockets and a willingness to spend. There is no doubt that Leiweke and Co. will tender an offer that is exceedingly difficult to refuse if Ujiri is, in fact, the man that they have targeted to run their basketball club, and it will be up to Ujiri to decide whether the money is enough to turn his back on the club that gave him his first shot at running a basketball team. Regardless of who is tapped to replace Colangelo as GM, however, one must acknowledge the seismic shift Colangelos reassignment will have on the Raptors organization. Doors that were thought to be closed under his stewardship (trading DeMar DeRozan, amnestying Andrea Bargnani) are now potentially reopened with his removal. Players like Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry are no longer tied to the man that acquired them - the new GM will feel no pressure to justify their acquisitions because he wont have been the man that acquired them. Even Dwane Casey, whos already had his contract option for next year picked up, might be out the door if the new man in charge wants a top-down restructuring of Torontos basketball operations. So much of what one thinks and expects from the Raptors has been shaped through Colangelos lens it can be hard to grasp how different things will be with him gone. The on-court ideology, the trade market activity, the penchant for wild spending and the attachment to certain players will no longer necessarily define the club. Certain expectations are simply no longer apt when it comes to considering the Raptors. Colangelo had a hand in designing every corner of the organization and it will be very interesting to see how a new eye will take to his handiwork. Needless to say things are going to change, but how extensively the question going forward. It will be very interesting to see how history will remember the Colangelo era with the Raptors. While he earned no shortage of detractors, he also never sat on his hands or allowed the team to stumble unattended. He was a passionate executive and a fierce defender of the viability of the city of Toronto as a destination in the NBA. He made several miscalculations when it came to building his rosters (which is why hes no longer running the club), but he never gave up on trying to make the team better. He made several moves that I, personally, didnt agree with, but even I cannot argue with conviction that he had that every move he made brought the organization one step closer to where he wanted it. In a results-based business that doesnt count for a lot, but that doesnt mean it has to count for nothing, either. Cheap Sabres Jerseys .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Buffalo Sabres Gear .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Buffalo Sabres Shirts . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Stitched Sabres Jerseys . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State will spend the next two months playing in one the toughest leagues in the country.The Cyclones wont be able to struggle for more than a half like they did on Tuesday and expect to compete in the Big 12.Senior Matt Thomas scored a career-high 23 points to lead Iowa State past Mississippi Valley State 88-60, helping the Cyclones post back-to-back wins for the first time in a month.Naz Mitrou-Long had 19 points and Monte Morris scored 13 for the Cyclones (8-3), who shot 50 percent from 3-point range and finished on a 32-11 run.But Iowa State, plagued by turnovers, let winless Mississippi Valley State (0-12) rip off a 16-3 run in the first half and trailed the winless Delta Devils 25-24 at one point. The Cyclones also let MVSU grab 13 offensive rebounds.We had good stretches. We had bad stretches, said Mitrou-Long, who has scored 56 points in his last two games after struggling earlier this season. We cant get beat on the offensive glass.The Cyclones eventually overwhelmed MVSU as expected, jumping ahead 78-53 on a Thomas layup with just over six minutes left.Isaac Williams and Darrell Riley each scored 18 for the Delta Devils. They were outrebounded 43-28.Weve got to just get our tenacity and our swagger back on defense, Prohm said.BIG PICTUREIowa State: The Cyclones non-conference record is just eighth-best in the Big 12, which entered Tuesday with half of its members at 10-1 or better. Iowa State is much more likely to finish in the middle of the league than at the top of it -- but the Cyclones at least have a lot more depth than it did in 2015-16. Still, letting one of the nations worst teams hang aaround until well into the second half isnt a good look for the Cyclones.ddddddddddddMississippi Valley State: The Delta Devils open the season with 14 straight road games. But theyll stay in central Iowa to face Drake on Thursday -- a game they can win. The Bulldogs are 1-10.CARELESSIowa State was extremely sloppy with the ball in the first half, committing 10 turnovers -- its season average -- in the first 16:35. The Delta Devils turned those mistakes into 15 points, and thats the main reason they stayed competitive for as long as they did. The Cyclones finished with 15 turnovers.GOING YOUNGIowa States senior centers, Darrell Bowie (five points, two rebounds) and Merrill Holden (three points) struggled again, which might mean freshman Solomon Youngs will soon go up. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Young has had issues with foul trouble early in his career. But Young had eight points and seven rebounds in just 15 minutes Tuesday.HE SAID ITWhen we play the way we have to play, because we are small, we do have to have a little nastiness to us. When we do that, I think the non-conference schedule has proven that we can play with anyone in the country, Prohm said. You wish the one game here (or there) you didnt drop, but its all about finishing games.UP NEXTIowa State opens Big 12 play on Dec. 30 when it hosts Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 10-1, but their schedule has been far from taxing.MVSU will travel just 35 miles south to face Drake Thursday.---More college basketball at www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '