Bryan Colangelo knew it would take nothing less than a wrecking ball to turn around the Toronto Raptors and inject a little hope back into the sagging NBA club when he took over as the team's GM late last season.

With nine new faces, new jerseys, a brand new locker-room and a discernible new team-first attitude as the Raptors opened training camp Tuesday, it was obvious Colangelo had left behind few reminders of the squad that finished well out of the playoffs last season.

``Last year, 27 wins, I think everybody was very disappointed, fans, media, internally management and ownership was very disappointed. There was nowhere to go but up,'' Colangelo said.

``So a major overhaul . . . it gave everybody a shot at hope. And there are a lot of smiling faces around here, just with the freshness of the group.''

The mood is far removed from last season when the Raptors opened the season not exactly flush with hope _ former GM Rob Babcock had just predicted his team would win even less games than the previous season (and they did).

The new version of the Raptors took to the court at RIM Park for Day 1 of camp Tuesday. There were a couple of obvious organizational differences: head coach Sam Mitchell opted for two-a-days through training camp, rather than the one long morning practice session last season.

``The good thing about it is, we just used the morning for conditioning and teaching, putting in things, dummy offence, going over our defensive principles, so it's working out pretty good, we can actually teach a lot more in the morning,'' said Mitchell. ``Nights we'll play.''

And rather than waste time on players who won't make the team, there are just 17 players in camp this year rather than the traditional 20-plus.

On the court, all-star forward Chris Bosh says Raptors fans will see a more free-flowing game than in past seasons.

``I think it will be more just playing,'' said Bosh. ``At first we were just running to one specific spot, getting the ball to one specific guy and watching him do what he's supposed to do. This year it will be more cuts, more passes and hopefully that will get us more points in the paint.''

The 22-year-old Bosh, one of five returning players and the undisputed team leader, likes the new feel to the team.

``More close attention to detail, the attitude and the aura of this team is just different right now,'' said the lanky six-foot-10 forward. ``A lot of new guys, fresh faces, new management, a lot of things are different.''

Everyone knew Colangelo wasn't afraid of change. He earned NBA executive of the year in the 2005 after conducting a complete makeover and stunning turnaround with his old team the Phoenix Suns.

In Toronto, he believed major change was the only way to get back to winning and his staff agreed.

``Sam (Mitchell) talks about it all the time,'' said Colangelo. ``He wanted to change everything. He wanted to change where he lived, his car, he just wants to start fresh. And I said Day 1, I'm not looking back, I'm only looking forward.''

Colangelo went so far as to completely gut the Raptors dressing room.

``I wanted an entirely new perception, even with the four or five guys that were from the roster last year walking in and feeling that something had changed,'' said Colangelo. ``I do believe when the players walk into the locker-room, when the media walks into the locker-room, they'll feel there's a new sense of professionalism.

``A 10-year-old room doesn't sound very old, but it was tired . . . when you move that couch and you see the dust settling underneath.''

As for the players who were collecting dust last season _ much-maligned centre Rafael Araujo, point guard Jalen Rose and his colossal contract, plus little-used forwards Loren Woods and Eric Williams _ they're all gone. Colangelo also didn't re-sign Mike James, who had grown increasingly selfish as last season wore on and a new contract loomed.

He replaced them with players he believes have the scrappy attitude _ and the thick skin _ to turn the team around.

``The type of players that we're bringing in are guys who have gotten here through some means of overcoming some odds, and in some cases, they're still being doubted and I love that,'' said Colangelo. ``I believe the kind of people we have brought in are people that respond well to that doubt and will look to overcome some of the criticism.

``This team with nine new faces at least has hope and at least it's feeling like we've really turned a corner and that's a big leg up in terms of this effort and the attempts we're making to get better.''