Jermaine O'Neal strode onto the practice court Monday in his first official appearance in a Raptors jersey, and immediately made his intentions known: he'd like to make club president and GM Bryan Colangelo look brilliant and he'd love to prove more than a few naysayers wrong.

But perhaps more than anything, the six-time all-star forward and the newest face of the Toronto Raptors hopes to rediscover his love for the game that disappeared over two long years of playing in pain.

"It's about getting back to being healthy," O'Neal said. "We pretty much have hid my knee situation for two years, and playing on painkillers of whatever it really took away a lot of joy away from it, and that's what I want to get back to -- enjoying basketball. I enjoy suiting up every night; I enjoy coming to the arena, that's something I lost the last two years. I have just not really been happy out there."

O'Neal was acquired in a blockbuster trade in the off-season that sent T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and a draft pick to the Indiana Pacers.

If he can stay healthy, the six-foot-11, 230-pound forward can give Toronto what it's sorely been lacking -- intensity on defence and rebounding.

"He just brings a different dynamic, and I just love the things that he talks about, defence and rebounding," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "He's not worried about scoring points, he's worried about doing the things to make his team win."

Combined with team captain Chris Bosh, who earned rave reviews for his performance with the U.S. team that captured gold at the Beijing Olympics, and with Jose Calderon, who became the unequivocal starting point guard when Ford was traded, there was a renewed sense of optimism around Canada's lone NBA club during the annual media day Monday.

Colangelo went as far as to say that on paper at least, it could be the best Toronto team ever assembled.

O'Neal didn't argue.

"Me, Chris Bosh and Jose (Calderon) sat down after the scrimmage (last week) and it was like, 'Man, we have a real shot here,"' O'Neal said. "We've got a real shot.

"Obviously, we have the talent on paper and if we mentally believe that and bring that swagger every day, that we're the best team on the floor every time we step on the floor, we've got a shot at doing some great things this year."

O'Neal, who turns 30 in a couple of weeks, has seen his game drop off with his knee injury the past two seasons. The former Pacer had averaged 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds over seven seasons.

But the last two campaigns had seen his numbers slip to 13.6 points and 6.7 boards, and he played just 42 games last season, and the critics saw him as damaged goods.

"I'm willing to do what I need to do to make (Colangelo) look good about the trade, and I will do that," O'Neal said. "I promise."

He declared his knee healthy Monday, and his body leaner and stronger than ever. He endured a gruelling off-season exercise program and a strict diet that prohibited sugars and starches, that was designed to help him slim down, especially in his upper body that was putting undo strain on his knee.

"It's amazing, I played 12 years and never did that in my career," said O'Neal, 12 pounds lighter for the experience. "This is the best I've felt in a long time. Knee feels great, I haven't had any problems all summer and I hit all the goals I was supposed to hit, I was really happy about that."

Now, the explosive forward is intent on proving a few people wrong.

"He has a hunger to prove to a lot of people that his game hasn't slipped," Mitchell said. "He's been injured, and we understand that, the main thing for him was to get healthy and he feels really good about where he is physically and mentally right now."

The Raptors open training camp Tuesday in Ottawa with perhaps its most athletic frontcourt its seen in recent memory, if not ever.

Bosh, who has wound up with his share of bumps and bruises from trying to guard O'Neal over the years, can't wait to get started.

"We push each other to get better," said Bosh, a three-time NBA all-star. "You do have to have talent and you have to work as a team, and we've had the teamwork, but when it came to talent, everybody always had a little bit more than we did, and I think J.O. can take us over the top in that."

Although camp doesn't officially tip off until Tuesday, O'Neal's already made his presence felt with his shot-blocking abilities in the "light" scrimmages he's participated in since arriving in town.

"With Jermaine, he's going to inspire me to try and block more shots," Bosh said. "He's. . .well, you have to play against him to see it."

O'Neal will wear No. 6 with the Raptors, since the No. 7 he wore in Indiana is already taken by Italian centre Andrea Bargnani.

The Raptors newcomer was asked if he considered offered Bargnani a Rolex or something of similar value for the number.

"Andrea, that's his number that he's had, so I didn't want to give any ill feelings toward him, that's his number, he's earned it," O'Neal. "So you have to create something new, so six is the new number, and hopefully that six is going to be something that Canadians can look back at and say 'that six was a great number."'

He picked No. 6 because that's the number he wore as a McDonald's high school all-American.

"That was the funnest year of my life," he said. "I want to just enjoy the game like I enjoyed it back then."

The Raptors will hold two-a-days through Friday, then play an intersquad game Saturday at Carleton University before returning home to Toronto.

Photo credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images