Colangelo might be right. Triano may be the best coach out there for this team. As Colangelo and his staff went through the options of who might be the head coach next season, they apparently all came to the same conclusion: there was really no better option. “It always kept coming back to Jay Triano”, Colangelo said yesterday at the press conference that introduced Triano as the Raptors head coach for at least the next two seasons. Chris Bosh and his teammates all echoed similar sentiments in their exit interviews and went so far as to say that they wanted to see Jay back. So, while we could argue that as fans we’d prefer to see a more sexy choice (from Jeff Van Gundy to Ettore Messina), it is difficult to argue with Colangelo’s logic for re-upping Triano. He is trying ot build a “basketball family” in Toronto. And that is why the re-signing of Triano is actually a much larger statement than any other move to be made this off season. It is a sign of whats to come…and the answer is…not very much.
In his end of the year press conference Colangelo laid the groundwork for yesterday’s announcement: “Guys, like I said before, this team is not that far away.” And while critics will argue that the team was 25-40 under Triano, it was a much more respectabl 12-14 since the Marion trade, when Andrea Bargnani emerged as a legitimate NBA starter and Jose Calderon returned from injury. And fans for the most part have been pretty happy with the team since February. The excuse of choice appears to be : “It was the whole October until January thing that really did this team in” or to blame it on Mitchell, O’Neal and Calderon’s injury. It’s not just the fans and the media who feel like this, Colangelo, Triano, and the rest of the Raptors brass believe that this team, as is, is a legitimate playoff contender. Even Chris Bosh said that if the Raptors had the same roster that finished the season for the whole season they’d have home court! So let me be the first to pass on the memo:
Attention Bryan Colangelo and others:
If you think that this team, as is, can win even 1 game against Lebron and his Cavaliers in this year’s playoffs, then you are right, you are not that far away. However, I disagree. To win the East (forget about the NBA title) over the next decade is going to require more than the collective sum of Bosh, Bargnani, Calderon and Marion.
However, you are right, those four are an excellent starting point for building a contender.
Four months back, only days after the Marion deal, I asked Mr. Colangelo to do nothing else until the summer and to let this team play out the regular season and get a chance to see what they can do. And while I was wrong to drink the O’Neal kool-aid a year ago, I must admit that there is something rather impressive about how Colangelo has handled the team amidst the chaos since February. You see, Colangelo knew this season was a write-off back when he fired Mitchell in December. And yet, instead of blowing this team up or swinging for the fences to try and re-tool on the fly, Colangelo did not listen to fan and media pressure (including several articles by yours truly calling him out). Instead, he sat patiently and gave his “coach-in-waiting” a chance to learn the job. He gave his young draft pick stud a chance to play his way into form. He gave his starting point guard a chance to heal a longstanding injury. He gave his disgruntled franchise player a chance to work through his personal issues without demanding on court results. He turned his O’Neal mistake into a solution for the wing issue and he gave his team a chance to either play its way into the playoffs or miss the playoffs and earn a top pick in this year’s draft. He sat back and let the story unfold.
And now where look where he and this team is heading this offseason:
They have locked up Triano and the next moves suggest that they will work to name Iavaroni and Messina as his assistants, which would give Toronto an excellent bench of strong basketball minds and a coach whom the players appear very fond of.
They appear to be moving forward with the idea of keeping the core of this team together and the next moves suggest that this summer’s focus will now shift to getting Bosh to sign an extension this summer (as a side note, I expect Bosh, Wade, and Lebron to all sign extensions this summer) and resigning Marion.
They have a top ten pick in this summer’s draft along with the commitment to buying a second pick later in the first round. The next moves suggest that those two picks should be able to bring the Raptors a good young PG and SG who are capable of playing 15-18 minutes a night at a relatively inexpensive rate.
They appear poised to both bring back Delfino and actively recruit players with some “toughness” as Colangelo mentioned in his state of the union address.
All of these actions suggest that the team should easily be able to improve on its 33 win season and win between 45-48 games next season. Good enough to make the playoffs…yes. Good enough to challenge Lebron…not even close.
So begins the Jay Triano era. An era that suggests several years of mediocrity in Raptorland appears to be the future: several years of 45-50 wins, and maybe even a playoff victory or two. However, if this team really wants to contend in the East, with the way Lebron is looking this spring, Colangelo is going to have to do more than just re-sign the “safe” choice because it makes everybody happy and MLSE is going to have to be prepared to spend over the cap and pay the penalty. Even the “big three” in Boston may not be enough to stop Lebron.
As always, standing in the key, I’m the Dr. I’ve got my feet planted and I’m planning on taking a charge!
phdsteve
41 Raps
Such a great article.
I must admit, as a Suns fan, part of me hates to see BC work well for the raptors. He was always our guy. But at the same time, he is why many Suns fans share such a fondness for the Raptors. He worked hard to build the team for which the Sarver/Kerr combo had the privilege of taking credit.
True, the Raptors had an absolutely atrocious year, the Sun isn’t rising in Phoenix. Previously, Robert Sarver was once quoted, the best position for this business to be in, is to always be contenders for as long as possible.
And that is just what they have planned to do here in Phoenix. Robert Sarver wouldn’t be able to stand to not profit off the team. He lacks dedication and fanship. He’s business first.
Which is why I envy the Raptors. Even if BC makes a bad move, he’s still acting out of the best interest of the team. You can be sure of that. Only a man that can survive being criticized for his decisions can come out of a battle the winner. Because giving in might as well be giving up.
The Raptors have the talent and it appears they are gathering up more of the personnel. Having BC on your side is golden.
Yeah great article.
Messina is unproven though and JVG is a second round playoff coach at best, like his brother. Nothing to brag about.
Yes Colangelo is trying to build a “family”. Cheap unproven coaches, scouting, GM lack of acumen, poor broadcasting, and all relatively cheap. We’re a homeless family.
Ontario teachers Pension is worth $ 111 billion and we cannot field a single team that can have some playoff success? Unacceptable.
You think they can pull in 2 guys from the draft that can offer 15-20min a night, keep their core from this year (including signing Bosh to an extension and re-signing Marion), and achieve a 15 win swing next season?
I love and respect your optimism, but I do have a question…did they at least change the flavour of kool-aid you are drinking or is it the same one that they had you drinking before the season?
binarybasketball says:
May 13, 2009 at 5:54 am
The Raptors have the talent and it appears they are gathering up more of the personnel. Having BC on your side is golden.
————————
It’s golden for MLSE. They hired him because he can bring them financial success as supposed to winning. If they wanted to win then they meetup with someone from the San Antonio organization. Our “core” are 3 players that would be anywhere from 3rd up to an 9th option on a contending team.
Calderon a starting PG ? That’s laughable. He wouldn’t play a single minute on the current Cavs team.
Bosh lead a team? He’d be a 3rd option on the current Lakers team.
Bargnani a starting Center? He wouldn’t see a single minute in the current Denver team.
Our starters are not starters and our role players are not NBA material and we have a coach who is a Yes man to MLSE.
Gotta love the offseason….all teams start on equal footing and all fans have a true sense/belief in optimistic things to come….
GIVE THEM A FUCKING CHANCE!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I know Calderon had a bad year and everyone is tired of his hamstring being an excuse. However, you can’t deny that he is worthy of the starting spot on a playoff team. At the end of this season, Calderon was able to stop penetration far better than when he was during the middle (when he was injured).
Secondly, Bargnani is definitely on his way to becoming a 20 and 8-10 guy. When he makes up his mind early, he is capable of torching his man of the dribble, or shooting over him. He has also become a much more solid defender over the past year, fouling far less and forcing some bad shots. It’s totally unfair to even say he wouldn’t play a minute on Denver. In my opinion, the only reason he wouldn’t play any minutes on Denver is because he doesn’t have enough tattoos.
However, I do agree with you that our role players are far from being ready to sustain a lead, or even build on one. If we’re going to do anything in the playoffs, we need a bench that brings energy into the game, as opposed to one that blows leads constantly.
Why can’t I deny that he’s worth of a starting spot on a playoff team? You, like many others, is reading a lot into the last quarter of the season when we were out of contention and playing out the string. Yes, Calderon got better and healthy but the opposition also got a lot worse. I’m not going to burn him at the stake (only because of his injury) but if his defensive issues aren’t fixed next year he becomes a much greater liability than an asset. Even BC himself hinted at that in his presser.
I say we get him healthy and evaluate him for the first part of next season. Make a decision then.
Right now our role players don’t bring any scoring or defense on their own. Kapono is dependent on others for his shot, Roko is raw, Pops is a garbage-man and so is Kris. Strengthening the bench is as much of a priority as replacing Parker as a starting SG. We have a lot of work to do and I don’t see us having the assets to do so (unless we nail the draft). Unless we trade Bosh.
Well, I will put it this way:
I give Caldy a 70 % chance to be a starter elsewhere around the NBA.
On a playoff team ? Probably only LA
On the other hand, this season show us that TJ isn’t a starter in Indiana either so I still think that BC made the right call.
On Andrea: I think that he can start on at least 15 team. And I bet that when AB will become a FA, he will receive quite a number of calls, of which only one is a real risk that is NY. Great city, full of Italians, he is one of the few Center that can run.
On CB4, I think that he can replaces Gasol anytime on LA. It doesn’t show it because Raps doesn’t have Kobe. That is the real issue.
Good points J…this is depressing and it might be true. The Lakers, Nuggets and Cavs are insane. I can’t belive how good thier players are. They have guys off the bench who are just nuts. Man…I can’t belive how far off that is for the Raps
I think that the goal of an nba team must be : top 4. reach the final of your conference.
to come to this , barring to find an all-star in draft, we have a long way to walk.
the first thing for triano is to decide which game he wants to play, and then choose a point guard that can run it. than follows the other players.
bosh: the best asset of the team. he is, at his best, a 2nd option. Is he ready to accept this? maybe he is, but until now he has proven the opposite.
maybe if a rain of dollars will wash him this summer, and a star came along, he will accept that role.
but the signs are not pointing in that direction.
bosh\bargnani\marion are one of the best frontline in the league, IF bosh plays the garbage man. but also in this (hard) case , the team lacks talent in the backcourt.
more than bosh, I’d be happy to trade Calderon. he’s not that bad.
but at his best, he’s just average.
“bosh: the best asset of the team. he is, at his best, a 2nd option. Is he ready to accept this? maybe he is, but until now he has proven the opposite.”
How has he ‘proven the opposite’? Who should he have handed the team’s offense over to? Bargnani? Bargnani and Bosh are both high usage players on this team. The difference is Bosh scores much more efficiently. So the plan is to take away Bosh’s possessions, give them to Bargnani (who already gets a good chunk when he feels like bombing away), and suffer a significant drop in the team’s offensive performance?
offensively,bosh is a ball stopper.he shares very little…thinks, pump fake, pump fake, jump shot…and our attack becomes murky.
that’s not a recipe for success….just for mediocrity.
None the less, he’s the only player on the team capable of commanding a double team, and his individual offensive performance translates over to the overall team’s offensive efficiency much more than Bargnani. 82games is a pretty good resource to look into this yourself.
It’s easy to call Bosh a ball stopper (cuz he is to a degree) but what can you expect when you give him a handoff at the high post with half a shot clock and say “go win it for us” with no movement from the other 4 guys. Try doing that to any NBA post player and you’ll see low percentages (except maybe Dirk).
The lack of an offensive set of plays rest on the shoulder of that s.m., I agree that doesn’t help the growth of any player
Great Article, and I too love the optimism.
Regarding the second draft pick; I would like to see them get the 18th pick from Minny (who has 3 first rounders by the way). I am not sold on drafting a PG with this late pick however, I would take Tyler Hansborough, as others have suggested. He would/could fill that David Lee type role, IMO. The first pick should be Demar Derozen…freak of an athlete.
PhdSteve, why is it that Messina is most likely going to become an assistant? Have you something somewhere? I would love for that to happen, I think he would be awesome on our bench. Ivaroni seems to be a lock for sure…Forget about English/Evans or that other dude, I say we should try and bring PJ Carlisimo on as an assistant as well, and Boogie in the role that has been discussed as of late…what a combo.
completely agree with buying a pick in that range and selecting hansborough…the guy was what the best college player on the best team for the past 3 years??? i am not an expert, but i dont see how this guy isnt a lottery pick…what do they mean his skills wont translate…i bet if we take that guy with a mid-late first round selection, we would be ecstatic with how he turns out…at worst, he is a far more capable backup than anything we have at the 4 now….as for the first (lottery) pick, if we dont move up/down and derozan is still there, i guess it seems he is the best bet…my hope is we get lucky and get #3 and can taken harden
Totally agree if we select at 9 then Derozan aka Vince light is the right choice….Harden at number 3 if we should happen to move up would be dope as hell.
Hansbrough isn’t a lottery pick for many reasons.
1) He is undersized for the PF/C position in the pros
2) He is not strong, skilled or athletic enough against most starting 4/5s in the NBA
3) He dominates in the NCAA only because of his strength/size relative to other PF/Cs
Basically, if he can’t bully his way into the post…he won’t be effective offensively at the NBA level. He might get by as a guy who becomes an active rebounder and as a guy who is active when setting screens, but that’s all he will ever be.
That is the exact type of player that this team needs, a banger/rebounder, he would certainly help off the bench. I wasnt suggesting that he would be our starting PF (we have 2 of those already) He would be an upgrade on our bench…BC you have some moves to make, please get Minny’s pick and take this guy, you won’t be dissapointed…
To me and controversially, the WHITE GUY who dominates college never really seems to do very good to AMAZING in the NBA since the 90’s. Simple as that, unless he finds it in himself to be extra assertive and really break the odds. For David Lee, he didn’t get any hype at all for his draft class and he was a very late 1st rounder, so he had the advantage to overachieve and pop out of nowhere.
From what I’m reading, DeRozan and Evans could both be gone by the time the Raptors pick (assuming they’re in the 8-10 range). Maybe that Miami cash will have to be used to move up. Memphis and Minnesota might be willing to swap picks for some cash.
if we use the cash to move up, i will be disappointed if its not to the 1, 2, or 3…it would be a waste to move up to the 4-8 and use that magical “cash”
First up, sorry for the Messina typo.
to address some of the points raised above:
Ive heard from a fairly reliable source that there has been discussions between the team and Messina- AND IF (and its a fairly big if) he cant land a head coaching job in the NBA for next year, he would consider coming to TO as an assistant to help with the transition from the Euro to NBA game.
As for DeRozen, he is sure to go top 8. Can the raps get him at 8- maybe- it all depends on the ping ping balls. I like DeRozen much more, but Harden will be the first SF to go in the draft and Tyreeke Evans may even go above DeRozen depending on the teams drafting.
I also dig TylerHans but there is no need to spend a top 20 pick on him. He does do all the things the above bloggers mention, but he will still be there in the second round.
At the #18 pikc (one of Minny’s 3 first rounders), one of 11 pgs currently projected as possible first rounders will be available. You wont get Rubio or Holiday at 18 but you might get Flynn, Cathales, Maynor, Teague, Lawson, Collison, and maybe even a guy like Jennings who might drop. All of these guys have NBA game- some, like Jennings, Lawson, Maynor, and Cathales have serious NBA upside (and lots of people love Flynn, but Im not sold on him).
I would really like to grab Cathales at the end of the first round I really like him at Florida. He would be much better then roko right away and could give u minutes at both guards spots because he is a big point at 6′5″.
and he is easily the best passer in the draft.
And a great shooter. I think he has the best career of anyone not selected in the top 10 of this draft. Hell with a few lucky breaks (good teams and coaching) hes a top 5 player in this draft class and a really solid pg for a while in the league.
he sounds like another calderon. can he play any D?
Hes not really a great defender, but no point guard is gonna look like a great defender in our defensive system till our bigs learn to hedge and recover on p & r’s. Averaged a bunch of steals in College, but lacks elite quickness to stay with speedy point guards.
I would love for Messina to come but come on… If he cant sign as a headcoach in the NBA he is just going to go coach somewhere in Europe. The only chance we had landing him was with a head coach position which is now filled by Triano. I really hope ur “source” is right….
As for our pick i say we grab Derozan, or Tyreke. Reke is big enough to play the 2 (he is about 6-5). I also say that we should make a serious offer to get Harden, i think he is going to be a major stud in the NBA.
http://sports.yahoo.co/nba/news;_ylt=AtckX34Df1HqpUc1lSfysmu8vLYF?slug=aw-nbacoaches120508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
its from dec 08 just after Sam got fired.
not my source, but just another example of how this discussion is much older than my post today or last month (when I first posted the idea of Messina as an asst on the republic)
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-nbacoaches120508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
not sure if the link in my last post was working?
YOU ARE WRONG…
Ettore Messina aint coming to the NBA as an assistant. A coach that has won as much as he has on the European and International stages coming to the NBA as an assistant would send a message that devalued the European game and he doesnt believe so. I should know…
I am his child.
tell your dad that we love him in Toronto and that his time as the asst to Triano wouldnt be very long before he would take over as the “top guy.”
btw, I think Maurizio Gherdini’s son posted a message saying the same thing about a top GM coming over to the NBA as an asst GM a couple of years back….do you guys know each other?
I agree that its insane for him to have to come over here as an asst- and that he would have been an excellent choice to replace SMITCH, but- it is what it is.
Speaking of assistant coaches. Jeff Van Gundy said on Bill Simmons’ podcast that he would be willing to come back to coaching as an assistant. Hmmmm….
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index
If the raps can hopefully get lucky and have the 5th or 6th pick. . . My first pick would be derozan, people say this wont be a good pick because the man can’t dribble. . . Well i herd when Micheal jordan came into the nba there were a lot of doubters who didn’t think he could dominate due to his dribbling skills. His stock went up in the ncaa tournament. . . But he worked on his weaknesses. I’m sure all these players read their weaknesses and try to improve upon them. . . Second thing I would do, since it’s a weak draft teams from 8-12 will be willing to move out of the lottery because of lottery cash players receive. I would try getting another pick and may be target a guy like tyreke evans, brendon jennings, or holiday, or even a guy like flynn. if BC can pull something like that off, it’ll make my day as a raptors fan!
Im getting worried guys. BC has stated he has a fetish for character nice, polite media guys. Look at the players he’s acquired thus far. Sure you can be A nice guy but a tough mother fucker on the court but I wouldn’t bank on him drafting an athletic freak of nature. I hope these guys don’t have any legal problems.
” I don’t buy his interviews that the team is too nice, we’re trying to change. bring in Maniacal men”
Because of politics, I will not be surprised if we select Andy Rautins with our pick. Already he likes that kid from Niagra falls as well. He wants a media likeable all European and Canadian team.
And you do, If it came down to a soft Canadian player and Jr Smith for example, who would he rather sign?
Also Triano hiring this early was a stupid choice and short sighted.
Stan van Gundy might be getting boot if Orlando loses.
Jeff van Gundy wants to coach again, 76′ers name came up
Byron Scott
Avery Johnston
I think BC talks so much and so often that no one buys what he says anymore.
Both Byron Scott and Stan Van are not going anywhere. JVG would be great but we can’t afford him and Avery Johnson choked big time.
Triano, unfortunately, was the best and only choice.
Dirk choked not Avery.
If the 2009-2010 season was to start tomorrow, each of the following teams might be expected to challenge for the 8 playoff positions in the EC ahead of the Toronto Raptors:
1. Cleveland
2. Orlando
3. Boston
4. Atlanta
5. Philadelphia
6. Miami
7. Chicago
8. Detroit
—————————–
9. Indiana
10. Charlotte
11. Milwaukee
12. New Jersey
13. New York
14. Washington
Those who think that this organization has not gone in reverse or, at best, remained stuck in neutral, since Feb 2006 … are wearing rose-coloured glasses.