"You can’t have too many voices," Triano said yesterday. "We need to challenge each other, yes; but we all have to have the same basic philosophies or it won’t work."
With NBA-wide speculation rampant that Triano will eventually hire former Memphis head coach Marc Iavaroni as his lead assistant, no one connected with the Raptors would confirm even that contact between the sides had been made. Iavaroni, who spent a week in Toronto near the end of the NBA season in a consultant’s role, is currently in Asia helping conduct league-sponsored clinics.
Triano said he has no firm timetable to fill out the staff, content to work with general manager Bryan Colangelo and the scouting staff in the run-up to the June 25 draft.
Jay Triano’s summer just got a little busier thanks to the folks running one of the most successful international basketball programs in the world.
USA Basketball will announce today that Triano will be the lead coach for USAB’s summer national senior team program in July, a precursor to the preparations for the 2010 world championships and the 2012 London Olympics.
Augmenting the Fastbreak – Given the Raptors’ perpetual inability to win close games and hold on to leads, they should be all about (that’s pronounced "a-boot" in Ontario) bringing in more speed and athleticism to improve the category in which Toronto was dead last when Triano took over the team. They did improve quite a bit, but still have a ways to go.
I think that in time Roko Ukic can be a solid NBA point guard and improve his shooting and end-of-clock decisions.
Marcus Banks has an inconsistent resumé, so I think the Raptors might need some insurance in case Calderon ever were to miss games and/or play at less than 100 per cent (see this past season).
O’Neal began the program last Sunday, and Rautins, himself a graduate of the Newhouse School and former basketball star at Syracuse, was called in Tuesday to help O’Neal with a number of segments.
While Rautins has always been impressed with O’Neal the player, he came away with high praise for O’Neal the aspiring broadcaster.
"He’s really funny," said Rautins, who splits his time between Syracuse and Toronto. "I always thought he’d be great to play with for that reason, but he was very good at this, too. I’d put him in the top three or four player analysts in the league right now, no offence to who’s out there. He’s just so colourful and so fun."
Rautins said it’s clear O’Neal envisages himself as having a presence on radio and as a studio analyst down the road. To that end, Rautins was featured as a guest on the The Shaq Show and also joined him on a panel as part of a mock pregame show.
With a couple of months to the African Basketball Nations Cup, Libya 2009, NBA’s Toronto Raptors general-manager, one of the three shortlisted coaches for the male team, Masai Ujiri has expressed willingness to coach D’Tigers to the competition.
The ex-basketball international said it is not about Nigerian Basketball Federation showing it value but how to make the country do well in Libya.
A number of teams are already reportedly sending out feelers indicating that they would like to acquire a pick in the late first round—including the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. A few teams that are rumored to be looking to trade or sell their picks are the Oklahoma City Thunder (#25), Minnesota Timberwolves (#28) and New Orleans Hornets (#21).
Toronto Raptors- This team needs all the help they can get. They traded Jermaine O’Neal hoping to gain a better offensive position which they failed at and Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker (both unrestricted free agents) might not be back. The Raptors need an all around player to work both ends of the court.
KGood says: DeMar DeRozan, SG or Earl Clark, SF
9. Toronto Raptors (Pete): Tyreke Evans, PG/SG, Memphis
This is a team in trouble. Chris Bosh wants out, Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion are leaving and their second best player might be Andrea Bargnani. I’m going with the best player available, and in my opinion, that is Tyreke Evans. Evans was the best player on Memphis as a freshman, and led his team to the Sweet 16 while winning National Freshman of the Year. He can get to the basket and is creative scorer, something that Toronto doesn’t have right now. Could end up as a steal at #9
While in Secaucus at the NBA Draft Lottery last night, we had the chance to chat with General Managers Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors and John Hammond of the Milwaukee Bucks to get their thoughts on this year’s draft class and what their team needs to do to avoid returning here next May.
Raptorts head coach joins the late night vampire Norm Rumack from Las Vegas to talk about the upcoming season as he addresses some of the teams needs, his transition from assistant coach and the NBA playoffs
Raptors Vice President stops by Primetime Sports to discuss all things Raptors, and discuss the process of preparing for the NBA Draft.
9. Toronto Raptors – Earl Clark SF/PF
21 years old; 6?9?; 220 lbs.
Louisville, Junior
9. Toronto Raptors- G Tyreke Evan, Memphis
Reason: This is probably the best-case scenario for the Raptors. Evans falls and they can play him alongside Jose Calderon or deal Calderon away for some big man help. Evans’ ability and potential might be enough after the first two months of the season to get Chris Bosh back on board with the retooling process. Evans has star potential and that’s what the Raptors need to attract big name guys to come to Toronto (or stay as is the case with Bosh).
Next best pick -Demar DeRozan is still that big name freshman on the board with a lot of talent and a lot of potential to become a star player.
Now that the order for the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery has been determined, and no teams from the Eastern Conference dramatically improved their selection slot, it becomes a lot more interesting to project which teams might become legitimate contenders for the 8 playoff positions next year.
If the season was to start tomorrow, each of the following teams might well be expected to become a more serious threat than the Toronto Raptors, given the current state of their personnel:
Let us into your life… @raptorsrepublic, @altraps, @arsenalist, @rapsfan
Let us entertain you… come back later today for an article sure to garner some discussion.
13 Raps
I like these posts. Beats reading the papers..
BC should hire Chef Boyardee to bring in more paisans … ciao
http://www.flickr.com/photos/truth_about_it/3549835549/in/set-72157618557520248/
really into “the morning coffee”…think its a great idea.
here is hoping that we actually do get tyreke evans (aka someone who can create his own shot/run the backup point when need be)…i just dont think he will be available.
i am big on the tyreke evans call for the raps…i said that on this very website back during the tourney…(i think he would be the right call at 9….him or derozanl…unless harden is available…haha
I like Evans, I really do. He would be a good pick. However the best move is to draft best available even if it is a PG and trade Jose for a wing player. Stephen Curry is a future NBA superstar a cross between Mark Price, Steve Nash, Joe Dumars, John Stockton and on defence he needs work but can he be worse than Jose???? No
I think maybe Monta Ellis and Golden State maybe not be too happy with each other there and I may be able to get Ellis for Calderon and maybe a future draft pick.
Curry
Ellis
Marion or sign trade for Ariza or something of similar quality
Bosh
Andrea
Looks good to me….
Yes I will get a decent backup PG but Curry is the real deal…….
He would embrace Toronto and Canada and would be the best move this franchise could make…. I like Evans, I like Derozan, I like Clark but Curry will be the best player not named Griffin including Rubio, Jennings etc….
curry is a “nice guy” we don’t need anynmore of those players who can be pushed around…..
yo check the stats before you start hating on jose:
4th in assists in the NBA
1st in free throw %
1st in assist to turnover ratio
and 25th in FG % in the whole NBA right behind chris paul and steve nash….AND thats with a bum hamstring….
give him a break he is in his prime now lets see what happens before trading away our talent like so many Raps fans LOVE to do.
You should be looking at the stats in their proper context.
Offensive efficiency can’t be looked at by itself, especially when Calderon’s usage is well under 20% and most of his assists are on long semi contested 2 point jump shots. Let’s quote his dazzling FT% and not mention that he only shoots a little over 2 per game. Heck, based on offensive efficiency alone Andres Biedrins is a far superior scorer than Chris Bosh, except for the fact he’s a glorified garbage man and uses less than 15% of his team’s possessions to Chris Bosh’s 28%.
Lots of guards can pound the ball outside the arc for 15 seconds hoping for the perfect play to materialize, and when it doesn’t (much of the time) they can dump the ball into a Bosh iso or swing it to Parker for a low percentage jumpshot against a set defense. It’s called passing the bucket, since Jose won’t make the play himself. It’s no wonder Calderon’s efficiency looks so squeaky clean while the overall team’s is subpar.
First of all i didnt mention his “offensive efficency”-Jose’s ranked 42 in efficency on nba.com
In the ‘proper context’, Calderon had an good season with a pretty significant injury…..you havta admitt, at the beginning and at the end of the season (wen he was healthy) he played well, well enough to put him statistically at the the top of some categories.
you’re right—I dont think he drove to the hoop (aka: ocho special) like in previous seasons because of his hammy. But 4th in the league in assists is no joke, i dont care what context its in.
he is also one of the most vocal raptors on the court (mybe even more than bosh)= something that this team needs & something i think they missed wen he was injured.
all im saying is give him a chance with a half healthy season on defense before trade talk.
plus theres a lot of free agent guards out there that are good on defense that we could add:
Andre Miller SG & Jarett Jack SG
it is a moot point because he won’t be there at 9. the knicks will take him at 8.
Where can i buy that hat :O
lol….
Is that a vintage 1997 hat?! looks like something you would wear in a “special camp”.