At no time during his brief run as head coach has Triano been given such a clean slate to establish his principles and mentality.
In the past, there was always some agenda at play that worked against Triano.
Mind you, there always remains the possibility of GM Bryan Colangelo making yet another move to upgrade the roster, but the stage has been set for Triano to leave his mark.
How he handles the upcoming season will determine how many additional seasons Triano will oversee the team as its head coach.
Triano was swarmed on Saturday in a session that was more about nostalgia than any on-court strategy or development.
He’s under the spotlight, but it has nothing to do with his days at SFU or his past connection with the Vancouver Grizzlies or whether this market is NBA-worthy.
This is Triano’s time and regardless of the losses that are sure to be produced, he and his staff have to show Colangelo that progress is being made, that players such as DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson make inroads, that the team develops more of a defensive edge, that capitulation doesn’t even become an option.
Triano is more than capable.
Oddly, so much can be gained when so little is being expected.
for Jose Calderon, who has seen his fair share of far-flung training camp locales in his six seasons with the Raptors, the reasons for loving this excursion are far simpler and more personal.
Nature. And the whales.
“Every camp has something different but Vancouver, I think, cannot compare with the other ones,” the 29-year-old Spaniard said after Toronto went through its first workout here Saturday. “There is water, mountains. You’ve got a little bit of everything, whatever you want. There’s diversity here.
“I love all natural stuff. I love the mountains, I love the whales. I hear we are very close to the whales. It’s got to be one of my favourite cities, for sure. I want to come here and go up to Alaska and all that stuff.”
Calderon fancies himself some kind of nature buff and was hugely excited about the chance to explore the local scene.
Having been in St. Catharines, Europe, Waterloo and Ottawa twice on these end-of-camp forays, he’s never had a chance to indulge in his passion.
Yes, he got to stay at his home in 2007 when the Raptors ended camp and played an exhibition game in Madrid, but even that didn’t have what Vancouver can offer.
“I love whales,” he said. “Killer whales, humpbacks, beluga, whatever. And now is a good time for killer whales and humpbacks.”
Trouble is, that pesky basketball stuff might keep him from really getting out and seeing things.
“We have no time but I am trying to do it. The problem is it’s like a four-hour trip. You have to go out there, wait, come back. We practise at noon every day and it’s tough. If we go after practice, it’s already three and it’s night at six.
“Let’s see, maybe I can find a helicopter or something.”
One of the major questions to be answered at training camp for the Raptors is who will start alongside Andrea Bargnani in the frontcourt.
If coach Jay Triano has any idea who that might be, he’s not letting on.
He’s lauding every possibility.
“We think there’s a couple of guys,” he said after the Raptors worked out at the University of British Columbia on Saturday. “I think that Reggie (Evans) is a very good player with him on the floor, I think that Amir (Johnson) is a very good player with him on the floor because they set good screens, they roll hard to the basket, the don’t demand the basketball a lot but they still find ways to come up with it.
I think we can have (Linas) Kleiza on the floor with Andrea, too, that will create another shooter and if teams are even thinking about double-teaming, it’s not going to happen.”
Triano said he’s not about to worry about figuring out specific starting units yet because he has other issues to deal with in the final three practices before Wednesday’s pre-season opener against the Phoenix Suns.
“For the most part, it’s cleaning up our offence and adding a few more plays,” he said. “This is only practice No. 7, we have to keep adding, do different (defensive) coverages and drilling them.”
Surrounded by a bevy of reporters in front of a backdrop sporting both the Raptors and UBC Thunderbirds logos, the 52-year-old said it was nice to be back in B.C.
“When (general manager) Bryan (Colangelo) had mentioned it a year and a bit ago, about the potential of coming here, I was very excited obviously,” said Triano, whose team opened camp in Toronto on Tuesday.
“To be able to come home and be around friends and some family members here, it’s an ideal situation for me.”
Triano said there are still plenty of basketball fans in the Vancouver area, though the departure of the Grizzlies for Memphis in 2001 didn’t help.
The Raptors were a fierce rival while the Grizzlies were still B.C.-based, but Triano said he could see some fans discarding past allegiances and cheering for Toronto.
“I know that there are some basketball fans here still,” he said. “Our games do go across the nation on a lot of broadcasts and it’s fun to have so many people see them live.”
2010-2011 Outlook:
A year ago, the Raptors suffered the heartbreak of missing out on the post-season by one game. There will not be any drama like that this season as Toronto will be battling for the worst record in the NBA and hopes of landing the top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
To put it bluntly, Toronto’s starting line-up looks like a second string unit for a title contending team. Andrea Bargnani now goes from being Bosh’s wingman to the number one option. Kleiza and Barbosa will provide some scoring punch while the Raptors will hope Demar DeRozan will take a major step during his second season. Toronto might have the worst collection of power forwards in the league so replacing Bosh will be even more difficult than anticipated.
The point guard situation was a bit of a mess last season. Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon split time in the starting line-up but neither real cemented themselves as “the guy.” Calderon saw a dip in his production and was almost traded this summer to Charlotte. Expect the Raptors to try and dump his remaining two years, $20.3 million deal on someone this season in hopes of clearing up cap space for next off-season.
Looking Ahead to Next Summer:
Toronto will have a pair of first round picks next season (their own which figures to be in the top five and the Heat’s which will likely be in the late 20’s) so that will help the re-building process. If Leandro Barbosa opts out of the final year of his deal, the Raptors could have somewhere around $20 million in cap space. The problem is Toronto is not exactly on the wish lists of any major free agents meaning the team will either have to overpay to land a big name or possibly swing a trade to take on a star player’s expensive contract.
Although Triano has lived in Toronto since becoming a Raptors assistant in 2002, those closest to him, like Stewardson, remain fiercely loyal: "I live and die with the Raptors. I can feel what is in his stomach and what is in his guts because we’ve been there together. I was so upset with (former Raptor Hedo) Turkoglu last year. I was livid looking at that guy with all the talent he had just going through the motions, because he was hurting Jay."
Adds O’Brien, whose Ontario-to-B.C. journey mirrors that of his mentor: "If I hadn’t left Ottawa, I’d be working in the government or something and never seen the things I have or doing what I am doing for my profession. Jay was the best man at my wedding and I met my wife here and I have two beautiful girls. Sometimes I think about it. Eighteen years ago we were having lunch at the pub on campus and now we’re at a party at the W Hotel in Phoenix on all-star weekend. I’m just thinking to myself, ‘What’s going on? When did this happen?’ All of my success in life came down to a decision to want to be led by a guy like Jay."
Amir Johnson is set to assume more of a leadership role for this franchise as he is now part of the blocks the Raptors franchise will attempt to build around.
Amir Johnson has always had tremendous potential but this year at 23, might be the year this so-called NBA veteran puts it all together and maximizes the opportunity afforded to him by Bosh leaving the Raptors for the Heat.
The most enticing parts of AJ’s game is his defensive ability in both rebounding and blocking shots as well as his ability to crash the offensive boards quite successfully.
His athleticism and explosiveness on both sides of the ball will endear him to Raptor fans
AJ has been working tirelessly on his offensive game and has added some range to his shot, he has also been working closely with Hall of Famer Alex English in an effort to further develop his game for an expanded role this season.
Amir Johnson is brimming with potential, lets all hope he can realize it in short order.
