Triano vs. his Team

deception · Mar 22, 2010

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/783175--time-for-triano-to-take-a-stand

It's been said that if an NBA coach is foolish enough to take advice from the media or the fans, he'll soon be sitting among them.

So I'm definitely not recommending that Jay Triano secure a copy of the recent issue of Esquire magazine, the one that contains words of wisdom from John Wooden, one of basketball's great gurus. But if somebody who gives a hoot happens to buy it for him, be sure to highlight the part in the interview in which Wooden lays down a timeless law of the hardwood with which Triano seems shockingly unfamiliar, specifically: "If a player's not doing the things he should, put him on the bench. He'll come around."

Wooden, of course, is 99 years old now, which goes to show that nailing bums to wood is not the invention of knee-jerk sports scribes or failed coaches who took advice from such. It is, to the contrary, as timeless a team-building concept as has ever existed.

And yet, while Triano's key problem has been coaxing defensive effort out of his squad, he has been loathe to dispatch pine-scented discipline to his biggest defensive slouches.

Take Andrea Bargnani, who put in as lifeless a defensive performance as you'll ever witness in the first half of Saturday's win over the biblically-bad Nets. Bargnani, the alleged Toronto centre, mostly watched as Nets counterpart Brook Lopez ransacked the paint. Lopez racked up eight rebounds by intermission, four of them on the offensive end, while Bargnani pulled down exactly one rebound. And if Triano was actually holding players accountable for their effort in the trenches, Bargnani would have been parked for the evening.

But Bargnani somehow earned the privilege of 15 second-half minutes, only a couple fewer than his average and third-most on the squad. And hey, if I'm Bargnani's apologist (and yes, I understand that Bryan Colangelo already has the gig), I point out that the manly Italian doubled his rebounding production in the second half, when he had two boards.

This, of course, brings up a core issue in Raptorland: Colangelo, the Raptors' president and general manager who selected Bargnani with the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft and who gifted the kid a generous contract extension about a year ago, has much invested in seeing Bargnani succeed. The investment can't simply be measured in cap space – it's more like a mountain of pride and ego and Colangelo's very human desire to prove his costly faith in Bargnani is well-founded. And Triano is clearly beholden to Colangelo for his very existence as an NBA head coach.

But Triano, if he wants a career as an NBA head coach beyond this, has to make his own decisions here. No one is saying they're easy decisions. He can't bench the whole team. The options in reserve aren't particularly appealing. Every win is important.

But if you won't sit a guy against the Nets, when are you going to sit him? And if you don't recognize that defence will be the story of this season, understand that the Raptors, with Saturday's 100-90 win, have now won 27 consecutive games in which they've held teams to under 100 points, the longest current streak in the NBA. As offensively potent as the Raptors are, all they need to do is play a tiny bit of defence. It's not a Herculean requirement. Half the teams in the league are holding opponents under 100 this season. Triano, at some point, has to make it known that he won't stand for all the standing around while the other team scores and rebounds at will.

Bargnani hasn't been the only slacker during the ongoing slump. Chris Bosh has apparently decided to recommence playing like an all-star, but Hedo Turkoglu continued to loaf through his early retirement in Saturday's first half, after which he somehow earned the second-half luxury of 16 minutes, second-most on the team.

For playing him, Triano got to hear Turkoglu spend another post-game scrum complaining about his miscast role to any U.S.-based scribe who cared to listen. At some point, that has to stop. Turkoglu has to start playing hard. Such is the reality of guaranteed contracts that Triano has but one card to play, and it's playing time.

But don't take it from the media. As Reggie Evans, the Raptors forward, was saying on Saturday: ``We're playing like we're in a rec league – prima donna-style basketball. That's what we're playing right now."

Evans didn't name names, but you don't need to be John Wooden to understand who needs to be brought around.
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speeds · Mar 22, 2010

Feschuk must be in his glory right now with things going pear shaped.

speeds · Mar 26, 2010

The effort was there tonight but we got burned by Bosh and Jack in the fourth quarter.

Sonny Weems could be a star in this league. If I had to pick between him and DD it would be a tough call.

Master Shake · Mar 27, 2010

Weems is special. If I were BC I would do whatever I could to keep Weems and DD.

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Triano vs. his Team

deception JBB Banned Member

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Triano vs. his Team

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deception JBB Banned Member

speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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Master Shake young phoenix

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