Coaching Merry-Go-Round Filling Up

Bryan Colangelo said early the Raptors would not be seeking a new head coach. They did add an assistant in P.J Carlesmio. But those empty coaching positions are starting to fill up. Avery Johnson will need to work on his Russian as he is expected to take the job as coach of the Nets. Johnson is a former coach of the year and has been working with ESPN, now is getting back behind the bench. I have to admit I am a bit surprised. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov had tried to get Coach K from Duke. He also wants to be in the hunt for Lebron James. So you thought he might make an offer Phil Jackson could not refuse given his deep pockets. It is not that Avery Johnson is not a good coach, he won coach of the year in Dallas. Still, you just expected a much bigger splash from the Russian billionaire.

That being said Johnson is a solid hire and will be a major upgrade for the Nets. It is an exciting organization to be with given the new ownership. Johnson apparently was on the Hawks wish list as well but they will now have to look elsewhere. I had said earlier in the blog another former coach of the year seems a good fit in Atlanta. Sam Mitchell the former Raptors coach and ATL resident seems like the guy to me.

The other news buzzing is what the Cavs might do with there open coaching spot. The word is Tom Izzo the Michigan State coach is the guy they want. What this means for the Lebron chances of re-signing is anybodies guess. Izzo has had a tremendous track record at Michigan State. He has coached a number of players that have been successful on the next level. A few that haven't as well. I remember when Morris Peterson was with the Raptors he would talk with great regard for Izzo.

It seems like something that doesn't make a ton of sense for Izzo. If James leaves that is. I see it as similar to coming in after a legendary coach. A real no win situation. According to the Associated Press he is working on finalizing a deal that would pay him 6 million per-season for 5 years. Izzo has had other chances to make this jump before. In fact according to an article by Andy Katz's on ESPN the Raptors were one of the teams he considered once upon a time.

Izzo has really done it all in the NCAA winning a championship with that group "The FLINTstones" that included longtime Raptor Morris Peterson. He also recently took Michigan State all the way to the Final in Detroit when the city hosted the Final Four.

New Orleans recently filled there vacant coaching position with Monty Williams. This is his first job as a head coach in the NBA after being an assistant with Portland under Nate McMillan. Chicago of course still has there open coaching position after firing Vinny Del Negro. We already mentioned Atlanta with a open coaching position as well. We may have to wait till July 1st for the player free agency to get rolling. But the coaching free agent season is in high gear.

Phil Jackson is expected to take some kind of pay cut if he wants to remain in L.A. Most feel a return to Chicago is not in the cards as his departure from the Bulls was not pleasant. However if the Lakers win or lose a title, it would seem the Bulls are at least waiting to talk with Phil. They may even be waiting to talk to Doc Rivers? Who there was talk he might step away from the Celtics and take some time away from coaching. Doc Rivers just happens to be from Chicago right? So is D-Wade and Obama for those keeping track. Doug Collins started the ball rolling in leaving the TNT broadcast booth to join the Sixers. He was once rumored as a candidate before the Bulls ended up picking Del Negro. Jeff Van Gundy has said he will do at least 1 more year of broadcasting with ESPN/ABC. Which is great, now if some team would just hire Mark Jackson to coach and get him out of the booth that would be great too.

Lowest Point In Raptors History?

The Dino Nation Blog has only been around a couple years now. So the lowest point in the history of the Dino Nation Blog is for certain. The Dino Blogger has been a fan from day one long before there was blogs or a Dino Blogger. In the entire history of this franchise has there been a worse moment? The Vince Carter trade was a low moment and comes to mind. That was a low point but we had Chris Bosh as the young star who was going to lead us back from that. Which he did and took this franchise to some places that Vince never did. There was a 16 win season way back a long time ago. However in that season the Raptors level of expectation was not all that great. When you add up all that is going on with this team on and off the floor it could be the worst point ever. Bosh is now being painted with the same brush as Vince Carter and already is considered a dead lock to leave but many folks out there. In watching that mess last night in Memphis it is hard to make the case for Chris Bosh to stay. If you are Bryan Colangelo how do you look Bosh in the eye and say I will fix this and make it better. I mean this is a team that Colangelo built and he claimed was the most talented he has had in his time in Toronto. In firing Sam Mitchell that only served to put the spotlight of attention on Bryan. What has become clear is that Mitchell was not the only problem. Given how this team performed since he has left may just speak to how good a coach Mitchell was. People may debate that but hey this team has never played to a level that was better since Mitchell had his pay checks forwarded to Atlanta. The Raptors are now in a spot where they are bad but are not going to be bad enough to benefit at this point. That is unless they get lucky in the lottery. Today will attempt to go through all the bad and see what can be done to fix it short and long term for this franchise.

T.V Please

This one is the easiest of all. MLSE needs to tell Rogers and TSN to get their issue solved and they need to do it in a way that these folks will understand. How is that you ask? Well MLSE owns another property that both Rogers and TSN drool over. That being the Toronto Maple Leafs. It becomes really simple. MLSE can just hold the future of leafs broadcast over the head of both and say that they are fully willing to pull games from both Sportsnet and TSN in the future and put them on Leafs T.V. If you did that how fast do you think Rogers and TSN are a table signing a deal and singing we are the world. I am saying that it would take under 24 hours max.

I have been saying it all year. Regardless of who is the real villain, they all have insulted us as basketball fans. Even the best game of the year was buried on TSN. Maybe I am wrong screw the folks at MLSE. David Stern was a lawyer can you come up here and fix this mess. After all you brought basketball to Canada and I am sure you would like most of the country to be able to watch it. If they are unwilling to make a deal go to the CRTC and say that you want the rules changed so Raptors broadcasts can be part of NBA League Pass in Canada. But someone needs to step up and help us the fans of basketball here in Canada. Watching games on feeds and hoping you can find them. It may be fine for some. However to me it is just unacceptable to have to hunt down a game. It is not like I am trying to watch porn, I want to watch a basketball game. So why do I have to be made to feel dirty as if I were hunting the net for free porn?

2009/10 Starts Now

No more of this nonsense talk about the playoffs. The focus needs to be on next year and what the future of this franchise will be. The big question is will that future include Chris Bosh. If it is going to it will take an amazing effort from Bryan Colangelo to turn this team around in a hurry like he did when he first arrived on the scene. This is a lot more difficult a task however because Colangelo is not cleaning up a mess that was here and not his own. This is his mess and his mistakes that are looking back at him. Would another G.M walk in to this franchise and not blink in trading an Andrea Bargnani or even a Jose Calderon. They may if they felt they were not the right guys. It is always hard to admit you were wrong for anyone. You also are fearful that you give up on a player to soon and have that come back to bite you.

Joel Bosh Save Us!!!

Maybe they should sign Joel Bosh and that will convince Bosh to stay? I am only kidding but a fellow blogger had a chance to interview Joel and I wanted to give him a hook up with a link. So if you want to know more about Joel Bosh check out this interview.

But the serious changes that need to happen must start to happen now. Start looking for a real head coach for this franchise. Jay Triano is no doubt a smart basketball person but just has not been able to make that near impossible transition from assistant to head coach with the same organization. Not that he would but if I was making a list for Bryan Colangelo with my coaching candidates to take over this franchise here is my list.

Coaching Candidates of Dino Blogger

3. Avery Johnson- I like what he did in Dallas and think Mark Cuban over re-acted in his firing. The question would be in could Colangelo even convince him to come? Memphis tried and failed to get him out of his broadcasting job. Given that Grizzlies have young talent and Raptors are lacking in that regard and not much better it could be a very tough sell.

2. Jeff Van Gundy- Another person very happy in broadcasting. He also recently expressed his desire to have family time now that broadcasting allows. But he clearly still has the coaching bug. If Jeff Van Gundy can't make this defense better who on planet earth can? Again a tough sales job may be needed to convince him. If not for that he would be on top of this list. In my conversations with Jack Armstrong he speaks highly of both Stan and Jeff as coaches and I think he is a good fit to restore pride in this Raptor franchise that is in bad need of some.

1. Eddie Jordan- Look at what he did with the Wizards with very little. It all fell a part this year. But how long can any coach be expected to keep a team going with a star player that writes more blogs than plays basketball games. He has a good sound system of offense and without Gilbert Arenas has had the Wizards be able to play decent to great defense. He may not be on the top of many lists you will find out there to get this job, but hey lots of the people writing the lists also thought this team would be good. I was one of those as well. But point is there are no perfect answers.

Some names not on my list:

Mark Ivaroni- He to me had a chance to show his stuff with Grizzlies and failed to get it done. I am not sold on him and think he is a guy that was an assistant that showed he can not make the transition to being a head coach. Just cause Colangelo knows him and was rumoured to want him in the past does not mean he is or should be a candidate for this job.

Ettore Messina- I am not going to try to take away from what this man has accomplished. It is impressive what he has done in Europe and the Euro-League. That being said that is not the NBA. It has different rules and a entire different culture of how teams work and function. The power of the players in Europe is far less than that of the NBA players. I will not get into the nuts and bolts. Just in general coaches have far more power and control. There is also obvious rule variations and a learning curve for a coach as well. Any Euro coach that would come here great or not. Euro players have to take time to adjust to the NBA so why would a coach be any different? No thanks not now. Chris Bosh is not staying and no North American star player will go near Toronto to be part of this Euro experiment. The fact this guy's name is out there speaks to me that Maurizio Gherardini has to much of a voice in this team. I am tired of Raptors ignoring North American options for European ones. This team needs to stop having a Euro Bias and fast. In hiring Messina it would only increase that issue and make this team look more like a Euro League team than a NBA franchise which it is.

Don't Buy Into The Mirage

You can think this is Joey Graham bashing or whatever you care to think. But this is just proof of what I have said all along about Joey. When it means the least Joey plays his best. You can buy into all the hype and nonsense if you choose too. He is a athlete the likes this franchise has never seen. I include Vince Carter in that mix and anyone else. But here is the difference. Graham does not have the ability to show up and play in games when they mean something. Joey has always thrived at points when this team has been at some of it's worst points as a franchise. If you or more importantly the Raptors get fooled into it so badly that Graham is re-signed with the Raptors you will both get what you deserve. That is a flat out slap in the face back to reality when Joey fades back into the player he has always been. Flashes of great play after 4 years is not reason to lose your mind and ignore the 3 and half years that happened before it.

Ask yourself this when has Joey performed well when it meant a lot in his career other than his play down the stretch in the Division title year that some point too. Personally I think that gets overrated. Also I hear a lot of people saying trade Bosh and keep J.O? What has happened this season that makes people think that? When healthy which as been few and far between J.O has played well but better than Bosh? I mean Bosh is going to the All Star Game not J.O. Bosh was on team U.S.A not J.O. When J.O was team U.S.A had one of the worst performances ever internationally. But that is going far off topic. Point is Chris has a solid history with this team that has been disrespected and tossed aside. Why? Just because a couple knuckleheads like Jalen Rose and Steven A Smith said he was leaving? Even prior to that fans were booing the guy. This team is in rough shape and Chris has given everything he has all the time he has been here. A lot of the same people on his case now are the same ones that were on Vince Carter and saying he did not try and gave up on the team. Well Bosh has busted his butt and you hate on him too. So what is it exactly that you want? It seriously makes me sick. Some fans that can chat M.V.P for a guy and in a short amount of time later want to run a guy out of town. But it is nothing new. T.J Ford after his injury got a nice and well deserved cheer from the ACC crowd. By April he was booed and eventual wanted out of town by this same part of the fan base. I am a loyal person in all that I do and to see that kind of lack of loyalty in people really makes me angry. If you have never liked Chris Bosh or T.J Ford or whoever that is one thing. But to go with the wind or mob as the case maybe... is another. May people in your lives treat you that way as well. I mean seriously how would you like that. It is not fun if it happens to you.

The thing I find in all of this is it will bring out the worst in some people and it is just sad and painful to watch. I have said many times everyone wants what is best for this team but the way some of you go about that is just wrong. You can be upset, you can be angry, all of that. Heck, I am all of those things myself. But that does not mean you have to become some kind of person that is part of a mob of hate. Be angry at what has happened and not the people it is happening too. Judge them on their entire record not just the latest chapter of the story. Just some things to consider before you write that next Bosh hating post, or Colangelo, or whoever it is you blame for this mess. You can still have class and express your displeasure. It is possible but it is a lot easier to just react and say whatever is on the top of your head. It is going to be a very long trip to April 15th.

There is much more to cover, but hey by April 15th I am sure I will get to it all.

Raptors Face Early Challenge To Save The Season

Seems a bit extreme to say in late November. But back to back loses and a fan base that is clearly as frustrated as the Raptors if not more. The time has come to define just who and what this 08/09 Raptor season is going to be. Nothing in life is a sure thing but if I was to bet on it, I would say when we look back on this Raptor season we will point to this time period. Last season was defined by the injury to T.J Ford. It would shape everything that would follow that moment. That happened in early December so it may not be so crazy to suggest this. After back to back loses one that was heart breaking and the other humiliating the time has come for everyone to take a step back and evaluate what is going on. The trade for Jermaine O'Neal brought with it a ton of expectations from fans, media and the Raptors as well. But everyone understood that there was some risk to this move and that even though the Raptors could be better, it also left issues that could cause trouble. A lack of depth, no real back-up point guard and the health of Jermaine O'Neal. I also was concerned about Jose Calderon and his health given the lack of depth at point guard.

All of these issues are front and center at the moment. You can also add in a few others that were not on the table. Sam Mitchell and his coaching abilities. For some Raptor fans this issue was on their radar but I think most thought in the organization and the majority of the media that Sam was going to be o.k. Thus far it has been anything but o.k. The more games that pass the more that Sam Mitchell gets put under the microscope. There is also the total lack of production from the Raptor wing players which has caused Andrea Bargnani to play at the 3 spot because no one has shown worthy of the Raptors options beyond him. Anthony Parker at times looks old and out matched on defense and his shooting has been hot and cold to extremes. Jason Kapono has not shown the offensive production that fans would expect and hope for. He also has not shown any ability to be any kind of a defender. Jamario Moon has had is fairy tale rookie season go smashing into a wall of reality. Many wondered why it had took Jamario so long to make it to the NBA. This season may be showing us why that was. Also we have Joey Graham who is rapidly showing that despite his impressive athletic ability he does not have the basket ball IQ and energy to match that prototype body.

You even have just plain bad luck when it comes to the drafting of Nathan Jawai. He got knocked out of the box before he every has got started. Nobody could have imagined him getting sidelined by a heart condition and not being able to play at all. The Raptors in looking for another Jamario Moon in the rough came away with Hassan Adams who has been a complete bust of a signing and shows no signs of changing. The Raptors answer to help spell Jose Calderon while young Roko Ukic learns the NBA was Will Solomon. Beyond a truly great game vs Miami in replacing an injured Jose, he has been a turnover machine. Just about every gamble the Raptors took coming into this season has come up snake eyes.

Along with that while the Raptors have struggled the rest of the division with the exception of the Sixers are doing better than expected. The Knicks and Nets are not the basement dwellers that many might have expected. In fact as of right now the Raptors sit in last in the division they won just a couple years ago. The Celtics as we saw are just as dominate as they were last season. Even the Sixers after a slow beginning have turned it around a bit. So time to work your way through these issues may not be there for the Raptors.

You throw in a really lousy salary cap situation and not many chips that you can move it all is a pretty tough deal for the Raptors. The biggest chip you have to move is one of the few bright spots of an under .500 Raptors squad. Andrea Bargnani has now got to a level that if you traded him you would watch in fear that he may turn out to be the big star that he was promised to be by being selected #1 overall. I do not envy Bryan Colangelo at all. He faces a number of challenges and some of the choices he made are responsible for that. Also I am sure hearing that every NBA G.M is forming a line to sign away your star player in 2010 does not make you feel that good. It also probably was not great to watch that same player be totally frustrated to the point he did not want to talk to his team mates or anyone as he watched his team get humbled at the hands of the Celtics. He was taking a beating and not getting the touches he wanted and he was, as we all were embarrassed by his teams lack of defense.

So how does this team dig itself out of this mess. If you ask the fans they will mostly point the finger at Sam Mitchell and say that he needs to be fired. There is a number of candidates out on the market that could fill his seat. The top 3 names on that list would be Flip Saunders, Avery Johnson and Jeff Van Gundy. All of which would be considered the best 3 coaches not currently with a job in the NBA. If you made that change, the Raptors would have to learn a totally new system. Doing it with out much time for practice, with a lot of banged up bodies and a short roster.You have to wonder how easy that would be to do? It is easy to say fire Sam but that is something that you need to consider. I fully admit Sam Mitchell has not been making much of a case for keeping his job recently. But just by making a change the Raptors will not magically get better. It will take time and it may be time they just don't have in an improved Eastern Conference. I am not saying that makes Sam Mitchell bullet proof by any means. After every loss the chances increase that despite what I have laid out the Raptors may have no choice but to give it a shot.

However that coach will still face all that Sam Mitchell has had to deal with. The lack of depth and a bench, injuries to two of his three star players. A lack of a real option at point guard to play behind Jose Calderon. A team that has not been able to defend consistently. All of these issues will still remain with or without Sam Mitchell. These are issues some of which are things that Bryan Colangelo must address. He after all is the one that put this roster together. He is the one that handed these risks to Sam Mitchell to have to deal with. You can judge how Sam has dealt with those challenges but you have to include Bryan Colangelo in the mix for the construction of this roster. If Bryan feels that this is as much his fault in some ways it may not be as bad for Sam as people think. But still some of things of late are not exactly giving Bryan Colangelo reason to give Sam Mitchell a pass for some of the problems that Bryan put on his plate.

If Colangelo wants to correct his mistakes he has not exactly put himself in a good position to do that. Any move he could construct will almost have to involve going into the Luxury Tax which is a costly thing to do from a pure financial standpoint. Not to mention it seems that a number of teams are on the hunt looking to improve. Joe Dumars already pulled the trigger on the gun to start the race to get better by going after Allen Iverson. A number of teams in the east now search for their Answer. Cleveland, Orlando and Boston have all been teams looking to lure Antonio Mcdyess to not go back to the Pistons.

Raptor fans are always willing to help Bryan Colangelo do his job. They seem to be focused on Golden State and a couple of players on that roster. Marcus Williams and Marco Belinelli as targets for the Raptors. I am not sure about that to be honest. But I will say that at least Raptor fans pay attention. Williams was a guy Colangelo really liked in his draft year. In fact the Raptors were hard at work looking for a late first round pick to select him as he fell in the draft. But in the end they would not find a pick and the New Jersey Nets would select him and end up sending him to the Warriors once they brought in Devin Harris. After watching Harris on Friday it is easy to see why they did. Marco was also someone that the Raptors were rumoured to be high on in the draft. They also at least looked into the idea of moving up in the draft and getting a high pick to try to bring him to Toronto. The question is does that mean the Raptors still like these guys? If they do the question becomes what do they have that Golden State would want. Jason Kapono could be an option in that run and gun Warrior system. But why people think other teams are interested in Joey Graham is beyond me. The truth is if Joey had any value he would be gone already.

Whatever Bryan Colangelo does he must be mindful of Chris Bosh. It is not that Bryan Colangelo needs Bosh's stamp of approval to do anything he likes. But the fact that everyone is talking about 2010 and Chris Bosh is human and can not help but notice all the many articles, blogs and media that are suggesting and in some cases saying they know where he will be in 2010. But I do want to make a point for all of you folks that seem to think this matters. Actually I got 2 points for you. The first is that this is not the first time people have talked about Bosh prior to a contract expiring. Phil Jackson right in Toronto made a suggestion that was good enough to get him fined that he would have interest in Bosh coming to the Lakers. Still Chris Bosh would resign in Toronto and never end up with them. Also you have the example of Vince Carter to look at. V.C re-signed in Toronto and he did it to get the most money. He would after look to be traded out of town with that extra money in his back pocket. I think Chris Bosh is just as smart as Vince Carter and maybe even a lot smarter to be honest. Vince may have his UNC degree in Afro American studies but despite Bosh only having a year of college it is clear he is a highly intelligent young man. So it would make sense for him to resign with the Raptors and get a contract that offers him the most money and if things are not to his liking after that point ask in a much more quiet way to be dealt from Toronto if he was unhappy. One thing I do know is that for as long as Bosh wears that number 4 Raptor jersey he will bust his butt. Happy or not he has far to much character to go out the way V.C did. That would allow Bryan Colangelo to look for a way to convince Bosh he made the right move to re-sign in Toronto by signing another big name to play along side him. There are lots of other names in 2010 that can fill that bill.

But in the short term the Raptors need to look in the mirror and find something. They had high expectations and they are not reaching them. If they needed any kind of reminder a sold out ACC of booing fans sent a clear message to drive home the point. Jose Calderon needs to be honest and admit he needs to do much more on defense. I mean he is battling through an injury but he has always been a poor to awful on the ball defender. That is just one example. But every player has to look and see what they can do to make this group perform better. It may not even be stuff on the floor. There are guys on this team that can say they have given a solid effort this season. Bosh is at the head of that list. But the challenge for him is how does he help raise the bar for the rest of his team. He talked about being an M.V.P. He is playing like one and has the numbers to back it up. However the truly great ones that win M.V.P do it in part because they make all the players around them better. BIrd, Johnson, Nash, Bryant and Jordan all did that. That is the next challenge for Chris Bosh. Everyone can look in that mirror and come up with things they can do. The time for that has come because if it does not happen right now to do it later down the line maybe to late.

It will be a very interesting two days for the Toronto Raptors to re-group and re-focus on the task at hand. They have to find the answers and a trade and coaching change may be down the line but they are not going to magically make all the problems go away. When you dig a hole it takes the same amount of effort it took to dig it for you to dig out of it. There are no short cuts and easy fixes to get that done. This is the time that will define this Raptor team and tell them and us what they are made of.