8-9 vs 36-37: Is This the Change BC Promised when he fired Sam?

[Pro 1]

I'm not going to get all scientifical statistical because the records speak for themselves- 1 1/2 years later the Raps are still 1 game under .500 despite having much more NBA ready talent than Sam ever had at his disposal under Jay- no Will Solomons, Roko Ukics, Hassan Adams, Jason Kaponos, Nathan Jawais or Jake Voshkuls in 2009-10 althought Patrick O'Bryant is useless everyone else on the Raptors is a certified NBA player. Sam is gone but I can't help to think what he would do with this team whose coach(via BC?) just recently decided to hold people(Turk) responsible for their in game(off court) actions or lack of- a coach who doesn't really care for defense or accountability.

The primary excuse used by many that Jay needs a full training camp to implement his system- well he got 1, and I don't think it's working out in relation to the talent level. Bargnani, is he afraid of rebounds? Barg's has yet to prove worthy of being a #1 overall selection much less a 50 million dollar contract extension- rewarding underachieving medocracy? You can't win paying 2 PFs 30 million(Bargs 10/Bosh 20) dollars combined. Then factor in Hedo's contract, the loss of 2010 1st round draft pick(MIA) & this is the team for next season more or less. I was watching Raptor Space last week when Jay was being interviewed the interviewer made a note that the Raps were 20-0(20-2 now) when holding teams under 100 points, Jay then starts to ramble off offensive stats & ideological philosophies- defense wins games- Jay!

So my question is what has been gained by firing Sam & giving Jay a 2 year contract(3rd year team option) as the Rap's are still 1 game under .500?

[Newt]

Maybe in hind sight nothing has been gained.  But I beleive that general consensus at the time was that Sam should be let go, not just by the management but by fans as well.  I personally thought that Triano was a good choice to take over seeing as he had a great relationship with the team (especially Bosh), had been an assistant for several years and his mentality seemed to match that of BC.  Perhaps there were better choices available, in fact I know that there were.  But could the other available coaches work well with BC?  So I don't think Triano was the wrong choice at the time, but things don't always work out as planned, much like signing Turk hasn't worked out (which some predicted).  I personally thought the Triano with an experienced and defensive minded Ivaroni, plus the addition of a guy like Alvin Williams to the staff would cover all bases for a great coaching staff. 

We all knew that BC wasn't going to build a defensive team so in a sense we can't be mad at that.  Maybe now, with a few years of the Toronto experience under his belt he can realize that you need some true bigs and you need defense to win in the league.  Pheonix was and still is a one off scenerio because of Nash.  There is no other pg in the league that would have led the Suns to that many wins as he's one of the best fast break guards ever.

At this point we can't keep overhauling the team or the coaching staff looking for a quick fix.  Due to the contracts on this team now I'm not sure that there are any quick fixes.  We need to stick with Triano to the end of his contract so we're not paying another coach to site at home.  We need to see what happens with Bosh and get what we can and hopefully somehow unload Jose/Turk or both.  I still don't beleive that Bargs contract is that bad.  His biggest fault is consitancy so if he can balance that out I think that he is worth the contract, especially if Bosh leaves and we can get a real center and move him to PF.

[AlienOverlord]

Why do people worry about paying a coach to sit at home, it doesn't count towards the cap, right? It's not our money and the Raptors are a successful franchise, at least in terms of marketing so I don't see them leaving Toronto. Pay Triano to sit at home if we can get someone respected.

[pooflakes]

Will Solomons, Roko Ukics, Hassan Adams, Jason Kaponos, Nathan Jawais or Jake Voshkuls have been upgraded to weems,amir,rasho,obryant,a.wright,banks,evans   hmm not a big upgrade really there just end of bench guys instead of d-leaguers!.

 but with the added bonus of turks big contract the team is in a worse situation the last season as least the other guys where mainly on 1 year deals and most played with all there might to stay in the nba.

[ballers101]

Will Solomons, Roko Ukics, Hassan Adams, Jason Kaponos, Nathan Jawais or Jake Voshkuls have been upgraded to weems,amir,rasho,obryant,a.wright,banks,evans   hmm not a big upgrade really there just end of bench guys instead of d-leaguers!.

 but with the added bonus of turks big contract the team is in a worse situation the last season as least the other guys where mainly on 1 year deals and most played with all there might to stay in the nba.

Jack, Amir, Sonny are all better than all the players we had on our bench. You really do not watch Raptor ball. Jack has been fantastic. Most good teams have a 9-10 man playoff rotation and those guys are solid.

[No Pressure]

It's a shame that Coaches are always fired before GM's are.  GM's resigning are more common than GM's being fired.  Was firing Sam that right move?  Probably not.  The real culprit right now is Colangelo and his inability to surround Bosh with good talent.  He had the golden chance when he had the cap space to get creative, and he really dropped the "Ball." in the Hedo signing. I think if he simply just re-signed Marion, this team would be alot better off with a glue defender like Marion is, that is really putting up somewhat similar offensive numbers as Hedo.

All in all though, he turned a team with a solid starting 5 and no bench that played pretty well on both sides, to an average starting 5 and a solid bench, with absolutley no defense.

[Pro 1]

Well it's official TO is out of the playoffs and finished 40-42, 2 games under .500 for the season. 50 games BC?lol I seriously doubt BC's ability to recognize NBA level talent outside of the obvious top level players ie Bosh. 

 I repeat, Jay(I mean BC) took over last season as head coach at 8-9 & ever since TO has not improved one bit in terms of its overall record or with its collective on court performances. Just some more feeding of the Raptor fans/followers a load of regurgitated MLSE propaganda that alot of folks seem to swallow up like water ie in BC we trust- get real. Last season's team was team filled out w/ scrubs who are no longer in the NBA & flimsy excuses Jay needs a training camp, Jose' hamstring, O'Neal experiment, etc.  which led to Sam's pre mature dismissal. Bargnani is a Albotros and I believe TO will do nothing (no playoffs) as long as he is on the roster as one of the top 2 marketed players- a 7 footer who doesn't rebound in year 4 of the NBA 7 just received an 50 million dollar extension for what? Being Italian? Turk was a waste of valuable cap space & years since Jay(I mean BC) didn't alter the offense to run through Turk as in Orlando. Jose & his Matador D is a back up in the NBA nothing more, nothing less.

Jay(I mean BC) doesn't hold players accountable (Bargnani, Jose, Turk *until late in the year when he was partying while allegedly sick on a game night)- wtf? He seems to have about as much authority as a Security Guard- just observe & report to BC(his coaching svengali) for more coaching particulars ie player rotations. No wonder this team has been so inconsistent & taken on the personality of its coach- offense no defense. No wonder Jay just says stuff like I like the effort in blowout losses w/ the playoffs on the line- he's going to be in the Raptors oganization in some capacity no matter what since he's following BC's orders, directions.

1nce again- I would have loved to see Sam or an experienced respected NBA coach w/ this group as the talent is there just not the disciplined structure of accountability that all winning organizations have in place.