So like their hockey brothers, the Toronto Raptors are in a tailspin. The Raps have lost their last 5 in a row, including an absolute spanking in Atlanta last night. So, 20 games in, roughly one quarter of the way, players are pointing fingers at their coach. So Raptors Fans, should the Raps dismiss Jay Triano?

Change clearly is in the air. Let’s see:

First the Maple Leafs. How many contracts are expiring at year’s end? How many players currently on the roster do you expect to be here for training camp next year? No matter what is being said publicly, if the Leafs continue at the same clip as they are right now for the rest of the season, there will be tremendous pressure to change the coaching staff. The only thing that could make that easier for Burke is if the US Olympic team shits the bed for what is perceived as coaching errors.

Toronto Blue Jays. Good, bad or indifferent, AA is going to overhaul his roster too. Does that mean they will be any better? Who knows. Beeston and company aren’t exactly instilling confident feelings in me, that’s for sure. From my perspective, it’s pretty damn telling when trading Roy Halladay is seen as a positive thing if only for the the hope that there will be multiple usable assets coming in return. Add to that the fact that this will be Cito’s last season as manager and well, change is coming. We may have a better idea of how fast this coming Monday when the annual derby of players begins.

Toronto Raptors: Oy! No, really, Oy! Brian Colangelo’s boys lost their 5th in a row tonight and it was UGLY. How ugly, they gave up 146 points! Ummmm, wasn’t the plan to keep Bosh here to place him in a winning environment???? The only reason the seseason isn’t a total disaster so far is that there are worse teams in the league right now (thank god for the NJ NETS). The Raptors are 7-13 after 20 games, 8 games back from the leader in their division and are in second place!! At this pace change will have to be considered by Colangelo and soon. Chris Bosh- who has been on fire so far this season put up 2 points tonight.

Toronto Argos: 3 and 15. I am not going to pretend that I know the first thing about this team. I do know that their owners aren’t going to put up with the results they have seen in the last couple of years. A product like this won’t sell anywhere near the tickets they are hoping to sell regardless of where the team plays.

Fan 590: William Houston broke the news today that Nelson Millman is leaving the station that he built for greener pastures at Sportsnet. While Houston correctly says that any rumored change is merely speculation one has to think that it’s better than a 50:50 bet. In the past couple of months Millman has had to terminate some long time employees including Norm Rumack. Millman is a people person. He likes and supports his team. Change wouldn’t come easy with him still at the fan and it is likely to be easier for a new person to make changes that Nelson would rather not make. The challenge for whomever the new boss is will be talent location. This isn’t exactly a market full of young talent. Getting rid of any of the current on air personalities is easy. Finding better alternatives in this market right now will be more difficult. Either way, anyone not named Mccown should be worried at the Fan.

Houston also mentioned that Steve McCalister has left the Globe and Mail to run Yahoo Sports Canada’s sports team. That is fascinating. For the first time an internet portal in this country is taking sports seriously. Be certain to keep an eye on that change.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the health of Maple Leafs goalie Gustavsson. While there is lots of speculation out there right now, it is just that. In either event there will be a change in net and let’s hope that he is okay soon not for hockey sake but for his own health.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

On Sunday the Toronto Raptors hosted a former player and tonight will be no different. Both former Raptors help the team reach the play offs. Public enemy number one, Vince Carter and the Orlando Magic were in town over the weekend and showed Toronto how a team goes about finishing a game. At one point the Raptors led by double digits only to see Carter heat up in the second half and lead his team to the 106-94 win. It’s pretty evident why the Magic traded for Carter, making Hedu Turkoglu expendable. Carter had 18 points in the second half when his team was down. Turkoglu had 4 points (all on free throws), two missed lay ups, and three fouls in the fourth quarter when his team was trailing and needed a spark.

Tonight the Raps welcome TJ Ford and the Indiana Pacers to the ACC. Ford was in the middle of the guard controversy in Toronto when team president Brian Colangelo chose Jose Calderone to be his man. Ford was traded to the Pacers and the rest is history. There’s more six degrees of separation between the Raps and Pacers. Jarrett Jack and Rasho Nesterovic were in Indiana last season. Nesterovic was part of the Ford trade. Pacer’s centre Roy Hibbert was drafted by Toronto, but was included in the Ford deal as well. Jermaine O’Neal, who ended up in TO as part of the trade, has since been jettisoned to Miami. Indiana comes into this game losers of their last three, but they sit a half game ahead of Toronto in the East. For the Raptors, tonight is the first of a back-to-back games. Tomorrow night they welcome the Charlotte Bobcats. A W tonight and tomorrow would go a long way. Their next six opponents include Boston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington (twice).

There were a myriad of responses after he Toronto Raptors removed the interim tag by giving Jay Triano a three-year contract. I spoke with many media and non-media people all with different takes on things. Whatever their opinion, was it really a surprise? Not really.
Brian Colangelo has supported Triano throughout a tumultuous season. He said Triano was dealt a bad deck of cards from the start. This is what he said today:
“It’s been a great opportunity to see what he’s made of, and see what his basketball mindset is,” Colangelo said of Triano’s years as an assistant. “But then to see it put into action when he was named the interim head coach, he was given not the most ideal circumstances to fight through. Yet each day he showed up with a positive attitude.”
Weather you like or hate this move, at least he put his duckets (or MLSE’s) where is mouth has been all year.
In 2004 Mike D’Antoni was 21-40 in his first season with Phoenix. He stuck with him and was rewarded with a 62 win season the next year. It helped to have a guy named Steve Nash on your squad, but he didn’t pull the trigger and fire him after that awful season.
Colangelo puts the blame squarely on himself.
“Any deficiencies in the roster I’ve already talked about, that falls on me,” he said. “Make no mistake about it, there’s no deficiencies here with Jay as the head coach of this basketball team.”
Colangelo said he plans to spend a lot of time with Triano over the next couple of months talking about the roster. Triano will have a major say in the direction of the team, Colangelo said.
Let’s hope this doesn’t come back to bite him.
The players have respected Triano since his arrival in 2002 as an assistant under Lenny Wilkens. Let’s face it, players get coaches fired in the pros. To have a team that respects a coach is big, although that didn’t work out too well for Sam Mitchell in the end.
If the Raptors have another year like this past season, they could both be gone.
Regardless of the outcome, it’s nice to see someone practicing what they preach.

Anthony