The Workouts Begin

Great start to a monday - real off-season can finally begin!!!!

Really interested to hear how Terrence Williams looked today. Looking forward tot hereports.

It's like Christmas reading this post - think all of us Raptors nuts are waiting with baited breath for the reports on some of these guys, especially Williams as Member29 suggested.

I woke up this morning and thought to myself...Chris Bosh to OKC makes some sense. Young, up and coming team with talent missing a power forward in a state close to his home state, where, given the fandom, if he succeeds in elevating them to playoff status he would be considered a near God. The Raps get a collection of draft picks and, because of the cap situation in OKC (correct me if I'm wrong), don't have to take back a contract, thus providing them with additional cap space to complete an effective rebuild over the summer. I don't think we have to limit ourselves to the traditional media markets because with the Internet, the media universe has no centre really. And playing in San Antonio beside Tim Duncan, with the exposure brought on by years of playoff experiences got Tony Parker Eva Longoria so anything is possible. I know it's not necessarily on topic but with the many draft picks OKC has, it kind of makes sense. Discuss

Yeah, a bit of Christmas for sure for us this morning - good to get things rolling on the draft side. Anxious to talk to Terrence about a number of things and hopefully we'll get a chance to do some exclusive one-on-one's etc.

Most of all though, I think it's great that some of the guys we've been ranting about for so long are being brought in for a look. I actually expect Williams and Young to be back again closer to draft date.

As for Bosh to OKC, not sure how I feel about that right now and who would the Raps take back, Jeff Green? They'd need to get something besides simply picks in return or the fan-base might burn down the ACC.

I'd have my torch out!

Green and Watson actually make some sense in the OKC scenario (assuming that we get a pick or 2 back as well). I am really indifferent to the work outs at this stage as it is impossible to gauge where the raps are going to draft and with a weak draft like this one there are too many possible scenarios that could go down on draft day which skewers the perceptions of individual workouts (say as an example, Griffin not impressing teams at the top of the draft and him falling, unlikely but just and example). Once we know exactly where we are going to draft and where all the other teams are going to draft we can look at the needs of those teams ahead of us and make a pretty good guess to what might be available but there simply too many variables right now.

T-Will! Sweetness. Interesting group of players they're bringing in.

JENGE likes Dionte Christmas!

That dude can launch a jumper over anybody without breaking a sweat...

Apparently Triano is head coach for next year. Hopefully Franchise and Co can give us the full scoop.

News just in Triano signed for 3 years as Raptors Coach.
News conf for 1:30 today. As an aside none of the assistants on hand for workouts today, likely lot's of changes coming.

Back at work, unfortunately couldn't stick around for the Triano presser. Not really a big surprise considering as soon as we got to the gym, we noticed that Jay was present but none of the assistants were.

Sort of a weird session as the two guys we wanted to see the most didn’t play. Sam Young cut his arm during the vertical drill (is that an indication of how high he can jump???) and so they sat Terrence Williams out so he the two bigs and two point guards could go two on two.

We’ll have a full-write up on things tomorrow along with a few quotes from Tyrese Rice who we spoke to after the session. The good thing is that we got to see Eaton and Hicks go at it with Rice and Pendergraph for about a half hour – much longer than usual for media. Pendergraph stood out the most in my eyes, not just because he’s much more polished in the post than Hicks, but because he has a sweet stroke from anywhere within about 18 feet. I’ve always been a fan of his game and it will be interesting to see where he lands come June.

Did BC have to sign Jay for 3 years ?
Were there other suitors out there !!!!!

Yeah without T-Will today it was a little disappointing but it was still great to see some 2-on-2 action and watch the drills they run.

BC had to sign Triano to three years, if it were a two year deal he would be a sitting duck after one season and that wouldn't be fair. The length of the contract is right, whether he is the right guy for the job....another thing.

Predictions for the off-season to date: 1 of 1.

A 3 yr deal plus Mitchelle's remaining contract spells job security for Triano. No matter what the results are next year, he's going to be around for the full 3 yrs.
I think he deserves the job and will do well as he matures and becomes better as the years go along. For a rookie head coach, given the teams circumstances when he took over, I thought he did a great job this past season. Congrats to him.

They better be working on getting Charles Oakley to be a lead assisstant because I just don't see how Triano has the notoriety in the league or with officials to streamline this toughness the Raps lack and are in desperate need of.

Players will be much more intent on working hard out there when they see their coach fighting hard on the sidelines.

Furthermore, I find Triano to be sort of boring in interviews.

I'm not knocking Triano on his coaching skillz, I'm sure he's a great thinker, a very good x's and o's type of guy (Which Sam Mitchell was not at all) but I kinda feel like he's the toal opposite (Mitchell had personality and little strategy).

To me it kinda means, Bosh is out and they are re-building. I expect Colangelo to trade Bosh for a bunch of young guys, and let Triano be a teacher, which is what I believe he is best suited for. No championships in sight. Best case scenario is having a Bulls's type of season (then again we would have to face a depleted team to bring to a 7th game).

Childlike, a little pessimistic don’t you think? I think every great coach has to start somewhere and I’m sure as he becomes more established he’ll bark at the refs a little more. By the way, not every coach in the league barks at the refs, I’ve seen L. Frank from the nets just flat out outcoach us time and time again and he’s not a barker. I’m sure I can think hard enough and find a bunch of coaches who are more calm and level headed than Triano. Let’s be a little more positive and supportive, I think BC got this one right.

fromlongrange, Member29, lurker, in full agreement.

On thing to look for, which I think 2nd raps mentioned a few threads back, is how inflated the college heights of these guys were. While not privy to any measurements taken, an estimate based on relative height of the opposing matchup should offer some insight (ie. Sam Young's 6'6'' vs. T. Williams 6'5'')

Interloper, OKC will eventually have to kick things into high gear regarding their rebuilding, especially since they are entering Durant's third season. As part of a package, I'd have my eye on Thabo Sefalosha. They got him from the Bulls for a late first, and he seems to hold his own on defense. Perhaps have them facilitate a three-way transaction, netting us talent that is closer to contributing.

On another note, I was pondering recently if Udonis Haslem is an example of the ideal pf to pair with Bargnani. Rebounds, plays tough, mobile, and can hit a midrange jumpshot. And the way he molded his game into NBA caliber after college speaks to a certain dedication you want in a team's veteran players. He seems like the kind of guy I'd want on hand mentoring guys like Jawai, Hump,and O-Bryant who are still working on their NBA identities. Does anyone else have any suggestions for veterans who could help show the young Raps the NBA way?

Yardly - I'll be touching on the height issue tomorrow, great point. It was interesting being up close to Rice and Eaton because I am NOT very tall...

Yardly,
I still see a Bosh to Miami trade on the horizon. Miami is saying that they won't move Beasley, as he is a piece of the future that will attract FA's, but I think Miami might be putting out a screen hiding the fact that they think Beasley is a Pyscho. Bosh and Hump going to Miami for Beasley, Haslam, and the Great Mel Blount.
At least I'm hoping.

Hey guys,

my best friend is really close with jevohn sheppard so he me and him and my friend were all chillin watchin the nba tonight....

gotta say... hope that dude does something... nba is the dream... but europe is in sight... super chill guy... eeryone route for him!

EaseMyPain, I don’t understand what you see in that Miami trade. Beasley? Soon to be broken down and often injured Haslem? Blount? Apart from being completely dominated in this trade, why would BC make an eastern conference rival a title contender while setting is team back a few years? Even if we got similar talent from a western conference team, it would make more sense to trade him there than to the east, especially Miami. Just my opinion anyway; and I’m not sure what people see in Beasley, he seems like an ordinary NBA player who had a big name in college and is still living off of that name. His play has been good and solid and he deserves to be in a rotation but the kid hasn’t shown anything to suggest that he could be a franchise player. Again, in my opinion.