Do The Raptors Need Help?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Another assistant to teach big guys might aid Raptors

Nov. 16, 2006. 06:02 AM
DAVE FESCHUK

Late in the third quarter of Tuesday night's Raptors-Warriors game, Andrea Bargnani, Toronto's rookie 7-footer, botched yet another defensive rebounding assignment. Caught out of position and whistled for a foul, Bargnani felt the wrath of Chris Bosh.

The Raptors all-star, frustrated by another in a line of mistakes that piled up to produce a 110-99 loss, slapped the rookie on the derriere in disgust and yelled unprintables in his direction.

It got an observer wondering: Who, besides Bosh, is teaching the 21-year-old Bargnani? And when? Sam Mitchell, the Raptors head coach, has bemoaned the lack of practice time during training camp. The crunch gets worse during the rigours of an NBA road trip. And it can't help that the Raptors have one of the smallest coach-to-player ratios in the league.

While the average club employs about 4.5 assistant coaches, according to official rosters, the Raptors have three, down one from last year, which goes contrary to the league-wide trend of larger staffs.

When the L.A. Lakers made 17-year-old Andrew Bynum, a 7-footer from New Jersey, the youngest player taken in the history of the NBA draft a couple of Junes ago, they subsequently hired a special assistant coach, Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to tutor the teen. Now that Bynum, who turned 19 last month, has begun his second season as a productive starter, Abdul-Jabbar is getting some of the credit.

"Andrew is getting to work with the master ever day," Lamar Odom, the Lakers forward, has said, "and he's getting better and better."

It begs a question: Wouldn't it makes sense for the Raptors, who play the Lakers tomorrow night at the Staples Center, to seek out a big-man coach to work with their stable of young front-line players, from Bargnani, as important a player as they've ever drafted, to the 23-year-old Bosh, who is still developing?

"Absolutely," said Bryan Colangelo, the Toronto general manager. "And that's certainly one of things we talked about. But perhaps the most important thing is getting the right person, not just a person."

Colangelo pointed out that the addition of a big-man coach — or another coach or any stripe — would be no slight against his current group of assistants, Jim Todd, Jay Triano and Alex English. The GM said he considered expanding the staff after the contract of assistant coach Gene Keady wasn't renewed this summer, asking permission to speak to assistant coaches employed elsewhere. All candidates, said Colangelo, "decided to stay where they were."

"We have gone through so much change, and (got) into the coaching discussions perhaps a little late," said Colangelo. "We didn't feel like we had the right candidate to add. But if the right person came along ..."

Big-man tutelage, though it may be changing in a small-ball era, has long been seen as a niche. Pete Newell, the renowned Vancouver-born coach, has groomed a veritable forest of trees at his in-demand summer camp. Many teams see the value of a specialist. Among Toronto's Atlantic Division rivals, for example, the Philadelphia 76ers recently hired hall of fame centre Moses Malone. The Celtics have Clifford Ray. The Nets, Bill Cartwright.

And then there are the Dallas Mavericks. The 2006 finalists employ three bench assistants to head coach Avery Johnson. They also boast four employees with the title "assistant coach for player development" (who weren't included in calculating the size of the league's average coaching staff for the purpose of this article). Brad Davis, the NBA alumnus, works with guards. Popeye Jones, a former Raptor, is one of three assistants charged with working with the big guys. The Mavericks also pay a free-throw coach. And they're the rare team whose staff psychologist goes on the road.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban, when asked about the expense — his top assistants have been rumoured to earn about $800,000 (all figures U.S.) while Johnson recently signed a five-year deal worth $20 million — has countered that the most expensive thing is losing.

Still, there are those who smirk at what is seen by some as widely emulated excess. Quipped Brent Barry of the San Antonio Spurs, they of the five assistants to head coach Gregg Popovich: "I think the more assistant coaches you have, the more blame you can share around."

With no shortage of broken plays and blown assignments in Raptorland, why not add another target for finger-pointing? Perhaps it's partly because Mitchell's contract (which pays him about $1.6 million a year) is up at season's end. A new assistant of Colangelo's choosing might have been seen as a possible replacement for the teetering head man, and certainly a source of friction.

Politics aside, it's difficult to argue the wisdom of one of the smallest coaching staffs in the league, no matter its skill, coaching a roster with nine new players, many with little or no NBA experience. Then again, it isn't everyone's idea of a dream job.

"Everybody gets excited about youth except the coach," Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets head coach, told reporters recently, "because he knows youth means mistakes, mistakes mean losses, losses mean you're fired."



They have a nice roster, I just think the players aren't getting the proper attention and coaching. I mean, fuck, only 3 assistants in total?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

PG TJ Ford...Jose Calderon/Darrick Martin
SG Morris Peterson...Fred Jones/PJ Tucker
SF Anthony Parker...Joey Graham/Jorge Garbajosa
PF Chris Bosh...Andrea Bargnani/Uros Slokar
C Rasho Nesterovic...Pape Sow/Kris Humphries

[WC Iz Active]

They have a good team.  I still think they are a year from the playoffs but they are improved.  Yeah from that article looks like they could use some more coaching.

[Mo Z. Dizzle]

i heard mopete lost his starting spot to fred jones

and they do need some outside assistance to help train Bargnani and maybe also help Rasho

[WC Iz Active]

i heard mopete lost his starting spot to fred jones

and they do need some outside assistance to help train Bargnani and maybe also help Rasho

makes sense to me, Ive said all along Jones needs to be a starter somewhere on the Raps.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Mo Peterson is currently better than Fred Jones, but yea, Fred Jones did start the last game, I guess Peterson has been sorta' underachieving...I don't expect that to last though.

[WC Iz Active]

Mo Peterson is currently better than Fred Jones, but yea, Fred Jones did start the last game, I guess Peterson has been sorta' underachieving...I don't expect that to last though.

I do agree w/ u there, MOPete played real well last year, he is off to a bad start right now but I am looking for that to change.

[PLANT]

Well Peterson is used to coming off the bench....He started all the games last year, but before that he was always a 6th-7th man for the raps when they were starting Vince, Alvin Williams and Jalen....I think the big guys do need some help.  It was good to see Bosh lose it on Bargnani the other night.  Having 9 new guys on your team takes awhile for everyone to jell together....Im not panicking yet.  They do have a tough schedule right now tho, I think 21 of the first 30 games are on the road.