Well, those were a couple of disappointing losses. I know it’s early and I’m not panicking or anything. But, as others have said all around the web, there are always going to be losses, sometimes in games you should win, and you accept that. But poor effort is much, much harder to accept.

We all knew coming in that this team was not going to be a defensive juggernaut. We knew they’d struggle on the glass. But man… I don’t think anyone expected the Raptors to make THAT many mistakes on the defensive end. Why are we sending double-teams from the strong side? Why aren’t helpers rotating? Why can’t we box out? Why are going under screens on shooters? Why didn’t we adjust the “protect the house” strategy against Orlando, a team with only one inside threat (Howard) and four 3-point shooters? Anyone with a wit of basketball sense knew that wasn’t going to work, yet there we are, four Raptors collapsing into the paint when such offensive juggernauts as Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass get the ball on the block.

Offensively, you can see this team is still gelling. We all expected that, and despite that, they’re still scoring in bunches. But defensively, what is the excuse? There is absolutely none. ESPECIALLY for the rebounding. When Zach Randolph took a 15-footer, beat FOUR Raptors to the offensive rebound and laid it in, I nearly turned off the TV I was so disgusted.

The effort was better in the second half against Orlando (other than Calderon’s retarded insistence at going under screens) and we just have to hope and pray that that was a sign things are moving in the right direction.

Individual thoughts…

Bosh – hey, he’s been fantastic. No complaints. But if his teammates don’t start backing him up, he’s not gonna wanna wait till summer to leave.

Bargnani – not sure what happened in the Memphis game or the first half against Orlando; also not sure why the rest of the team seemed to go away from him in the fourth Q of the Orlando game when he was burning up the nets. Defensively, well, he’s been OK in man-to-man down low, but he didn’t step out fast enough on several three-point rotations against Orlando, and as usual, his rebounding his been atrocious. It’s not that he doesn’t get enough (which he doesn’t), it’s just that he never bodies anyone on the other team up to prevent them from getting the board. Turn around, stick out your ass and spread your arms wide, man.

Calderon – needs to find his shooting stroke. I can overlook his defensive deficiencies when he’s playing well on the other end, but he’s stinking it up two ways so far.

Turkoglu – much like Bargnani, he was on fire in the second half against Orlando but didn’t get enough looks. As alluded to above, the offense is still getting in sync, but it shouldn’t be hard to recognize a hot hand.

DeRozan – exactly what I expected from the rookie so far. Occasional good shots/drives, occasional mistakes on defense, occasional spectacular play. Happy with what I’ve seen.

Jack – has been fine defensively, but hasn’t found his groove offensively. I wouldn’t be too worried about him if Calderon were playing better, but when both of them are bricklayers on offense, it hurts. Especially when Triano plays them both at the same time, which I don’t understand. Why not get Bellinelli in there some more? Why not let Turk run the offense more? There are too many ballhandling options to keep going with the two PGs, when it very clearly is not working.

Rasho – he’s been solid, and I love the guy, but I do look forward to Reggie Evans taking some of his minutes. I believe Evans is faster, more aggressive, will get to a couple more balls that Rasho just can’t. not a knock on Rasho – he’s done everything expected – but we need the different look Evans can provide.

Wright – has been great on defense, and has hit a couple big shots, but has occasionally forced his offense a little more than I’d like. I don’t mind rewarding guys who give great efforts on D with some shots, I just wish they were slightly better shots.

Bellinelli – Why so few minutes? He was great against Cleveland, solid in limited minutes against Memphis, and pine-riding against the Magic. Even though he matched up well with their guard-heavy rotation, is (supposedly) a decent defender and even though Calderon and Jack were having a shared bowel movement on the floor. He should be playing more.

Triano – needs to call more timely timeouts when teams make runs. Don’t wait for the TV timeout – especially in the first half. Jay, you don’t get to carry those timeouts over to the second half, man. Also, put the ball in Turkoglu’s hands more in the fourth. That’s what we brought him here for, after all.

Well. I’m disappointed but not upset. If, after 10 games, we’re still seeing the same mistakes, then I’ll be upset. I just want to see a little more effort on D and the boards, especially early in games. Let’s go, Raptors.

All right, it’s the offeason, but, as you know, there’s still lots going on with the Raptors. Some quick thoughts as free agency heats up:

The Draft. DeMar DeRozan was the right pick at that spot. He’s raw and he probably won’t contribute much right away, and he might never contribute anything - but he has the potential to be really, really good. And he plays a position (swingman), and has a physical dimension (athleticism, length, leaping ability) that the Raptors currently are lacking. Who was left on the draft board was a better fit? Who on the draft board was going to contribute right away? No one. (Heck, who was in this draft at all, besides Blake Griffin, that is going to contribute to his new team right away? Make no mistake, this is an awful, awful draft).

DeRozan is the right fit in every way. Whether or not he turns into anything remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt he was the right, and only, pick.

Carlos Delfino. I’ve said it about 100 times, Delfino wasn’t used properly his one year here and I am certain he will benefit from consistent minutes and a consistent role. He’s also a much better defender than Anthony Parker at this point in their careers. I also expect Triano will not be afraid to let Delfino initiate the offense, much as he did with Parker last year; for some reason, Sam Mitchell was afraid to put Delfino in that role, even though he’d done it for Argentina, one of the best basketball teams in the world. Does he start? I think so, though that of course still depends somewhat on who is starting at the three (Marion? Someone else?). I have no problem going in to this season with Delfino as the starting two-guard.

Shawn Marion. Very little word at this point on whether the Raps have offered anything, whether Marion’s asked for anything, whether other teams are calling… very quiet on the Marion front. I’m still super-torn on what to do with him. Yes, he fits the team well; he rebounds and defends from the three spot, something very lacking before he got here. He’s also the best on the team at moving without the ball. But, like everyone else on the team, he’s not a guy who can create/initiate his own offense, and the Raptors could really use that from the SF spot. And there’s the question of money… obviously the guy wants to get paid, but do the Raptors have the coin - and is he worth it? Especially at age 31? If he could be had super-cheap $3 million a year? Over 3?) of course he’d be worth it. But there’s no way he takes that deal. So I can’t say I’ll be thrilled if he comes back and is taking a large chunk of the salary cap.

Hedo Turkoglu. Word is he’s interested in the Raptors - and of course the Raps are interested in him - but there’s likely no way to work out the money situation (no, he doesn’t like us THAT much). He earned a big payday with his play this past year, and the Raps don’t have the coin. And frankly, I’m not sure he’s worth it. I’m not sure he can put up the same stats without that particular cast around him - including, obviously, Dwight Howard. He’s a year younger than Marion, and in many ways, Marion’s exact opposite - he can create his own shot and score from anywhere, but he’s a non-factor on defense. I’d be excited to see what the Raps could do with the starting lineup of Bargnani, Bosh, Hedo, Delfino and Calderon (wow, that’s the whitest, most international line-up ever) but I can’t get to used to the idea, because I can’t see it happening.

Trevor Ariza. Financially, a much better fit than Hedo (and maybe better than Marion too). And really, his skill set is right in between the two - not as good a defender as Marion, not as good a scorer as Hedo. And he’s young enough (24) that he has room to improve in both areas. The only question is, is he ready to come in and be a full-time starter and contributor to a winning team? Or will he just ride a solid playoff performance (11 points, 4 boards, 50% from the field, 47% from downtown) to a fat payday?

David Lee. Supposedly the Raptors are interested… really, another power forward who doesn’t play on the blocks? No thanks. Love his game, but not with Bosh and Bargnani already here…

Which brings us to this: Is Bryan Colangelo trying to trade Chris Bosh? I see the argument for it, I really do - Bosh has a chance to walk away next summer, and at this point - given the team’s lack of success - he probably will, and who will blame him? Thus the argument, trade him now so you can get something in return. But I don’t believe Colangelo will do that. For one thing, BC appears confident - and he should, I want a confident upper management - that he can surround Bosh with better players this year. He also seems confident he will be able to replace Bosh, should the time come. I like that in a GM. Also, trading Bosh would be admitting defeat - that he didn’t get the job done - and while I don’t know Bryan, he really doesn’t seem like the type to admit defeat.

And the fact is, even if you get some value for him, you’ll never get fair or equal value. Whether you truly think Bosh is a “franchise player” or not, he is this franchise’s franchise player - we’ve built our team and marketing presence around him, he is the face of the franchise. He may not be a “a” superstar in the broader definition of the term, but he’s “our” superstar. Can we get a superstar back for him? Not likely.

I honestly think it’s better to play it out and either try and re-sign him, or sign someone else, next summer. There’s a good chance the cap space you’d get next year is more valuable than whatever package you can get for him in trade right now. There’s going to be plenty of FAs available, after all…

And if the team does have a great year? If the promise of Bosh, Calderon and Bargnani materializes into a 50-win team? Then I have confidence Bosh’ll stick around, and that we’ll all be better for it.

So, the Raps have made it official, Jay Triano will stay on as head coach following his “interim” stint, where he led the Raps to a 25-40 record.

I like Jay and I think he’s a decent coach, better than the record indicates. Obviously I love the fact that we have a Canadian-born coach coaching the only Canadian NBA team.

But I admit, I do feel a certain uneasiness about rewarding a coach with a 25-40 record (a record that was only boasted by a 9-4 stretch against some terrible competition in the last month of the season). Especially after that coach replaced a coach who was 8-9 after 17 games. I mean, isn’t it expected that the replacement at least do a better job than the guy who was fired?

On the other hand, we all know Bryan Colangelo’s options were limited. He still has to pay Mitchell this year (and next?). So he couldn’t afford to pay someone big bucks – Triano’s deal as a first-time coach with a poor record is likely dirt cheap (speculation is that the deal is between $1.6 and $2 million a year, three-years, with the third being a team option). And even though I doubt Bryan cares, you know MLSE loves the idea of having a Canadian coach.

Also, as I’ve said before, Mitchell should not have been fired 17 games into the season - he should have been fired after last season (or better yet, released following the 2006-2007 season). If Jay had been coach from the start of last training camp, I truly believe the season would have been better - not a LOT better, but I expect they would have been closer to .500 and in the playoffs in the weak east.

And I’m glad we didn’t just hire a retread who’s failed in five other places. The only “available” coach I liked was Flip Saunders; even though he never won a title, in 13 seasons as a head coach, he has 10 seasons over .500, seven 50-win seasons, and made the playoffs 11 times, reaching the conference finals four times. I believe he would have been great here, but the Wizards smartly grabbed him right away. But I didn’t want an Avery Johnson (whose players on a great Dallas team practically mutinied on him last year) or Eddie Jordan (whose talented Wizards teams were about as inconsistent as can be). Even Jeff Van Gundy couldn’t coax a playoff win out of a very deep, talented Houston team.

So, that meant the option was bringing in someone completely new – either an untried assistant or someone from Europe, like Etore Messina – or bringing back Triano. I personally would have been intrigued by the “new blood” approach - sometimes you need to take a gamble - but I just don’t think Colangelo and MLSE were willing to roll the dice with someone completely untested. Our impatient fanbase would likely have been very upset about hiring a no-name. So Triano was really the only choice. He’s not completely “untested,” the team showed SOME promise under him, he’s cheap, and he’s a Canadian so who can hate on that?

In many ways, he really was the only choice.

And, I will admit I am very curious to see what he does with a (hopefully) revamped roster, a (hopefully) new crop of assistants, and a full training camp. I see Doug Smith is saying one or two of Gord Herbert, Alex English or Mike Evans might be back, but I hope none of them are. No disprespect to them, but the team needs fresh voices. I don’t have a problem with Iavaroni staying on, I love the thought of Alvin Williams in some role, but for one or two other spots, I would like some new blood – preferably one veteran, someone like a Del Harris, who’s been around the block a few times, and one young whippersnapper with some fresh ideas. Doesn’t that make more sense than keeping any of the guys who have been here through the team’s last two incredibly disappointing seasons?

Anyway. I’m going on record as saying I believe Jay’s a better coach than the 25-40 record. But I agree with those that say coaches get too much blame for a team’s failure and too much credit for a team’s success, so I’m not going to predict what impact his hiring will have on next season - I believe that is really in the hands of Bryan Colangelo, and the players he brings in that make up the roster that Jay coaches. If it’s a solid, balanced roster with a full 15 players, I expect we’ll see a much improved record. If it’s another flawed, thin, 13-man group like last year? The record will be worse. But neither should fall on Jay’s shoulders - it’s all on Bryan’s.

What is it that comes after panic mode? Acceptance? I guess that’s it. I’ve kind of accepted that this Raptors team, regardless of who’s coaching it, just doesn’t have it this year. The roster is simply missing too many ingredients and there’s no way to add them to the mix. The playoffs seem like a pipe dream and I’m just hoping for some entertainment the rest of the way.

At least I got that yesterday; it was a very enjoyable game to watch. Both teams made runs, both teams had double digit leads, both teams hit big shots. There were blocked shots, hustling for loose balls, even a bloodied Chris Bosh. It was a hard-fought game all the way.

Naturally, the Raptors’ Achilles heels were exposed at the end of the game, and Portland fired their arrows right in there. Rebounding and point guard defense killed the Raps’ on Portland’s final possession, and then on the final play, not having a wing player who can create offense proved to be the final nail in the coffin.

Amazingly enough, Achilles Heel #4 - wing defense - wasn’t apparent in yesterday’s loss. Yes, Brandon Roy hit a big jumper late, but he was really a non-factor all game, scoring 15 on 6-16 and not really being a factor. Kudos to Anthony Parker for the job he did on Roy.

I still can’t get over that final play. Why would Bosh get the ball 30 feet from the rim? And if that was a busted play, as Triano hinted, you’d think Jose Calderon would sprint to Bosh and take over. But if you watched the play, you saw that Calderon did not move an inch from his spot in the far corner. Seriously, watch it. His feet never move.

Calderon is the only guy who even has a hint of ability to take a guy off the dribble (well, maybe Joey Graham does, but we’re not putting the ball in his hands, obviously). The pick and roll, amazingly enough, had been working all game - Calderon went to the rim for the first time in about three weeks, and he did it more than once. Why not go back to that? Was having Chris Bosh create off the bounce from beyond the three-point-line the best idea? I think not.

(Also not impressed with Triano’s “explanation” - “I’m not gonna tell you what was supposed to happen as we want to use it again sometime.” First of all, you wanna use that AGAIN? Yikes. And second, that sounds an awful lot like an excuse. I mean all he had to say was “we wanted to do this,” you didn’t have to explain the intricacies of it. So it makes me wonder just what it was they wanted to do, if he couldn’t even put it into words? Fishy.)

Of course, it should never have come to that; the Raps should have corralled the rebound on the previous play, or on Oden’s missed foul shot, or about a dozen other times. Say what you will about Oden - that he looks slow, that he travels every time he catches the ball (Seriously, watch his feet. He picks up his dribble, THEN hop-steps, then shoots. But since he looks like a 12-year vet, he gets 12-year vet calls. That’s the only way I can explain it), that he had about 14 three-second violations that weren’t called… but, the man knows how to box out. Even when he didn’t get boards, our guys simply couldn’t get around him.

A -17 on the rebounds, and outrebounded 18-4 on the offensive end. Ugh. Combined 17 boards from Bosh, O’Neal and Bargnani in 96 minutes. Woeful.

So, it’s a four-game skid, with a trip to red-hot Cleveland tomorrow night. It’s not good folks. They’re last in their division, and on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.

But, if you wanna look at the bright side, here’s some thoughts…

They were 7-12 two years ago, and would go to 7-14, before going 40-21 the rest of the way.

They’re only a half-game out of a playoff spot

As the TV crew pointed out yesterday about 1,173 times, the Raptors had the second-toughest early-season schedule in the NBA.

We appear to be healthy (yep, I’m reaching here).

Joey Graham is opening some eyes (really reaching).

We almost won without our star Kris Humphries! (OK, I’m done).

I gather people think yesterday was something to build on but to me, it was more of the same. Outrebounded again. Another blown lead. Another opposing PG comes up big against us. The usual roster holes exposed. Unable to execute down the stretch.

Just another day in Raptorland.

If you wanted an entertaining game, you got that, and that’s an improvement over the last week. But at this point, I wouldn’t expect much else from these Raptors.

Well, it was another disheartening loss for the Raptors in the coaching debut of Jay Triano, a 114-87 drubbing at the hands of the Utah Jazz.

I really though they’d be inspired and play with energy, and the energy would carry them to a win. Instead they looked like they didn’t care.

Offensively, we saw some new things and while they missed a lot of shots, they got some good shots - open shots - they hadn’t been getting before. Hopefully as everyone gets comfortable in the offense those shots will drop.

Defensively, unfortunately, it was the same old garbage. Terrible rotations. Non-existent weakside help. Matodor defense. Getting burned by the same things over and over and over. Really, watching that game, you felt like the Jazz could do whatever the heck they wanted, when they wanted.

Can coaching change that? I really don’t know. I hope so. But it better happen fast.

One extremely disappointing thing to note, Chris Bosh was manhandled by Paul Millsap. Why the heck wasn’t Bosh on Okur and O’Neal on Millsap? And why didn’t Bosh use his quickness on Millsap, instead of settling for fadeaway jumpers? He was the least aggressive Raptor on the floor last night.

Overall, just incredibly disappointed in this Raptors team for not playing with more energy and aggression for the new coach. Bosh said the other day, “we’re still 8-9,” implying the season is far from over. But as I’ve been saying all along, if you don’t correct the things that aren’t working, quickly, then 8-9 becomes 8-12, and 12-22, and 22-40, and so on. Take a look at the schedule, Chris. This season is slipping away and you better start playing with some urgency if you want that to change.

So, it’s the NBA’s newest coach against the NBA’s longest serving coach tonight in Utah. Um, who do you think might have the advantage? Jay’s going for his first win - well, second, if you count the fill-in job he did last year - while Jerry Sloan is going for win #1,102.

This is a tough preview to write, because I really don’t know what to expect in this game. From the Raptors standpoint, we can’t expect too much to change - after all, Triano’s only had a day and a half on the job and roster is what it is.

What’s impossible to predict is the emotional effect that a new voice can bring; sometimes, just having that different guy on the bench produces an energy level the team hasn’t seen before. So while they may not do anything drastically different, the Raptors may be inspired to actually play harder and execute better on the floor.

As for the Jazz, well, it appears Carlos Boozer won’t play; Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring are questionable; and Deron Williams is having a tough time recovering from ankle problems (I would know, he’s on my fantasy team).

Nevertheless, when you’re a struggling point guard, playing Jose Calderon and his patented Matador Defense is the cure-all, isn’t it?

Sigh.

Anyway, without knowing who’s gonna play, it’s tough to predict how the Jazz will do. They’re 8-3 at home - it’s always tough for road teams in Utah, and the Raps haven’t won there since 2004 - but oddly enough, just 2-7 against the Eastern conference this year.

Regardless of who plays, you can be sure the Jazz will execute their plays and give 100 per cent on defense. They’re kind of the anti-Raptors in that respect. It’s amazing how disciplined Sloan’s teams are.

Ronnie Brewer is having a solid year - 13/3/3 on 48% shooting - and if our perimeter defense is as bad as it’s been lately, he and Kyle Korver will likely have field days. Mehmet Okur is usually a tough matchup, but with our versatile big men (I would assume either Bosh or Bargnani would guard Okur, with O’Neal on the much more physical Paul Millsap) we should be able to hold him in check.

The Jazz have been starting CJ Miles at small forward, and while he doesn’t feature much in their offense, he could be a tough matchup for the Raptors (assuming Triano sticks with the big three frontline of Bosh, Bargnani and O’Neal). With O’Neal on Millsap, that leaves Bosh and Bargnani to handle Okur and Miles. Smaller, quicker threes are a tough guard for Bargnani or Bosh, and you just know a coach like Sloan will be able to take advantage.

The key, then, will be how - or if? - the Raptors exploit it on the other end. One recurring problem under Sam Mitchell was that the Raptors rarely, if ever, took advantage of the mismatches that having Bargnani on the floor provides. (Some people are blaming this on Jose Calderon, but as Michael Grange reported yesterday, Sam was calling plays every time down the floor… and the play was Horns Up - high pick and roll - 70% of the time.)

I know it can be tough to think of Bargnani as a top option with Bosh and JO out there, but honestly… if 6′6″ Miles is guarding him, if they don’t go to Bargnani in the post early and often, I’m going to be extremely disappointed in Triano. That’s his first real test, in my mind.

Besides, given how assertive Bargnani has been on offense, and given JO’s struggles shooting the ball, I’d say Bargnani probably should be the second offensive option on any given play. And if he’s got a 6′6″ height advantage, he’s gotta get the rock.

The Raptors will really catch a break if both Boozer and Kirilenko are out, and it’s gonna be up to Triano to ensure the team takes advantage - the Raptors will have a serious edge in size and they’ve got to hit the glass, get out and run, and when things slow down, use that height to score some points on post-ups.

Assuming both of those guys are out, I think the Raptors will be up to the task and will win by 10 - I really think the emotional impact of the coaching change will carry them through.

From my earlier post it may seem like I think Sam Mitchell is the only reason this team has struggled so far this year, but I want to assure you, that’s not the case.

I think Bryan Colangelo needs to bear a chunk of the blame, and of course, the players do too.

Here’s how I break it down: Mitchell: 40%; Colangelo: 35%; Players: 25%.

I covered Mitchell’s part earlier: Team wasn’t prepared for games, no offensive creativity, bad/no playcalling down the stretch, odd substitution patterns, team appeared to be tuning him out.

The players deserve blame, of course, because clearly, they did not come to play every night. And you can lay some of that on Mitchell, for not preparing them, but at some point, as Mitchell said the other day, guys just need to come and play hard without being told to - that’s part of being a professional. And on top of that, you have players not answering their roles on offense (Calderon not turning the corner on screen and roll, Kapono not shooting threes, Moon not driving, O’Neal shooting too many fadeaways) and making dumb mistakes (Solomon leaving his feet to pass, Hump and his running one handers, etc.). They gotta accept responsibility too.

As for the rest, well, that’s gotta be on Colangelo. I talked about it a while ago, how this thin roster was not constructed with enough flexibility to make any moves, so if it stunk, we were essentially stuck with it. Also a problem that in today’s NBA, where the bigger bodies and advanced medical analysis mean more missed games, that it was considered a good idea to run with a 12-man roster.

And it’s been borne out, obviously, that there is a serious deficiency at the wing positions and that there is no one on the bench to help and no moves to be made to bring help in.

Here’s where I think BC’s biggest mistakes came:

1) First of all, letting Carlos Delfino walk away.

Now, I know they couldn’t re-sign him without going over the tax and you can absolutely argue that he’s not enough to go over the tax for. And of course hindsight is 20/20. But comparing him to the other wing players: He slashes more than Moon, Parker and Kapono combined, and although his overall shooting percentage was low (40%), he shot 38% from three and I guarantee that with regular, consistent minutes, he wouldn’t force as many shots.

Furthermore, he can play backup point guard. You could have brought in Roko, left Solomon to rot in Europe, and had Delfino as your third guard. And, he can rebound - 4.4 per game in 23 minutes is an excellent number.

Most important, he was a better defender than Kapono and equal to Moon and Parker last year. And since both of those guys have taken a step back on defense (which couldn’t be predicted, I know) Delfino surely would have been a better option right now.

Most important… he was the only guy on the team last year other than TJ Ford capable of his creating his own shot. Again, not always good shots, but again, with consistent playing time…

Either way, the Raptors now don’t have a single soul who can create, no one who can defend, a crappy backup PG, and a three point shooter who won’t shoot threes. Delfino could have helped out in every case. (The Raptors still hold Delfino’s rights, but by all accounts, his contract is 3 years/$12 million dollars without any out clauses. Meaning he’d have to negotiate a buyout to get out of his deal before 2011. Doesn’t seem likely.)

2) The other mistake, a much larger mistake, was buying out Jorge Garbajosa’s contract.

This was huge for two reasons. Number one, if - and I admit it was a big if - Garbajosa was able to get healthy and play, he could have provided the physical perimeter defender they sorely need. He’s also, as we all know, an incredibly smart basketball player, a good hustle and energy guy, who provides a lot of the “intangibles” the Raps are missing. Again, I don’t know if he’d ever be healthy enough to contribute (I note he’s averaging 9 points and 4 boards in Russia, but that’s a little different from NBA competition) but why not keep him around to see? And surely, another veteran presence around the locker room couldn’t hurt, could it?

But just as important (more important maybe?), he had a $4.3 million expiring contract. Even if he couldn’t play a minute, as we all know in today’s NBA, expiring contacts are like gold at the trading deadline, and having small contracts (relatively speaking) to trade gives you even more flexibility advantages. This is exactly the type of asset we don’t have to trade! Any team looking to dump salary would have looked right here, with $11 million in Garbo, Graham and Parker available, plus Hump and his two years. And you don’t think taking back an expiring or two would make a longer contract like Kapono’s more attractive in a package?

Why in the world Colangelo thought it’d be a good idea to buy out an expiring contract, instead of trying to trade it, is beyond me. Maybe it was outta respect for Garbo, but come on. This is a business. And this was a bad, bad GM move. I mean, seriously. This was like a Rob Babcock move. The Raptors got absolutely nothing out of this, except what, a savings of about a million dollars? Chump change. I’d rather have a trade asset.

So, those two mistakes were huge contributors to the problems the Raptors are having:

• They have no perimeter D - which both could have helped with;
• The bench is too thin - obviously, a couple of veterans never hurts;
• They have minimal trade assets - Garbo’s contract, if not Garbo himself, would be of value;
• The roster is at the minimum, so they can’t do a 2-for-1 trade - again, more bodies, more tradeable assets, means a trade is more likely.

Now, another factor was drafting Nathan Jawai in round 2; I know second round players are absolute crapshoots, but it might have been nice had they chosen a guy who could at least attempt to play. Sigh.

If he’d kept Delfino, kept Garbo, left Will Solomon under whatever rock he was under, drafted a raw 7-footer whose only job would need to be “hack Dwight Howard,” we’d have a 14-man roster with better perimeter defenders, more fouls to give, and some bargaining chips. And BC still could have brought on Hassan Adams to play cheerleader!

Instead we’ve got three good bigs plus Hump, five mediocre swingmen, a good PG backed up by a rookie and a guy who would struggle to make the D-league. Oh, and a 7-footer who hasn’t dressed once.

And next-to-no bargaining power to make a trade.

That, my friends, is all on Colangelo.

Should the roster be producing more wins? It looks like it - it looks like some playcalling and offensive creativity, combined with sustained effort, should have won at least two more games already this year (and avoided struggling in the close games they almost blew). So yes, I do believe - at this point - that a coaching will help.

But if this team continues to flounder under Jay Triano, if Triano puts in some new sets but they still struggle or appear listless, then it’ll be clear - it’s not the coaching, it’s the roster. And BC is going to have a hard time fixing it, because he’s left himself so few options.

Well, yesterday was a big day. Big day for the Raptors. Sam Mitchell was fired after an 8-9 start - and let’s be honest, given the poor effort and blown leads, it’s a bad 8-9 start.

Was the timing right? From a PR standpoint, you can’t do much better than firing the coach after one of the worst losses in franchise history, on the west coast, to boot.

In addition, you have to figure that at 8-9, they’re still in the playoff chase - if they can survive this brutal stretch of the schedule - so if you’re going to make a coaching change, better to make it now then when you’re 12-20 and out of the race.

I simply can’t understand the people (Doug Smith, I’m looking at you) that keep saying “it’s too early.” It’s not - the season is slipping away. When does too early become “just right” and not “too late”? It’s a fine line, obviously, but I’d rather make the move too early than too late.

No, 8-9 isn’t bad on paper but look at the games - the blown leads, the poor effort, the lack of execution down the stretch.

Is it all on the coach? Of course not, but it starts there - the coach is the leader and if he can’t get the players to even play hard, then he’s gotta take some blame.

We all know Mitchell is not a great X’s and O’s guy, but it’s always been said that he’s a good motivator, the players respect him and play hard for him, etc.. But that no longer appeared to be the case, at least not this season, am I wrong? I count three zero-effort games: The first Hawks game, the second Celtics game, and Denver. I count two listless games where a few threes kept it respectable: The Lakers game and the second Sixers game. I count three blown leads where the team simply got lazy in the second half: Orlando, Boston, and New Jersey (which was at home, and featured the still-unbelievable twice-botched inbounds play). Then you’ve got the second Miami game that they very nearly blew after leading by 17, and the first Charlotte game that they slept through the entire first half and got down 16 before Bosh single-handedly brought them back to win. And in the second Atlanta game, they played great almost the entire game until the final two minutes when they almost blew a 9-point lead and it took the poor decision making of the Hawks to seal it.

So by my tally, that’s five games with entirely poor efforts, three games where they didn’t play hard for 48 and lost, and two games where they didn’t play hard for 48 and still managed to win, plus one they won despite not executing down the stretch. They’ve only won one game against a +.500 opponent (Atlanta) and aren’t putting even bad teams away with any authority. Also consider the 13-20 finish to last year and the 1-4 playoff run, and that’s a pretty bad stretch, no?

So I don’t think you can you say that Mitchell has them playing hard anymore. And if they’re not playing hard for him, and he’s not going to help them win with X’s and O’s… then what is he bringing to the table? Some fine suits and a lot of excuses, that’s what.

Now. I like Sam, don’t get me wrong, and I am going to miss him. A lot. He was entertaining, enjoyable, a good person and someone who never gave less than his best. He did improve as a coach, greatly, over the years, not just on the floor but also in his management of the team, changing the attitude of the team, dealing with the media, everything. And, up until recently, the Raptors always played hard. Always - just like Sam did.

But something obviously changed and they aren’t playing hard right now.

Going forward, do I really think getting rid of Sam is going to make a big difference? Probably not. As has been said many times many places, even a great coach like Phil Jackson would have trouble teaching Calderon how to stay in front of his man or Moon to stay on his feet on pump fakes. But I think we all feel Sam’s weak X’s and O’s meant the team struggled as much on offense as it did on defense.

If Jay Triano brings a few more plays to the playbook and manages to mix things up a little, the Raptors should, at the very least, manage to score a little more easily. And if you’re not using up all your energy on offense, maybe you’ve got a little more left for defense, no? That’s the hope that I have, at least.

Whether it’s more transition hoops, whether it’s plays that get Kapono, Parker or Calderon more open looks, whether it’s more post-ups for Bargnani when he’s playing smaller 3s… a team with Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal and so many shooters on it should not struggle to get open shots. I hope Triano has something up his sleeve to solve that.

I also hope he gives the guys consistent minutes on a consistent basis. Time to stop judging guys on one missed shot or turnover. Either let them play through a good chuck and determine if they can learn from these mistakes or if they’re just bad players.

In my opinion, and in the opinion of many, Sam was never Bryan Colangelo’s guy. The two never saw eye-to-eye; they have distinctly different styles and philosophies, and Bryan, well, I gather Bryan has a bit of an ego and a “I know more basketball than you” air about him, so he probably wanted to bring his own guy in from day one.

But, it didn’t make sense to fire Sam right off the bat, in the last year of his contract, and have to swallow the cash - after all, no one expected the team to be any good in Bryan’s first year. But, it was - good enough to win 47 games and give Sam the Coach of the year Award.

And that, folks, was the worst possible thing that could have happened.

I think Bryan was expected maybe 38 wins and was simply going to let Sam walk at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Thanks for a good year, you did good enough to land another job, we’re going a different route, blah blah blah.. But he simply had to bring Sam back - you can’t let the coach of the year walk away.

And that set Bryan’s plan back. I think he was hoping to bring someone in that offseason - maybe Iavaroni, maybe Messina - but he’d lose face letting the coach of the year walk away. And maybe, like me, he thought Sam would continue to improve and that there was value in the continuity of having one voice.

But, obviously, that improvement never came and it looks like the voice was getting tuned out. The timing, unfortunately for Sam, is right. I applaud this move at this time - it was, I believe, 100 per cent necessary.

I wish Sam the best of luck. I really will miss him. It’s been four years plus a couple months we’ve had Sam as our coach. That’s a long time - longest tenure, and winningest, in Raptors history. He and Chris Bosh were the only remnants from the “old days” - the only people left on the team that coached/played with Vince Carter. And I won’t forget the 47 wins and the division title or the playoff series against the Nets, and I won’t forget being there to see him win coach of the year, and the way he brought all the players out to the court with him. Great moment. All the best to you, Sam, really.

And Jay, well, best of luck to you too! I hope you succeed because it will be great for Canada, but mostly, I hope you succeed so that we can see our beloved Raptors get back on the winning track.