It’s no secret that I am not the biggest Jay Triano fan. The team’s defense seem to gotten worse with him at the helm. You could make an argument that talent on the floor has a lot to do with this, but at the same time it’s easy to see Triano can’t get anyone to play defense.
So who are the candidates? Colangelo wants someone who has a wealth of experience and success. Someone who has a free flowing offense and has success putting defensive unit together. Not sure a lot of those are available right now.
Here are some candidates:
1) Lawrence Frank. Frank has a nice deal of success when he coached the Nets; winning a couple of division titles. His team has always been very good on the defensive end (except for his last season), a very detail oriented coach. However, his offensive approach leaves a lot to be desired.
2) Dwayne Casey. Casey doesn’t have the resume like Frank, but he is a pretty good coach. Casey was 20-20 when he was fired as a coach for the Timberwolves in 2006-07 season. The team went 12-30 after that. In short, he overachieves, which is something you want from a coach. He almost become a head coach for the Toronto Raptors, when Glen Grunwald wanted him as a coach, but Richard Peddie wanted Kevin O’Neil instead. His Minnesota team did well on defense. It ranked 10th overall in 05-06 season, his offense ranked 28th, but when you have Marcus Banks as your starting PG, and Trenton Hassell as a starter, your offense isn’t going to be any good.
3) Mike D’Antoni. A little far-fetch since he is still under contract to the Knicks. But I am not sure if he will be around as a Knick coach. If Dolan decides on another direction, he could let D’Antoni go. It’s obvious that Colangelo is very familiar with D’Antoni and vice versa. However, D’Antoni’s team play no defense either, which isn’t what the Raptors are looking for.
4) Rick Adelman. Another far-fetch choice. It would be a great choice though, since Adelman is equally adept on offense and defense. Has an excellent resume. But why would Adelman go to a rebuilding team when he has other options available?
5) Ettore Messina. Messina has enormous success in Europe, a very well known coach. But is it a little risky for the Raptors to hire someone with no NBA experience?
6) Others. They are lots of other options. Brian Shaw is a possibility, he has lots of success as an assistant, and with Kobe giving an endorsement, it’s not a bad choice. But again, is experience as an assistant coach enough for Colangelo? Jeff Van Gundy has a nice TV job, I doubt you will see him as a coach unless a perfect opportunity is there. Larry Brown is out there, if you want someone with success and can teach, no one is better than Mr Fix it. Of course, he will want to leave after a year or so.
Tags: Toronto Raptors
