Triano Our New Defensive Coach? (Rumour)

[Nohandle]

A reliable "source" (I'm a bartender and talk to a lot of people) told me last night that sometime in late November or early December Triano had a meeting with Colangelo about the defensive shortcomings of the team. The gist of it was that Triano wanted to take over Iavaroni's role as defensive coach. Remember, it was BC who brought Iavaroni in and not Triano.

Obviously no one was happy being the worst defensive team in the NBA and Triano basically told BC he had to give him the responsibility of coaching defense if he wanted to turn the ship around. BC obliged and since then the Raptors have been one of the better defensive teams in the NBA.

If this is true, what do you think Iavaroni's role is now?
Has anyone else heard anything like this?

[Kayjay]

I don't know if you being in Vancouver makes you more or less reliable.

[beno]

Iavaroni is back at the crapper.

[Nohandle]

I don't know if you being in Vancouver makes you more or less reliable.

Triano coached and played at SFU, so there's a lot of people in this city that know him personally.

[Upgrayedd]

It's an interesting theory, but I haven't heard of anything like this so I'm guessing that's all it is, a theory.

[barrist]

What would be the consequences of telling us who the source is?

[Candide]

I don't know if you being in Vancouver makes you more or less reliable.

Triano coached and played at SFU, so there's a lot of people in this city that know him personally.

so let me get this straight: you didn't get the info from anyone affiliated with the raptors, but from someone who knows Triano. and you got this at a bar, where people drink and can fabricate any story or idea that comes to mind seems a bit far-fetched to me, as if Triano calling up a buddy in Vancouver (i.e. "hey Todd! you're my best friend, so let me tell you what i told my boss to do the other day! you have to promise you won't get drunk at a bar and tell the bartender though!") wasn't already a stretch to begin with.

[ImissJordan]

Not that I don't put any stock into your 'source', but we played the same style last year (not contesting outside shots).

[Nohandle]

What would be the consequences of telling us who the source is?

Me getting sh*t on by the owners of my bar and by the source himself. Chances are none of them have read realgm before, but I still don't want to risk it.

For the record, I've met Triano at my bar before and he knows quite a few of the regulars.

as if Triano calling up a buddy in Vancouver (i.e. "hey Todd! you're my best friend, so let me tell you what i told my boss to do the other day! you have to promise you won't get drunk at a bar and tell the bartender though!") wasn't already a stretch to begin with.

That's not how it happened, but I understand your skepticism.

[quickymgee]

hm seems pretty plausible to me. the defensive coverages have been actually pretty different compared to back in november, and i don't really see a reason why you'd make this up, or why some guy at a bar would make something like that up and tell a bartender. and it's not that triano had to have purposefully called up a friend and told him, they could have very easily been catching up over christmas or something, or at a party, whatever, seeing as he's the coach of the raptors, someone might naturally ask why the team suddenly improved in its defense.

not saying that i think this rumour is true or not, but just that it's something that can be considered

[McFurious1]

get Iavaroni out of here

[Raps in 4]

It's an interesting theory, but I haven't heard of anything like this so I'm guessing that's all it is, a theory.

+1

[Kayjay]

Yikes.

The beat writers for sure read this place sometimes, so I think we might be getting some awkward questions in scrums in the next couple days.

[AB_21]

Sounds plausible. But who cares, really?

[MJ23DREAMER]

Look at the way they are playing D now vs. early in the year.

It is basically the same - protecting the "house" and no or little splits with help D on rotations which is pretty much how every NBA team plays. The difference from the start of the year to now is execution. The rotations are way way smoother, crisper and seamless. All of this can be accounted to familiarity and starting to put more and more trust in each other. I said from the start it would take at lest 25 games for this team to gel. Defense will always take a team longer to mesh as it is entirely about giving and helping.

Another two big reasons are record, or shall I say poor record of opposition and more time between games. It's as "simple" as that. Sorry, but there is no more credibility to your words as the barber who cuts the hair of a players best friend and has a "conversation"!!

[C Court]

This tidbit by the OP is not far-fetched at all. I was told something Raptor-related last season by a source who used to play ball with Triano. Turns out he was spot on.

Over the years I have received a ton of great inside info about the Raptors through meeting Raptor coaches and MLSE insiders at decent downtown drinking establishments and striking up conversations with them.

BTW, anyone remember the hammering that a poster on RealGM took last year when he told the story of Bryan and Turk having a chance encounter at a Toronto restaurant when the Magic were in town? Upon returning to his table, Bryan said, " I think we can sign Turk this summer". Of course, RealGMers called BS on the OP, even though the story was proven 100% correct.

[knickerbocker2k2]

I don't really see it. We are still running the same defense as earlier in the season. I think the main reasons for improved defense is

1) Opposition. Our strategy has being pack the paint and make them hit from the outside. Last couple of weeks we have faced literally teams at the bottom 10 in 3point shooting. Now this probably means our defense wasn't as bad as it looked because of the top heavy schedule early on.

2) Our players are playing better. On the perimeter I have being surprised by the defense of players like Weems/Banks. Also Bargs has dramatically improved his defense. He actually rotating and getting blocks. He is still abit inconsistent but he is dramatically better. Also if you notice Rasho/Amir are getting less time. That means we are playing with more mobile rotations (Turko/Weems) sometimes at the 4.

3) Schedule is favorable again. We are playing not only horrible teams but teams in the right spot. For instance we have played Magic during their recent struggle. We played good Houston team on early Sunday game. We played Celtics team without Peirce/KG/Rondo, however we couldn't take advantage. Plus having more games at home with some 1/2/3 day rests helps.

[RUN-TMR]

what is your bar called?

[LebronMJ23]

Defensive improvement = injured Calderon


YES, Calderon is THAT bad

[KingstonRaptors]

I don't know why the OP (whose been a member longer than some Mods) would make false accusations, and it does seem plausible. My only question, what's Ivaroni's job now on the team and how did he take the news?