Step 1 to Success: Tim Leiweke (checkmark)

onetwothree · Post #1 » by **onetwothree** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:24 pm

When BC came in, it seemed like he was the right man for the job. He wasn't. The BC era ended in disappointment.
Now, Tim Leiweke has come. He seems like the right man for the job. Knowing the previous "right man for the job" and how that resulted, we shouldn't get too excited. But I can't help but get a glimmer of hope after hearing what TL had to say and the answers to those questions.

Here is somethings I noticed, Id love everyone's input on these.

1. BC has been extended as President. But if you listen to what TL had to say, that's no big deal. Some quotes on what TL said about BC. Seems like BC has been extended just for "respect" since he is a Colangelo, he won't be here much longer...
--> When asked about the new GM reporting directly to TL, TL says "I hope Bryan can live with that, if not, the raptors are not going to be the ones being fired." Hinting that if there's a problem, he will fire BC.
--> when asked about potential future problems. He explicitly said if there is a problem of interference from B.C, he will "clean it up"
--> Mentioning many times that there were many mistakes made and accountability (making it BC's fault)
--> B.C is ticked off at me, and I don't care type of attitude.
--> Can BC be hired by another team for a basketball-related job? "Yes"

2. Rebranding the Raptor's and making us Canada's team. There's two things that come to my mind on this.
A) Despite all the Bullsh*t that has been said about American players wanting to come to Canada, guess what, if you were born and raised in Florida and you are an allstar, would you really want to play your whole career in Canada? I think rebranding our team to make it "Canada's team" won't help a tad bit in us getting people to want to come here. LETS FOCUS ON GETTING RESULTS FIRST AND CREATING A WINNING ATMOSPHERE, THEN YOU CAN REBRAND TO WHATEVER YOU WANT. BRANDING DOESN'T WIN YOU GAMES. BRANDING WINS YOU FANS' DOLLARS AND TORONTO FANS ARE SOME OF THE BEST IN THE NBA. I couldn't disagree more with what TL had to say with his branding mumbo jumbo. Lets win something and branding will be that much easier.
B) K, im done my little rant but the 2nd thing I can't help but realize is... We are rebranding to be "Canada's team" and ANDREW WIGGINS is coming into the league next year (probably). Andrew Wiggins is definitely the best Canadian prospect ever. He will be the only Canadian drafted at #1. He has the skillset to be a legend. What better way to rebrand to Canada's team than to get AW for our team superstar. Do you think that TL and his rebranding philosophy will improve our chances at somehow getting Andrew Wiggins with the #1 pick in the 2014 draft?

3. Toronto is not bidding for the 2016 allstar game. CANADA IS. K so Tim Leiweke is a big fish in this industry, thats probably why he is good friends with David Stern (mentioned it twice) and probably Adam Silver and every other person in the NBA. That's the reason that I will make this assumption. As long as TL is our CEO until 2016, THE 2016 ALLSTAR GAME WILL BE IN TORONTO.
First thing that comes in my mind is Demar Derozan. Im a huge fan of the man, I know theres many people in here that aren't. But this thread is not about him so we will not talk about his strengths or weaknesses. instead, "Asked if he would reconsider, DeRozan said he would only compete again if the All-Star Game is held in Toronto or if the rules are changed to eliminate props." Well props are surely not going to be eliminated but the 2016 Allstar game in Toronto could be real. So im going to go out on a limb and make another assumption. I can't predict if the Miami Heat will win next year or the year after that, neither can I predict if the Toronto Raptors will make the playoffs next year but I predict that Demar Derozan will win the Dunk Contest in 2016 provided that he does not get traded to another team by then.

Felixano · Post #2 » by **Felixano** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:45 pm

What on earth was the point of this....

And DeRozan winning the dunk comp in 2016 helps us how?

Neutral 123 · Post #3 » by **Neutral 123** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:53 pm

Easily the most reasoned post I've read from anyone excited about today's news.

God Squad · Post #4 » by **God Squad** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:56 pm

Ball boy post. very random and a lot of hypothetical.

JN · Post #5 » by JN » Tue May 21, 2013 4:56 pm

Of all the things I worried or cared about in the presser, I can definetely say that Derozan and the 2016 Dunk Contest was not one of them. Nor should it be.

dTox · Post #6 » by **dTox** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:58 pm

This whole Canada's team is another way to justify BC's current title, to me its pointless. I'm a fan of the Toronto Raptors, not the Canada Raptors, I'd rather them point their attention to what impacts our W/L column, which is fielding a future contender. Making it team Canada doesn't mean much, if at all to American/European athletes, its certainly not the reason why they've been hesitating to sign as free agent.

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #7 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Tue May 21, 2013 4:58 pm

When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

Kabookalu · Post #8 » by **Kabookalu** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:13 pm

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

That's what I feared would have happened if we just hired a new GM, but with Leiweke here I assumed that he would be all in for a rebuild.

grumpwalter · Post #9 » by **grumpwalter** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:14 pm

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

It's gonna be hard for the new guy, it took Donnie Walsh 3 years to recover from the Isiah's Knicks (who were in a similar situation to us now)

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #10 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:17 pm

Choker wrote:
theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

That's what I feared would have happened if we just hired a new GM, but with Leiweke here I assumed that he would be all in for a rebuild.

You heard him say why they canned BC right? did your assumption change? And don't blame Tim. TV ratings will now be our benchmark, and it's understandable, just like share value and sale valuations were OTPP's benchmark. Not saying it's good, but easy to understand why. I'd love to have an owner who just loved being in the business of basketball and wanted to win.

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #11 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:19 pm

grumpwalter wrote:
theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

It's gonna be hard for the new guy, it took Donnie Walsh 3 years to recover from the Isiah's Knicks (who were in a similar situation to us now)

I don't think we're that bad, if the goal, is their goal ie playoffs. If the goals is the championship, i agree. But we're a Lebron James away for the forseeable anyway. Sorry, but unless he goes West.... He's just that good now.

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #12 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:19 pm

dbl post

corporatwelfare · Post #13 » by **corporatwelfare** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:08 pm

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:
Choker wrote:
theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:When BC was fired for them not being in the playoffs, I don't think the next guy will be tanking. He will have more pressure to get in, because we've been out too long.

That's what I feared would have happened if we just hired a new GM, but with Leiweke here I assumed that he would be all in for a rebuild.

You heard him say why they canned BC right? did your assumption change? And don't blame Tim. TV ratings will now be our benchmark, and it's understandable, just like share value and sale valuations were OTPP's benchmark. Not saying it's good, but easy to understand why. I'd love to have an owner who just loved being in the business of basketball and wanted to win.

But surely you can see the failure of this plan to find more suckers across canada as the eastcoastcoastsonlyraptorfan. You sound like you understand the culture there.I just spent a year in New brunswick. in the last 6 years i also spent ayear in alberta and a year in BC. Ive lived in quebec as well.
Anywhere I went In those provinces there was a backlash against my even mentioning basketball.
I vainly traveled cities like deadmonton and moncton trying to find an establisment that would put a BB game on 1 of their 15 televisions. The reactions ranged from polite laughter no to threats of actual fights and warnings of violence. I think I actually scared a few of the waitresses by just asking.
Changing the branding isnt gonna do shite in my opinion. This just makes me think TL is just doing marketing to take the focus off the same old crap product. Either that or hes just delusional-also bad.

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #14 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:16 pm

If they start to win, people will watch. Meaningful games will do it, but that has to be the goal. They can't say another one of our goals is getting people to watch more games. Just focus on becoming relevant in the league. If they do that, it will come, over time.

sanity · Post #15 » by **sanity** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:17 pm

You're not tapping the Canadian market if your team continues to be garbage. They have to win games. People don't care about branding or promoting the Canada's team stuff. We've already gone through those 2 things for the past decade

Patman · Post #16 » by **Patman** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:18 pm

Thank you for bolding parts of your post, so that I didn't have to read the rest of your drivel. Saved me a lot of time. Just to re-cap the bolded parts:

- TL will help us land Wiggins
- "Canada" will get the all-star game
- A late 20's DeMar will win the dunk contest

Hot Water · Post #17 » by **Hot Water** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:22 pm

The 2016 Slam Dunk contest can not come fast enough!!

Indeed · Post #18 » by **Indeed** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:34 pm

BC was the right man, who would bring revenue to the club. The last few years have been struggle with politics and organization changes (youth development), which is hard to blame on him. It is clear that BC is a win now person (make good small trades), having a youth development period doesn't put his strength to show. The reason why MLSE gives BC a place (present for a year?), it shows that the problem is more than BC, and it can be MLSE is the main reason for most of the struggle.

At this point, TL is the right person, as the direction changes from revenue to being a competitive national team. BC's strength in marketing can be a great help. However, our new GM most likely requires to be a technical person (basketball knowledge, from coach, scout to player experience), and less of a financial person.

Anything else will up to the new GM/coach. I do not think we will tank for Wiggins.

onetwothree · Post #19 » by **onetwothree** » Wed May 22, 2013 12:16 am

kk relax on the derozan stuff. just put it out there for fun. Yall don't have to be so serious about it.

Some good stuff on the rebranding/marketing crap. Good to see that many people have the same view as me; winning > rebranding...