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Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach

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Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#1 » by And1Skip » Sat Sep 7, 2019 4:49 pm

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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#2 » by LoveMyRaps » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:01 pm

Awesome news.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#3 » by RaptorReloaded » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:03 pm

Awesome!! Congrats to her and great look for the Raptors organization. World class we are.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#4 » by 720 » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:06 pm

Any time we can have more analytics people on the staff the better.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#5 » by RyderMike » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:16 pm

Guess they chose not to continue the double letter pattern of NN, SS, and FF.


On a serious note, congrats to her. An analytics specialist is definitely a huge upgrade over whatever Castleberry did. Is there a max number of assistant coaches? Seems like we have like 8 or 9, with a 15 man roster. Meanwhile the NHL has 3 assistant coaches with a 23 man roster

Her analytics background: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/brittnidonaldson

(I didn't linkedin stalk - first link on google)

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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#6 » by Mikistan » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:22 pm

RyderMike wrote:Guess they chose not to continue the double letter pattern of NN, SS, and FF.


On a serious note, congrats to her. An analytics specialist is definitely a huge upgrade over whatever Castleberry did. Is there a max number of assistant coaches? Seems like we have like 8 or 9, with a 15 man roster. Meanwhile the NHL has 3 assistant coaches with a 23 man roster

Her analytics background: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/brittnidonaldson

(I didn't linkedin stalk - first link on google)

To be fair, the nba is a bit far behind on this.

They can easily go the route of the NFL, have offensive and defensive coordinators up top, with live statistics linked to IBM Watson and an earpiece to the head coach.
Everytime the opposing team makes a substitution you can have real time 3,4 man and 5man unit statistics updating, have offensive and defensive coordinators giving input on statistical best options or substitutions to counter, have live cameras mapping plays and comparing to catalogues of scouting videos of opponent offensive or defensive schemes.

Instead we just have a head coach yelling and walking up and down the sideline.

Dated.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#7 » by OakleyDokely » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:27 pm

Some background on her. Looks like a great addition to the bench.


What you might not realize is that Sioux City has its own Raptors connection in Brittni Donaldson, a former all-state basketball player at North High School and now a Data Analyst with the world champions.

Donaldson has worked for the Raptors for just under two years and played an integral role in their unexpected run to the NBA title. The daughter of Jeff and Carmen Donaldson of Sioux City has been in the center of all of the celebration the last couple of weeks since the Raptors knocked off two-time defending champion Golden State in the NBA Finals.

“It’s finally winding down after what seemed like a never-ending celebration,” Donaldson said in a phone interview from Toronto this week. “I definitely got to Toronto at the right time and I’m fortunate to be a part of something this special.”

Donaldson was a three-time all-stater at North and played on a state championship team for Coach Kirk Walker. She went on to enjoy a successful collegiate career at Northern Iowa and received a Bachelor’s Degree in statistics and actuary science.

Her first job in the ‘real world’ was in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for CBE Companies and from there she moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she held a couple of analyst positions. Donaldson joined the Raptors organization in September of 2017.

“Pretty much every NBA team now has an analytics or strategy department with the all the player tracking data and advanced analysis and statistics that we now have available,” Donaldson said. “We look to kind of make sense of all of that and use that information to make better decisions both for the coaching staff and front office.

“My role is to help the coaching staff make better decisions with the data we have available. It’s been really fun. I help out with scouting reports, player evaluations and roster construction. I’ve also had opportunities to be on court a little bit to help out with player development.

“I have a wide range of responsibilities but it’s been really fun to touch and collaborate with different parts of the organization.”

As a Raptors employee, she’ll also get a championship ring.

Donaldson said she, Nurse and Bjorkgren talk about their Iowa roots often and are proud to hail from the Hawkeye State.

“I didn’t know Nick before I got to the Raptors, it was a real coincidental thing,” Donaldson said. “We both played at Northern Iowa which is a really cool connection. We kind of have this little pact in the office when we see each other and there’s that common ground there. Our families know each other and we know a lot of the same people so it’s real special at this level to have someone else beside you that came from a similar background.”

Growing up as a basketball junkie, this job is a dream come true for Donaldson.

“I was fortunate out of school to make the connections I did,” Donaldson said. “When I worked in Chicago for two years, my boss there works in the NBA league office now. He pushed me and developed me as a professional and got me in contact with some people that I needed in order to make that next step.

“I’m real fortunate to have been placed in a situation to meet the people I have. It’s definitely a pinch yourself moment, especially when you’re looking at the Larry O’Brien Trophy when you walk into the office. It takes a lot of hard work and it’s not always butterflies and rainbows, but in the end it’s worth it.”

The Raptors conquered some quality teams en route to the title, besting the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State.

The Philadelphia series itself was so much back and forth and I’ve never seen so many in-game adjustments as I have in that series,” Donaldson said. “Milwaukee was the best team in the NBA with the MVP (Giannis Antetokounmpo) so to get past them was a huge feat and played the defending champs in the finals was a test in its own.

“There were some nail-biters but we were able to bounce back from the losses, see the end goal and strive toward that. It was really cool to be a part of.”

Then, there was the parade.

“That was the highlight of my past couple of weeks,” Donaldson said. “I’ve never seen that many people in one place. As far as you could see there were people in Raptors gear.

“I got to Toronto two years ago and even then basketball just wasn’t on anybody’s radar. We were good, but the culture up here is hockey, curling and soccer is even big. You just don’t see a lot of basketball on T.V. or at the youth level so to kind of see that culture shift and see nearly 4 million people at the parade was pretty special. When I was walking to work today there were a bunch of kids outside playing basketball and you can feel there’s a buzz in the city about the sport.

“From where I come from, basketball was such a huge part of my life, so to be able to give that back is really cool.”



https://siouxcityjournal.com/sports/columnists/sioux-city-native-brittni-donaldson-raptors-data-analyst-basks-in/article_7c2b9cfd-db9b-5244-92f7-0d5097a384f2.html
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#8 » by Kevin Willis » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:39 pm

Great hire - congrats!
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#9 » by Red_Claw » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:45 pm

Women will never play in the NBA (minus any future rare exceptions), but theres ZERO reason they shouldn't be involved with managing in any capacity. Whether she ends up being good or not at what she does, this is a step in the right directions.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#10 » by Bankai » Sat Sep 7, 2019 5:52 pm

If she is qualified, I don't see why not.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#11 » by Pooh_Jeter » Sat Sep 7, 2019 6:02 pm

We should be aggressively targeting Becky Hammon too. If we had an all female coaching staff maybe we could keep our FA's.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#12 » by yodamaster » Sat Sep 7, 2019 6:42 pm

it's great that it was a woman, but regardless of sex she seems well qualified for the position and good on nurse and raps embracing analytics further and now it may be of use on real-time basis instead of at the half or pre/post game.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#13 » by TheRealDeal » Sat Sep 7, 2019 6:45 pm

Am I allowed to point out that she's pretty or will I get flamed for objectifying women?

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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#14 » by FreshyFlames » Sat Sep 7, 2019 6:54 pm

TheRealDeal wrote:Am I allowed to point out that she's pretty or will I get flamed for objectifying women?

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And here I was thinking it was always teens doing this type of thing :nonono: :banghead: thanks for that.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#15 » by TheRealDeal » Sat Sep 7, 2019 7:06 pm

FreshyFlames wrote:
TheRealDeal wrote:Am I allowed to point out that she's pretty or will I get flamed for objectifying women?

Spoiler:
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And here I was thinking it was always teens doing this type of thing :nonono: :banghead: thanks for that.


Got it, my bad. Let's get back to discussing Lowry's booty and Ibaka's man meat :lol:
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#16 » by Northface82 » Sat Sep 7, 2019 7:22 pm

I trust Masai and Nurse, welcome aboard!
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#17 » by Natural11 » Sat Sep 7, 2019 7:37 pm

TheRealDeal wrote:Am I allowed to point out that she's pretty or will I get flamed for objectifying women?

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We do enough worshipping of Kyle's big booty and Ibaka's big dong that I think it's fair game to mention that she looks good.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#18 » by hankscorpioLA » Sat Sep 7, 2019 8:04 pm

Mikistan wrote:
RyderMike wrote:Guess they chose not to continue the double letter pattern of NN, SS, and FF.


On a serious note, congrats to her. An analytics specialist is definitely a huge upgrade over whatever Castleberry did. Is there a max number of assistant coaches? Seems like we have like 8 or 9, with a 15 man roster. Meanwhile the NHL has 3 assistant coaches with a 23 man roster

Her analytics background: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/brittnidonaldson

(I didn't linkedin stalk - first link on google)

To be fair, the nba is a bit far behind on this.

They can easily go the route of the NFL, have offensive and defensive coordinators up top, with live statistics linked to IBM Watson and an earpiece to the head coach.
Everytime the opposing team makes a substitution you can have real time 3,4 man and 5man unit statistics updating, have offensive and defensive coordinators giving input on statistical best options or substitutions to counter, have live cameras mapping plays and comparing to catalogues of scouting videos of opponent offensive or defensive schemes.

Instead we just have a head coach yelling and walking up and down the sideline.

Dated.


Um....no.

The reason why that works in the NFL is that the game consists of a series of individual plays with breaks between them. And it uses separate personnel for offense and defense, so after each series, there is an opportunity to review and discuss.

Basketball consists of possessions that go back and forth in a continuous manner with minimal breaks. Players are constantly moving and making adjustments on the fly. You can't have 3 or 4 other people calling things out or it will devolve into chaos.

There are 53 players on an NFL team. There are three completely different units, each of which has a different mix of packages and personnel that they use, meaning there are hundreds of different potential combinations. You need multiple coaches just to keep track of it.

There are 12 players on an NBA team, 8 of which play the vast majority of the minutes. Most teams run variations on a dozen or so different plays and ideally use only about 10-15 different lineup combinations in any given game. It is easily something one person with two assistants can manage.
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#19 » by macNcheese3 » Sat Sep 7, 2019 8:09 pm

Nice!!
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Re: Shams: Raptors promote Brittini Donaldson to assistant coach 

Post#20 » by ReaLiez » Sat Sep 7, 2019 8:33 pm

Hope she does well in her new role! Becoming a Raptors coach is a dream come true for any fan - including me!

Over/under 3.5 pages before this turns into a BRITTINI THO?! thread
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