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about 3 hours ago
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about 3 hours ago
First Coach Casey's return is made official, and now we hear about the hiring of Dan Tolzman and Bobby Webster! Huge! Wait...who? Yes, Dwane Casey's return wasn't the only announcement made today by the Toronto Raptors, the team also ...
First Coach Casey's return is made official, and now we hear about the hiring of Dan Tolzman and Bobby Webster! Huge! Wait...who? Yes, Dwane Casey's return wasn't the only announcement made today by the Toronto Raptors, the team also announced that they have named Bobby Webster as the club's Vice President, Basketball Management & Strategy. He'll essentially be their resident "capologist" and he joins the Dinos after working for the NBA league office the past few seasons. (His title there was Associate Director, Salary Cap Management so...yeah...) While I have no working knowledge of Webster, adding someone who specializes in the intricacies of the NBA's complex collective bargaining agreement is certainly not a bad thing. One of new GM Masai Ujiri's strengths in Denver was his ability to field a very successful team each season that wasn't over-committed financially, and Webster should only add to this. While with the NBA's league office he advised all 30 teams on collective bargaining matters as related to the salary cap etc, and "played a lead role in the league office's player contract analytics efforts." (So this certainly means Andrea Bargnani is being shown the door right??) In addition, Denver Nuggets scouting coordinator Dan Tolzman is apparently taking a Director-level scouting position with the Raptors, as Ujiri continues to build his front office and surrounding personnel. Like the Webster hiring, this one is intriguing as well as it ties into another of the strengths during Ujiri's Nuggets' regime; talent evaluation. The Nuggets' acquisitions of players like Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson via the draft were huge parts of the club's success and Tolzman likely was a major factor in their draft selections. And wait, Summer League is coming! In the absence of Raptors' draft picks, this might be the next big event for Raptors' fans to look forward to and the team kicks off play July 13 against the Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat. Well...their B team so to speak. This year's Summer League has a new round robin tournament-style format which will see the Raptors compete in three preliminary round games, plus at least two tournament games July 12-22. Here's the full prelim schedule via NBA.com: 2013 RAPTORS NBA SUMMER LEAGUE SCHEDULE PRELIMINARY ROUND Date Opponent Venue Time (PDT / EDT) July 13 Miami Thomas & Mack 7:30 p.m. / 10:30 p.m. July 14 San Antonio Thomas & Mack 7:30 p.m. / 10:30 p.m. July 16 Sacramento COX Pavilion 3 p.m. / 6 p.m.
about 10 hours ago
The Raptors have hired Bobby Webster as a salary cap specialist. Ujiri said: “I am delighted to have Bobby join our basketball operations team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “His skill set will be valuable in a number of areas, and his ex...
The Raptors have hired Bobby Webster as a salary cap specialist. Ujiri said: “I am delighted to have Bobby join our basketball operations team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “His skill set will be valuable in a number of areas, and his experience and knowledge of the CBA and its complexities from a league level will be a great asset to the organization.” This has left Steve Fruitman in flux. Fruitman is the man who orchestrated the Hedo Turkoglu through by proposing a mathematical formula so complex that the NBA couldn’t comprehend what he was saying, and finally gave up and approved the trade. Word on the street is that there was a fourth and fifth team involved in the Turkoglu trade, both of whom play in the South American league. Genius. Also in flux is Maurizio Gherardini, who has not been heard or seen from since Ujiri was hired. Sources close to RR report that the Raptors are desperately trying to find him so that they can fire him, but he simply refused to be found. It’s this sort of agility that has made Gherardini a household name in the city of Forli in Italy. The chase continues. Notes: Gherardini is also a member of Canada Basketball’s Council Of Excellence…
about 11 hours ago
Dwane Casey will coach the Toronto Raptors for the final season of his contract, according to the Toronto Star. The team announced on Wednesday that it would not seek new leadership on the court under a remade front office featuring form...
Dwane Casey will coach the Toronto Raptors for the final season of his contract, according to the Toronto Star. The team announced on Wednesday that it would not seek new leadership on the court under a remade front office featuring former Denver Nuggets general manager and reigning NBA Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri. "I'm excited about moving forward and growing this team with Coach Casey," recently-hired general manager Masai Ujiri said in a statement. The Raptors' head coach appeared to be safe under former Bryan Colangelo, but Toronto moved its former general manager to a more business-related position with the team, allowing for the possibility that Ujiri would make his own hire. Visit Raptors HQ for more news Ujiri initially said he would make a decision only after meeting with Casey and, although rumors suggested otherwise, the statement released Wednesday finalizes this deal. With Casey's job is now safe, it is expected that the Raptors will make changes to his staff of assistants according to The Toronto Star's Doug Smith. Casey went 34-48 last season as the Raptors missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. More from SB Nation: • Miami fans leave early, miss epic ending • Flannery: The inspiring, agonizing, amazing story of Game 6 • LeBron's Headband Game | Second-guessing Gregg Popovich • Like a Bosh: Chris saves game with block at buzzer • SB Nation's blogger mock draft • NBA mock draft: Best-case scenarios | Scouting reports | Big Board
about 11 hours ago
Earlier today we quickly discussed how Masai Ujiri’s front office staff is beginning to take shape, and now it looks like his coaching staff will soon follow suit, as Ujiri officially announced on Wednesday that Dwane Casey will be...
Earlier today we quickly discussed how Masai Ujiri’s front office staff is beginning to take shape, and now it looks like his coaching staff will soon follow suit, as Ujiri officially announced on Wednesday that Dwane Casey will be back as head coach next season. “I’m excited about moving forward and growing this team with Coach Casey,” Ujiri said via press release. The release also states that “an announcement will be made in the future regarding the club’s assistant coaching staff.” The news shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who paid attention to Ujiri’s introductory press conference, where the Raptors’ new GM said that he didn’t see any reason why not to let Casey continue on in 2013-14, which happens to be the final year of the coach’s contract. To me, this was the right call. Casey over-achieved in his first year on the job, hurting the Raptors’ draft positioning in the process, but he took a roster that had posted historically awful defensive metrics in previous years and turned them into a respectable middle of the pack defensive team that became known for tougher play and resilience. Of course, much to all of our frustrations, Casey wasn’t as willing as we all were to give young players like Jonas Valanciunas all of his hard earned minutes on 2012-13, and the team got off to a painfully slow start that essentially knocked them out of playoff contention and relevancy early in the season…again. I won’t deny that some of Casey’s substitution patterns and rotation decisions last season were frustrating to watch, but it’s also important to remember that once he got back to coaching the team in a style more reflective of his own philosophy, an athletic young roster looked pretty good under his guidance. Dwane still deserves his share of the blame for the 4-19 start (and even some of the close losses later in the season), but I do wonder how much of that rough start had to do with Casey trying to meet assumed offensive benchmarks set by Bryan Colangelo and coaching outside of his comfort level because of it. Just some food for thought as we prepare to enter Year Three of the Casey Era.
about 11 hours ago
The Raptors have decided to bring back Dwane Casey as head coach, which is just fine by me since coaching is nowhere near the main problem with the Raptors. Could it be better? Yes, but is it holding this franchise back? No, and there a...
The Raptors have decided to bring back Dwane Casey as head coach, which is just fine by me since coaching is nowhere near the main problem with the Raptors. Could it be better? Yes, but is it holding this franchise back? No, and there are other priority areas of this organization to fix than integrating a new coach and the associated coaching staff. It’s interesting, though, that he does not get a contract extension and will simply serve out the rest of his deal. It’s not exactly a sign of great confidence in him, but Masai’s way of ensuring that Casey gets a fair shot under him. He overachieved in the first year by correcting the effort issues on the team. In his second year the in-game decision making was up for questioning, mostly due to oddly structured lineups and playing time distribution that seemed odds at trying to win the game and develop players. If we chalk that last bit off to GM-level interference (speculation alert!) such as protecting Valanciunas during crunch time, etc., then maybe there’s an explanation for it. Either way he’s here to stay so let’s welcome him back. Now, onto the bigger problem here which is the roster and that is firmly Ujiri’s problem, not Casey’s.
about 12 hours ago
Masai Ujiri’s hand-picked front office staff is starting to take shape, as the Raptors announced on Wednesday that Bobby Webster has been hired as Vice President of Basketball Management & Strategy, while Benjamin Hochman of The De...
Masai Ujiri’s hand-picked front office staff is starting to take shape, as the Raptors announced on Wednesday that Bobby Webster has been hired as Vice President of Basketball Management & Strategy, while Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post reports that Ujiri has poached Nuggets scouting coordinator Dan Tolzman from Denver to take a “director-level scouting job” in Toronto. All of this is in addition to reports that Jeff Weltman will leave Milwaukee to join Ujiri’s staff as his second in command after the Draft. While the reported hire of Tolzman may shed more light on why the team decided to part ways with scout Alvin Williams earlier this week, the official hiring of Webster is what really intrigues me. Webster has spent the last seven years working in the NBA office and was most recently filling the league’s role of Associate Director, Salary Cap Management. I don’t know if it’s fair to call Webster the Raptors’ new “capologist,” but regardless, the fact that the team now has a CBA and cap expert with his background on its side has to been as a positive. “I am delighted to have Bobby join our basketball operations team,” Ujiri says in the press release. “His skill set will be valuable in a number of areas, and his experience and knowledge of the CBA and its complexities from a League level will be a great asset to the organization.”
about 13 hours ago
Okay, if you get on a bus out of the arena about 1:30 a.m. and then find refs to sit and tell stories with at Mike’s until the bright lights go on just after 3 and then there’s more stories to be told for half an hour with some of the cr...
Okay, if you get on a bus out of the arena about 1:30 a.m. and then find refs to sit and tell stories with at Mike’s until the bright lights go on just after 3 and then there’s more stories to be told for half an hour with some of the cronies, it’s awfully hard to get usual fare done by the usual time. Forgive me? - Okay, wonder if Gregg Popovich gets any free passes today because he’s the lovable curmudgeon? I doubt it, at least not from all corners, because as much as you’d like to think the Heat won that Game 6 last night, I think you can make the point that the Spurs lost it and a lot of it had to do with decisions Popovich made late in that brilliant game. But you know what? He stayed true to his philosophies and you can’t blame a guy for that, can you? He took Tim Duncan out on defence because he switches everything on inevitable screen-roll and doesn’t think Duncan can get out to cover shooters. Yes, it cost him dearly with the two Heat offensive rebounds but that’s what he does. And he didn’t have the Spurs foul when they were up three in the final 10 seconds because that’s not what he does. Yes, it cost him dearly with the Ray Allen three but that’s what he does. Sound coaching? I’d say yes, to tell you the truth. You stick with what you do and you live with the results, I think I’d rather have a guy who stays true to himself than someone who vacillitates and changes one game to the next. The players didn’t seem to care that much, each one that came to the podium after the game were asked about and each of them – Duncan, Parker and Ginobilii – were fine with what went. I know, it’d be shocking if they said publicly that they weren’t but you can tell be inflection and mannerisms and tone that they had no problem at all. But it does get to the original point and I suppose it goes to the basics of fandom: Did the Heat win? Did the Spurs lose? Not that it really matters, I guess, it is a bit of semantics but I do think in this situation it’s far more a case of one team losing rather than one team winning. Missed free throws, Manu’s Festival of Turnovers, Pop’s decisions. All on the Spurs. And yes, Allen’s shot was incredible under crazy stressful circumstances and LeBron at the start of the fourth quarter was otherworldly but that was, in many ways, a gift of a game. Now I’ve got all today to figure out Game 7 and what might happen, as impossible as that will be. - Okay, need a report. Heard Joni Mitchell was in Toronto last night. Was it good? As good as this? - I still find it entirely odd that two of the four “retired” numbers hanging from the rafters of the American Airlines Arena are Dan Marino’s No. 13 and Michael Jordan’s No. 23. (The others are Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway and that makes sense; honouring players from other teams and other sports is just weird) - You know, the more I think of it – and this runs counter to oft-stated impressions – I think the Raptors need a D League team of their own. Maybe in Mississauga? Maybe at Ricoh? Maybe in Hamilton? They need one because I had this chat with Sean Marks some day during the final – and I don’t recall what day it was since they all run together – and he made some excellent points. If you own a team you can do with it as you please, you can staff the front office with your own basketball people and run the team the same way you run the big club. It can a proving ground for executives, maybe coaches, front office people of all kinds. Sure, you’re still limited in the number your own signed players you can assign there but you would have control over the rest of the roster as well, stocking it with players who might – might – eventually grown into end-of-the-rotation guys who are familiar with the way you run things. Now, I don’t know about the financial investment that would be needed but if you’re Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment it’s either (a) an
about 17 hours ago
This week on The Doctor is In with Phdsteve, we explore the options for the Raptors in the upcoming draft…oh wait- the team does not own a pick and GM Masai Ujiri has fired all his scouts. Not to worry, I’ve assembled the worldwide round...
This week on The Doctor is In with Phdsteve, we explore the options for the Raptors in the upcoming draft…oh wait- the team does not own a pick and GM Masai Ujiri has fired all his scouts. Not to worry, I’ve assembled the worldwide roundtable! After losing his internet access, my brother Mike (who knows college basketball) is left voiceless in the streets of Nigeria, but that’s okay, really, as Greg Mason (our resident American and the brain from the south) from the State of Florida, and The Fifth Quarter Blog’s Blair Miller (@TFQuarter), join me to discuss: The NBA Finals and Manu Ginobli’s time machine! How has this finals shaped Lebron’s legacy and the definition of the Spurs dynasty How Danny Green defies the analytics of the myth of the hot hand A pick-less draft for the Raps but rumours have several picks being available in the first (Dal at 13, Atl at 18, Clev at 19) and second rounds. Should the Raps target a pick here? And if so who do you like? Any “sneaky plays” a la John Wall to be made with the teams in the lottery? Who are some guys to watch for in the draft that would be smart targets forthe Raptors Predictions for the top 5 in the upcoming draft Grab the iTunes feed or the plain old feed. You can also download the file (50:49, 48 MB). Or just listen below:
about 20 hours ago