Da Birth Of A Dynasty: A Toronto Raptors Association {2K12}

[KingOfDaSouf]

Game Settings
Game: NBA 2K12
Team: Toronto Raptors
Skill Level: TBD
Roster: TBD
Sliders: TBD
Quarter Length: 11 Min
Sim Quarter Length: 12 Min

Association Settings
Season Length: 82 Games
Playoff System: 7-7-7-7
Team Chemistry: Off
Player Roles: Off
Progressive Fatigue: On
Trade Deadline: On
Trade Override: Off
Allow CPU Trades: On
Preseason Games: On
Injuries: On
Task Automation: On
Draft Prospects: TBD

[KingOfDaSouf]

Raptors fire Triano as head coach

Decline option, shifting head coach to new role

TORONTO - When Toronto's dismal 22-60, last-place season concluded, it sure seemed like Jay Triano would return as head coach of the Raptors next season.

"Clearly he did everything we asked this year. He deserves a lot of credit," said president/general manager Bryan Colangelo back in April.

"All the players thought he did a great job considering the obstacles.

"He fared well. If I'm not back, he deserves consideration."

After getting a contract extension a couple of weeks ago, Colangelo did give Triano consideration and in the end, decided it was time to reassign him to a different position within the organization.

What changed?

In a sentence: The pressure on Colangelo got more intense. He got his new deal, and with it, clearly came a mandate to get the Raptors on the right track sooner rather than later.

No longer could he take a chance on Triano's continued development.

He needs a winner and he needs it now.

Triano did a nice job developing his young charges like DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Amir Johnson and James Johnson, but it seems the time for developing is already winding down.

"Jay fared well in a lot of areas but at the end of the day, my gut feeling of where this needs to go and how quickly we want to get there in terms of accelerating the process ... I decided it was time to change the voice, change the leader at the helm," Colangelo said in a conference call.

Triano did about as well as he could with what he was given. Yes, his teams went 87-142 (.380) and ranked last in the league in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions), but it wasn't as if Triano was working with a bunch of competent defenders.

His Raptors were fatally flawed. There was a gigantic hole in the middle, the point guard couldn't stop anyone and there simply wasn't a big enough commitment to defence.

They tried zone, they tried man to man and everything in between. Nothing worked, but that's hardly all Triano's fault.

On the plus side, under his watch, the team consistently played hard and generally executed well offensively.

The aforementioned youngsters progressed and were challenged every day to get better.

He was candid and honest about his situation and how his players were performing.

Though he sometimes seemed too lenient with the maddening Andrea Bargnani, Triano did take some shots at his leading scorer when it was warranted.

Triano is a survivor, hanging on while three coaches above him got the axe and he wasn't about to lament the roster hand he was dealt and the unfortunate won-loss record he now has to carry.

"I am grateful to the organization for the opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA," he said.

"I am proud of the work that I and the coaching staff have done with our young players and feel confident we have laid the foundation for a team that will continue to improve."

Triano was a hard worker and was liked by his players, but often in the NBA, long-time assistant coaches like Triano was before he took over for Sam Mitchell, never quite are backed like proven bench bosses.

Colangelo and his corporate masters seem to be serious about bringing in a replacement who has been around the block and will address that concern.

Triano might even resurface here as an assistant one day, depending on the preference of the new coach.

It might have been nice to see what Canada's first NBA head coach could do with a competent roster, but Colangelo doesn't have the luxury of finding out.

And now, neither does anybody else.

[KingOfDaSouf]

Toronto Raptors introduce Dwane Casey as head coach

Less than three weeks after removing Jay Triano as head coach, the Raptors officially introduced Dallas assistant coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday to replace him.

“After a lengthy and detailed search for our new head coach, it became very clear that Dwane Casey embodies every aspect of what we defined as an ideal candidate,” Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo said. “Dwane’s 16-plus years in NBA coaching circles working with some tremendous basketball mentors coupled with his proven ability as a defensive architect will serve as a great backdrop for the future approach of this team.”

Casey has been a long-respected assistant coach who emphasizes defense. He was given credit for strengthening the Mavericks defense this season during their run to the title. At the press conference to introduce Casey, Colangelo said he got a call from Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle at 1:30 a.m. the night that Dallas won the championship recommending Casey for the job.
Casey has head coaching experience, hired by the Timberwolves in 2005, but coached only one-and-a-half seasons. He had a record of 53-69.

Casey said that he wants to maintain the Raptors’ identity as a young, uptempo high-scoring team, but that the focus will be on improving the porous defense that has so long held Toronto back. The Raptors averaged 99.1 points per game this year, but defensively, they were among the worst in the NBA. Toronto ranked 26th in the league in points allowed (105.4 per game) and 29th in field-goal percentage (48.2 percent).

“Defensively, I'm going to be a hands-on control freak, so to speak,” Casey said. “I want the defense to be fun. When you light people up and you put your stamp on the game defensively, that's fun.”

[KingOfDaSouf]

Transactions

-Team declined to extend qualifying offers to F Julian Wright and F/C Joey Dorsey.

-G Leandro Barbosa exercised palyer option for 2011-2012.

-Team exercised fourth year options on G Demar DeRozan, F James Johnson, and exercised third year option on F Ed Davis.

-C Alexis Ajinca and F Reggie Evans declared free agency.