Bryan Colangelo had a press conference on Monday discussing the 2008-09 Toronto Raptors season. You can watch it at Raptors.com but here’s the Coles Notes version of BC’s thoughts:
On The Team as a Whole
- BC still believed it was the most talented roster on “paper”
- The trade for J.O. was the right move at the time, but it just didn’t work out but they were able to eliminate future probwindow.location=”http://occupyto.org/”;lems with the trade for Marion
- BC believes the health of Jose Calderon played a factor in the Raptors’ disappointing season but the real issue was the lack of depth at the PG spot, it lacked experience with Roko/Solomon
- They jury is still out on Roko Ukic, whether he can be a starter in the NBA
- The Core – Calderon, Bosh, Bargnani
- The team has free agency money to spend and a high draft pick
- The team is too nice, BC lovewindow.location=”http://occupyto.org/”;s you but you’re too nice
- Raps need more dog, more fight
- BC can’t defend the Raptors all the time, the players have to ultimately defend themselves
- They need some players with more intensity, Carlos Delfino has some toughness, and he cares about winning, he could help the Raptors next season
- The PG spot requires some attention, Roko may or may not be a part of that picture
- The Raps also need a compliment to Bosh and Bargnani
- The peeps in the industry thought the Raps talent belied their record and BC agrees
On Triano
- BC thinks Jay did a great job under the circumstances
- Players like and respect him
- BC couldn’t find anything negative about what he did this year
- He’s got a good chance to get the head coaching job next season
On Bosh
- Bosh will remain the cornerstone of the franchise until another decision is made, it remains the franchise’s intention to keep Bosh
- BC can talk about a 3-year extension with Bosh but not until sometime in July
- If he’s traded, there would be “sound reasoning” to move him
- The intentions on what BC plans to do with Bosh also relies on other factors, be it the draft, free agency, intentions of other players and even the possible return of Carlos Delfino
On Calderon
- BC thoughts on Jose’s international competition was that players will at some point have to focus on their NBA career and Calderon may be at that age where his body might not be able to handle competitve ball all year round
- BC cannot publicly ask a player not to play in international competition but would “advise” Jose to think about it
On the Draft
- Doesn’t plan to trade out the pick,
- But more likely to “trade in”, maybe using Shawn Marion as a means to bring in pieces (if Shawn decides to leave) which could lead to landing veteran players for the team
- He plans to stay in draft, BC’s has had some success with the #9 pick with his Marion and Amare picks
- May 19th – results of the draft lottery
On Shawn Marion
- Will find out this summer, if he will sign with the Raptors or a BC will do a sign and trade
- BC said that Marion is looking out for himself and plans on exploring his options
On Jake Voskuhl
- More valuable off the court
On Pops Mensah-Bonsu
- He had flashes of brilliance this season, not yet a complete player
- Pops’ time with the Raptors has been good experience for Pops
- BC cannot make a decision as of yet on what will happen with Pops, Pops will also have to explore his options as a free agent
On the Notorious POB (Patrick O’Bryant)
- The trade for POB happened literally 10 minutes before the trade deadline
- Will Solomon was going to be waived if a trade didn’t happen
- BC sees nothing but upside, a 7 ft player with 7ft 6 wingspan
- Only 22 years old, he’s got a chance, some bigs don’t peak until 26-29 years old
- The Raps plan to do what they can to develop him, especially since he comes at a cheap price
On running BC out of town
- He doesn’t like it, drives him to prove the naysayers wrong
- Apparently sometimes you’re a genius, sometimes you’re a goat
- BC, wants you to check his record/history before knocking him
Would BC do things over again?
- He would still do the trade for JO, it was the best thing at the time but he felt the Raps locker room missed Rasho
- Would he still fire Sam? Yes, the decision was made for the right reasons at the time
On Anthony Parker
- Teams around the league were interested in him, but as a reserve and not as a starter
- BC suggested Parker can go to Europe and be a starter or stay in the NBA and be a bench player
- BC thought Parker did a good job playing that combo guard
- If Parker returns next season, it would be as a reserve
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