Life of Bryan
So I'm watching the Raptors tonight against the Bucks. Good game so far, but the noteworthy part is that it's against the same team new GM Bryan Colangelo made one of his first notable moves this past offseason with, trading Charlie V. for T.J. Ford, seemingly breaking a cardinal rule in the NBA of trading big for small.
Well, that move has panned out pretty well, as Big Smooth (he has some kind of alopecia, or something, where he has no body hair) has been injured all season, and T.J. has paired with Jose Calderon to form about the best point guard combination in the NBA.
But that wasn't really my point here. The idea was how quickly Colangelo has been able to change the overriding feelings in the organization, and I have a theory as to how he did it. Really, the difference between a good team and a bad team in the NBA is as close as you can get in any major sport, and a lot has to do with attitude. And Bryan brought in guys who are talented, but in the cases of some of the complimentary pieces, they've also grown used to winning in their careers.
The talent, like Andrea Bargnani, well, that (while debated by the talking heads at the time) was just an addition of pure talent.
T.J. Ford led his team at Texas to the Final Four.
Jorge Garbajosa won all kinds of awards, both individual and team, including 2002-03 All-Euroleague First Team honours, being named 2003 Eurobasket.com Player of the Year and the 2005 and 2006 Spanish Cup Finals MVP.
Anthony Parker was the two-time Euroleague MVP after being humbled as a scrub in his first go-around in the NBA.
Rasho Nesterovic, who he got for useless bits and pieces, is a valuable role player who won an NBA Championship with Tim Duncan in San Antonio, and so clearly knows how to win while playing off a star PF like CB4.
Even some of the more useful players he kept around, like MoPete, saw Final Four action while at Michigan State. And Jose Calderon hasn't been in the NBA long enough have bought into the losing atmosphere. He also won the 2006 FIBA World Championship along with Garbajosa on the Spanish team.
I'm not going to give him credit for hanging onto Chris Bosh. He just knew how to surround him with players that made his life easier.
Hard to believe the same management group that knew enough to hire Colangelo (who also built the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns) is also responsible for the abortion being overseen by JFJ under the same roof.
Well, that move has panned out pretty well, as Big Smooth (he has some kind of alopecia, or something, where he has no body hair) has been injured all season, and T.J. has paired with Jose Calderon to form about the best point guard combination in the NBA.
But that wasn't really my point here. The idea was how quickly Colangelo has been able to change the overriding feelings in the organization, and I have a theory as to how he did it. Really, the difference between a good team and a bad team in the NBA is as close as you can get in any major sport, and a lot has to do with attitude. And Bryan brought in guys who are talented, but in the cases of some of the complimentary pieces, they've also grown used to winning in their careers.
The talent, like Andrea Bargnani, well, that (while debated by the talking heads at the time) was just an addition of pure talent.
T.J. Ford led his team at Texas to the Final Four.
Jorge Garbajosa won all kinds of awards, both individual and team, including 2002-03 All-Euroleague First Team honours, being named 2003 Eurobasket.com Player of the Year and the 2005 and 2006 Spanish Cup Finals MVP.
Anthony Parker was the two-time Euroleague MVP after being humbled as a scrub in his first go-around in the NBA.
Rasho Nesterovic, who he got for useless bits and pieces, is a valuable role player who won an NBA Championship with Tim Duncan in San Antonio, and so clearly knows how to win while playing off a star PF like CB4.
Even some of the more useful players he kept around, like MoPete, saw Final Four action while at Michigan State. And Jose Calderon hasn't been in the NBA long enough have bought into the losing atmosphere. He also won the 2006 FIBA World Championship along with Garbajosa on the Spanish team.
I'm not going to give him credit for hanging onto Chris Bosh. He just knew how to surround him with players that made his life easier.
Hard to believe the same management group that knew enough to hire Colangelo (who also built the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns) is also responsible for the abortion being overseen by JFJ under the same roof.
Edit: I forgot about new addition, Juan Dixon, and his National Championship while at Maryland. Also, he just seems to love playing with these guys. You can just tell by the passes they make and the shots they take.
posted by Iain @ 7:53 PM
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