The Bosh Factor: Bryan Colangelo Won't Be Patient With Early Losses
By RaptorTalk
'Patience' is a word that has officially been removed from Bryan Colangelo’s vocabulary for the 2009-2010 Raptors campaign.
Why?
Simply put - this is a year where Bryan can’t afford to be patient because there might be a very steep price to pay for sitting idly by. Waiting patiently to see how this season plays out is not an option.
Prior to the impressive win against the Chicago Bulls, the Raptors’ GM was interviewed on the FAN 590. Eric Smith suggested that patience was in order and that Bryan needed “at least 25 games before he knew what he had with his roster”.
Not surprisingly, the impatient hoops executive quickly dismissed the idea and said “we’ll know what we've got by the end of the month”.
By the end of November, the new look Raptors will have played only 18 games – but Colangelo is convinced that he will know if he has a team that is poised to be a player in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
If he doesn't like what he sees by then, one can assume that changes will be made.
To be honest, Bryan sounded a little pissed. That's because in his mind this team is better than one that will muddle around .500, like they are doing early this season. Frankly, I agree. The nucleus is there. On paper this is the strongest Raptor team in quite some time.
Everyone in Raptorland should be on notice that they are on a shorter leash than ever before.
The stakes are very high this season
Bryan won't remain patient for long if the team stumbles because the stakes are too high on both the basketball side and the business side of the Toronto Raptors.
It’s very simple on the hoops side. You can call it The Bosh Factor.
Having this team under-perform and limp through the season and either miss the playoffs or sneak in as a final seed means that there is a good chance that Chris Bosh seriously considers walking in the summer of 2010.
The impact on the franchise of Bosh leaving will be significant and it’s a scenario that Bryan will do everything humanly possible to avoid.
If the Raptors struggle in November but remain near .500 after 18 games, then that’s likely acceptable to Colangelo …. but (and it’s a big BUT) … they need to start turning it around early in December .
Worse still, if the team is well below .500 by month’s end, then Bryan will not be shy about pulling some triggers to turn the ship around quickly come mid December. Quincy Douby was released obstensibly to save a few bucks, but more importantly to open up a roster spot.
Winning now is the #1 priority
Look, Colangelo knows that he needs to show Chris Bosh a competitve team which starts winning early and consistently. Bosh will not be motivated to remain part of a Raptors squad that performs sporadically. No way.
And a Raptor team that stumbles early and doesn't start winning until February or March doesn't cut it. By that time, Bosh's mind will be 99% made-up to head south.
Bosh wants to be like other elite players : Lebron, Dwight, KG, Carmelo, D-Wade, Kobe et al – all of whom are legitimately competing for an NBA championship ring. Honestly, I can’t blame Bosh for wanting to win, particularly with the way he's playing out of his mind this season.
Show Peddie the money
On the business side, Colangelo needs to put a competitive team on the court to keep the dollars flowing. Reportedly, Bryan has earned in the neighborhood of $65 million for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment since he joined the company.
Make no mistake, first and foremost MLSE measures Bryan by the numbers of dollar signs he puts up on the board and not by wins and losses. Given a choice between (#1) $100 million profit and 0 wins or (#2) $100 million loss and an NBA championship – MLSE is choosing door #1 all day long. Show Richard Peddie the money, not the ring!
Because the team woefully underperformed last season and the economy is tougher, the Raptor season ticket base lost 25% of its seat holders in the off-season. As a result, Sunday's Orlando Magic game was not sold out and the Bulls game drew a surprisingly small crowd of 16,000.
If that attendance trend continues, coupled with a heavy payroll, MLSE can expect a significant drop in basketball operating profits.
This team needs walk-up traffic more than ever before. Raptor fans will stay away if the team doesn’t win, with crowds of 15,000 and 16,000 becoming commonplace . If that happens, then all of a sudden, Bryan "the golden boy" stops looking quite so golden in the eyes of the suits in the Air Canada Centre.
Colangelo and Patience are like Oil and Water
Bryan Colangelo is not patient at the best of times. He’s admitted that he doesn’t take kindly to losing and is impatient by nature.
This summer was a perfect example of a general manger whose patience had run out on the so-called talent he assembled last season.
A patient man may have looked at a 9W – 4L, end of season mini-run as a sign that a turnaround was imminent next season. Not Colangelo. He went after his roster with a chain saw instead of a scalpel and performed major reconstructive surgery on the team’s roster.
Unlike other years, Bryan must be proactive this season. If it’s not working, then fix it sooner than later. Whether that means a minor roster adjustment, firing the coach or a blockbuster trade – you better believe it’s all on the table with Bryan.
There is no time to wait for the roster to gel, nor is there time for Coach Triano’s coaching systems to be integrated over the next few months.
Like it or not, it all has to come together pretty damn quick.
Bryan has no choice but to act quickly and decisively
There is no time to wait to see how things play out. Bryan tried that last year and only succeeded in finding his Raptors in a deep hole with an early elimination from playoff contention.
Right now Colangelo is potentially facing real pressures on both the basketball and business side, if this team starts to go sideways or takes a step back.
The only thing that can cure the looming danger is to WIN, baby, WIN. And if the Raptors aren’t winning, Bryan won’t wait long to start trying to fix their losing ways.
The month of November will be very telling – more than any November in Raptors history.
At least, that's how I see it.
Categories: Management
Tags: Eric Smith Bryan Colangelo Toronto Raptors Chris Bosh FAN 590
I'm thinking the bosh factor is liking the raps 22 pt comeback win against the clips.
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HA! Big deal. In fact that game might actually be the last good win of the season. Its sad because its only the start. Nothing will happen to keep Bosh as Toronto as we all know they will forever stay accustomed to losing even though we have such great fans (stupid fans that is). Bosh did his part now he's going to leave and their comes the next franchise play to disappoint over and over and over again. (as all sport proffesional athletes are on teams because money) NO ONE WANTS TO BE IN TORONTO. It would be a miracle if the Raps could pull off as many wins then losses such as a 41-41 season.
As many believe (well I do too) the raptors 2007-2008 season was just pure luck and it kept the fans intact. That 41-41 season was and could be the latest best thing that ever happened to Toronto Raptors and might stay that way for a long time to come. The Raptors might win lets say....32-40 games because of Bosh's strong play (they won't have that next season). If their lucky. But hey 32 wins will keep Toronto fans into the next few seasons (at least thats what MLSE thinks).
Just remember the key philosophy is that Toronto has the easiest fans to reap the money from (just think of the leafs). Heck they could win 32 lousy games out of the season and people will jump for joy in appreciation that they didn't lose more than that. SO WHAT THE HECK IS THE POINT OF THERE EVEN BEING A BASKETBALL TEAM IN TORONTO. I understand hockey as its so big in Canada, but the leaf fans are such idiots they will still continue watch even if they were to lose all 82 games.
Yes this is a negative thing to write, it's something no Toronto fan likes to think about but hey it's reality. A reality that will never change. Ofcourse after a long time something good might happen, but won't that be because people might look at whats happened in the history of sports of Toronto. Is there another large market like Toronto that has suffered the same fate. Yes maybe but very few and far between considering how good our fan base is.
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for one, the raptors had the hardest road games to start,the teams better then last year and fans may be hard on the team,for the first 12 games record being 5-7 look who they played, they may need to make a very big trade to get this done players who should go are m.banks-p o'bryant-a,johnson j,jack. clear this players for better center, pg. m. gasol from memphis his good this team playoff ready give them time fans stop bitching
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The real reasons why the Raptors are not winning are the following:
- He should be traded along with hedo turkoglu for a guy like devin harris.
- Jose Calderon is fit to be a bench point guard at best, he cannot keep up with most of the guards in the nba.
- he makes the raptors offence stagnant, much less effective than when you see the ball move in Hedo's or Marco's hands.
- His defense is mediocre at best and it wont cut it if you want to make the playoffs. I firmly believe and will argue that he should be traded despite all of his accomplishments in a Raptor uniform.
- The team has lacked defense since Chris Bosh has assumed leadership. He preaches defense but he does not lead his teammates to do so. A player like Kevin Garnett's defensive mind is infectious to all team mates and they believe in his philosophy. The raptors have good defensive players but no one to set an example.
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Can't agree with you more! Jose Calderon is a bench point guard.I am not sure why Colagelo doesnt see this. This is so obvious to me watching his play night in a night out. They need a big time all star starting point guard!
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Unfortunately the Raps are not like the Leafs. If the Leafs stop selling tickets, the marketing ramps up, there are calls to make the team a playoff team etc.
If Raps fans stop coming, then what would happen? MLSE will simply cut the payroll, and we will be one of those teams that tries to stay afloat, and fields crappy teams year after year.
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BRYAN hi im a raptor fan from t.o. and im REALLY concerned about turkoglu.He hasnt been living up to his expectations as a member of the magic who led them to the finals.I think you shud release him, as soon as possible, or trade him for someone with a HUGE contract and might i suggest CARON BUTLER from washington, he'd fit in awffully well!!
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