Skip navigation

 Login or Register | Member Centre

Rautins coaching against the house

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:50 PM EST 05/08/08

If his tenure ends in the Las Vegas desert Friday night, it will be a fitting conclusion ...Read the full article

This conversation is closed

  1. Anthony Novac from Toronto, Canada writes: Do we want a coach that is capable of luring and placating the existing talent that could potentially compete with top 12 teams and qualify for the Olympics (Nash, Magloire, Dalembert, Mendez)? Or do we want someone who can develop a vision for the program, coach young talent, grab the attention of funders, etc. (like Ken Read did in the ski program)? My assumption on the hiring of Rautins was that, at least a little bit, there was a presumption that he could do the latter. And doesn't this make sense? It's not like we were a medal threat under any practical scenario anyways (Nash or not). Rautins messed up by going public on the Dalembert situation. I think everyone agrees on this. But his goal should be to lay the foundation for a competitive program down the road. It would at least appear that aspiring Canadian hoops talent knows that there is an expectation of commitment to the program and team and that nobody - NBAers or otherwise - will get around this. Maybe it's worth exploring whether this is at all an accomplishment. I'm not knowledgeable enough to determine whether Rautins has done a good job or not. But I hope the powers that be focus on whether a viable plan is being executed and not look merely at the fact that we didn't qualify. The obvious consequences of a decision based solely on qualifying immediately would be that no qualified coach/leader would ever take the job.
  2. John Stewart from Victoria, Canada writes: In a country as big as Canada, who coaches our national team shouldn't be a factor. We have to stop seeing and treating ourselves as though we are only the farm system for American college basketball. Despite the national teams tunnel vision (one Canadian U. trained player selected) our country is actually filled with quality players that the American system chose to ignore. We need to develop another rung in the progress ladder for our players who stay home. Some sort of provincial league, a la the CFL, with very limited imports to ensure Canadian players get to play and develop. That system would also produce 'qualified' coaches.
  3. JA M from Our Town, Canada writes: John Stewart from Victoria, Canada writes: We need to develop another rung in the progress ladder for our players who stay home. Some sort of provincial league, a la the CFL, with very limited imports to ensure Canadian players get to play and develop.

    How about some more ABA franchises and perhaps a couple of WNBA teams.
  4. Toby Maloney from Winnipeg, Canada writes: While I agree with the sentiment JA, I'm not sure an ABA or D-League or WNBA team would do much for Canadian players because there are so many ex-College players in the US that would get the semi-pro spots. I think we actually have to start further downstream, with support for CIS basketball, investing in marketing support so they can build a fan base (to sustain it) and developmental Junior Varisty programs so they can mesh with and bring up the quality of the high school and community basketball. And development of coaches and coaching in general. Speaking of which, the very idea that being an ex-player and broadcaster qualifies you to be a head coach is ludicrous and indicative of the state of basketball in Canada. It doesn't disqualify you from coaching, but surely you need actual coaching experience too,a nd preferably BEFORE you get the head job. It's not just about understanding the game, it's about having the particular kind of aptitude for motivating players and riding herd on their egos and eceentricties, more of a head shrink than head coach role, a quality that sadly lacking in the Dalmerbert affair. I think an elegant way to deal with Rautins contract is to kick him upstairs, put him in charge of fund raising and sponrships and developing the infrastructure to support a good program. (And hire a real coach).
  5. Celine Brown from Canada writes: How about giving Steve Nash some input into the national program? Gretzky does the same thing in hockey (even before he retired from the game).
  6. P McLean from Canada writes: I think the big difference(and I agee about the Nash/Gretzky comment), is that the country is up in arms, and a Parliamentary inquiry will be started if the hockey teams don't perform over the long term. Since the people in positions to make decisions know that their tails will be charred if they dno't make the right decisions, they do the smart things like getting input frmo people like Gretzky. Canada Basketball(who used to be Basketball Canada...??) is made up of a bunch of people who nobody knows, probably never will know, and because of htat, they can work to establish power bases under the radar, and ensure their long tenure in such a position, and advancing basketball in this country is a secondary matter if they have time.
  7. e. t. from willowdale, Canada writes: I was in Athens for the Slovenia game [ one of 2 Canadians there not affiliated with the team] and yelled myself hoarse amongst a small sea of their fans -they thought it was amusing.
    We had no answer for Rasho,and the other Slovenian who couldn't make the Raptors gave us trouble : we weren't as good as them, and they didn't even qualify! Neither did Germany, and their superstar center.
    Truth is, the international bball world has blown past us.
    The 3 countries that moved on are smaller than Canada; at least 2 of them are economicaly weaker.
    But they take it seriously. So should we.
    The least we can do is follow the Jack Donohue model, hiring a top college coach, like the one at Syracuse,and then get govenment and corporate money to feed the system.
    Otherwise, prepare for emberassement
  8. John P from Canada writes:

    John Stewart from Canada wrote: "Despite the national teams tunnel vision (one Canadian U. trained player selected) our country is actually filled with quality players that the American system chose to ignore."

    Quality players?? I consistently hear this argument from CIS types who blindly believe that CIS players are actually good enough to compete internationally. Look at the national team over the past decade. Name me a CIS player who has made any kind of impact on the national team in the past decade. CIS players are always dead weight at the end of the bench on the national team. Shawn Swords is the only guy in recent times to get any sort of significant playing time due to his defensive intensity despite some evident shortcomings in talent and athleticism. Last year there was the Ryan Bell horror show in Las Vegas. One of the best players in the CIS yet could not even get the ball up the court against pressure forcing Leo to play Jermaine Anderson for big minutes.
  9. Cranky Old Guy from Canada writes: Anthony Novac from Toronto, Canada writes: Do we want a coach that is capable of luring and placating the existing talent that could potentially compete with top 12 teams and qualify for the Olympics (Nash, Magloire, Dalembert, Mendez)? Or do we want someone who can develop a vision for the program, coach young talent, grab the attention of funders, etc. My assumption on the hiring of Rautins was that, at least a little bit, there was a presumption that he could do the latter. Rautins was hired by Basketball Canada political types who for some reason had an issue for Triano, and liked Leo's celebrity. I think they thought that becasue he did NBA broadcasts he could attract NBA players. Triano has built up his coaching resume with tenures as an assistant, and had a better understaing of the international game due to an extended stretch on the national team. I lay this a the feet of basketball Canada, who haven't seemed to have come up with a viable development program for developing players or coaches, and who put Rautins in a difficult position with little relevant experience.

Comments are closed

Thanks for your interest in commenting on this article, however we are no longer accepting submissions. If you would like, you may send a letter to the editor.

Report an abusive comment to our editorial staff

close

Alert us about this comment

Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor's rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.

Do not use this to complain about comments that don’t break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.

Back to top