By Sheila Robertson

Jay Triano grabbed the headlines on December 4, 2008, when he was named interim head coach of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first Canadian in NBA history to hold a top coaching spot. He made headlines again on May 11, 2009, when Raptors president Bryan Colangelo announced his promotion to head coach with a three-year contract. “Despite some difficult circumstances this past season, Jay Triano never stopped coaching, teaching, and leading this team, which resulted in a very strong finish,” said Colangelo. “After undertaking a thorough evaluation process, it is clear that Jay is the right coach to guide this team in the future.”

Triano’s appointment as interim head coach came on the heels of the firing of Sam Mitchell, who had twice led the Raptors to the playoffs and was the NBA’s coach of the year for 2006-2007. Mitchell’s undoing was a slow start for the 2008-2009 season.

Triano, who is a National Coaching Certification Program Level 4 coach, smoothly adjusted to working in a pressure cooker. The reason, he said, is his experience and indeed, his made-in-Canada credentials are impressive. An 11-year player for the national team, team captain, and a three-time Olympian, he was head coach at Simon Fraser University from 1988 to 1995 and head coach of the national team from 1998 to 2004. He has in-depth knowledge of the NBA, acquired during six years as colour commentator and director of community relations for the Vancouver Grizzlies. “I was involved in the games without the pressure of coaching,” he says. “I was able to analyze games, break them down, and really see how the game was played in the NBA.” Following the demise of the Grizzlies in 2001 (when the team was re-located to Memphis, Tenn.), Triano moved to Toronto to become TSN’s basketball analyst. In 2002, he joined the Raptors organization as an assistant, which made him the NBA’s first Canadian coach.

Triano didn’t go looking for the head coach job. In fact, in his younger years, he never even dreamed of coaching in the NBA. It wasn’t until his release from the national team that he began to think of the possibility. “Once I could really focus on the NBA, I gradually became more confident and thought being a head coach could happen sometime, but I knew that everything would have to be right. Sometimes NBA teams hire assistants from a winning team and sometimes an opportunity comes when a head coach gets released. And I certainly didn’t want that to happen because I enjoyed working for Sam. He gave me quite a lot of responsibility as an assistant so it wasn’t as though I didn’t have a voice in the locker room or on the practice court.”

When the unexpected happened, what, if any, adjustments did Triano have to make to his coaching? His answer :“None at all”.

“I said when I got the job I wouldn’t let it change me. I’m carrying on as me. I’m coaching the way I learned how to coach. Most of what I do is based on what I learned from my own coach, [the late] Jack Donohue. If I changed how I coach and it didn’t work, I would regret it, and I want to have no regrets.”

Even the stepped-up pressure didn’t present any problems. Triano noted that, as befits an assistant coach, he made suggestions and Mitchell made decisions. Once he was calling the shots, he did so with input from his assistants, Alex English, Mike Evans, and Gord Herbert. “We work together. I take their advice and that’s why I didn’t feel any pressure. I wasn’t nervous at all during games because we were very prepared. When you’re prepared, there’s no need to be nervous. It’s just a matter of doing your job.”

Recognized as a coach who is committed to ethical behaviour, Triano bases his coaching philosophy on honesty, respect, open communication, strong interpersonal relationships, dealing with people fairly, and an unflinching work ethic (http://www.coach.ca/eng/ethics/discussion_1.cfm). “I knew it would be a tough year, but, honestly, all I could do was work as hard as I possibly could, and coach the best I could and hope that it would work out to be good for everybody, that we got better as a team, and that it might lead to a longer contract for me. Hard work has always been my approach and that’s all you can do. You can’t worry about results and get caught up in the outcomes. It’s about the process of working hard every single day and trying to make the team better and the players grow as individuals.

“If that happens, you get rewarded in this business, and if it doesn’t, you don’t, so there’s no use putting a lot of pressure on yourself.”

One immediate reward has been the encouragement of Canadians from across the country. “I get lots of e-mails and phone calls and people are being extremely supportive and, yes, it makes me feel good. It’s pretty neat that I’ve had an effect and may be breaking ground for other Canadians. If by working hard I open the door to opportunities for others, that would be great.”

Reflecting on his promotion, Triano said: “I look at our record … and I want to get better. If I set a standard for Canadian coaches, then I want to set a standard that is one they remember by being successful.”

Time management has emerged as Triano’s biggest issue. With the national team, his commitment was concentrated in the summer months with the team playing 15 games at most. As an NBA assistant, his workload was much heavier, involving intensive preparation and scouting 10 opponents through the entire 82-game schedule. As head coach, he does the same preparation for all 20 opponents and works behind the bench three to four times a week. “What makes it tough is the number of hours needed to be completely prepared every time we go on the floor. You can’t get too excited about wins and losses because another game is coming right away. There’s lots of meetings, morning shoot arounds (informal practice sessions), and video sessions before every game. It’s tough because the timeframe is so tight.”

All this leaves little time for practice. “In the first six weeks as head coach, I coached 21 games and had maybe seven practices. In the NBA, it’s all about the games, which makes it a challenge to teach and adjust the system.”

Triano was quick to point out that his players are dedicated to the game and, contrary to public perception, are not driven by their salaries. “The only difference between the excellent national team players and these guys is their pay cheques — and they do make a ridiculous amount of money — but when they walk on the floor, they’re not thinking about how much money they make; they’re competitors. That’s what makes playing the game fun and that’s where the purity of the sport comes in. It’s 48 minutes of being out there and competing hard.”

Canada Basketball came calling recently and Triano is pleased to once again be involved with the national association. At the invitation of Wayne Parrish, the organization’s executive director and CEO, he joined the Council of Excellence, a nine-person advisory committee that guides the fortunes of the high performance programs. Along with Triano, the council consists of two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, university coaches Don McCrae and Kathy Shields, former national men’s team coaches Ken Shields and Steve Konchalski, Maurizio Gherardini, the Raptor’s senior vice-president of Basketball Operations, Glen Grunwald, who runs Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks, and Olympian Sylvia Sweeney, the MVP at the 1979 FIBA World Championship for Women. “I want to help the program and hopefully get Canada back into international prominence,” says Triano. “I like what Wayne is doing and how he is approaching the situation, not only with me, but with other people, too.”

Optimism is the order of the day for Head Coach Triano. “I’m extremely competitive and I like to win. I also like watching the players and the team get better. We’re doing good things and we’re on the right track. I can see us getting better defensively and offensively, and playing hard, and there’s success in that. That’s the enjoyment I get out of coaching.”

Sheila Robertson is an Ottawa-based writer and editor who specializes in coaching and women in sport issues.