And if Triano hopes to keep pace with the career arc of Sam Mitchell - his argumentative predecessor in the gig - the Raptors must rise to the tall order of beating the 11-4 Bostonians.

Mitchell, still collecting a salary of approximately $4 million (U.S.) this season after being fired in the wake of a 39-point loss to Denver a year ago this week, went 33-49 in his first 82 games as Toronto's head coach.

Triano's career record, after coaching the Raptors to a season-worst 35-point loss in Charlotte on Wednesday, stands at 32-49.

It's an interesting similarity, to be sure. Yes, the chemistry is still developing on a roster with nine new faces. And yes, Hedo Turkoglu, the prized off-season acquisition of Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors' president and GM, is still easing into form. But in the meantime, you can easily argue the only thing that has truly changed since Mitchell was replaced is this: The new coach, unlike the old coach, is an agreeable sort who never publicly contradicts management.

Mind you, it's early, and there are reasons for actual optimism, not least the hope that Reggie Evans, once he gets out of the hard cast applied to his injured left foot Wednesday, might one day play the vacant role of defensive game-changer. The Raptors are 7-9 and a defensive wreck, but nobody is saying a team with Toronto's potent offence can't be a respectable squad, although certainly there are some worrisome signs.

Turkoglu hasn't been as effective as advertised, for one, and neither has Jose Calderon, who was seen applying a wrap to his right hamstring after a six-turnover debacle in Wednesday's drubbing. Calderon repeatedly has claimed good health this season, but it's important to remember that the Raptors , and NBA teams in general, are often not transparent in their public disclosure of ailments. It was only in October's training camp that Calderon acknowledged the full extent of last year's injury - a six-centimetre tear in his right hamstring. Before that, he'd claimed he was physically "fine," this even when the numbers suggested he clearly was hurting.

This year, the Spaniard is either hurt or not very good.

Calderon's player efficiency rating (PER) is only slightly better than that of the average NBA player's thus far. The league average of the all-encompassing stat devised by ESPN.com's John Hollinger - which, though it's not perfect, is the best measure yet devised of a player's per-minute effectiveness - is 15. Calderon was riding at about 17.3 as of Monday.

The problem is, when Calderon is on the floor, the opposing point guard is putting up a PER of 23.7, according to 82games.com. For an example of an NBA point guard achieving a PER in the neighbourhood of 23.7, think Steve Nash, who the Raptors will see on Sunday when the resurgent Phoenix Suns come to town.

In other words, Calderon is such a non-factor on defence he is making all of his opponents look like Nash.

In a point guard's league, Toronto is a minus-6.4 in point-guard PER when Calderon is on the floor. A year ago, even with the awful Roko Ukic and Will Solomon backing up Calderon, the Raptors , as a team, were a plus-1.1 at the position.

So you can blame Calderon, who has yet to prove himself as an elite NBA starter over 82 games, or you can blame Triano, even if he deserves more than 81 games to test his defensive schemes.

But understand that, 81 games later, the entire scene seems eerily similar to the final days of Mitchell's tenure, save for the old coach's indiscreet pleas for better players.