Bryan Colangelo always thought Jay Triano was a talented NBA coach - he wouldn't have given him the interim job with the Raptors if he didn't - and the team's recent run of success hasn't done anything to change that opinion either way.
But it has to be easier now for Colangelo's support of Triano to be shared by fans and other members of the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment hierarchy after the team's hottest streak of the season. Four straight wins - all at home and capped by a huge overtime triumph over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday - won't totally alleviate the bitter feelings of a disappointing season, but they have showed flashes of what might have been.
And what might still be if Colangelo decides to keep Triano on as the head coach after this season.
Reiterating that he wouldn't speak specifically about Triano's longer-term prospects until the end of the regular season, the team's president and GM has not wavered from his support.
"The message is the right message; the method of communicating is the right method," Colangelo said yesterday. "I've been high on him the entire time."
It will be sooner, rather than later, after the end of the regular season that Colangelo acts on the coaching situation. He wants to have a full staff in place well before the run-up to the June 28 draft.
The contracts of the assistant coaches - Alex English, Mike Evans, Gord Herbert, Eric Hughes and Micah Nori - are also expiring and Colangelo and whomever the head coach is need to address that issue immediately.
Triano is 20-36 since taking over from the fired Sam Mitchell on Dec. 3, but Colangelo continues to point to other factors than simply the win-loss record. Injuries to key players, a significant trade and the upheaval that goes with a losing season have all contributed.
The Raptors have played terribly at times and well at times since Triano took the helm, but a large part of the blame has to be heaped on the roster that's proved to be not deep enough to sustain injuries and the failings of the players - and coaches - to often stay mentally sharp for 48 minutes a game.
How much of that can be resolved with off-season acquisitions and by giving Triano a full training camp to work with the players will be decisions Colangelo needs to make.
"Jay's done a solid job; he was given a bad set of circumstances," the GM said.
Yes, the four wins were registered against teams with records below .500, but 14 of the 30 NBA teams have lost more games than they've won and the Raptors haven't always been a lock to beat teams with worse records than theirs.
And the manner with which they've been winning, led by the relatively healthy core of Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon, gives Colangelo reason to think things aren't as bad as some others may believe.
"Very few teams would go anywhere or do anything losing their starting point guard (Calderon) and starting centre (the since-traded Jermaine O'Neal)," Colangelo said.
Triano has stayed true to his principles since taking over in early December without publicly complaining about players he didn't have and that's caught his boss's eye as well.
"To hold his chin up through all of that showed quite a bit," Colangelo said.
