RAPTORS NEW STAFF LOOKS PROMISING
TORONTO STAR - OCT 20, 2007
The Toronto Raptors have announced today that they have hired four new staff members to help better the organization. But they're not your regular, average staff members. Each of these members have been associated with some of the most popular figures in basketball.
Below are the new members of the staff and some extra info.
Ass. Head Coach - Albert Leon | Age: 38 | Rumors: C | Development: B- | Leadership: A+ | Contract Info: 2 Years, 964k
Assistant - Armando Lopez | Age: 51 | Offense: A- | Defense: A- | Athleticsm: B | Contract Info: 3 years, 873k
Trainer - Javier Rodriguez | Age: 49 | Grade: A | Contract Info: 3 years, 591k
Scout - Luis Hidalgo | Age: 41 | Offense: B- | Defense: A- | Athleticsm: A | Contract Info: 2 years, 570k
Bryan Colangelo has done it again. He has made some interesting moves signing some of these unknown staff members. Albert Leon, the new Assistant Head Coach is a cousin of legendary Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Mike has taught me a lot about basketball." says Albert. "It wasn't for him, I wouldn't be signing with the Raptors right now." For a few years, Leon was head coach of a few teams in the European League. Including Spain. "I had to learn a lot of spanish when I first got there. The country is just magnificent! It will be a pleasure working with Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa."
Then there's Assitant Armando Lopez. He was one of the people responsible for helping Jermaine O'Neal get into his prime. "I first met Jermaine when he was in high school." He had great potential to become a basketball star." says Lopez. "At the time, I was working for the Portland Trail-Blazers. They sent me and a scout to see how we was. We came back to Portland with a fabulous report. He even improved the next time I saw him!" "I've been with Jermaine until he went to the Pacers. When he won the Most Improved Player award. He visited me personally and thanked me for helping him develop."
Trainer Javier Rodriguez is a close friend of Bryan Colangelo's. "I originally hired him back in 2002 when I was with the Suns." says Colangelo. "His contract finished this year so I decided to bring him to Toronto." Javier Rodriguez helped Amare Stoudemire recover from his injury that sidelined him for almost the whole 2005-2006 season. "Amare wasn't in a good stable condition." says Rodriguez. "He missed playing the game and he felt that his injury would never get better." I've worked with him almost every day in the 05-06 season. "As time passed by, he started to get better." The next season, Amare came out as a powerful force in the West. Better than he ever was!
Finally, there's Scout Luis Hidalgo. He was with the Golden State Warriors for a long period of time. "I was very young at the time the Golden State hired me." says Hidalgo. "They gave me a list of draft prospects to scout for the 1998 NBA Draft. We held the #5 pick. There were a lot of excellent prospects I scouted, but only two in my mind stood out the most to me. Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter. They were both really talented. Originally, we were going to pick Jamison. But the Raptors took him, so we took Carter. Later on, I had a discussion with the GM about trading Carter for Jamison. He liked the idea and went with it." In the end, it looked like the Raps got the better end of the deal. Hidalgo is also responsible for choosing to scout all-star guards Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. "Arenas was a big steal for us! He really helped our club."
With all the new staff members, the Raps should look forward to a surprising season.