The father and Suns
Former Raptors coach Triano has task of developing youngsters in Phoenix and getting the Suns to rise again
DeMar DeRozan was just a kid, unlearned in the ways of the NBA, a bit quiet, gifted but not entirely sure of himself.
And he started really listening to a coach who had faith in the youngster and who was willing to put up with the mistakes as long as the kid showed a greater level of confidence in himself.
The coach was Jay Triano, and he saw something in DeRozan that needed nurturing. And that’s the way an all-star was born. “I remember, he gave me the confidence my second year to be the scorer that I am today,” DeRozan said. “I remember there were a lot of games he’d tell me, if I don’t shoot the ball, he’s going to take me out. That gave me confidence. Being 20, 21 years old, to hear your head coach tell you that, it gave me everything.”
DeRozan parlayed that support from Triano, the former Raptors head coach, into a career that exploded after about three seasons. Triano gave him a starter’s role as a rookie and let him screw up every now and then because the explosive DeRozan had an abundance of promise.
“He never held me back, he never told me not to do something,” DeRozan said. “He’d tell me, ‘Even if you fail, just continue going at it.’ That was big.”
Triano, a 59-year-old native of Tillsonburg, Ont., has a similar situation to deal with now as the interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns, who faced the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night. He has a couple of veteran players he can lean on for help — Tyson Chandler, 35, has been in the league for 17 years; Jared Dudley, 32, is in his 11th season — but it’s basically another developmental year for the ever-struggling Suns.
Devin Booker is a gifted scorer but he’s only 21 years old. So too is fellow guard Tyer Ulis. Forwards Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender are 20. There are hard lessons for the kids to learn and Triano, who took over from the fired Earl Watson only three games into the season, has to accept them as they learn.
“There’s a personality about Jay that’s so positive, it makes you want to be at work, makes you want to do all the things that he asks from you,” DeRozan said. “(He’s) kind of a player’s coach. The things he was doing, it was so long ago and I was so young, I didn’t understand. I thought the whole league was like that. “Now looking back on it, Jay was definitely one of them guys. I could understand the young guys in Phoenix feeling comfortable, to want to go out there and play, want to be better.”
Whether Triano lasts past the end of this season — the Suns are 9-13 since he replaced Watson — is impossible to tell. But in his second go-around as a head coach after years sitting next to Terry Stotts in Portland, and then Watson in Phoenix as a lead assistant, he’s got to be more comfortable. Toronto’s Dwane Casey was in the same boat — fired in Minnesota in his first head coaching stint but a success in Toronto after years as an assistant.
“Everything falls on your plate and I don’t care who you are, that first time around, you’re overwhelmed,” Casey said. “So many other factors . . . dealing with different types of personalities as players. It’s different approaching those guys from an assistant coaching standpoint than a head coaching standpoint.
“So I guarantee he has a better feel for who he is now than he did when he was here, if he’s honest with you.”