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Ouch ... I thought Feschuk was critical. Move aside Dave, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Bill Lankhof. 
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The Philadelphia Flyers have been looking for a goalie for 15 years, the Oakland Raiders have spent two fruitless decades searching for a quarterback and the Toronto Raptors are like the Tinman in the Wizard of Oz.
Forever looking for some heart.
There are many issues that have contributed to making the Raptors the NBA’s version of a walk through Death Valley. Players don’t have strong feelings for the franchise, even though most of them tend to like the city of Toronto a lot.
True, that can lead to some partying issues. But if wine and women were absolute guarantees of failure, then all 30 NBA teams would have losing records, and we know that’s mathematically impossible.
There is this perception that Toronto is where NBA careers and playoff dreams go to die.
“You can fall into a culture of under achievement just like you can develop a culture of winning or excellence. Success breeds success but failure also breeds failure,” says Natascha Wesch, a sports psychology consultant, at the University of Western Ontario.
The Raptors have turned failure into an artform.
In 15 seasons, the franchise has reached the playoffs five times and advanced past the first round only once. There have been seven head coaches from the celebrated (Lenny Wilkens) to the unlikely (Kevin O’Neill) to the native son (Jay Triano) and none have been able to instill a passion and pride in being a Raptor.
Nobody in the front office, from the player-friendly Isiah Thomas to the more aloof Bryan Colangelo and the sincerest spirit this side of Dudley DoRight, Glen Grunwald, have been able to give this team a positive identity. None have been able to make the Raptors a franchise for which NBA players want to play.
The athletes that do come here either end up frustrated with the franchise’s inertia, or become mere basketball mercenaries putting in time until a better invitation beckons.
Forever looking for some heart.
There are many issues that have contributed to making the Raptors the NBA’s version of a walk through Death Valley. Players don’t have strong feelings for the franchise, even though most of them tend to like the city of Toronto a lot.
True, that can lead to some partying issues. But if wine and women were absolute guarantees of failure, then all 30 NBA teams would have losing records, and we know that’s mathematically impossible.
There is this perception that Toronto is where NBA careers and playoff dreams go to die.
“You can fall into a culture of under achievement just like you can develop a culture of winning or excellence. Success breeds success but failure also breeds failure,” says Natascha Wesch, a sports psychology consultant, at the University of Western Ontario.
The Raptors have turned failure into an artform.
In 15 seasons, the franchise has reached the playoffs five times and advanced past the first round only once. There have been seven head coaches from the celebrated (Lenny Wilkens) to the unlikely (Kevin O’Neill) to the native son (Jay Triano) and none have been able to instill a passion and pride in being a Raptor.
Nobody in the front office, from the player-friendly Isiah Thomas to the more aloof Bryan Colangelo and the sincerest spirit this side of Dudley DoRight, Glen Grunwald, have been able to give this team a positive identity. None have been able to make the Raptors a franchise for which NBA players want to play.
The athletes that do come here either end up frustrated with the franchise’s inertia, or become mere basketball mercenaries putting in time until a better invitation beckons.
“It comes down to pride,” explains Wesch. “There has to be a sense of belonging to something important. There has to be a change of culture and that starts at the top with the administration, with coaching, you have to instill a sense of pride, of passion, a sense of belonging, a sense of wanting to wear that jersey, of wanting to be part of that organization. That is who you are. That is your home and you will do anything to defend that territory with everything that you have.”
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