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Feschuk has posted a new story with some quotes after that team meeting today.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketbal ... breakdowns

Among the topics on the agenda: The need for better communication between the players from North America and the ones from Europe.

"A lot of times we let the simple things – a guy being from Italy – make the decision on whether you want to talk to that guy, or to the next guy," said Antoine Wright, the California-born reserve swingman. "If we want to win, we need to talk to each other. (The meeting) did a good job in addressing that problem."

Asked if there was a split between the players from different sides of the Atlantic Ocean – and the Raptors employ six players born in Europe – Chris Bosh, the Texas-bred captain, said: "It wasn't a split, in my opinion. It was more so just not knowing how to relate to different guys. Sometimes you're going to want to call somebody out if they don't rotate (on defence). Instead of calling somebody out because they didn't do their job or they're not playing hard, we kind of just kept it quiet. The more quiet you are, sometimes things get divided ... We can't be afraid to challenge each other. It's for the better sake of this team."

While some players said "everybody" had the floor at some point – from Bryan Colangelo, the GM, to assistant coach Alvin Williams – among those who didn't address the team were the franchise's two highest-paid players, Chris Bosh, the captain, and Hedo Turkoglu, the $52 million off-season acquisition.

"I'm tired of talking – I've talked enough," said Bosh. "It was good for me just to hear what everybody else has to say."

Said Turkoglu: "I didn't need to (talk) ... Everybody talked. I didn't have much to say. I just listened and I learned. We'll wait and see how it will go on. I've been in the league 10 years and I've been in this situation. I'll wait for my time to talk."

Triano said the meeting was called by him, and that he "asked questions" of players.

"I asked questions and I got answers from some of the guys I wanted answers from. I don't think I asked anything to Chris or Hedo," said Triano. "I had some things I had to address and I did ... What went on in there was our team stuff ... There was very little basketball stuff. It was more personal stuff in there."

Another topic addressed in the meeting was the recent tendency of players to air their grievances in the media.

Sounds like everything's ironed out and we're off to the championships!

Damn Wright ur outta here. They dont want u airing out the team like that.

Jose talks alot one offense. I hope the guys can understand what he's tryng to say.

If the raps beat the Wiz tonight, post game thread should be:

"Raps Hug It Out For The Win"

I doubt it.. Jose, Hedo, Rasho are visibly interactive with everyone else.. Marco at times too. Seems like its Andrea here and not all the Euro's.. he just seems to be a quiet dude with no emotion

Interesting. Let's see if that translates on the court. And if communication simply leads to more finger pointing.

If it's going to be only the "American" players calling people out then there's going to be a recepie for disaster. The thing is players from Europe are more resvered to judge or point fingers to their teammates.

let's see them get blown out again tonight...i wonder what they'll "talk" about next

Just read the whole thing and all I can say is...

Holy Crap is this a High School Girls team or what. Tell these pussies to stop watching 90210 and grow a set.

'We didn't know how to talk to each other'

'he's from Italy, should I talk to him'

Give me a break. These 'guys' are pathetic.

lol Wright was prolly texting Feschuk the meeting minutes live as it happened. Guy can't shut his mouff.

lucky777s wrote:Just read the whole thing and all I can say is...

Holy Crap is this a High School Girls team or what. Tell these pussies to stop watching 90210 and grow a set.

'We didn't know how to talk to each other'

'he's from Italy, should I talk to him'

Give me a break. These 'guys' are pathetic.

mad-mo wrote:I doubt it.. Jose, Hedo, Rasho are visibly interactive with everyone else.. Marco at times too. Seems like its Andrea here and not all the Euro's.. he just seems to be a quiet dude with no emotion

Nobody has "no emotion". And we've seen him display emotion. He's not the emotive type - a lot of guys are more introverted in public. But we know every team has cliques. The singles don't hang out with the marrieds, the young guys don't hang out with the older vets, etc. It's just a matter of establishing good lines of communication, which I consider part of the job of the coaching staff.

I would have liked to see this issue addressed in October, not December.

When the team went to Italy for training camp, there seemed to be good communications between the different groups, but since we have nine new guys, I don't think you can assume that they would overcome cultural differences without a little "group therapy".

McFurious1 wrote:If it's going to be only the "American" players calling people out then there's going to be a recepie for disaster. The thing is players from Europe are more resvered to judge or point fingers to their teammates.

Random generalizations FTW!

unofficial transcript from the meeting

team: bargnani, dude u suck!!! and same goes for u caledron!!!
caledron: guys, we're a team!!!
triano: calm down boys!!! lets look at game tape
iavoroni: yeah there were a ton of blown coverages in last nights game
pat obryant (whispers to rasho): who's the dude getting all professorial on us?
rasho: he's our defensive guru (snickering)
sonny: hey demar, this n****r done talking?
demar: yeah, he said something about switching, all i know is that its bargnani' fault. man i cant believe im taking a pay cut to play for the raptors when i could have been livin it up back at USC
wright: at this point of the meeting, i would like to say something- i've started on great teams and i understand what it takes to win in this league- it takes effort, dedication and starting me
marco (whispering): hey bargs, is it me or does this dude need braces? he's got a big arse gap between his teeth
bargnani: i think this guy thinks people take him seriously around here, talk to me when you hit the rim on your jumper
triano: chris, any thoughts?
bosh: yeah
jarret: let me interject, i speak for both of us when i say- its bargnani's fault and i should start
reggie evans: i be sensing hate in this here locker room, we brothers from different mothers. u know i have 7 kids with 6 different mothers and they got more harmony than we do
triano (whispers): alvin, dude translate- i didnt get a word he just said
alvin: i think he compared his kids to us or something like that, i havent been back in the hood since i left for college, im a republican now
alex english: gentlemen, who thinks i should be the next head coach?
bosh (whispers to jack): he actually speaks, i thought he was a mute all this time
colangelo: when i was in phoenix and i built a championship team ...
banks (muses to himself): somebody should tell this cat that he never actually won a championship and he wouldnt be in the nba if it wasnt for his daddy. but then again i cant hate on bad gm's because im pimpin for life because of them
colangelo: i think we got a lot accomplished this afternoon, i think thats enough for today.
hedo (walking in all flustered): sorry i missed the meeting boyz but i did bring popcorn for everyone!!!

Indeed, some Raptors seemed reluctant to detail the contents of the day's discussion.

Said Jarrett Jack, the reserve guard, repeatedly: "It's team business. Team business."

I don't understand how they could have this meeting and not have everyone double dog guarantee that they're going to keep their mouth shut after. Everyone should've said "it's team business" yet sure enough everything got leaked out right away.

This is doomed to fail the next stretch of adversity the team faces.

And1Skip wrote:Diversity Day

OMG am I a woman? Lol.

This should have happened during training camp or after the first 10 games but I'll take it.

It actually made me feel better and with some lineup changes I think we can turn this thing around starting tonight. I'm really expecting to see a different team out there tonight.

Damn Euro's. Need to stop talking in European and start speaking some North American!

"There was very little basketball stuff. It was more personal stuff in there."



What the hell?