Halford & Brough in the Morning - Drancer Talks Canucks + Mavs Assistant Coach Jay Triano

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason talk last night's big 'Nucks win with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance (1:42), plus the boys speak with Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jay Triano (26:14), as the Mavs are currently up at SFU for NBA training camp. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

What we just have to call Thomas Dran's erotica. Coorsy. Thomas Transclerotica. Expecting goals. Thomas Transcerotica. Top bottom. Thomas Grant Erotica. Rush.

Thomas Grant Erotica. P.D.O. Thomas. Transdorotica. 8.03 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough of the morning is brats you by Sands and Associates.

Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online. sands-trustee.com. We are in our three of the program. Thomas Strance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three.

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Visit them at powerwest.ca. Today, they keep the lights on. Let's go now to that Power West Industries hotline. Thomas Dranth, joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Drancer? Gentlemen, good morning. Good morning to you. Do we want to start with the Baines thing right away? I know you teased it prior to going to break.

Yes. Okay, let's begin there. On the social media platform, now known as X, It's the everything app The what now? I only use it to tweet What's the everything app? That's what Musk wants it to be

The everything app You'll do your banking and everything on there I had no idea I would not do my banking on that That should go over well You said Ars deep Baines was a beast People in the comments

Suggested otherwise What did you like so much about Baines's game last night Yeah I mean There was six or seven different back checks, defensive plays combined with quick passes that got the play moving the other direction across the collection

of the night. He won a draw after Max Sassen got booted from the circle that led to the Myers 3-0 goal, which really signaled that the route was on. The play that he made, obviously, on the two-on-one short-handed for his second assist of the night was gorgeous.

I mean, really, really nice. And look, you can just see the speed element of his game has improved. I mean, there's more burst in his skating stride. He's clearly put a ton of work into it to take another step or to add another step at the age of 24. He's done so successfully. And look, I mean, I know the profile is not that common

in that this is an undrafted CHL free agent. That's not a story that typically ends with a guy carving out a long NHL career. But since then, you know, age 21, 22, 23 seasons in the American League has been close to 0.8 points per game, and that's despite starting slow as a rookie. His first year as a pro, he was the game breaker that sort of made the difference in the conference final and in the Calder Cup final at the age of 23, 24, I guess, because he turned 24 in January. So it was age 23 season, but he was 24 when they won. And I mean,

at that point like forget draft capital we're now at the point where this guy has the sort of a hl scoring profile that often hints at a guy having top nine ceiling and any objections you could have had or any sort of things that you would have said well I don't know he's he's going to have to get stronger well he's gotten stronger like he's going to have to get faster he's gotten faster um we're kind of running out of reasons to think that this guy's not an NHL player aside from the fact that, you know, in his 20 NHL games played as a 23 and 22 year old the past couple seasons, he has one point in 20 games. But that's not fate, right?

Like that's not necessarily fate the way I view it. I sort of look at the overall track record, the overall profile, and then what I see, which is, you know, a guy who's a pretty talented playmaker and a really diligent defensive player who wins a ton of puck battles and his positionally sound. I also see a guy who's got some untapped playmaking upside that we haven't seen at the NHL level but that we've seen at every other level he's played. I think he's,

if he can let go a little bit of playing that sort of coach's pet game in the NHL and let his skill show, I see no reason why this guy can't be an NHL player. And I'd say more than that, I think there might be upside that goes well beyond that which we typically sort of ascribe to a player with this profile. I don't think this guy has to just carve out a niche as an NHL fourth liner.

This is not for me that sort of profile. I see a guy with some middle six upside as sort of a connective play winger, a guy who can, you know, he's not going to be necessarily like the highest scoring guy on the line or the guy you want driving it. But a guy who can play a role and help even skilled players have the puck more frequently and have the puck in more advantageous positions. And I mean, I think that's pretty clear based on what he's put on, you know, tape through the preseason. I think he's been a standout.

Like, I think he's clearly separated himself from, you know, Sasson and Carlson, the other sort of American League champion guys. I'd put Ratu in a different bucket, just given his caliber and pedigree as a prospect. Yeah. And, I mean, I think he's made this team. And I think he's going to get, like, this is no longer my take. Like, I think he's going to get a top. nine opportunity probably to start the year. Well, yeah, do you think, I mean, he practiced,

we talked about this a lot yesterday. He practiced with Heidel and Garland, and we were like, oh, what a big opportunity for Baines. And then he's out there in Calgary with Sasson and Carlson. And I was like, oh, that was a waste of a show. But do you think that might, do you think that might happen tomorrow against the Oilers? And I guess I'll tack on the question,

do you think we'll see Cain with Coots and Leckermackie? Because that was another practice line. Yeah, and we'll know more because they practiced out at UBC today. But I wouldn't be shocked if those lines weren't just a total misdirector, like a total one-game trial. Like I still think we learned something from that practice on Tuesday. That would be my gut. And so we'll know more in a few hours.

But yeah, I mean, don't be surprised when Baines is on the 23-man roster and maybe it gets a pretty significant opportunity to open this season, which, by the way, I think his form warrants. I also think his profile warrants it. It's a reasonable bet to make, given this team's options, to see what you've got with Baines, not just in a fourth-line role, but higher up the lineup. Okay, let's talk a little bit more about last night's game.

And by the way, the Calgary Flames just announced that head coach Ryan Huska has been extended for two more seasons. And so, they were so... Sorry, I thought you were going to make a... It's been fired joke. No. Are you serious? Yeah, they just announced it.

After that? Yeah. They're like, there's, it's only one way to go, and that's up. I made a point of watching his post-media availability yesterday. And he was like, I'm going to quit. And they're like, no, you can't do that. Here's a contract extension, hence the news. Because the funny thing is, he's super level-headed.

Yeah. He doesn't really, like, blow a gasket or, like, he was about his... irate as I've seen him yesterday and he's like I didn't love our game yesterday I'm like oh right husk is losing it that's funny that they that's a what timing on that one that's really yeah um okay what did you think of PD last night I'm not doing the he's back thing yet to be totally honest with you I liked the power play goal the thing I liked most about the power play goal actually was formational where if you watch it off the draw like the video highlight sort of captures him creeping down a little bit low but what's what was really

evident to me was off the draw, you know, he has to go to the weak side blue line, right? Because that's what the flanker's job is. But the moment the puck goes back down low, you know, back to the strong side where everyone else is,

he starts creeping down and he's so low. Like I'm talking like five feet beneath the dots in that flank spot. And when you think about sort of where Pedersen's game on the power play had gotten to, you know, we sort of started to see that one timer be used, as almost like a point shot

in a way that I think is partly responsible for why we haven't seen the sort of one like why when we see that one-timer goal yesterday we think wow that's vintage PD right like we haven't seen that that shot play in so long and I think it's a really

simple matter of physics he's he's been drifting too far away from the net to hammer it home with the sort of regularity that he did as a rookie so I liked seeing that formation and obviously the shot 90 miles plus per hour accurate goalie had no chance on it I mean that was that was awesome great to see and I think there's it looked to me anyway like formationally like there's an emphasis on getting Petterson lower beneath the dots on that right flank and if that's the case then I think the Canucks of the Canucks coaching staff and probably in concert with Pedersen have figured out something that I actually think should matter that should help him score. more goals this year.

But, you know, I thought his overall game was, you know, fine. I mean, it was, there was so much good news for the Canucks that it's not worth belaboring. It's also just the preseason, but there were a lot of lost battles. I thought, I didn't think his five-on-five game was like, you know, imperious or domineering the way that Pedersen can be when he's just, I also just don't think he's moving differently, right? Like the vintage dominant version of Pedersen that we've seen in the past, like moves differently, like slithers up and down the ice in a way that I don't know that I saw yesterday.

Juicy slithering with juicy, juicy legs and slithering. No, I know what you mean. I've never said juicy legs. That's, we have. We have. Making fun of you. You said juice a lot like two or three times. I do say juice a lot.

But it's because it's a good word to describe. Like you can tell. Like it's not. on an analytic or anything that's like you can tell if he's got if he's got his legs yeah i know when i see it like you know he's got juice means i'm watching him play i'm like oh oh hey look at that um you know and you can you can tell it's it's the it's the it's the you know it when you see it quotient um and peterson has it when he's on and i don't know that he had it last night and i don't know that he didn't have it either i just you know it wasn't like a leap off the screen oh my god he's back

performance for me by any means, but I loved the goal. And, you know, overall, I think the team looked great. So I guess more than anything, it's like preseason means nothing at all, right? The Florida Panthers lost a preseason game 8-2 last preseason. The Vancouver Canucks in 2010-11. They lost 8-2 to an Edmonton Oilers team that would pick first overall for a second consecutive year later that spring or later that June, you know, the same month that the Canucks were in the Stanley Cup final, right? The 10-0 loss to Calgary a few years ago was before the 2020-3-24 season, which was a whole lot of fun.

You know, we also saw the Canucks like out-shoot the Coyotes like 32 to 7 in their final preseason game before starting Bruce Boudreau's, you know, first full season with the Canucks on the back of the Bruce there it is run and we all know how that went, right? So it's like they literally lost their first seven games after that.

So truly, there is no correlation between what we see in the preseason and what we see when the regular season starts, even when the results are fantastic. But yeah, I mean, you come out of that game and thinking about the third period against Seattle on Friday, and at the very least, it's like, okay, we got something of a reminder of what this team looks like at the top end of the lineup, right? They're elite talent when it's going, and it's fun to watch. And it's going to give them a shot to overachieve and make the playoffs this season.

But which isn't sort of to take that to the bank or to be, more confident in it because they absolutely tore apart the Flames A1 last night. But, yeah, I mean, when you can see it, right, you feel more confident in it, naturally. And Pedersen was part of that, at the very least. So you've hit on something interesting here. And it's a conversation, Bruff and I've had a couple times about the preseason. So I've got a, I've had a couple complaints about it, its existence essentially. One, it's too long.

There's too many games. You look at every other league and they're shortening up. their pre-seasons. This is shorter than previous ones, though, isn't it? And it's going to be shorter. Absolutely. Alford hates the pre-season so much. It's very entertaining. I hate it with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I can I... I actually

liked when they counted the offside goal because I was like, I don't need to sit through a review. Right. Just let it go. It doesn't matter. I was irate. Cost a shutout. Yeah. But pre-season shutout. But they should put the whistles away in the third period. They should play running time. Like, let's just get through this thing, right?

Anyway. Now, but it's an interesting dynamic because when you cover it, and I guess in the way that we do, because it's so Canucks centric, and you kind of, I don't know if you talk yourself into it, but I feel like sometimes you talk yourself into these games having significance. And then you look at bubble guys or guys that don't make the team,

and you're like, yeah, it legitimately does mean something to them, because regardless of the stakes, this is really their only opportunity to show something. And then when you talk about, like, let's use the Braden Kootz thing, for example. All he can do is play as well as he can,

and, you know, raise as many eyebrows as you can during the preseason. But every time that he does, you almost have to add in the caveat that these games mean nothing to nobody. They really don't. Like, guys are out there just basically to not get hurt and to not have a situation. I know Barkoff gotten hurt in a practice. Tell Huberto that, he was taking the puck hard to that. Right. And there's another great point.

What the hell is Jonathan Huberto doing? Why would you do that? Like, the game meant not. He's being a leader. But that game meant. nothing and nobody. Being a leader is making sure you're there for when the games matter, not getting hurt when it's 7-1. I really hope

he's okay. I really hope he's okay too, because it was dumb and pointless, but I guess he was frustrated, but anyway, back to the Coots thing, like, it is a weird dynamic at play because he's doing everything he can to try and stick with the NHL team and maybe he's earned it. And I would say based on performance, he probably has

some merit, but at the end of the day, it's in an exhibition season where it just, it doesn't matter to anybody. Yeah, look, at the end of the you put 20 NHL level skaters on a sheet to play an organized game, regardless of what the intensity level is. And the ability to hack it in that environment at all is a pretty meaningful indicator. For sure, for sure.

Because of how good these guys are, right? I mean, you know, the NHL is not with, you know, all apologies to like Jeff Callens run, what, 15 years. years ago. But, like, the NHL is not a league, like, where, you know, you can hire the, the, there's, there's, like, the 150th best running back in, in the United States, right? It's probably, like, working at Target. And if he gets thrown into an NFL game and given 20 carries and the offensive line is good, like, he can probably run for, you know, 20, 100, and two touchdowns, right? You, you sometimes see in the NBA,

those guys sign like 10-day deals and then injuries hit and they get 25 minutes and get to take 12, 15 shots and guess what? They can score 12 points. They can score 13 points. They can stuff a box score. Like, you cannot go down

to, you know, the ECHL or bring up an HL third liner and be like, you're going to play 20 minutes for us tonight and have it look okay. Good point. That's a good point. That's a good point. It's a different. Yep. It's a different lead. And I just think the gap between like the 700th best hockey player and the 1,200th best hockey player in hockey, like it's wider than it is in, you know, probably everything but quarterback in football, right? And certainly the case in basketball, I think baseball hitting so tough and pitching so different that I wouldn't hazard a comparison.

So, you know, I still think at the end of the day, you put Coots and. even though everyone's at 75% effort level or 80% effort level, what have you. You put a player like an 18 year old player who's never played a pro game in that environment. And if you're like, hey, it looks like he can play at this level, that's still meaningful, even if the game itself isn't. Okay. In a couple of minutes, what is the biggest decision that Connects still have to make? There's a bunch of them, I guess.

I think it's got to be on the back end, right? because I actually kind of think, you know, you have a pretty good sense. If you're keeping 13 forwards, then Lechermackie's probably the guy getting cut because he doesn't require waivers, right? If you're keeping 14, then I think you're pretty much set there. Max Sasson made a great showing yesterday and throughout the preseason, but ultimately you got to preserve your depth. So I actually kind of feel like the forward stuff is settled.

The defense stuff, I'm still trying to figure this out. I mean, I thought Mancini was excellent last night, second among all Canucks players in penalty killing minutes and had some really great reps in that spot. Does that edge him into the lead over Elias Pedersen and Tom Blander? What do you boys think, actually? I actually ask you that, not ask it rhetorically. Honestly, I went into this thinking like DPD is definitely making the team, but Mancini played so well last night and the fact he did penalty kill and looked

comfortable doing it actually looked good doing it. yeah he did now granted it's the calgary power play so i don't know how much to read into that they were like 11th in the league last year he's so he's so like long that he's he's he can get to a lot of pucks and then he's pretty confident with the puck when when he does get it and he can clear it um i think something i guess to monitor is forbert's status because right he might be injured in in that case like the decision might be made then so um i I honestly, I don't know because I think, you know, I went into this thinking, well, DPD is definitely going to make the team.

But if Forburt's healthy and they like Mancini, you could see a third pair of Forbort and Mancini, and then you keep Joseph to sit in the press box. And then if you only go 7D, then DPD goes down. But maybe they go 8D. maybe they haven't decided yet, Dranser. Yeah, I think that's almost certainly going to be the case. Like, I'm sure we're going to see another of those young defensemen on Friday.

If we don't, that's going to give us our answer, by the way. And we'll know more then. We'll know more if Derek Forberts at practice at UBC. And, you know, even complicating it further is you look at the deployment on the PKK and how often Mancini was used and you say, okay, well, I mean, if he's going to be that heavily used a penalty killer, then he's on the team. But then you look at it, and really what he was doing was short-shifting for Tyler Myers throughout the game.

Like, he only started one shift in the defensive zone. Really, the unit was Marcus Pedersen and Myers, and then they had Myers short-shifting off after clears, and Mancini would replace him. So is that just load management for a veteran, or is this really a look that Mancini is getting? Like, it was so quirky that I still don't even have that answer. and even in trying to report it out earlier this week. Like, you know, I know it's going to be Adam Foote's decision ultimately. And, you know, I don't, I don't, I couldn't get a sense of which way it was leaning.

So, you know, this one to me is one of the more competitive, like, camp battles I've ever covered. To be totally honest with you, it's very rare that we get to this stage, one preseason game remaining. And even if we think, you know, it's Mancini, like, he pulled ahead. like, what, would you say, like, 60%, 30% Elias Pedersen, 10% Bland or something like that? I mean, that's still pretty uncertain for this late in the preseason. And it's not something that I'm accustomed to. It's not something that I've encountered very often

across 15 years covering or working in this league. And, you know, that's probably a testament to all three individual defenders, right? Like, that's probably a good thing overall. But it is unique. Like, it is rare that we get this. into the preseason and can't confidently even handicapped sort of what exactly the pecking order looks like

in the race for that sixth defenseman spot. Dranzer, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Cheers, boys. Be well. Yep, that's Thomas Drans from the Athletic Vancouver here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports on 650. I want to do a quick what we learned. It's also a shout out to a buddy of mine

Dennis who is a he runs a company that makes soccer goalie gloves. So yesterday during that Canadian championship a lot of different stories going on but he had three different guys in the game wearing these Canadian made custom made and very excellent

very affordable gloves I think I've actually got you a pair before it's called Keep Air and wear them around the house just to do stuff yeah K-E-E-E-R-E-D-com the starting goalie for VFC Irving was wearing them the third stringer for the white caps Zendejas it's a Canadian company

they're super affordable and they're about as high quality as you can get I wear them my kid wears him, my brother wears him. If you've got like a kid that's wanting to play in that and trying it, you've got a young soccer player at home, go check them on. If you work for a club or something and you're looking for, it's an affordable product at a position that at times can kind of become an affordable, like goalie goals are outrageously expensive,

like a lot of goalie equipment in a lot of sports. So it's keep air, visit them, and it was a good night for them last night, and shout out to Dennis. He makes a very good product. And I just wanted to get that out there before we go to break. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Alliance. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and nonstop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one.

Coming up on the other side of the break, not what we learns, but Dallas Mavericks assistant head coach and Canadian basketball icon, J. Triano, is going to join us. This guy has worked in everything. It's amazing. So coached SFU has been a coach with the Raptors. Correct. Worked for the Grizzlies. Coached Team Canada at the Olympics.

NBA associate coach multiple times. Phoenix, Charlotte, Sacramento, now Dallas. Tried to recruit Steve Nash to SFU back in the day. That's correct. This is going to be a good interview. Jay Triano coming up next on the Alfred Embruff Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Richo and Saty R Shaw, your destination for everything Canucks.

exclusive interviews inside info and even the post game show listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Thursday, everybody, Halford Grubbs, Sportsnet, 650. So aggressive. It is so aggressive. Halford and Brubb of the morning is bratsch with Sands and Associates. Look at those drums. I know. As soon as Lottie found it, I'm like, I don't love it, but I know it'll annoy it rough, so we have to play.

How many legs does he have to use the kick drum? Like four legs? Get out of the penalty box of debt. Back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands.d.com. It's like spinal tap. Each time they play this song, the drummer dies and they have to replace them.

You're wondering why we're playing thrash instead of the usual what we learn jingles. It's because Jay Triano, assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Canadian basketball icon, former sports radio host is going to join us in just a moment here. Before we get to Jay,

I do need to tell you that we are in our three of the program. Normally what we learn time, but hour three is brought to by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell dash pound.com. today. To the phone lines we go, as mentioned, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach and Canadian

basketball icon Jay Trano joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Jay. How are you? I'm doing great. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. My first question is, do you ever regret not chasing your sports radio dreams and sticking with it and instead doing this basketball thing for a living? Oh, man. I don't regret it, but, you know, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was one of the most enjoyable times. You know, the grizzlies had just left town.

So I was looking for, obviously looking for employment, a fan of every sport, and to be able to go on the air every day and just chat with people about different sports, not just basketball. I had so much fun doing that. But obviously the NBA came calling. I think I made the right choice.

Yeah, I think he did as well. You did for sure. Yeah, although this is pretty fun. I got your bang on with. that like this is a super fun job and you get to talk about everything and what a great time of the year because there's so many different things going on in the world of sports including NBA training camp Dallas Mavericks are up at SFU uh it is an exciting time obviously but before we get into the team though another personal anecdote what's it like for you to be back up at

sFU because i was telling jason about this i went to one of your basketball camps up at SFU back when I was in the eighth grade and it was one of the best times I ever had playing sports as a kid I learned more that week about any sport than I ever had still can't do a left-handed layup but I never mastered that part of it but you know what I remember jays you guys you had the one-on-one pyramid where you know you had to you could challenge someone to get to the top of the I still remember that like distinctly because it was such a cool idea and it wasn't just a great way to play ball but also you had to go introduce yourself to other kids at the camp and you had to talk to people and you had to really get out there.

Like, it was, it was an amazing experience, and it all happened up at SFU. Yeah, no, I loved having those camps, and not only had them up at SFU, but had the camp in Pet Tickton and London Whistler as well. And, you know, just introducing more kids to the sport. And I'm glad that you remember it, number one. A lot of kids don't even remember going to camp as kids, but, yeah, no, they were always a fun experience for the coaches, just as much as they were for the kids. And it is really neat to be able to be back at SFU this.

week. And ironically, it wasn't even planned. When I took the job with the Mavericks, they said, by the way, training camp is in Vancouver. And I was like, why? And they were like, yeah, we decided we need to get away. We need to get out of Dallas. We want to go somewhere that's pretty neat. And I guess Nico had decided Vancouver was the plan. And I was like, oh, this is a bonus. I get to, you know, be where I went to school and opportunity to see my kids and everything. So it's and it's awesome that we're up there and brings back a lot of memories. I told the players the story about Terry Fox

yesterday because obviously the banner is hanging in the gymnasium there and how we were friends and how much of an impact Terry had on me and they were really intrigued by everything because I don't think they really knew who Terry Fox was and kind of educated our players a little bit

on the history of Canada as well. Ah, that's fantastic. Yeah, I was wondering about that and you know, like this is a great opportunity for the guys to get away and go somewhere. And they are secluded. I mean, it's up on the mountain and, you know, they're doing their own sort of thing,

but it's also an opportunity to learn a lot as well. And you've got a really intriguing group there that are learning these things, including the first overall draft pick and the NBA this year in Cooper Flagg. Now, I don't know how much time you spent with him either during the interview or draft or subsequent process, but this is his first NBA training camp.

Tell the listeners a little bit what it's like, having a guy like that came into the league with so much hype and is such a talented, player and now joins your team up there on the hill with the Dallas Mavericks. Yeah, I mean, I think the odds of the Mavericks winning the lottery were like, I think 1.7% into the to land a player like this. And even before I joined the Mavs, talking to executives around the league and pro scouts, they were all like, this kid is a generational player. We haven't seen anybody like this since LeBron James as far as how they will impact

the game. And just so far, the individual workouts we had in Dallas before we got here and then here at the team camp, but there's not a weakness in this game. Like he's not a player that you can pick on at the defensive end. And here's a rookie, we're going to go at him. He knows how to play the game. He rebounds the ball.

He passes it. And I think the biggest thing, though, he's just a great kid. He is coachable. He wants to learn. There's no arrogance about him. He's got a quiet confidence. But he's going to be, he's going to be, fun to work with. And then, of course, we've got veteran players too,

Kyrie, Irving, who's coming off an injury, and then Anthony Davis. So it's an exciting group, and it's fun. The fun group to be around right now. I think the Western Conference is super tough, so it's not going to be like it's easy, but we have a very, very good team. And for me, for me, like you've changed teams. Sometimes you change teams and you're going somewhere because they want to rebuild or what. This team is amped and they're ready to see if we can make a run in the Western conferences here. Jay, I want to ask you a bit about Canadian basketball, and it's a pretty open-ended question, I guess. Do you ever marvel at how

far Canadian basketball has come in the past few decades? Oh, yeah, unbelievable. I think every night in the NBA, either when I'm prepping for one of our games or watching other games on TV, and I go, there's another Canadian, there's another Canadian. It used to be, you know, back in the day was Todd McCulloch and Steve Nash that played for me in the 2000 Olympics. And you think you think 20 and 20, 25, now we could put, there's 20, 20 players plus that have NBA experience that you could put on a national team. And it's just fun to be able to see the Canadians get recognized and the number keep growing. And everybody I talk to is like, what are you doing up there? What are you guys doing to these kids?

How do these kids? And I really believe that, you know, this generation in the last 25 years, they grew up with basketball. Like, prior to that, you know, we had to watch games in Buffalo or we had to watch games in Seattle, wherever. And when you could watch games in your own country, and I think the success of the Raptors, the success of Steve Nash becoming an MVP just kind of paved the way and made it possible for all these guys to think that they could be NBA players when you think you can. The opportunity's there and guys are just following through on them. Is Steve Nash becoming the MVP of the NBA from Vancouver? River Island, one of the most unlikely stories ever in sports. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, to witness it, too, it's crazy just because, you know, young kid from the island or what's the BC high school championships at the Agridone,

and he was a good player. Do you look at him and think, oh, this kid's going to be an NBA MVP? Like, you know, the question was, could you play in the NBA? Could you play college basketball? because nobody wanted them in one school Santa Clara wanted them and then you know I think that's part of who we are as Canadians so just keep

defying the odds keep keep fighting keep fighting and sure enough Steve just turned it into an incredible career did you almost have to earn street cred because you were Canadian uh for sure yeah I um I think after the years in Toronto um there was a

there was about four or five years in Toronto I asked Brian Colangelo if I think Sam Mitchell was going to leave the Raptors he was in the contract negotiations I said to him I said if Sam leaves I'm going with him wherever he goes and he goes what do you mean and I said well I have to lose the Canadian stigma

and he slammed the table in front of me and said what do you mean he said I said I don't want people to think that I'm here and he got so mad he goes you're not here because you're a good coach and but give me a little bit of confidence but at the same time I knew eventually I had to leave and I didn't want to be the Canadian coach on the Canadian team

my whole coaching career so you know obviously things worked out great because you know I think this is my 17th year in the in the United States on a different team after you know spending time in Portland and then Charlotte and Phoenix and Sacramento and now Dallas so you just kind of bounce around it's a part of the coaching carousel that everybody goes on but I've been fortunate

to kind of keep bouncing back and created a little bit of a niche as being an offensive guy who's had a lot of success with teams that are consistently ranked in the top five in the NBA. What's it like being an offensive coach with some of the big personalities and egos in the NBA? It's, you know, it's not even about drawing plays. I think the one thing that I've learned over time is that the game has become very conceptual. and my biggest thing is how can I give the best players in the game the most amount of space

so that they can be successful and, you know, we do a lot of cutting and a lot of, you know, move, ball movement, and the whole idea is just give the best players in the game room to show what they can do.

And that's kind of been my philosophy at the offensive end. Obviously, we have plays and strategies and you make reads on everything, but for the most part, let the best guys shine. Let them put them in situations where they can be great. Well, that dovetails nicely into my question. What's it like working with Kyrie Irving?

Because from a creative perspective, there's not many more guys that have the skill set and the ball handling and the ability to create something out of nothing than Kyrie does. I know he's coming back from a pretty significant injury, but just in terms of being a pure basketball talent and the ability to create, he's in some pretty rarefied air.

So what's it been like working with him? it's been his mind and actually you know I had never really worked with him in the NBA before but there was we always had kind of a little bit of a connection I you know maybe because of the time I spent with Mike Chashefsky and he was a Duke guy but we've always had this little bit of respect where we'd look at each other now that we get to talk all the time and you're right he's not able to be on the court full speed yet but just his his the way he thinks the game is very very good and obviously he's incredibly creative and I'm excited to just like, you know,

Anthony Davis is a huge, very, very skilled player. Kyrie is in the same boat at the, at the guard spot. It can just do so many things with the handle. So again, my whole thing is give them space and get out of their way and let them shine. You spent a few years working for the Vancouver Grizzlies. You mentioned that earlier.

So you became their director of community relations, and I think you did some color commentary on the radio broadcast as well. Would you remember about the Grizzlies because the stories that I've heard was the franchise was kind of thrown into the deep end and there was a lot of like scrambling around when it came to like, oh my God,

like we got to put a team on the floor and we got a we gotta like, we got we need dancers, we need a dance squad, we need a mascot, we gotta get a mascot. Like what are your memories of this? that. And I guess the follow question before you even answer that is like did it almost arrive

too soon for Vancouver? Were we almost not ready for it? That's a great question. I think I was very fortunate because I was part of everything from the very beginning. I helped

tour around British Columbia to do auditions to see who was going to be the mascot. I'm the only person that saw every single game live as a commentator. I got the job because Stu Jackson said we have to educate people on basketball on this country at the NBA level. And I thought the NBA put the Raptors and the Grizzlies at the same time in a very tough spot where they could not win the number one pick.

So you didn't get a star. right away that was going to impact the franchise. And then, to be honest, after six years, it came down mostly to the Canadian dollar and where the Canadian dollar was at the time. I think it was 65 cents to the dollar. You have to play the players in American funds. And you're only bringing in 65 cents on every dollar

or people are going to watch games. I was in other NBA cities where there were, crowds were better in Vancouver than they were in Atlanta. for instance at the time. But I just think that the way things were and the lack of success, I think Vancouver is a city that really loves when the team wins. And this team wasn't winning. So attendance dropped,

and then everybody looked at it as an opportunity to take a team and go somewhere else with it. To this day, people that I talk to in the NBA say it's the worst trade in the history of basketball. Like, you know, going from Memphis to Vancouver. you know people who came to the city absolutely love the city obviously that wasn't the case in the beginning when players get drafted like Steve Francis and say I'm not going there I'm not going to a different country and now people are looking around going now I would give anything to be able to live in a city like Vancouver so I think a lot of things you know maybe it was a little bit too early but I also think that the rest of the NBA had to be a little bit educated on on Vancouver at the same time. This was awesome. We really appreciate you taking the time to do this today. It's great that you and the Mavericks are here.

It's a very cool experience. If anyone's able to go check it out, they're up at SFU. Brand new facilities up there as well, so it's all very great. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. Best of luck with the season. I hope it goes really well. Appreciate it, guys. Great talking to you.

Yeah, you too. Thanks, that's Jay Trano, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach. Canadian basketball icon, former SFU camp leader. Don't know if you remember me in my plaid shorts. By the way, you pointed this out on a text thread that we were on. I wasn't like the originator of wearing plaid shorts to play basketball because the West Vancouver Highlanders and those, I think those are more tartan than plaid.

Right. But they've been doing it for forever. That's their look. I remember when I was in- Does it Argyll wear them too? I don't think so. They have Argyll. Yes, Argyll.

I remember when I was in high school, they had the tartan shorts, but they were short. It was a distinct look. If you look at the more modern game, they've got like normal size length shorts, but it's quite a look. I went to watch some of the BC boys basketball. Oh, it's crazy, man.

It's crazy how far the game is evolved. So different. At that level. Like right down to the uniforms. The uniforms we got, I went to McGee, and I was like, are these 30 years old or 40 years old? They're like, don't run too hard in those.

We need to use them for the track team. after basketball season is done. It is wild. I know a lot of the sports, soccer and basketball, trajectory-wise, basketball, I think, is a lot farther along

than where soccer is at, especially at the national team stage. But the growth of them at the youth levels has been crazy over the last few years, and there's a multitude of reasons why. But basketball... Basketball was a sport when I grew up, you started playing it in grade six.

And then you played it in high school. school, and that's all you did it. You played it in school for a couple months, and that was it. And now you're talking about full-time basketball academies, and there's going to be AAU basketball coming here, and you've got, I remember when I graduated, we played in grade 12. And actually, grade 11, grade 12 were the only two years that the BC high school championship was played at then GM Place.

They moved it out to Langley Events Center shortly thereafter. So I got to play basketball in, in, then again, then GM plays. Did you really play, though? Yeah, I got on the floor Okay Yeah, I think I've told this story before The was it garbage time One of the games was

When I jack up a three Well the glass backboards Were the backdrop was the tunnel Right yeah the depth perception is weird So I'm like I got this And then it was about 15 feet short And I was like it fell like the room was closer Oh like I think the tunnel threw me off

It was from the top It was from the top of the arc not a side three. So I was looking straight at the backboard in the hood. So did it look good? When it left my hand, it felt good. I was like, this seems like a pretty good shot. It was not.

Did you hold it like your arm in the air? It's like, money. Yeah, like you hold your follow through when you're shooting your hand supposed to be in the basket. And I had that part down. The ball didn't go on the bat. It's like the Phillips Seber Hoffman. I can't remember the movie it's from it.

Along came Polly? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, but anyway, I remember that being the zenith of basketball in the province because that was all the best teams all the best players if you were anybody in basketball yeah you were playing for your high school team and your high school team balled out and you got to play for provincials but that was it that was the end of the road like a handful of guys went and played university and college ball yeah but now you might go to like the summer

games yeah or there was a bc team that was for the really elite players and like i'm not for the summer games uh no they would go they they played in for a national championship for basketball it was It was separate from that anyway. But yeah, it was just it's a wholly different time. And like Jay, there was a handful of guys like Triano, the late Eli Pascuali, and they were like, and of course

Steve Nash, sort of the trailblazers for basketball in B.C. And now you look at like Jay's, he's like a veteran NBA assistant coach now. He's coached everywhere. It's pretty cool. Yeah, it's great for him. Yeah, it's really awesome. Yeah. Okay. The Knox are going to practice today at

1130 out at UBC. We'll see what the lines look like. We'll see what they have to say afterwards. We'll see if there are any transactions. They got one preseason game to go tomorrow against the Edmonton Oilers. It'll be Ask Us Anything Friday tomorrow. We'll also preview that game. Look ahead to another big weekend, baseball, NFL. It's a great time of the year to be a sports fan. Enjoy the baseball today, everybody. Three do-or-die games on the slate. Sit down, crack a beer. at an appropriate time and enjoy it all. It should be a lot of fun.

We'll be back tomorrow to talk about it. Signing off for now. I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-E-Dog and he's been Lattie, and this has been the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.