There wasn’t quite a parade in Philadelphia when the Raptors showed up to play the 76ers, but there sure were a lot of folks happy to welcome back Ed Stefanski.
The former general manager of the Sixers was back, but in his new role with the Toronto Raptors as Executive Vice-President of Basketball Operations. Stefanski was there to take in the game and received warm greetings from many at the Wells Fargo Center.
And why not?
If you look at the current Philly squad, it was built by the personable man that new management figured they no longer needed. No big deal to Stefanski, as he understands that when new people come in they usually bring new personnel with them. But take a look at the Sixers’ roster and it has Stefanski’s hands all over it as the team is poised, in these eyes, for a solid season and another trip to the playoffs.
Not many are putting the Sixers in the same glowing light as one of the rising darlings in the eastern conference, the Indiana Pacers. But make a quick comparison and you will see many similar parts. Interesting question; who do you take, Philadelphia or Indiana, to make a deeper run into May or possibly even June?
But back to the architect of the current Sixers’ roster, Stefanski. Philadelphia fans, one of the toughest fan bases in any sport, were not happy with some of the early decisions made by Stefanski.
Indeed the words rebuilding and patience are difficult words for fans to hear, particularly in Philadelphia. As an aside, ahem, are you taking note all Raptors fans that want a potential star from a high draft pick in June? Because you are still going to have to wait for that kid to develop once he’s drafted. It’s not happening over night and you just can’t cheat the process.
Stefanski stayed the course in Philly and look at where the Sixers are now. The deposed GM was also the one that hired head coach Doug Collins to work with the new charges. Collins has great respect for Stefanski and is grateful for the opportunity the former GM afforded him in Philadelphia.
“I can only tell you that he (Stefanski) believed in me,” said Collins as he met with the media pregame on Saturday. “He gave me a great opportunity to come here to Philadelphia to help try and get this basketball team in a good position to start winning again. I have nothing but the ultimate love for Ed Stefanski.”
“You look at the Jrue Holiday’s and Evan Turner’s and some of the young guys we have on our team, we think we’ve got some good young pieces. We think that Eddie was a big part of bringing those in.”
No doubt Stefanski made some solid decisions in Philadelphia, even though they may not have been popular at the time, to start the Sixers in the right direction. Raptor fans are hoping he still has a bit of that magic dust in his pocket to sprinkle on the franchise here. Toronto isn’t like Philly, as Raptor fans seem to be willing to exercise a bit more patience with their team. But the question is; for how long?
Hopefully it’s long enough for Stefanski and the rest of the management team to assemble a winner in Toronto.
——————————————————————————————
Now I know this might be crazy but some fans will actually be looking forward to seeing the Minnesota Timberwolves visit the Air Canada Centre on Monday. And why not?
They have some exciting young talent with the likes Kevin Love, Wes Johnson and rookies Derrick Williams, and Ricky Rubio. One player that Toronto fans will not see is Michael Beasley, who will be out of the lineup.
As for Rubio, whose gait and hairstyle only remind me of “Pistol” Pete Maravich. (Floppy socks anyone?) His fellow Spanish backcourt teammate Jose Calderon knew that he would be right at home in the NBA.
Calderon says he chats with Rubio regularly and it will be interesting to see how and if the seasoned Raptor deals with his young counterpart when the two meet in Toronto.