Steve Nash introduces Jay Triano as the new Head Coach of Canadian basketball team – NBA News
When Steve Nash took over as the General Manager of the Canadian men basketball team back in May this year, it was almost certain that his close friend Jay Triano would be named the new head coach.
And on Thursday, that news became official when Nash introduced Triano as the new Canadian coach at the Air Canada centre.
"That's why it's been one of the best kept secrets in three or four months. It was somewhat required ... one of things we had to come to an agreement on before I signed on,” said Nash jokingly.
Triano is the first Canadian born coach in the NBA, and has a previous affiliation with the Canadian basketball team. He was a member of the Canadian basketball team that made it to the Olympics in 1980, 1984 and 1988. He was then
made the head coach of the team from 1998 to 2004, and led the team to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Nash was a member of that team, which finished 7th overall in the tournament. He was signed by the Toronto Raptors in 2002 as an assistant coach, and was the man incharge from 2008-09 through to the end of the 2010-2011
season.
Triano’s relationship with Nash dates back almost two decades, when he convinced Nash to come and play for Simon Fraser University. The two have been good friends ever since.
“He was honest with me, he believed in me and told me I could go and do great things. Since that day, we've developed a close friendship,” said Nash regarding Triano.
Triano will now retake the reigns of the basketball team of Canada which has not qualified for the Olympics since 2000, when he was the head coach the last time. He is now setting his sights on the 2016 Olympics in Brazil and wants
to develop t he team into a regular at the Olympics.
“I'm really looking forward to developing those players, so that Canada doesn't get to the Olympics once in a while, but that it becomes something consistent and is expected,” said Triano at the press conference.
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