March 15 was a franchise-shifting day for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Starters Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace were traded for draft picks and cap space.
Head coach Nate McMillan was fired.
And former unpaid intern Kaleb Canales was promoted from assistant to interim head coach.
Now, Canales deserves interim removed from that title.
Canales won only eight of his 23 games as head coach, but along the way, he won over nearly all of the players in a Blazers locker room that had seemingly given up on McMillan.
A team that had turned lifeless and lethargic in back-to-back blowout losses to the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks suddenly seemed youthful and energetic in a road win against the Chicago Bulls.
Instantaneously, this team wanted to play again—and play hard. They wanted to do this because they wanted Canales to succeed.
Canales was the coach on the floor working players out before games. He was the one players texted with their issues about McMillan. He was the one studying film all night to find some advantage.
And the players respected that.
In an int ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Kyle Boggs
Kaleb Canales Deserves 1-Year Deal from Portland Trail Blazers
May 5th, 2012 by Kyle Boggs Leave a reply »
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