Bayno offers to help Gilas in Fiba WC

MIAMI – Toronto Raptors first assistant coach Bill Bayno, who piloted Talk ‘N’ Text in two PBA conferences in 2002, said yesterday he would make himself available as a consultant or adviser or in whatever capacity to be of assistance to Gilas as the Philippine national team prepares for the FIBA World Cup in Spain on Aug. 30-Sept. 14.

Bayno, 51, was on the bench beside Toronto head coach Dwane Casey in the Raptors’ 93-83 loss to Miami before a sellout crowd of 19,831 at the American Airlines Arena last Monday night (yesterday morning, Manila time).  

“I miss the Philippines a lot,” said Bayno in the Toronto dressing room after the match.  â€œI’m in touch with Frankie (Lim) and I’ll never forget guys like Asi (Taulava) and Jimmy (Alapag).  I have fond memories of the Philippines and I’d love to go back.  Every summer, I plan on visiting but something always comes up at work in the NBA.  I’m hoping to take a trip maybe this year, if it’s possible.  We’ve got a Filipina dancer with the Toronto team and right now, she’s my only link to the Philippines.  She knows all about PBA players.”

Bayno said he has homes in Los Angeles and Miami besides living in Toronto to stay close to the Raptors base.  He asked if Norman Black is still coaching Ateneo and who is now calling the shots for Gilas.  Informed that Black has taken over the Talk ‘N’ Text reins and Chot Reyes is with Gilas, Bayno said they’re excellent choices.  â€œI think Chot’s perfect for the national team, he’s a great coach,” said Bayno.  â€œIf there’s anything I can do with Chot for the national team, I’d be very happy to contribute.”

As for the defeat to Miami, Bayno said it didn’t seem like the Raptors went to the foul line too much.  â€œI’ll have to study the tape closely to find out why,” he said. “LeBron (James) was just unstoppable. DeMar (DeRozan) played well, he made big plays, moved the ball around.  He had 16 points and seven assists.  We had open shots that we couldn’t knock down.  That hurt us.  I don’t know if it was Miami’s defense or we didn’t have the legs.  I thought LeBron did a good job defensively on DeMar. They were up 14 in the third period but we cut it to three twice in the fourth.  We like where we are in the East.  We’re very competitive.  I don’t think we’ve been blown out in any game this season.  Even if we go down by 20, we always fight back.  We’re looking at finishing third, fourth or fifth in the East to set us up for the playoffs.”

Toronto hasn’t beaten Miami in four years but came close last Monday night.  The Raptors got off to a 6-0 start but the Heat ended the first period on top, 24-23, as James had 10 points, five assists and three rebounds in playing without relief. With James and Chris Bosh sitting on the bench, Toronto opened an eight-point lead, 37-29, in the second quarter. Center Jonas Valanciunas stretched the margin to 10 before James Jones buried a three and Mario Chalmers sank a free throw on a foul out-of-play simultaneous with hitting the trey for a rare four-point play.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra rotated a big and small lineup as he experimented with combinations.  That edge was all the Heat needed to climb to first place in the East with a 51-22 record despite only a 10-8 mark this month.  Dwyane Wade sat out the game with a strained left hamstring and Ray Allen was still recovering from a flu virus.  Shane Battier and Michael Beasley were left out of the rotation. Spoelstra used only nine players compared to 12 for Toronto.    

The Heat raced to a 14-point advantage at 71-54 in the third period with James’ monster dunk on a slashing drive from the perimeter but displaying a lot of heart, the Raptors countered with an 8-0 run. The gap dropped to three at 78-75 and 81-78 but the Heat wouldn’t be shaken nor stirred.  Greivis Vasquez desperately tried to keep Toronto in the thick of it but even his six points in the fourth period hardly made a dent. With less than three minutes left, James dished off to a wide open Toney Douglas who didn’t disappoint the King with his only triple of the contest.

In the late going, James connected on an impossible off-balance drive off a foul from Landry Fields.  The basket counted and James completed the three-point play to make it 93-81.  On Toronto’s next play, it looked James had a clean block on Amir Johnson but the referees called it a foul.  As if by poetic justice, Johnson missed the two free throws awarded by the referees. DeRozen closed out the scoring which settled at 93-83 for the Heat.    

Mahlalela was in Manila for several Jr. NBA camps and clinics when he worked out of NBA Asia in Hongkong.  Before joining NBA Asia, Mahlalela was with the Raptors doing community relations work.  He rejoined the Raptors two seasons back, this time as assistant coach.  â€œIt’s a big job and I’m enjoying it, learning from it every day,” he said.  Mahlalela was surprised when told that the Jr. NBA now includes girls.  â€œIt used to be all-boys during my time but it’s great to reach out to girls, too,” said Mahlalela who asked to send regards to Jr. NBA program director Jojo Lastimosa and NBA Asia Philippine country manager Carlo Singson.

Bayno was an assistant coach at Portland with Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan and at Minnesota with Rick Adelman in the NBA. As a collegiate coach, Bayno has worked for UNLV and Loyola Marymount University.  He also worked as an assistant to P. J. Carlesimo at the University of Massachusetts and John Calipari at the University of Massachusetts. In 2003, Bayno piloted Yakima to the Continental league crown.