PHOENIX - As his team endured what turned out to be their most disheartening loss of the young season, Masai Ujiri followed along on his iPad. Accompanied by a couple of his scouts, the Raptors general manager was returning from a road trip to Syracuse, where he watched the Orange defeat the Hoosiers Tuesday evening. All the while he kept an eye on what was unfolding on the opposite end of the country. With the Raptors on the verge of a historic collapse, all he could do was watch the score, as a 27-point lead morphed into a nine-point loss in 21 minutes of game time. Ujiri watched the game in its entirety when he got back home, not because hes a glutton for punishment but because he has work to do, which is becoming more and more clear with each passing loss. "Obviously, theres something that we have to fix," Ujiri told Macko and Cauz in a Thursday morning interview on TSN Radio 1050. Listen to the entire interview here. "One thing Ill tell you and the fans," he said, "we will not be caught in no-mans land in the NBA. We all know what no mans land is. Were going to really evaluate this team and see how we can go forward." To the dismay of the reigning NBA Executive of the Year, the Raptors have been and continue to be in the centre of no-mans land. Theyve been trapped there for half a decade - or longer depending on your definition of "no-mans land" - without a clear or easy way of escaping. At 6-12 they sit comfortably in 10th place, exactly where they finished last season. Theyre too good to be bad in a truly terrible Eastern Conference but theyre a long ways from being good enough to compete. So what now? Tuesdays loss - as painful as it was - is just one game. As Dwane Casey put it, "Its a long season and one game doesnt define us." The game doesnt but what it represents does. The roster is fundamentally flawed. A loss like Tuesdays makes Ujiris decision easier, while making his job that much more difficult. Whether hes watching from the stands, the tunnel or his iPad, Ujiri has been watching closely, and waiting. For lack of a more prudent solution at the time he took the gig, he gave this group - mostly assembled by his predecessor - an opportunity to sink or swim. Now, over a month into the season, hes seen what he needs to see. "Its not rocket science," he said. "Im not trying to deceive anybody here. Were evaluating our team and well continue to field calls, make calls [and] see how we can make our team better or figure out what direction we go with this team." Theres no question Ujiri has been and will continue to be a busy man (he and his wife welcomed their first child on Saturday). December 15th is a date most, including Ujiri, have circled on their calendar. That will be the first day in which offseason signees are eligible to be traded, widening the market and thus increasing Torontos options. At that point, the clock starts and its only a matter of time before Ujiri pulls the trigger. Who goes, what comes back and when does it all happen? Ujiri may not even have those answers yet. Its important to remember that wanting to dance is not enough, you need a willing partner. Not surprisingly, the primary areas of evaluation for Ujiri and his staff leading up to Dec. 15 are focused around redundancy in the roster and a general lack of chemistry amongst this group. "For me, guys should be willing to play with each other, for each other," Torontos GM insisted. "I dont think our guys are selfish, its not something in terms of, I dont want to pass to that guy, or I wont pass to that guy, I dont really think its that. I think its the style of player, the way they are constructed as players." Two players who are under the microscope, largely because of their hefty salaries and similarities to one another on the floor, are Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan. That duo, both high-volume scorers and subpar defenders, account for the bulk of Torontos usage offensively. Both players tend to operate best in isolation, which has practically flatlined the teams offence this season. It has become clear to the organizations primary decision-makers that this pair has to be broken up, regardless of the path the franchise chooses to take going forward. Although theyd prefer to part ways with Gay, according to a team source - not a surprise, given his on-court regression and the $19.3 million hes owed next year (assuming he opts in) - that may prove to be an impossible task. Gay is shooting 39 per cent from the field and committing 3.4 turnovers per contest, both marks are the worst of his career, and his league-wide value is believed to reflect that. Meanwhile DeRozans value is trending upwards, averaging career-highs in points (21.8), assists (2.8) and three-point shooting (39 per cent). Therein lies the conundrum for Ujiri and company; sell high on player with optimum value, or take whatever you can get for the other. At least for now Casey appears to be safe. Using the coach as a scapegoat is often the easiest answer but its not one that fits Ujiris style. Hes too rationale and too patient. He knows Casey, like the rest of the team, is handcuffed by the roster, a flawed group, pieces that just wont and never will fit together. With each passing game Ujiri is reminded of that. Theyre not good enough. Theyre not bad enough. They are precisely where he refuses to be; in no-mans land. The day of reckoning for this team, as we know it, is just around the corner. Yeezy Kengät Suomi . And I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences gained through International competition and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Seven NHL referees and six linesmen will be assigned upcoming games in Sochi by the IIHF as part of their 28-man officiating roster comprised of 14 refs and 14 linesmen. Yeezy Kengät Hinta . Born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland, where he later pitched for the As, Ross beat the Giants for the first time in six career appearances by throwing eight scoreless innings to lead the San Diego Padres to a 2-1 victory Friday night. http://www.yeezysuomi.com/superstar-keng...mi/naisten.html. -- During Kansas shootaround on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr. Ultra Boost Suomi . John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records. Yeezy Myynti .com) - Wayne Simmonds, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek each posted a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Saturday. OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors are taking another chance on a television analyst and former NBA guard who has never been a head coach at any level. The Warriors won the bidding war with the New York Knicks for Steve Kerr on Wednesday, hiring him away from the TNT broadcast table to be their coach. Kerr agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal with Golden State, said his agent, Mike Tannenbaum. The Warriors confirmed the agreement Wednesday night and said they will introduce Kerr at a news conference after the contract is complete. Kerr had been in talks with the Knicks about becoming their coach since Phil Jackson took over as team president in March. He won three titles playing for Jackson in Chicago and another two under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Kerr told NBA.com, which first reported the agreement, that going to Golden State "just felt like the right move on many levels." He said his daughter plays volleyball nearby at the University of California, Berkeley, his oldest son is in college in San Diego and his youngest son is a junior in high school. Kerr called the offer to coach the Knicks a "tantalizing" opportunity. He said it was "agonizing" to say no to Jackson "because of what I think of him and what hes done for my career." "I told Phil, I think I have to pursue this other opportunity," Kerr told the website. "He gave me his blessing. He said. Go look at it, and do what was in my heart." Kerr, 48, said last month that he has wanted to coach since stepping down after three seasons as general manager of the Phoenix Suns in June 2010. And while the lure of rebuilding a flagship franchise with his mentor at Madison Square Garden looked appealing, the chance to coach a Western Conference contender in his home state proved to be too much. Kerr replaces Mark Jackson, who was fired by the Warriors on May 6 after three seasons and back-to-back playoff appearances -- mostly due to a sour relationship between him and team management. The Warriors job is certainly a far more attractive one than when owner Joe Lacob hired Jackson away from the ESPN/ABC broadcast table in June 2011. The Warriors are coming off a 51-win season and consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 20 years, and theyve surrounded star Stephen Curry with a talented young core.dddddddddddd Kerr became the hottest coaching candidate on the market after Phil Jackson started courting him to the Knicks. Kerr also has close ties to Lacob, his son, assistant GM Kirk Lacob, and Warriors President Rick Welts, who worked in Phoenixs front office during Kerrs time as Suns general manager. Given the tension that built between Jackson and Warriors management last season -- and the back-and-forth that played out between them in the media after Jackson was dismissed -- having an established relationship with Kerr was a big reason Lacob wanted him as coach. Lacob lauded Kerr as a candidate last week and defended the decision to change coaches -- which has been debated at great lengths in the basketball-united Bay Area. He compared the decision to how he built his fortune as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. Lacob said theres a different person to lead a business at different stages of development, and the Warriors have gone from a "startup" company to an organization looking to maximize its output. "Or in this case win an NBA championship," he said. "And we just felt overall we needed a different person to go forward and get to the next level." And while Kerr has no coaching experience, he played 15 seasons and -- also similar to Mark Jackson -- has been around some of the most successful sideline leaders. Kerr has credited Phil Jackson and Tex Winter for most of his basketball knowledge. Winter taught the triangle offence -- which Kerr would not commit to running with the Warriors -- and was a longtime assistant for Jackson, who used the system to win an NBA-record 11 championships as a coach of the Bulls and Lakers. Golden State also spoke with former Orlando Magic and Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy during its search. Van Gundy agreed to a $35 million, five-year deal with Detroit on Tuesday after the Pistons also gave him control of basketball operations -- something the Warriors wouldnt do with general manager Bob Myers and Kirk Lacob in place. The Warriors met with Kerr again on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, where Kerr was calling the Thunder-Clippers game. And they apparently made a big enough impression -- and contract offer -- to land the man they wanted all along. ' ' '