Triano is a competitor, he says, and his measure of success is winning -- something the Toronto Raptors haven't managed to do much of these past four months with the Canadian coach in charge.

"I'm competitive, I want to win, that's the drive for me,'' Triano said after Saturday's practice at the Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors ended the season on a high noted dropping hosted the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 in their final home appearance, then wrap up the season with games at Washington today and Chicago on Wednesday.

The season's been a trying one for Triano and the Raptors (30-49), who are 22-40 since Triano replaced Sam Mitchell on Dec. 3 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

There are numerous factors that contributed to their decline -- an unfavourable schedule, Jose Calderon's hamstring injury that plagued him for much of the season, Chris Bosh's early-winter slump and the acquisition of Jermaine O'Neal that never panned out. The Raptors eventually swapped O'Neal for Miami's Shawn Marion at the trade deadline.

But through a difficult season, the 50-year-old Triano says he's become a better coach.

"Had it been a little bit easier, as far as wins and losses. . . I would have continued to work hard but this is forcing me to dig deeper as far what I have to improve on, and how we can be better and finding ways and means to get better as a team and as a coach,'' he said.

Triano became the first Canadian-born coach in the NBA when the Raptors hired him in 2002. He outlasted head coaches Lenny Wilkens, Kevin O'Neill and Mitchell. Technically the team's interim head coach, his status for next season is still undetermined.

Triano, the former captain of Canada's national team and its head coach for six years, said his first season as the Raptors boss didn't play out exactly as he would have drawn it out.

"I expected we would be better, just like everybody else, just like the fans that watch, the players that play and the media that cover it,'' Triano said.

"I still think that this team is better than its record shows.''

The demands that come with the head coaching job go well beyond the Xs and Os of the game, he said. While the Niagara Falls native was always a first-to-the-arena, last-to-leave type of coach, now there's additional tasks such as meeting with the media -- three times a day on game days -- or talking trades with GM Brian Colangelo.

"As an assistant, I came in here same hours, early in the morning, stayed late at night, pretty dedicated to the job, all Basketball all the time,'' Triano said.

"Now there's other things. . . There was a lot more of that that I didn't expect.''

Being the head coach, he added, is knowing what buttons to push to motivate each player. And after being an assistant -- a.k.a. good guy -- for so long, being the disciplinarian is a role that he admits he's still growing into.

"I think I've gotten better at cracking the whip a little bit. It's still in progress, but over time I think it will get easier.''