Raptors' coach on the hot seat

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

April 21, 2008 at 9:02 PM EST

ORLANDO — For those interested in symbolism, consider the scene during the final half-hour or so of the Toronto Raptors' practice Monday.

On one side of the floor at the Amway Arena, head coach Sam Mitchell was sitting at centre court with former point guard turned personal confidant Darrick Martin, cracking wise.

In the far corner on the opposite side of the floor was the Raptors' intelligentsia: club president Bryan Colangelo and the various members of his inner cabinet.

There were no smiles in that group, for they have little to smile about. Their club is trailing – badly, if there is such a thing after one game – in their first-round best-of-seven NBA playoff series against the Orlando Magic, with a near must-win awaiting them tonight; Andrea Bargnani, the No.1 overall pick from two years ago is floundering; and Mitchell has three years and $9-million (U.S.) left on the contract he signed a year ago.

All right, maybe we're reading too much into this. It wouldn't be the first time.

But that it is already tea leaves reading time – soon to be followed by tee times – in the Raptors' universe is a reflection of their dismantling at the hands of the Magic last Saturday.

It wasn't just any first-game loss. It was decided largely by a first-quarter blowout – a disturbing trend by Mitchell-coached teams in the playoffs.

Then, Raptors franchise player Chris Bosh articulated quite plainly that the game plan – a first-time starting lineup and a sudden departure from their high pick-and-roll bread-and-butter offence – might have been the source of the Raptors' stuck-in-quicksand first-quarter performance.

Bosh denied he was calling out his head coach, and if he says so, he wasn't. But he said again Monday the game plan didn't work as hoped.

“Guys didn't know where to go,” Bosh said. “If we just come out early [Tuesday] and do our regular signals we'll know where to go and know where to be. … We got away from running for our normal spots and we're better when we do that.”

That the Toronto players didn't know where to go in the opening minutes of the most important game of the season might not have been Mitchell's fault, but it's his responsibility.

Mitchell argued the real culprit were endless defensive breakdowns in the face of the Magic's expert drive-and-kick attack.

“They just beat us off the dribble with one dribble,” the coach said. “And we have to do a better job keeping guys in front of us.”

Unfortunately, it's an argument even an expert debater such as Mitchell can't win in the long run.

Defending the relative insignificance of his game strategy by shifting the fault to his team's fundamental defensive shortcomings in the 83rd game of the season is way too steep a hill to climb.

For all his bluster, Mitchell is a better strategist than his critics would allow. Even on Sunday, he got his team easy scores out of timeouts and explained the tiny adjustments needed to counter the Orlando strategy of sending a second and even third defender at Bosh.

Mitchell is tough-minded and thick-skinned, and an intuitive communicator who can make his points in a roar or at a whisper, depending on the situation. He's not afraid and could very well be a successful NBA head coach when he leaves the Raptors.

But that day is looming closer, it's hard not to conclude.

He's now been the head coach for four playoff road games in his four-year Raptors career. Twice against the New Jersey Nets, his team was blown out in the first quarter – they trailed 31-19 in the third game and 32-15 in the fourth before they rallied to take the Nets to the wire in the sixth game. The first game of the second year was the worst yet.

Bosh has played his seven career playoff games in handcuffs as opposing defensive schemes have turned him into a 39.2-per-cent shooter who averages 18 points a game – compared with 22.3 points a game on 49-per-cent shooting in the regular season. Mitchell has yet to find the key to unlock his star in the postseason.

Is it all on the coach? No.

The Magic's monster man, Dwight Howard, plays like a No.1 overall pick. Some of Bargnani's draft peers – notably Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers) and Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) – look like all-stars in waiting. The wait for Bargnani's all-star debut is looking much, much longer, unless he heads back to the Italian league.

This is not a roster without holes, but at least Colangelo has left himself the salary-cap room to fill them in the not-so-distant future. He's made mistakes in the past and has been able to correct them, and he got them from the draft lottery to the playoffs last season.

But Mitchell's job is to coach the players he has and put them in the positions they're most likely to succeed. The Raptors' 41-41 record didn't indicate that during the regular season, and Sunday didn't help.

Mitchell can smile because he's going to get paid no matter what. And he might even have the last laugh if he can somehow rally his team Tuesday night and beyond.

But unless he can, it's hard to imagine he'll have a job smiling back at him.

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