Sam Mitchell won't hesitate to tinker with the Raptors' lineup this season.
Regardless of what you are doing, a good start is always important. So with expectations high in Toronto this year for the Raptors, coach Sam Mitchell won't hesitate to make changes.
It's just five games into the season, but with his team sputtering at the start of games, Mitchell is making a move with his starting lineup and inserting one of his first five from last year. Rasho Nesterovic will replace Andrea Bargnani in the hope the team can get off to quicker starts, play better defence and have better spacing on offence
Mitchell has always been mindful of the team's record at the beginning of the season. In response to a question during his media conference before the season opener against Philadelphia, Mitchell quipped, "We won't be 2-8 after tonight," in reference to last season's first 10 games. Heck, last season's 2-8 was better than 1-15 the previous season, but with lofty goals for 2007-08 the aim is to get above .500 as soon as possible and then keep climbing.
Raptors fans have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the first week of the season. The defeat in Milwaukee was simply ugly, but opening night against Philadelphia the defence did its job for most of the game, and even though the Raptors were defeated by the Celtics in overtime in their second home game, it was their defence once again that kept them close. Their opponents are in trouble when both the offence and the defence show up on the same night - just ask New Jersey.
When Nesterovic was traded to the Raptors before the start of last season, P.J. Carlessimo, then the assistant coach in San Antonio, was matter of fact when he said that Rasho was always in position defensively and that would be a big help in Toronto. Nesteovic's ability to communicate and his experience will help, particularly when defending in screen and roll situations where Bargnani seems to pick up most of his early fouls.
"He still a young kid," assistant coach Alex English said about Bargnani's learning curve on defence. "You mature in recognizing what players are in the screen and roll and what you do against certain players.
"I think his biggest problem is that he's indecisive in (defending) the screen roll, even though he knows what we're doing. He comes up out of his stance and he gets fouls when he does that. He has it (the concept), it's just a matter of refining it."
While his defence will be of assistance at the start of games, Nesterovic's low maintenance offensive style is also a benefit. Rasho can make the mid-range jump shots, and he will slide to open areas around the basket and give a penetrating dribbler someone to drop the ball to down low or on the baseline and not always have to look to kick it to a player waiting near the arc. The fact that Nesterovic stays inside and is willing to set a solid screen also helps the perimeter spacing as Toronto will not have five players trying to find room for a shot on the outside.
Although he looked better against Orlando, Bosh still needs more time to return to his all-star form. It was the combination of Nesterovic and Bargnani that played well at the end of the preseason, so if Mitchell sees Bosh struggling he can call on one of the team's best offensive weapons, Bargnani, to replace him. The only caveat is that the coaching staff needs to be mindful of Bargnani's psyche. The second-year man has played well and as the leading scorer the coaches need to help him understand this should not be viewed as a demotion.
"It's not a reflection of how Andrea has played," Mitchell told the Toronto Sun. "I've talked to Andrea about it and he understands. It's just about trying to get the most out of our guys. It's about getting more production out of Rasho and we think this is probably the only way we are going to do that."
In seasons past (Raptors fans shudder to think back to Mitchell's first two seasons) the head coach would look down the bench and not have many, if any, alternatives. Now that he has a deep bench, he might as well use it and while it is far too early for scoreboard watching, you don't want to have to come back from a 7-14 record again this year.
With Toronto's deep roster there is potential for Mitchell to be constantly tinkering and shuffling the deck to try to find the right combinations. There have been only two games so far where Mitchell has not used every player. In the Boston game he went 10 deep and against Orlando 11 men saw court time. But sometimes less is more and Mitchell and his coaching staff may actually decide to shorten the bench and just ask others to sit and stay ready if needed.
It may not be popular amongst those left out of the regular rotation, but as Mitchell alluded to early in the preseason when asked about who plays and who sits, it's a one-way street. He's the coach and the players have to keep him happy.
