As an NBA coach if you're not winning, then you're packing your bags. Just ask Sam Mitchell.

Bryan Colangelo's blank stare as he stood in the tunnel at the Pepsi Centre in Denver Tuesday night following the pasting by the Nuggets screamed something had to change. He was visibly upset as he stood in the passageway between the locker room and the court.

The morose voice level of all involved in the post game interviews echoed that dire sentiment. And Colangelo decided what needed to be changed was the head coach.

After coaching 356 regular season and playoff games at the helm of the Toronto Raptors, the Sam Mitchell era as the longest tenured coach in franchise history ended Wednesday afternoon in Denver.

As with all coaches, it was the bottom line combination of expectations and losses that sent Mitchell out the door. With a record one game below .500 it was deemed to be underachieving and just not good enough in the eyes of President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo.

"Expectations are high," said Colangelo. "We want to win. We want to win for the organization, we want to win for the fans, we want to win for the city of Toronto and we want to win for the country of Canada."

"It's all in and we haven't been doing that (winning) to the extent we wish and change hopefully will spur on improved or measured results and we will go on from here."

The final nail was the 132-93 blowout loss in Denver, the fifth worst defeat in franchise history. But this was not an expansion team. This is a squad that has high expectations and according to the general manager, who stated at the beginning of the season that on paper, this was the best talent ever assembled to represent the franchise, the vision for this team was not being met.

There were whispers as far back as last February when Toronto suffered through its first losing month since November of 2006 that changes could possibly be made as early as the summer. There was always speculation about a slow start to the season proving to be the undoing, and although Mitchell survived, albeit on a short leash, for a while, the rumblings and raised eyebrows continued after blown leads and disheartening losses. The sluggish beginning led to Mitchell eventually being shown the door. But, it wasn't just one thing that had Mitchell fired.

"It's a culmination of things," remarked Colanelo. You never want to be rash in these decisions. You want to think through things. You talk to your coach, you discuss scenarios you hope for measured results and improvement in an area."

Assistant coach Jay Triano will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Triano, a star with the Canadian National Team as a player, coached the National side to great success before joining the Raptor coaching staff.

"I think he's going to do a great job because he is great at motivating players," said Jamario Moon of Triano.

Some will say Mitchell's dismissal was inevitable as he was never Colangelo's "guy" and every general manager wants his own coach in place. Colangelo however went to great lengths to praise Mitchell's contributions and accomplishments and to say it was not all about Mitchell as blame for the current 8-9 record was to be shared. But in the end, the coach always takes the fall.

It doesn't really matter if you think it's too early or not, if it was fair or not, it's just the way things work in the NBA. Two seasons ago, after a slow start to the season, Toronto finished the season by winning the division title and posted the fourth best record in the league after mid December behind Western Conference leading Dallas, conference finalist Phoenix and eventual NBA champion San Antonio. But there will be no chance for Mitchell to prove he can pull it off again as the "slow start theory" came to fruition and took him down.

As we approach the quarter pole of the NBA season, the time for talk is gone. It's time for the players to perform and unless they do, more changes will inevitably have to be made.

There is an old adage that says "it's not about the X's and O's it's about the Jimmy's and Joe's" and even with Triano making changes to a system that he was part of implementing the weight of expectations will still be there. For NBA coaches it's a bottom line business, just ask Sam Mitchell.