6:30 update: Mitchell out in Toronto

ORLANDO, Fla. - Well, that didn't take long, did it?

Toronto's 39-point loss in Denver on Tuesday night was Sam Mitchell's final game as head coach of the Raptors, done in by a team that management deemed had stopped responding to his coaching. He was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, replaced on an interim basis by assistant Jay Triano, a long-time assistant and former head coach of the Canadian national team.

According to a statement released by the Raptors, the remainder of the coaching staff is staying put within the organization. Mitchell finished 156-189 in his four-plus years in Toronto.

That whole "coaching falling on deaf ears" reasoning is weak, because the fact of the matter is that the Raptors weren't tough enough to be a factor last season and haven't been healthy enough to do accomplish what they envisioned going into this one.

Jermaine O'Neal returned from an ankle injury last night and found that most of his teammates had lost their fire to play. When a whole team disconnects like that, it's only a matter of time before the coach is the next to go.

"It's embarrassing not only for us but for those who support the Toronto Raptors, the organization, the city and the country," O'Neal said after last night's loss in Denver. "That should never happen. This is a business. We get paid a heck of a lot of money to play a certain way and if we think we can turn it on and off like that then we are fooling ourselves."

Mitchell will be paid a heck of a lot of money not to be around the Raptors anymore, being due close to $4 million this year and next with some additional income due to him in 2010-11. By that season, he'll probably be coaching again, considering as many as three teams, Charlotte, Indiana and Memphis, were hot for his scent before he re-signed with Toronto in 2007.

That alone makes it hard to feel too sorry for him, but he does deserve some sympathy because the man didn't forget how to coach overnight. He did lose some control of his team, though, aided in part by personnel decisions which have cost him adequate depth over the past few seasons.

The job of inspiring the Raptors now falls to Triano, the longest-running assistant on Mitchell's staff, who gets another opportunity to bring Canada basketball glory after having served as both captain and head coach in the country's Olympic program.

If he can handle the job, the Raptors would undoubtedly be thrilled to add the draw of a native son guiding the team to Toronto's appeal. If he can't, don't be surprised if Memphis' Marc Iavaroni ultimately surfaces as a candidate at season's end. The current Grizzlies coach has a contract that runs through 2010, but hasn't made much progress with the team's extreme youth thus far and might not want to run into the final season of his deal as a lame duck.

As Al Jefferson said when he heard the news that the 2007 Coach of the Year got fired, "man, this is some business."

Here today, gone tomorrow, man.

Iavaroni could avoid a hairy situation in Memphis if an opportunity presents itself in Toronto.

The Raptors are also one of the favorites to land the first European-born head coach in NBA history, since many around the league look at the makeup of their roster and refer to them as the Euro Raptors as it is. Behind Bryan Colangelo, assistant GM Mauricio Gherardini has a lot of clout and commands the utmost respect from the international community. Don't be shocked to see Italian Eltore Messina, the most lauded international coach of the current era, emerge as a candidate.

For now, it's Triano's job to lose. He's got a tall order, though. For one, he must rely on O'Neal to stay healthy and provide the presence management brought him into deliver. He's got to keep Chris Bosh from getting too frustrated, Jose Calderon from getting too worn out and Andrea Bargnani from getting too complacent. All that and develop a bench from a group that's been shaky to date.

Best of luck.

Mitchell's ousting means Theus no longer has company on the hot seat. With the losses mounting in Sacramento, he's likely next.

Clock reads nearly midnight for Toronto's Mitchell, Sacramento's Theus

On a night when Violet Palmer turned down flowers and what looked like a proposal from Rocky the Nuggets' Mountain Lion, the saddest man in the Pepsi Center still had to be Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell.
There are a lot of adjectives I've heard used to describe Mitchell, from hard-working to ornery and sharp to blunt, but one word that never comes up is dumb. That man is no fool.
He's got to know his grip on the Raptors head coaching position slipped a little on Tuesday night in Denver, and has to wonder just how much rope he's actually got left.
Factor in the altitude all you want, but there's no reason the Raptors lost by 39 other than they quit early. Outside of Chris Bosh, the Raptors looked like a team without a prayer out there. Jermaine O'Neal returned and gutted out 19 minutes on a questionable ankle and was actually his team's second-best player.
Didn't take much. The bar wasn't set too high.
Mitchell has now lost every one of his five visits to Denver as the Raptors head coach, with every loss worse than the last one. There's a hidden message involved there. Players around the league will freely tell you Denver and Utah are the toughest places to play because of the altitude, so those are spots where coaches can find out what kind of commitment they have from their team.
It's easier to give up there.
Back in March, roughly six weeks before their season would end in disappointment at the hands of Orlando, Toronto went up to Denver and got pasted 137-105. Bosh was out with a sore knee, but the rest of the Raptors that Mitchell trotted out there, failed to guard anybody. Those are his words.
It's now December, in the midst of a season where they're definitely underachieving, and the Raptors still aren't guarding anybody.
Denver shot 60 percent in Tuesday's 132-93 romp, racking up the fifth-highest margin of victory in franchise history. The Nuggets were playing their fifth game in seven nights. They were supposed to be the tired team. Instead, they smelled a team eager to quit and went to work.
Is it Mitchell's fault? Debatable. There's no question that some of the holes GM Bryan Colangelo has tried to plug with Joey Graham, Will Solomon, Roko Ukic and Jamario Moon are currently springing leaks. Even former Euroleague MVP Anthony Parker, one of Colangelo's first great finds, is struggling, looking better-suited for a backup role at this point.
O'Neal, acquired to fortify the post, got sidelined just as he was really finding his groove. The pieces just haven't come together through 17 games... the Raptors are now under .500... the window to keep Bosh happy in between now and 2010 is shrinking... can't fire the players...
Fire the coach.
Can't fire the players got Eddie Jordan and Avery Johnson canned despite very recent success. Now, Mitchell, the 2007 Coach of the Year, is on the ropes.
He's smart enough to know what 39-point losses mean. He knows his bosses know. The next few games are probably make-or-break.
Can't fire the players is a powerful force. It's got Reggie Theus' tank running dangerously low in Sacramento and even has he coaches leading rebuilding efforts in Memphis and Minnesota a little nervous.
Why do you think Randy Wittman had to get assurances that his job was safe last week? Times like these are when teams can fracture. It's why Theus' inability to get a close win has the Maloofs throwing out veiled ultimatums regarding his future and why it's got to be maddening for him to keep losing close games like the one Utah took from him Monday.
With Kevin Martin back and the Spencer Hawes/Mikki Moore starting lineup swap working out, the Kings had an opportunity to take the lead twice in the final minutes, but Quincy Douby missed a pair of open 3-pointers. He's been shooting -- and missing -- a lot of clutch shots of late. Couldn't have anything to do with the mandate Joe Maloof gave through Sacramento Bee reporter Sam Amick in a telling Q&A on his excellent blog, could it? Douby is getting his chance and not cashing in.
He's taking Theus down with him. The writing has been on the wall for Theus since he entered the final guaranteed year of his deal without talk of an extension. The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper speculated weeks ago that Dec. 3 could be the date where the Kings look to make a move, since the team has a three-day break scheduled and could choose to end his employment if they've deemed he's not going to be the guy. The Kings have lost seven consecutive games, which doesn't bode well for him. According to the Bee, a recent meeting between Petrie and the Maloofs ended with the decision to give Theus more time, but that can change in an instant.
Just so you realize how cruel the profession can be, with the Kings down 93-90 earlier tonight, Theus drew up a nice play for a back screen to spring Martin on a curl. The play worked perfectly until point guard Beno Udrih slipped just before he made the pass. By the time he regained composure, Utah's Morris Almond had closed on Martin, eliminating the opportunity. Sacramento wound up with nothing but another loss.
You can't trade the players.
When they start looking unsure of themselves and playing like losing teams, the coach is always next to go. Mitchell and Theus are on the thinnest of ice.
Toughest part? Both know.

Tuesday's +/- report: Can't have one of these with out highlighting the game Chauncey Billups (+48) had against the Raptors. Hitting 5-for-6 3-pointers, dishing out 14 assists and one turnover and setting the tone for the beatdown of Toronto. No point guard is currently playing better... Joey Graham (-32) and Anthony Parker (-30, 2-for-11) got the worst of it for the Raps... Troy Murphy (+12, 16 points, 17 rebounds) was the hero of Indiana's upset of the Lakers with his late tip, but it was T.J. Ford (+21, 21 points, seven assists) who inspired the result, magnificently setting the pace and keeping his Pacers from staying down when L.A. took a 15-point lead into the fourth... Baron Davis (+5), Zach Randolph (0) and Al Thornton (+5) combined for 72 points on 32-for-60 from the field, but couldn't overcome a heroic effort by the smallest guy on the court in Dallas, guard Jose Barea (+21, 15 points, six assists, game-winning 3-pointer)... Rodney Stuckey (+16, 10 points, seven assists) help change the tone of things in Detroit's win in San Antonio, but it was Rasheed Wallace's (+7, 19 points) fourth quarter explosion that delivered the result... Manu Ginobili (-17, 13 points on 4-for-11) was out of sync as he and Tony Parker (+2, 18 points) reunited in the Spurs' starting backcourt... As for the +/- verdict on Theus' starting lineup switch, Hawes (+17, 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists) enjoyed the opportunity and Moore (-19, 0 points, three rebounds in 12:17) didn't... Morris Almond (+14, 12 points, six rebounds in 25:39) picked up quite a bit in the D-League. He'll be a contributor sooner than later.

Lopsided loss to Celtics least of Orlando's problems

There's no shame in Orlando getting blown out on Monday night up in Boston.
The Magic went up there without their starting backcourt, which is the same thing as not bringing a jacket into that biting cold. Not surprisingly, they got de-iced handily, losing 107-88.
Celtics defensive guru Tom Thibodeau went to work on keeping Dwight Howard from getting in sync offensively, and outside of a strong second quarter run, Orlando wasn't competitive. Stan Van Gundy was probably not pleasant to be around on the ride home, but he knew going in what a tall task he was facing. News flash: Minus their starting guards, the Magic can't compete with the Celtics on the road.
They slipped to 2-4 against teams with winning records, and those two victories came against teams (Bulls, Raptors) who were just a game above .500 at the time those games were played. The Magic sport the third-best record in the Eastern Conference because they've fattened up on a pretty light schedule thus far, and that shouldn't be held against them. If anything, Orlando should be applauded for playing the hand its been dealt pretty well.
After a rare hiccup at Memphis on Halloweeen night, the Magic had run off a string of six consecutive road wins, all against losing teams. Any NBA road game presents a precarious situation, but the Magic have handled that pressure well, winning games at Dallas, Indiana and Philadelphia in the final seconds.
Boston taking them apart when they were vulnerable doesn't change that. The Celtics did what a championship-caliber team is supposed to do, taking no prisoners. They're 17-2 for a reason.
The Magic have to shake off a poor effort and quickly move on to this week's home dates against Minnesota and Oklahoma City, games they have to put in the win column regardless of the circumstances.
Jameer Nelson is close to returning from a hip flexor injry, but even if he remains sidelined through these next two cupcakes, Orlando has to continue acting like the top contender it strives to be and take care of business where it can. Next week brings the start of the longest road trip of the season, an eight-day stint through the West Coast for games against the Clippers, Blazers, Suns, Jazz and Warriors. There are two sets of back-to-backs included in that mix, and when the Magic return home in mid-December, the Spurs, Lakers and Hornets make their only stops through town.
The Magic are biding time at this point, similar to what San Antonio had to go through with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out. The Spurs aced their shorthanded stint. Orlando needs to shoot for similar success, a .500 mark acheived on sweat and effort in order to avoid the type of collapse that took down division-mates Miami last season, Washington this season, and knocked the Hawks down a few pegs right after they lost Josh Smith early last month.
Mickael Pietrus could be out until early in 2009 with a torn ligament in his right thumb, so the Magic may have to get creative in order to fill the holes he and Bogans have left. Anthony Johnson will probably still get a hefty helping of minutes given how well he's handled his increased workload, but it remains to be seen whether Redick and Lee have done enough to prove they can handle themselves as key contributors on a team that has aspirations of playing into June.
The Magic haven't hidden the fact that they're in the market for another guard, dangling Brian Cook in the hopes of landing help. Orlando native Chucky Atkins, just back from injury in Denver, is available. I've heard Jerry Stackhouse's potential buyout in Dallas is being followed closely; Stephon Marbury's, not so much.
Orlando Sentinel Magic guru Brian Schmitz complied a short list of candidates the other day featuring veterans Keith McLeod, Fred Jones and current D-Leaguer Smush Parker.
At some point, Orlando figures to fortify its roster for the postseason with a veteran, and whether it comes at the expense of someone like Redick will play itself out. Give GM Otis Smith credit for being proactive. It remains to be seen how long they can keep Hedo Turkoglu as part of the nucleus and there's no time to win like the present.
For now, the Timberwolves and Thunder are on tap. Since every team has to play 82, you have to take your gimmes when they come, no matter who's out there. Lining them up and knocking them down make nights like Monday and odysseys like next week's easier to swallow.

Monday's +/- report: Every member of Boston's starting five finished +15 or better, led by Ray Allen (+25, 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting). Rajon Rondo (+20, 16 points, 12 assists) is enjoying the best stretch of his career. If he keeps it up, the Celtics will easily maintain the fastest pace in the Eastern Conference... Jason Richardson (+15, 25 points) is healthy again and making up for lost time, helping the Bobcats to a 100-90 win over Minnesota. Raymond Felton (+10, 14 points, 14 assists), relieved to keep his starting job over rookie D.J. Augustin (-1), has rewarded Larry Brown for his confidence with steady play, shooting the ball as confidently as he has in his career... Golden State suffered its most frustrating loss of the season, losing a 130-129 overtime decision it looked to be in control of like six or seven times. Jamal Crawford (+1, 40 points, seven assists) barely missed a game-winning runner, but had the crowd in Oakland geeked as he thrilled them for a game-high 50-plus minutes... Dwyane Wade (+6, 37 points, 13 assists), Shawn Marion (+7, 21 points, 15 rebounds), Udonis Haslem (+5, 21 points, 13 rebounds) and Michael Beasley (-3, 19 points, six boards) all got loose, but the Heat's +/- leader was Chris Quinn (+11), who knocked down a couple clutch shots to keep the team alive. All their efforts would've gone for nothing without the backup point guard's contributions.