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Andrew LopezESPN
For Sergio Scariolo, it was just another match.
The Toronto Raptors assistant coach slipped into the main seat and beat the team 122-111 over the Houston Rockets in Tampa Bay on Friday night. The victory comes despite Toronto without star Pascal Siakam, head coach Nick Nurse and five other Raptors assistants due to the health and safety protocols.
But even with Toronto still being an assistant to Chris Finch, who became head coach in Minnesota earlier this week, the Raptors still had a very experienced man on the bench to handle the job.
Scariolo has 25 years of coaching experience overseas and has been the head coach of the Spanish national team since 2009, winning the FIBA Eurobasket Tournament three times (2009, 2011 and 2015) and the FIBA World Cup (2019). He also coached Spain to a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.
So no, this was not his first rodeo.
In fact, Scariolo only served as head coach last week when he coached Spain for the Eurobasket qualifier in Poland on 19 and 21 February. Both of those matches won.
“It’s a 3-0 week,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said.
Scariolo was originally in quarantine this week after returning from Poland, available to rejoin the team just as the coaching staff pulls out the health and safety protocols. Scariolo said he returned from Poland on Monday and spent the rest of the week away from the Raptors. He drove to Miami, where the Raptors played Wednesday, but still remained separate from the team; he drove to Tampa in the same car the day after the game.
According to Scariolo, the team began implementing a plan on Thursday, with the Raptors handing over tasks to the coaches who could still be with the team on Friday morning. The team also had to change its prediction routine because tests did not come back in time, so the Raptors had to have one joint film session before they had to go on the floor without a pass.
“So it reacted to something different every time, but at the end of the day we got the W, so who cares,” Scariolo said.
Scariolo said he had a video call with Nurse before the game and that he attributed the philosophy of Nurse and the teamwork he brought to the coaching staff to make the transition as smooth as possible. He also attributed his own experience as head coach.
“Honestly, it didn’t differ too much from the 1,500 games I’ve coached before,” Scariolo said. “I felt we were willing to take part in the game because everyone made his contribution and that is what is needed in a team sport like basketball.”
Lowry and guard Fred VanVleet tried to reduce the situation as much as possible, but Lowry made sure to grab the ball to the buzzer and present it to Scariolo after the game. Scariolo said basketball will be alongside other balls that players have given him throughout the career through medal games or other championships.
VanVleet said the team tried to keep things as much as possible so as not to try to fix something that should not have been fixed.
“I think I only tackled it fairly early on as soon as they made a decision that the coaches would be natural. I did not really want to react to that,” VanVleet said. ‘I think it’s one of the things you’ll probably bring in a little too much stock, but the game does not change.
“The way we have to play does not change. The way we play does not change. Just having a different voice out there is clear that this is why you have a strong coaching team for situations like this. It “It’s clear that Sergio has been a great head coach for a long time. He’s doing it at a high level, so it was easy to get him involved.
The Raptors did not disclose the names of the coaches who missed the game, but Jim Sann, Jamaal Magloire and Mark Tyndale were spotted next to the Raptors bench and received calls from VanVleet and Lowry after the game.
Scariolo said he does not know how long he will serve as acting head coach, adding that the team will continue to work until he knows more. While talking to Nurse before the game, he had not yet spoken to him before meeting the reporters with the reporters. There were first more important matters to check.
“I will make sure I get tested first, this is my first test and I do not want to make a mistake right now,” he said. “We can not afford it. Then we will certainly talk.”