It’s a Problem When Jose Calderon is your Best Option…to Coach.

I’ll say preface my return from hiatus with this statement: if the Raps lose to the Knicks tonight, Sam should immediately resign following the game, taking his sparkly, S-Curl enabled locks with him; with just the memory of a glittery head attached to a lanky silhouette striding up and down the home coaching box at the ACC, barking only the vaguest of directions to his wayward players.

As the Toronto media jumps on the latest dramatic Raptor storyline of the day, fueling the fire for the T.J. versus Jose non-feud feud, a fundamental point seems to be missed amongst the portrayal of ‘Spanish Jose’ as the paradigm of selflessness and team sacrifice: isn’t it the coach’s job to tinker the line-up to induce the necessary on court chemistry? If these stories are true, why would Sam need prompting from a player to make basic rotation decisions?

Just two of the many faces of 'Ocho': the real brains behind the S-Curl?

Admittedly, I have been always critical of Sam’s tactical acumen and even his bench coaching hasn’t exactly drawn comparisons to the Popovichs and (COUGH) Jacksons of the world. But all the Mitchell apologists have held fast to the idea of Sam as a nurturer, a developer, someone who knows how to handle players and get the best out of them. ‘We have a young team’, they say, ‘we need a player’s coach.’

Unfortunately for us, Sam has been the benefactor of some smoke and mirrors coaching, doggedly employing a rudderless high-screen offense, avoiding avoiding the commitments of X's and O's. It just so happens that he’s left virtually all decision-making to a developing, shoot-first, penetration-oriented point buoyed with the option of handing the ball over to perhaps the best ball-handling, least turnover-prone guard in the League while surrounding them with some consummate pros such as ‘Jaundice’ Parker and (when healthy) Garbajosa to keep up the non-scripted ball movement. Sure, this could be a workable scenario, as proven in the past, but that leaves you as a slave to the natural ups and downs a roster will go through with regards to injuries, slumps, groupie-maintenance and whatnot. And really, if it’s the players who seem solely responsible for making this work, is a coach really maximizing said players’ potential. I mean, is this the only way to maximize Bosh’s skill set on the offensive end?

Sure, Sam’s offensive sets lack structure and derive very little in the sense of premeditated looks for players; it spelled the end of MoPete’s career in Toronto. But for all the on-the-fly decision making that a pick-and-roll dominated offense entails, what happens when a player goes rogue like T.J. on the Raps most recent, disastrous West Coast adventure? Is there any way to rein him in within the context of a play-less play book? Is sitting a player the default option when you cannot impose structure?

But this is where handling personnel comes in, Sam's alleged strength. Clearly, as Wednesday’s win against a Rip-less Detroit indicated, T.J. loses much of his effectiveness coming off the bench; his production as a sub is hit or miss at best. Jose is not limited in this way. So is it impossible for them to co-exist on a roster as many would suggest (financial constraints and T.J.'s rumoured temperamentality aside)? I feel it would not be too far-fetched to find a coach who could have the team thrive with two starting point guards on the roster, a concept that once made the Raps the envy of the League: to wit, while Sam has tried playing both guards at the same time, he refuses to instruct Calderon to be the primary ball-handler, allowing T.J. shot first mentality to take over as the shot clock winds down, the way the roster’s non-existent slashing small forward normally would. Instead, we have Jose waiting on the wings for T.J. to belatedly initiate the offense, virtually nullifying his ability as a distributor. In the end, this coexistence amounts to wasted minutes (and extended time for two guards on the court who are not exactly known as defensive stoppers).

While I am reticent to use the cliché of the imperative, a loss tonight against the Knicks would virtually guarantee the end game to the Raps' current free-falling ways; a 1^st round series match up against the 1^st or 2^nd seed, leading to a possible sweep and a demoralized team heading into an uncertain off season. Building off the sort of win that was exacted against Detroit will require leadership, and fingers seem to be always pointed, for better or for worse, at the players. It’s time for the man who occupies the coaching box to step up his game as well.