Although not the first one to report here on Foxsports about the big Toronto Raptors news of the day, I'd like to think I can offer a more insightful report into the siuation.

In a not-so-surprising surprising move, Sam Mitchell has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Toronto Raptors.  This comes following an abysmal loss to the Denver Nuggets, and is perhaps indicative of the way the season has gone to this point.  Not so surprising that Mitchell was fired; surprising at the timing of the firing.

Despite a moderate 8-9 record, the writing was on the wall.  It has happened far too often in this early part of the season that the Raptors have blown many double digit leads against the good and the bad teams in the NBA.  This has happened against Boston, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte, New Jersey, and so on (do I need to mention the blowout by the Nuggets?).  Perhaps the most embarrassing of the games was against New Jersey, when Vince Carter was allowed to end the game with a too-easy slam dunk, which was probably one of the last nails in the coffin.

They've been lacking that killer instinct late in games, and many of them have turned into some very stressful situations.  It just happened too often in such a short span, that something had to be changed.  They had a poor finish to last season, two poor playoff appearances, and have been have just been missing the energy lately that has seemed to make them so exciting.

The easiest change to make is with the coach.  It didn't seem like Sam was able to get the team motivated anymore, and just pretty much let things happen the way they have happened.  Is this a problem with the coach, or with the players?  Did Sam command the respect of his players anymore?

It didn't seem like Sam Mitchell was really GM Bryan Colangelo's man for the job.  Sam was in the last year of his contract when Bryan started his first full season with the Raptors, so it looked like Bryan was going to let the season run it's course, then start the search for the teams new coach.  But, things went good.  The Raptors became Atlantic Division Champions, and Sam was named Coach of the Year.  This hand-cuffed Bryan.  How can you not offer the "Coach of the Year!!!" a contract extension?!  It was a tough position, and ultimately Sam got a four-year extension.  Some would consider last season a disappointment, and it led up to the events of today.  And here we are now.

Well, anyway, the Raptors have replaced Sam with assistant Jay Triano as Interim Head-Coach, who sports a perfect NBA coaching record of 1-0.  All accounts are that Jay has that respect from the players.  Perhaps he will be able to get the team going in the right direction again.  Maybe this change in the coaching staff will be spark that the team needs.

There is a bit of special significance here, since this will make Jay Triano the first official Canadian head-coach in the NBA, and for the only Canadian team.  Jay does not come in without any experience.  He has coached internationally for the Canadian Olympic men's basketball team, and has had the most success at the Olympics.  No medals, but his teams have at least threatened to be medal-contenders with his most notable players on that team being former Philly big-man Todd Mcullough (sp?) and, of course, Steve Nash.

Hopefully he can get his players now to perform at a higher level, and be the team that many have expected them to be.  I wish the best of luck to Jay Triano and the Raptors, and will be watching as many games as I can this season no matter which direction the team takes.

On a persnal note, I liked Sam Mitchell as a coach in Toronto.  I loved his energy and enthusiasm for the game, but I think his downfall was that he had such a strong personality (assuming that the players gave up on  him).  I have no doubt that Sam would do anything to protect his players, and jump take a bullet for them, or jump on a grenade for them.  I hope he will find more coaching opportunites in NBA very soon, and wish him much success.