Toronto Raptors limp to another loss while Jordi Fernandez sets sights on Olympics

TORONTO — Coaching at the top levels of basketball requires making tough decisions.

For example, on Wednesday night Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had to decide if he was going to start Bruce Brown at point guard, 10-day signee Jahmi’us Ramsey or recently converted two-way player Javon Freeman-Liberty against the Sacramento Kings.

Making the choice tougher: none of them are true point guards.

But that’s the situation the Raptors find themselves in with starting point guard Immanuel Quickley out due to personal reasons, joining RJ Barrett (also out due to personal reasons), Scottie Barnes (hand surgery), Jakob Poeltl (also out due to hand surgery), Chris Boucher (knee) and DJ Carton (ankle) as being unavailable for the moment. Then the game started and Jontay Porter — the closest thing the Raptors have to a backup centre — fell ill and he was out too.

So in truth, as Toronto's season limps and wheezes to its sad conclusion, Rajakovic’s choices aren’t all that hard: with so many key players injured and nothing at stake when it comes to winning or losing — the Raptors have no chance at a playoff spot and they can’t really improve their draft position all that much, if at all — Rajakovic could start assistant coach Jama Mahlalela (shout out UBC Thunderbirds) on the basis that he knows the plays best and no one watching would make much of it. Someone has to play, right?

Besides, how much worse could it be? The Raptors lost their eighth straight and 10th in their last 11 starts to fall to 23-46 as the Kings went up early and stayed there en route to a 123-89 win that improved their record to 40-28 as they try to hang on to the sixth and final playoff position in the Western Conference.

The Raptors had only four players hit double figures, and two of them came off the bench as Ramsey had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Jordan Nwora had 13 on 5-of-7. Domantas Sabonis had a 13-17-10 triple-double in 28 minutes. The Raptors had 22 turnovers leading to 33 Kings points, and lost the second and third quarters by a combined score of 67-38.

Anyway, enough of that.

Summer will soon be here and at least one of the coaches in the building Wednesday night will soon be making crucial decisions that will be scrutinized and second-guessed, well, pretty much forever.

It will be international basketball season, and passions will run high.

With the Sacramento in town, it provided an opportunity for Kings assistant and Canadian men’s national team head coach Jordi Fernandez to meet with the media in advance of Canada’s appearance at the Olympics in France this summer, the first time the Canadian men have qualified for the Games since 2000, and just the second time since 1988.

They got there on the strength of their bronze-medal showing at the FIBA World Cup of Basketball last September.

It was quite a showing for Fernandez, too. The Spanish coach had carved out a nice reputation for himself as an assistant with Cleveland, Denver and the Kings, and had experience as an assistant with the vaunted Spanish men’s program, helping them to a world title in 2019. He then worked as an assistant for Kings head coach Mike Brown with the Nigerian national team at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

But leading the national team at a critical event with barely a few weeks’ notice after Nick Nurse had to step down when he took over the Philadelphia 76ers was Fernandez’s first real test as a head coach, having only two years as a G-League head coach to draw on.

By any measure, it was a smashing success. Canada won over France in its tournament opener in a blowout, pushing past Latvia, then won an essential game against Spain that assured it of a spot in the Olympics, before knocking off Luka Doncic and Slovenia and finally outlasting Team USA in overtime to earn bronze, the Canadian men’s first medal at a global competition since the 1936 Olympics.

That was nice, of course. But now Fernandez will be looked upon to lead Canada to a medal at the Olympics in Paris, which is shaping up to be one of the most competitive international fields ever assembled. On Tuesday, Canada — now seventh in the FIBA ranking — learned its path to the quarterfinals will require passing tests against No. 3 Australia and very likely No. 2 Spain, and one of either Slovenia and Doncic or Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo, depending on how the last-chance Olympic qualifying tournaments shake out.

The Group of Death? Never fear, says Fernandez.

“It was very similar to the way it was last summer, we had probably the toughest pool, and that made us better,” he said. “We had to be better prepared to face France in the first game and then Spain. … I think that’s the reason why we were stronger towards the end and finished the way we finished. … I thought it was very good for the group and we learned from it.”

What did Fernandez learn about himself?

We’re about to find out. After years where getting NBA players to commit to national team summers was sometimes a challenge, a chance to win a medal in Paris has — not surprisingly — perked up interest. Difficult decisions will have to be made.

“Doors are open for everybody. We love the commitment and the excitement. As you guys know, a lot of things can happen, like injuries or whatever the case is,” said Fernandez. “My experience with national teams is it not always goes to plan, for whatever the reason is. So, you have to be ready. We generally want everybody to be committed and want to play. This way, we'll get the best out of everybody. And then if they put me in a really, really tough spot with Rowan, Coach [David] Blatt and myself to be like, 'These guys are so good,' then it's a good sign. Then we have to make a tough call. But that's ultimately what you want. And every single player … that played [last year] is excited to play again. And the players who didn't have the opportunity to play, they expressed their excitement and willingness to play. It's been great.”

Suddenly, Canada’s problem might not be who’s coming, but who’s staying home and — perhaps most challenging for a young head coach — who will be in France but not playing the minutes or the role they might wish for.

That will be Fernandez’s real test. According to Kings head coach Brown, Fernandez’s interpersonal skills make him well-suited for the job.

“Jordi has the ability because he connects so well with people; he connects with people — it’s not even close — way better than me,” said Brown. “His ability to connect, his personality and all that stuff, it’s off the charts. … He definitely has the feel, the demeanour to be a head coach, obviously for Canada Basketball, but at the NBA level.”

Had things broken a little bit differently, Fernandez would already be an NBA head coach — he was on the Raptors' radar before they decided to hire Rajakovic.

The expectation is that Fernandez will be a strong interview candidate for whatever NBA jobs that come open this off-season. His stint with Canada can only help that cause.

But repeating that success will depend on Canada fielding its best team — "at the end of the day, that's what you need. You need the horses, and we do have that" — and Fernandez getting the most out of them.

It couldn’t have gone much better the first time around but the decisions this time might be harder, and the stakes are that much higher. Fernandez feels he’s prepared, and his people skills will serve him well when the tough decisions come.

“It’s not always perfect, it’s not always easy. In my job, I’m going to be telling guys, sometimes, ‘You’re not going play, you’re going to play, here’s your role or that’s not your role’ or whatever the case may be,” he said. “Having tough conversations is not easy. Everyone thinks building relationships is, ‘Hey, go out there and have fun,’ and a lot of times it’s the opposite. I had a great experience last summer with everybody, not just the players, but the staff, and people on the board. We all shared the same thing, we all had a common goal, and I think all of us staying connected and working together is important.

"I’m not perfect, by any means, but I’ll try, I’ll try my best, and that’s my mindset, even if I have to make a tough call, I’m going to do it because I think that’s best for the program.”