Sergio Scariolo is the Kind of Xs-and-Os Genius Toronto Needs if It's Serious About Contending

Sergio Scariolo makes a ton of sense to be the next head coach of the Toronto Raptors if winning remains a priority for the organization

Aaron Rose | May 31, 2023

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Toronto Raptors

Sergio Scariolo was running out of options.

For so long Scariolo’s Spanish men’s national team had been Europe’s best. He’d led them to three EuroBasket championships, a World Cup championship, and a pair of Olympic medals. But now, those days seemed over. Marc and Pau Gasol had retired, and Spain entered the 2022 EuroBasket tournament a longshot to win.

A loss to Domantas Sabonis, Jonas Valanciunas, and the Lithuanians would have been understandable. It couldn’t have been all that surprising when the Lithuanians pulled ahead by seven in the final five minutes. Spain was simply overmatched on the court.

But Scariolo wasn’t done yet.

He went back to his days as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors, breaking out the old box-and-one that Toronto had run so effectively against Stephen Curry in the 2019 NBA Finals.

It worked.

Lithuania’s offense stalled out and within two minutes Spain tied things up, forcing overtime, and eventually eking out a must-win victory in the Round of 16. Scariolo went back to the box-and-one late against Germany a week later, shutting down Franz Wagner in the semi-finals, and then ground France’s offense to a halt with the same strategy against Evan Fournier to clinch another EuroBasket championship, his fourth in just over a decade.

“He really showed his greatness as a coach,” BasketNews’ Augustas Šuliauskas said of Scariolo who put on a "masterclass" in Spain’s shocking victory.

It’s not hard to see why Scariolo is reportedly considered a finalist to take over as the next head coach in Toronto, per La Gazzetta Dello Sport. His resume is long with gold medals and championship trophies everywhere he’s been. But at 62 years old, there’s just one thing missing: an NBA head coaching job.

Scariolo is an Xs-and-Os mastermind. While Nick Nurse gets all the credit for Toronto’s innovative defensive schemes over the past few years that famously included those janky box-and-ones, Scariolo was behind the scenes from 2018 to 2021 no doubt helping to devise those plans, Šuliauskas said.

Offensively, Scariolo is adaptive and plays to his team’s strengths. His offensive playbook with those veteran Gasol-led Spanish teams was very different from the one he used when 6-foot-5 point guard Lorenzo Brown led the Spaniards last year. He plays through his best players, Šuliauskas said, adapting to his teams everywhere he goes.

“He really likes smart action,” Šuliauskas added. “Little details are important to him and if he has some great shooters, you can expect some really interesting options for them as well.”

For a winning team, a schemer like Scariolo makes a ton of sense. But Toronto doesn’t quite fit that description right now and Scariolo doesn’t have a ton of experience building up younger teams. Yes, he typically goes deep into his rotations, playing 10 or 11 players in a game which should help develop Toronto’s depth, but how he is as a leader of young teams isn’t exactly clear.

“We have seen players blossom under him that might not have thought could have a huge impact on those Spain national teams or Bolognia recently,” Šuliauskas added. “But I still think his biggest impact is Xs-and-Os.”

The Raptors clearly have an affinity for Scariolo. They brought hired him in 2018, giving him his first NBA opportunity on a team that eventually won a championship. He’s said before that his time with Toronto was a learning experience, allowing him to acclimate to the more player-first coaching styles of the NBA that differ immensely from basketball in Europe.

Scariolo is as ready as anyone can be. He understands the NBA game and is as player-friendly as almost anyone else in Europe, Šuliauskas said.

If the Raptors are serious about winning in the near-term future and want to build this core back to playoff and eventually championship contention, Scariolo fits the bill. He’s done it everywhere else, and Toronto should be no different.

Further Reading