Leo Rautins Steps Down as Canadian National Team Head Coach

[Built Ford Tough]

Leo Rautins was just a teenager when he first joined the Canadian men’s basketball team, and he’s been a passionate supporter of the program ever since.

 

It was no surprise then that he became emotional Thursday when he announced he was stepping down as head coach of the national team after six years at the helm.

 

“This hasn’t been a job, this has been a passion,” Rautins said, before pausing to compose himself. “Something that I’ve loved doing. I love this program. I want to be involved in this program. I want to help this program. We’ve got a lot of great kids. I want to help all our kids at different levels in this country.

 

“I was a part of this program as a youngster when we were among the best in the world, and that’s where I see this program. What’s next for me is doing whatever I can to make that happen. That’s priority for me.”

 

Rautins, 51, made the announcement on a conference call with reporters Thursday, after the Canadian team was eliminated from contention for the 2012 Olympics with a 91-89 loss to Panama at the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

 

The winner and runner-up at the FIBA Americas tournament earn Olympic berths, while the next three best teams advance to a last-chance qualifying tournament next summer.

 

Canada’s loss to Panama gave Venezuela fifth spot.

 

“I think for the benefit of this program, a new voice in the locker-room will be the best thing,” Rautins said. “I love this program. I didn’t take this job to enhance my reputation, to become an NBA coach, to use it as a launching pad. I took this job because I love this program and I want to see this program succeed.”

 

http://www.canada.com/sports/Rautins+steps+down+national+basketball+coach/5372391/story.html#ixzz1XQ0x9AQz

 

I know the guy was very passionate about the Canadian National Team and everything, but I am definitely glad to see that he decided to step down as the coach (although I think he would've been fired had he not stepped down). His entire tenure has been completely underwhelming especially when you consider that there has been much more talent coming out of Canada over his time as the coach.

 

When you are the coach of a national team and you can't get the majority of the countires best players to play, there is a problem. Steve Nash, Samuel Dalembert, Robert Sacre, Tristan Thompson, Myck Kabongo and Kris Joseph all weren't on the team and I know that at least two of them (Nash and Dalembert) were because of Rautins. I know Sacre, Kabongo and Thompson all turned down invitations this summer (not sure what the deal was with Joseph as I don't even know if he was invited in the first place) so you can't completely blame Rautins for that as if the players don't want to play, they don't want to play, but you have to wonder whether having a more respected coach who actually knows what he is doing would've made these guys more willing to play this summer.

 

Anyways, a change was needed, that is for sure. After a disappointing FIBA Americas tournament combined with some real stinkers earlier this summer (losses to teams like Finland), it is about time for a change. I hope that the next coach can take the groundwork that Leo built and get the program to the level that it should be at.

[?QuestionMark?]

Huh, didn't know he was the main issue.

 

It did strike me as odd as how Canada didn't get many of it's players to play in the FIBA tournament. Especially with the looming lockout, it would have been a t least a good way to stay sharp.

[Built Ford Tough]

Huh, didn't know he was the main issue.

 

It did strike me as odd as how Canada didn't get many of it's players to play in the FIBA tournament. Especially with the looming lockout, it would have been a t least a good way to stay sharp.

 

Well, I don't know if you can say he was the main issue. He was definitely a huge issue, but the main issue is probably that the overall talent level of Canadian basketball just isn't on the same level as a team like Argentina, Spain, France, Lithuania, etc. The talent level has improved over the past decade or so, but the improvement is mostly in the high school/college ranks in guys like Myck Kabongo, Andrew Wiggins, Khem Birch, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Pangos, Kyle Wiltjer and Anthony Bennett who are all either fresh out of college (CoJo and Thompson), entering their freshman seasons in college (Kabongo, Wiltjer, Pangos and Birch) or a couple of years away (Bennett is the 7th ranked prospect in the 2012 high school class and Wiggins is considered the best player in the 2014 class). There are also guys like Rob Sacre, Kris Joseph and Kelly Olynyk who are currently playing for Division 1 teams (Syracuse for Joseph and Gonzaga for Sacre and Olynyk).

 

However, even with that said, Rautins did an awful job of coaching the players that he had this summer and there is no excuse for Canada to not at least finish 5th and qualify for next summer's Olympic Qualifer Tournament. Even if he didn't have the full talent of Canada available, they were still clearly a top 5 team in this tournament behind Brazil (and without Barbosa and Nene you could argue Canada was more talented), Argentina, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (again, arguable). Every time an opposing team would pressure Canada they would commit turnovers and look very unorganized, even if they were just coming out of a timeout. His substitution patterns were suspect at best (leaving guys like Joseph and English on the bench for too long of stretches) and his in-game adjustments were brutal.

 

In today's game against Panama Gary Forbes was lighting them up all morning long, including a stretch where he scored 16 consecutive points (finished with 39) but no adjustments were made. Anderson (Canadian point guard) was still left on him despite his inability to guard him, no help was given and they continued to allow him to go to his strong hand. When they did finally make the switch, Rautins left Joseph, who was the best perimeter defender on the team, on the bench and put Jevon Sheppard on him instead.

 

Then there are the issues about many of the top Canadian players not wanting to play that you mentioned.

 

His record as the Canadian coach was something like 13-27 (not exact, just in that general area) and the team never really took the step forward that you would've expected in his 6 years as the coach of the team.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Built Ford Tough

[Universe]

I hope they get a young coach to grow with these guys. The past ten years we've had very limited talent but there is no excuse for missing the next Olympics after this as we should not be losing to the teams they have been losing to in the past.

 

Triano was let go because of the lack of talent but I wouldn't want to see him back either. I really just hope with a new coach comes a new change of pretty much everything and they start putting more funding or something into Canada Basketball.

[Built Ford Tough]

I kind of want to see them look outside of Canada and to the NCAA for their next coach. It worked really well for the Dominican Republic when they hired John Calipari, Coach K has done a fantastic job with the USA team and I believe there is another country that has an NCAA coach, I just can't remember which team it was (Panama, maybe?).

 

A guy like Rick Barnes makes sense (assuming he would be interested) considering he already is very familiar with guys like Thompson, Joseph, Kabongo and many other of the upcoming Canadians. He isn't the best coach in terms of X's and O's and all that, but his relationship with so many of these young Canadian kids could prove to be invaluable when it comes to getting them involved with the team and all of that.

 

I'm not expecting much, though. It will probably be somebody that none of us have ever even heard of before as Canada basketball isn't exactly a huge deal for any import coaches.

[?QuestionMark?]

Canada should hire Bruce Pearl. Coaching Canada has to be better than a job in marketing.

 

Canada may not be able to compete with Argentina and Spain, but they have enough of a talent pool that they shouldn't lose to teams like Venezuela and Panama. They should be the third or fourth best team in the Americas.

Edited September 11, 2011 by ?QuestionMark?