Sergio Scariolo is prepared to serve as acting head coach of the Raptors for as long as necessary, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Scariolo got his new responsibilities Friday when Nick Nurse and five members of his staff were placed in health and safety protocols. The Raptors responded with a victory over the Rockets.
The win capped a hectic week for Scariolo, who was in Poland last weekend with the Spanish national team for a pair of FIBA EuroBasket qualification games. He flew to Florida on Monday and entered quarantine, as required by league guidelines. Thursday afternoon marked the first news that Nurse and most of the coaching staff wouldn’t be available for Friday’s game.
“We are learning that we have tools and capacity to react to really weird situations, to emergency situations … like this, or I imagine a hundred more that happen all over the world to every person, to every company, every sports club, whatever,” Scariolo said. “We are learning that sometimes we love to have a great plan going from day one to the last one, (but) it’s good to know that we are able to react to different circumstances. We learned how not to panic and try to face what’s going on with a positive attitude.”
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