Today on PTI, guest Charles Barkley (my all time favorite player) said that if he were to vote, he would vote for Sam Mitchell for coach of the year. Barkley is supposedly going to race 60+ year old ref Dick Bavetta. When Sam heard about the wager, he took Bavetta, saying that Charles should challenge him to an eating contest. Barkley took back his vote for Sam Mitchell. Is anyone else amazed that people are actually discussing Sam as a possible Coach of the Year. People mention the year the raps are having....I think they are doing this in spite of Sam, not because of him. It would be really tough for Colangelo to not re-sign Sam if he wins COTY. Personally, I hope Sam is the first Coach I can remember to be fired right after winning COTY.
He's done a great job at the moment, if we keep playing like this for the whole season with our roster healthy, I wouldn't be surprised if he does.
The way I see it, despite all the recent accolades, would Sam Mitchell be able to find another head coaching job if he were let go after this season? It'd be pretty difficult, IMO, because other GM's and coaches can see through all the hype. He's always been great at developing players and building chemistry, and I'll give him credit for getting better at managing rotations and calling timeouts. But, strategically, he's still just as weak as when he first became our coach.
What he does best is call timeouts at the right time and now has a solid rotation. Weak in set up plays and strategies.
I believe if Sam Mitchell wins COTY and Raptors let him go, he will be guarenteed a job within a week. Teams like Atlanta, Cleveland would hire him, maybe even the Kings, or Twolves. Possibly even New York or Memphis.. a lot of teams out there that could use a coaching change..
Will Sam Mitchell win coach of the year? It's possible, if Doc Rivers won it I don't see why not. I've always found this award to be way off base. For example, Jerry Sloan got the Jazz playing decent basketball the year after they lost Stockton and Malone, which was quite the accomplishment. Didn't win COY. Does Mitchell deserve COY? As much as I hate certain weaknesses Mitchell has, this team has gelled tremendously. Mitchell has done a great job with some things. Is Mitchell coach of the raptors next year? Doubt it. I would strongly believe that Colangelo has other plans for the head coaching job. Let someone else take Mitchell if they want him. I think it will be abundantly clear when we get to the playoffs and the opposing coach is a technical mastermind why we'd like someone a little better at making in game adjustments than Sam Mitchell.
Let the season play out. This forum has been historically hard on Sam Mitchell with many of us calling for his dismissal Chutney, A13x in particular. I have been a moderate defender of Sam MItchell just because of the fact it seems he has the players respect and his team rosters have been historically poor. Lets look at some of the guys on last year team: Loren Woods: NBDL Matt Bonner: played 21.9 MPG for the raptors last year, dosen't get off the Pine in San Antonio Rafeal Araujo: Same old **** in Utah Andre Barret: NBDL Mike James: Had his best statistical season ever with the raptors, now he is a marginal player on a 500 timberwolves team Charlie V: Had a great rookie season with the Raptors. Injuries have hampered him this year. This cast of characters managed to finish 4th in the league in PPG at 101.1. The most common criticism of Sam have been his offensive play calling at the end of games but part of end game execution is having good players who can execute the raptors didn't have that. Now that the 9 new faces (4 out 5 new starters) of this team are comfortable playing together were seeing more fluid execution. "Also it was Sam who spearheaded the iniative to drop the whole 100 shots a game mentality something pushed by BC * this is not a whole hearted endorsement of Sam Mitchell but the only realistic criticism i see of Sam is his last second playcalling. You don't need a coaching change to alter that. If you think its that crucial of a problem bring in a well regarded assistant and task him with coming up with last second/inbound plays. The Thrust of the argument is this. Sam hasn't had the players in years past, finally he has a roster that can compete. If the Raptors do well down the stretch and hold onto win the Atlantic retain his services. We are always bitching about why we don't have a Jerry Sloan or what not people don't realise we might be seeing a upper echelon head coach developing right before our eyes. If the raptors stumble and bumble their way to a dissapointing finish. I would expect the Raptors brain trust to evaluate the circumstances and if they feel Sam Mitchell is at fault than fine let his contract expire and bring in the new guy.
Its really simple..... If this team goes to the playoffs, Sam Mitchell deserves an extension, maybe just for one more year. If the team gets past the first round in the playoffs, its automatic, BC has to resign Mitchell. I believe Sam has done a great job up to this point with this team. I mean, he's coaching almost 9 new guys playing together for the first time... If they do well in the playoffs, and BC tweaks things around abit in the summer, sign a couple of Key role players.... It makes sense to keep Sam around. I believe Sam has shown that he can obviously coach if given Talented players. Bobcock provided nothing, absoultely nothing, and that explains the losing part of last season. I see no reason why BC shld let Sam go just for the sake of bringing in another coach. MAkes no sense. Ps: If we dont resign Sam... this man will get a coaching job next season 100% sure. If Doc rivers, Brian Hill, or Casey can coach in this league, i think sam will find a team to coach next season for sure. Here are 3 choices. 1. Minnesota: Sam played there, I believe he still has close contacts with some of the main office executives there. 2. Bucks: With the situation in milwaukee right now, they are desperate for a coaching change. Given the fact that Sam was an assistant coach there before joining the raps.... he will have no problem getting hired there. 3. Boston: Doc rivers days are numbered. Makes no sense to fire him now, too late, just let him ride it out and get a new coach for next season. Sam is good with younger players, he will do just fine with Celtics players especially if they get ODEN or DURRANT in the draft. ODEN or DURRANT will flourish under Mitchell just like BOSH is flourishing now.
Good point on Sam having connections with Minnesota and Milwaukee, and their coaching positions are pretty weak. So I think if Mitchell were to get fired after this year, there is a good chance he could get a chance with one of those two.
I guess I was expecting more Michelle bashing. I guess i'm just used to guys like me and chutney and a13x cutting him to shredds. Mitchell is not a very good coach, period. When a good coaches team comes out of a timeout, they run a play and more often then not, get s score. The raps seem more disorganized coming out of a timeout then any other team. Mitchell shouldn't even call them, just let them play through their troubles.
<div class="quote_poster">norespect Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I guess I was expecting more Michelle bashing. I guess i'm just used to guys like me and chutney and a13x cutting him to shredds. Mitchell is not a very good coach, period. When a good coaches team comes out of a timeout, they run a play and more often then not, get s score. The raps seem more disorganized coming out of a timeout then any other team. Mitchell shouldn't even call them, just let them play through their troubles.</div> If the best argument you can come up with against Mitchell is that they seem disorganized coming out of timeouts, and can't run proper inbound plays or last second sets. Thank I am okay with that. Coaching is a lot more than last second plays and moreover something like that can be easily fixed by hiring a well regarded assistant coach and task him with the duty of coming up with set plays out of timeouts. And in case anyone is wondering the Raptors were off to 7-14 start when Mitchell decided to abandon the High Tempo offense. The results have been astonishing: an 18-9 record since then, including 8-2 over the last 10 and three straight wins. Fox Sports
This is really the first season that I've been criticizing Mitchell, because of the reasons that Drunkballer stated already. I thought, as a new coach, he deserved a couple of years to develop and get a hang of the profession and he never really had a talented roster. I still don't think he's worth keeping, though. I mean, I did say he's improved his rotations and game management, but it's still pretty mediocre compared to the rest of the league. He often leaves players out for too long, his substitution's come a bit late, and he neglects players for no apparent reason (eg: Rasho, Peterson). Really, its only been this past week or so, that I've seen a noticeable improvement. Yet, it's his strategical shortcomings and problems with playcalling that are so glaring. He's not very good at coaching defense (knowing when to use zone, defensive matchups, making adjustments, etc.). And, really, his best offensive system so far has been to let the point guards dictate the tempo themselves. He still misuses TJ Ford (too much penetration and not enough movement off the ball), forces the ball into Bosh too often (only when Chris took it upon himself to pass out of the double team, did this become less of a liability), and relies too much on streaky perimeter shooting. I'm not asking for a strategical mastermind here (like Avery Johnson or something), because there are lots of successful coaches who have been motivators first. But, we can't have a coach that's a complete liability in that aspect. I guarantee these problem will be compounded in a 7-game playoff series. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Drunkballer:</div><div class="quote_post">Also it was Sam who spearheaded the iniative to drop the whole 100 shots a game mentality something pushed by BC </div> Can you verify that? It seems rather out of character for Colangelo and, considering Mitchell was the only one talking about it in the papers, I really think it was his idea.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> Can you verify that? It seems rather out of character for Colangelo and, considering Mitchell was the only one talking about it in the papers, I really think it was his idea.</div> here: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The influx of new blood, however, did not pay immediate dividends. The Raptors sputtered to a 2-8 start with their new high-octane offense looking, well, not much different than the old one. The slow start prompted a film session with Colangelo and Mitchell. "While we were watching, I told Bryan that it wasn't that we weren't getting shots," Mitchell said. "We were getting wide-open shots. We just weren't making them." Mitchell decided to tinker with the Raptors running attack ("It's a hybrid [now]," says Ford), slowing it down just enough to give his new players, particularly the Europeans, time to adjust. "We took a step back," Mitchell said. "It takes a while for these guys to get comfortable in the NBA game. I think it helped them shoot the ball better.</div> Link Moreover one of the things you heard from raptors coaches and brass was "7 seconds or less" that phrase was popularized by the phoenix suns organization and documented in Jack McCallum's book "Seven Sconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns," a behind-the-scenes account of the Suns' 2005-06 season.
<div class="quote_poster">boshbosh Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Its really simple..... If this team goes to the playoffs, Sam Mitchell deserves an extension, maybe just for one more year. If the team gets past the first round in the playoffs, its automatic, BC has to resign Mitchell. I believe Sam has done a great job up to this point with this team. I mean, he's coaching almost 9 new guys playing together for the first time... If they do well in the playoffs, and BC tweaks things around abit in the summer, sign a couple of Key role players.... It makes sense to keep Sam around. I believe Sam has shown that he can obviously coach if given Talented players. Bobcock provided nothing, absoultely nothing, and that explains the losing part of last season. I see no reason why BC shld let Sam go just for the sake of bringing in another coach. MAkes no sense. Ps: If we dont resign Sam... this man will get a coaching job next season 100% sure. If Doc rivers, Brian Hill, or Casey can coach in this league, i think sam will find a team to coach next season for sure. Here are 3 choices. 1. Minnesota: Sam played there, I believe he still has close contacts with some of the main office executives there. 2. Bucks: With the situation in milwaukee right now, they are desperate for a coaching change. Given the fact that Sam was an assistant coach there before joining the raps.... he will have no problem getting hired there. 3. Boston: Doc rivers days are numbered. Makes no sense to fire him now, too late, just let him ride it out and get a new coach for next season. Sam is good with younger players, he will do just fine with Celtics players especially if they get ODEN or DURRANT in the draft. ODEN or DURRANT will flourish under Mitchell just like BOSH is flourishing now.</div> I love your defense of Sam Mitchell but I felt it neccessary to point out it was you who started the "Fire Sam Mitchell NOW" thread at the start of the year! <div class="quote_poster">boshbosh Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know its a bit too early to decide, but i strongly beleive that colangelo should let Sam Mitchell go now. Offensively, the team is ok. Defensively, we are terrible. We cant expect to win games or make it to the playoffs if our defence isnt upto par. hell no. We need a better coach. A coach that will implement a better defensive strategy. This team has no problem scoring. Larry brown could be a good candidate. Let me know what you guys think. I SAY FIRE MITCHELL NOW, before its too late in the season.</div>
^ Lol, that's similiar to when Rock4life got owned by durvasa. (regarding the Stockton/Nash arguement they had)
<div class="quote_poster">Drunkballer Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Let the season play out. This forum has been historically hard on Sam Mitchell with many of us calling for his dismissal Chutney, A13x in particular. I have been a moderate defender of Sam MItchell just because of the fact it seems he has the players respect and his team rosters have been historically poor. Lets look at some of the guys on last year team: Loren Woods: NBDL Matt Bonner: played 21.9 MPG for the raptors last year, dosen't get off the Pine in San Antonio Rafeal Araujo: Same old **** in Utah Andre Barret: NBDL Mike James: Had his best statistical season ever with the raptors, now he is a marginal player on a 500 timberwolves team Charlie V: Had a great rookie season with the Raptors. Injuries have hampered him this year. This cast of characters managed to finish 4th in the league in PPG at 101.1. The most common criticism of Sam have been his offensive play calling at the end of games but part of end game execution is having good players who can execute the raptors didn't have that. Now that the 9 new faces (4 out 5 new starters) of this team are comfortable playing together were seeing more fluid execution. "Also it was Sam who spearheaded the iniative to drop the whole 100 shots a game mentality something pushed by BC * this is not a whole hearted endorsement of Sam Mitchell but the only realistic criticism i see of Sam is his last second playcalling. You don't need a coaching change to alter that. If you think its that crucial of a problem bring in a well regarded assistant and task him with coming up with last second/inbound plays. The Thrust of the argument is this. Sam hasn't had the players in years past, finally he has a roster that can compete. If the Raptors do well down the stretch and hold onto win the Atlantic retain his services. We are always bitching about why we don't have a Jerry Sloan or what not people don't realise we might be seeing a upper echelon head coach developing right before our eyes. If the raptors stumble and bumble their way to a dissapointing finish. I would expect the Raptors brain trust to evaluate the circumstances and if they feel Sam Mitchell is at fault than fine let his contract expire and bring in the new guy.</div> Couldn't have said it better myself.....
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TORONTO — If nothing else, the Raptors have taken maximum advantage of the pitiful state of the Atlantic Division. Given their energy, their perimeter shooting and the possibility of the home-court edge in the playoffs, there's no reason to believe that the Raps will fade. Indeed, they'll be motivated to catch the Cavs, who are only 2.0 games ahead. Forget about Avery Johnson, Jerry Sloan, Mike D'Antoni or whomever. Sam Mitchell is the hands-down coach of the year.</div> Charly Rosen
I'm surprised Charly Rosen wrote that because he's an extremely critical guy. Most of his articles he just tears teams to shreds. But at the same time I guarantee you that he has only seen one raptors game this season. He did a player by player analysis of the raptors within an article and most stuff was bang on, but some was ridiculously off, and you could tell it was because he had just watched the game the previous night and based all his analysis on the one performance.
