http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...tacodalogin=yes Babcock: Let's try to get along Raps have more than their share of growing pains `We all really don't know each other yet,' team GM says DOUG SMITH SPORTS REPORTER <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When Rob Babcock was piecing together the new coaches and new players on this year's Raptor roster, the rookie general manager knew he was conducting a delicate chemistry experiment, mixing diverse personalities in new positions of authority on and off the court. Today that gamble looks like an experiment gone terribly awry, with little outbursts nearly weekly that seem to be building to one very large explosion. The latest episode unfolded in Boston on Friday when first-year coach Sam Mitchell benched and blasted new point guard Rafer Alston and new centre Loren Woods after a near confrontation on the bench. Babcock seems disappointed in all concerned. "I don't think anybody handled it very well," he said in a telephone interview yesterday. The shockwaves from Friday's incident are still reverberating around the team. Neither Alston nor Woods was in the starting lineup for last night's game in Cleveland and Alston did not step back from his Friday assertion that he's considering leaving the team. Nor did the point guard retract his statement that there are festering problems between players on the team — a sign things aren't likely to get better for too long and that change, dramatic or otherwise, may be necessary. "He's trying to be our leader as our point guard," Babcock said of Alston, who was the general manager's biggest free-agent acquisition last summer, rewarded with a six-year contract that could pay him up to $29 million (all figures U.S.). "He's been a backup point guard his whole career and backup point guards don't usually lead." It's all added up to "create a little friction and that's something he has to work through," Babcock added. But if Alston is learning, so too is the emotional Mitchell, who has been in the centre of a handful of storms just 18 games into his first NBA head coaching position. He's shown himself to be unafraid of hurting the feelings of his players, willing to bench anyone at any time if they aren't getting the job done, and that has ruffled more than few feathers. He's also been a bit of a loose cannon, as evidenced by his unsolicited attack on seldom-used centre Jerome Moiso last week that raised more than a few eyebrows among the players. "We've got a couple of emotional players and an emotional coach," said Babcock. "And everybody's a little frustrated because we've been losing some games we were right in. "We all really don't know each other yet. We don't know how to read each other's reactions to things." Team sources say the relationship between Alston and Mitchell is not great, but it is not irreparable. The coach demands accountability in things like shot selection and ball distribution and is not afraid to cut Alston's playing time; Alston is a creative player who is going to make mistakes and Mitchell is going to have to deal with them better. "Sam's learning the team and he's also learning himself as a head coach. He hasn't been a head coach," Babcock told the Star's Jennifer Quinn. More troubling than the deteriorating relationship between Alston and Mitchell is the relationship between Alston and his teammates. The point guard said he was tired of "getting into it with my teammates" during an emotional post-game speech Friday and if any rifts can't be repaired, changes will have to be made. No one will say on the record which players are having problems with each other but it's wildly apparent the starting five of Alston, Woods, Vince Carter, Jalen Rose and Chris Bosh is not operating at anything close to the level the Raptors need to be successful. The strain of losing — Toronto had dropped 11 of 15 before last night — only exacerbates any rifts between teammates. Almost daily trade rumours involving Carter and Rose also don't help matters, Babcock said. "All the stuff in the papers? Whether the players or the coaches say it doesn't weigh on them or bother them, sure it does. It weighs on you and it's unfortunate that it's out in the media, because it shouldn't be."</div> i know i shouldnt post the whole article... but i didnt know what to keep in and what to take out...
I can't help but laughing @ AirJordan's comments, but regardless, that's borderline rule breaker, so try and keep it ...clean.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AirJordan:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree with the Cock.</div> LOL
