<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">CLEVELAND -- Surrounded by a phalanx of security guards, volatile Toronto Raptors point guard Rafer Alston was hustled into the team bus in the bowels of the Gund Arena last night. It was midway through the fourth quarter in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Raptors officials wanted to make certain no one got near Alston to hear his version of his latest blow-up with head coach Sam Mitchell. "He's in trouble," said a female security guard who was standing outside the Toronto locker room, referring to Alston. "He got in a fist fight," she said, adding that it was with the coach. "Another day in paradise, baby," Mitchell said with a sigh to a group of reporters hounding the rookie coach for details about what occurred in the Toronto locker room between him and Alston during the halftime break. Alston did not rejoin the team on the bench for the rest of the game, not that his presence would have made much of a difference.</div> Source
Damn whats wrong with this boy??? I don't know the full story but something tells me that it is not only Alston that is at fault with this because Coach Mitchell is known to blow up pretty easily. But saying that you should never put your hands on a coach not matter what the circumstances. All of this is speculation at the moment but if it really happened then we are in big trouble. Why does all of this have to happen to the Raptors? Here is an article discounting what was said in the previous one: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> TORONTO (CP) - Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell denied Wednesday he had come to blows with Rafer Alston at halftime of an NBA game Tuesday night in Cleveland, saying his issues with the troubled guard were basketball issues. Alston, benched by Mitchell with 3:46 remaining in the first quarter, left Gund Arena during the fourth quarter of a 104-91 loss. "There was no shoving, there was no physical contact," Mitchell told The Fan, an all-sports Toronto radio station, on Wednesday morning. "There were words exchanged and that was more of less the extent of it. "We've found in the past when things get like this, sometimes it's better if you let the player calm down and you go from there. We felt like last night would be better if Rafer didn't play the second half. That's all it was." </div>Source
I'm hoping the second story is the accurate one. It's a real shame these two are not getting along because Alston is a great player for the Raptors, and Mitchell is doing an admirable job of coaching. The Raptors appear to be committed to both, but if the fighting continues one of them has to go. So who should stay and who should go?
I really hope that either Rafer or Mitchell don't go but if it were up to me I would have to have Mitchell let go of the team. I know a lot of people would be against this but given Mitchells volatile nature, it just seems that the Raptors as a team will turn him off at some point in time. I know part of this is Rafer's part but I also think that how Mitchell deals with the situation is also a big part of the problem. It's a known fact taht he is still learning on the job and he took over a Raptors team that still really needs to start all over in terms of player personel (not including Bosh of course). I don't think he has been able to handle every situation correctly and his constant tinkering with the lineup and substitution patterns can cause other players to lose confidence in their ability. I don't put the blame on him at all for the Raptors woes but I do believe that his lack of experience as a coach is really affecting this team. In time I would not be surprised if the whole team just turned him off. But in the end I would hope that both the coach and the player can get along. I have thought about this constantly about whether or not Mitchell is dealing with this team the right way. It's just a gut feeling that he may shut out the other players with his own volatile attitude. Here is more evidence to the fact (of course the article was done by Dave Feschuk so take it with a grain of salt): <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">But while it hasn't been difficult this season to find a Raptor who will roll his eyes at Alston's hair-trigger antics, the point guard's mercurial performance has put Mitchell's confrontational coaching style under the microscope. A Cleveland player said that last night, during the in-game words opponents often share, some Raptors were expressing their lack of respect for Mitchell's incessant criticism of Alston. <font face="Times"><font face="Verdana">Alston's downsides ? his imprudence, his abysmal shooting percentage, his outrageous shot selection ? are obvious. But when your backup point guard is Milt Palacio, a coach must employ diplomacy. Last night, the latest Raptorland crisis almost made a Hogtown loyalist pine for the days when Mitchell called out players of questionable significance ? players such as Jerome Moiso, the forever-underacheiving former Raptor, roasted by the coach for "taking up air on the bench" earlier this season, who scored four points in 13 minutes for the Cavaliers.</font> </font> "I'm happy to be out of there," said Moiso of Toronto after the game. "There's a lot of issues going on down there. Rafer not coming out, it is just a little bit of what's going on."</div>Source BTW Moiso, we are happy your are out of here as well. You suck. Big time.
if it came down to one of them having to go, im gonna have to say alston. a decent point guard isnt as hard to find as a GOOD coach. alson is decent...he's nothing special really and could be replaced IMO. i really like mitchell and he with alex english can be great mentors to bosh. i really want to keep mitchell here. rafer and donyell would be a great package to put together for a team trying to make a playoff push. someone might even want those two enough to take lammond or even alvin's contract off our hands too
BS! .. I don't think the first article was an accurate one since both Sam and Rob have repeatedly stated over the last 24 hours that there were no physical contact.
First article is BS mostly, especially what the security lady said. I believe what Sam Mitchell said. Him and Alston can still work things out. If I had to pick for one of them to go, it would be Rafer, because he's replacable via draft. However, I don't want any of them to leave...still time to work things out.
If its true i'd be wanting to move Alston before the break. He's a solid point gaurd putting up 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. But i think he's just to volitile for our coach and the players around him. There's no one to keep him in cheque other than Rose and Mitchell. We should consider trying to unload him in a package with Donyell for a real good point gaurd, or at very least a decent point guard to replace him till the end of the season and a high high draft pick to go after Felton or Paul or some other talented point gaurd.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">If its true i'd be wanting to move Alston before the break. He's a solid point gaurd putting up 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. But i think he's just to volitile for our coach and the players around him. There's no one to keep him in cheque other than Rose and Mitchell. We should consider trying to unload him in a package with Donyell for a real good point gaurd, or at very least a decent point guard to replace him till the end of the season and a high high draft pick to go after Felton or Paul or some other talented point gaurd.</div> we should do that! and i believe we should get a decent point guard, who is at least better than milt, but the ways milt is playing i really dont care. he doesnt jack up threes if anyone has noticed im mad at alston, i guess his drive to succeed ended when they gave him the money. we cant get better point guards in the draft. this year they are stacked with guys like chris paul and raymond felton! so next year might be good.
Surprisingly enough Alston started tonight, and he's having a huge 1st half against the Bucks. He has 16 points, 7 assists, and ZERO turnovers.
For some reason he comes back big after games where he has been disciplined. Not a good sign. I think both of these guys have similar personalities and it might be why they keep disagreeing. Opposites attract and similars dont or something like that. The fact that Sam is willing to forgive Rafer is a sign that we got a good young coach.
If I had to pick one it would be Rafer, common people, we've changed our coach every year the last 3 years, we can't go having another coaching change again, we'll just look like a terribly disfunctional Basketball Club.
^Is that NOT what we look like right now? I think we should make the Raptors into a full time soap opera. At least we can have a reason for all the drama.
If it came down to either Alston and Mitchell, I too would pick Mitchell to stay. I like Rafer but this attitude of his has been a problem for most of his life, so it's probable that he won't ever change and he would eventually cause problems for anyone replacing Sam as head coach. Mitchell on the other hand has been doing an exceptional job, especially for a first year head coach, and I don't think anyone would want to change our coach for the third straight season. He had his media blowups in the beginning of the season, but it looks like he knew that what he did was out of line and he toned it down a bit afterwards.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting urbannomad23:</div><div class="quote_post">we should do that! and i believe we should get a decent point guard, who is at least better than milt, but the ways milt is playing i really dont care. he doesnt jack up threes if anyone has noticed im mad at alston, i guess his drive to succeed ended when they gave him the money. we cant get better point guards in the draft. this year they are stacked with guys like chris paul and raymond felton! so next year might be good.</div> Donyell and Alston to Atlanta for their pick next year and somebody else. Tyrone Lue, Royal?
^ I don't think Atlanta would trade their probable 2nd pick overall (maybe 1st) for head case Alston and Marshall. I just get that nagging feeling.
Meh...maybe not. But they might feel they have enough young to go around. They've been short a good point gaurd for a while now and if they can get alston under raps he's a 16 and 7 guy...which aint bad at all. Yell also doesnt hurt since he's a expiring contract, but it means they can an edge in resigning him if they want, with Walker probably hitting the bricks next year, they'll need a starting PF and Marshall should be one of the best and shouldnt be too too expensive. I think they would do it, but i dont think there's a way to make the salaries match since the only player they could give up that we'd have some use for would be lue who doesnt make much money. Maybe a third team, or maybe we trade with a team like New Orleans who could use a PG if they trade Baron or if his injuries continue, and they also could use a PF(Marshall) with Brown aging. Who knows, but it's certainly a possiblity. Both players are probably very attractive to many teams in the NBA due to their skill levels and reasonable contracts. The only catch is that they have to have a coach or player that can reign in Alston, a Shaq or a J Kidd, though i'm sure both those teams would have little chance of landing Alston.
Here's another article about the alleged incident, this one having a couple of player agents saying that Mitchell challenged Rafer to fight. You can read the whole thing if you have ESPN's INSIDER. I'd hope that Mitchell really wasn't calling out Alston, cause he'll lose the players in a heartbeat. You have to keep your head when you the coach.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> TORONTO (AP) -- Rafer Alston wants an apology and he's not sure he wants to stay with the Toronto Raptors. The point guard and coach Sam Mitchell argued after Alston was benched in the first quarter of Tuesday's loss against Cleveland. Alston didn't come out of the dressing room for the second half and was seen crying as he was escorted to the team bus by security during the fourth quarter. Alston had just returned to the Raptors on Thursday, following a two-game suspension the team gave him after he stormed out of practice last week. ``When I walked out of practice the other day I was man enough to apologize, man enough to say I made a mistake. Somebody better be man enough to say they made a mistake,'' Alston said before Wednesday night's game versus Milwaukee. </div> Link He wants an apology, Alston is such a baby lol
