<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Sam Mitchell is going to hug some players and kick some others in the butt, he's going to scream at a few and offer reassuring hugs to some others. This time around, though, the Raptors coach is pretty sure he's going to do the right thing to the right guy. Coming off a rather tempestuous first season that included more than its fair share of clashes and moments of volatility, Mitchell said yesterday the biggest lesson he's taking into this year is knowing who can handle what type of criticism. "Yeah, I struggled with certain guys and I have to learn," he said in a meet-the-media session yesterday at the Air Canada Centre. It's not as if he's all of a sudden going to change his personality; he'll just temper it a bit to get the most out of a team long on potential, but woefully lacking in recent success. "I don't think I have to change that much," he said. "It's just little areas here and there, communicating with guys. "I know them better. I know I can say certain things to Matt Bonner and it doesn't rattle him; I know what I can say to Chris (Bosh); I know what motivates Jalen (Rose); I know what concerns Mo (Peterson) has and some of the things he needs to be productive. The relationship that will bear the most scrutiny is between Mitchell and point guard Rafer Alston, whose clashes last season took their toll on everyone associated with the team. Alston threatened to quit after being benched for a quarter, he was suspended for two games for storming out of a practice, had a well-chronicled meltdown and argument with the coach at halftime of another game before being escorted from the Cleveland arena by security guards. And because the relationship between the coach and the guy who's supposed to be a leader on the floor is so important to any team's success, watching how Mitchell and Alston interact this year should be fun. "I'm going to expect every player to be professional, to come out and do their job," said Mitchell. "What happened last year, happened last year, I'm not going to live in the past."</div> Source
