Fire SMitch thread (Glen agrees, pg 71)

[Devilzsidewalk]

Gonna guess they're acting fast to get to Thibs before somebody else does.

[Piecake]

I think its def BS if they wont even give him a chance in the search. Only reason I think it would make sense at this point is if there was some agreement that he would not get a crack at the HC position before hand. That's like some company calling you in to take over a huge position at a firm, you come in and do well, keep the company afloat and they just say thanks and show you the door after your tenure. You got to give the guy a shot to plead his case.

Well, this basically was a 1 year long interview process, and I thought he did an okay job. The front office might have thought that too, but it is just that they are looking for a coach that can do a great job, and the front office actually feels like a great coach will actually want this job.

If this was a few years ago I think Sam would still have this job. Now though? The wolves feel that this position is in high demand so are going to try to find the best coach they can get. While I do think it was kinda a dick move to not include Sam in the job search, it clearly was a signal to the fans who hated the guy that he would not be a coach next year. Still, I think the better thing to do was to include him in the job search for the public cover and just tell him personally that he isn't getting the job so that he can move on with his life. Those hate-filled fans can wait a few months

[Maefteda]

While I am happy to see us move on from Sam Mitchell and I am eager to see who we will hire, I gotta give the guy some credit.

I thought he was going to be too stubborn to adapt, but not only did the team adapt, but Mitchell adapted a lot himself as well. In the latter part of the season he has showed that he deserves another shot as an NBA head coach. He gave the reigns to guys like LaVine and Gorgui and they have both progressed tremendously this season. He even started staggering lineups and call some nice end of game plays like the one for Towns against Portland.

It was a frustrating season for huge parts, but the last month or two have been really rewarding, topped off with tonight's game. Thanks for your contributions Smitch. Here's to bigger and better things for the both of us!

[Saltine]

Sam's interview after the game;
http://www.foxsports.com/north/video?vid=665591363702

[Calinks]

It's very un-Glen like. That Kahn fiasco must have really got to him lol

Scarred for life!

[southern wolf]

Taylor making shrewd decisions for once. I like it!

[big3_8_19_21]

It does feel a little dirty to do it so quick, but I guess George Karl and Randy Wittman were both fired today, so I guess that's just how the NBA works. Not that the Kings should ever be an example of "how the NBA works", but several others seem to have their job publicly on the line as well. I guess business doesn't wait for sentimentality. Got to get after those big names right away.

Here's hoping for Blatt.

[Tirion]

That decision was probably made in February-March, when Taylor announced that Milt will be running things in the offseason and refused to comment on Sam, as I've insinuated (*pats himself on the back*).

Still, it's sad to see Mitchell not even getting consideration if the reports are true. I still think that it's his handle of the media and the public that did him in and not his coaching abilities. Sam is a great guy and I wish him luck, he'll be alright.

[Tirion]

Holy ****, they are canning Milt too?

That's unexpected!

[big3_8_19_21]

I don't think they're necessarily canning Milt. Milt was the GM under Flip who was the president of basketball operations. Sounds like Milt will continue to be the GM, but they will hire someone above him. Unless I have misread or missed something.

[Tirion]

Yeah, but I thought that Milt's job was safe, now it looks like it'll be up to new POBO if he's retained.

Good move, but I didn't think Mitchell had it in him to clean house.

[Klomp]

Holy ****, they are canning Milt too?

That's unexpected!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Twolves_PR/status/720454402235113473[/tweet]

Glen is looking for a permanent GM, but isn't canning Newton in the meantime. So basically, he's still the interim.

Easier for an interim POBO to return to GM duties with same team than it is for interim HC to return to assistant coach duties.

[shangrila]

People need to take off the rose-coloured glasses. Mitchell sucks as a head coach. Stumbling into success later in the season by doing what was obvious from game 1 isn't some amazing achievement. He deserves credit for taking on the role after everything that happened, but that's it.

And he never would have beat out guys like Thibs or JVG or even Brooks, so what's the point? Might as well get it over with rather than teasing him with a job he never had a chance at to begin with.

[Devilzsidewalk]

People need to take off the rose-coloured glasses. Mitchell sucks as a head coach. Stumbling into success later in the season by doing what was obvious from game 1 isn't some amazing achievement. He deserves credit for taking on the role after everything that happened, but that's it.

And he never would have beat out guys like Thibs or JVG or even Brooks, so what's the point? Might as well get it over with rather than teasing him with a job he never had a chance at to begin with.

Maybe u got da poo tinted glasses on cuz everything Mitch did wasn't poo - some big time wins and everybody that counts advanced their game this season.

[Feilong]

Great day to be a Wolves fan.
Props to Taylor for making such a "brave" for his standards decision.
Mitchell is a terrible coach. He got a bit better in the end but he is still not good enough. My clear choice is Thibs as head coach.
We are also in search for new POBO. The firm Taylor hired to make the search is the same DET hired and they got SVG, TOR and they got Ujiri etc. I don't have a problem with Milt staying as GM unless the new POBO can find someone better.
I also want Kander back.
So bring Thibs, keep Ricky, bring a starting PF + a couple of veterans that can play and we are ready to dominate the universe.

[packforfreedom]

Give him a job as an assistant. he deserves it, the players like him and he's pretty good at developing players.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Give him a job as an assistant. he deserves it, the players like him and he's pretty good at developing players.

He'll probably be able to get an asst job elsewhere though, and it'd be better for him as it wouldn't look like weird charity. Even if they offered him a job here, he'd probably say no out of pride and it'd be the right decision.

[Foye]

All critics of his coaching aside. SMitch did a solid job of handling this unfortunate situation after Flips passing. Wish him all the best.

[guest81]

People need to take off the rose-coloured glasses. Mitchell sucks as a head coach. Stumbling into success later in the season by doing what was obvious from game 1 isn't some amazing achievement. He deserves credit for taking on the role after everything that happened, but that's it.

And he never would have beat out guys like Thibs or JVG or even Brooks, so what's the point? Might as well get it over with rather than teasing him with a job he never had a chance at to begin with.

Maybe u got da poo tinted glasses on cuz everything Mitch did wasn't poo - some big time wins and everybody that counts advanced their game this season.

Well Lavine got better because he actually got to play off the ball. It was Sam that put him back as the backup point guard in the first place( after he said he was the starting SG in training camp), which made no sense because you had Andre Miller on the team at the time.

Towns got better because of his talent. The guy was going to be great no matter the coach.

Wiggins was about the same as last year, which can be seen as a disappointment. One big thing was last year, Wiggins killed it in the post. This year, Sam has hardly used Wiggins in the post at all, which is baffling

[Sugarless]

This team has won 13 games more than last year's injury riddled / tanking / NBA-worst 16-66 team that had to sign Sean Kilpatrick only because he was literally the closest basketball player available and they didn't even have enough bodies to play.

Compared to last year, this team has had a healthy and improved Ricky Rubio, the best rookie the league has seen since Tim Duncan in terms of talent/production, a more experienced last season's ROY Andrew Wiggins, a more experienced Zach Lavine (and finally playing at his natural position for the last two months of the season), a more experienced Gorgui Dieng, a healthy Shabazz Muhammad, the current Euroleague MPV in Bjelica and a full season of Kevin Garnett in the locker room.

Last season's team finished the year with the following guys:

Starters: rookie Zach LaVine (at PG, of course), Kevin Martin (who played 39 games all season), rookie Andrew Wiggins, rookie Adreian Payne, Arinze Onuaku

Bench: Lorenzo Brown, Robbie Hummel, Anthony Bennett, Justin Hamilton

Even with all its deficiencies I don't think I have to tell you how big the difference is between the Wolves active roster last night and the group of guys you just saw above, with only *3* real NBA players (two of them rookies at the time) when it's all said and done.

The season began with the terrible news of Flip passing away, but at the same time the team had a special fire in those first games to honor Saunders and started out great mainly thanks to the excellent defensive efforts of Rubio, Towns, Prince and a fresh KG. Then after a few missed games by Ricky and Andrew we returned to earth, the veterans couldn't contribute as much as they were not healthy enough (like KG) or the coaching staff and FO just didn't care about them (Kevin Martin), and in about 2 months we went on a 6-28 run as we got close to the All-Star break, while we kept ignoring guys like Martin, Tyus and Bjelica, and playing LaVine at the point, and while at the same time we experienced some of the worst coaching the league has seen this year, with a roster that was afraid (or not allowed) to run despite being one of the most (if not the most) athletic in the league, along with crappy half-court settings that ignored the 3-ball, extremely obtuse substitution patterns and terrible late game decisions.

Things were just so godawful that at some point Mitchell had to give in and set two coherent units, starting with sticking to LaVine at SG once and for all, giving Tyus a true chance at playing through his mistakes as the rookie he is, or making Bazz the focal point of the bench unit night in and night out (prior to that he was playing 35 minutes one night and 12 minutes the next, with no purpose whatsoever). It took him over three months of the season and nearly a bottom-3 record going into the break to get his head out of his *** and do what common sense dictated from day 1. And, who would have thought, after the break we've seen this team grow as there was coherence to what they were doing, as the starting five grew some chemistry, as they (finally!) began to run some more, as they let it fly from time to time even if our half-court offense was still terrible in terms of spacing, as the young guys found they could actually win some games and even bench players like Bazz and Bjelica got to find their role late in the season with a proper back-up PG in the second unit.

So no, Sam Mitchell has not done a good job with this team. He's not had an average season, he's not made nearly the most of what he had in terms of talent. He's been hiding behind this roster's youth and hasn't held himself (or even some of "his" players) accountable like he should. And he's not been the developing master than some here are making him out to be (and please, do not make me bring the numbers on Wiggins' or Dieng's progression from last year, cause they're not nearly as pretty as some of you think). He's relied on the internal and natural development of a very talented group of young guys, a PG that's kept them competing in games to a much bigger extent than their HC has, and the common late surge that is to be expected on a young roster finally having the time to gel for a few weeks at the end of the season when some teams are tanking (that's the most positive thing you can say about Mitchell this season, that he has not tanked away after the break, maybe because his job was on the line, maybe not) and some others are resting his guys or declaring them done for the year.

His season is not deserving of getting a new contract as the HC of this team. Thank him for his services, remind him he'll always be part of the country club group, offer him an assistant position if you want, and move on. This franchise needs a better coach, one that does a proper job throughout the year, keeps himself and all of his players accountable, and pays attention to what's evident from day 1, not 3 months into another heavy losing season.