How bad is Sam Mitchell?

[Veggamattic]

Did you really take a day off work from being upset over Smitch's re-hiring? lol

I believe we need a new coach to take it to the next level though. If D'Antoni can make the Knicks win, then we HAVE to get better with a better coach!

I own the company and I just basically heard the news arounds 4:30 one afternoon and got all depressed...then I got all wasted and decided to continue my bender on the Friday and start the weekend early:(

[J-Roc]

I'm really starting to think BC coaches to not be blamed for losses. He'll play the vets and whoever the GM wants. We all knew even when he won Coach of the freakin Year that he wasn't a good coach. He wasn't the reason for the team's turnaround.

I'm glad we didn't waste time with Iavaroni or remember people talking about Ettore Messina (sp? actually, who cares...). I think we need a real coach, a la JVG.

If anyone watches the Leaves, you can see the difference a real coach makes to even a bad team.

[Stugazzi]

How about this classic gem:

After people complained about Smitch not giving any touches to Bosh against Boston, and lamenting his decoy idea, he said that he "didn't hear anyone complaining in the first half when we were winning.

Let that sink in... When we were winning...

The reason no one was complaining was because we were winning. Then Boston adjusted. Let me repeat - ADJUSTED, and we just kept doing the same thing. If you are professional coach I would like to imagine that if someone adjusts to your gameplan you can CHANGE the gameplan, particularly when said plan involved ignoring your best player. The fact that he didn't seem to understand this whole thing, and perhaps never even noticed they had adjusted in the first place just shows you how terrible he is.

[JN]

Wow, you guys have all enlightened me.

You have pointed such a clear and overwhelming picture of incompetence, that no rational human being would want Sam. Given the overwhelming evidence, anyone who has supported should be Fired then shot

Richard Peddie needs to step in immediately to can the biggest idiot Bryan Colangelo, who obviously lacks knowledge because he has retained Sam on three occassions.


RICHARD PEDDIE FOREVER!!!!

[rdtx2005]

I can't even begin to tell you how bad your posts are either. There, we agree on something.
Keep up the bad work.

for a guy that has only been active a few days.. you sure like to dig yourself a grave fast

[Duncanfan]

What are you guys smoking? Smitch, albeit, not a great coach is a good coach. His playbook is designed for the kindof team we have. We have NO one on one players, so he doesn't and will not run ISO plays. His offense is always going to be run through pick and rolls as long as we lack a quality wing who can break defenses down and/or drive to the rim constantly.

For teams that rely on PG and Big man play will always run pick and rolls. Always. Until we get that elusive wing slasher, no coach can help this team win.

Food for thought: Almost EVERY winning team has atleast ONE dominant one-on-one player. Boston has PP, San Antonio has Manu, Lakers have Kobe, Pistons have Prince and Rip, Cleveland has LeBron etc. Our best slasher is Joey Graham and thats ball game right there.

[J-Roc]

I don;t see Prince and Rip as being dominant one on one guys. In certain matchups, sure, but not normally. They do their scoring by getting to the right spots to get the ball.

[Kabookalu]

What are you guys smoking? Smitch, albeit, not a great coach is a good coach. His playbook is designed for the kindof team we have. We have NO one on one players, so he doesn't and will not run ISO plays. His offense is always going to be run through pick and rolls as long as we lack a quality wing who can break defenses down and/or drive to the rim constantly.

For teams that rely on PG and Big man play will always run pick and rolls. Always. Until we get that elusive wing slasher, no coach can help this team win.

Food for thought: Almost EVERY winning team has atleast ONE dominant one-on-one player. Boston has PP, San Antonio has Manu, Lakers have Kobe, Pistons have Prince and Rip, Cleveland has LeBron etc. Our best slasher is Joey Graham and thats ball game right there.

His playbook requires a big man with good basketball IQ that can make decisions at the top of they key as well as another small forward capable of this. We had that in Garbajosa and Rasho. We don't have either of them right now so we run the pick n' roll to death. I don't see how his playbook is designed for the kind of team we have when we don't have the players to execute it, and I don't know what you're smoking, we run ISO plays all the time with Bosh. In fact other than the pick n' roll, that is the only play I ever see being run.

I always like to refer back to the 05-06 Suns team, they didn't have a dominant one on one player, Nash is one of the best scoring point guards however he doesn't shoot a high volume of them. Who else did they have? Shawn Marion? Look at him without Nash, he's playing absolutely miserable right now. Raja Bell? Anthony Parker is better on offense than him and has a wider skillset. Boris Diaw? Yeah, he'll overpass to the point it becomes a detriment. That team won through ball movement and that was how we won couple seasons ago when we won 47 games. But you know what? Even though you say we don't have a dominant one on one player, I wonder what that makes Bosh who is scoring at 25ppg on .540 shooting. A glorified role player?

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

One thing I've grown to be mad at more and more was either his stubbornness, or lack of judgment, the night Kobe scored 81. I know Kobe and the Raptor players had a lot to do with, but that's a stain that won't come off for a while. His strategy was to make Kobe beat us.....for once it worked. At some point, maybe around or before "67" perhaps, we should have tried harder to stop him, or at least changed what we were doing as opposed to embarassing ourselves.

[breignchile]

I'm going to try to keep it simple....

Bryan Colangelo holds all the cards. If he feels that the team HE put together is underachieving, he will try to make some trades. If he can't facilitate any trades to improve the squad, Sam Mitchell will be fired.

I like Calderon, I feel that he was a better fit for the Raptors. I would rather have Ford, but it was clear, Calderon ran the Raptors more efficiently. Now Calderon is in charge, and in three of the four losses he was the reason the Raptors lost, not Sam Mitchell. You can blame it on poor shot selection, you can say the shots just weren't falling, however you frame it, Calderon should take the heat.

In Boston, Mitchell decided to use Bosh as a decoy. But it was Calderon who wasn't giving him the ball when Bosh was clearly open. Which match-up is better? Bosh/Garnett or O'Neal/Perkins? Clearly it is better to attack Perkins. But what about all those games where the Raptors crushed Garnett when he was on the Wolves? The answer. He was on the Wolves, it was a one man show. Now with Boston, Garnett can forget about his offense and just focus on Bosh.

If the Raptors hover around .500 for a couple of month's it is likely that Mitchell will be fired, but that has more to do with the fact that it is hard to upgrade the roster, yet so very easy to fire the coach.

[rdtx2005]

One thing I've grown to be mad at more and more was either his stubbornness, or lack of judgment, the night Kobe scored 81. I know Kobe and the Raptor players had a lot to do with, but that's a stain that won't come off for a while. His strategy was to make Kobe beat us.....for once it worked. At some point, maybe around or before "67" perhaps, we should have tried harder to stop him, or at least changed what we were doing as opposed to embarassing ourselves.

Kobe was hitting ridiculous shots, even when the double team finally game he was still hitting 30ft 3pters..

what are you suppose to do then? deck him?

[rdtx2005]

I'm going to try to keep it simple....

Bryan Colangelo holds all the cards. If he feels that the team HE put together is underachieving, he will try to make some trades. If he can't facilitate any trades to improve the squad, Sam Mitchell will be fired.

I like Calderon, I feel that he was a better fit for the Raptors. I would rather have Ford, but it was clear, Calderon ran the Raptors more efficiently. Now Calderon is in charge, and in three of the four losses he was the reason the Raptors lost, not Sam Mitchell. You can blame it on poor shot selection, you can say the shots just weren't falling, however you frame it, Calderon should take the heat.

In Boston, Mitchell decided to use Bosh as a decoy. But it was Calderon who wasn't giving him the ball when Bosh was clearly open. Which match-up is better? Bosh/Garnett or O'Neal/Perkins? Clearly it is better to attack Perkins. But what about all those games where the Raptors crushed Garnett when he was on the Wolves? The answer. He was on the Wolves, it was a one man show. Now with Boston, Garnett can forget about his offense and just focus on Bosh.

If the Raptors hover around .500 for a couple of month's it is likely that Mitchell will be fired, but that has more to do with the fact that it is hard to upgrade the roster, yet so very easy to fire the coach.

excellent post

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

One thing I've grown to be mad at more and more was either his stubbornness, or lack of judgment, the night Kobe scored 81. I know Kobe and the Raptor players had a lot to do with, but that's a stain that won't come off for a while. His strategy was to make Kobe beat us.....for once it worked. At some point, maybe around or before "67" perhaps, we should have tried harder to stop him, or at least changed what we were doing as opposed to embarassing ourselves.

Kobe was hitting ridiculous shots, even when the double team finally game he was still hitting 30ft 3pters..

what are you suppose to do then? deck him?

I was rude and out of line the other day, you didn't deserve it at all. As i've stated to you before, I always find you defending any criticisms of the team, and to me it make me wonder about the critical thought that it takes to from opinions. But I shouldn't have attacked you as i did. and to be honest I get the feeling your just try to fight back against the negativity that rules here at times, and to each their own, there's not really anything wrong with that.

I still feel the same way about the Kobe thing.

I'd like to ask you though whether you think we need a new coach, a new Gm, to trade players, or to stand pat and hope we play better?

[Paperclip]

One thing I've grown to be mad at more and more was either his stubbornness, or lack of judgment, the night Kobe scored 81. I know Kobe and the Raptor players had a lot to do with, but that's a stain that won't come off for a while. His strategy was to make Kobe beat us.....for once it worked. At some point, maybe around or before "67" perhaps, we should have tried harder to stop him, or at least changed what we were doing as opposed to embarassing ourselves.

Kobe was hitting ridiculous shots, even when the double team finally game he was still hitting 30ft 3pters..

what are you suppose to do then? deck him?

revisionist history much? take off the blinders and tell me how many doubles we SENT? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRikrksH8es

[Guy Smiley]

revisionist history much? take off the blinders and tell me how many doubles we SENT? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRikrksH8es

I remember getting into a scuffle with Harry Palmer and TheDoctor about this very game. Both claimed absolutely nothing could have been done to stop Kobe even after Sam openly admitted his plan was to allow Kobe to beat them while they shut down the rest of the Lakers.

[bane_dd]

[halfcourt]

revisionist history much? take off the blinders and tell me how many doubles we SENT? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRikrksH8es

this game alone should have been enough for sam to never get another job in the NBA

[08HEMI]

revisionist history much? take off the blinders and tell me how many doubles we SENT? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRikrksH8es

this game alone should have been enough for sam to never get another job in the NBA

Not only the NBA but anywhere in the world, im sure his excuse afterwards was the roster and we didn't make shats.