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Raptors' coach on the hot seat

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 10:57 PM EST 22/04/08

If Toronto doesn't play much better in Game 2 and beyond Sam Mitchell's job may not be safe ...Read the full article

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  1. Allan` A from Toronto, Canada writes: I don't think the author of this article should be questioning Sam's Job like how he has. Being a coach in the NBA isn't a walk in the park. I'm sure Sam knows what his job status is without the media questioning it for him. Yes he made some mistakes in the first quarter of saturdays game...but we all learn from our mistakes. I am confident that they now realize the new game plan they had worked out didn't work, so most likely they'll go back to the high pick and roll. And HOPEFULLY insert Jamario back into the line up for defensive purposes. Lets just see what Game 2 holds for our Raptors.
    GO RAPTORS!

    Raps in 6!
  2. saucer mcsaucerton from Canada writes: Allan, if the point of the article was to let Sam know his job was on the line, Grange could probably have told him during a scrum or, if that's too scary, in a letter. As for the article itself, I get that it's an angle and you can't cast too broad a net in one article, but more needs to be said about Colangelo's failures.
  3. Khan dor from Canada writes: Michael,

    When did you start reading my blog?

    :-)
  4. Jerry Magwire from toronto, Canada writes: I find Sam to be one of the hardest coaches to be evaluated. I have never been happy with him, even when he won COTY. Under Sam, Raptors might have joined the playoff for two consecutive years, but if you check his achievements and compare it with the Eastern conference strength, then you will know how little he did for Toronto. Raptors' offence and defence are so predictable, and that is all about it. If you double team Bosh then Raptors offence will suffer big time, we do not have the ability to play man to man defence, Sam does not utilize players strength in the right way - JK, RN and KH-, Sam did not help AB to grow, and before he used to critisize CV for his lack of defence without guiding him, Sam does not read the flow of the game well becuase of his waiting-too-long coaching philosophy, and finally, his inability to change Raptors from being a perimeter team, to being a team that goes inside for Bosh and RN on a regular base. If you check how other teams like Sixers, Atlanta, Wizards and Pacers are growing then it would be really hard to immagin Raptros making playoff next year under Sam. On the other hand, and to be fair, BC by drafting a guy like AB and saying he is gonna be a great player with 3-5 years, I think that is too long and too risky if you check the performance of guys like Brandon Roy, Alderidge and Rudy Gay.
  5. Allan Wexler from Canada writes: If the gist of this article was intended to mean that Sam is finished unless the Raptors win this series, Grange should have saved himself the trouble. I can't believe that Mitchell's job is in jeopardy if the raps play decently against a team that clearly has less holes than the Raptors and won 50 games this year. They have a great center, 2 very good forwards, and competent guards. In Toronto, the media created a frenzy that this team would win 50 games this year when they never really had the tools to do so. The coach can only coach the players he has and this team has too many weaknesses at this point in time to live up to the expectations created by the media. When BC said that Andrea needed several years, he was also saying that this team was not ready to compete for a championship, so I trust he knows that these deficiencies cannot all be traced to poor coaching. Sam took a chance on Sunday with a questionable strategy - I prefer that he had the guts to try something new when he determines that the old may not be good enough.
  6. Craig B from Toronto, Canada writes: Allan, pretty much agree with most of what you said.

    Michael, I've always enjoyed your articles, and your blog, but lately it seems alot of your articles are written "Raptor RealGM" style, all panacke! First it was the "TJ has to go" article, and now, one game into the playoffs Mitchell is on the hot seat? If the Raptors come out and blow Orlando out by 30 tonight, do Orlando writers start questioning Stan Van Gundy's employment?

    Criticism of a somewhat flawed team is great, but it's almost reaching Vince Carter Era Feschuckian style.
  7. Joseph Daniel from Canada writes: Just floating this idea, lets say both the Raptors and Suns flame out in the first round. How long will it be before D'Antoni ends up being the Raptors coach?
  8. Toby Maloney from Canada writes: I still like Sam Mitchell, but I'm wondering what dark forces invaded his brain before that last game.

    Bargnani's start as a 3 is/was a colossal mistake. You lose intensity on the perimeter on defense and you get what, a memory of how he shot last year? A hope of what he might do in the future? Screw potential. Playoffs are about performance, and AB hasn't performed well enough on either end of the court to get in the game as anything other than a placeholder.

    Doubling Howard, even done properly, is another mistake. He's a one-note post-up player. Can only power to the basket, or maybe take a six foot hook shot, so body up (I know easier said than done) a step or two out of his comfort zone. Ask Rasho, he knows. He can run a mini-clinic for Hump, Brezec and Joey Graham, and they can come in and take some fouls. The job isn't to stop Howard it's to limit him. Ask yourself, what would Jerry Sloan do?

    Turkuglu is a lot to handle out on the perimeter. Jamarrio is your guy. His assingment should be to shut down Turk and nothing else! Okay, on offence he should pass the ball, and go to the hoop when Bosh is doubled. (no jumpshots)
  9. Dave Miller from Canada writes: What would the Raps be without Mitchel? As ESPN pointed out the other night, he's the toughest guy on the team!
  10. andy c from Canada writes: if the raps dont put up a fight this series i think Sam's job may be in danger but i think they will at least make things interesting:

    imho the raps should have stuck with what worked in the regular season. if they came out and played well they could have save the tweaked offense for later in ther series. now the magic can plan for what the raptors did in the regular season and they have seen the tweaked offense and can plan for that as well (if the raps ever get comfortable with it). something tells me the raptor coaches are not good poker players
  11. Jerome J from Canada writes: this is a bs article, is it sam mitchell's fault that his team has no defensive stoppers, the team lacks a 7 foot shot blocker, they lack a perimeter defender, sam mitchell is the toughest, most physically imposing man on the team, he's a man he's 40!, the raptors beat writers are a joke, they cant come up with any fresh material, so they talk about firing the coach, the biggest joke was last year when they said doogie howser outcoached sam mitchell, well its pretty easy to coach the nets when you have a hall of fame point guard like jason kidd dominating you, and you have athletic wing players like RJ and VC catching lobs and dunking on your sqaud., Yo mike grange, write some legit basketball articles, stop hyping up cis basketball, stop with the anti-mitchell talk, cuz mitchell wasnt the one who signed all these soft euro ballers, it was colangelo and gheradini, it aint sam mitchell's fault that these eye-talians lack toughness.
  12. Transplanted Sodbuster from Toronto, Canada writes: This article is pure and typical media froth. Watch Sam during the game, not after or before, and you see somebody who is focused and 100% into winning the game. Recall Lenny Wilkins? Now that was an uninvolved look. I agree that Sam waits too long to call timeouts and I think the lineup changes were a mistake in game 1, but, hey, it's game one--hometown advantage, Dwight Howard, for crying out loud. Winning in Orlando's face would have constituted an upset, not just a win. Give Sam a break. He's the best Raptors coach we've seen since day 1 in this town. If Bargnani can't get his energy up for the playoffs, he needs more time in Europe IMO. Humps shows more drive in one fast break than Barg has shown all year. Let's give Humps some time, same for Moon. I'd give AB, like, two possessions and if he's not bringing it, sit him and bring up your choice of a whole raft of great players. My prediction: a win tonight in OT. Why? Bosh. His face says it all. He wants to win more than anyone and he's the one who will make the difference.
  13. Khan dor from Canada writes: Historically, Bryan Colangelo's M.O. is to fire his head coach when things do not go quite according to plan with the team that he's in charge of as the GM.
  14. Khan dor from Canada writes:

    Toby Maloney,

    Your observations are sound.
  15. SY GIL from TO, Canada writes: let's hope they get swept, i'm tired of hearing about them!
  16. J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: Khan Dor: Yes, Brian Colangelo has fired coaches when things are not going well but that is usually during the season. Given that the Raptors are not the favourite in this series, it is quite a stretch to suggest based on one game of the series that Sam Mitchell's job is on the line. If Colangelo was going to fire Mitchell, based on his past history, he would have done it down the stretch run of the season when they were faltering.
  17. Roger S from Canada writes: Sam's sorry face should be fired long long time ago.

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