“I met Sam [on Wednesday] and it was a normal, end-of-season meeting,” Colangelo said yesterday. “We discussed a lot of things – the season, the off-season, the state of the team, our relationship, everything. It was a good meeting and we both walked out of the room on the basis that he was coaching the team moving forward. I thought I put this to rest the other day, but let me say this: We have no intention of making a coaching change, period.”
More hot-button was the report that Mitchell had played golf in Orlando last Sunday afternoon after practice, the day before the Raptors’ season-ending loss to the Orlando Magic in the fifth game. On hearing the news, Colangelo “flipped out.”
Colangelo balked at the characterization. “I’m not going to talk about something that happened [on Sunday], but did I flip out?” he said. “No, I did not flip out.”
Mitchell acknowledged he changed the team’s travel plans on Saturday. Originally, the team was going to practise in Toronto on Sunday morning and fly to Orlando in the afternoon. But Mitchell said he wanted to get an extra practice on the floor of the Amway Arena in Orlando. The Raptors were unable to arrange a flight out of Toronto on Saturday evening, so the decision was made to fly at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
Although one source close to the team suggested some players were unhappy at having to fly so early, Mitchell didn’t see it as an issue.
“We were walking off the practice floor at 1:30 in Orlando,” Mitchell said. “That’s the same time we would have been just getting to the airport if we practised at home. Now guys had the rest of the day to do what they wanted.”
As for what Mitchell did with his afternoon, his position was that it was no one’s business but his own.
“What difference does it make what a coach or a player does with his down time?” Mitchell said. “If I took some hiking boots and went to a park for a hike to clear my head, is that okay? If I took a nap for the afternoon, is that okay? Some people like to lie by the pool and read a book. Well, guess what? I don’t need a tan.”
He added that the deciding factor in the Raptors’ loss to the Magic was talent, rather than tactics.
“We were right where we wanted to be,” Mitchell said. “Do you know how many defences we put in? How much film work we did? We didn’t get tricked, we didn’t get fooled. We knew what they were running. We knew their calls. My team was prepared and we didn’t fold up and quit.
“This stuff has nothing to do with anything. We got beat by a better basketball team.”
Colangelo agreed.
“It’s not an issue. He has three years left on his deal and what happened in the playoffs does not affect his status here. We lost to a very good basketball team.”
Toronto’s Jamario Moon, plucked from somewhere beyond obscurity, got seven third-place votes, and finished a very distant fifth in the balloting. Good effort, kid.
VIDEO: Top 10 plays of the Magic/Raptors series
Kerr said on Phoenix radio that he would not grant another team permission to speak with D’Antoni.
With Raptors fans clamoring for a change I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team bite the bullet financially by replacing Mitchell with D’Antoni. Mitchell is owed $12 million and the rumored buyout would be $9.5 million. However, if Mitchell were to secure another coaching gig, and it’s safe to assume he would be able to do that this summer, then the Raptors would be off the hook for any money they owe him. While this would be a calculated gamble, it may be one Colangelo would be willing to take if he could bring a coach like D’Antoni into the mix in Toronto.
By staying the course for one more year, essentially with this same group intact, adjusting only slightly – by removing TJ Ford from their roster and replacing him with a solid young Wing player – and focusing their attention on Team Rebounding & Defense, the Raptors are actually not that far away from establishing themselves as a perennial ‘Top 4 Team’ in the Eastern Conference.
Based on last year’s success, it feels like this season was a disappointment. But the Raps are still rebuilding. We’ve been to the playoffs twice in the post-Vince era and that has to be considered success.
For the first time in about six years there were expectations to be met for Toronto basketball, and once again the team fell way short. Six fewer losses for what should have been a better team and one less playoff win has left many people scratching their heads.
The series with the Magic itself was an example of what has occurred this past season. Teams like Orlando and Philadelphia, even Atlanta have passed or come close to passing Toronto as the young, up-and-coming team of the East.
It has become evident that many alterations must be made for the Raps to become an elite team in the NBA, but what exactly are these necessary adjustments?
I believe the dual point-guard situation needs to be broken up not just because the two can no longer co-exist on the court, but because Mitchell does not have the coaching ability to make it work.
Which brings me to my next point. I like Sam Mitchell as a man, but as a coach, I have lost all faith in him. He has made the Raptors the most predictable team in the league with the same repetitious play-calling (high screen and roll anyone?) and seems to have lost his edge. One of the reasons I always gave my vote of confidence to “Smitch” was that he was a tough coach who called it like he saw it.
Remember the guy who came out and said, “we need to find some men that want to play basketball?” Remember the guy who came out and questioned guys’ performances? Now, Mitchell’s comments are as repetitive as his play-calling. He seems to have mellowed, in a bad way, ever since achieving a division title and coach of the year honours.
And I believe that attitude has rubbed off on the players, which is why the Raptors seemed just happy to be there once again, while their counterparts from the Magic who are no older and no more experienced spoke about winning a championship after ousting the Raptors.
I couldn’t believe how afraid of Dwight Howard the Raptors were in the playoffs. Bosh has the speed to take him on the bounce, but time after time, we saw him settle for jump shots or runners. Nobody on the Raptors other than Jamario Moon wanted to go up against Howard for any rebounds and let’s be honest, you have to give Jamario credit, because it’s not like he’s built like a mountain. We occasionally saw Delfino go in tough, but that was only in the times when he felt like playing. That guy’s more inconsistent than American foreign policy. Anybody watching the series was able to see that the Raptors are in need of some interior toughness, they’re practically walking around with a giant neon sign stating the fact. They also still need a slasher, because the options on the offensive end just don’t seem to be there. This could also be a problem with coaching…
First of all, Bianchi wrote this column after the Magic advanced into the second round of the playoffs, by beating Toronto. My problem is that the Magic were a better team than Toronto, any Magic fan will tell you that the team they have struggled with the most in the last few years is Detroit.
Now, if they can beat the Pistons in the second round of the playoffs, I will be impressed, and I believe that is when Otis Smith should get all the credit he deserves, and then some. He will have identified what the team needed to get past Detroit, a squad that has given the Magic fits, in the last few years.
It’s true that Nelson played very well in the first round, and outplayed Toronto’s point guard tandem of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. The problem though, is that Nelson has never struggled against smaller guards like Ford, and slower guards off the dribble like Calderon. He’s struggled against big, physical guards, specifically, Chauncey Billups, whom he will face in Round 2, when the Magic play the Pistons.
If, as Grange indicates in his column, the players were upset with Mitchell’s schedule changes … screw ‘em! He’s the coach. It might not have been the best idea for Smitch (and reportedly third-string point guard Darrick Martin), especially considering he had to go a bit out of his way to get practice done Sunday morning in order to make his tee time. And judging by Orlando’s dominance in Game 5 Monday, maybe some more film room study could have helped.
And sure, Mitchell should have clued Colangelo into the plan. By hiding the round of 18 Smitch shows he thinks he did something wrong. But I don’t see the harm in the actual activity … unless there was a no-fun decree from the boss.
The Toronto Raptors had an up and mostly down season – we all know that. As a team, the collective production wasn’t what we were all expecting when they returned from training camp overseas in October. However, now it’s time to grade each individual’s performance this season – at least in MY opinion. I’m sure everyone has a different one but that’s what this is all about. To summarize, I will go through the roster player by player to do the pros, cons, outlook and final grade of each.
I hate Toronto, i hate their stupid fans, i don’t like the fact that Mitchell is giving Ford more minutes than to Calderon and i’m so glad they’re out. The way this series started, with Magic hitting 9 threes in the opening quarter, i find the outcome very appropriate. Now, once Orlando players get rested anything can happen against a Detroit team that has played at least one game (so far) too many in their first round series against Philly.
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