In a never-ending quest for self-improvement, Sam Mitchell swears that he will swear no more and points to two months of profanity-free living as proof.
Those, however, were two summer months with spent mainly with his wife and four daughters; a much sterner test of his willpower comes with the onset of the NBA season and the Raptor coach knows it.
“Now, I haven’t had Kris Humphries on the court yet, I haven’t had Jamario (Moon) yet,” Mitchell joked yesterday. “Those are going to be my tests.”
“It’s something to let (the players and public) know that, one, I’m growing and maturing every day,” he said. “Two, I’m trying to get better not only as a coach but as a person; and, three, who wants to be screamed and yelled at and cursed at every day?
“You’re supposed to try to get better every day of your life and I’m always preaching to those guys about professionalism, about getting better, about doing the right things, about saying the right things. Well, you’ve got to practise what you preach.”
“I made a vow, a promise to the players and myself that I’m not using any profanity this year, I’ve been two months and I haven’t slipped,” he said. “I really believe people in general appreciate someone who’s always trying to get better. I just think if you become a better person, you become better at your job. I just really believe that.
“And I’m supposed to be an example for my players. It lets them know if I can make subtle change, so can they.”
“I’m fine with the 13 guys,” said the coach. “There are some disadvantages to it but the advantage to it is it gives those 13 guys a chance to gel a lot quicker, it gives them a chance to work together. It’s going to make me a better coach. Every year I’ve been here, I’ve had to adapt to something. It makes you better and … a little bit smarter.”
The great thing about Bosh, to me (besides his humor), is that he has more or less physically ignored the pundits who argued he’d never be anything until he bulked up. We hear every summer about this stringbean adding 15 pounds of muscle, or that cat hitting the weights non-stop. Media day has turned into a never-ending stream of “arms like steel cables” and “best shape of my life” chatter. And that’s great; conditioning can make or break a career. But the emphasis for bigs is always to add muscle. Get bigger. Get stronger. Beat some fools down. When Bosh came into the league, four of every five talking heads insisted he needed to thicken up to have a chance at stardom. Bosh has improved his body some, sure, but he’s still known as one of the leanest forwards in the league. And he seems to be doing just fine.
For the Raptors, the addition of O’Neal could be just what the doctor ordered for a team that has had a great deal of trouble defensively in the post-season. Although they ranked just one spot below the Cavaliers in team defense during the regular season, the Raptors gave up over 100 points per game in their 5 game loss to the Magic. O’Neal will solidify the interior defense next to Bosh and take pressure off of the perimeter defense. O’Neal has averaged nine rebounds and two blocks in seven out of the last eight seasons and should be able to get back to form playing next to one of the game’s best post players in superstar Chris Bosh.
The first thing that jumps out at me between these two teams is the similarity in style. Last season, for instance, they both ranked 22nd in the NBA in a stat called pace factor. Basically, they are both slow-it-down, traditional-style basketball teams. I expect the Raptors to favor this style even more this season with T.J. Ford out of the picture and even more strength and production inserted into the post. In order to get O’Neal and Bosh involved consistently, this offense will do a lot of walking the ball up the floor.
Expect the Wolves, whether they sign Livingston or not, to bring former NBA lottery pick Rafael Araujo, Las Vegas Summer League team guard Blake Ahearn and probably one more guard to camp, which begins Tuesday in Mankato.
Wolves assistant general manager Rob Babcock made Araujo, the former 6-11 BYU center from Brazil, the eighth player taken in the 2004 draft when Babcock was the Raptors’ boss. The team traded him to Utah two years later in a deal that sent former Gopher Kris Humphries to Toronto. Araujo played in Russia last season and is an extra big body for two-a-days now that Al Jefferson and Jason Collins both start camp injured.
In today’s game, however … when organizations like the Lakers and the Pistons and the Celtics [etc.] – historically talented and championship-worthy NBA teams – are choosing to keep their focus on things like winning and tradition, this corner takes particular note … in sharp constrast to some other otpp-rich-and-larry-come-lately-wannabee outfits, without a single appearance in an NBA Finals to their credit yet, but a slew of less-than-.500 finishes, and a number of seasons with 1st Round Playoff exits … who seem most intent, not on doing what’s necessary to build a championship calibre NBA team, down-the-road for this franchise … e.g. like acquiring the best available young talent [i.e. Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge or Rudy Gay, in the 2006 NBA Draft] with considerable upside for their roster … but on making the MOST MOOLA possible, for their ownership group, while distributing an insidious and lethal does of treadmill-status-camoflaging Kool-Aid to their rabid fan base, year after year after year after …
IT SIMPLY MAKES THIS STOMACH WANT TO WRETCH.
Andrea Bargnani IS bigger. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s put on at least 10 if not 15 pounds. He’s noticeably bigger and … while he was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt … he appeared to be thicker in the shoulders and arms.
I chatted with Roko Ukic for 5-10 minutes while we were waiting in line for dinner and he was telling me that he and his wife are loving Toronto so far. They’re getting used to the city and enjoying their new home. He also dropped some news that I didn’t know: he’s the proud father of an 11-month-old baby girl. Congrats Roko!
Although Toronto placed second in the Atlantic Division last season, they did while finishing an even .500, and an ugly late-season freefall put a whole 25 games between them and the first-place Celtics. A lot of Toronto’s hopes are riding on J.O.’s infamously cranky knees. If he turns up lame, Toronto is back to looking for stop-gaps in the middle and again throwing too much on Bosh’s shoulders. Kris Humphries had his moments last year, but he’s basically a smaller, poor man’sBrook Lopez and not someone you want playing a major role on a contending team. After Bosh, J.O. and Humphries, the only big man on the roster is Australian importNathan Jawai, who was a beast in the NBL and looked good in Toronto’s summer league games, but is still young and inexperienced. There also isn’t much depth behind Calderon; neither of his backups, Roko Ukic or Euroleague transfer Will Solomon, have a minute of NBA experience. (Correction: Solomon saw action in 62 games with Vancouver six years ago — AB.) Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon andJason Kapono are all decent role players who know their place, but neither is the standout wing player the Raptors have needed ever since Mr. You-Know-Who was in town.
I admit I like the new uniforms and they are cool looking. But beyond the cool looking uniforms I took away something else from the event that was covered on Raptors T.V. What was that? Confidence on behalf of the Toronto Raptors through Chris Bosh, Bryan Colangelo and to a lesser extent Jose Calderon. Whatever doubts the media and bloggers like me may have about the Raptors this season, you saw none of that doubt yesterday. Chris Bosh with his new gold medal around his neck had a real sense of confidence. It is not to say he has not had it in the past. However it seemed that he has a feeling that this team could really go somewhere. It is not anything he said specfically it is just a sense I got in watching him. He seems to have become very secure in his role as the leader of this team and is ready to take on the challenge of making it successful.
Nobody has ever doubted his defensive efforts and we expect that to continue this season and beyond but its the offensive consistence and fourth quarter play that needs to be improved. Bosh definitely improved last year by demanding the ball with a determination to get something out of the possession, in most cases a foul. Unfortunatley the officials happened to swallow the whistle in the fourth and we got burned a few times. This season’s goal for him might be to improve on that and not “settle” for the foul but rather go for the score. I know its harsh but he’s the franchise player. I can afford to make such demands out of the guy.
The Raptors will be conducting practices in the Ravens’ Nest twice a day. According to Roven Yau, media relations co-ordinator for the Raptors, the practices will be completely closed to the public.
Students will, however, have a chance to hit the hardwood alongside players such as Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon at a free co-ed clinic the Raptors will be hosting on Thurs. Oct. 2. The clinic is open to Carleton students as well as the general public, and will run from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
For those who prefer to let the big names do the fade-aways and dunks, the team will be having an intra-squad game at the Raven’s Nest – also known as Alumni Hall – on Sat., Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m.
“It will be a great opportunity for students who may not have otherwise had a chance to see a professional basketball team play,” Brenning said.
Jose Calderon, G, Toronto Raptors, Key Stat: 8.3 assists per game. That’s a higher clip than either Baron Davis or Raymond Felton. This FIBA veteran is the sparkplug of a team that welcomes Jermaine O’Neal to its roster. Add his .519 shooting percentage (lifetime .500) and you see that Calderon is just a heady ballplayer. Raptor Coach Sam Mitchell likes his team to get up a lot of shots, and Calderon is a playmaker who assures that most of the attempts are high percentage.
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