Sam Mitchell Still Has Much To Learn as Raptors Coach

When defending Sam Mitchell, people are quick to point to the hardware he collected for the Raptors' improvement in 2006-07.

However, considering much of coaching involves player rotation management, player development, play-calling and intelligence, one might argue that Sam Mitchell has been far from spectacular in his first four seasons as the Raptor's head coach.

His resume includes two trips to the playoffs, two trips to the draft lottery including an atrocious first season (33-49) and an even worse second season (27-55). Surely any unproven rookie coach who started his coaching career (60-104) would be fired without hesitation.

When one factors in the numerous chemistry issues including a rumored altercation with former star player Vince Carter, a public blow-up from Rafer Alston and the fact that aside from Chris Bosh, not one young player has developed into anything worth noting since 2003 and one would have more luck understanding George Bush's foreign policies than attempting to crack the code on Mitchell's coaching philosophy.

Fortunately for Mitchell, he's never taken the fall for his shortcomings. Former GM Rob Babcock was first. Joey Graham, who was once considered a solid prospect and a potential lottery pick has now been labeled an absolute bust. Andrea Bargnani has vented his frustration over his up-and-down position on the Raptor Roster and surely one cannot blame this one on Babcock's inadequacy because Bargnani was a Colangelo pick. Instead, it's been Bargnani who's taken the fall for not being able to shoot or rebound.

It seems that in the NBA coaches seem to take the fall when things go badly and superstars are glorified when things go well. This hasn't happened to Mitchell.

In his first season, his team simply wasn't talented and the blame went to Carter and Alston. Ironically, the Toronto media forgot to mention that Carter and Alston turned things around in New Jersey and Houston respectively. In fact, Alston drew plenty of praise for his leadership with the Rockets last season.

Are we to believe that Alston left Toronto and simply decided to stop being a pain? Was it simply a coincidence that he walked out on Mitchell's practice and was suspended for two games and has yet to repeat anything of this nature for the past three seasons? When one factors in that Alston played a strong leadership role in Miami in 2003-2004 prior to being signed by the Raptors, one has to wonder who was really at fault.

Carter and Rose spent a considerable amount of time chatting on the bench in the fourth quarter. While Sam Mitchell was trying to make a point to his two highest-paid players, he dipped Carter's minutes and points to the point where casual observers concluded that he had regressed as a player.

Was Carter benching himself and averaging a career low in minutes because he was out of breath? It certainly made it hard to market him and along with the poor performance and lack of development from Rafael Araujo, it ended Rob Babcock's tenure as a General Manager in the NBA.

In his second season, Mitchell had a fresh chance. Both Carter and Alston had been moved. Instead of improving, Mitchell lost six more games than the year before. Towards the trade deadline, a disgruntled Jalen Rose was also moved and considering Rose was playing the role of game-closer for the Raptors, their struggles worsened with him in New York.

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