Sam Mitchell Still Has Much To Learn as Raptors Coach

It wasn't as important that Toronto was losing games. They were clearly less talented than most NBA teams and no one was expecting any miracles. What was crucial, was that during the losses, the younger players were able to learn.

However, instead of having Jose Calderon and Joey Graham playing major minutes in order to develop, Raptor fans were treated to Mike James' best Allen Iverson impression. What did the Raptors gain by losing 51 games while Mike James worked for a new contract? Certainly the losses could have been used to build Bosh's experience by getting touches down the stretch.

It was strange to hear Chris Bosh after his first few playoff games, saying he'd never been in a role where he had the ball in his hands down the stretch. While it was understandable in his rookie year under Kevin O'Neill with Carter and Rose in the mix,  what was Mitchell's excuse for not getting his franchise player the ball with his second and third best players being Mike James and Morris Peterson?

Towards the end of the season, by some divine miracle, Bryan Colangelo was brought in. Mitchell's days in Toronto seemed numbered. The media started talking about possible replacements that Colangelo could bring in to replace Mitchell. When the day came, Mitchell was still the Raptors head coach. Something seemed very strange.

The Raptors overhauled the roster before the 2006-2007 season, adding veterans like Anthony Parker, TJ Ford, and Jorge Garbajosa. They also lucked out in the lottery and added Colangelo's pick, Andrea Bargnani. They added a young bruiser in Humphries while ridding themselves of Rafael Araujo.

They also added a former NBA Champion by trading Matt Bonner and Eric Williams for Rasho Nesterovic. This roster seemed dramatically changed and the only regulars who remained were Bosh, Calderon, Peterson, and Graham.

When the season started, however, Sam Mitchell's club fell to 2-8 and Colangelo had a meeting with his coach. The meeting was discussed in detail by Colangelo afterwards, but the general point of emphasis was the playing time of rookie Andrea Bargnani. The young Italian was in Sam Mitchell's doghouse and it seemed that Colangelo couldn't understand Mitchell's logic of hindering the development of his talented youth while the losses mounted.

After the meeting, Bargnani's minutes took a leap and the Raptors were looking much improved. In fact, following the new year of that season, the Raptors had the best record in the Eastern Conference. Andrea Bargnani missed games towards the end of the season due to an overnight emergency and had he not gotten injured, he may have given Roy a run for his money for Rookie of the Year honors.

As the Raptors won twenty more games than the year before and exceeded expectations, both Colangelo and Mitchell received some hardware. Sam Mitchell became Toronto's first coach to win Coach of the Year honors.

In the playoffs, the Raptors met a familiar face in ex-Raptor Vince Carter and his New Jersey Nets. The Nets boasted a trio of star players who simply wiped the floor with Toronto. The Raptors made it interesting. In the end however, the Nets won the series in six games and ended Toronto's miracle season.

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