I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t smile a bit when I first read that Chris Bosh told the Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo that he wasn’t going to re-sign with the team in 2010. If you have been to this site before you know just how unimpressed I am with Bosh’s leadership, shot selection and attitude. This is a GREAT example of all of that, wrapped into one giant ball and thrown in the faces of the Raptors fans and organization. Regardless if Chris felt this way before our slide into the basement of the Eastern Conference, he definitely should have kept this to himself or between him and Colangelo. Bosh has essentially done what I have wanted forever, make all the Raptors fans to take off their rose coloured glasses and start judging Bosh like every other player, instead of giving him a free pass because “his teammates” aren’t up to par or whatever other crazy excuses I hear game in game out.
Seriously, name ONE player you would take from the Cavs besides LeBron? Ok, I know Bosh and LeBron are on different levels but what I am getting at is, you don’t necessarily need the best players on your team to win, you need a good leader and good team chemistry and we have neither. The Cavs has bought into the team philosophy of (more…)
Sam Mitchell in his classic 4th quarter pose.
Salutations,
I apologize if I cannot hide my glee as I type these words but ITS ABOUT TIME. For those of you living under a rock or just not interested in Toronto sports, Toronto’s “other” team has finally severed ties with what felt like a 20 pound anvil tied to the ankles of the players and organization for the past two seasons.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Sam Mitchell hater. I really think he was a great motivator, player developer (if you’re not in his doghouse, see: Joey Graham) and team guy. But when it came to X’s and O’s, I don’t think there was a worse coach employed in the NBA. I only have some mid-level basketball experience and A LOT of basketball watching experience but I can say with complete confidence that I could out coach Sam in the last 5 seconds of any game. And let’s be serious, would you ever let a player score 81 on you? Sam just sat there with his usual “Oh well, here’s another loss” look with his hand rubbing his brow. I have an idea, don’t let Kobe isolate his defender, double team him or even FOUL him hard enough to make him think pass on his next wide open drive to the tin. But I digress, the past is the past, so let’s move on.
If you haven’t guessed by now I am a maple syrup drinking, beer chugging Torontonian. So it brings me great pleasure that we not only have a new coach but one of my favourite coaches, Jay Triano. I will never forget when he took team Canada to a 5 and 2 record at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Of course you can say this team had the services of back to back MVP Steve Nash but unless you’re Canadian or lived in Dallas in 2000, you probably hadn’t seen Nash much. And unless you went to highschool with anyone else on this squad you had never heard of these guys before or after. It came down to coaching. Triano had these guys believing they COULD win and he gave them the right system to do it. For Triano to turn this Titanic away from the iceberg I think he only has to tweak a few things.
First off, play your $5M dollar man (Kapono) A LOT more and when he does play, MAKE SURE HE ONLY SHOOTS. Show him some tapes of Dell Curry rocking that fade and jacking J’s in his purple dino jersey. He had no problem collecting cheques by shooting and pretending to play defence, why do you? You’re the greatest shooter in the world (sorry Damon Jones), dont try to be a slasher or a distributer…SHOOT!!!
Which brings me to Jamario Moon, talk about playing to your contract? Maybe he has a fear of 7 digits? Or the rim? It was only 12 months ago, Moon was slapping gravity in the face with his fuzzy walnuts on the way to the rim. He had people believing he could take off from a solid foot behind the chairty stripe. Now, he settles for his awkward J not even near the key, he doesn’t rebound well, he take DUMB fouls and it doesnt look like he cares. He needs to start attacking the rim or take over Joey’s spot on the pine because Kapono can at least shoot.
And last but not least, BALL MOVEMENT!!! I am lucky enough to have season tickets to the Raps, so I get to see first hand what ball movement can do. I say this because on TV it’s hard to get a grasp of how confused other teams are without hearing them yelling at each other when the Raps get into one of their ball movement grooves. There have been SOME glimpses that this year, 4 or 5 nice passes around the perimeter for an open J or to the open man inside for an easy deuce. Don’t get me wrong, Chris Bosh is and ANIMAL this year and derserves all the accolades and hype he is FINALLY receiving. He also deserves to not to settle for that 18 footer he is forced to take so often. Of course we can’t blame Mitchell for that totally but with more focus on ball movement and hustling it,will be a lot harder for Bosh to settle for that jumper when he’s trying to whizz the ball around to Parker or Kapono for a wide open trey.
At the beginning of the season I was thinking 45+ wins for this team, when J.O went down I was thinking 41 MAX. A lot of this just had to do with Smitch’s inability to utilize players properly and to put his pride aside when it came down to making the right decision. Now that he is gone with some tweaking to the system and maybe a minor trade, we can be top 5 in the East.
In closing I would like to say “So long Sam, thanks for memories”! (well most of them) and congratulations Jay make us proud. Now hopefully I won’t have to spend my days defending how a team can get blown out by 39 points, blowing a 13+ point lead late in the game or watching VC dunk my Friday night down the crapper.
Peace!
