Mitchell vs Golden State: two blunders

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

I was going to post this last night, but I didn't feel like being a Debbie Downer after such an amazing win. And also, after a win like that, the coach does deserve some credit.

That said, I thought Mitch made two critical blunders last night that illustrate yet again why he is NOT an NBA level coach.

1) With a little over two minutes left in O.T. the Wolves had a 5 point lead, the ball, and the air had gone out of the building. Amazingly it appeared we were about to put the hammer down. So what happens next? Mitchell calls timeout. He has done this all season long, call time outs in odd moments. After that T.O. we had an offensive possession that ended with Rubio taking a long two point jumper, virtually the worst shot we could take at that point. Then G. State came down, scored, and I thought we had blown it.

2) Golden State has the ball with 8 seconds left in regulation, it's tied, and we have a foul to give. Rubio has Curry wrapped up around half court going nowhere. But from the sidelines Mitchell screams at Rubio to foul. WHY?! I was screaming at the TV when this happened--it hurt us in several ways. First off, Curry was going nowhere, I feel like he would have ended up chucking up a bad shot (of course for him there is no such thing). Second, by giving this foul it let the dubs reset their offense, and on top of that now if we fouled them they shot free throws. Third, Rubio had 4 fouls, and with a strong chance there would be five more minutes the last thing we needed was for him to pick up his 5th. (as it turned out we played awesome D, got to overtime, and Rubio played the entire O.T. with 5, but still that's all hindsight)

The bottom line is you can debate whether Mitchell's in your face cranky style can be effective or not, but what isn't debatable is the dude just isn't that smart. I'll be very disappointed if we give him another year. It's going to happen though isn't it?

[Monster]

I think this is a good post.

I disagree with not giving the foul there except it was Rubio's 5th. Curry wasn't going anywhere but you foul with 8 seconds left now they have to inbound the ball and then make a play. You have a better chance of getting a steal and defending the play than just having Curry standing there waiting to just kill you whenever he decides to do something. They couldn't have waited much longer to give the foul or Curry would have been in a shooting motion for FTs. The GS broadcast crew was being all stupid saying Rubio was going at Curry's ankles. That probably pissed me off more than anything if he can't live with the contact Rubio made on that play he is a freaking pansy but fortunately Curry isn't. Bogut chucked Rubio to protect himself and that's all good but Rubio diving to foul because his coach is employing him to do so is a nasty dangerous play? Ok sorry I got off on a rant there.

Also that Rubio shot was a reasonably good look he didn't make it. That's the thing Rubio detractors are worried about. I agree I wouldn't have called a timeout there either but I also do get to a certain extent what Sam wanted to do there. I think it's difficult to decide especially with a young team letting things flow and calling timeouts to get things in order. It was a weird time out though.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

Hmmm, agree to disagree then on the foul given. I think it was a mistake to let Golden State set up their offense, and I especially think it was a mistake to give the foul when the subsequent foul, shooting or not, puts the other team on the line. Rubio picking up his 5th with overtime looming was just the icing on the cake.

I don't see the argument of fouling gave us a better chance of stealing the inbounds. Yeah it could happen, but now since you gave the foul you can't be too aggressive because if you foul they shoot free throws.

[Lipoli390]

I was going to post this last night, but I didn't feel like being a Debbie Downer after such an amazing win. And also, after a win like that, the coach does deserve some credit.

That said, I thought Mitch made two critical blunders last night that illustrate yet again why he is NOT an NBA level coach.

1) With a little over two minutes left in O.T. the Wolves had a 5 point lead, the ball, and the air had gone out of the building. Amazingly it appeared we were about to put the hammer down. So what happens next? Mitchell calls timeout. He has done this all season long, call time outs in odd moments. After that T.O. we had an offensive possession that ended with Rubio taking a long two point jumper, virtually the worst shot we could take at that point. Then G. State came down, scored, and I thought we had blown it.

2) Golden State has the ball with 8 seconds left in regulation, it's tied, and we have a foul to give. Rubio has Curry wrapped up around half court going nowhere. But from the sidelines Mitchell screams at Rubio to foul. WHY?! I was screaming at the TV when this happened--it hurt us in several ways. First off, Curry was going nowhere, I feel like he would have ended up chucking up a bad shot (of course for him there is no such thing). Second, by giving this foul it let the dubs reset their offense, and on top of that now if we fouled them they shot free throws. Third, Rubio had 4 fouls, and with a strong chance there would be five more minutes the last thing we needed was for him to pick up his 5th. (as it turned out we played awesome D, got to overtime, and Rubio played the entire O.T. with 5, but still that's all hindsight)

The bottom line is you can debate whether Mitchell's in your face cranky style can be effective or not, but what isn't debatable is the dude just isn't that smart. I'll be very disappointed if we give him another year. It's going to happen though isn't it?

I agree with both your points, especially the timing of the timeout and play all coming out of the timeout. Even my wife has repeatedly commented on the consistently weird timing of Sam's time out calls. I like Sam's passion and toughness. But I agree he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The Mitchell vitriol on this board continues to astound me, and calling these two moves "blunders" is another example. Misty and monster both make good points about the timeout with 8 seconds left, and demonstrate why this was a 50/50 call...some will like it and some won't. But the timeout was a great move. Sam called two timeouts toward the end of the game...one when we were down 5 with about 7 minutes left and then the one up 5 in OT...and both were very timely. You could tell that the Wolves were really gassed at both times, and Sam saw it and called the timeout to let his players catch their breath. The first one resulted in 5 consecutive points that got us back in the game, and although Ricky missed a wide open look after the second one, it both refreshed the team and allowed Sam to reset his defense with Barnes coming in for Green. And you can't argue that it wasn't successful, because after getting their wind back the Wolves built their lead in the final minute.

I listened to KAT on the radio yesterday making his plea for Mitchell to come back. He talked about how everyone has developed during the year, and he credited the coaching staff for that. I recognize that the board sentiment is for the Wolves to bring in their 4th new coach in 6 years, but the last thing this young team needs is more instability. Everyone loves Rick Carlisle, but despite having a team with almost no veterans on it, the Wolves record since the all-star break is almost identical to the Mavs. Doesn't Sam deserve some credit for the improvement in this team the past couple months? This board has complained about every coach we have had except Flip, and my sources confirm he is not coming back. I'm hoping Glen recognizes the enormous steps this coaching staff has led this young team to this season and brings them back...this franchise needs some stability.

[MikkeMan]

LST, wellcome back even if it was just for this post. Have been missing your defense on Mitchell even tough I have also been leaning towards the idea that he is not correct coach for this group.

BTW, I think there was pretty much complaining also about Flip last year. Especially about how players were taking long two-point jump shots.

[60WinTim]

And the campaign to keep Mitchell begins... ;-)

Good to hear from you LST. The team played REALLY GREAT against the Warriors, and the coaching staff absolutely deserves credit. And there is no question many players have improved, although I would also argue they are so young they would improve no matter who was coaching the team.

But it has not resurrected me into a Sam supporter. I hope Glen values the "short list" Flip had created. I will admit that the team's recent play has moved me off the ledge of "I will no longer be a fan of this team if Mitchell is retained"...

[Carlos Danger]

LST sighting! Keep posting my friend. I'm currently against bringing Mitchell back. But I could be convinced to get on board if you posted more :-)

[Monster]

The Mitchell vitriol on this board continues to astound me, and calling these two moves "blunders" is another example. Misty and monster both make good points about the timeout with 8 seconds left, and demonstrate why this was a 50/50 call...some will like it and some won't. But the timeout was a great move. Sam called two timeouts toward the end of the game...one when we were down 5 with about 7 minutes left and then the one up 5 in OT...and both were very timely. You could tell that the Wolves were really gassed at both times, and Sam saw it and called the timeout to let his players catch their breath. The first one resulted in 5 consecutive points that got us back in the game, and although Ricky missed a wide open look after the second one, it both refreshed the team and allowed Sam to reset his defense with Barnes coming in for Green. And you can't argue that it wasn't successful, because after getting their wind back the Wolves built their lead in the final minute.

I listened to KAT on the radio yesterday making his plea for Mitchell to come back. He talked about how everyone has developed during the year, and he credited the coaching staff for that. I recognize that the board sentiment is for the Wolves to bring in their 4th new coach in 6 years, but the last thing this young team needs is more instability. Everyone loves Rick Carlisle, but despite having a team with almost no veterans on it, the Wolves record since the all-star break is almost identical to the Mavs. Doesn't Sam deserve some credit for the improvement in this team the past couple months? This board has complained about every coach we have had except Flip, and my sources confirm he is not coming back. I'm hoping Glen recognizes the enormous steps this coaching staff has led this young team to this season and brings them back...this franchise needs some stability.

Yay a post from LST!!! It's good to hear your perspective especially one that's pro Sam.

Could you please let me know where you heard that radio spot with KAT talking about Sam?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Ha, sorry guys...I really shouldn't post on the Wolves board ( I do make cameo appearances on the Twins board though, and I continue to read the Wolves' posts from time to time...especially the draft threads). But I really thought some balance was needed here. The Wolves have played the Warriors better than any other team this year, and in my opinion, that is all to Sam's credit because of his defensive flexibility. While you usually see him on the sidelines yelling at his team to fight through screens (and they are getting better in this area), he encourages a completely different approach against Curry and the Warriors, and instead instructs his defenders to switch after screens every time. While this generally results in odd matchups like Towns on Curry and Rubio on Green, it has totally befuddled the Warriors and forced Curry into 13-42 shooting the past two games...that's 31% for a guy who is shooting over 50% for the season. The Warriors clearly have better personnel than the Wolves, but Sam has clearly outcoached Kerr this year. But rather than giving him credit for the Wolves playing the Warriors dead even this season, instead we choose to nitpick individual moves he makes at the end of games.

By the way, I have my differences with some things Sam does too. While he did eventually sub Prince in for Muhammad with about 30 seconds left in the game, I thought he was about a minute late with that move. Muhammad was completely gassed, and with the lead in OT they needed Tay's defense more than Bazz's offense. And I thought he looked silly throwing a fit about Towns' charge on Curry (I'm a homer, but I thought the replay clearly showed that Curry had established position, and the NBA subsequently agreed that it was the right call). But Sam is an emotional guy, and his passion seems to be reflected in the way his young guys play (with the possible exception of the enigmatic Wiggins). But Monday's game reinforced my belief that these players have greatly improved under Sam, and genuinely like playing for him.

I honestly don't know if Glen has made up his mind about who is going to coach this team next year, but I know what my vote is...Like Towns, I think Sam deserves to get the interim lable lifted. We'll just have to wait to see which way Glen goes.