Mitchell vs Golden State: two blunders

[Phenom]

I don't hate Sam. I don't think any of us really do. He's played for the team afterall. There are certainly cases to be made for improvements throughout the season and he should get some credit for improved play recently. The question for me isn't really about his basketball knowledge and ability to teach. My question is with all of the problems and red flags dealing with players, refs, media, drawing up plays, etc. Is that going to get better? If not, Glen is really setting himself up to replace him in 12 to 18 months anyway. Sam may be doing OK right now but does anyone see it lasting long? It's really a bigger picture issue for me.

[TAFKASP]

I don't hate Sam. I don't think any of us really do. He's played for the team afterall. There are certainly cases to be made for improvements throughout the season and he should get some credit for improved play recently. The question for me isn't really about his basketball knowledge and ability to teach. My question is with all of the problems and red flags dealing with players, refs, media, drawing up plays, etc. Is that going to get better? If not, Glen is really setting himself up to replace him in 12 to 18 months anyway. Sam may be doing OK right now but does anyone see it lasting long? It's really a bigger picture issue for me.

I think the bolded is really the point. Sam can coach another year without doing irreversible damage which allows Glenn the extra time to get the front office position settled. In light of keeping Milt on through the draft and free agency it would be to my mind a huge red flag if Glenn actually hired a new coach. He has to get the PBO/GM of the future in place before they put his employee in place.

So no, I don't see Sam lasting a long time, but I also don't believe keeping him is a sign Glenn does either.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

We get the win of the year and people still find things to criticize about Sam. C'mon. Give it a rest.

[Phenom]

I don't hate Sam. I don't think any of us really do. He's played for the team afterall. There are certainly cases to be made for improvements throughout the season and he should get some credit for improved play recently. The question for me isn't really about his basketball knowledge and ability to teach. My question is with all of the problems and red flags dealing with players, refs, media, drawing up plays, etc. Is that going to get better? If not, Glen is really setting himself up to replace him in 12 to 18 months anyway. Sam may be doing OK right now but does anyone see it lasting long? It's really a bigger picture issue for me.

I think the bolded is really the point. Sam can coach another year without doing irreversible damage which allows Glenn the extra time to get the front office position settled. In light of keeping Milt on through the draft and free agency it would be to my mind a huge red flag if Glenn actually hired a new coach. He has to get the PBO/GM of the future in place before they put his employee in place.

So no, I don't see Sam lasting a long time, but I also don't believe keeping him is a sign Glenn does either.

Doogie said it best that with Milt getting to run the draft and free agency, he will essentially be here for another year at minimum to get an assessment of those decisions. That is a pretty big commitment from Glen. If he knows in his heart that Sam isn't the guy and if Milt isn't going to bat for him, he needs to let go now and give Milt full authority to hire a coach, PoBo, or a coach/PoBo. Milt should get to furnish the roster cohesively in the way he sees fit so that he can get a true evaluation on him.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

Here's what scares me the most: this team is too talented not to make a leap next year regardless of who coaches it. So if they keep Sam I I can easily see him being here for a while.

Remember in January an article came out about nearly half the team having concerns about Mitchell. Then there is the way Lavine has been handled: about 50 games of playing him at a position he is clearly ill-suited for (I am happy Sam finally gave Tyus an extended chance). Then there is all the weird lineups he employed (the main culprit IMO being K-Mart, Lavine, and Bazz together which killed us nearly every time). There is the Bjelica regression. There's all the odd timeouts. All the weak play sets after timeouts. The never taking responsibility after a bad loss. The ugliness with the media.

Seriously, we can't do better than this guy?

Cut bait now while you can! Otherwise I feel we're in for a "long, DERANGED trip" with Sam as coach.

[Coolbreeze44]

Here's what scares me the most: this team is too talented not to make a leap next year regardless of who coaches it. So if they keep Sam I I can easily see him being here for a while.

Remember in January an article came out about nearly half the team having concerns about Mitchell. Then there is the way Lavine has been handled: about 50 games of playing him at a position he is clearly ill-suited for (I am happy Sam finally gave Tyus an extended chance). Then there is all the weird lineups he employed (the main culprit IMO being K-Mart, Lavine, and Bazz together which killed us nearly every time). There is the Bjelica regression. There's all the odd timeouts. All the weak play sets after timeouts. The never taking responsibility after a bad loss. The ugliness with the media.

Seriously, we can't do better than this guy?

Cut bait now while you can! Otherwise I feel we're in for a "long, DERANGED trip" with Sam as coach.

In addition:

- The too simplistic and unimaginative offensive sets
- The grandstanding he does on the sideline - especially when things are going well so he stands out during those moments
- The hockey substitution patterns
- The year long contradictory statements

[Monster]

I don't hate Sam. I don't think any of us really do. He's played for the team afterall. There are certainly cases to be made for improvements throughout the season and he should get some credit for improved play recently. The question for me isn't really about his basketball knowledge and ability to teach. My question is with all of the problems and red flags dealing with players, refs, media, drawing up plays, etc. Is that going to get better? If not, Glen is really setting himself up to replace him in 12 to 18 months anyway. Sam may be doing OK right now but does anyone see it lasting long? It's really a bigger picture issue for me.

I think the bolded is really the point. Sam can coach another year without doing irreversible damage which allows Glenn the extra time to get the front office position settled. In light of keeping Milt on through the draft and free agency it would be to my mind a huge red flag if Glenn actually hired a new coach. He has to get the PBO/GM of the future in place before they put his employee in place.

So no, I don't see Sam lasting a long time, but I also don't believe keeping him is a sign Glenn does either.

Doogie said it best that with Milt getting to run the draft and free agency, he will essentially be here for another year at minimum to get an assessment of those decisions. That is a pretty big commitment from Glen. If he knows in his heart that Sam isn't the guy and if Milt isn't going to bat for him, he needs to let go now and give Milt full authority to hire a coach, PoBo, or a coach/PoBo. Milt should get to furnish the roster cohesively in the way he sees fit so that he can get a true evaluation on him.

Lots of questions and few answers but we can speculate and that's what boards like this are or right?

I'll say this about Milt and Sam that when I have heard either of them speak it seems like they are both saying the same thing reality let speaking and therefore on the same page. Maybe that's not a big deal considering the circumstances and it behooves both of them to have some sort of consistent message to help keep their jobs. Do those guys get along or whatever? We don't know but it SEEMS like they have well enough this year but it's a unique situation so I don't know how much you can really read into it but it's what we have.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If you let Sam stay he becomes Randy Whitman. Someone who gets carried by great talent who has no business being the man in charge coaching that team. The damage won't happen next year. It will happen down the road and derail the positive momentum we are building now. The Wizards hit a wall. The Thunder hit a wall. The example to look at was Mark Jackson probably could have coached this Warriors team to top 4 records year in and year out. Their owners saw the wall that they were gonna run into with Jackson and upgraded at an unusual time and it instantly paid off. We probably won't see great success next year no matter who coaches us, but the point is to move the wall before you run into it.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Why put off the inevitable? Mitchell isn't good enough as a head coach to take this team anywhere. Mitchell isn't a specialist in player development so throw that reasoning out the window. He's not a creative offensive or defensive mind, but rather his concepts are rudimentary and extremely outdated. His strength supposedly comes from player motivation, but I question how good he is in that regard considering the stink he left behind in Toronto and the stink that came from half of this current roster at mid-season when they went to Jon Krawczynski and complained about him.

Him being here just wreaks of Glen Taylor having no nuts. He likes being comfortable more than he likes winning, which is unbelievably weak as an owner. I'm getting pissed off even typing this because the Wolves will end up realizing this years too late essentially wasting years of growth that this team could have had.

[Monster]

Why put off the inevitable? Mitchell isn't good enough as a head coach to take this team anywhere. Mitchell isn't a specialist in player development so throw that reasoning out the window. He's not a creative offensive or defensive mind, but rather his concepts are rudimentary and extremely outdated. His strength supposedly comes from player motivation, but I question how good he is in that regard considering the stink he left behind in Toronto and the stink that came from half of this current roster at mid-season when they went to Jon Krawczynski and complained about him.

Him being here just wreaks of Glen Taylor having no nuts. He likes being comfortable more than he likes winning, which is unbelievably weak as an owner. I'm getting pissed off even typing this because the Wolves will end up realizing this years too late essentially wasting years of growth that this team could have had.

At least we aren't the Knicks. Just trying to cheer you up a little Cam.