The crazy ramblings of Sam Mitchell

[Carlos Danger]

Didn't see this posted yet. I found it mildly entertaining. Enjoy:

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/09/06/sam-mitchell-knocks-glen-taylor-tom-thibodeau-scott-layden-for-timberwolves-firing-process/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs&yptr=yahoo

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Weiner, I think I know where you've been all summer, showing off your junk again! You got some nerve. Well at least you'll have a captive audience here. Good to have you back.

Of course it's not Sam's fault, it never was. It was always somebody else. Hope we see Thibs own up to his mistakes this season and not blame the players for every loss.

[Monster]

Thanks for posting this transcript. I posted the link to Wolfson's podcast and my thoughts in an admittedly cryptically titled thread. I will give the link to that thread because LST did respond. http://minnesotasports.enjin.com/mobile/forum/viewthread/m/15059925/id/28353374-they-are-who-we-thought-were

Below is the link to Wolfson's podcast and my lengthy thoughts

http://bit.ly/2bSAmMI

-In the above link Wolfson talked to Sam Mitchell in his lastest scoops podcast and it to me it showed everything good and bad about Sam. He is thoughtful, classy, has a good basketball mind, and truly hurt by how he was let go (he has a point). He was also bizarre in claims he made, cranky, seems a bit clueless about some things about how life works and very wise about how other things work. This spot with Wolfson who is a very big fan of Sam who I have little doubt overall is a very good person and Sam still came off poorly at times. I want to like Sam and I still do but that's the way I took it.

The biggest example was he was complaining Thibs never called him because Sam has known him since 1989. Then he said a month and a half after he was fired Layden called him and Sam said he was unhappy nobody from the wolves had called him etc so after listening to Scott for a few seconds he hung up on him. Damn that's pretty rough. Layden seems pretty classy and Sam has to have known him in some way since Layden has been in the league forever. I think Sam should get credit for doing some good things and taking over a tough situation and it also sounds like he empowered his assistants at least down the stretch but man I'm glad the guy isn't the head coach. It seems pretty clear Sam wasn't a choice of Flip for a head coach and most fans had reservations about Sam to one extent or another even as an assistant. I think the guy has value as a coach and as a person but...there are some legit negatives.

There was an interesting start with them talking about Teddy. Sam literally gushed about him. And Wolfson was asking about bad injuries. Assuming Sam remembers it correctly which is a legit question to ask...he said he had micro fracture surgery at 34 and of course that was a scary deal back then even worse than it was now. He came back and played healthy Sam actually said he didn't miss a game the next year (I'm too lazy to look it up) anyway Sam said he felt good with medicine the way it is that Teddy will come back healthy.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

First and foremost, carlos, my condolences on the breakup of your marriage. On the positive side, the split will give you more time for...well, you know.

I won't repeat all the thoughts I shared in the thread monster started a week ago, but I basically said that Sam is a complicated guy who sometimes speaks before thinking. He's one of my all-time favorite Wolves so admittedly I'm biased, but even I was surprised at some of the pettiness in some of Sam's comments.

That said, I do agree with Sam on the poor way Taylor handled the firing. Sam is a guy who ranks in the top 5 in many all-time Wolves statistical categories, and was both a head and assistant coach. He deserved a face to face meeting.

[Monster]

First and foremost, carlos, my condolences on the breakup of your marriage. On the positive side, the split will give you more time for...well, you know.

I won't repeat all the thoughts I shared in the thread monster started a week ago, but I basically said that Sam is a complicated guy who sometimes speaks before thinking. He's one of my all-time favorite Wolves so admittedly I'm biased, but even I was surprised at some of the pettiness in some of Sam's comments.

That said, I do agree with Sam on the poor way Taylor handled the firing. Sam is a guy who ranks in the top 5 in many all-time Wolves statistical categories, and was both a head and assistant coach. He deserved a face to face meeting.

I don't think the quick phone call was the problem. I think what Sam is more upset about is no acknowledgement after that which makes sense and can't blame him for. You would think maybe do an exit interview or maybe he and Glen just have a shoot the breeze conversation about how tough this last year was. Maybe that stuff seemed overwhelming For Glen at the time and why he didn't really reach out to Sam. I'm just guessing but I think Sam saying Thibs not calling is just him saying nobody called me that really hurt nobody contacted him more than him being remotely outraged about Thibs himself didn't call. I do have to wonder if Sam did some things that didn't endear him to some folks based on what we have heard from him in this podcast and a bunch of things he said this last year that I heard with my own ears. He may have brought some of that lack of class and communication on himself. We will probably never know all that stuff which is fine.

Even though Sam said all that stuff I think he really does want to move on and he always knew this was the likely ultimate outcome.

[Lipoli390]

Sam comes off as whiny to me. Come on Sam! You were replaced by someone viewed generally by basketball experts as one of the 2 or 3 best head coaches in the League. Moreover, not a single NBA team has offered or even seriously considered you for a head coaching position either since the Wolves let you go or after the Raptors fired you!

Glen Taylor gave Sam a great opportunity as a top assistant to Flip and then as a head coach. His tenure included stubbornly playing Zach at PG and repeatedly blaming his players while never holding himself accountable for any of the bad things last season of which there were obviously plenty.

I don't like the way Taylor handled Sam's departure -- at least as described by Sam. But Sam should man up and move on. He can be disappointed in how Glen treated him at the end, but Sam needs to balance that disappointment or hurt against the fact that Glen gave him an opportunity when no other NBA team would. I felt bad for Sam when I first heard the news the Wolves were letting him go. But his whining has eroded my sympathy and I just want him to shut his trap and move on.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

And he certainly didn't do himself any favors in terms of landing his next gig. If he is so public with the sour grapes, that will likely scare off other teams.

I think Sam, on balance, did a solid job last season given the circumstances. We improved by 13 games over the prior season and he eventually got the team playing a style that made sense for them (albeit belatedly). He was a decent placeholder in a season where there were no other viable options.

[Lipoli390]

Q - I think "decent placeholder" is a fair characterization of Sam's tenure last season. But I'll note that the 13-game improvement was the bare minimum we should have seen given (1) the addition of KAT, (2) the inevitable improvement of the other young players going from their 1st or 2nd seasons to their 2nd or 3rd, and (3) the dramatically better health of the team last season compared to the previous one.

[Carlos Danger]

Monster - sorry, I totally missed your post on this subject due to the title.

Bizarro Jerry Et Al, yes, it's been a tough summer on the Wiener. For those who are unaware, I am not really a fan of the Wiener. I just thought the use of "Carlos Danger" as his alias was pretty funny. A perfect poster child for the corrupt/two faced Politicians. I thought it would be a clever Forum name. But now I'm getting a little embarrassed and might have to go with a theme ala Bizzarro Jerry/Lloyd Braun etc. Maybe I'll return as "Crooked Hillary" or "Donald Trump's Hair". I'll think on it. Good to see the forum going strong. I've been following a little. But not too much basketball news and lots of real world work has kept me busy.

Regarding Sam's comments....I think when you leave a job it's like leaving a relationship. The best thing to do is to find another partner that's younger, hotter and better. Or in the case of a job, a higher title/more pay. Otherwise, you pretty much have to just shut up IMO. There's really no way to come off good crying about how you got fired or claiming that KG is mad too (as the author wrote - let KG speak for himself!). I don't hate Sam. He did an okay job. But I wasn't always a fan of how he came off in the press. It's something he needs to work on if he wants to get another Head Coach gig.

[Monster]

Sam comes off as whiny to me. Come on Sam! You were replaced by someone viewed generally by basketball experts as one of the 2 or 3 best head coaches in the League. Moreover, not a single NBA team has offered or even seriously considered you for a head coaching position either since the Wolves let you go or after the Raptors fired you!

Glen Taylor gave Sam a great opportunity as a top assistant to Flip and then as a head coach. His tenure included stubbornly playing Zach at PG and repeatedly blaming his players while never holding himself accountable for any of the bad things last season of which there were obviously plenty.

I don't like the way Taylor handled Sam's departure -- at least as described by Sam. But Sam should man up and move on. He can be disappointed in how Glen treated him at the end, but Sam needs to balance that disappointment or hurt against the fact that Glen gave him an opportunity when no other NBA team would. I felt bad for Sam when I first heard the news the Wolves were letting him go. But his whining has eroded my sympathy and I just want him to shut his trap and move on.

Lip I don't think Sam has any real issue with being replaced especially by Thibs and he said as much. Earlier in this chat with Wolfson They talked a bit about how the wolves would do and he was obviously complimentary of the roster but he was very positive about Thibs (of course mentioned Ryan as well) also as I remember it.

Let's also realize Wolfson proded Sam on this and is a guy that's a big Sam Mitchell guy and feels that Sam's departure wasn't handled well. Sam really held back when prodded more about KG. Sam could have said nothing about all this or said much less but it wasn't like he just offered up all this stuff out of nowhere. Wolfson was working to get it out of him.

As usual with Sam a lot of the times has a good point but then he sort of goes off the rails adding odd stuff in what I assume is some form of hyperbole to hammer that his thoughts/position is so strong it's basically nearly undebatable. If Sam just said his position with some reasonable thoughts and left it at that it would be great. Instead he brings up odd stuff like Thibs didn't call him!!! Ahhh!!! Lol