Minnesota Sports Forum

It's less than ideal, but Flip needs to step down from coaching for good, make Mitchell the head coach for the year and search for someone else next summer. It just doesn't work having Mitchell trying to coach the team like Flip because he's a placeholder. Make him the full time coach to run it his way even if it ends up being similar to how Flip would coach the team. I can't believe Glen is letting him keep both roles while he's having health issues. Our young roster needs stability at the head coaching spot. We can't afford to ruin an important development year on coaching switches.

I am guessing Flip and the Wolves are making this decision now so Mitchell can run things as he is the coach to a certain extent. Mitchell is gonna run most things like Flip would be he has to be able to be who he is as a coach. Flip is a coach he won't want to hamstring a guy. He is going to give Sam some latitude to do things how he wants.

Flip was obviously optimistic about how he could deal with this illness and has realized recently that he needs to take a step back. He is a guy that can change his mind fortunately. I really have to wonder if his health makes him more likely to look harder for a replacement after this year. He has talked about not coaching in the future so you wonder where this puts his mind at. Who knows there is a lot to think about when you face something this serious.

Mitchell I think is a guy that's at least competent. Some people won't agree that's ok obviously. His connection with KG makes him make sense as the guy to step up for this year. Flip obviously has faith in not only Sam but a lot of the rest of his staff as well and that's perfectly reasonable. They added Bryan Gates who I have read nothing but good things about and Woj talks highly of him.

To me the question about this team is first whether the coaching staff can help develop players. Flip has a pretty good track record with guards so that was a positive of him taking over last year. Can this staff develop guys? It seems to have assistants that have been praised for their work there. Next is obviously gettin the te to at well overall. Obviously the big question on a lot of people's minds is 3's which has been discussed plenty. Defense is an even bigger question for me and Q.

I am not thrilled with Mitchell as interm but it makes sense. I think he coaches this year or till whenever Flip comes back and then Flip ends up hiring someone next offseason. I tend to think it will be a younger coach of some type but you never know.

I imagine I may be the only one on this board that is really happy that Mitchell will be taking over for Flip. First and by far foremost, I'm happy that Flip has come to his senses and realized that you can't battle cancer while coaching and directing an NBA team. Having Sam coach the team and Milt take over PBO duties is the best thing he can do for himself and his family. Focus on your health, Flip, and know that the team will be in good hands with the guys you hired.

Now, why do I think Mitchell is a good choice to coach this team? Two reasons: culture change and three-point shooting.

The Wolves desperately need a change in culture, and Mitchell is an ideal guy to get them there. Flip has been largely successful in his coaching career, but I've often had the feeling that he isn't tough enough. He's a players' coach who seems to me to be more liked by his players than respected. I think Flip's softness has been a factor in the Wolves ridiculous number of man games lost due to injury the past few years. Certainly many of the games lost to injury were due to injuries that were serious enough to not allow a player to be on the court, and some others were lost due to a tanking strategy that ultimately led to our getting the first pick. But I maintain that Flip's permissive culture has also been a factor in players missing games. I think Wolves players frequently sit out with minor injuries that players on other teams would play through, and I think that is less likely to happen withy Mitchell coaching. Sam averaged 75 games a year during his career, and is just a tougher guy than Flip. It's been said that just a disgusted look or snide comment from Mike Zimmer has put more than one Viking back on the practice field when they would have preferred to have been icing in the tub, and I see Mitchell as being cut from the same cloth as Zimmer. Neither one of them seems particularly concerned about being friends with everyone on the team, but they are both respected. I think that is just what this soft team needs. Mitchell is not going to accept players taking time off with minor injuries, and he is not going to be sympathetic to anything less than 100% defensive effort.

Secondly, Mitchell is as much of a proponent of the 3-pointer as Flip is a detractor. Sam's Toronto teams ranked in the top half of the league in 3-point attempts in all 4 years, and in two of the years were 4th and 5th. Contrast that with Flip's teams, which consistently rank in the bottom quartile in attempted threes. Cynics will say that Sam is just an interim coach, a placeholder installed to duplicate Flip's coaching style while he is out. If so, they don't understand Sam Mitchell. As an assistant coach, Sam was obligated to do Flip's bidding...even in the few games that Flip had to miss. But he is simply too independent and ornery to play it that way once he is given the reins. Mitchell is a strong guy, and this will become his team the moment he takes over as head coach. And that's a good thing.

Very few of us question the talent on his team, but many of us have questioned Flip's coaching. And I maintain that Sam is the opposite of Flip in the two areas that Flip falls short...3-point shooting and toughness. I think the Wolves are a much better offensive and defensive team than they were 24 hours ago, and may have added as many as 10 wins to their projected season total. Mitchell may not be loved by the players as much as Flip is, and they may grumble behind his back occasionally. But they will respect him, play harder on defense, and shoot more threes. And that just has to make them better.

One point Inam curious about LST which guys do you think should have been gutting out injuries last year that weren't? The only guy I can really think of that I really thought seemed like he could have played but I was sorta fine he didn't was KG.

I disagree, Long. Toughness in a coach wears thin pretty quickly unless accompanied by savvy, smarts and success. Pat Riley was a tough coach, but he was also brilliant at handling personalities and extremely smart as a basketball mind. And he's been highly successful everywhere he's coached. I just don't see those qualities in Sam. I know his Toronto team made two playoff appearances and that Sam was named coach of the year one of those seasons. But he wore out his welcome shortly thereafter when his team nearly mutinied. His 156-189 career record speaks for itself - mediocrity. We could do worse, but we should do much better at this critical time in the team's development.

Never been a Mitchell fan as a coach, but he's KG's guy so I guess it makes some sense at least short term. Hopefully Flip will recover and be back sooner than later.

Has anyone heard anything about Steve Nash wanting to coach? He would have the Canadian connection with Wiggins, he saw the game like Rubio, and is well spoken and seems to have the right demeanor.

I am guessing this is a temporary thing. I am sure Mitchell learned a lot from his time coaching the Raptors. I can't see there being a better situation for Sam to coach in then this since he has KG on the team that can help bridge any gaps between coaching and players.

Monster: The most extreme example is I don't think Sam Mitchell lets Thad Young take a 2-week sabbatical after his mom's death. And it was even worse than that...Thad came back from his time off in such poor shape that his play for several games after he returned was terrible. Losing a parent is a painful thing, but it's part of the human experience, and Thad is not the only NBA player who has lost a parent. I don't know if any other starter has ever taken two weeks off though. The team was already reeling from losing Rubio, and then Flip allows Thad (who was playing pretty well at the time) to leave the team for 14 days. I can't believe Sam Mitchell would have permitted that. I also remember several times last year when various players missed game with things like "viruses". which I have heard is often code for perhaps having had a little too much fun the previous night. It just seems to happen to the Wolves more than other teams. We need a culture change. and in many ways Mitchell is the anti-Flip and can provide it.

Lip, you and I disagree about what players think of Flip and Sam. We don't know, of course, but I suspect that if NBA players were asked to play the word association game, they would reply "nice guy" when asked about Flip, and "tough" or "respect" when asked about Mitchell. And you and I really have different opinions about what happened to Mitchell in Toronto. You see it as "losing the team"...I see it as exactly what this soft franchise needs. Vince Carter had given up on his team, and was spending a lot of time on the training table with "general soreness". The fans were booing him and Mitchell lost his patience with him. Sam came into the clubhouse one day and found Carter on the training table once again, and made a snide remark about Carter's toughness. And much to smartass Jalen Rose's delight, Mitchell and Carter ended up in a wrestling match. Toronto's front office needed to back Sam at that time, but instead they backed Carter...and Sam's time in Toronto was effectively done. To me, it's an example of exactly what I like about Mitchell...he's not going to coddle his players in an attempt to be liked, but instead is going to demand that they give 100% at all times.

To me this move parallels what the Vikings did two years ago. They had a coach that the players loved in Leslie Frazier, but Frazier was way too soft and wasn't winning. So Spielman and the Wilfs brought in a guy the exact opposite of Frazier in Mike Zimmer. Zimmer is tough and, like Mitchell, isn't afraid to mock a player who he thinks is spending too much time in the hot tub. And not surprisingly he has turned the Vikings around.

The Wolves need to decide what they want to be. Flip the PBO has assembled a team with a lot of talent, but his lack of toughness and fondness for the long 2-point shot will continue to limit this team's success. Mitchell brings toughness and a different offensive philosophy, and I say "Hallelujah"!

When I think of Sam coaching the team. I think tough love. I think if you show toughness he will be your best friend. If you don't you won't. I think he has softened up a little over time and will provide a good balance. I don't see guys getting tougher. I remember a moment last year when Payne was kind of blowing off Flip. Flip should have not let that happen. I don't think Mitchell will. I am hoping the players respond to Sam. If they do we will know we have the right type of players on this team.

bleedspeed177 wrote:When I think of Sam coaching the team. I think tough love. I think if you show toughness he will be your best friend. If you don't you won't. I think he has softened up a little over time and will provide a good balance. I don't see guys getting tougher. I remember a moment last year when Payne was kind of blowing off Flip. Flip should have not let that happen. I don't think Mitchell will. I am hoping the players respond to Sam. If they do we will know we have the right type of players on this team.

Yeah, that Payne moment made me think less of Flip and less of Payne. Flip said something to Payne, and Adreain showed him up publicly by rolling his eyes. You can't allow a player to do that, and I don't think Sam would have. Sam is a lot like KG...everyone is not going to like him all the time, but if you play hard and tough, you will get along fine with him. Guys like Rubio and KG don't need a coach to get them to play tough, but some guys do. I'm interested in the impact Sam will have on players who don't necessarily always seem to have that fire in the belly...guys like Martin, Wiggins, AB and Towns. Personally, I want Mitchell coaching those four guys more than Flip.