Minnesota Sports Forum

LOL. I get the sense Mitchell doesn't really like the interviewer. He basically says the opposite of what the Interviewer leads. Examples:

MP: Plus there is less of a variation on how coaches coach defense than offense, isn't there?

SM: No, everybody has different principles. Everybody has a different way of doing things.

MP: Getting back to defense for a minute, you don't trap that much --

SM: You don't see what we do. We do, you just don't see it.

MP: And you started, it seemed like last night in particular [against denver], switching guards more than you had been before.

SM: No, we didn't switch.

MP: Are the kids further behind defensively or offensively? It seems to me it is defensively, with Zach [lavine] anyway.

SM: Offensively.

LOL! I could go on - but you get the point. IMO that confrontational approach with the media pretty much seals his future as out the door. I had thought after the good start that he had a shot at keeping his job - assuming the team would continue to play at that level or even better. But things have really taken a turn for the worse again. Add in how he relates to the media and he's a dead man walking. Cue the draft thread. The good news is we don't have to worry about losing our #1 pick by making the playoffs :-)

thedoper wrote:I do see Sam is prepared for answers here. But honestly, I don't see a clear direction. It seems like he is scratching his head trying to figure it out still, which doesn't give me a ton of confidence in his abilities as a coach. That being said, I would say on a general level he has great ideas about how to improve players abilities and skills and would be great to continue in a player development role.

Yeah, my optimistic hope is that while he's not the right guy to coach a modern-day team, perhaps the individual players learn something from him and he breaks them of some bad habits. Do they get tired of him, pissed at him, tune out at some point? Yes. But perhaps something sticks in the process.....

Carlos Danger wrote:LOL. I get the sense Mitchell doesn't really like the interviewer. He basically says the opposite of what the Interviewer leads. Examples:

MP: Plus there is less of a variation on how coaches coach defense than offense, isn't there?

SM: No, everybody has different principles. Everybody has a different way of doing things.

MP: Getting back to defense for a minute, you don't trap that much --

SM: You don't see what we do. We do, you just don't see it.

MP: And you started, it seemed like last night in particular [against denver], switching guards more than you had been before.

SM: No, we didn't switch.

MP: Are the kids further behind defensively or offensively? It seems to me it is defensively, with Zach [lavine] anyway.

SM: Offensively.

LOL! I could go on - but you get the point. IMO that confrontational approach with the media pretty much seals his future as out the door. I had thought after the good start that he had a shot at keeping his job - assuming the team would continue to play at that level or even better. But things have really taken a turn for the worse again. Add in how he relates to the media and he's a dead man walking. Cue the draft thread. The good news is we don't have to worry about losing our #1 pick by making the playoffs :-)

Ha, the 2016 draft thread was queued long ago. Join the fun.

As for his approach, he's direct and blunt, but he also went into great detail with some of his answers and in some cases agreed with Britt. Hell, this was only Part I of the interview.

The bottom line is that Sam Mitchell is a cantankerous, old school soul that can wear people the wrong way. If he's so disillusioned by what these kids learn in AAU (and I tend to agree with him), he should create his own AAU program in Atlanta where he can really instill the fundamentals while kids are still amateurs and learning the game.

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:I do see Sam is prepared for answers here. But honestly, I don't see a clear direction. It seems like he is scratching his head trying to figure it out still, which doesn't give me a ton of confidence in his abilities as a coach. That being said, I would say on a general level he has great ideas about how to improve players abilities and skills and would be great to continue in a player development role.

Yeah, my optimistic hope is that while he's not the right guy to coach a modern-day team, perhaps the individual players learn something from him and he breaks them of some bad habits. Do they get tired of him, pissed at him, tune out at some point? Yes. But perhaps something sticks in the process.....

What else can you hope for at this point? Well you can hope for that and the new owner not moving the team right away.

Good interview. Sam gave some very nice insights. But it doesnt change the fact that Sam Mitchell is just not an nba head coach material. He is more suited as a player development coach or an assistant. HE knows how to develop players and is a good teacher. But head coaching involves game planning and managing, strategies, adjustments and running a system. I dont think sam is cut out for that.

I'm not sure Mitchell knows what a trap is. I don't know how you disguise traps when they're actually occurring. You're either trapping the ball handler or you aren't. You can disguise where the trap comes from, but I'm not sure how you trap people without them knowing it.

worldK wrote:Good interview. Sam gave some very nice insights. But it doesnt change the fact that Sam Mitchell is just not an nba head coach material. He is more suited as a player development coach or an assistant. HE knows how to develop players and is a good teacher. But head coaching involves game planning and managing, strategies, adjustments and running a system. I dont think sam is cut out for that.

Talking a good game is one thing. Lots of wannabes can do that. But getting your players to prepare in the right way, and then go out and execute is quite another. And as far as running systems he seems completely lost to me.

khans2k5 wrote:I'm not sure Mitchell knows what a trap is. I don't know how you disguise traps when they're actually occurring. You're either trapping the ball handler or you aren't. You can disguise where the trap comes from, but I'm not sure how you trap people without them knowing it.

It's the "I'm smarter than you" or "Cantankerous" (as Q put it) attitude that Mitchell has with Media. It gets old. It's not surprising he has a PR person sit with him on the interview. He has a lot to learn to become a better ambassador to a franchise. I have no problem with people being direct or straight shooters. But he comes off as a prick IMO and not many guys can get away with that. Especially on a team not winning many games. I just get the impression he doesn't like to be questioned on his methods. But that's goes with the territory of being a coach.

I guess I don't care how he gets along with the media, why should I? Many successful coaches don't, he's no Bob Knight and should be fired for his coaching after this year, not for how abrasive he is. Ahh, is he not nice enough?

BizarroJerry wrote:I guess I don't care how he gets along with the media, why should I? Many successful coaches don't, he's no Bob Knight and should be fired for his coaching after this year, not for how abrasive he is. Ahh, is he not nice enough?

Key word here is "successful". When the young team he coaches is getting worse and worse as the season progresses, despite a perfectly healthy roster (a rarity in the NBA), he doesn't help himself by being defensive and grumpy with the media.

That being said, the fact he took the time to really open up to Britt deserves plaudits....although I still feel like he's acting like his own defense attorney ("Look, look, here are all the things I'm trying to get through to these guys, but it's so difficult! We're so young and skinny!").