Sam Mitchell Is Staying In T.O

Bryan Colangelo Says Sam Is Safe

On locker cleanout day big news for Sam Mitchell fans or foes. It has been clearly stated that Sam Mitchell is the coach of the Toronto Raptors. Bryan Colangelo made it clear that Sam Mitchell is the coach and their is no plan to change that. Here is the proof:

“All things should be put to rest right now. I have absolutely no plans to make a coaching change right now.”

“Nobody’s saying it’s all Sam Mitchell’s fault. Nobody’s saying it’s all Bryan Colangelo’s fault. Nobody’s saying it’s all Andrea Bargnani’s fault. It’s a collective effort in everything we do.”

“He’s the coach of this basketball team.”

The rumors of his job being on the line in the Orlando series and prior to that by members of the media. I said in this blog that ultimately only Bryan Colangelo knows Sam’s fate. Now we all do based on his comments today. I respect Colangelo as a man of his word and do not expect this to change.

T.J Ford is a much different issue. I as a Ford fan have some advice for T.J. PLEASE SHUT UP. I am being honest about it because T.J opens his mouth and inserts his foot. It is just the fact that whatever he says will be compared to what Jose Calderon says and that battle is one that Ford loses everytime. Ford talks about himself as relates to the team. How he can help the team. Jose talks team first and people will always respect that approach more. It is a mistake to think both guys don’t want to win. They do and anyone that wants to question Ford as a guy that doesn’t want to win needs to shake their head. His issue with what his role will be is not an issue to me. I want a guy who thinks and wants to be the starter. But I think T.J must listen hard and long to what Bryan and Sam have to say. If they offer him a chance to compete to be the starter with the understanding that it is an open competition in which he or Jose can win. Honestly that is all Ford can ask for. If it does not go his way he must learn to come to terms with that. I have no doubt where and when T.J Ford plays next year he will be at a much higher level from what we saw this season. It was a very tough year for T.J. People can toss that aside but I will not. The guy love him or hate him almost lost his career. He had to fight fear and return to the floor. He has a warrior mentality that is not easily found on this Raptor team. Jose Calderon has earned all the praise that has come his way. He will get a huge raise to return to the Raptors. That is not even a question.

The major thing to me is that both point guards need to improve on the defensive end of the floor. I honestly feel it is a major mistake to move Ford in the offseason. There is no rush to make this deal. Despite what you may read. You also read that Sam Mitchell was getting fired and that day may come but it is not coming soon. Same thing may apply to the trading of T.J Ford. No one knows what Roko Ukic is or will be. Till we have an understanding of that you can not risk trading Ford in my opinion. Ukic as well will not address the major concern for me at the point guard postion which is defence. He is tall and could develop into a good defender but in year one in the NBA will that happen? Seems very unlikely.

The major issues to me are two. We need a Vince Carter like small forward that is like the Vince we saw in his rookie year. A free agent that can slash to the hoop and draw fouls and dunk. A solid defender as part of that package would be nice too. I think Carlos Delfino will not get resigned and be moved on. Moon should remain and I would think Kapono as well. Anothny Parker could be the odd man on the trading block.

The other issue is the need for a real big. Rasho is big for sure but with his contract he may be required to pull of a deal to add to the talent base that will remain. I think I have the answer to the need for a big and it is not Bargnani. Roy Hibbert out of Georgetown in my opinion would make an excellent selection for the Raptors. He has the size as 7ft 2 and 273 pounds to be a force on the glass and a shot blocker on defence. I think he would be an excellent fit for Toronto and should be available depending on which mock draft you believe in.

Speaking of Bargnani he better use his time with John Lucas wisely this summer. He must improve and be far better. Colangelo seems commited to Andrea and his development but my worry is his value goes way down if he goes back in the tank next year. Make or break summer for Bargnani.

Based on Bryan Colangelo’s comments to not be shocked if you see Jorge Garbajosa have his contract bought out. I base this on a comment made by Colangelo about garbo’s particaption in China for Spain. He said the if Garbajosa is under contract to the Toronto Raptors he would not be playing for Spain. My guess is he will play for Spain because he will no longer be a Raptor and will have his contract bought out. You really can’t trade him based on the fact that no one is sure he will ever be able to play at the level of his lone season in 06-07.

Those are the opening thoughts on what should be a VERY INTERESTING off season for the Raptors. I have done a podcast but have had issues uploading it. If I am able to figure it out I will add it to this post. I repeated many of the ideas in this blog in case I don’t.  Sorry about the delay today. But I had fire alarms going off all morning as they were testing them where I live. I also had some other things in life to take care of. I am working on getting our new writer all set to go as well. Hopefully he will be able to get his stuff on here very soon. He is excited to take part and I am excited as well. Hopefully you all will get excited by what he brings to the blog. So Sam Mitchell press conferences live on…thank God for that because i can’t tell you how many luaghs Sam has given me over his time in Toronto. I like Sam as a person and am happy he is staying with the Raptors. Some may be angry about this news but I am not among them.

Tags: Rasho Nesterovic, T.J Ford, Bryan Colangelo, Andrea Bargnani, Roy Hibert, Anthony Parker, Sam Mitchell, Jose Calderon, Carlos Delfino, Jorge Garbajosa, Spain Basketball