Sam Mitchell: "I did not watch Eurobasket"

[mvblair2]

It seems a little bit contradictory to me.

Me too.

IMHO a NBA team cant prohibit a player to play with his national team, but they can make him pay for it.

Unfortunately, yes, you're right. And Colangelo and Mitchell should know this of all people, because they've assembled a team of players who played for their NTs: Bargani, Bosh, Garbajosa, Calderon, Nesterovic, and Pavlovic.

But Neozyrus, it's still very early in the NBA season. Toronto has only played 3 games. Perhaps the athletic trainers and doctors want to make sure that Garbajosa is really recovered or perhaps the team wants him to get a little rest or perhaps Mitchell is a bad coach. There are a lot of reasons that Garbajosa might not be playing....but it's still too early to worry, I think.

 

[kg062]

When I watched the game live against the Sixers Garbo was absolutely horrendous on both ends of the floor. He couldn't keep up with his defender and he chucked a few bad shots. Whether he is hurt or not, the other bench guys in the Raptors have just outplayed him so far in the season, which is why they are getting some significant minutes. No disrespect to Garbo but
I think his game was a bit off, and since our bench just got deeper coming into this season, we don't really have to rely much on him as much as we did last season. Though I still think that down the stretch we will need him in the playoffs, right now, the priority is for him to get back on shape. Remember he just came from a serious injury.

Sam Mitchell's bad relationship with a spanish journalist in Toronto gave another proof about that he must be quite angry with Garbajosa. When this jounalist asked the Raptor's public relations director for an interview with Mitchell, he got the answer "Sam preffers not to talk with you, he knows that if he talks about Garbo, he can begin a fire". It doesnt sound very friendly to me.

Doesn't matter who or where you are from, as long as you're from the media, expect some bashing from Sam.

 

[Neozyrus2]

Me too.
Unfortunately, yes, you're right. And Colangelo and Mitchell should know this of all people, because they've assembled a team of players who played for their NTs: Bargani, Bosh, Garbajosa, Calderon, Nesterovic, and Pavlovic.

But Neozyrus, it's still very early in the NBA season. Toronto has only played 3 games. Perhaps the athletic trainers and doctors want to make sure that Garbajosa is really recovered or perhaps the team wants him to get a little rest or perhaps Mitchell is a bad coach. There are a lot of reasons that Garbajosa might not be playing....but it's still too early to worry, I think.

U r absolutely right, theres alot of games still, (78 right now) and i really hope that things really change for him, its just that, as it is a really new situation (He didnt play so little time since he was a junior player), its quite easy to begin to feel a little nervous.

 

[Richey6662]

Also, Ford is in great shape and has clearly outplayed Calderon so far, so stop whining for every Euro player and accept the fact, that sometimes their lack of playing time is also their fault, not only coaches'. Typical Old Europe, always blaming someone else, with no personal responsibility.
Why aint Jasikevicius getting enough playing time? May I automatically assume Obradovic is a stupid coach?

 

[mvblair2]

Doesn't matter who or where you are from, as long as you're from the media, expect some bashing from Sam.

That's also a good point. For some reason, Mitchell uses public criticism as a way to get players motivated. Personally, I don't think it works.

U r absolutely right, theres alot of games still, (78 right now) and i really hope that things really change for him, its just that, as it is a really new situation (He didnt play so little time since he was a junior player), its quite easy to begin to feel a little nervous.

Absolutely. There is time for the situation to change. And obviously Garbo himself is quite upset with the situation and definetely nervous about it.

Also, Ford is in great shape and has clearly outplayed Calderon so far, so stop whining for every Euro player and accept the fact, that sometimes their lack of playing time is also their fault, not only coaches'. Typical Old Europe, always blaming someone else, with no personal responsibility.

Thanks, Rumsfeld.

I don't think Ford has totally outplayed Calderon. I mean, Calderon has had some great moments in this early season, and even Mitchell has praised him throughout the pre-season. That's why it's so vexing that Calderon isn't getting more playing time.

 

[JGX2]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20071111_Garbajosa_starts_slowly_for_Raptors.html

The Raptors may be regretting their decision to let Jorge Garbajosa play for Spain in the European Championships this summer after he had broken his leg late last season.
Despite not having surgery on the leg, which the team begged him to do, Garbajosa insisted that he was fine, and he played pretty well for Spain. (The team had to get temporary insurance on his $8 million contract.)

But through the Raptors' first five games this season, Garbajosa is shooting an anemic 21.4 percent from the floor and has played just 39 minutes, grabbing just eight rebounds. And since Garbajosa never has had great quickness, any loss of speed impacts his game.

"He's just not the same guy," a Jurassic observer noted this week. . . .

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/OtherSports/2007/11/11/4646949-sun.html

Jorge Garbajosa of the Raptors will not admit that anything is wrong with him, however it is apparent he hasn't healed completely from the broken leg he suffered last season. Garbajosa's refusal to have off-season surgery has put his career in a strange kind of limbo. He has gone from being an indispensible part of the Raptors team to being an afterthought.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/TheWireStory.asp?id=6372

MADRID, Spain (Ticker) - Jorge Garbajosa's minutes with the Toronto Raptors are down so far this season and his insistence on playing for Spain at EuroBasket 2007 may have something to do with it.

That's the view of Garbajosa's international teammate Pau Gasol.

"It's surprising and unexpected, (Garbajosa's) situation," the Memphis Grizzlies forward wrote in his weekly column in Spanish newspaper Marca.

"There's something strange going on because Jorge says that he feels fine. I think that for all the things he did in the summer and his desire to play in the national team at the EuroBasket, the Raptors have a bit of a grudge."

 

[Neozyrus2]

Those articles just show both sides of the coin.

 

[JGX2]

Big Garbajosa article from a Toronto paper today:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/277022

Still, if his game seems more tentative than it did last year, perhaps it's because his left ankle, when he removed his sneakers the other day, looked to be the size of a small cantaloupe, bloated like the rest of his lower left leg.

And perhaps it's because he is well aware that his fibula, when last x-rayed around the beginning of training camp, still hadn't fully healed.

On a practice court in Italy, Bryan Colangelo, the general manager, told reporters that there was, according to doctors, a "99 per cent chance" that the bone would not mend without further surgery.

So his leg's likely still broken. The infamous $1 million insurance policy that allowed him to play in the European championship is up on Nov. 30.

 

[mvblair2]

Thanks for the article. During the Spurs-Mavs game last night, David Aldridge said that Garbajosa was being rested by the team because of his injury.

 

[JGX2]

...and suddenly Garbajosa gets 24 minutes against Indiana tonight, and posts 8 points and 6 rebounds. Bargnani only played 4 minutes.

 

[Neozyrus2]

It was about time.

 

[Alyosha122]

I think Sam has too many players on his roster he can accually use, and doesn't know how to use them all, to his advantage.

 

[robbe2]

If I see the Raptors roster, I see a quite good, balanced roster.

But when I see their games, I see a team that plays 1-1 and 2-2, with the other players waiting on the outside for the kickout, without any structured offense. Now there are many teams over there playing like that (while, for example, Utah doesn't fit into that category), and I'm starting to not really care anymore, but it just hurts seeing Garbajosa, Parker and co. having to play that way.

I think Colangelo know's what he's doing. But he had no room to remove Sam Mitchell, because you just don't fire the guy with the Coach of the Year title.

Just imagine seeing all those players play after Ettore Messinas playbook.

 

[mvblair2]

I think Sam has too many players on his roster he can accually use, and doesn't know how to use them all, to his advantage.

Yes, but some of them are being overused, like Moon and Kapono...in my opinion.

If I see the Raptors roster, I see a quite good, balanced roster.

Yes, me too.

But when I see their games, I see a team that plays 1-1 and 2-2, with the other players waiting on the outside for the kickout, without any structured offense.

I only watched a game against Cleveland, and their offense was much, much slower than it was last year. I think your observation explains that.

--Matt

 

[JGX2]

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/278381

DALLAS – Toronto forward Jorge Garbajosa was inactive for Tuesday night's game at Dallas after team medical personnel saw something "unusual" on an MRI of his left leg, the one he broke last season.

Garbajosa has missed three of the Raptors' last four games. He is not expected to play or practice again until the team can determine the extent of the problem.

 

[JGX2]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g2SGtoYWGdR_XcCYJ34ZqbpdD6Nw

TORONTO (AFP) — Jorge Garbajosa, the Toronto Raptors' Spanish forward, will see a specialist about his ailing left ankle and leg, the National Basketball Association team said Saturday.

The Raptors issued a statement in response to reports out of Spain that said Garbajosa would miss the rest of the season because of ankle surgery.

"We have arranged for Jorge to consult with a specialist in Baltimore on Monday," the team's statement read. "Future treatment and therapy options remain undetermined at this point."

 

[Neozyrus2]

Toronto has always wanted to put Garbajosa into another surgery since the review of the ingury in August.
But as Garbajosa denied that possibility in order to play the EC and as the insurance for his ankle expires this week, is quite a coincidence that now doctors find something again in his anckle that probably will require another surgery.
Maybe all that Toronto's doctors say is true , and i want to believe that is true, but still, is suspicious.

 

[kestas2]

sam mitchell didnt and should have not deserved nba coach of the year.

maybe they gave the award to him in order to play down the influence of foreign scrubs that were so important to this team. NBA has to think about it's American image of some sorts, don't they.. and btw, Kapono is way better than Garbajosa in this regard and I fully understand why he's playing more (especially if Garbajosa has ankle problems).
but please do not take that personally, this is simply a shallow thought from a person who isn't the bigest fan of NBA

 

[Lebron232]

I think the Raptors find a gem, when they signed an undrafted Free Agent during the off season named Jamario Moon.

Jamario Moon: Man with a Mission

He attended Meridian Community College where he averaged 20.8 points per game and 8.7 rebounds. Moon entered the 2001 NBA Draft but failed to be drafted by any team in the NBA.

After he had impressed in a three-day mini-camp held by the team, then he was offered a two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors

Lists of draftees in the 2001 NBA Draft


http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?year=2001&sort2=ASC&draft=0&sort=



I think Moon would be the modern day version of Ben Wallace, an NBA player that became undrafted in the 1996 NBA Draft, and during his prime he became one of the best defender in the history of the NBA winning an NBA title in 2004, and becoming a 4 time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

He is one of my favorite Rookie in the NBA, and his life is such an inspiring story because he has been given a chance to play in the NBA. I hope he fulfill his dreams, and become one of the best role player in the history of the league.

 

[DanMajerle2]

"The Brain" talks again :

Now we found out through the Toronto Sun that he even feels insulted when you try to tell Sam Mitchell they are playing European-style basketball:


"I feel insulted when I hear that," Mitchell said. "I don’t see NBA players wanting to get out of their contract to play in Europe. you don’t see college kids leaving school early to play in Europe. Nothing against Europe, but this is our game … You watch European basketball and all they want to do is play like we play. All they want to do is dunk the ball."

I liked the one marked in bold . He's really a real observer of basketball

http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/nba/insulting-sam-mitchell-and-the-raptors/#more-342