Hey! Whatever Happened To Brad Daugherty?

By Brian Taylor

The 1997 NBA Draft was one of those rare drafts (these days) in which there’s a clear-cut, numero uno type of guy that every team is after. In that particular draft, the grand prize was Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, a guy who at 6’11” could hold down the forward-center position efficiently, night in and night out. Tim is today’s model of consistency in the paint, but as usual, Duncan rang a bell and reminded folks of another ACC monster in the paint, one Brad Daugherty.

In the late 80’s/ early 90’s the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t exactly the media darlings they are now. If anything, they were a really good team the often got overlooked by other guys in their division. You had Jordan, the Bad Boys and even the Human Highlight Film all in the same division. Cleveland was really known for two guys, the choir-boy/ super-point guard Mark Price, and the original “Big Fundamental” Brad Daugherty.

Coming out in 1986, Brad was the first overall pick, a position in the draft that can either make (Shaq/LeBron/Yao/Duncan) or break (Kwame Brown/Olowokandi/Joe Barry Carrol aka “Joe Barely Cares). In a draft class that included Len Bias and the aforementioned Price, the Cavs cleaned up, gaining two All-Stars.

Daugherty made his presence felt immediately albeit in a quiet, consistent, Duncan-esque way. Brad wasn’t an in-your-face, all elbows kind of center, but more of a quiet hard-hat type (this guy should work with Brendan Haywood).

The All-Star squad saw Brad Daugherty five times in his career, with Brad even getting a trip to the conference finals (people forget that the Cavaliers have been that far before, because they only remember Jordan ripping their hearts out Reggie Miller-Knicks style everytime in the playoffs).

Whenever you see Duncan play, you’re basically seeing Brad Daugherty reincarnated. The post up moves, the spins, even the jumper off glass, those were trademarks of Brad’s game. Mark Price (and Jordan’s crash test dummy, Craig Ehlo) had the green light to hoist threes at will, because they knew Daugherty could clean up the mess. He was also always a really good character guy, and did tons of work for Cleveland’s community.

The reason why you might not have really heard much about Brad is because he’s another member of the “what-if-he-never-got-hurt” club. In 1989, he suffered some injuries that kept steamrolling until Brad had to call it quits in 1994.

With career numbers of 20 points and 10 boards per game, you can see why the guy is one of the most revered in Cavalier history…I’m not counting LeBron yet, maybe after this season, but for now, I’ll give it to Brad.

The You Tube clip here shows Brad Gone Wild in the 1993 playoffs against Boston (and the late Reggie Lewis). So if you want to check out Brad, and thumb your nose at David Sternolini take a look!

 

In Joe We Trust, Or Do We?

By Austin Kent

Just when I think it’s justifiable to openly discuss the Detroit Pistons’ most recent struggles, they start to do what they always do whenever a potential crisis looms they rack up a ton of wins so that I look like an idiot for even suggesting that things were ever amiss. In typical Pistons fashion, the team has already managed to put together yet another streak of lethargic performances just weeks into this young season, and in typical Pistons fashion they have been able to instantaneously right the ship and pull themselves out from their own demise.

To be frank, I’m still recovering from the last breakdown, the one that sent them home before June and ruined my summer vacation. It’s unfair for the organization to expect the hoards of fans to just ignore the fact that their favourite team has a tendency to quit when they need them most, but they do. As a fanatic of the blue and red myself, I wish I could let my guard down and be content with the current state of the franchise, I won’t because I don’t think the Detroit Pistons have exhausted all of their opportunities to improve yet.

The Pistons haven’t lost a game since November 15, which is great considering they started the campaign rockier than a Hollywood marriage. Don’t think I don’t appreciate it, but I’ve been on this bandwagon for awhile and I’ve learned not to let go. I like to call it constructive skepticism and so I look like the negative Nancy that can’t get it up over a six game streak that’s seen the ‘Stons vault into a tie for first place in the central division. It feels like the world is about to come to a sudden and tragic ending and I’m the only one who cares or even notices something is wrong.

Losing the Ben Wallace bid was a blessing in disguise for the Pistons brass as they have made their intentions clear, Joe Dumars will stick with what works and go down with his ship. He is after all the one who built it in the first place. Fortunately this inevitable fall from grace can be avoided, but Captain Joe will have to start bailing, both literally and figuratively.

Chauncey Billups, despite last year’s success, will not be getting any younger, and expecting Rasheed Wallace to provide any sort of foundation that the team could rely on is a considerable stretch at this point in time. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, the Detroit Pistons have a roster designed for the defensive slugfests that the NBA has been so diligently trying to squash since they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.

Trading Darko Milicic was the beginning of the end for the Detroit Pistons. They’ve since proven that they can still be one of the elite teams in the league, but in a single swap they gave up their two best young reserves (Carlos Arroyo being the other) for a draft pick and Kelvin Cato. Even if Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo pan out to be mediocre at best, February 15, 2006 marks the day that Joe Dumars gave in and committed to feeding the fire instead of collecting more wood, to building a team instead of a dynasty.

Fast forward to today, the money saved by dumping Milicic and Arroyo is sitting comfortably in Nazr Mohammed’s bank account and the Pistons have, in less than a year, effectively sabotaged their future. With Carlos Delfino and Jason Maxiell waiting on deck it is hard to write them off completely, but until Joe Dumars proves that he is willing to commit to building and maintaining a solid foundation, it’s hard to take them as seriously as they should be.

Watching Flip Saunders revert back to playing his starters big minutes every night will only lead to more breakdowns in Motown, and watching his inconsistent methods of dealing with his young players leaves Pistons enthusiasts no choice but to assume things will end with a similar fate.

There are a lot of changes that need to be made if the Pistons plan on making the playoffs just three years down the road. They still after all host one of, if not the best starting line up in the league, it would be a shame to see all of that go to waste. Like any successful business the Pistons need to keep finding ways to improve or else they will fall behind. Unfortunately, four consecutive Conference Finals appearances and a six game winning streak take away from the sense of urgency commonly associated with change.

The Pistons, like all sports teams across the globe, have been breaking hearts for the better part of the last half decade, but they have always remained contenders and as it stands they will have just as much of a chance this year as they have had in years past. All they need to do now is show that they understand what works now, won’t work forever.

Joe Dumars, I’m not saying you’re not great. I’m just saying you’re not done.

David Stern Shoots an Airball

By Ryan McNeill

What was David Stern thinking when he told You Tube to take anything related to the NBA off of their site? Does he not get the whole concept of viral marketing? By having fans create clips of their favourite NBA moments it only serves to help increase the NBA’s brand awareness while increasing excitement over their product.

Preetom Bhattacharya wrote a great column called “Fans Lose Another One” about this for Hoopsworld. In his column Bhattacharya sums things up perfectly when he wrote, “By far the biggest blow in Stern’s destruction of the relationship between fans and the game, Stern has effectively removed an opportunity for fans to interact with basketball. These are the same fans that buy the tickets, jerseys, shoes, and posters, but they’re being shut out on the ‘net because David Stern’s backside needed some extra cushioning? Fans across the world watch short clips that others edit to make a highlight reel, often with music in the background and flashy graphics that these fans/video editors spend their free time putting together. Not only are they simply being fans and spending time on a hobby, but these people are damn good at what they do. In fact, they’re better than most arena video editors. They’re better than NBATV’s nightly Top Ten. Don’t believe me? Before it’s too late and YouTube is forced to take down the video, check out “Birth of a New Age: History of Flight” over at YouTube. The mix was compiled by four amateur video makers and chronicles the slam dunk and its rise in popularity. It’s an eight minute, power-packed reason as to why David Stern immediately needs to reconsider this decision. After watching this video, you may have realized the sheer amount of work put into making something like this come together, which is precisely why that single mix has been viewed nearly 28,000 times in the last year. No, the creators weren’t paid a dime for their hard work – they did it because they love the game of basketball.”

As readers of this site will know I post a Dunk of the Day. The majority of the clips have been from You Tube and have featured NBA players. However, now due to the changes that will be occurring at You Tube you will see some changes in that daily post. Now instead of posting clips from NBA games I’ll be posting clips of NBA stars in high school dunk contest, I’ll look for some clips of International players throwing down nasty crams and I’ll be chceking out the top players currently playing high school ball and I’ll post some clips from them.

Regardless of what conclusion David Stern comes to regarding You Tube the Dunk of the Day feature will continue here on HoopsAddict.com – it’s just frustrating as a fan that I won’t be able to draw on plays from my favourite league.

geovisit();

Hey! Whatever Happened to Muggsy Bogues?

By Brian Taylor

While getting ready for work this morning (at Spacely Sprockets of Maryland, where I’m Executive Vice President of Time Wasting and Fun Management), I got a glimpse of the Rockets-Knicks highlights from last night. One play that really stood out for me was “Lil Man Nate” Robinson smacking the air out of Yao Mings’ baseline putback. Everyone loves an underdog, and even more, they love to see big guys either get dunked on or swatted by smaller players. It looks like more of a challenge, and always gets the crowd out of their seats. Watching that clip got me hype today (no Starbucks needed homies) and it reminded me of the original “official little guy of the NBA”, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues.

Reppin’ the city of Baltimore (or “Charm City, Murdaland”, if you’re local) in the mid ‘80’s, Muggsy played high school ball at Dunbar with the likes of Reggie Lewis, David Wingate and Reggie Williams. It was after high school at Wake Forest that Muggsy got noticed. Scouts were baffled at how a 5’3” guard could average double figures in points and still snag 4 boards per game. It was rumored that once against Dean Smith’s Tar Heels, he actually dribbled through a centers’ legs to get to the hoop. In the 1987 draft, Muggs got scooped up my hometown Bullets.

I’ll admit, 1987 was when I first really started watching/playing ball, and I even scratched my head at the thought of a guy that small walking amongst trees, but Muggsy held it down nicely in his rookie year with the Bullets. (Now mind you, this was a draft where a boatload of talent came out, Reggie Miller, Pippen, Kevin Johnson, etc). When he teamed up with 7’6” Manute Bol, I think most fans waited for a TV sitcom to break out, rather than anything positive basketball-wise. The next year, Charlotte and Miami were awarded teams by King Stern, the Bullets left Muggsy unprotected (typical) and the rest, as they say was history.

Once in Charlotte, Muggsy had a new team, new fan base (one that was closer to his college roots at Wake), and a new playing style, with an up-and-down, helter-skelter defensive style that kept other teams looking over their shoulder. It also helped that he had two frontcourt studs in Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson. Pretty soon, the Hornets went from “Nice jerseys/Crappy Team” to “playoff upset specialists” when they shocked the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 92 playoffs.

Bogues was easily one of the NBA’s most popular players, and was always selected as an ambassador for the game, (remember his appearance in “Space Jam”?). Despite never having averaged more than 11ppg, Muggsy became the Hornets’ most revered player, due to his loyalty and the fact that he helped the franchise grow. He was a fierce on the ball/perimeter defender (take note Washington Wizards!), who used stealth to get steals. You couldn’t keep track of him because he was too fast, and too short to see on the court. If you were a sloppy ball handler, your pocket was getting picked. End of story.

After 10 years with the Hornets, Bogues was traded to the Warriors for Kentucky’s Tony Delk. In Oakland, Muggsy fought through injuries, the most grueling of which was his total lack of cartilage in one of his knees. He ended up in Toronto for a short time before calling it a career for good in 2001.

Currently, Muggsy his holding it down as the head coach of the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting, keeping the Queen City Connection going strong. But if you want to see where Nate Rob got his swagger from, check out my man Muggs on the You Tube!

 

Do Centers Take Longer to Develop?

By Jeff Wong

Scouts and observers used to compare him to Brad Miller and Bill Laimbeer. Now, they agree that he is simply lame. He is Rafael “Hoffa” Araujo.

As a Toronto Raptors fan, I saw our 2004 eighth-overall draft pick mercilessly booed on draft night, then in games. I read about his dedication to improvement and saw his flashes of brilliance, but two years later they’re still only flashes. I thought to myself, “Be patient. Centers take longer to develop, don’t they?”

Hoffa’s gone to Utah now, but the question remains: Do centers really take longer to develop? The answer should be in the numbers.

Interview with Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith

By Michael Tillery

Gene Smith, the Athletic Director at Ohio State University, is a difference maker. He oversees one of the most successful athletic programs across the college landscape. He’s one of only eleven Black athletic directors and has paid his dues–serving as athletic director for Arizona State, Eastern Michigan and Iowa State. He’s cultured. He won two championships (one as a player, one as a coach) at Notre Dame but wasn’t satisfied. He aspired to be a ground breaking and social changing administrator who is heart set on taking Ohio State into a new realm of athletic as well as organizational consistency. He recently was named one of the 50 most powerful African Americans in sports by Black Enterprise magazine, has served on the NCAA Management Council, the NCAA Committee on Infractions, the Rose Bowl Committee and the NCAA Football Rules Committee amongst others. With his supremely intelligent and positive character, there will most assuredly be other athletic legislative branches seeking his leadership and organizational skills.

Going into the November 18th mega-stratospheric home showdown with number two ranked and heated rival Michigan, the top ranked OSU football team has the leading Heisman Trophy candidate in QB Troy Smith. His men’s basketball program is ranked in the top five although it won’t have the services until later in the season of freshman phenom Greg Oden—who is the second coming of Patrick Ewing. Simply put, there is a deservedly electric buzz around the Ohio State program and it all starts at the top.

Push on Gene Smith, push on.

Michael Tillery: Initially, what were your business and personal goals when you arrived at Ohio State University?

AD Smith: My business goal first and foremost was go get to know the culture and the people. We have three hundred employees in our department. I wanted to get to know them and find out what their personal and professional goals were. Also to try to get a grasp how things have operated in the past as well as get an understanding of again the culture of the fan base and our student athletes. I wanted to make sure I listened and learned period.

Personally, I wanted to continue to assess how I could make sure I had balance between my life and my job. To find time where I could practice my faith and also stay healthy.

Tillery: Being that this is your first year, what accomplishment are you most pleased with?

AD Smith: The fact that I have made a successful transition into the Buckeye family and have been accepted by the employees. I’ve received positive feedback from our fans about being a part of the Buckeye nation.

I’ve also been invited to participate on the president’s cabinet to help in the policy making process of the university. I’m truly honored in that regard.

Tillery: You oversee the largest Division 1 program with a budget of roughly one hundred million dollars—thirty six sports with over nine hundred student athletes—that is completely self sufficient. Can you comment on what kind of business acumen is needed to manage an organization of this magnitude?

AD Smith: The biggest thing an individual needs to firmly have a grasp of is leadership skills. This is a large organization. Some people would call it a small or medium business. You have to be a very effective leader. You have to understand that people are the heart and soul of what matters. You have to have the ability to bring them together and form a mission consistent with the priority of the institution.

You also have to understand finances. You have to understand operations. You have to be able to relate with people of all walks of life. You also have to have an understanding of higher education and how college athletics relates in the grand scheme of things. There are a lot of other things, but those are the most important.

Tillery: You implemented a departmental reorganization last year. What types of changes were made to increase proficiency?

AD Smith: Basically we created three divisions. Our goal was to put into those divisions people of like duties and responsibilities. We wanted to increase collaboration and communication amongst those people. Also, we wanted to define clear accountability for responsibility. We were able to do that and everything is going extremely well.

Tillery: What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of your job?

AD Smith: The most challenging is recognizing that we are a symbol for thousands and thousands of people around the world—not just in the United States. We have military stationed in Iraq that are Buckeye fans. We are continually receiving communications from them. The responsibility we have is to make our fan base proud. We want all of our sports to strive for excellence and compete at the highest level. That is not always easy. Doing things the right way so we have the opportunity to represent those people is our biggest challenge.

Tillery: Being a former IBM marketing specialist, what business practices have you been able to apply to your position as athletic director?

AD Smith: The things that I learned at IBM really strengthened my communication skills, focus, negotiation skills and sales skills—all the things that I use as an athletic director. I’m in the process of negotiating a new contract with Nike. I’ve been a part of negotiating contracts with coaches. We have a series of companies that we have sponsorships with therefore engaging in continuous negotiations with them. Those aforementioned skills are critical in helping to run a large business. I’m constantly making presentations. At IBM I had to make numerous presentations to various individuals regarding computers that helped me in making presentations concerning Ohio State. IBM helped a lot.

Tillery: Reflect on your time as a student athlete at Notre Dame.

AD Smith: Notre Dame provided me with a great learning environment—not just in the classroom. I had the chance to be in an environment with some fairly competitive students. If I stayed home in Cleveland, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. It helped me grow. I had continuous conversations with people from California, Canada and Texas. Meeting people from Tokyo, Guam and other parts of the world was a great experience. I learned to have a great perspective on people.

Playing football there allowed me to appreciate competition at its highest level. We won a national championship and always were at the top of the college football world. The pressure that comes with that helped strengthened me. My four years there was an invaluable experience. I learned so much. It would be difficult to stop talking about it. I learned a lot. That’s what I want to help create here at Ohio State. I want to create that atmosphere for all of our athletes and it is happening.

Tillery: Troy Smith has made tremendous strides over the past few years as a student athlete. Talk about his development and his maturity.

AD Smith: Troy is a great, great story. We all know his background and the challenges he’s overcome throughout his career are well documented. He has emerged from those challenges and really matured to be—in my view—the best leader in college football today. He has completed his degree in communications. He’s very articulate and introspective. He understands different people. Besides his talent as a quarterback, he has learned how to interact with the different personalities on the team. He’s help to motivate them by whatever means necessary. Great players have to recognize that they have to implement different leadership styles to respond successfully to different situations. Troy implements different leadership techniques based on the individual need. He’s just an outstanding person and has a great future.

Tillery: He reminds me of Donovan McNabb. It’s going to be nice to see him on the next level.

AD Smith: Oh yeah! Definitely. He’s got a helluva arm. He’s settled in. He’s focused. He does what he has to do to win a football game. I think what he does in a great way is to make sure he maximizes his opportunities on the football field and takes advantage of all his talent. People say Gonzalez is his go to guy. Teddy Ginn Jr. is his go to guy. Our tight ends, running backs as well as receivers have thoroughly been involved in every game. He really stretches the field.

Tillery: The income that student athletes generate on game day for the NCAA runs into the billions. What are your thoughts on providing student athletes with a monthly stipend?

AD Smith: I’m not a proponent of a monthly stipend. I think it drives us deeper into the employee, employer relationship. I think it’s important that people know that we do provide financial support to our student athletes. Students as part of their financial aid package get stipends already. Three our four guys live together in an apartment and share—for example—the eleven hundred dollar rent. They get four hundred dollars a month. So they make a little money. We have money that kids can apply for: One is the Special Assistance fund. That fund is available through the NCAA for any student that is in need of financial assistance. They can get money for clothing. Money for optometry work. Money for dental work. Money for emergency travel home and any other number of things. We have another one that is called the Student Opportunity Fund. We pay for all of the parking for our student athletes. If you have a car and you want to park off-campus you can pay from three hundred to four hundred dollars on an annual basis. We pay for that. We are allowed to pay for medical services that go above and beyond the sports related injury. So if a young lady is pregnant and needs assistance, we can help her with that. We had seven young men from the Louisiana area that needed assistance for their families post Hurricane Katrina. We were able to bring them here and put them up in hotel rooms or apartments for a long period of time and give the young men a per diem so they can help feed their family. One of our athletes wanted to find his mother in Mississippi—we were able to fund that. There is money that is available to our kids and unfortunately, most people don’t know that.

Tillery: What advice would you give student athletes to maximize their performance in the classroom as well as the athletic field?

AD Smith: The important thing is focus and to broaden your goals. A lot of student athletes across the country come to schools like Ohio State with one goal in mind—to go pro. What we need our athletes to understand is that for them to become better people they have to broaden their horizon. That affords them more options than just being a pro athlete and allows them to maximize their earning power. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are great examples. Those guys just didn’t make money being a part of the game. Also they need to understand that they might not go pro. They need too strengthen their other skills and talents so they can become that lawyer, doctor, businessperson or athletic director—whatever they have an interest in. Our biggest challenge is helping them to understand that they need to take advantage of all the resources here to position themselves to live the lifestyle that they dream to live.

Tillery: As a life time Golden Domer, do you envision your Buckeyes playing Notre Dame for the BCS championship?

AD Smith: No we played them last year and beat them. I don’t want to see them again. Laughs. Notre Dame has had a good year. I personally don’t feel they are the number two team in the country, so I would like us to play someone else. I’m not big into rematches.

Tillery: That being said, there is mass speculation that if the game against Michigan is close there could be a rematch.

AD Smith: It could be. That one might be more deserved. Michigan is the number two team in the nation. I believe that the top part of our conference matches up against any conference. I really don’t want to see Michigan again—even though they might deserve to play us again. They have earned it. They are without a doubt the number two team in the country.

Tillery: You played Texas this year. Do games like that and others similar approach the electricity that is being felt from this game?

AD Smith: The game here against Texas under the lights had a national championship like feel. Both teams had a warrior mentality that made the game special. I truly feel that Ohio State vs. Michigan on November 18th will surpass the electricity that the Texas game had. It gets no better than number one vs. number two. It will be the first time in the one hundred three years of the series that both teams will be undefeated as number one and number two.

Tillery: Are you happy with the BCS format?

AD Smith: Yeah at this time I am. The BCS will have to continue to be tweaked. I don’t know if a playoff system is the end with all. If you go to an eight game system, the ninth team out there will thoroughly have a legitimate gripe. You are always going to have one or two teams that are not going to be in the end game. Right now, I’m OK with the BCS. We need to evaluate the BCS every year until we get it right.

Ohio State University Athletic Director Gene Smith, we appreciate the voice.

Where’s The Love for Sam Mitchell?

By Ryan McNeill

This month I’ve been reading through a book called “Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People who Made a Difference” and the opening paragraph of the introduction by Bill Bradley is something that has been running through my head whenever I read or hear something about Sam Mitchell. Bradley wrote that “leadership means getting people to think, believe, see and do what they might not have without out. It means possessing the vision to set the right goal and the decisiveness to pursue it single-mindedly. It means being aware of the fears and anxieties felt by those you lead even as you urge them to overcome those fears. A great coach embodies these qualities and transforms them into a force that can effect powerful changes in those they lead.”

Can any Raptors fans argue that Mitchell doesn’t match this description of a leader? Say what you want about Sam but you can’t argue the fact that he’s a great motivator and inspires his players to perform above their abilities. During his time as Raptors head coach he has helped Chris Bosh blossom into an All-Star, he’s helped a NBA vagabond in Mike James average 20 points per game and he did a great job of helping to ease Charlie Villanueva into the NBA last season. Some of his critics will argue that he wasn’t able to turn former first round Rafael Araujo into at least a solid role player but even the illustrious Jerry Sloan hasn’t been able to much with Hoffa.

Some Raptors fans will argue that centring out Andrea Bargnani in front of the media last week or getting in an argument with Rafer Alston two seasons ago make for horrible coaching practices. I’d like to make the arguement that it’s great he doesn’t play favourites and that everyone on the team from star Chris Bosh to 12th man PJ Tucker need to be held accountable for their actions during games or in practices. If you’re a NBA player you need to have thick enough skin to deal with constructive criticism from your coach.

Other pessimists will argue that Mitchell isn’t a great strategist and that he’s unable to organize his playing rotations. The truth to this argument is that last year Mitchell was hampered by having only three quality players on his roster which meant he had to overplay Mike James, Chris Bosh and Morris Peterson out of fear of playing the rest of the “scrubs” on his roster. Now the Raptors have 10 legit players on the roster and it’s meant that Sam has been able to dispense playing time based on how players are performing. With role players like Jose Calderon, Kris Humphries, Jorga Garbajosa, Fred Jones and Andrea Bargnani showing that they are worthy of minutes off the bench this season it’s meant that Morris Peterson and TJ Ford have been given a quick yank when they are hoisting up ill-timed shots or not playing with the intensity that is expected from them. Add Rasho Nesterovic as our starting centre and Euro MVP Anthony Parker into our starting five and Sam actually has a solid core of players to work with this season.

The only question I had heading into the season is if Sam’s going to be able to adapt during games to strategies opposing coaches throw at the Raps. Last year they lost over 20 games by six points or less and they were unable to stop players who got hot (as shown by Kobe scorching them for 81 points). On Friday night Sam started to squash this concern when he formed a great game plan during halftime to contain Joe Johnson. In the first half Johnson went 8-10 from the field to finish the half with 18 points but was then limited to four field goals in the second half.

After the debacle that occured last season I never thought I’d write this but I’m enjoying what Sam Mitchell is doing with the Raptors this season. It would be nice to have squeeked out victories against San Antonio and Atlanta but I like the direction that this franchise is headed with Mitchell at the helm.