Quick Hit on S. Mitchell

Point Guard A - 14.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 45% fg, 37% 3pt, 90% ft (60-66)

Point Guard B - 12.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 9.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 45% fg, 40% 3pt, 100% ft (43-43)


Which one of these guys would you take? Well, it probably depends on if you want an aggressive, freestyle guard or a more passive, traditionalist point guard.

Those are the stat lines of T.J. Ford (A) and Jose Calderon (B, and 2nd in the league in apg). I bring this up because in the wake of the Sam Mitchell firing, GM Bryan Colangelo has come under some fire by talking heads and bloggers alike.

Personally, I like the Raps’ roster and I never was a big Sam Mitchell fan. Yeah, he did win Coach of the Year a few years ago, and Jerry Sloan has won that award exactly 0 times. So who’s the better coach?

With Colangelo, he wanted a guard that can play with a fast tempo and keep everyone involved. With Ford and Calderon on the roster, he chose to keep Jose and trade Ford for Jermaine O’Neal, to help clean up the glass with Chris Bosh. Bosh is more comfortable on the wing than in the low post, so at least on paper you wouldn’t think they would clash.

Meanwhile, under Jim O’Brien, Ford still plays an uptempo game with Indiana. If O’Neal can be productive and give Toronto 60 games, I think it will be an even trade. It’s better for both Ford and Calderon to be in positions where they’re getting 35 mins a game, not splitting 24.

The fact of the matter is Mitchell is one of those iron-fist coaches that never really had a grasp on this team, nor wanted to play the style of ball fitting the team BC assembled. Unlike the Kerr/D’Antoni fiasco that’s backfiring in Phoenix this year, I think this GM/Coach force out was actually a good move.