Sam Mitchell
Sam Mitchell
Samuel E. Mitchell, Jr.is a former professional basketball player and coach who is currently head coach of the U.S. Virgin Islands national basketball team. He was most recently the interim head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association. He was also the head coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Associationfrom 2004 to 2008. Mitchell has also done analyst work for TSN and NBA TV as well as radio work for WHAL-AM in Columbus and...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth2 September 1963
CityColumbus, GA
Probably 80 per cent of it (is due to youth and inexperience). They come out with veteran guys who understand the league and know how to play. We come out with second-year guys, it's tough.
Probably our inexperience down the stretch cost us.
Do we want to win? Of course, every time we step on the floor and play,
We're all hopeful that he can play and recover from this - for Alvin. He's worked hard, and he's a good basketball player and brings the type of attitude that you want to your team. I just this is one step in his comeback.
I think our guys are just overwhelmed, this is a brutal way to be introduced to the NBA,
I just know how to deal with the players different now. You've got to learn as a coach, and especially first year with new players, which buttons to push, and how to push them, and when to push them.
If I go that route, and I haven't decided, it won't be that I'm angry, it will be that we've got to grab some people's attention,
Every week we're going to get better. Obviously our young guys need time to grow and learn how to play at this level. The most difficult thing is going to be to have patience.
The guys want to win, this is what we do and I hope people understand that. As bad as they want us to win, trust me, there's not one fan that comes to the game that wants to win more than myself and these players.
I'm going to try to empower my guys to help teach, to help motivate, to help encourage them, to help these guys when they have a bad stretch to keep their confidence up.
It's nice. And it's even nicer that some of the free agents we have came in and had a chance to play and played well. I was happy for those guys,
Just handling certain situations different, being more patient,
We just got beat. It's not going to get any easier, either.
Right now, everyone's going to predict different teams and they should. San Antonio, Miami, those teams on paper have guys stronger. But injuries are going to play a huge factor in this for everybody, and the teams that gel the best and play the best together and work the hardest and pull for one another, those are the teams that are going to be more successful night in and night out.