Thursday, April 6

Toronto 103 Indiana 111

A tale of two coaches . That is basically the coaching situation in Toronto.So similar yet so different. Pat Quinn ,the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs is said to be in hot waters as the city's hockey team is on the brink of missing the playoffs. There is not a day here when you won't hear someone calling for his removal. Talk radio , print media or Leafs TV. On the other hand , there is no talk of Sam Mitchell's fate. Surprise.Surprise . Either the media is resigned to wait the end of
the losing season for the inevitable or the media is afraid of him. I doubt it. A media that prides itself as unforgiving as New York's.



Maple Leafs won against the Islanders , 3-2 while the
Raptors lost to Indiana Pacers, 103-111.



Mike James almost registered a triple double (34 pts.,11 reb.,8 assists) in a losing cause. Stojakovic and Jackson scored 25 pts.each to lead Indiana.
After the game, Sam Mitchell's interview was a carbon copy of the spiel he had yesterday when the Raptors' loss to Boston. The boys did not do this , did not do that . Yada, yada, yada. I am tempted to say ' Play it again, Sam '.
Sam was a picture of a defeated man. He was. It's the 6th straight loss for Toronto.I want to say to Sam. Hold on Sam.There's only a few games left. But I felt he just wanted to get out of the press room.
Someone theorized that maybe the Raptors have tuned Sam out. I doubt it. Larry Bird said a coach should only be effective for 3 years. After that, he loses his players. Well, even using Bird's criteria
Sam should still be effective . He's been with the Raptors for 2 years only. Sam should still be good. Not expired yet , so to speak . Maybe , just like canned goods in the supermarkets , Sam while not expired,is damaged goods . Yes, that's the explanation to his situation. Sam is damaged brain er er goods.

Jay Leno's Take On The NCAA Championship

Florida 'Gators won the championship by shooting the ball very well.
Afterwards , President George Bush called to congratulate them.

UCLA Bruins loss to Florida because of poor shooting.
They got a call from Vice President Cheney.


American Idol : NBA's Own AI

The fans voted Mandisa out of the AI competition last night. She was the best singer in the group, but the one with the 'least acceptable image'. It so happened that the theme Tuesday night was country . Her singing was marginalized , country not being Mandisa's forte. It was fun 'though .They got to mingle with Kenny Rogers . Too bad the country singer's chicken restaurants went out of business years ago. Now that she is out of the AI competition , she could have applied there as a waitress. A singing waitress.

Speaking of AI , I know an AI the Raptors considered the 'one that got away'. He plays for the Philadelphia 76ers. He was drafted after Rafael Araujo and on hindsight could have fit very well with the Raptors. A lot of folks think, that had the Raps drafted him instead of Hoffa , Rob Babcock will still be around.
He is spectacular and a crowd favorite. A lot of basketball pips felt that he 'wuz robbed' of the NBA Slam Dunk title this year by NY's Nate Robinson.
I first saw AI play in the last year of Vince Carter Charity Foundation exhibition game . He was dunking all over the place and kept the crowd entertained with an assortment of dunks. Vince was playing it safe then ( he demanded a trade a few weeks after) but this rookie made up for it with his show of athleticism.
After we got home , I watched the replay of the game on TV and found out his name .
He is AI. Andre Iquodala , Esquire.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Funny, as usual. Thank you for making my day.

11:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Raptors management should fire Mitchell. He is way over his head .Let us find someone with more experience
that the players can look up to. Next season is a make or break for the team

12:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Colangelo should start looking at available coaches resume'. I will try to get a veteran coach but onr that is not too old.
Coaches like Al Gentry , Randy W.,and Michael Cooper are good candidates.
Someone with enough experience but not
a 5x re thread .

3:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hoffa is a wrong choice that costs Babcock his job. The other draft picks by Rob Babcock are OK. Joey ,Villanueva and Calderon.
Who knows , Hoffa might still turn out to be a steal.

4:08 PM  
Blogger coach said...

joey g.- Agree . There still
hope in Hopeffa

7:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Come to think of it , AI as a replacement for Air Canada is cool.

9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sam is doing a good job. He connects w/the young Raps. It would be s mistake
to fire him.
BRING BACK, SAM.

9:34 AM  

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