Sam Mitchell says he wasn't allowed to coach Andrea Bargnani the way he would have li

[Jamiecballer]

Former Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell says he wasn't allowed to coach Andrea Bargnani the way he would have liked to because the franchise felt Bargnani wouldn't be able to handle it.

Mitchell believes this could be one reason why Bargnani hasn't turned out to be the franchise player some thought he could become.....

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2...pment_raptors/

[mike_noodles]

I doubt anyone would be surprised by this.

[Jamiecballer]

I doubt anyone would be surprised by this.

i don't know. maybe the Triano acolytes.

[mrker]

Breaking news, water is wet, the sun is hot, and I pay ataxes every year, ,,, oh yeah andrea is soft and will stay that way until someone punches him in the mouth, ,,,,,,,,,,for a year of practices, will he Fold? Will he Thrive?
only way to find out is for someone to start smacking him,
can we pay oakley enough money just to come push this guy around?

[mjt20mik]

Not a shocker. Bargnani would be crying all night.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

Sam Mitchell would've probably tried to get into a physical fight with Bargnani and Bargnani would probably have shut the organization out.

[Jamiecballer]

^ give the kid some credit

[R. Johnson#3]

I always loved the Smitch.

[Jays Claw]

Not surprising. Same excuse was used against Carlesimo's practice drills a few years back.

After being told about an idea that would allow the Nets guards to crash the boards while the bigs made a dash up the floor, Carlesimo, who served as an assistant under Triano last season, had this to say, according to Abrams:

“That’s what I wanted to do with [Andrea] Bargnani last year, but [former Raptors coach Jay] Triano wouldn’t let me,” Carlesimo says. “He said it was demeaning. At least our smalls had a chance of getting the rebound.”

If you see a stalled TTC bus anywhere in the city today, you might want to make sure Jay Triano and Andrea Bargnani aren’t under it.

LINK

[Rego247]

Say what u want about smitch, he's the only coach who held Bargs accountable.

[DaoudS]

Didn't Bargnani have a hard *** of a coach in Italy? Why is the front office babying him so much?

[ink]

Interesting how this part isn't being talked about from the "straight shooter" Sam Mitchell:

That was a tough draft. I believe in that draft if Brandon Roy didn't have the knee issues he would have been the No. 1 pick, but the reason we passed on Brandon Roy is the reason you see now, his knees," Mitchell explained.

"I'm not disappointed from the standpoint that we took Andrea, but I'm disappointed in that Andrea has yet to reach the potential he has because … Andrea has all-star type talent. He just hasn't played up to it yet.

Even Smitch makes it clear why the organization 1. selected him, and 2. gave him 7 years to prove himself. I've read again and again in here posts that say that Bargnani has no talent and has only 1 NBA skill.

It appears that the straight shooter himself acknowledges the potential they all thought he had.

[ink]

Didn't Bargnani have a hard *** of a coach in Italy? Why is the front office babying him so much?

Yes that was the rep. But Smitch might also be colorizing the story and not admitting that the Raptors might have thought he was too brutal in general.

[CB29]

I knew this already. Sam said it before.

You gotta realize though.. A kid's 18 years old and he's moving to a different country, culture, and atmosphere. If you push things too hard it can disintegrate. Unfortunately, Bargnani just accepted it as a pass he could get on not working as hard as he should've. Sometimes, you get lucky and sometimes you don't. Valunciunas seems like he understands.

[ink]

I knew this already. Sam said it before.

This.

And Sam has made excuses for his lack of coaching success in general before too.

Not to say Bargnani hasn't run his course in a Raptors uniform because he has, but CONSIDER THE SOURCE.