Fire Sam Mitchell.

Click the photo above or the link below to read my article from bleacherreport.com that pleads for Sam Mitchell’s dismissal from the Raptors. 

Sam Mitchell walked down the dark corridor on his way to the visitors locker room, the light from a nearby camera casting his six-foot eleven inch shadow on the red jersey-ed Raptor contingent walking behind him. His eyes were low. His paces methodical. 

He had just witnessed his team play themselves out of yet another contest. With a chance to hold for the final shot of the first half, the Raptors opted to try a series of unnecessary passes on the perimeter, before finally turning it over after being whistled for a travel with 3 seconds remaining. That was more than enough time for Chauncey Billups to stroll down the hardwood and nail a buzzer beating three pointer – stretching the Nuggets lead to 64-45 at the break. 

Things would only get worse in the second half. The Nuggets continued to score, and the Raptors continued to put up little in the way of resistence. Mitchell watched from the sidelines, looking every bit as shellshocked as you’d expect from a man who realizes that his days as the head coach of this team seem to be numbered. The final score read 132-93 – the type of game that could make a case for the “mercy rule” to be implemented in the NBA rulebook.

I’m not going to pin all of the Raptors struggles on their coach. Injuries to Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon have prevented this team from firing at full capacity for most of the year, the supporting cast have given new meaning to the word inconsistency and the trade rumors that swirled around this team through the first month of the season certainly didn’t help either. 

But it’s time to fire Sam Mitchell.

His effect on this group has been slowly eroding away, dating all the way back to last season. Last night’s debacle in Denver however, was the final wave that washed away the remaining land in which Mitchell was standing on. It went much further than a lack of defensive intensity or a streak of cold shooting – those are attributes of this team that have been evident all season. It was the overall effort, or lack thereof, that was truly depressing.

I’d use the word humiliating to describe the contest, but that would suggest that the Raptors were actually embarrassed by their performance. From what I saw last night, it’s like they were expecting the beat down. When the Nuggets began their onslaught in the first quarter, they showed little anger, frustration or surprise. It was a game that they were expected to lose, and most members of the team appeared satisfied with doing so.

Whatever Sam Mitchell is preaching in the locker room these days is obviously not working. He was never the strongest X’s and O’s guy in the league, but for a long time he was able to light the proverbial fire under his players ass. He coached the same way he played the game… fiery and intense. Not anymore. 

Two seasons removed from a Coach of the Year award and an Atlantic Division title, Mitchell has seen his status in Toronto go from savior to scapegoat. But such is the life of an NBA coach, where even some of the sport’s greatest minds have a limited shelf life. Look at the names who are rumored to replace Mitchell – Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders, etc. Most of them have been fired themselves in the past year, and yet they’re now being heralded as the answer for the Raptors problems.

I don’t think Mitchell is a terrible coach. His substitution patterns leave me scratching my head a lot of the time, and I have serious doubts about his defensive strategies, but I think this is more a case of complacency in the T-Dot. I’m convinced that Mitchell has reached his expiration date. The Raptors have tuned him out, and that has never been more obvious than in last night’s blowout.

Maybe the Raptors just need a new voice to guide them, or maybe their problems are rooted much deeper than a coach that has worn out his welcome. But with a particularly difficult stretch of games scheduled for December and the Raptors toiling beneath the .500 mark, this is not the time to play the waiting game. 

It’s time to fire Sam Mitchell.