Damian Goddard has been part of the Toronto sports landscape for almost a decade. The Humber graduate has worked with 680 News, Rogers Sportsnet and is now a member of the Raptors NBA TV team. You can catch more of Damian hosting Raptors Game Day and Raptors Post Up each game day on Raptors NBA TV.


by Damian Goddard
--raptors.commentator
November 15, 2004

(TORONTO) -- Sam Mitchell hasn’t reached wits end. And that’s a good thing, seeing as the Raptors aren’t yet an eighth of the way through the season.

But he’s learned enough of his team to know one thing. Mitchell is a black Howard Beale with specs and, like the ‘mad prophet of the airwaves’ from the film Network, he’s mad as hell and he’s not going take this anymore.

But don’t think this scenario is confined to just Toronto. This perceived ‘player-malaise’ appears to be of epidemic proportions in the NBA.

Heck, not two weeks ago after a loss to the Raptors, Ben Wallace of the defending champion Detroit Pistons – y’know, the team which won a title by ‘playing the right way’ – got it all wrong. Not wrong in the end result, a 101-89 loss at Air Canada Centre. Wrong in the way the team went about business, according to Big Ben.

"We came out playing hard and made plays but after a while we started to go through the motions and didn’t execute our sets or take anything away from them… We thought it was going to be a cakewalk.”

Sam Mitchell is determined to get his squad playing 'the right way'. (NBAE/Getty Images)

A cakewalk? Weakened and ailing from hip surgery, a bed-ridden Larry Brown must have had nurses rushing to check his blood pressure after catching wind of that bit of nonsense.

Are we to believe that the Pistons just kind of forgot about everything that made them successful last spring? Now look, I realize they’re not machines, but a team like the Pistons should be beaten, not beaten by themselves.

But if the epidemic can take hold of a team that oh-so methodically went about business and shocked the world just over four months ago, who are we to not think the infection could spread to Toronto?

And that’s not to say its effect has taken hold of each and every player. It doesn’t have to, to run its course. The Raptors are a prime example of that.

While the game of basketball lives and dies by its team concepts (see: Pistons), it is arguably the one sport that depends upon its star attractions (see: Lakers). As the star goes, so goes the team, in almost every case. And really, there is nothing a coach can do about it … or is there?

Regarding the Raps, that’s something we’ll find out in the coming weeks, possibly days. Just seven games into the season, what we’ve already seen from Mitchell is a willingness to address problems head-on. No work … no play. It’s as simple as that.

That’s the message a number of Raptors players have received from their rookie bench boss. While it may rub some the wrong way (and there’s a long list of fired NBA coaches to prove who has held the upper-hand) it’s exactly the type of philosophy that has endeared Mitchell to his boss, Rob Babcock.

In a courtside interview with Norma Wick this past weekend, Babcock lay down the gauntlet, saying he supports Sam 100%. With that, the onus now falls onto the players’ shoulders. Wow, player accountability – what a novel concept.

The coach/management relationship also appears to be a strict departure from last year’s environment. And how has that translated to the on-the-floor product? Well, let’s just say that the Raptors could realistically be sitting at 6-1 instead of 4-3. Not bad, considering six of their first seven contests had come against teams which sported .500 or better records last season. But now the question begs, “will the Raptors rise to the occasion in closing out the first month of the season?” Only three of the next nine opponents had winning records last year.

Under Mitchell, the Raptors have displayed vim and vigour and an attitude that has not been seen in quite some time. They were down by as much as 28 to an offensively disciplined Sacramento squad. They battled back from a 14-point deficit in Seattle. They were a Lamond Murray fingertip from overtime in Portland; 20-points in arrears, the Raptors should have posted one of the greatest comeback efforts in franchise history.

But in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of pro sports, fighting tooth and nail means next to nothing unless it comes in concert with a “W”. And as it stands right now, the only thing separating Mitchell from basketball bliss is improved, consistent play from Vince Carter and Jalen Rose; the two men earning almost half of the Raps’ payroll.

Said Mitchell following the loss to Portland, "they've got to get it together soon because I'm not a very patient person."

He’s mad as hell, and he’s not going to take this anymore. But will some vital cogs in the machine take heed? It may well be the difference between regaining some of its lost fan-base and missing the playoffs for a third-straight season.