Basketbawful

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Sam Mitchell just says "no" to the Hack-a-Kobe strategy

Toronto Raptor coach Sam Mitchell has been getting bashed in the press ever since his crappy team allowed a single player to score 81 points against them. This is kind of understandable, especially considering the fact that there are nights when his entire team doesn't score that many points. Shot-happy goon Antione Walker, who hasn't played defense since someone stole his red crayon in Kindergarten, even had the gall to claim that "If somebody gets 81 on me, I'm going to clothesline him."

Well, Mitchell is sick of hearing it, especially from players like Walker, who is well-known for his not-so-tough-guyness. Not only does he think Antione is a lying pussy, he wants everyone to know that no amount of coaching strategy could have helped the woeful Raptors. After all, Kobe was on fire.

"One: We were trying to win the basketball game. We were up in the fourth quarter. Two: We did double team him. Three: He hit some incredible shots. He had shots where he stopped, pump-faked three times and our guys went up with him and he made shots. People should understand that he averages 35 points per game, so obviously he can score."

I don't know. I sort of see where he's coming from, but it's pretty hard to justify not being able to stop someone from scoring 80 points. If anyone remembers the mid-90s, it sometimes took the Knicks and Heat three or four games to reach the 80-point mark. And do you think Charles Oakley would have stood by and watched Kobe notch 81? No, he would have hit Kobe over the head John Starks before he even made it to 60.

In all fairness to Sam, though, watching someone score that many points against your team is probably kind of like watching Godzilla eat your city. Sure, everybody jumps in and says you should have nuked him or something, but those same people will just run screaming when the monster comes to their town.

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