The Mitchell report
No steroids here. Only some interesting stories out of the mouth of Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, whose 13-year NBA career crossed paths with Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett in Minnesota. Garnett credits Mitchell with some of his development, and earlier this week told the Globe’s Marc Spears that Mitchell was the only person in the NBA more intense than he is.
Mitchell threw praise back KG’s way before tonight’s game.
“It’s no different for him in a game than it is in practice,” Mitchell said of Garnett. “With him, you never know it’s not a game. He loves it.”
“Ray Allen came up to me in Rome [the Celtics and Raptors played there during the preseason] and asked me, ‘Is [Garnett] really like this all the time? Does he always feel like he has to win?'”
Mitchell said he was.
“He knows more about the history of basketball than anybody,” Mitchell said of Garnett. “He’s a pain in the [rear end]. When you screw up, he lets you know.”
When Mitchell was still with the Timberwolves, he said Garnett extended his career (Mitchell is Minnesota’s all-time leader in games played) because he pushed him so hard in practice.
“People used to tell me, ‘It’s just practice,'” said Mitchell. “I told them I had to get ready so [Garnett] doesn’t score 50 on me.”
Now a coach, Mitchell is forced to see things from a different perspective. But he still maintains that there is nothing lost by practicing with such intensity. When asked if Garnett could burn out by practicing so hard, Mitchell’s answer was simple: Make practice shorter.
“You don’t have to practice for 2 1/2 hours,” he said. “Practice for an hour.”
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