Mitchell not happy

By Gary Dzen

January 23, 2008

1 minute to read

Raptors coach Sam Mitchell was, to put it mildly, a bit perturbed when asked about potentially losing all four games to the Celtics this season. His team is 0-3 against Boston heading into tonight’s game.

“I don’t even know how to answer that,” said Mitchell. “It’s the next game on our schedule. What’s their record….they’ve lost, what, six games? They’ve beaten a lot of people…We’re not looking at that.

“It would mean a lot [to beat them] because they’re the best team in basketball right now. And they’ve got a great home record. But would it mean more because they’ve beaten us three times? No.”

Mitchell then snapped when asked to answer specific questions on Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford. Ford (spinal stenosis) is currently working out in Houston, trying to get healthy to make his return to the Raptors.

“Is anybody going to ask any real questions?” Mitchell asked.

The coach apparently deemed the next several quesitions as “real questions”, because he talked for over 10 minutes when asked about Ray Allen, Andrea Bargnani, and Kevin Garnett. Mitchell said Boston’s Big Three of Allen, Garnett, and Paul Pierce all deserve to make the All-Star team.

“First you have to look at their record,” he said. “Second, all of those guys are capable of averaging 24, 25 points per game. And they’ve had to, on different nights, if Paul and KG are rolling, Ray Allen does different things. If Allen and Pierce are rolling, KG takes a back seat…the last time I checked, the most important thing is wins and losses.”