Mitch Johnson has taken over as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, and continues to set the bar higher and higher as the season goes on.
Last season, everything that could go wrong for the San Antonio Spurs seemed to.
Victor Wembanyama had a blood clot, Gregg Popovich had to step off the sidelines, and De'Aaron Fox, their splashy trade deadline addition, missed the final part of the season with a finger injury.
It was far from ideal, but the team has bounced back and is firmly in Finals contention. A lot of credit is owed to Mitch Johnson, who took over for Pop in an interim capacity last season before being named the full-time skipper.
Johnson Compared to Spolestra, Riley
Johnson's ability to command a team despite limited experience and being younger than some of his players (Chris Paul) has stood out, and he is reminiscent of two-time Finals-winning coach Erik Spoelstra.
"I'm not sure who to compare him to, but he's just, maybe he's a young Erik Spolstra all over again," said Mike Taylor on the In the Building Radio Show. "He has handled this job, a job that so many guys would not be able to come in here and handle. He just looks like he's been the coach for four or five seasons already."
Or, we could go even deeper, more old-school.
"I would take things one step further and say Pat Riley," I countered. "Thrust into the fire, rises up to the occasion, maybe probably wanted the job, but not the way it was handed to him. So I would go that route. All the concerns with Mitch Johnson, I think there are some valid concerns, but at this point, it's all what-about-isms. What about the playoffs? What about the lack of experience? He's proven the naysayers wrong multiple times at this point, so has the rest of the roster, and there's no reason to think that they won't do it again and continue to build. It's a very optimistic time."
Riley took over for Paul Westhead six games into a season, and Westhead replaced the incapacitated Jack McKinney. The off-court similarities are the same, the buy-in from the players (Magic Johnson and Victor Wembanyama) is the same, and the rapid improvement is the same.
The only thing missing is an Armani suit, but until the league reinstates a dress code for coaches, I think Mitch looks just fine in a quarter-zip.