Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Everything Bargnani

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Matt52 wrote: View Post
    Via Marc Stein Twitter:




    The best of both worlds for the 'tankers' among us.
    Who says the Raptors don't get mentioned in the US media? Zach Lowe at SI.com via Twitter:


    ZachLowe_SI Zach Lowe
    I fully endorse Toronto tanking, whoops, I mean sitting Bargs indefinitely.

    Comment


    • I think there is enough room to host the Super Bowl in between tanking and not taking gambles on the most expensive and best talent on the team.

      Comment


      • With the assumption that it was the space between Barg's ears that needed the right "lubricating" and hence his play so far...time for Casey to work his magic with DD and ED. My own belief is that ED is in need of adjusting to his physical growth/change with some concentration on his short j while DD is probably more mental. DD bothers me because of his SG position and the skill set required there to be considered elite. Will he get there? We'll have to see. But the clock is ticking. A tough decision will have to be made there end of the year. He will have to show he can deal with the pressure.

        Comment


        • for some reason everytime i scroll past this thread i think of that "everything zen" song. they did play zen tonight sans bargnani, though.
          If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

          Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.

          Comment


          • Interesting tidbit:

            The Raptors have a proprietary evaluation tool call PNet -- it stands for net on-court productivity -- that examines performance on both sides of the ball and goes beyond box score measures to include game logging and coach's input as well.

            A season ago it threatened to be Bargnani's undoing as it exposed gaps in his game beyond his career-best 21.4 scoring average.

            Now it's an advertisement.

            "He's gone from near the bottom of the 300 players we track, to among the top-30," said Colangelo, whose career has been so closely intertwined with the Raptors big man. "The rise is shocking."
            http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2...a_kid_no_more/

            Comment


            • Nice find. That is a great read on more than just the highlighted text above. I recommend people click the link and read it all.

              Comment


              • I can't take credit for the find. It was one of the linked articles on the main page, lol.

                But it certainly explains why the "haters" (myself included) were so loud in previous years, and why there isn't so much of a peep today.

                Comment


                • Good find. Never underestimate the power of a woman (and a volleyballer at that) and a no-nonsense coach. I think the rest of it is mostly fluff.

                  Comment


                  • I wanna know more about this PNet tool, what variables it considers, and how the rest of our roster ranks.

                    Curious about potential free agent targets' scores too.

                    Comment


                    • Interesting Article/Interview on Bargnani

                      http://www.thestar.com/sports/basket...ets-to-success

                      Found this nice interview with Bargnani.

                      Bargnani discussing his oft expressionless persona and where it came from, and his opinions on the hate/negativity spat at him over the years.

                      Cool to see his true feelings and his emotion thats hard to distinguish under his 'blank' game expressions

                      Sweet,

                      Comment


                      • great read ! thanks for posting

                        Comment


                        • A raptor fan from New Zealand? Wow!
                          "Stay steamy"

                          - Kobe

                          Comment


                          • Yeaah Buddy!

                            Surpsising how popular Raptors are over here, with this huge 'SnapBack' movement, every 3rd cap is Raptors haha, but i put that down to the 'cool look' of Raps caps.

                            I however am a legitimate supporter and have copped a fair bit of shit from mates for it!
                            Am a self-proclaimed Bargs fanboy too btw, but finally have bragging rights amongst friends about his play as of late.

                            Comment


                            • Very good read Rawth thanks for the post. I am by far not a fanboy of Bargnani but i definitely appreciate his game this year, a lot and his hustle and determination have impressed me. He is a long term player in my mind if he keeps this up.
                              Very interesting as to how Casey has had an influence and led to his Play.

                              Comment


                              • On demeanour:

                                He knows what people say about the way he carries himself in public. There is an explanation, which is presented without the slightest hint of an excuse.

                                “I grew up with a really tough European coach (current Lakers assistant Ettore Messina),” Bargnani says.

                                Messina still figures largely in his imagination. The Italian had him at Benetton Treviso for three crucial years between the ages of 18 and 20. No mentor has had a greater impact. While his game has changed since, Bargnani’s demeanour was cemented as a teenager.

                                “All the stuff you can do here in college, the celebrating, that’s not allowed. If you do something like this” — and here he mimes the familiar gesture of pounding a fist to the chest — “you’re done. That’s really, really bad. So I got used to not doing it. I was very close to crying more than one time when I was young with that coach.”
                                On soccer:

                                “(The testers) said, ‘Out of all the athletes we’ve profiled, we’ve never seen anything like this,’ ” Colangelo told ESPN. One of the things the profile showed was that Bargnani does not care what other people think of him.

                                Here is a case in point: Bargnani is the only man in the Italian diaspora who tells people he can’t stand watching soccer.

                                “Zero. No interest. It’s soooo boring.”

                                He finally succumbed to repeated invitations to go to a game featuring his hometown club, AS Roma, only three years ago. His highlight, the only one apparently, was sharing VIP seats with the country’s randy ruler, Silvio Berlusconi.

                                “It was good for public relations,” he shrugs, “but boring.”

                                My God, do Italians know you feel this way?

                                “Oh yeah, everybody knows.”

                                And they don’t want to string you up on a lamp post?

                                “No,” he says, confused at the suggestion that this might bother him. “I just don’t like it.”
                                On criticism:

                                This curious immunity to peer pressure has been a double-edged sword during his career, with the sharpest end often held out defensively.

                                “Criticism has two sides,” Bargnani says. “Most of the time it just comes here” — and he points to his right ear — “and goes out here” — the left ear.

                                “It doesn’t change a minute of my life. But if it comes from one of the few people I care about, the people you can count on one hand, it really changes me.”

                                On Casey:

                                When Dwane Casey got the Raptors job, one of his first acts was to phone Bargnani in Italy and hand him the on-court keys to the franchise.

                                Once Bargnani arrived in camp, Casey began taking him aside for one-on-one chats.

                                “A straight relationship, where you feel free to talk, is a very simple thing. A lot of people think it’s a normal thing, but in this business it’s not very common,” Bargnani says.

                                With coaches?

                                “Not just the coach, everybody. Having people say what they think to your face, not behind the shoulder,” Bargnani says. “He said to all of us at the beginning, ‘I’m going to say what I think, whether you like it or not.’ I think that’s very good.”

                                These are not handholding sessions designed to work on self-esteem. Whatever people have suggested, Bargnani is supremely confident in his ability. They are technical lessons being delivered by a man who revels in the details. Bargnani speaks proudly of having his strategic advice solicited by Casey during games.

                                “Of course, he always takes the final decision. But he asks me,” Bargnani says.

                                This is what Dwane Casey has figured out — that Bargnani wants to be coached collaboratively, not cajoled or disciplined or talked at.

                                Your opinion of him doesn’t matter — not to him, and not to you if your goal is to coax the best out of him. What matters is Bargnani’s opinion of you.

                                “Everybody’s good when things are going right,” Bargnani says. “In rough times, when you lose seven games in a row, that’s when you see what people are made of. (Casey) doesn’t change his idea. I say that in a very good way.”

                                Other reasons for his improvement:

                                Improved english? A good place to start. Mom gone? Maybe, sure, alright. Brother gone? Whatever. New girlfriend? WTF do you think? lol




                                Since this is Toronto, every silver lining has its cloud. It’s a matter of time before fans begin to fret that Bargnani will become the latest all-star who wants to venture south once he’s proven himself.

                                When I try to pin him down on this point, Bargnani does not use weasel words or get surly. He points out the flaw in the question.

                                “I don’t think it’s fair to ask me if I want to leave one day, because I think I’ve demonstrated the opposite,” he says. “I think it’s pretty clear that I’d like to stay in Toronto.”

                                Slowly, he extends a finger the length of a pencil. Then he begins to wag it playfully.

                                It’s no war whoop, but Bargnani is not the sort to celebrate when he knows he’s won the point.

                                Source: Toronto Star

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X