So what does the Mona Lisa have to do with Maurizio Gherardini?
Mona Lisa is the name of the painting, but the actual woman in the painting, the model, is Lisa del Giocondo, who was born Lisa Gherardini.
As for the blood ties, Maurizio Gherardini isn’t 100% certain that the families are directly linked, but he sincerely believes they are, as Lisa Gherardini hails from his father’s hometown, Florence. And Gherardini, he said, is a very rare name.
“You can look on Google. There are not many Gherardinis,” the Raptors VP said, prior to a recent game at the Air Canada Centre. “And while I can’t guarantee you how close the ties are, I think we’re connected.”
Maurizio did not grow up with stories of the Mona Lisa and how there may be a family connection.
“To be honest, I’ve always admired the painting, but never paid too much attention to the last name,” he said.
The personable Raptors VP wasn’t even aware that they shared a common surname until one day when the CEO of a local company strolled into the Banca Commerciale Italiana in Forli, Italy, where Maurizio was the head of the Letter of Credit Department, and presented him with a gift.
“I said, ‘That’s very nice of you’. But I wasn’t getting what he was trying to do,’ ” said Maurizio. “And he said, ‘My hobby is history. I read a lot of historical books. And I found this book by a French historian who tells the Mona Lisa story’.
“But I still wasn’t getting it. ‘Why this book?’ ” I said. ‘Why didn’t you bring me another book? And he said, ‘I thought you would appreciate this particular book because it is your story and your family’s story.’ And that’s how I found out about Mona Lisa’s last name.”
Since then, Maurizio has embraced everything about the Mona Lisa and Lisa Gherardini, the woman with the shy, enigmatic smile. He has travelled to The Louvre in Paris 4-5 times to view the painting and takes enormous pride in Da Vinci’s great work.
“Somehow, without having any credit, I do take pride,” he said. “She’s a Gherardini.
“It’s fascinating. The first time I was a little bit shocked by the size because I thought it was much bigger,” he added.
While many wondered if Bargnani’s game would slip minus perennial all-star Chris Bosh, instead, it has gone the other way.
No longer a timid flinger of deep shots, seemingly allergic to the paint, the confident Roman has grabbed seven or more rebounds in six of his past seven games and averaged about 22 points a night over that stretch, despite misfiring on 85% of his shots from three.
“We found him different areas where he could be effective,” said Raptors head coach Jay Triano. “If there is a five (centre) playing him, then we spread the floor. If there’s a (swingman) we try to get him touches down low.
“His game is consistently evolving. His post play has been a lot better than it has been any other year and we’re not afraid to get it to him (there).”
The results have changed and so has Bargnani’s demeanour. Fist pumps and excitement have replaced the non-plussed aloofness observers grew to associate with the now five-year veteran.
Off the court, he has also been far more animated in his interactions with the media … except perhaps, when quizzed Thursday about his success against the Knicks.
“Of course everybody wants to touch the ball. Next question,” he said when asked about his season-high 24 field-goal attempts.
“It was not that I was making crazy shots or something unbelievable,” he continued. “I was making easy shots inside the paint.
“They had (small forward) Wilson Chandler on me. That was part of the game-plan. The goal was to get the ball inside.”
On Wednesday, Bargnani was also the facilitator of the offence. He looked more effective moving the ball to teammates than the departed Bosh — never the greatest passer — ever did.
“That’s something new, I still have to get used to it,” Bargnani said of facing more double-teams. “I think I’ve been getting much better at that with experience. It is something that is going to come.”
The bigger concern, with the Denver Nuggets in town Friday, is preventing points, not scoring them. Nothing has come easy to Toronto on defence lately.
“Denver is maybe the best offensive team in the league,” Bargnani said. “We know we can score points, but we definitely need to play better defence against a team like that. Otherwise they’re going to score 120, 130 points.”
The Raptors have allowed an average of 104.2 points per game this season, 24th in the league through Wednesday. During the club’s last five games, things appear to have gotten worse. Only Washington (112.4) has allowed more points per game than Toronto (112) in that span.
Most teams in the NBA have a winning record when they score 100 or more points, but not the Raptors, who are just 7-8 when they break the century mark. And when the opposition scores 100 or more points, Toronto is just 3-11.
Still, Raptors head coach Jay Triano suggested defence is not a major concern right now.
“I thought we were pretty solid [Wednesday],” Triano said. “[New York creates] tough match-ups. You have to give up something with that team and we decided to take away the three-point shots, and that was the least number of attempts that they’ve had in, like, five games.”
Jay Triano thinks about the open road. Ron Wilson only sees a dead-end. Jay thinks that if the young players continue to learn and improve the Raptors can be a very good basketball team. Ron just hopes the rookies don’t screw up the next game.
Jay is open and honest and offers suggestions and thoughts to the media—and to the fans. Ron smirks and offers sarcasm or condescension to the media—and to the fans.
Maybe there is something to the old proverb—better to be accommodating than boorish.
Well, the Christmas season approaches and what could be under the tree for our two dichotomous coaches? How about a box of Triano good fortune for the unfortunate Wilson, or some magic dust? At the very least a Christmas fruitcake that brings about the miraculous epiphany of each Leaf player who eats it that Wilson indeed knows what he is talking about. All this mediocrity was just rehearsal for the actual play.
Triano would really love a quality experienced wing player or, at least, the evolution of one of his young wing players into a consistent professional. And for his players to finally grasp the concept of perimeter defence and guard their man rather than cheat inside– and inevitably get beat from the outside.
Still waiting for the Raps to make an additional roster move – Stojakovic has missed a bunch of games and the team needs some more useful guard/forwards. There is also still an open roster spot, and with Dampier landing (and – strangely – not playing very much) in Miami, I really have no idea what’s going on on that front.
