<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Andrea Bargnani will determine his Raptor fate. Coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday he's not sure if the No.1 overall draft pick will be a starter or come off the bench when the Raptors open the regular season Nov.1 in New Jersey. Training camp will determine it. "We're not going to rush him but if he's ready to play, we're going to play him," Mitchell said yesterday of the 7-footer from Italy. "He's got the right like every other player on the roster to earn minutes. Or to earn a starting job for that matter." Becoming a starter would be a huge surprise, since Bargnani is being asked to acclimate himself to a new culture as well as a new style of play. Compounding that is the fact he's going to start out his career playing the same position (power forward) that's the domain of Chris Bosh, the team's best player.</div> Source
even if Bargnani doesn't start in the beginning of the season, I still see him starting towards the ends or maybe the middle of the season.
I'm sure that this was the plan, especially after getting rid of Villanueva. The more time he gets, the more he'll develop.
How well he uses his size is going to make a big influence on his minutes. If he plays as a tall, offensive 3, he's going to have a hard time cracking the rotation. That part of our team is competitive and he'll have to show efficiency and consistency (2 things that rookies have difficulty with). I could see him making a decent contribution as Bosh's backup. He's going to have to show much better rebounding/post skills to take up that role, but (with Sow gone) there's not much competition there. And, of course, if he takes advantage of his 7 foot, 230-something lbs. frame, he could become a mainstay in the rotation as a center. I highly doubt the last one, though. I think he's going to have to slowly develop into that role. Either way, I don't really see him starting. It's more a matter of how valuable he can be in his first year.
I see him starting or at least playing pretty big minutes in a three forwards/two guard running system. I don't think that his lack of defense will hold him back since the rest of the team isn't a whole lot better.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bryce40ww:</div><div class="quote_post">I see him starting or at least playing pretty big minutes in a three forwards/two guard running system. I don't think that his lack of defense will hold him back since the rest of the team isn't a whole lot better.</div> he's too slow to guard three's and not strong enough to guard four's or five's.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting deception:</div><div class="quote_post">he's too slow to guard three's and not strong enough to guard four's or five's.</div> Hopefully he tries putting on ALOT of weight/muscle before the season.
That's usually what players do during the offseason. The weight he is right now will probably remain the same when the season starts. You just got to hope that he can compensate for his lack of strength with technique/fundamentals (which I doubt).
I think we'll just have to wait until the season comes, for some reason I think he'll be able to defend PFs fine. I think he'll give them trouble just because he is 7 feet tall.
The headline of this story is completely misleading. If you look at the quote Mitchell says "He's got the right like every other player on the roster to earn minutes. Or to earn a starting job for that matter." That somehow instantly became "Bargnani is getting a legit chance at a starting spot." I don't think anything we've seen so far really says that he's going to be in the starting 5. All Mitchell was saying is that any player has a legit chance to crack the line-up if they play well.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting a13x:</div><div class="quote_post">The headline of this story is completely misleading. If you look at the quote Mitchell says "He's got the right like every other player on the roster to earn minutes. Or to earn a starting job for that matter." </div> they have to sell papers in a market where most people are unaware toronto has a professional basketball team, yet people are well versed on the divorce proceddings of their beloved maple leaf enforcer. misleading headlines to muster up interest or cause stir by suggesting the first pick has a chance at being good is something the paper must consider. and btw- is anybody else tired of mitchell's b.s. replies; does he think he's smarter than all of us?
To tell you the truth, I think he learned a lot from how Babcock was fired. Even in this article, or the other one, he mentions how he's reluctant to put any expectations out there. He's playing for his job right now, and I wouldn't expect anything but b.s. responses at this point.
Let's say Bargnani does start, what would the lineup be? C: Bosh PF: Bargnani SF: Peterson SG: Parker (Jones for small/quick lineup) PG: Ford OR C: Nesterovic PF: Bosh SF: Bargnani SG: Peterson PG: Ford
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting deception:</div><div class="quote_post">they have to sell papers in a market where most people are unaware toronto has a professional basketball team, yet people are well versed on the divorce proceddings of their beloved maple leaf enforcer. misleading headlines to muster up interest or cause stir by suggesting the first pick has a chance at being good is something the paper must consider. </div> True, but I think you can do that by writing a legit article instead of stretching one phrase. If they had even asked Mitchell one follow up question to get more info I'd be satisfied or if doug smith had actually bothered to add some extra insight about why he thinks Bargnani can / can't start that'd be great. I realize we can easily draw these conclusions ourselves but it'd be nice to hear them from someone who is close to the team. I don't have a problem with him speculating that Bargnani can start etc ... but at least back it up with something. At first, I was happy when I saw that headline because I thought it suggested that maybe he was further ahead in his development than we previously though or Mitchell had some use for him where he could crack the line-up etc? But when you read it there was nothing to it, and that was disappointing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iggy:</div><div class="quote_post">Let's say Bargnani does start, what would the lineup be? C: Bosh PF: Bargnani SF: Peterson SG: Parker (Jones for small/quick lineup) PG: Ford OR C: Nesterovic PF: Bosh SF: Bargnani SG: Peterson PG: Ford</div> How about: C: Rasho Nesterovic PF: Chris Bosh SF: Andrea Bargani SG: Morris Peterson PG: T.J. Ford
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">How about: C: Rasho Nesterovic PF: Chris Bosh SF: Andrea Bargani SG: Morris Peterson PG: T.J. Ford</div> I did have that lol, the second line up I posted was that.
I don't think Bargnani would be quick enough to guard a lot of SFs, like he may be agile for a 7 footer, but SFs are quick. Like Marion, Gerald Wallace, Tmac, Lebron, Paul Pierce, Richard Jefferson, Ricky Davis, Deng/Nocioni, Josh Howard, Ron Artest, Maggette, Melo, Desmond Mason, Caron Butler, etc. If he were to start, I would hope it would be at center or power forward, maybe him and Bosh would take turns.
