Evans Expected To Make Bargnani Tougher “I’m happy Reggie’s here. I think he’s going to make me better,” said Bargnani. “He’s a good rebounder. He can get me used to boxing out my man every time. He always goes to rebound every time so you have to box out, you have to stay focused.” ANYTHING that helps make Andrea Bargnani a better rebounder increases the Raptors chances for post season success. So far, in his 3 year career, Andrea Bargnani is one of the worst rebounding 7-footers in the entire history of the NBA. He needs to get better - a lot better. Colangelo did a good job of filling out your bench, but he didn't really do much to address your two other biggest weaknesses: rebounding and defense. You were a poor rebounding, weak defending team last season - and losing Shawn Marion actually makes you worse in both areas. So, it's important for the guys that will be playing big minutes on the front line - like Bargnani, to show marked improvement in those areas. Evans probably won't get a lot of PT behind Bosh and Bargnani. His real value lies in pushing those guys in practice to help make them better rebounders and defenders. If he can do that, he'll earn his pay. BNM
i disagree about him not playing significant minutes behind bosh and bargs. triano has publicly admitted that bosh's minutes need to be cut and bargs is not a 40 minutes player in my opinion so i see evans as the third big getting about 20 minutes off the bench. and btw, he's starting right now with bosh sidelined with the injury.
Evans is too short to play center. I suspect Rasho will get most of the back-up center minutes and Evans will get the back-up 4 minutes. If Reggie Evans is averaging >20 MPG for your team, you're in trouble. He's an excellent rebounder, and that does address a need, but he's flat out horrible at everything else. His career PER is 11.6 - and it's been on the decline for the past few years 13.5 - 11.0 - 10.4. BNM
Exactly. So, does that mean you think Evans will average 20 MPG backing-up Bosh at the 4? I should hope not. Bosh will likely play 36 - 38 MPG, almost all at the 4. Maybe occasional spot minutes at the 5 if you go with a small line-up. Bargnani will probably play 32 - 34 MPG, mostly at the 5, perhaps a few minutes at the 4 when Bosh is out and Rasho is in at center. Hedo may get occasional spot minutes at the 4 when you go with a small line-up. Rasho will get most of the back-up center minutes. O'Bryant will probably get a few garbage time minutes at the 5. Evans will get 10 - 12 MPG backing-up Bosh at the 4. If he's getting more than that, somebody (Bosh or Bargnani) is injured. In the event Bosh is injured, I think you're better off sliding Bargnani to the 4 and starting Rasho at center, but if Bosh goes down, it will definitely mean more minutes for Evans. But, like I said, if Evans is getting 20 MPG, you're in trouble. BNM
players get hurt, e.g. greg oden so other players fill in, assuming their minutes. when bosh is hurt- i expect evans do get the bulk of his minutes and that will of course inflate his mpg total's upwards in the process. as for evans- he's the antithesis of every other raptor player because he actually rebounds and defends- thats a very good thing.
Which is what I meant when I said if Evans is averaging 20 MPG, you're in trouble. Because, it means your best player is missing a significant amount of time due to injury. I agree that Evans is an excellent rebounder, but he's not a great (or even average) defender. He gets abused by players who are bigger, and quicker. He can really only effectively guard other slow, plodding, undersized power forwards - and there aren't a lot of those starting in the NBA. If he's your starter, and gettting the bulk of the minutes at PF, because Bosh is injured, you're in trouble. BNM
whatever reggie evans brings offensively is a lot better than what dennis rodman brought and that didnt stop him from playing big minutes on the piston and bull championship teams. look at this way- portland deemed their biggest weakness to be at the starting pg so they brought in andre miller. i like miller as a player but he cant shoot and defensively he's nothing to write home about. however, his deficiencies didnt stop blazer management from throwing 21 million at him. same situation here- raptor management have publicly desired a bruising big to compliment bargnani and bosh; evans would represent that need. as for bosh getting injured and the doomsday scenario u present- that same scenario would be applicable to any team in the league, e.g. if brandon roy went down and rudy fernandez and udoka had to play for him for an extended period of time- i can ensure u the blazers wouldnt even be a playoff team.
You can't seriously be comparing Reggie Evans to Dennis Rodman. First of all, as bad as Rodman was offensively, he was still better than Evans. Rodman's career PTS/36 = 8.3. Evans career PTS/36 = 7.9. Evans is a good rebounder, but he's not close to the rebounder Rodman was. Rodman is the best rebounder of the last 35 years. He lead the league in rebounding seven straight times and is the all-time career leader in TRB%. Evans has never even finished in the top 10 in rebounding. Dennis Rodman was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Rodman was 1st team all-defense 7 times, 2nd team all-defense once and 3rd team all-defense two times. That's a total of 10 appearances on the NBA all-defensive teams. Reggie Evans has never even received a single 3rd place vote for DPOY and, of course, Evans hasn't made a single all-defensive 1st, 2nd or 3rd team. Comparing Reggie Evans to Dennis Rodman is beyond ridiculous. But, at least it explains why you think Evans is going to average 20 MPG - you seriously over value him as a player. Total strawman, and not even close to the same situation, but since you brought it up, I'll shoot it down. Totally different situation. Miller is an upgrade over last year's starting PG (Steve Blake) and will likely average > 30 MPG. He has a career PER of 18.0, compared to Blake's career PER of 12.1 Miller is a huge upgrade at starting PG. Is Evans an upgrade at starting PF for the Raptors? Of course not, its not even close. Unlike Miller, Evans won't play enough minutes to make a big impact on the Raptors won-loss record. And, pretty much every minute he plays is a minute your best player won't be in the game. Every minute Andre Miller plays in place of Steve Blake makes the Blazers better. Every minute Reggie Evans plays in place of Chris Bosh makes the Raptors worse - much worse. Also, your $21 million figure is not entirely accurate. Only the first two years and $14 million of Miller's contract are guaranteed. The 3rd year is at a team option. I'd say Miller at $14 million guaranteed is quite the bargain compared to Hedo at $52.8 million guaranteed. You seem to be missing my point. I'm not predicting Bosh will get injured. All I'm saying is that the only way Reggie Evans averages 20 MPG this season is IF Bosh is injured for an extended period - and if that happens, you're in trouble. And yes, even if Brandon Roy goes down with an injury, the Blazers will still make the play-offs. Yes, Roy is our best player, no doubt about it, but this team is incredibly deep (Udoka probably won't even make our roster - and if he does, it will be as 15th man). Rudy Fernandez would start on half the teams in the league - including the Raptors. We also have Martell Webster back this year - who used to be our starting SG before Roy arrived (and was moved to starting SF to make room for Roy). Yes, our record would suffer, but if Roy goes down we have Rudy and Webster to fill in his minutes, and enough offensive fire power from LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Miller, Travis Outlaw, and Rudy Fernandez to keep us above .500 while Roy is out. The Blazes are 2 - 3 deep at every position, and SG, thanks to Roy and Fernandez is our strongest position. BNM
hey boob, this one is for u from doug smith (local reporter's) blog: http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/ there are things your statistical measures will never account for like the impact of a dude like evans who's the antithesis of every other raptor player.
Which was exactly the point of my original post - that Evans biggest contribution to the success of the Toronto Raptors will be the toughness that rubs off on the players that will be playing the most minutes on the Raptors front line. Having a physical player like Evans to practice against will only help make Bargnani (especially) and Bosh tougher. Practicing against a physical, aggressive rebounder like Evans will help teach Bargnani how to box out and hold his ground. It is Evans contagious attitude and the way he will push players in practice that makes him valuable - not the meager contributions he will make in the limited PT he will receive. He will be a crowd favorite (who doesn't like a guy who busts his tail and doesn't back down from anyone), but he'll probably only average 10 - 15 MPG, unless either Bosh or Bargnani are injured for an extended period of time. BNM
