<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 9 2007, 09:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He isnt a terrible player but worthy of the number one pick? No.</div> The only other players that I could make a case for picking over Bargnani are Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. Andrea Bargnani as the #1 pick to me, I will never question it, he will be a very good player down the road, and he's a great compliment to Bosh in the paint.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (blazerspwnu @ Jul 9 2007, 10:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>maybe gay and bargs could be better in the long run but as of right now and I think at least for the sophmore season, Roy is and will be better.</div>I cant argue right now that Gay or Bargs is better than Roy, Roy has defiently proved he was the best last season. But players can make major leaps in one off-season. Deron Williams is arguebly better than Chris Paul....but nobody wouldve thought it their rookie seasons. It wouldnt surprise me to see Foye, Bargs, and Gay get atleast 15ppg each next season...they are all that good. Just saying Roy doesn't have the potential as them...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 9 2007, 10:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I eventually see Rudy Gay becoming the 'star' of this class.</div>I hope so...
My top 3 picks would be Gay, Aldridge and BargnaniI have a feeling Gay will have a breakout season and emerge as Memphis' future all-star player, as for LaMarcus with Randolph gone he will be getting alot more touches in the paint and having Oden take off the work load on defense helps him a little too. As for Bargnani I expect him to average in the mid or high teens in points just because of his development last season as his point production would increase monthly...and he pretty much showed up in the playoffs when Bosh was invisible.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jul 9 2007, 11:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Adam Morrison will have another slumping year. Gerald Wallace didn't demand a ton of shots, and now he is gone, but Jason Richardson is in town, and he will score a ton more than Wallace. Morrison's amount of touches will drop.</div>I don't think we will see Morrison slump as much next year, as he did this year. Sure he had bad year this year, but he showed alot of bright spots to his game. He has the ability to create his own shot, he knows how to lead his man off of picks with the ball, he knows how to use the floor to create open shots. He just had problems when he was thrown into being the main scorer on the team right off the beginning of the season. This season he will calm down, be able to show case his scoring in a supporting role, rather than attempting to score in a leading role for half the season, and be much improved from last season. Morrison still has a good future ahead of him because of his scoring ability.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Jul 9 2007, 02:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>JJ Reddick, I think that if he gets some playing time, he will be scoring a lot. The defense will have to pressure Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis, and you always have to watch out for the volatile Jameer Nelson, so JJ Reddick will get a lot of open looks to do what he does best: chuch 3s. But that all depends on how much playing time he gets. If I were Van Gundy I'd start Reddick, but, yeah..</div>As much as I like Redick, Van Gundy had better not start JJ Redick next year. With Rashard Lewis on the court, we already have a three point shooter that is able to hit three point shots consistently. Redick was not to good defensively last year, and with Rashard Lewis there we are going to need a defensive presence starting at the two. That would leave either Bogans, or Ariza that should be the starter at the two-guard spot. With Jameer Nelson probably being more open, more often because of him not being one of the two main scorers on the team anymore, he will hit more three's more often. We are not going to have a problem with three point shooting this year in the starting lineup, our problem is going to be perimeter defense in the starting five, which is why Bogans or Ariza are our best bets for starting. With Turkoglu coming off the bench as the backup 3 this year, that will leave Bogans or Ariza as the smartest bets for coming in as backup 2-guards also. So with the perimeter rotations probably being Bogans, Ariza, Turkoglu and Lewis, Redick will probably have another year of not playing to much, before getting alot of playing time next year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 9 2007, 10:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>First off Anderson Varejo gets less minutes then Andres Bargnani yet still averages 2 boards per game. And one playoff series does not make a player a greater rebounder. secondly, I never said anything about anderson varejo. Bargnani was not the second best player in this draft by a long-shot. Even if your judging by impact of rookie seasons I would take him 4-5 but as far as complete basketball players of the 06 draft he will not even likely be in the top 8. He isnt a terrible player but worthy of the number one pick? No.</div> In the regular season Bargnani only averaged 2 more mpg than him. First off, Bargnani only played center for about 3-5 games this year including playoffs. He played the 3 mostly this year, which is why you never see him rebounding. When we switched him to center, or pf he produced more. The only stat I have to prove that is that when Bargnani plays PF,he averages 9 rebounds per 48 minutes of play, showing that playing the 3 his focus wasnt rebounding. And for you to say Andrea Bargnani is not the second best player in this draft is dumb. The only contender, Rudy Gay doesn't beat out bargnani. In the regular season, Rudy Gay averaged more minutes, less FG%, less points, about the same amount of rebounds, (3.9 vs. 4.5) and having less efficiency than Bargnani, doing this all by coming off the bench. So you really have no case here.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RaptorFan#1 @ Jul 10 2007, 09:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>In the regular season Bargnani only averaged 2 more mpg than him. First off, Bargnani only played center for about 3-5 games this year including playoffs. He played the 3 mostly this year, which is why you never see him rebounding. When we switched him to center, or pf he produced more. The only stat I have to prove that is that when Bargnani plays PF,he averages 9 rebounds per 48 minutes of play, showing that playing the 3 his focus wasnt rebounding. And for you to say Andrea Bargnani is not the second best player in this draft is dumb. The only contender, Rudy Gay doesn't beat out bargnani. In the regular season, Rudy Gay averaged more minutes, less FG%, less points, about the same amount of rebounds, (3.9 vs. 4.5) and having less efficiency than Bargnani, doing this all by coming off the bench. So you really have no case here.</div>Bargnani not being number 2 best player is stupid?Aldridge,Roy,Brewer,Tyrus,Gay, and Foye will all be better then bargnani.Also 2 rebounds per game is alot, especially when your playing any less minutes then the guy your being compared to. Over 82 games 2 boards per game = 164 more rebounds. thats a big difference.All bargnani does is shoot, if your listing guys who can just shoot then I guess you would say reddick and morrison are better then the players listed above also?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 10 2007, 12:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bargnani not being number 2 best player is stupid?Aldridge,Roy,Brewer,Tyrus,Gay, and Foye will all be better then bargnani.Also 2 rebounds per game is alot, especially when your playing any less minutes then the guy your being compared to. Over 82 games 2 boards per game = 164 more rebounds. thats a big difference.All bargnani does is shoot, if your listing guys who can just shoot then I guess you would say reddick and morrison are better then the players listed above also?</div> Andrea Bargnani has the talent to be a 20ppg 7'0" center who can drop threes and score from anywhere on the court. Sure he's a defensive liability, but he improved as the season went along, he has his faults like any player. But as he develops he's going to help that offensive immensely because of his versatility. There are Randy Foye's and Tyrus Thomas type players in every draft. Sure Bargnani isn't an awesome athlete, but he's a much more unique player, the Raptors will be better off with him longterm.
<span style="font-family:Tahoma">Lamarcus Aldridge is gonna blow up, IMO. He has Greg Oden next to him, too. So it's another threat, they will key on Oden many times and leave Aldridge open to do many things. I think Gibson will do pretty good, but not as good as some may think. I hope Shannon Brown actally does something good this upcoming season, also.</span>
I think Rudy will definitely step up. He is an athletic freak, and he is so versatile, it's unreal. He can now shoot the mid range jumpshot pretty well. He will be an amazing driver in his prime. He can post up smaller Small Forward's because of his strength, length and athleticism. And on defense he's definitely talented. He has the ability to block shots, his lateral quickness is there, and rebounding wise he is a stud at the Small Forward position. He has so much potential, I think he could have an awesome year.Randy Foye could break out too. Mike James is gone, and I don't know if Minny will go and get another starting capable pg. Randy could get alot of minutes. He's a great shooter, and he is also very explosive. He's not a great passer for a PG, but he has a TON of offensive talent, and he could put up a good amount of ppg next season.Andrea, also. Not to be a homer, but this guy has so much offensive ability for a 7 footer. Now he will be more comfortable with his all around offensive game. You should see him attacking more often (he's got serious quicks for his size), he should be creating shots for himself and shooting more mid range shots. You might even see him posting up next year, although he was ineffective doing that besdies creating turn around jumpers. His shot should also get better, and he'll still nail a bunch of threes. I see him getting as high as 17 ppg. It's definitely possible. He could even become our 2nd option towards the end of the year. And I definitely think he'll be starting towards the end of next season. I'm not sure if he'll start over Rasho on opening day or not.And of course, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. I don't see superstar potential in Brandon Roy, but he's just a damn good ball player. He's got a great shot, and overall offensive skills. He's smart as hell, and pretty quick too. He also gets it done passing wise, and he could be a very good passer at the SG position for years to come. LaMarcus is a great talent. He can post up, he's athletic and quick. He runs the floor like a deer, he can drive, and his shot could be decent when he matures. He had a very good 2nd half, and he could average alot of ppg and rpg next year. He's definitely a serious candidate for this.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 10 2007, 01:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bargnani not being number 2 best player is stupid?Aldridge,Roy,Brewer,Tyrus,Gay, and Foye will all be better then bargnani.</div>Brewer, and Thomas played sparingly last year, how in the world would you know they'll be better than Bargnani. I don't think it's fair to say they will all be better than Bargnani right now considering they've only played one year in the NBA. Bargnani adjusted quite well last year, and in the last two months he averaged about 17/5. Dirk Nowitski was a pussy when he came to the US, just like every Euro player; he'll improve in rebounding without a doubt.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 10 2007, 02:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bargnani not being number 2 best player is stupid?Aldridge,Roy,Brewer,Tyrus,Gay, and Foye will all be better then bargnani.Also 2 rebounds per game is alot, especially when your playing any less minutes then the guy your being compared to. Over 82 games 2 boards per game = 164 more rebounds. thats a big difference.All bargnani does is shoot, if your listing guys who can just shoot then I guess you would say reddick and morrison are better then the players listed above also?</div>You're a tard if you think Andrea can only shoot. I guess Dirk is another guy "who can only shoot". Yeah, how's he doing now? Pretty good, eh? Yeah, Andrea can put the ball on the floor, he runs the floor like a deer, he can finish on the break, he can drive past slower oppenents, he can do turn around jumpshots, create shots for himself ala Dirk. You're just so freaking stubborn because he may not be a grest rebounder. Neither was Dirk early on. Andrea can still improve on that and get near 10 rpg in his prime. And on defense he looked pretty good for a rookie actually. He used to foul early on, but he got alot better towards the end of the season. His post defense was solid, and he turned into a good shotblocker, actually. He almost got one a game, and I think he could get near two, or two in his prime.And oh yeah, Andrea will improve alot overall next season and he'll put up abou 17 points a game. In the future, he'll be one of the best offensive big men in the game, and easily one of the most versatile big men in the game. Just because he's not your prototypical big man, you think he's a stiff. Get real man.And how are you going to compare him to guards? How does that work? I'll tell you right now that he'll be more succesful than Brewer, Tyrus and Foye right now. I won't even have to think about that. The other guys you mentioned should have good seasons, but you can't predict the future, can you? So you don't know for sure if they'll be better than Andrea. The bottom line is that we're going to have two amazing big men for years to come. I'll just ignore your comments because you don't know what it's like to have any good offensive big men on your team.
Dead on CB4. Andrea Bargnani is a pretty good shotblocker, as his defense and defensive positioning improve, so will his shotblocking. I watched a game mid-way through the season where he blocked 6-7 shots in a game.I just looked it up, Dirk averaged 17/6 his sophomore season playing 36 minutes a game. Bargnani, if he got those minutes, would most likely have put up those same numbers.
I havent watched Bargnani much, but from what I understand hes a pretty good defender as far as staying with his man...better than Dirk will ever be...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 10 2007, 04:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Dead on CB4. Andrea Bargnani is a pretty good shotblocker, as his defense and defensive positioning improve, so will his shotblocking. I watched a game mid-way through the season where he blocked 6-7 shots in a game.I just looked it up, Dirk averaged 17/6 his sophomore season playing 36 minutes a game. Bargnani, if he got those minutes, would most likely have put up those same numbers.</div>Andrea probably won't get 36 mpg next season, but 17/6 actually seems pretty accurate for him next season. Andrea put up better rookie numbers than Dirk, by quite a bit actually.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Jul 10 2007, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Andrea probably won't get 36 mpg next season, but 17/6 actually seems pretty accurate for him next season. Andrea put up better rookie numbers than Dirk, by quite a bit actually.</div>Andrea was putting up 16-17 ppg at the end of last season, and he was doing it consistently.. I wouldn't be suprised at all if he averaged around 17 or so..
Even your post further proved that he is just an offensive player. Just because a player puts up 12 ppg as a rookie doesn't make him the next dirk. By that standard adam morrison should be the next rashard lewis. His rebounding is still lacking for a 7 foot player regardless of what you say 4 rpg is 4 rpg and sad for any center who gets 30 mpg especially with how weak the raptors frontcourt is. As far as defensively blocking is not a standard of hwo great a defensive player is, I saw several games where bargnani got lit up despite having height and reach. If blocking makes a player a great defensive player darko should be on the defensive team. Bargnani isnt a bad guy, but at the same time he isnt a compete player nor will he ever be more then a shooter/shot blocker but maybe he'll develop decent rebounding eventually.Brewer is going to be getting more minutes next season and we'll see alot more from him, not only can he shoot efficently but he also is a better defender then barg. As far as foye, foye is the complete package. He could potentially be a d-wade like pg-sg who can rebound, pass, and score and penetrate at a very high level. Tyrus thomas played a limited role last season as PJ brown came off a rejuvenated season and played well but he is also already a better defensive player, rebounder, and has an increasing knack for taking it hard inside.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 10 2007, 01:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bargnani not being number 2 best player is stupid?Aldridge,Roy,Brewer,Tyrus,Gay, and Foye will all be better then bargnani.Also 2 rebounds per game is alot, especially when your playing any less minutes then the guy your being compared to. Over 82 games 2 boards per game = 164 more rebounds. thats a big difference.All bargnani does is shoot, if your listing guys who can just shoot then I guess you would say reddick and morrison are better then the players listed above also?</div>No bargnani doesn't just shoot. he drives alot too, something hes improved on. Bargnani is also a very clutch player, one of the best in the draft, numerous times hes proven that. Andrea Bargnani has shown signs that he will be the next Dirk, and if all Dirk does is shoot, than your mistaken. Lamarcus Aldridge this season did not play better than Andrea Bargnani at all, he first off has no outside shot, and he only plays near the basket. Tyrus Thomas is proven to be one of the most inconsistent players you will ever see, avergaing a whopping 5 points in the reg. season, 1 ppg in the first round and 5 again in the 2nd round. Inconsistency does not help teams at all. Your also overrating Tyrus Thomas because hes such a freak athlete, but Bargnani can do everything else better than him. Ronnie brewer are you kidding me?? Theres a reason he only gets 12 minutes a game, Andrea Bargnani averages in every single stat better than this guy except field goal percentage, thing is, Brewer attempted only 193 shots this season. Ronnie brewer is an overrated 2 who has no range and cant shoot from 3. If hes better than Bargnani, im the next Jordan. Ive already told you why about Rudy Gay, and Randy Foye is a point gaurd who still needs to learn to pass. He also shoots worse from three than Bargs, and because hes so small hes inside game is worse than Bargnani's. Bargnani compares to all these players while coming off the bench, these guys are regulars in the starting rotation, thats something you miss, he can do what these guys can do an better, and we saw it in the playoffs. Sure you cant compare gaurds, but when you measure who made the most impact on a team, besides Roy, Bargnani did the most. He was our 6th man and now will be in the starting lineup. I gaurantee you he will averaging at least 6 rebounds next year, just because hes always improving.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 10 2007, 03:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Even your post further proved that he is just an offensive player. Just because a player puts up 12 ppg as a rookie doesn't make him the next dirk. By that standard adam morrison should be the next rashard lewis.</div> Nobody said anything that his alright shotblocking makes him a great defender, we just pointed that out as something that he does well, thats it. Bargnani was putting up close to 17ppg for a long portion of the season, he's pretty close to Dirk statisticly when Dirk first started out, and they both are very compariable skills wise, thats why people are bringing up the comparison. Bargnani will never be a great rebounder, but he's going to get 8rpg in his prime playing center, next to Bosh, thats not too bad.
