<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Chris Bosh was sounding like one of those hero cops the other night when asked about the lengthy slump his teammate, Andrea Bargnani, is going through. No longer, Bosh explained, is Bargnani's slump just Bargnani's problem. For Bosh, it's personal. "You do have to worry about that, but I will take it personally to encourage him all the time," said Bosh, as his frontcourt teammate continues to struggle on the court. That has to be good news for the Raptors. The situation is that until Bargnani, an NBA all-rookie forward last season, gets his A, B or even C game back, the Raptors will be hard-pressed to win many contests against good teams. On the just-completed four-game Western Conference road swing, the Raptors lost three of four, including a 122-103 pounding at the hands on the Suns in Phoenix on Saturday night. Head coach Sam Mitchell re-inserted Bargnani into the starting lineup against Phoenix and, while the 2006 first overall draft pick responded with a decent outing -- 13 points and three rebounds in 30 minutes -- the 7-foot Italian still has a long way to go to get his edge back. In his past five games heading into the Suns contest, Bargnani, who averaged 11.6 points as a rookie, was averaging just 2.2. And so, Bosh said that he will take it upon himself to work even harder to help lift his teammate's game. "I just think Andrea just needs a fire lit under him," Bosh said, before heading home to Dallas for the Christmas break. "(But) I think if he continues to (start), he's going to have a good game, and from then on it will build his confidence. ATTACK THE RIM "He knows that he can get the outside shot any time. We need him to attack the rim if they switch on him. He needs to post up to smaller guys ... he knows what to do, he just has to do it." Bosh acknowledged that having Bargnani and himself in the frontcourt can create a lot of mismatches for teams, with their ability to knock down jump shots and take the ball to the hoop. But, he said, that won't happen until Bargnani becomes more aggressive.</div> The Toronto Sun
I don't think Bargnani will ever become aggressive. He's more of a perimeter player and he does his living there. I think it was a mistake taking him with the #1 pick.
I wanted LaMarcus, but BC wanted to "shake up the NBA world". I think, with the Bargnani pick, we just have to wait a bit longer then with Roy. I trust Brian enough to now he wouldn't make a such a huge mistake. I still have faith in Bargnani and Chutney has way more then any Raptor fan I know.
He is 22 years old, so I mean, there is lots of time. I don't know the exact amount he is paid, but it is a 4 year contract with the third and fourth year team option.
Lol, nice. I'm 16, 17 in March, so I think I'll be drafted soon. Call me the next LeBron. Yea, he is very young. Like, if he were Jamario Moon's age and this was happening, he would be traded.
Wait, I'm not 23 yet, lol, in February I'll be. (i just thought about that) haha Because I know LeBron is about a month and a half older than me.
Cool, LeBron is so young. I just think, in retrospect that while we all say he is so good, he is just so young. But enough about LeBron, Chingy will get mad if we talk about the Cavs in here lol.
He has at least another 13 years to play. (if he plans to retire at 35, with a couple of rings, as the goat) But yeah thats another thread, which we should start and talk about LeBrons age, and other things we're fascinated about him. lol
I disagree with Bargnani living on the perimeter, if you watch games when Bargnani is playing well he mixes his game up alot. He knocks down 3s then he would drive strong to the hoop, drive and then take a pull up or drive and dish out an assist. When hes not playing well he just takes shots and his drives dont really create anything positive, the only other players I wouldnt mind Colangelo drafting instead of Bargs would be Aldridge and Gay, but LA is just another Bosh so I dont know how that would work.
With Bargnani, like MosDef said, he does drive. First play against the Suns, he dunked it. However, he disappeared in the second half, but he should be back now that he starts.
I can't remember where I read it, but apparently Mitchell and Colangelo sat down and came to the conclusion that they needed to put Andrea in the starting lineup for him to get out of this funk. Honestly, that's something I've believed from the very start. I don't think he was playing that poorly when he was taken out of the starting lineup, but I do think Mitchell was worried about his team's inconsistent start and made the wrong roster move. It was our perimeter D that needed to be addressed and, sure enough, Kapono was put on the bench about a week later. Now, this isn't to say that Rasho's played poorly. If anything, he's shown that currently he's a better starter than Bargnani. But before the season started, everybody agreed that this team's success would depend a lot of Bargnani's progression. And there was no way he was going to reach his potential as a role player off the bench. If anybody remembers the beginning of last season, the situation was almost identical (except that time the issue was whether or not Bargs deserved any time at all). I didn't get to watch the Phoenix game, but his statline was much improved and most recaps have said that he played with more confidence on the court (correct me if I'm wrong). I still think he was a great pick at number 1. Aldridge brings exactly the same skillset that Bosh does (this was really evident in our loss against Portland) and he's shown the inability to play any position except the 4. Andrea can play the 3. 4. or 5 and his versatility really compliments Bosh's more simplistic offensive game. I haven't seen anything special from Adam Morrison or Tyrus Thomas. Brandon Roy's been impressive as hell and I'll admit to trade down and draft him before the draft. But, I can understand why Colangelo would take a chance on building a dangerous frontcourt duo over another guard. And I still think Bosh and Bargnani are going to be one of the better duos in the league eventually.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shookem @ Dec 26 2007, 04:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>And I blocked your shot.</div> Fair enough.
