Confronted with the “Bargnani Situation” a Raps blogger gains a morbid appreciation of what paid journalists face every day. This story is filthy after weeks of being dragged through the mud by the Raptors trolley. A trolley full of disheartened Leafs fans and 16-year-old boys who like Moon’s hang time and the occasional audible Sam Mitchell swear. Yeah, Bargnani’s playing poorly. And, yeah, we could’ve had Brandon Roy, but so could Minnesota who, apparently, liked Randy Foye better.
Anyone who’s followed sports for more than five years knows that all professional franchises are full of “could have beens.” We could have had Andre Iguodala (who thinks he’s worth more than $12 million a season despite leading his team to a 16-26 record)! We should have gotten more for Vince Carter (whose equivalent is now Zach Randolph)! We could have held on to TMac (who just can’t stay healthy and hasn’t won a playoff series in his career)! Didn’t happen. Mop the floor and play on.
I’m not a Bargnani apologist, but I am an advocate of patience. Here’s What We Know Part I: Bargnani began the season nicely, scoring 21 points on 7-11 shooting in the opener. Then things went tepid, his performance could be illustrated by a clichéd high school line graph with peaks and valleys. Then things went ghastly. In eight games since dropping 25 points on the Pistons (which followed a 17-point game against the Hornets) Bargnani is averaging 17.5 MPG, 4.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.1 BPG, 26 FG% (12-46), 14 3P% (2-14).
Here’s What We Know Part II: Bargnani’s 22 years old. He averaged 11.6 PPG in a very raw rookie year. He was arguably our second-best player in last year’s playoff series. His shot is indisputably gorgeous. He’s better than Adam Morrison. He didn’t play centre professionally before this season, and the Raps have finally conceded that he might need some special attention to ease his transition to the five.
The kid has skills. And although I’ve never especially bought the idea that Il Mago and CB4 can coexist, I still believe that a good coach (paging Sam Mitchell) can figure something out. Bargnani will, at the very least, be an above-average asset to a team and if Toronto traded him now for a matching salary Raps fans would eventually add another chapter to the “could have beens.”
Anyone who’s followed sports for more than five years knows that all professional franchises are full of “could have beens.” We could have had Andre Iguodala (who thinks he’s worth more than $12 million a season despite leading his team to a 16-26 record)! We should have gotten more for Vince Carter (whose equivalent is now Zach Randolph)! We could have held on to TMac (who just can’t stay healthy and hasn’t won a playoff series in his career)! Didn’t happen. Mop the floor and play on.
I’m not a Bargnani apologist, but I am an advocate of patience. Here’s What We Know Part I: Bargnani began the season nicely, scoring 21 points on 7-11 shooting in the opener. Then things went tepid, his performance could be illustrated by a clichéd high school line graph with peaks and valleys. Then things went ghastly. In eight games since dropping 25 points on the Pistons (which followed a 17-point game against the Hornets) Bargnani is averaging 17.5 MPG, 4.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.1 BPG, 26 FG% (12-46), 14 3P% (2-14).
Here’s What We Know Part II: Bargnani’s 22 years old. He averaged 11.6 PPG in a very raw rookie year. He was arguably our second-best player in last year’s playoff series. His shot is indisputably gorgeous. He’s better than Adam Morrison. He didn’t play centre professionally before this season, and the Raps have finally conceded that he might need some special attention to ease his transition to the five.
The kid has skills. And although I’ve never especially bought the idea that Il Mago and CB4 can coexist, I still believe that a good coach (paging Sam Mitchell) can figure something out. Bargnani will, at the very least, be an above-average asset to a team and if Toronto traded him now for a matching salary Raps fans would eventually add another chapter to the “could have beens.”
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EDIT: In the Raps’ WIN over the Celtics tonight Bargnani scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting, adding seven dimes and seven boards (and a block).
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