Raptors centre Andrea Bargnani wasn’t sorry to see Sam Mitchell fired.
And he says he is worried Maurizio Gherardini, the Raptors’ highly respected senior vice-president of basketball operations, might be leaving.
In an interview with La Gazetta dello Sport from Treviso, Italy, where he’s been doing some off-season training, Bargnani said he is encouraged the Raptors decided to make Jay Triano the head coach, and not too disappointed that Sam Mitchell was shown the door.
"As a coach, everyone in the team likes him, unlike Mitchell, and he earned the respect of all the players right from Day 1," Bargnani said. "That’s why we asked [Raptors president Bryan Colangelo] to confirm him. And he agreed, because he’s the right man to start over with."
Watching the Orlando Magic should be particularly sour for fans of the Toronto Raptors. Do you know how the Raptors have been plagued by a lack of productivity from their swingmen? Well, the Magic have two players who could have helped Toronto in that regard.
First, there is the Magic’s starting shooting guard, Courtney Lee. Orlando selected Lee with the 22nd pick in last year’s draft. The Raptors had the 17th pick in the same draft, but shipped it off to Indiana in a package for Jermaine O’Neal, a trade that was ultimately a bust.
Lee scored 24 points in a game earlier in the post-season, and has shown a certain fearlessness in big moments.
Orlando also has reserve Mickael Pietrus, who has outscored the Cavaliers’ bench 69-57 by his lonesome this series. In the summer of 2007, he was a restricted free agent. Instead of taking a run at Pietrus, the Raptors opted to use their entire mid-level exception on unrestricted free agent Jason Kapono, who has been an unmitigated disaster for Toronto.
Meanwhile, Pietrus has emerged as a very useful piece on a championship contender.
Of course, Calderon still has four years left on his 5-year/$40 million deal that he just signed last summer. So, the question then arises on what to do with him? It’s quite simple really: move him to the two-spot. He’s proven he can shoot and although you’d be undersized and maybe severely challenged defensively in the backcourt, you can make up for it more than enough by having some frontcourt prowess and an oversized SF.
I do like Calderon as a PG, despite his mediocre season this year, but rarely do you have a chance to pick up a talent like Steve Nash. If Colangelo figures Calderon isn’t suited to play SG and is enticed enough at the possibility of getting Kid Canada, you deal Calderon. It’s that simple. But, there is no chance you deal him unless you know for sure you’re getting Nash.
At this point next summer Calderon will have only three years left on a contract that is very respectable and should be quite easy to move, especially if he has a nice season in 2009-10.
9. Toronto Raptors - DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh, Sophomore)
Even if the Raptors decide to keep Chris Bosh, they still will need more toughness up front.
9. Toronto Raptors: Jrue Holiday
Great potential. Has yet to amount to anything, but really, he’s got potential. Believe me.
9. Toronto Raptors: Jordan Hill, PF, Arizona
Hill took the biggest fall from Version 1 — second overall was simply too high. He may easily go higher than No. 9 and probably should, but if teams are drafting by need, he may fall to Toronto. And you have to think that would be a steal.
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-Jrue Holiday is the third biggest point guard measured, at 6-3 ¼ without shoes. He also has the fifth biggest wingspan and third biggest standing reach.
A point guard by nature, Holiday spent the majority of his time playing off the ball due to the presence of Collison. This fact, coupled with Ben Howland’s slow-paced offensive system, prevented Holiday from getting very many touches or allowing him the freedom to create. Scouts who have seen tape of the freshman from his days as a prep star in California know that Holiday is a blossoming talent with an intriguing skill set to go along with good size for his position.
Holiday has been preparing for the draft since UCLA’s season came to an end back in March, but has yet to officially make a decision on whether or not he will keep his name in the draft. DraftExpress sat down with Holiday to talk about his training, his year in the Pac-10 and what the future holds for this talented youngster.
24 Raps
I definitely thought we missed out not going after Pietrus last summer. I feel like he could have helped us a lot.
Strong, strong words from Bargnani.
Michael Grange usually writes pretty decent, so I can only assume someone else — someone with their head up their ass — wrote the title to Grange’s article.
What has Barganai done in this League to call out Sam Mitchell? A former player and well respected by players and coaches alike.
Let me guess. Sam wanted you to play hard and fearless and you are too much of a mental midget who is literally afraid to grab a rebound? No wonder Pasta Boy is happy he left. Now he can shoot 3’s all day and become a weakling like his Bosh.
Andrea, shut up and be happy your in the league, Pal.
What u said just like a joke. If Sam want Brag. play hard and fearless is real. If means the way he told Brag. was wrong. We could see Brag. play much better under Jay.
So, u r telling us Jay didn’t ask Brag to play hard and fearless??? or because Jay is useless, thats why AB7 got improvement?
The only reason u ask Andrea shut up, just because Andrea could play better b game in sam’a age, but i can’t see it over the stats. so, i think u r the person shut up on this issue.
joe is an idiot.
wow! a sam mitchell fan! ewwwwwwww…….
what bargnani did to call out smitchell like that was the instant showing of his improvement right after smitch got his ass kicked out of T-dot. yes, he was not a starter right away. he started off as the raps main backup big guy, and i mean MAIN, he was also the team’s instant bench offense. then when JO got injured, he then stepped up to the challenge and remove the bust label he had back then. he then also became the team’s main, # 1 offensive weapon, and was also a clutch performer (love that shot at bean town).
and he is NOT afraid to rebound the ball!!!! why can’t guys believe that? he has an average of around 5 boards a game, because he was used as a backup/garbage player by smitch the genius, in almost 3 months so it will affect the stats. he just became the raps’ legit starting centre this year. and, we had marion, bosh grabbing 10 boards a night for us most of the time. he will improve!
If he’s a mental midget, what should we call your analysis skills, and dialectic ability? And your subtle racist comment (Pasta Boy…c’mon!)?
It isn’t ignorance, it’s probably stupidity at a high level…Get back to whatever you were smoking man…
Shooting guard Calderon? Hahahahha, pass it over, please, I want some too!!
Knowing Colangelo, he doesn’t do anything this offseason and has :
PG – Roko Ukic
SG – Jose calderon
SF – Carlos delfino
PF – Bosh
C – Bargnani
Might be the worst starting backcourt in NBA history and that’s not hyperbole.
There is no chance Ukic starts at PG this season, especially when you still have Calderon. Makes no sense at all. I’m hoping for a big acquisition this summer to help the wing position. It’s something that clearly needs to be addressed, long overdue.
RealGM: Imagine… Calderon starting at the two-guard and defending bigger, stronger spot-up shooting swingmen.
I can’t.
JR Smith just came off a great series against the Lakers and made it to the conference finals. He’s 23 and is improving. He’s a tough minded player who can play both sides if our coach can maximize his strenghs.
Would you guys do our #9 for J.R. ?
hell yes.
In a heartbeat. I doubt Denver would even consider trading him though.
done !!!
Absolutely. Great deal for Toronto.
I can’t see Denver letting him go for an unproven pick though, that team thinks they’re on the verge of winning a title.
hell yeah
Looks tempting, but is he playing well and smart because of the presence of Chauncy?
Von Wafer – the poor man’s (Raptor’s?) J.R. Smith.
Not only do the Ratpors need a decent starting SG and SF, they need a stronger bench .. which means total overhaul. The Ratpors are now a ‘project’ team .. and you had better believe it.
Btw … with the Cavs losing tonight, it’s pretty obvious that Lebron will seek a trade sooner than later after their disgusting performance. Who believes Lebron will sign an extension with the Cavs this summer? It would be a waste of time and talent for Lebron to hang around Cleveland much longer. Most likely Lebron is headed to the Knicks, and then in 2010, Bosh will likely emigrate to NY following Lebron.
Bosh to NYK this summer for a sign-and-trade Lee (the kind of big to pair with Bargs if that’s what you’re left with), Gallinari/Chandler, their draft pick this year and whenever they have another 1st (I think Utah gets theirs next summer). Maybe see if they’ll throw in a signed-and-traded Nate Robinson for Banks/Kapono’s albatross contract but that might not be doable.
Would that deal bite the Raptors in the ass if Lebron goes to NYK? Yes, but we’re closer to a project team than an actual playoff threat so we might have to accept it.
But I disagree that Lebron’s gone. But next season is a huge one for the Cavs. If they don’t get very far, they’re just another bidder in the summer of 2010 aren’t they?
Did you see Lebron run off the court in Orlando rather than stay and congratulate the Magic players? In fact Lebron shut himself down in the 4th quarter and gave up on the Cavs .. and that was very very obvious..!!!
I bet Lebron made his decision to dump the Cavs immediately with his disgraceful performance in the 4th quarter … all because he considers himself The King …!!!!!
Lebron is a Shitcake … so obvious ..!!!!
The following quote from Andrea Bargnani reveals a lot:
“As a coach, everyone in the team likes him [Triano], unlike Mitchell …”
When everyone on a team actually likes the head coach, it is most frequently a sign that this specific team is going nowhere fast, in the NBA.
Being “liked” by everyone is not a requisite for being a Top Notch head coach in this league.
Statements like this one, reveal a great deal about the mind-set of Andrea Bargnani and the people responsible for running the Toronto Raptors organization.
I think for andrea, he just needed to be encouraged rather that given tough love to respond.
I thought the same for joey, but now i realize it doesn’t matter how you treat joey, he just smells.
like stacey king says, KYP = ‘know your personnel’ and make constructive adjustments. something mitchell couldn’t do it seems.
“you get nothing chris bosh, nothing!” “he challenged me, constantly”…
good for bosh, probably not the smartest technique to use on what seems to be an INTJ in bargnani.