Sanjan

I was reading something today about how mitchell doesn't say anything to him about how to shoot and wel he shouldnt, so with that in mind i looked at some of his highlights from early in the season (you can find them quickly at my site in the sig) anyway i don't think hes "improved" all that much this year. Well not like everyones making him out to be. Looks like hes slightly more aware of where to be on defense and how to pursue rebounds.

But lets face it we love the guy for the shots he makes and there really hasn't been much development other then his quick spin shot in the paint (which i think should be one of his go to moves) but even that we've only seen in rare occasions.

What im trying to get at here is he was much more complete already and that i don't think there is much difference from now to when hes a primer player. If he got more touches in the right places (smitch also siad he does run plays for ab!) he could be a 20 a game guy right now.

he takes a lot of tough shots now because he has to if he wants to shoot the ball. if we got him as many good looks as we get bosh i think he socres more then chris (well minus the refs love forr bosh).

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speedythief

Are you saying he was already a good player but now he is just playing with more confidence and is more comfortable?

adhir1

actually i think we have. At the beginning of the season, (even after the UTah breakout game) a typical Bargnani game we saw was 3-7 for 3PT Field Goals, and 4-9 FG's. Meaning if Bargs was to have a good game, he would have to be on fire from trey land. Then came the passing, we saw quick touch passing straight through the heart of the defense to somebody waiting under the basket. After we were all in awe of his passsing, we started seeing the pump faking and driving to the basket, wanting to dunk on anythign and everything. Now as of post ASB, we are seeing Bargnani go and set up shop in the low post.

These are all the little things, that he has shown us in his development as an NBAer, whether he had these or not, we wont know (unless we watched more then clips of him in the Euroleague) but these are things we never saw from him, and we are starting to see now.

speedythief

Last night, fourth quarter, eleven-minute mark:


Good spacing by the Raptors. Dixon on the left wing near the elbow, Garbo a shade left from the top of the arc, Calderon at the same spot mirroring Garbo on the right side, Mago and Humphries on the left and right block, respectively. Everyone in single coverage.

Mago puts his arm in front of Battier and steps into the paint, about half way between the basket and free throw line. He presents himself to Calderon. Calderon makes the pass.

Mago gets down low right away and pounds the ball once, leaning back into Battier, who is now draped on his back.

Mago steps forward with his left foot a few inches, pivots, takes his right foot and shoves it backward into Battier and towards the basket. That foot is now inside the charge line and Battier shifts to meet Andrea as he turns on it.

Taking the ball firmly in both hands Mago swings towards the basket, putting his elbow squarely into the centre of Battier's chest. Battier drops both hands and is knocked back a foot. Mago goes straight up, the ball still in both hands, and has an open lay-up from the front of the rim.


This isn't something we were seeing in November. I think maybe it is a product of playing with skilled big men in practice. Smitch says Mago works extensively/almost exclusively on his post game every day with our assistant coaches. Plays like this are dreamy.

He is developing so fast I can see why someone might say, "he's just gotten comfortable and now he can show everyone his skills." I don't think he was ever soft, but I think he is a lot better banging and crashing than he was in November--maybe ever. We're spoiled. Mago is going to develop fast, like Bosh. Colangelo was a genius to draft him.

Sanjan

i agree his low post is whats developed so far, but its not developing at a blazing speed like your suggesting. were in march now and hes just now only starting to use some of what hes learning in games. I've missed just about all the RapsTV games but i think hes only gone inside with sucess a hand full of times.

I'm just saying when hes hitting open 3's and shooting of the drrible thats not something hes developed here. His post game will be.

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Benis007

most rookies are hitting the wall at this point, Il Mago has just gotten better and better.

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TJ Ford

It's pretty shocking how fearless and confident the guy is. He is like the exact opposite of Hoffa.

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Porn_Player

Complete opposite minus the gormless luck

Andrea has definatley improved throughout this season he himself even believes so you just have to check his interview after the Rockets game. Alot of credit has to go to the player himself but also the backroom staff who are constantly tapping into his potential.

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SkywalkerAC

As you'd expect, rebounding and post play have improved the most thus far. And I have noticed some minor correction in his shooting mechanics, making it more consistent.

Bargnani is going to continue to improve despite coming into the league very good already.

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ColinBeehler

On this note... Do you think that AB will be better than CB? Also, when will we win our first championship? Next year?

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Flush

narrator

He's got a while to go to hit the wall because the Raptors limited his minutes early in the season. He's fresher than, say, Brandon Roy who's been playing the whole year. The Raptors were careful with the way they handled Bargnani. As a result, he's fresher now, when the Raptors need him most.

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ColinBeehler

Flush, with how positive this thread has been, its not thaaat insane to think that with two 20ppg ish 7 footers, we could be contenders, at least for the finals. We aren't completely out of our league against any teams in the East really. A year of developement for this Bargnani freak, a genius offseason by Collangelo, the Finals aren't out of the question.

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ColinBeehler (Vice-president.... brains of the operation), JuniorNoboa (El-presidente... but only by default), trick (Vice-President's tricky sidekick), CrookedJ (support staff), vigilante (what else needs to be said), adhir1 (advertising/hyping/repping the t-raps), Budweiser_Boy (loyal friend to Raptor's everywhere from day 1), Benis007 (came for Bosh, found so much more), wind161 (hometown hero), RaptorsCB4 (was a NJN fan, then VC invaded... the rest is history), skip_dawg! (the european contingent of raptorness), Devine Spammer (the spreader of T-raps gospel), madman (bleeds purple), Rhubarb (the Aussie connection), pmac34(border control, iNdIaNa31PaCeRs

SkywalkerAC

Hell yeah, championship next year!

Seriously, this team's talent is only just coming together.

Bosh and Bargnani - as of next year they're going to be one of the most potent 4/5 combos of all time.

Which says a lot about Andrea's development but I've got a lot of confidence in this kid. He's going to keep getting better. He's going to be one of the best in the world playing for Italy next summer. His potential is off the charts but I think his ability to improve and fulfill his potential is probably off the charts too.

He's got it. He has so much of it that he could very well be as good or arguably better than CB4 in the very near future. And we get to watch them both - inside and out, scoring from everywhere, each able to play both forward positions and center- try to lead this team to a championship in their early twenties, along with a couple great point guards and a host of heady, sharpshooting roleplayers.

AB is the player to watch for in the NBA right now. He's not a rookie phenom like Lebron but he's no slouch. He's a freak. Much like Yao, the world has never seen a player like him before. And he's not just a product of a system; he'd be putting up bigger numbers on a lot of the teams out there. He would have made Chicago a contender (or would New York have kept it at #1).

Bottomline, Andrea's awesome already and is getting rapidly better...and so are the Raptors.

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