ESPN The Magazine: Meet Andrea Bargnani
By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine

Editor's note: This article appears in the March 12 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Years from now -- when it's routine to see him dropping three-pointers over the outstretched arms of clumsy, lumbering big men and SportsCenter regularly features him spinning on the block and posterizing clawing defenders, when his uncanny passes draw comparisons to those of Bill Walton and Chris Webber -- we'll point to a cold November morning in Denver as the NBA birth of Andrea Bargnani.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/...spnmag/bargnani


AN EXCERPT....

"Teammate Anthony Parker cuts through all the psycho-babble. He says, "He's absolutely fearless. Why? I think he was just born with it." Bargnani himself brushes off talk of his extraordinary self-confidence. "I'm just a normal person," he says. But the trait is real, measurable, in fact.

For years, NBA teams have used the Caliper Profile to evaluate potential draft picks. The Caliper is a personality profile used by numerous corporations and organizations to measure one's capacity to excel in specific situations. Over the past 24 years, Caliper has assessed more than 20,000 athletes, including NBA players from Detroit, San Antonio, Denver and Phoenix. Colangelo has long been sold on the system. When he heard how Bargnani measured up, he nearly dropped the phone.

"They said his upside and potential were off the charts," Colangelo says from the tunnel of the Air Canada Centre as Bargnani drains a three against the Cavaliers. "They said, 'Out of all the athletes we've profiled, we've never seen anything like this.' "

The test showed that Bargnani is virtually oblivious to what others think of him. And his tremendous ability to block out such potentially negative pressures enables him to focus completely on the task at hand. So the expectations and anxieties that come with being the No.1 pick, or the only Italian-born player in the league, or even taking a game-winning shot, don't even register with him."


SuperJimbo Prediction: Bosh + Bargnani = legitmate title run within 2-3 years...

http://www.nba.com/powerrankings/

6th?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?

wtf, amazing.

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^^^

quote:

Only the Mavs and Pistons had more wins in February than the Raps' nine. A factor in all those wins: as a team, Toronto shot 50.7 percent for the month -- tops in the league.

sick.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT ^^^ sick.

Hiring that Triano dude as shooting coach paid off.

Now. That rebounding problem...

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quote:

Originally posted by chinamon not true. i say "ugh" but i am a tranny.

quote:

Originally posted by kotsy lol colour me retarded

^^^ Dave Hopla...the man who apparently never misses a shot, lol.

I'd like to see them bring back Oakley as a coach to instill some toughness in the Raps

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT ^^^ Dave Hopla...the man who apparently never misses a shot, lol. I'd like to see them bring back Oakley as a coach to instill some toughness in the Raps

+1

I loved Oak in TO.

Raps ARE tougher though. Have you seen Bosh lately? He's gotta have at least an extra 30 pounds over last year. He's no longer a stick.

Looking at the standings now and we're 0.5 games behind Washington for 3rd place. I'm guessing that by the end of next week we'll pass Washington.

Oh and SuperJimbo: Bosh + Bargnani will be a force to be reckoned with in 2-3 years. The worst part is (for opponents) is that we have a whole squad full of players who can win a game. If Bosh & Bargnani don't demolish a team, then Garbajosa, Parker, Peterson, Calderon, Ford or Dixon will.

^^^ Not sure the word "demolish" is the right one (when applied to Garbajosa, Parker, Peterson, Calderon, Ford or Dixon), but I get your drift.

Also, I'm thinking that the Juan Dixon trade is going to be viewed as a steal by year end. Juan is incredibly quick, an excellent scorer and much much tougher than Fred Jones. I think Juan fits in perfectly, and I will be very surprised if Joey Graham gets much court time the rest of the way out, especially when Parker gets back...

Last edited by SuperJimbo on Mar-02-2007 at 05:31

Yea "demolish" might be a bit of a stretch, but together those players can cause a lot of damage to the opposing team.

And I agree with regards to Juan Dixon. I can see him playing some of his best basketball with us because he matches our style of play so well.

Well, it looks like our Raptors are back to reality again. As amazing as this last stretch was, many of us probably thought that it would be sustainable for them to play at such a high level for the rest of the season.

3 very lob-sided loses and we're back to frowning again.

IMO I don't see the raps exceeding the 5 games over mark for the rest of the season. If they somehow manage to string together another nice solid streak of play to flirt with the 10 games over .500 mark I think we should be thanking the higher forces.

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quote:

Originally posted by slingshot Well, it looks like our Raptors are back to reality again. As amazing as this last stretch was, many of us probably thought that it would be sustainable for them to play at such a high level for the rest of the season. 3 very lob-sided loses and we're back to frowning again. IMO I don't see the raps exceeding the 5 games over mark for the rest of the season. If they somehow manage to string together another nice solid streak of play to flirt with the 10 games over .500 mark I think we should be thanking the higher forces.

I think it's also a sign that opposing teams are actually taking the Raps seriously.
Took them long enough to figure out that the Raps are actually a decent team.

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quote:

Originally posted by chinamon not true. i say "ugh" but i am a tranny.

quote:

Originally posted by kotsy lol colour me retarded