On the Raptors Season So Far / The Rant on Bargnani

Nothing is more appropriate than to start off my first post, about the Toronto Raptors.

There was much anticipation at the beginning of this Raptors season, and who could blame it? A 47 win season last year got me so much into it too.

Here's what I think about them after watching most of the season gone by:

So far, Bargnani is probably the most disappointing thing for me this season. I agree with Doug Smith's take at the beginning of the season, that the play of Bargnani will most influence Raptors' success. Yes, I'm chalking the Raptors' uneventful season to one guy's shoulder.

It is really easy to rip him off in every aspect of the game -

1. His rebounding technique, instinct, and most importantly, willingness, is non-existent. Defensively, you frequently see him not even in the paint when Raps got killed in the offsenive boards. What good is it to have a 7-foot frame and not get dirty on rebounds?
2. His spacing is awful. Why is he constantly parking himself at 3-point line even when he wasn't hot, and there are a glut of swing-man shooters in the team? Let Kapono/Parker/Delfino take the 3s. Go use the 7-foot frame to create traffic, get some rebounds / putbacks. Everyone is raving about how Bargnani can draw away the other team's centre by making 3s. But I'm never a fan of bigs taking a lot of 3s because your team just took away the best rebounder from the paint, and also make yourself vulnerable to quick transition baskets on the other end with long rebounds, and the big man liable to get back from the top / elbow.
3. He is so self-centered, in the basketball sense, that he demands a lot of shots. And if he doesn't make shots, he lets it affect all his other parts of the game. The thing about being a centre is, there is so much you can do even if you don't score. Setting good picks, boxout, offer good defensive help, creep up to get some offensive boards. Gosh, even when the Hump-the-black-hole takes lots of shots, he still does all the other little things. The Raptors is a team with a lot of scoring options, that they really don't need a big man taking 20 shots a game with two-thirds of them over 20-feet away.

With Bosh out recently, his liabilities were magnified. He can't control the paint. There is no inside game at the start of the game. He doesn't allow the ball to move on offense. He can't get a rebound!

But perhaps most importantly, and the most discouraging sign I've observed about Bargnani, is his competitiveness, or the lack of, to become better and to respond when the game is on the line. Where is the grit? Where is the toughness? I don't mean to holler and yell to demonstrate emotion, but there shall be a point as a basketball player, let alone a centre, that realizes shooting alone aren't going to win or lose you the game. So far this season I have yet to see Bargnani show off that realization or aggression at the end of games as a basketball player, or show his displeasure when his team loses. In contrast, Bosh shows these traits even when he was a rookie.

And that's the biggest problem I have with Bargnani. I can't see him improve himself year over year, to the point of a worthy NBA all-star, and to lead a good team. And that's not too much to ask for in a 1st overall draft pick.

As a Raptor fan, I hope he proves me wrong.