Of Bargnani and the three

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

How will the ball bounce for the kid this year?

Boy, apparently a lot of people listen to the Fan when Bryan Colangelo’s on.

He makes a comment about Andrea maybe playing some three this season and the in-box is filled with comments and questions.

Bargnani a three? Why? Why now? Why consistently? I can see the odd – very odd – occasion when it might work but as a matter of course? I don’t think so. Never have. Can’t imagine I ever will.

Look at it this way: If they are planning to run an offence around the unique high- and low-post skills of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal to create perimeter space for shooters, who do you want taking those shots?

Andrea Bargnani? Jamario Moon? Jason Kapono?

Seems a pretty easy question to answer from this angle.

Kapono’s a better shooter than either of those two right at the moment – I don’t think anyone out there can debate that – and the benefits of having him on the court alongside O’Neal and Bosh in this case seem to be enormous.

Wouldn’t it make more sense right now to tell Bargnani:

"Hey, big fella, you’re a backup four and five; get in there and create some matchup problems, get your shots when you can and we’ll run a bunch of second-unit offence through you.”

Or, how about:

"Okay, you’ve been a rather abysmal failure as a three already – with the whole transition defence thing going against you – so we’re going to try it again and if it doesn’t work, well, you deal with the blow to your confidence. Oh, and the fans will continue to love you, too, won’t they?”

Me? I’d rather hear the first thing.

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Hey, how ‘about this.

I’m looking over the list of Raptor all-time assistant coaches and trying to come up with the most obscure.

It’s a difficult task, given there’s been two dozen of them over the years, and that doesn’t include current assistants for basketball development like Eric Hughes and Gord Herbert.

So, who wins?

Is it Brendan Suhr? Who worked half a season in ’97? How about Bob Kloppenburg? Who was going to revolutionize the defence under Butch Carter?

Both good choices.

But I’m going with Dick Helm, who worked with Lenny. Dick was, um, how to put this nicely? Well, Dick was a tad removed from being right on top of things. One night, he’s looking down the bench yelling, if memory serves, “Jermaine! Jermaine! Jermaine!” to an increasing befuddled group of backups.

Soon enough, Jerome Williams got up and went to the scorer’s table and, apparently, that’s who he meant.

Ah, the good old days.

Anyway, the list is long and intriguing and stories abound.

"Close out! Close out!” on shooters (he’d yell it all the time). And when a shooter invariably got a wide open look (that happened an awful lot in that 16-66 season), he’s get all ticked off, shout “(excrement!)” and take his seat back on the bench.

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The start of the mailbag:

Q: Hey Doug,
Other than Bosh, who can clearly thrive with a microphone in his face, who's your go-to guy going to be this season for a great quote or game analysis.  I've heard the press guys always loved Oak and Jalen Rose for their honesty and controversy; what other Raptors have made your job easier? Which ones are difficult to get a useable soundbyte from?

Paul C, Grassy Narrows

A: Well, again, we’ll need training camp to figure it out, and get everyone trained, but personally, I’m counting on Jermaine O’Neal to give some insightful quotes this season. I’m told by people who’ve covered him for years that he’ll be available every night and answer whatever questions we have insightfully and honestly and that’s all we can ask.

T.J. used to be great, he’d get dressed, turn around and stand there, saying, “you guys need me?” And then he’d answer whatever we wanted.

Carlos Delfino, if you could hear him (he’s a real soft-talker) would answer forever and never minded taking responsibility for any mistakes he made.

In the past? Well, believe it or not, Keon Clark was pretty good with a quote. And Tracy McGrady would have to be on the list of all-time good quotes, too.

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There’s apparently a report in the Spanish media today (in Spanish so I’m using very rudimentary translation skills) that says Jose Calderon, “if he’s okay”, will play next summer for Spain at the Eurobasket.

This comes a day or so after Pau Gasol said he wasn’t sure if he’d play next summer.

The Calderon news should hardly be surprising. If he’s healthy, and the NBA season doesn’t take too much out of him, I have no doubt he’d want to continue a national team career that’s been brilliant over the last three summers.

The Raptors will likely hold their breath, but I fully expect them to let him play if he likes. After all, in Beijing, when Calderon suffered that minor groin strain (and it was minor, it’s fully healed, he’ll be fine for camp so quit hyper-ventilating), he sat out the two most significant games of the summer rather than risk anything.

That has to ease some minds over here.

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One last one from the mail, for now. Will be back tomorrow with a full mailbag:

Q: I'm not sure if this has been asked but I was wondering if during the Olympics Roko Ukic had a chance to not only meet but hang out and talk with Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon? Thanks!

Matt B, Oakville

A: No, not chance at all to hang out. That’s what training camp’s going to be for.

Comments

[DougG]

The Bargnani at the 3 spot phenomena probably wouldn't exist, if this team had a bona fide starting small forward. I was happy to hear that one of the richest teams in the league, is now willing to at least entertain the thought of going over the cap to get one.

Blogger's note: ARRRRRGHHH!!!!!! Please, in the name of all that is good and right in the world, go and check the difference between CAP AND TAX!!!!!!!
And then, maybe, we can discuss the fact they have maybe two other bonafide starting small forwards and having a choice isn't a bad thing.

[Nick]

Not that it was in the blog today, but I'd just like to say that I really don't think we have a problem on the wings now that we have Oneal and Bosh. Creating More shots for Kapono and Parker is a really good thing. And the lack of driving in my mind only applied to Moon last year. Kapono usually drives short and pulls up for a better shot which is great, and Parker has a full arsenal of wing moves that I think we will see in full force this year with the new offence freeing up space and creating new defensive assignments. Huge kudos to Colangelo for getting Oneal.

Philly has nothing on the Raps.

[Patrick]

Hi Doug,

Notwithstanding your apparent (and somewhat valid) rage over people's misunderstanding of the difference between the cap and the tax (i.e. Raptors are over the cap but under the tax threshold), I had a quick question.

Do you have any idea when the Raptors might release some information on how to attend their intersquad game on October 4 in Ottawa (i.e. how can I get tickets)? I'd gladly make the trip down from Montreal in order to see them in person.

Thanks!

Blogger's note: "Probably next week" was the answer when I asked about the tickets. Keep watching here, we'll let you know as soon as we can.

[Jackson Browne]

The real issue here is if Jamario Moon will actually improve and become a solid starting SF in the NBA. Kapono is a great SF-backup, I dont think he can sustain a starting role.
One can only hope Moon improves in his 2nd year and elevates his game to the next level.

The other real issue is Barganani and if he will also improve significantly to become a consistent contributor every night allowing Oneal and Bosh to get enough rest to keep them fresh all year. One would think that if Bargniani is consistent,
for a good period of time every night, they would only have to keep either Bosh or Oneal on the floor with him, allowing the other one to get good rest.

Hussein is step backwards, I'd take Delfino every time.
Salaty cap casualty I guess.

Finally, One big adavantage in this Raptors team is that with the exception of Humhpries and Kapono...and maybe Bosh, everybody else will be playing this year for their next NBA contract.

[dc]

i totally disagree with the way you think the raptors will play bargnani. In my mind i see Bargs on the floor with o'neal and bosh (though probably not starting) playing like the raps did when they had garbo. think about it, o'neal is bringing the same things garbo had with the team: a big body down low, smart passer, good help defense, altering shots. O'neal is actually an upgrade on garbo ( at a cost of about $15 million more per season) because of his superior scoring touch. But with a lineup of those three along with calderon and kapono (or parker), the raps can play zone defense instead of always worrying about the one guy who has to take responsibility for the oppositions' main scorer. Bargs and Kapono can then do what they want on offense, shoot open jumpers off double teams from bosh or oneal or try to take it inside like we saw in Bargs' rookie year alongside garbo and bosh.

[GM]

A bit of a false dichotomy in your proposed speech to Bargnani, doncha think? Of course, given those two options anyone would take the first one.

[Eric]

Am I alone in thinking, for better or worse, that Andrea Bargnani will make or break this season for the Raptors and this neverending talk of taking the next step? Without Bargs playing a key role, is it even possible to see this team as more than a .500 squad?

[Sean Peacocke]

CAP... TAX...! People mixing them up is really getting to you Doug!

But myself (I messed it up the two in a previous letter to you) and others are confusing it because the "TAX" threshold is essentially the "CAP",
I say this because (I hope I'm right about this) the CAP is basically meaningless as there is only a penalty (luxary tax) against teams when they go over the TAX and not the CAP.
So why even have a CAP?

Blogger's note: For better or worse, the cap does, despite its various loopholes and exceptions, allow teams that want to to control costs. It also allows teams to keep its own players at terms that are financially beneficial to the players.
But the way you describe the difference is bang-on. The only thing I'd say is that the cap does penalize teams in their ability to sign high-priced free agents.