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Apparently Rasho wants to come back to Toronto, and our GM wants to bring him back as well. When he was with us he was a pretty solid big man. Nothing spectacular, but he did his job playing with a high IQ, and just generally doing everything well for a backup (passing, boxing out, defending bigs, rebounding, finishing etc...).

I'm kinda curious if he's dropped off a bit since he seems to have had a bit of a dip in production and minutes since going to Indiana. Wondering if he's gotten even slower with age or, if maybe just playing with great rebounders caused his production to drop a bit.


Thanks.

his stats were lowered granted because of Hibbert and the fact that he is a part of our future...He honestly did what we expected him too...he rebounded and scored when needed..he was never the intimidating post presence but he got the job done..and the guy has a wonderful turn around J...I thank Euro ball for that one

i truely have nothing negative to say about Rasho...we didn't expect much with him coming in and he made me happy with what he brought to the table...we didn't think it was the resurrection of our Dunkin Dutchman or anything but we knew what we acquired and I think both the Pacers and Rash made it work..even at his age hes a solid back up center...hes certainly not Greg Ostertag if thats what your worried about

He was so-so. I wouldn't really want to bring him and his line drive jump shot back. He did basically what we asked him to do, so I can't complain. Finishing around the rim was definitely not on his plate though.

looked better in the early going than late in the year. don't know if he lost interest or never developed chemistry. perhaps Mike's injury hurt him as he was our best at moving without the ball which would have fit with Rasho's game. might also have been hurt by Troy's three point game which hurt his mid range spot up game as he needed to stay in the post to let Troy roam.

my friend's in Toronto have been telling me he would go back there this summer ever since we first got him. only question if whether they can agree on price.

cdash wrote:He was so-so. I wouldn't really want to bring him and his line drive jump shot back. He did basically what we asked him to do, so I can't complain. Finishing around the rim was definitely not on his plate though.

thats right i forgot the fact that he can stand in front of the basket and shoot a beautiful shot and when hes off balance he shoots a drill to the bucket...ah to each his own...hopefully we helped out friend

He seemed to do well in T.O with Bargnani, and Bosh needing to take jumpshots so guessing that Murphy's 3's probably didn't hurt him too much. And yeah he can throw some line drives up there, haha.

Thanks for the write ups. Sounds like he should be still able to play 15-20mpg as a backup by the sounds of it. Do you guys think LLE money is about his worth?

He doesn't have an 82-game season in him. About a month into the season, he looked like death warmed over. He was able to dredge up the occasional decent appearance after that, but either he's physically unable to take the grind, or, worse, he mailed it in. I think the physical explanation is much more likely.

count55 wrote:He doesn't have an 82-game season in him. About a month into the season, he looked like death warmed over. He was able to dredge up the occasional decent appearance after that, but either he's physically unable to take the grind, or, worse, he mailed it in. I think the physical explanation is much more likely.

I respectfully disagree...I honestly think he had no desire or compassion to be here and mailed it in...he played well with Toronto and even garnered a starting spot with us early on...yes by default because of Hibbert's youth...but I truely do feel it was a cash year and not a dash one for old Mr. Nesterovic

He might still have some game left. I always thought Murphy, Foster and Rasho was just a horrible combination. Those three are all complementary players. Put any of them next to a guy like Bosh and their respective skill sets would come in pretty handy. Working off one another there were too many games where all you noticed was their weaknesses.

count55 wrote:He doesn't have an 82-game season in him. About a month into the season, he looked like death warmed over. He was able to dredge up the occasional decent appearance after that, but either he's physically unable to take the grind, or, worse, he mailed it in. I think the physical explanation is much more likely.

See, my response was going to be:


His contract expired. He was EXACTLY what we wanted and needed him to be. AND, to top it all off, he didn't embarrass us by getting arrested at a strip club!!!

He was okay. He didn't impress or disgust me out there. Hibbert pretty much took all of his minutes by the end of the year, and I think Rasho just lost interest as he knew he had no long-term future here.

slickrickstyles wrote:

count55 wrote:He doesn't have an 82-game season in him. About a month into the season, he looked like death warmed over. He was able to dredge up the occasional decent appearance after that, but either he's physically unable to take the grind, or, worse, he mailed it in. I think the physical explanation is much more likely.

I respectfully disagree...I honestly think he had no desire or compassion to be here and mailed it in...he played well with Toronto and even garnered a starting spot with us early on...yes by default because of Hibbert's youth...but I truely do feel it was a cash year and not a dash one for old Mr. Nesterovic

Wow...there's a ringing endorsement.

So, Toronto fans...there's your choice. He's either a guy who physically can't take the pounding of an 82-game season, or...He's a guy who decided he didn't want to be here, so he stuck his thumb up his ass and collected his $8.4mm.

Scoot McGroot wrote:See, my response was going to be:


His contract expired. He was EXACTLY what we wanted and needed him to be. AND, to top it all off, he didn't embarrass us by getting arrested at a strip club!!!

And that's fine for us. I didn't have any huge problems with Rasho, but by late November/early December, he was laboring more to get up and down the court than any player I've seen since Rik Smits in his final year. The problem is that Toronto wouldn't be looking for him to be a big expiring contract or stay off the police blotters. They would be looking for someone who could contribute on the court, so that's how I answered the question.

Now, I know he wasn't thrilled to be coming here, but the guy has spent 10 years in the NBA, and seems to have conducted himself professionally during that time. Therefore, it is my opinion that his performance last year was indicative of a player who probably wouldn't be able to give you 15 to 20 minutes a night for 70+ games, and be productive for the entire season.

I could see him playing the vet big role for a contender, watching most of the season, but then becoming useful come the playoffs. However, that's about it.

If, in fact, he simply mailed in last season (which I doubt), then why would you want him...period?

If he just mailed it in I'd still want him, because he's never shown to mail it in in Toronto, and been professional. Maybe it's because in Indiana he didn't really have a defined role w/younger players taking his minutes by the sounds of it? While in Toronto he was a pretty important part of the team with a defined role? I dunno.

Judging by his comments it doesn't seem like he'd mail it in in T.O

"I never wanted to leave, it was just a matter of numbers and business, I understand that," Nesterovic said in a telephone interview from his native Slovenia yesterday.

"To come back would be great, I'd love to. Toronto is always and will always be my favourite city."

So maybe this living in the city where his family lives, and being a bigger part of his team would help his dedication? I dunno.

I'm not worried about dedication. Now if he just regressed a lot, well then that sucks quite a bit since it's starting to look like he's going to be a 15-20mpg guy next year.


Another possible explination I guess could be, in Toronto when we tried bringing him off the bench he had a tough time getting going, and didn't have much impact since he's not really a "spark" type player, but rather a complimentary piece. But if you started him he'd have a much better impact on the game. You guys menitioned too that he was alright starting, but regressed coming off the bench right?

I wasn't a big fan of his game. Bird raved early, but Rasho faded like I figured he would. He did maintain some nice chemistry with TJ, so if Toronto wants him back, may I suggest you take back Ford and reunite your PG tandem? You probably could've had TJ back for the Stackhouse contract. Now, we'd probably settle for Banks (ugh) and a couple of small expiring contracts.

fienX420 wrote:I wasn't a big fan of his game. Bird raved early, but Rasho faded like I figured he would. He did maintain some nice chemistry with TJ, so if Toronto wants him back, may I suggest you take back Ford and reunite your PG tandem? You probably could've had TJ back for the Stackhouse contract. Now, we'd probably settle for Banks (ugh) and a couple of small expiring contracts.

You don't like Ford?

We never ended up with Stackhouse, he went to Memphis for a buyout. And believe me you want no part of Banks/

Rasho didn't try extra hard like so many other characters during a contract year. He was honest enough to let everyone know he is nearing an end, atleast that's the way it looked.

He was no good. Turnover prone and messed up plays. Also, he didn't play like he wanted to. No passion at all.

Yeah, I'm not taking Banks back for Ford. That's awful.

fienX420 wrote:I wasn't a big fan of his game. Bird raved early, but Rasho faded like I figured he would. He did maintain some nice chemistry with TJ, so if Toronto wants him back, may I suggest you take back Ford and reunite your PG tandem? You probably could've had TJ back for the Stackhouse contract. Now, we'd probably settle for Banks (ugh) and a couple of small expiring contracts.

Heck, I would do that, and I am no Ford fan.

Even though we are knee deep in guards,
If you can wait till September 9th, we would gladly ship you our poo poo platter of Banks, George, and Douby for Ford.

Ford could back up both Jack and Calderon, it will be like old times for him.