RealGM

"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.

Then, there's this from Dr Greenberg, the founder of the Caliper Test:

That's the kind of thing we're very, very proud of. We did some … I wouldn't say “arm twisting,” because they liked him, but they knew they'd get a lot of criticism for drafting him. I can tell you right now: He will be one of the top eight or ten centers in NBA history.”

“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.

Then, there's this from Dr Greenberg, the founder of the Caliper Test:

That's the kind of thing we're very, very proud of. We did some … I wouldn't say “arm twisting,” because they liked him, but they knew they'd get a lot of criticism for drafting him. I can tell you right now: He will be one of the top eight or ten centers in NBA history.”

ponder276 wrote:Bargnani does indeed seem virtually oblivious, especially on defense. He is able to block out distractions such as players driving to the rack, and maintain his focus on guarding empty space.

lobosloboslobos wrote:It's easy to dis these kind of personality profile tests as empty psycho-babble. I certainly used to do it myself. Until I had a fascinating experience with one about 10 years ago that really made me change my opinion. I won't go into details here, but it seriously transformed a group of 10-15 people who took it by revealing previously unknown tensions and alignments in values and personalities. I was shocked at how accurate and useful it was.

Joga_Bonito wrote:The test just shows what type of personality Bargnani has but just because we know what kind of guy he is does not mean it will translate to what kind of player he is or will be. There are so many other variables than the athlete's personality.

Ripp wrote:How the caliper test has it been validated? Is there a correlation between high performance on it and NBA greatness?

For example, you can correlate IQ scores with SAT scores or College Gpa...if you have a high IQ, you'll likely have a high SAT score, or great grades in college.