Thoughts on Bargnani now?

Public_Enemy101 · Post #1 » by **Public_Enemy101** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:34 pm

Was watching Open Gym and they had an interview with Bargnani and he spoke fondly about his time with the Raptors. Even admitting his shortcoming.

Seemed like a really humble dude, just came in the wrong era. With the amount of support for international players today, he could have been that mobile big man who’s a 3 point specialist instead of being forced to bulk up as a center.

Plus he never sh*t talked about Toronto even when fans blasted him. (Like me back in the day, lol)

Gavin_TDThree · Post #2 » by **Gavin_TDThree** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:43 pm

Drafted in the wrong era tbh. He'd be view a lot higher in today's NBA

Grew · Post #3 » by **Grew** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:46 pm

Biggest bust in franchise history, set us back over half a decade trying to build around him. Would look better in todays game but still soft as charmin with no motor. Broke mans Markkanen.

mtcan · Post #4 » by **mtcan** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:48 pm

He was supposed to be the next Dirk......

720 · Post #5 » by **720** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:50 pm

13 game Godnani was fun

Post #6 » by **tsherkin** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:51 pm

I mean, he still wasn't very good. Horrible defender, poor rebounder, not particularly aware. Not THAT good a shooter, didn't have a ton of other scoring skills.

I don't think anything has changed. Lot of pressure on him as a #1 overall, and it was a weak draft, but yeah. Basically the same.

Would he look better today? I dunno. He was taking 4 3PA/g to begin with, he just didn't have, you know, any other skills.

Jcity08 · Post #7 » by **Jcity08** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:51 pm

Watch on YouTube

Primo pasta sustained me when I was a broke college student, for that I thank him.

Post #8 » by **CPT** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:52 pm

He could have been more successful in this era, but his main problem would still be that he doesn’t particularly like playing basketball.

He’s far from the only one. He’s not even the only number one pick. A lot of these big guys just do it because they’re pretty good at it, but in the NBA, that’s not enough.

Snappycoocoo · Post #9 » by **Snappycoocoo** » Sun Jan 19, 2025 11:54 pm

Why we going backwards?

ConSarnit · Post #10 » by **ConSarnit** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:01 am

Gavin_TDThree wrote:Drafted in the wrong era tbh. He'd be view a lot higher in today's NBA

Actually think he might be viewed worse. I think teams would target him relentlessly on defense more today. He’d be one of the worst defenders in the league and he was one of the worst rebounding bigs of all time.

Potential · Post #11 » by **Potential** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:03 am

We booed him and hated his laziness and wasted potential but 13 game bargnani was magical until the injury. He's always had good things to say about us and the city and shows a lot of love to us til this day. He actually has a good sense of humor if u go on his Facebook page. I got nothing but love for Bargs!

Raptors Realtor · Post #12 » by **Raptors Realtor** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:08 am

He wasn't completely at fault... His game declined after the organization had him bulk up to be a C so that he could play alongside Bosh. After his rookie season his intensity/heart disappeared.

deck · Post #13 » by **deck** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:14 am

I don't agree with the 'drafted in the wrong era' thing. The knock on Bargnani is that he couldn't do all of the other things big men need to be able to do. I think most of those flaws are still applicable today. He was effectively relegated to being a slow SF, because playing him at PF or C was not viable.

Post #14 » by **Duffman100** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:32 am

He just didn't like basketball. He didn't keep his body in good condition and was a victim of injuries.

Think to yourself, Rookie Bargnani vs "Prime" Bargnani, what did he really add to his game? Nothing.

artsncrafts · Post #15 » by **artsncrafts** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:36 am

As bad as the pick was, he had a much better career than Adam Morrison taken 3rd.

Actually I forgot Morrison won a ring with the Lakers in 2010 :lol:

he played 12 minutes that playoffs.

Post #16 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:41 am

artsncrafts wrote:As bad as the pick was, he had a much better career than Adam Morrison taken 3rd.

Actually I forgot Morrison won a ring with the Lakers in 2010 he played 12 minutes that playoffs.

Ooof. Morrison was brutal.

Scase · Post #17 » by **Scase** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:43 am

No hate on him personally, but he seemed lazy and to not care about playing basketball. He wasn't particularly talented either, no hate on being freakishly large and taking a free payday playing basketball.

Rodrickle · Post #18 » by **Rodrickle** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:51 am

tsherkin wrote:I mean, he still wasn't very good. Horrible defender, poor rebounder, not particularly aware. Not THAT good a shooter, didn't have a ton of other scoring skills.

I don't think anything has changed. Lot of pressure on him as a #1 overall, and it was a weak draft, but yeah. Basically the same.

Would he look better today? I dunno. He was taking 4 3PA/g to begin with, he just didn't have, you know, any other skills.

100%. He just wasn't great at anything. And he was BAD in several areas. IQ wasn't there either

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Ahmed121291 · Post #19 » by **Ahmed121291** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:51 am

tsherkin wrote:I mean, he still wasn't very good. Horrible defender, poor rebounder, not particularly aware. Not THAT good a shooter, didn't have a ton of other scoring skills.

I don't think anything has changed. Lot of pressure on him as a #1 overall, and it was a weak draft, but yeah. Basically the same.

Would he look better today? I dunno. He was taking 4 3PA/g to begin with, he just didn't have, you know, any other skills.

I thought he had a good post game, good post D and was a pretty good midrange shooter.

Also had a pretty quick first step, he dropped a couple dudes with his quickness.

He'd fair better in todays league IMO but would struggle even more with PnR D.

Badonkadonk · Post #20 » by **Badonkadonk** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:59 am

He'd be WORSE off now, modern bigs are expected to be far better defenders in more diverse schemes than they were back then, and he was never strong enough offensively to justify starter minutes on a good team. People fell in love with the idea of Bargs more than what he actually produced, which was mediocre efficiency from distance, absolutely terrible post (and away from the post) D, and bad rebounding.

I don't even hate him, I think this reflects more on BC and a weak draft class.