Sam has a tough job re: Bargnani

[omeloon]

WHo cares about Joey getting yanked. Only reason he's getting any playing time is to showcase him.

[TribeZulu]

Personally I don't like the quick yank approach. No sense in rushing, especially if your home alone and have a good internet connection.

Serious note... I think rooks should be able to play through their mistakes a bit. If you pull them everytime they screw up they will be afraid to make mistakes and may play too safe.

Consider Bargnani. People complain that he's bad on rotations. Perhaps he's reluctant to rotate because doing so is a bit of a risk, and taking a risk might result in him making a mistake and getting pulled (Bad rotation = easy basket). Safer to just sit on your man and not worry too much about help defense.

Now of course you have to pull a slumping player at some point. But I think it's a mistake to pull a guy for the rest of a game just because he makes one big mistake.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

I don't think there's much to argue about his weaknesses. He needs to get better at those things and he and the coaching staff should do everything they can to ensure that happens. But I don't think our offense does a good enough job taking advantage of his play making ability. If you looked at the top ten assists this season and last, i bet three of them would have come form Andrea. I think he's the rare kind that doesn't necessarily need to be wide open to get the ball and make something happen. I find he gets discouraged when he goes long periods without touches.

[El Presidente]

Personally I don't like the quick yank approach. I think rooks should be able to play through their mistakes a bit. If you pull them everytime they screw up they will be afraid to make mistakes and may play too safe.

Consider Bargnani. People complain that he's bad on rotations. Perhaps he's reluctant to rotate because doing so is a bit of a risk, and taking a risk might result in him making a mistake and getting pulled (Bad rotation = easy basket). Safer to just sit on your man and not worry too much about help defense.

Now of course you have to pull a slumping player at some point. But I think it's a mistake to pull a guy for the rest of a game just because he makes one big mistake.

Agree entirely with this post especially the point made about help defense. It's one thing to pull him aside and let him know he screwed up, Sam takes it to the extreme and just benches a player for the rest of the game. That's no way to develop a player or to build his confidence.

[vulture]

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Agree entirely with this post especially the point made about help defense. It's one thing to pull him aside and let him know he screwed up, Sam takes it to the extreme and just benches a player for the rest of the game. That's no way to develop a player or to build his confidence.

Oh, Really? Sam has a good history of developing players, so I trust his judgement. I just don't think Bargnani has what it takes to get any better than he is right now.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

^ so you trust Sam's ability to develop players but don't have faith in BC's ability to spot talent, or Sam's for that matter. Sam put the rook in the last two games of the playoffs, and that's because he was playing at a level that better than his lows of this year.

[Darrick Martin]

I love Humps hussle, but I think a lot of guys on this board over-rate how well he's really doing.

Let's not overlook that he's a -25 on the season. Per minute Hump and Graham probably have the worst +/- on the team. Now +/- isn't the end-all-and-be-all. However, it does say something if your last on the team.

Bargs has played much better than Graham or Hump both this and last season. Bargs has much more potential. Like it or not, we need to turn a blind eye with him much more than the other prospects on the team.

Humps has been better than both Bargs and Graham this year. Bargs better have the better plus/minus stat given that he has been given more playing time with the starting unit. ALL of Bargs #'s have decreased this year with only a slight increase coming from assists.

[vulture]

^ so you trust Sam's ability to develop players but don't have faith in BC's ability to spot talent, or Sam's for that matter. Sam put the rook in the last two games of the playoffs, and that's because he was playing at a level that better than his lows of this year.

It's not that I don't trust it, but my philosophy of building a championship team is the same as BC's.
Let's not deny the fact that BC has a fetish for 7 foot 3 point shooting specialists from europe.
Example a: Skita
Example b: Cabarkapa
Example c: Bargnani

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

^ maybe, even his wife is Italian

[El Presidente]

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Oh, Really? Sam has a good history of developing players, so I trust his judgement. I just don't think Bargnani has what it takes to get any better than he is right now.

Who has Sam developed?

[ruckus]

^ maybe, even his wife is Italian

His wife can hit the 3?

But, can she rebound?

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

^ i heard she just cherry picks the paint looking for easy putbacks.

[Koosh]

Sam has a system that lets mediocre players overachieve but who cares? Look at the kind of numbers Mike James put up when he played for us and the minutes he was getting. Calderon didn't get a chance to play until he proved himself in the World Championships... very far away from Sam's "player development".

[ruckus]

To comment on the thread title, I think Sam has a pretty tough job all around. Let's face it, when healthy, the Raptors only have one person who clearly deserves the minutes he's getting, CB4.

Everyone else is pretty much on par with the other players at their positions (in terms of overall contribution to the team).

PG: TJ vs Jose
Swing: AP vs Delf vs Kapono vs Moon vs (Juan, Joey & Jorge to a lesser extent)
Up Front: Bargs vs Hump vs Rasho

On a side note, don't we have too many "J"s on this team? Jose, Jason, Jamario, Juan, Joey, Jorge, oh my.

[Koosh]

I like Sam, he's a cool guy but I don't think he's a good coach for this team. We need a coach that gets the most out of these players, using their strengths to win games. Sam's trying to change the way a lot of these guys play and I dunno if that's right. European teams don't play like the Pistons but they still play well.

[ruckus]

I like Sam, he's a cool guy but I don't think he's a good coach for this team. We need a coach that gets the most out of these players, using their strengths to win games. Sam's trying to change the way a lot of these guys play and I dunno if that's right. European teams don't play like the Pistons but they still play well.

Whose games has Smitch tried to change?

[vulture]

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Who has Sam developed?

Don't act like you don't know.

[Koosh]

The entire team is playing differently. It's almost as if our emphasis on defense has killed our O. Moon on the starting lineup is proof of that. His game is very different than the things that worked for us last year. I'm not saying he's a bad player, just saying I don't understand why we're getting away from the things that worked in the past.

[Koosh]

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Don't act like you don't know.

I'm pretty sure any coach in the league could have developed Bosh. He wasn't a late draft pick, he was a lottery pick in one of the deepest drafts of all time.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

My impression is is that we played well last year, but not perfect. It seems we focused too much on the holes in the game i.e, defense and rebounding and points in the paint at the expense of what we already did well, ball movement and shooting. It seems we may be guilty of not finding the balance of improving on our weaknesses, while not taking away from what made us good in the first place. BC's recent years in phoenix reflect a batter handle on this balance, albeit there are also more experienced players there.