<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The agent representing Raptors whipping boy Rafael Araujo rushed to his client's defence this week. Diron Ohanian, a lawyer with the Los Angeles legal firm Knapp, Petersen & Clarke, believes the second-year NBA centre will evolve into a valuable player, despite the constant criticism from media and fans. By the end of last season, fans at the Air Canada Centre took to booing Araujo mercilessly, as well as general manager Rob Babcock, who drafted the former Brigham Young standout with the eighth overall pick in 2004. But Ohanian says everyone should keep the faith. "He's going to do what it takes to succeed," Ohanian said from his L.A. office. "Don't bet against him. When you have the kind of determination he has, you ought to be able to pull through." Ohanian believes Araujo's contributions as a player are underappreciated. While the second-year player's stats weren't great, he does open up space for other players, particularly Chris Bosh, and his size often prevents the other team from gathering in rebounds. Araujo, who averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.5 minutes during the 2004-05 campaign, insisted last season that the boos and jeers did not upset him. Ohanian, however, isn't so sure, but added his client will use the negativity as motivation. "He's a pretty tough guy," Ohanian said. "I've never known him to back down." </div> Source
iv got the faith. big mean typically take time to develop. we all knew he wasnt going to come into the league his rookie year and dominate...if he adds 2 more buckets a game and adds 3 or 4 more boards a game...we're lookin at 7ppg and 7rpg. i can live with that. course that could be just a pipe dream lol. but im goimg to remain optimistic
I thought the booing was very stupid, we definately have some dumb fans. While Araujo didn't impress me, their was a 0% chance of me booing the guy out there, that's just stupid.
Agreed, booing the guy is the worst way for him to get rid of rookie nervousness. I think he also might have taken the wrong approach to the nba. He probably was overweight last year and it affected his stamina and quickness. Hopefully now that he has being taking off weight, he can making solid strides into his sophmore year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dj_premium_plus:</div><div class="quote_post">iv got the faith. big mean typically take time to develop. we all knew he wasnt going to come into the league his rookie year and dominate...if he adds 2 more buckets a game and adds 3 or 4 more boards a game...we're lookin at 7ppg and 7rpg. i can live with that. course that could be just a pipe dream lol. but im goimg to remain optimistic</div> I think and hope so too, but it's ironic that he was actually because he was "NBA-ready". If he becomes remotely close to Jason Collins for us, I'm happy. At least we didn't end up in a Fran Vasquez situation...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post">At least we didn't end up in a Fran Vasquez situation...</div> Amen to that. Hopefully he can play a little more defence this year. His rebounding will go up naturally. Is an extra 2 or 3 buckets per game too much to ask?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Is an extra 2 or 3 buckets per game too much to ask?</div> Yes is it because that would be 4-6 PPG more a game, which would have him averaging 7-9 PPG. He's have to play like 28-30 MPG to get that [the 7 range], which I don't think will happen.
