<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WATERLOO -- Veterans usually are responsible for showing the ropes to NBA rookies. Not at Raptors training camp. Raptors coach Sam Mitchell is making a point of putting Jorge Garbajosa, a rookie only by strict definition, on the floor with prized first- overall pick Andrea Bargnani. Garbajosa, 28, has played professionally for 11 seasons in Europe, while the baby-faced Bargnani is 20. "Right now I think they've got a comfort zone with each other," Mitchell said of Garbajosa and Bargnani, who were teammates on Benetton Treviso in Italy in 2003-04. "We're trying to make sure Andrea's comfortable, we're not trying to give him too much right now. Jorge is a lot more familiar with his game than some of the other guys. "Jorge is 28 years old and he has a lot of experience. He has been playing a lot of basketball. Yeah, it's his first year playing in the NBA but when he's on the court, you can't tell." Mitchell is using the 7-foot Bargnani as a centre on the second unit. While Bargnani brings a versatile game to Toronto, Mitchell doesn't want to experiment with the big Italian at different positions. Because the Raptors are hoping to run a fast-paced offence, Bargnani won't have to be a back-to-the-basket player regularly, allowing him to showcase his myriad talents. He will have to get used guarding big guys, however, so Mitchell has had him matched up against Raptors starting centre Rasho Nesterovic on defence. </div> Source
I think its a good move, Bargnani is tall enough to guard big men and have a shot blocking presence, he probably will struggle some with the stronger 7-footers, however he will have a quickness advantage on offense and lure out the opposing center to defend him on the perimeter.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He will have to get used guarding big guys, however, so Mitchell has had him matched up against Raptors starting centre Rasho Nesterovic on defence.</div> I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how Mitchell's run camp so far. This is probably the best way to start out Bargnani. Make sure you define what kind of play you expect from him and don't try to throw too many gameplans out at him. I'm eager to see how he's handled Rasho so far. There's also that bit of new about how he was posting up individual defensive grades at the end of each day, for all the players to see. Gotta like the emphasis on D and that extra motivation.
No matter how much we try to mold him into a 5, he doesn't have the body to take the beating night in night out. Only advantage though, is that Mitchell is running a fast pace offence, so Bargs shouldn't get exposed as much.
Sam Mitchell is running a great camp grading the players defence so well and completely revamping the defensive philosophy. The nice thing for Batgnani will be that it sounds like a lot of the time when he is on the courrt Garbajosa will be too, and if Jorge is as rugged a defender and rebounder as advertised, he can help Andrea. Bargnani will be a mtchup nightmare on offense for most centers with his ability to hit the 3,and it sound like a 2nd unit of Bargnani, Garbajosa, Jones, Graham n Calderon is pretty solid.
<div class="quote_poster">Fever Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">No matter how much we try to mold him into a 5, he doesn't have the body to take the beating night in night out. Only advantage though, is that Mitchell is running a fast pace offence, so Bargs shouldn't get exposed as much.</div> I think it's tough to judge where we want him to play. The idea of a player having a certain position in our offense is totally out of whack. Hopefully Bargnani will play like a C on defense and a pf/sf on offense. Given that he doesn't seem to rebound much and his inside game doesn't seem as sharp as his outside work I think him playing outside on offense makes way more sense.
And it's more than just hoping that he can become a center. You have to make sure that the first things that he works on are his post game and rebounding. Without those, he'll be like countless other European forwards that camp outside the 3 pt. line. I like how Mitchell is forcing him to develop one, although, I wouldn't be surprised if Colangelo had a say in it too.
