Those Who Doubt Bargnani Need To Remember Lafleur, Staubach and the Moons
By Walter DubowecYesterday, Andrea Bargnani finally played his 82nd NBA game. It can now be said the 'Big Rook' has officially played a full season of NBA ball.
With only a year of NBA experience, some fans are already all over Andrea (and Bryan Colangelo) and are prepared to label Bargnani as a bust and a wasted number one draft pick. Aldridge, Gay, Roy and Thomas are all better than Bargnani claim the naysayers.
I completely disagree. Anyone who is willing to write off Bargnani is quite frankly – freakin' insane.
Andrea is still developing. Admittedly, he’s a work in progress. Everyone knows he can shoot the lights out. But he continues to show signs of improvement on defence and rebounding. No doubt, Andrea was as not NBA-ready as others like Lamarcus Aldridge. That’s OK. Bargnani has a much greater upside than Aldridge.
Anyone who has watched Andrea in person knows he is dripping with raw talent. Now that talent needs to be harnessed and refined. He’s still learning the NBA game and the Raptors are still trying to figure out how to make the best use of his immense talents.
Unfortunately, there is no text book time period for a star to emerge. Some take longer than others.
A perfect case in point is Jamario Moon. At age 27, he has finally blossomed into a very good NBA player. Problem was at age 22, Moon was labeled as not even worthy of an NBA summer camp invite. Don’t think that 29 other NBA teams would love to have Jamario on their roster today?
There are eye-opening examples in other sports, too.
Like Andrea Bargnani, Montreal Canadiens’ Hall of Famer, Guy Lafleur was the NHL’s first overall draft pick in 1971. Not long after, most Habs fans and NHL observers felt that Lafleur was a bust. He struggled to meet expectations. Lafleur was a very average player through three unproductive campaigns.
Then came the 1974-75 season when Guy Lafleur finally ‘got it’. He exploded with a breakout season of 53 goals and 119 points after a year earlier recording a mediocre 21 goals and 56 points. Lafleur went on to lead the Canadiens to 4 Stanley Cups after that turnaround season. He won three scoring championships and two MVP’s.
Roger Staubach was the Heisman Trophy winner as America’s best college football player. Due to a commitment to the U.S. Navy, Roger was unable to join the Dallas Cowboys for five years after he was drafted. Roger personally told me that he was fine with that because he was ‘not ready for the NFL’. Once Roger joined the Cowboys, he spent two years riding the bench. It wasn’t until Staubach was 29 years old that he finally blossomed and became the starting quarterback for America’s team.
Staubach led the club to four Super Bowl appearances, with victories in Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII. Staubach was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl VI. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
While we're talking about Moon and NFL quarterbacks, lets not forget Warren Moon. He is another NFL Hall of Famer who spent five years in Canada with the Edmonton Eskimos because he wasn't good enough for the NFL. The 'football' Moon didn't play his first NFL game until he was 27 years old.
Guy Lafleur, Roger Staubach, Warren Moon and now Jamario Moon are perfect examples of athletes who were written off as flops because they didn’t immediately put big numbers on the boards. Yet each proved the skeptics wrong.
You can bet that Andrea Bargnani will do the same.
In my viewpoint Bargnani played much better last year. He played with more confidence and was quick in his step. This year he appears to move slower and appears hesitant. It also appears that the coach has less confidence in him as well. And to tell you the truth I have not been impressed with his play
I feel that we need to get a big man coach for him or else he will not improve. Patrick Ewing is coaching Dwight Howard from Orlando and Karim Abul Jabber is coaching Andrew Bynum. Just like we acquired Mike Evans to coach J.T Ford and Jose Calderon (and have they improved) we need a big man coach for Bargnani. I am surprised that Colangleo has not gotten one already.
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he is definitely not a bust. when i watch him play, he shows signs of being our franchise player...more so than bosh. i think the expectation was that he would be a bit of a project, with much more upside.
as far as getting a big man coach in for him...i don't think someone like ewing would be good for him. he is not a prototypical player.
i would let him finish out his rookie contract before passing judgement on him.
he is much different than rafael araujo, who didn't get drafted as high. everyone knew just watching him play that he wasn't a good player.
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To elaborate, it is evident to the other NBA coaches and teams that Bargnani possess very little of a back to the basket/low post inside game. His threat to defences is outside shooting and he doesn't provide any offensive rebounds because he is positioned 20 feet away from the basket constantly. That is why I feel that a big man coach can assist in his development, with a focus on the inside game (footwork, moves etc.)
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