The Face of the Faceless Franchise

I still remember the night like it was yesterday. June 28, 2006, one night I will never forget as a sports fan. I remember my buddies and I gathering around the TV at my parents’ house as the Toronto Raptors were put on the clock. They had 5 final minutes to decide the fate of their franchise for the next 15 years. The room was split in half on who to pick. Most wanted Brandon Roy. Personally, I was pulling for LaMarcus Aldridge. We all understood that Bryan Colangelo was into the Euro style game and was considering taking Andrea Bargnani. It would have been the first time a European player was selected with the first overall pick in an NBA draft. If Bargnani were taken first overall it definitely would not have been the first time Colangelo showed the entire world that he was indeed clueless.

            The clock wound down and David Stern walked out towards the podium. He looked up at the crowd and smiled as if he knew what the next 15 years would like look for Toronto fans and he proceeded to say the following…

“With the first pick in the 2006 NBA draft…” (Pause)

 Roy. No LaMarcus. No Roy. Fine. Anybody but the Italian guy!

(Another pause)

COMMON DAVE JUST SAY IT ALREADY!

“The Toronto Raptors select Andr…”

Before Stern finished saying his name we knew it was over. The whole room exploded with anger. The fans at Madison Square Garden were shocked. Andrea Bargnani from Italy was the first pick in the NBA draft. The only people in the world who enjoyed that moment were Knicks fans in the room as they laughed and said, “I thought only Isiah Thomas would be dumb enough to do something like that”.

Look at Stern's smile. He knew! HE KNEW!

Once the anger had subdued and we realized that Michael Jordan just used the 4^th pick on Adam Morrison, we all found a reason to smile. But I knew that was it for Toronto. I knew that Chris Bosh was gone the second he had a chance, as if it was ever a question to begin with. With a team that was already labeled as soft, the addition of a center that refused to rebound and was found to be allergic to 2-point shots, that label was here to stay. How could the Raptors grind out wins? How could they protect the paint? These were all questions that the Toronto media labeled as ‘to be determined’ but the writing was already on the wall. Andrea’s scoring ability was never in question. He could shoot the ball. He could score in many different ways. He presented matchup problems for other bigs in the league. The only problem was Chris Bosh was a face up post player who lived between 15-18 feet and now they draft a big that is supposed to compliment him and the new guy lives between 18-24 feet. It was never meant to work. Andrea needed to learn toughness and hard work. He needed to learn how to rebound. And Chris Bosh was supposed to be the guy who taught him those things? Bargnani is to defense what Paul Walker is to good acting.

            Bargnani is a center yet he lives behind the three-point line. A center is supposed to rebound yet Andrea averages 4.9 per game for his career. An Italian is supposed to like pasta yet Andrea signs a deal with Primo. The guy can’t get anything right! His skills in the kitchen are like his rebounding, non-existent. His acting is like his defense, very hard to watch. Check out the Primo Pasta & Sauce commercial featuring Andrea Bargnani below and see for yourself.

            I can’t just sit here and bash the poor guy without listing some of the things he does well. He is a matchup nightmare for opposing coaches because of his skill set. He has never seen a shot he didn’t like, although I’m not sure that’s ever been a positive but this time it counts. He is capable of going for 30 on any given night because of his ability to shoot the ball and get to the free throw line and his defensive effort and rebounding have somewhat improved over the years. In his defense the Raptors haven’t had a defensive minded coach who would demand better from Andrea and punish him if he wasn’t getting what he asked for. 2012 is different. Dwayne Casey is the head coach and a darn good one if you ask me. His emphasis is on defense and he will do to Andrea what he did to Dirk and that is increase the effort and desire to want to play defense and rebound. Andrea is no longer a young guy in the league; he is looked at as being a leader for this young Raptors team. The pieces around him are not very good and the pressure for him to score on a nightly basis is greater than it’s been throughout his career.

There are now only 2 things the Raptors can do with Andrea. If Colangelo had any sense of general managing he would have dealt Bargnani the year they traded TJ Ford for Jermaine O’Neal in a last ditch effort to keep Bosh in Toronto. His value at the time was at its peak and they could have gotten 90 cents on the dollar for him because his skill set was something that was valued, especially for a contender. Now if they put him on the open market they would only get 60 or 70 cents on the dollar for him. If the Raptors had a true GM, trading Bargnani would not be an option but since they don’t, here are the 2 options left:

Option 1: Wait for Jonas Valanciunas to come over to the NBA and see how his rugged style and his ability to rebound and score in the paint will compliment the perimeter oriented game of Andrea as they continue to added value pieces to the perimeter.

Or

Option 2: Wait until the very last second of the trade deadline and attempt to deal him to a potential contender who is looking for scoring. Either look to get a few young pieces and an impact player on the wing or a role player with an expiring contract and a draft pick.

            I think that Colangelo has dialed himself in with Bargnani for the next half decade and has to go with option 1 but if option 2 were ever considered, it would be tough to actually get fair value for Andrea in a deal that included a draft pick. Regardless, a team that has been built to play in the Euro League rather than the NBA has somehow kept Colangelo in Toronto for the foreseeable future. If the Raptors want to taste some success and keep their fans on board they are going to have to make some changes in the front office. Bargnani’s limited overall game can only take this franchise so far.

Stay tuned for the Flagrant Foul’s next blog and don’t forget to follow me on twitter @Jelturk09.

The Kardashian Effect

            Over the years athletes have evolved into much stronger, physical and athletically gifted individuals. This is evident in the NBA at nearly every position. Players are faster, quicker and rely heavily on their physical attributes rather than fundamentals. Not only has the NBA become more dynamic and viewer friendly but it has also become significantly younger with nearly every draft class being dominated by 18-year-old freshman looking to turn their exuberance and athleticism into big time paychecks. With this youth movement comes youthful thinking. DUIs, assaults and ‘making it rain’ now dominate the off court headlines but one trend that seems to be surpassing all of this, something I like to call: the Kardashian Effect.

Kim and Kris together. Baby Kris is thrilled!

            The Kardashian Effect can be broken down into 3 very unique categories.

1.)  The number of times player X is on the cover of a magazine or is mentioned on Entertainment Tonight exceeds his average minutes per game or points per game total (we will use the lower of the 2 figures).

2.)  When player X is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is his relationship and not his career (although most times there isn’t much of a career to talk about)

3.)  Player X is voted as the most popular player in the NBA in the newly created Housewives of North America Poll (HNA Poll) light-years ahead of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

The 2 most popular members of the NBA today according to the newly created HNA Poll are Kris Humphries and Lamar Odom respectively. Do you know how I know this is true? I was standing in line at a drug store one day and these 2 girls behind me picked up a People’s magazine and the conversation went as follows:

Committee Member 1: “Kim is engaged again? Good thing she stopped dating athletes at least.”

Committee Member 2: “Actually he is an athlete. I think his name is Kris Humphries. Somebody told me he played for the Raptors but he wasn’t very good.”

Committee Member 1: “How do you know this?”

Committee Member 2: “My boyfriend was watching SportSCentre and they made fun of him a lot during one of the highlights.”

And poof! The HNA Poll was created. See, magic is real! We will get back to Humphries and Odom in a few moments but first let’s take a trip down memory lane and figure out how the Kardashian Effect was created.

Although this new phenomenon is named after Khloe and Kim Kardashian, I think we have Doug Christie to thank for this. Doug Christie somehow turned Morris Code into sign language and found a way to communicate to his wife and told her that he loved her every time he turned the ball over just to avoid a divorce. Most athletes get their wives to sign a prenup but apparently Doug’s wife made him sign a love contract instead. Doug played in the league for 19 seasons and averaged just a shade over 11 points per game and that usually doesn’t earn you a spot in the Hall of Fame but if you ask me, he will be remembered forever. His biggest contribution may have been the creation of the virtual love sign that frequent users of Facebook now use. Who knew you could take the less than sign (<) and the number 3 and when placed side by side a heart would appear. Thanks Doug! <3

Doug Christie with apologetic hand gestures to his wife Jackie.

Kris Humphries went from being engaged to a Kardashian to signing a contract with the Nets. That’s like going from dating Jennifer Aniston to Angelina Jolie. Nobody is really sure if you upgraded or downgraded but your bound to demand out within months. We may laugh at Humphries but he has it good compared to Lamar Odom. I mean Lamar had one of the worst years in recent memory. He spent an entire season playing with Kobe Bryant, which gets you ranked in the top 10 for worst experiences of the year all by itself but to top it all of he met Khloe. Not only did he meet Khloe but they also got married, created a fragrance for both males and females and signed on to do a reality TV show called Khloe & Lamar. The only person who could have had a worse year was Charlie Sheen but at least he got an interview with ABC. Lamar was forced to play behind a guy who changed his name to Metta World Peace and his show landed on “E!”. That’s still way worse than being replaced by Ashton Kutcher.

Khloe & Lamar. They do everything together.

The NBA has evolved and will continue to evolve. Luckily Tony Parker and Eva Longoria are no longer together because her feeding him a baguette during a Gregg Popovich timeout was clearly inevitable.