Wednesday August 19 2009 – 5:58pm Eastern (Toronto, ON)
Somebody called in to the Fan 590 yesterday – during the open-phone segment of “The Game Plan” – and asked Jack Armstrong and me to do a breakdown of what kind of stats we’d expect from certain members of the Raptors this year.
The caller was most interested in statistical predictions for Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli, and Hedo Turkoglu.
Well, to be frank, I’m not going to project numbers and averages. That’s an impossibility. And it’s not fair to the players – or to me for that matter – to guess what kind of scoring or rebounding numbers we all should expect … without even knowing how many minutes a guy may play or what type of role he may have on the team over the course of 82 games.
However, I can talk in generalities …
Turkoglu has to get after it on the glass a little bit more. I don’t think he’s the stiff (at rebounding) that some folks like to make him out to be. I believe the way/style he plays – and his positioning on the floor - often hinders him from going after it down low more often. But he does have to use his 6’10 frame more to his advantage and help ease the load on Chris Bosh’s shoulders. As good as Bosh is, he’s not Dwight Howard so there’ll be more opportunities to contribute on the glass. And, of course, his scoring can’t drop off. He’ll be looked at as the first or second option on every trip down the floor.
Bargnani’s breakdown can read just like Turkoglu’s. I know I got killed by many of you for saying this a month or so ago, but I don’t believe the big Italian’s rebounding prowess is that bad. When you’re 7’0 and you’re spending a lot of time on the perimeter – or your busting out in transition (off a defensive possession) and allowing Bosh to take almost every board in sight – you’re not going to gobble much up. But the more Bargnani plays in the middle … the more he’ll have to establish himself as a legit rebounder. A center can’t average 5 rebounds per game. He has to get those totals up and prove that he can improve on the glass as well as he did as a defender (arguably Toronto’s best defensive big man last year).
Belinelli and DeRozan can fall into the same category overall. Granted, DD has more hops than “Rocky”, but the Italian can be explosive in other ways (off the bounce, good with his handle, etc). But defence is where both players can make or break their seasons – and maybe the Raptors overall as well! Perimeter defence was one of the greatest weaknesses for Toronto last season and both of these guys will be looked upon to help solve that issue (along with guys like Antoine Wright and Jarrett Jack as well). Plus, without knowing who will start or who will come off the bench, it’s impossible to predict what kind of scoring impact either player will have. At first glance, just based on experience (though very limited) … Belinelli likely has a leg up in that category given that he already has NBA experience and he brings 3-point range to his game as well … something DeRozan hopes to add and develop over the course of time.
COLANGELO ON THE FAN
Speaking of “The Game Plan”, Jack and I had a chance to chat with the President and General Manager of the Raptors – Bryan Colangelo – earlier today. In case you missed it, check it out here:
http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20090819_143750_6384
We are hoping to have one of the newest Raptors – Amir Johnson – join us on the show on Friday afternoon.
E. Smith
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Great Blog Eric!
And if I have 250 million dollars I WILL BUY THE Memphis Grizzles!
LOL!
And I agree with COLANGELO Belinelli is the six man for the Raptors and I hope he proves Don Nelson that don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
- Raps FanIdiots at fan 590 dont even know that maurizio gherardini works for Canada Basketball. They didnt even question Maurizio on his involvement with Canada Basketball
- BrianExcuse my earlier post it was rob faulds specifically who had no idea maurizio was in italy in his first interview with him. Faulds had no idea maurizio was working with Canada Basketball as well. I think before mr faulds interviews his guests he should od a little more research, when i originally heard the first interview with gherardini it was embarassing, maurizio had to remind faulds yeah i do work for Canada Basketball, faulds seemed bewildered
- BrianWe are gonna see a lot of highlight reels of scoring certainly of the high-flyin slam-dunkin persuasion … Derozan, Johnson, Wright, and Weems… DD and SW were slam dunk champs
- RichardThought the Colangelo interview with Jack and Eric was very good..
BC was very modest , claiming we wouldn’t know how good the new roster will be till we actually play games .
But he certainly deserves credit for renovating the Raps.
Getting Weems and Amir Johnson can’t hurt , with potential upside there .
I was hoping Raps might get Baby Davis or Powe , but they signed elsewhere
But still, BC has restored hope to the team and its fans.imo
Also Eric was very good on show.. Maybe in the future he will have his own show like Swirk did .
- ChasI said some time ago that I believed Hedo’s rebounding numbers would improve (perhaps approaching double digits) without the human rebounding machine (Dwight Howard) gobbliong up everything in sight. I mena the guy grabbed 20 on more than a few occasions!
I think Bosh can average 10, and Turk and Bargs 8. That would be an improvement.
Intertesting to hear Maurizio say that Bosh is altering his body (not necessarily bulking up) in the off-season. If he put on a little weight and got harder/tougher as bargs did last year, results could be good.
And just when you think BC HAS to be done, rumour has the Rapssending Marcus Banks to Dallas for Matt Carroll in a swap of guards.
You could see by BC’s discomfort discussing this, that it is more than a rumour.
- Gary-the season start (even exhibitions) can’t come soon enough for me.
Thanks for the insight, Eric. I don’t want the summer to end, but I can’t wait for the Raps season to begin.
- MacKayI think Derozan should start to take scoring pressure off him and help him develop his defensive game. I think the bench needs some scoring power and Belinelli is a good shoe in for that job. Plus Triano call always alternate the two depending on how Derozan is doing in the starting line up.
Colangelo said Bosh has put on some weight hopefully he can be a better defensive presence this year as we will need help defensively in the starting line up. And yes Bargnani was on a good defensive track last year so hopefully he keeps improving on that.
- JBGet workin on that $250 million Raps Fan!
- Eric Smith“idiots” is a bit strong Brian. I’m sure you’ve never forgotten something or been guilty of not knowing something.
Glad you followed up with your 2nd comment though
- Eric SmithThere should definitely be more athleticism Richard … you’re right
- Eric SmithChas, glad you enjoyed the interview and I appreciate the comments about my work on the show too.
- Eric SmithI hear ya – and agree – 100% Gary
- Eric SmithI wrote that same thing about 3 or so weeks ago JB. I think DD should start. That said, without a training camp to truly see him and judge him properly … it’s all speculation right now
- Eric SmithThanks MacKay
- Eric SmithEric,
I think you should ask Doug Maclean to buy the Memphis Grizzles because he has a lot of money and that’s the reason he not working on the Game Plan! and he could bring it to Vancouver or PEI LOL!
Looking forward to the “Eric Smith Show” on Raptors.com and maybe next year on the Fan590!
*P.S: E, I think you should ask Fabro for a theme song for the Eric Smith Show!
- Raps FanI think that CB4 is going to need a program during training camp to figure out who all the new faces are. I also think that this new team is going to take quite a bit of time to “jell”, which will place more pressure to keep the CB4 and Calderon combo more the key players for the plays called as well. 8 Rebs for Bargs, I would love to see it, but they would mostly be loose balls that escaped the paint, he is on the perimeter too much for 8 boards.
- Tait Luste