TORaptor4Ever

Everything that I've ever wanted from Bargs I saw from JV tonight.... in his FIRST NBA reg. season game.

Intensity? Check.

Toughness? Check.

Rebounding? Check.

Contesting shots on D? Check.

Running the floor hard and rotating quickly? Check.


Guy grabs 10 boards in his first NBA game... something that Bargs could only do twice all last season.

Before the season's over he'll be this team's best frontcourt player.

Thing that sucks is that he'll probably end up taking a ton of pressure off of Bargs too, which will in turn make him better and deflect a lot of criticism.

There ya go folks.... ball is on the tee.... smack it outta the park!

thought

Of the

LET'S GO RAPTORS!!!!!

Yup.

TORaptor4Ever

I'll put up to $20 right now to anyone who wants that action.

I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is... is anyone else?

"Thought?" "Let's go"?

Gurk

Haha TO I was actually waiting for a thread like this from you. Every season after the first game there is always a thread like this. Thank you.

moremilk

you should have watched the game tonight ... he was quite awful. If this team is serious about winning, JV has no place in the starting lineup. He's a major liability on defense and brings nothing but energy on offense.

Maybe tonight wasn't the best scenario for him, hibbert is too big for JV right now. He has great potential, but doesn't bring much right now.

Dario

Threes? Check

TORaptor4Ever

"After every season"?

You mean the ONE that I posted in 2009 before this one?

C'mon Gurk... you're a regular here. I expect more from you.

Well one of us didn't watch the game.... and I can assure you I most certainly did lol.

LET'S GO RAPTORS!!!!!

Gurk

Was it actually 2009? I swear we have one like every year, I am guessing it was some other poster as well because we always have one.

Windex

I like how ESPN pronounces him name

Valencioñes

thought

Don't know about that. The Truth is somewhere in between you and TO.

I love his energy, I love his stick to itiveness, and I love his hands. He has showed he has phenomenal hands, and a great sense for the ball. The potential is crazy.

But he needs to get bigger, a lot bigger. He got bucked down by Hibbert tonight. Tossed around by a bigger, stronger cat. His positioning on defense though was very good, at least in my opinion, but its tough to stay in position when you're getting thrown around like a rag doll.

He just needs to get bigger, but he needs experience against guys like Hibbert too. I don't like the idea of sticking grey in every time a bigger, stronger guy is playing at 5. You don't see the pacers switching Hibbert out because Val is quicker and can jump higher

moremilk

so outside of his offensive rebounds, what did you like? His defense on hibbert, his offensive skills (low post, jumpers)?

Don't get me wrong, I think he will be great eventually, but right now, while I love his energy and activity, he's just not bringing enough to justify starting over Amir. And defensively he just can't play against big centers, gray HAS to start in these games, he neutralized hibbert when he was on the court, while JV gave us easy basket after easy basket. And he took 1/6th of our shots as a team ... there's a reason they left him wide open.

If we're serious about playoffs, we have to start amir/gray depending on the matchups. Or, if we start JV, give him a shorter leash in the future.

Dario

moremilk

Not sure - that's the kind of thinking that probably lost OKC the final against Miami. And even Indiana, you will see them play Hibbert far fewer minutes in some matchups. Or think about Miami last season, when they constantly juggled with Bosh at the 5 or at the 4, depending on matchups.

Ball Don't Lie

The guy played 24 minutes and had a double double in his first game. Yes Hibbert pounded him inside a few times and he reached a few times when he shouldnt, but he was a presence in the paint on both sides of the ball and hes actually capable of finishing plays around the rim unlike Gray. Not only that, he can actually move to get a rebound unlike Gray.

We have 0 chance to make the playoffs with Amir or Gray starting. Thats fucking stupid. We're much better off playing Val against 1st unit guys and he'll continue to get better as the season goes on. He was not bad tonight.

Ball Don't Lie

Indiana was beating Miami handily when Hibbert was in the game in the playoffs. When he went out they got killed.

moremilk

um, handily? ok ...

moremilk

why would he continue to get better, experience will help, but it's not like he'll get stronger/more skilled during the season. He was -7 tonight, so his net impact was negative. Hibbert had at least 5 dunks/layups in the 1st quarter when defended by JV and was basically a non factor when defended by Gray.

and gray is pretty capable of finishing around the rim s well, it's everything else that he can't do.

Even if you bank on JV improving as the season goes on, the problem is this team has a very, very small margin of error. If we don't maximize our resources, the season will be over in 2 months.

@BaileysBlitz

It may not be proven yet but there is a lot of truth to what the thread starter is stating. For what the Raptors are trying to do and direction they're headed in,Jonas Valancuinas fits the scheme much better than Andrea Bargnani. If a choice had to be made between one or the other,even after a single game,Valancuinas would be kept over Bargnani.

If Andrea isn't scoring 20+ points on a gamely basis,he's useless. He had 8 free throw attempts and 3 blocks yesterday which is excellent but his player traits suggest he can't perform consistently around that range for those categories. Again,he's a 7 foot Center/Power Forward and he attempted more 3's(4) then grabbed rebounds(3) in the opener. I know he's a good shooter,especially on a team that doesn't shoot well but he needs to go for more easy baskets around the hoop or in the paint and not camp out by the three point line when he doesn't have the ball. The Raptors need their big men to block,rebound,roll to the hoop after setting hard screens,not take 25 ft jumpers. Valancuinas does all those things well,which makes him a better player for this team/roster than Bargnani.