Who's Your Favourite Raptor?

[Red and White]

DeMar DeRozan. He's the present and the future. He's going to establish himself as the best player on the team by the end of the season.

Andrea is second on my list.

Yeah i have to agree, he has been a pro and he represents toronto very well...you get a feeling he would never leave the city. Him and amir are my top two...
then bargs lol joe panini

[Greatkrom420]

Yeah i'd have to say Jose also.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Jose. good guy, but may not be with the raps when the season starts.

[JoePanini]

Calderon, don't care what anything thinks, he's been here the longest and given us some good times.

+1

Anyways, my favorite player is clearly Bargs. I've loved him for years, even 2 years ago when everyone was comparing him yo Kwame and Darko, I still thought he could shine through, and slowly, he has improved different aspects of his game, from coming to the NBA as a lanky 7 footer who was unjustly put with the responsibility of being the number 1 pick, and a guy that could pretty much only shoot, to a guy now, that gained almost 50 lbs, and can manhandle other big men in the post.
Bargnani's stats might not have improved radically, as pointed out in another thread. But sometimes, when a player is growing, it's not about the numbers, but how he performs, his mentality, what he has learned along the way. I think Bargs has grown so much since joining, I still remember the 20 point games he had when he first entered the NBA, it seemed like they had won the championship, and now people are expecting him to average around that much. Shows how much people are atleast trying to entrust him.
Bargnani is my favorite player for many reasons, firstly, because he is Italian, I know it sounds like a stupid reason. But he was the first Italian player in my time, and it's always exciting. He is very important to Italian basketball and it is a must that he has a good year this year, because it will lead to more media exposure, which will lead to more Italians to watch and play basketball, thus regenerating what was once a great nation in basketball.
Secondly, I've always loved his skills. Yes, his skills aren't very polished yet, but if you just stop and think for a little while, Bargs has many skills which he has, that he can improve in to make him an all-star. Yes, he can't rebound, but actually he CAN. He is not a very good rebounder, and he doesn't have the rebounding "instinct", but he can jump, he is strong and he is tall, which are three very important parts of being a good rebounder. Yes, he will probably never average 10 rebounds a game, but that is not important, we can always get another big man to get the boards he doesn't, but as I pointed out earlier, he has many other skills which make his potential fly very high.
1) He can ball-handle. Not incredibly, but for 7 foot 255 pound man, he can bring up the ball, and he can also create plays when we need to improvise, which will be important because next year, we'll have completely new set plays etc...
2) He can shoot, from EVERYWHERE. He is a great elbow shooter, and if he improves his three point shooting which was so and so last year, then he will be killing night in night out. I think if he works on his outside shooting, we have a great asset, because I think many of ours plays will involve kick-outs (e.g Jack runs down the lane, Bargs and Amir inside, Amir screen, Bargs runs passed Amir to the three point line, Jack pass to Bargs, open three). He could potentially hit over 150 threes on 40% shooting. Another aspect of his shooting which I was never concerned about is his free-throw shooting. He has always been good, but last year he was so inconsistent, and shot poorly on many occasions... This is also due to his lack of fitness which also makes his defence and rebounding quite bad especially in late game situations...
3) He can cut into the lane because he is faster than most big-men. I don't know if you guys noticed, but whenever he drives in across the lane, he almost always manages to get a free dunk or lay-up, and I don't know why he doesn't do it more often. This is due to two thing I think, one his fitness which causes him to have problems in a few other things I'll be mentioning, but also confidence. This guy isn't given the most confidence from the NBA and our fans. Yes many like him, many think he's ok, but many hate him and expect him to be a 20 10 guy cause he was number 1 pick, I want to remind all of you that he didn't decide to be first pick, out GM did.
4) He can defend his man, till the third quarter. He gets tired, but when he sits and comes back, he can really defend the post, and I think that his post defence is seriously underrated... And 1.4 blocks a game for a guy that "doesn't" play defence seems pretty good to me. Once again I think he needs to get fitter, especially now without Bosh, he'll be playing full quarters, and he needs to prepare for that.
5) He is versatile, he can play everywhere, and can do what you need in different situations. He can set the screen, take the screen, run around, run to the hoop, run to the three point line, play 3 positions. It helps the whole team I think.

I think that there are many things that Bargs will have to do this summer, and if he manages to atleast improve his fitness, he'll be tearing it up everynight, this will give him confidence and we will finally get out number one pick.

I can't actually remember what I've been writing about, and I'm lazy to read what I wrote, so yeah. I love Bargnani.

[Buddahfan]

Dang he isn't this guy even on the list.



Seminoles 09-10 team stats
--------------------------------
#1 in the nation in Field Goal Percentage Against
#19 in the nation if fewest points allowed
#15 in the nation in blocks per game


http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/stats...t_type=defense

[ezz_bee]

Calderon, don't care what anything thinks, he's been here the longest and given us some good times.

[Apollo]

Wait, is the question favorite or best? :S

He's asking for favorite. Based on the sound of the first post he's assuming we all had Bosh slotted in as our old favorite Raptor... Not that anyone would admit it now.

[Afro_Daddy]

DeMar DeRozan, duh!

[JoePanini]

Wait, is the question favorite or best? :S

[Apollo]

DeMar DeRozan. He's the present and the future. He's going to establish himself as the best player on the team by the end of the season.

Andrea is second on my list.

[cornbreadd]

Andrea Bargnani, and I really can't explain why. Amir's running him a close second though

[JoePanini]

Andrea Bargnani, he has been my ALLTIME favorite player since he played in youth levels... I'll explain later, I gtg now LOOL. HAHA

[Arenick]

Now that Bosh is long gone, what's your favourite Raptor we still have?