Everything EuroBasket 2011

[Soft Euro]

He was fired because he refused to give minutes to a young player who only wanted to play perimeter offense.

Citation needed.

[irgigi]

Valanciunas in game Lithuania vs Spain

15 min, 13 pts (5/7 FG, 3/5 FT), 2 rebs, 3 as, 1 BS.

He started shooting from distance.

[irgigi]

Valanciunas highlights of this game Lithuania vs Spain.

[Kuh]

JV shooting

Yes, JV started shooting from distance. And he still shot 71% (5 for 7).

A shame for his team that they lost.
Great for him/us that he gets to play.

[Eurobasket]

The only problem with McCalebb is his size. And against larger, longer PGs in the NBA, many of his skills would be neutralized.
Not saying he couldn't be a contributer, but he would not be neearly as productive against NBA defenses.

I could see him being a J.J. Barea type player. Not always effective, usually gets out manned; but when he is effective, he can do some damage.

Bo is not a J.J. Barea type of player, he is much more athletic than J.J. (not that I don't like J.J., quite the opposite) and no, he does not get out manned easily. Tim Hardaway is much closer comparison to McCalebb, although Bo attacks the rim more often than Tim did. Even though he is a small guy he is not afraid to go into the paint and take some punishment from the big boys, I watched him many, many times against very tough defense and he continues to impress me. Bo has a heart and desire to win that only a handful of players in NBA have, that's why I would always pick him on my team.

Check out the last 3 games he played for Macedonia on this Euro, wins over Croatia, Greece and Finland, see how many hard fouls he took, he was bleeding above the eye and still going to the rim. Players like him lift the spirit of the whole team, when your best player is diving for the ball, you can't be standing around and watching. On the other side, I'm sure you've seen it many times in Toronto, when people go around Andrea and score like at a practice game, the rest of the players are demoralized.

One of the biggest problems of NBA fans is that stats are the only thing they are concerned about. You actually have to watch the games, there are so many other elements that are more important than 22 points (on 6 of 19 shooting) for example. If the player you are guarding is walking around and scoring at will, I don't care if you end up with 30 points, people who understand the game know that you were awful.

[Eurobasket]

I disagree. Sam Mitchell was a good coach, coach of the year in fact. He was fired because he refused to give minutes to a young player who only wanted to play perimeter offense. After 5 years Bargnani is what he is, a talent with good offense (usually) but not much determination to contribute in other areas that are essential to winning.

If you watched and played basketball as long as I have, you will realize that Mitchell was a bad coach. His attitude was not good, conflicts with players, management, incredibly poor decisions at the end of the game (T.J. Ford penetrates and throws a wild one, that was the signature play of the Raptors in crunch time, lost so many games with it). The fact that he won coach of the year was due to the fact that the Atlantic division was terrible, the Raptors were the only team above .500 (Boston had only 24 wins, Knicks 33). And there were some really good veteran players, character guys, who already knew how the game is played and didn't need to be coached - Parker, Garbajosa, Nesterovic...

Andrea is what he is, what I'm saying is that he could have been a good player in this league if he had a good coach who would push him and actually teach him the most important things - that you must have a heart and desire to win, play hard defense, go inside, attack the rim, don't stand on the 3-pt line and wait for the ball like Manute Bol did... His numbers may have gone up on paper, but as a matter of fact he's regressing from the first year he came here. Wasted talent and size.

[Tim W.]

If you watched and played basketball as long as I have, you will realize that Mitchell was a bad coach. His attitude was not good, conflicts with players, management, incredibly poor decisions at the end of the game (T.J. Ford penetrates and throws a wild one, that was the signature play of the Raptors in crunch time, lost so many games with it). The fact that he won coach of the year was due to the fact that the Atlantic division was terrible, the Raptors were the only team above .500 (Boston had only 24 wins, Knicks 33). And there were some really good veteran players, character guys, who already knew how the game is played and didn't need to be coached - Parker, Garbajosa, Nesterovic...

Andrea is what he is, what I'm saying is that he could have been a good player in this league if he had a good coach who would push him and actually teach him the most important things - that you must have a heart and desire to win, play hard defense, go inside, attack the rim, don't stand on the 3-pt line and wait for the ball like Manute Bol did... His numbers may have gone up on paper, but as a matter of fact he's regressing from the first year he came here. Wasted talent and size.

Well, who's to say that he hasn't watched or played as long as you have? Have you played and watched as long as I have?

Mitchell wasn't a bad coach. He was a decent one. He had his strengths and his weaknesses, like any other coach. One thing he was very good at is getting players to play their roles. What he wasn't good at was x's and o's, but neither was Phil Jackson, and he has 11 rings. If Mitchell was a bad coach, he would never have gotten the team to win 47 wins, the year they did.

As for Bargnani, why do you think a good coach would have gotten him to be a good player? Phil Jackson couldn't make a good player out of Stacey King, or Brad Sellers. Larry Brown couldn't make a good player out of Darko Milicic. Believe it or not, sometimes it's the player's fault, not the coach's. Bargnani never seemed to me to have the tools to be a very good player. He was NEVER a good defender or rebounder, something a coach can't magically change.

[JoePanini]

What a bad way to end the game for Italy. After an epic comeback, forcing the game into OT. Game tied, Italy final possession, Italy goes for the shot with 4 seconds left. Miss, the Italy tip, tip again. Defensive rebound with 1 second left, about to take a full court shot, and Bargnani fouls him. A lot of Italian fans are rightfully angered by Bargnani's final play.. Although his game was pretty good up till then, with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Very stupid play by Bargnani though.

[irgigi]

Valanciunas in Lithuania game vs Portugalia.
Average game for him: 27 mins; 8 pts; 7rebs. full stats click here for full stats, and search for boxscore

[irgigi]

And there is highlights of Valanciunas (LTU-POR game).
(keep in mind as well, those are complete highlights, including his bad moments or just moments of "being around sometimes").

[irgigi]

To be honest, the more i see Valanciunas, the more i like him. If he does turnovers or mistakes, it's just because he's trying to overplay himself. we've just seen in last few games he can shoot from distance, he can run (check youtube above 4:43), he can do everything.
But.. at the moment he does it all at level 6-7 (out of 10). 1-2 years to perfectize it?
Oh.. and i forgot... the better opponent the better he plays.

[RaptorFan (proud?..)]

He led his team in rebounds, steals and blocks.. and turnovers (but love is blind right?)
I wish they tracked plus minus.. I appreciate that the highlights show the good and the bad. He works hard on defense and on offense and he crashes the boards consistently. He uses his length to alter shots, and he rolls hard after every screen.. I like this guy.

[Prime]

....still sets too many moving screens and sometimes rolls too early (which might look like an illegal pick to NBA referees).

[Tim W.]

....still sets too many moving screens and sometimes rolls too early (which might look like an illegal pick to NBA referees).

The roll early trick is something that Karl Malone used all the time. It's called a pick and slip. You slip before you actually set the screen and catch the defender off guard. It's actually something that my buddy and I have been doing for, well, longer than I care to admit.

[Eurobasket]

Well, who's to say that he hasn't watched or played as long as you have? Have you played and watched as long as I have?

Mitchell wasn't a bad coach. He was a decent one. He had his strengths and his weaknesses, like any other coach. One thing he was very good at is getting players to play their roles. What he wasn't good at was x's and o's, but neither was Phil Jackson, and he has 11 rings. If Mitchell was a bad coach, he would never have gotten the team to win 47 wins, the year they did.

As for Bargnani, why do you think a good coach would have gotten him to be a good player? Phil Jackson couldn't make a good player out of Stacey King, or Brad Sellers. Larry Brown couldn't make a good player out of Darko Milicic. Believe it or not, sometimes it's the player's fault, not the coach's. Bargnani never seemed to me to have the tools to be a very good player. He was NEVER a good defender or rebounder, something a coach can't magically change.

If you watched every important international and NBA game since the 70's, and played professionally for over 15 years, hats off to you or anyone else.

About Sam Mitchell, I'll have to disagree. That season was a combination of weak competition in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, as well as the signing of some very good veteran players, character guys, who didn't need coaching. The year before, under Mitchell, the Raptors were 27-55, and before that 33-49. I also think that with his actions he forced Babcock to give away Carter for nothing, which set back the team for many years. The way he treated Mo Pete in his last season was also terrible, Mo was one of the longest serving Raptors and he deserved much better. There is a reason why Mitchell didn't get another head coach position.

Jackson made a lot of average players look very good in Chicago, like Paxson, B.J. Armstrong, Longley, Kerr etc. The fact that he won 11 rings speaks for itself. Yes, he had superstars, but you have to know how to deal with players' personalities, which is the most difficult part of the coaching job. Sam Mitchell is terrible in that department. About Darko, he was (and still is) just an average player, it's not his fault that Detroit picked him that high. It was a shock in Europe as well when he was drafted because he has not played in any important games on a high level before that.

About Bargnani, I agree with you almost 100% - first and most of all, it is his fault that he plays the way he plays. No heart, no desire, no battle for the ball, jacking up jumpers and trying to score 20 pts on 25 shots each night, disappearing in crunch time, scoring in garbage time to inflate the numbers... What I'm saying is that maybe something could have been done earlier in his career if the Raptors had a better coach, because he had a potential. And actually you can teach someone to play defense, but it takes a lot of effort and some sacrifice on the offensive end, which Andrea is not willing to do.