Has Bargnani Plateaued?

[Soft Euro]

7 people voted "no"??? Who are these crazies??? Time to wake up from their psychedelic-induced trance.

Anyone who disagrees with the statement, "Bargnani will never be better than what he currently is", is either new to the Raptors, or such a diehard Bargnani fan that admitting what is blatantly obvious to all, would be crushing his/her soul.

As I said, I am one of those. I think he can play at the average level of last year and right now he is playing below that level. So he regressed. As ebrian pointed out to me I might have interpreted 'plateaued' wrongly in which case I should vote yes. As I don't think he'll ever play better than last year's average for more than a few games.

[ebrian]

For one, if he has plateaued, that would mean that he would play at a relatively stable level (right?). And this year, so far, he has regressed.

In math, it means relatively stable. In sports when a player has plateaued usually that is referring to a player who has reached his peak and won't get any better.

Bargnani clearly is having a difficult time. It's pretty obvious to me that he needs the right environment to thrive, this goes for the system he plays in as much as for the social (mental?) environment. This clearly isn't right. And if it isn't right Bargnani doens't have the mental skills to play through it like some topplayers or hustle players. He lacks that ability and it's hard to blame him for it. Not all people are mentally strong (most are not) and you can't just decide to be mentally strong just like DeRozan can't simply decide to be a good threepointshooter. We see how difficult it is to become a good threepointshooter, yet this is far more easy to improve on a 'simple' physical skill than changing your mental make-up.

There are some areas here that I do agree with. I would rename this thread "Has Bargnani Plateaued as a Toronto Raptor" and that would be a resounding yes. If Dwane Casey is here to stay, which all signs point to being yes, then Bargnani should be on his way out. He's not going to get any better in this system.

[Nilanka]

7 people voted "no"??? Who are these crazies??? Time to wake up from their psychedelic-induced trance.

Anyone who disagrees with the statement, "Bargnani will never be better than what he currently is", is either new to the Raptors, or such a diehard Bargnani fan that admitting what is blatantly obvious to all, would be crushing his/her soul.

[NoPropsneeded]

Trade Derozan. We'd get more for him and he's worse offensively.

At least he plays slightly better defense and actually does things other than score. Bargnani can't rebound, defend and he's very unefficient on offense. I used to like bargnani but now I want him gone. Derozan is 23 and he has at least some room to grow. Bargnani hasn't improved in 4 years and he's 27. Plus bargnani's shitty defence hurts us more cause he has to guard the paint

[KeonClark]

Trade bargnani or fire BC one or the other

Trade Derozan. We'd get more for him and he's worse offensively.

[NoPropsneeded]

Trade bargnani or fire BC one or the other

[NoPropsneeded]

If he had the drive and tenacity of Kevin Garnett.. he would be scary. Unfortunately he does not, so my guess is that he won't get any better

If he did... He'd be a hall of famer

[Balls of Steel]

It still confuses the hell out of me how he can be SO good for stretches and then so bad.

It's funny, it was the Dallas game that finally put me off him completely. I looked at the box score (I'll admit I skipped the 4th quarter) and he had something like 23/9/3/1. And yet, it was such a horribly bad game overall that after years of supporting him I just gave up and started hoping to see he's been traded every day when I wake up.

I will agree with the sentiment that he plateaued (sp?) 4 years ago.

The Dallas game was one. That long rebound in the first quarter made me lose my dinner. But the sign of things to come was really the first game isos with David West in crunch time. Clearly Casey wanted to see just how much of a man he was (clearly not signaling) for help D and Bargs failed miserably.

[Superchunk]

It still confuses the hell out of me how he can be SO good for stretches and then so bad.

It's funny, it was the Dallas game that finally put me off him completely. I looked at the box score (I'll admit I skipped the 4th quarter) and he had something like 23/9/3/1. And yet, it was such a horribly bad game overall that after years of supporting him I just gave up and started hoping to see he's been traded every day when I wake up.

I will agree with the sentiment that he plateaued (sp?) 4 years ago.

[Balls of Steel]

Given his 3 rebounds / game, I say he's regressed. I understand its early but he's clearly not the man the team depends on anymore. I see him and Lowry having friction if his lackaisical attitude continues. I actually don't care if his offensive numbers are maintained or improves. He's not a Casey-type player and he's not a Lowry-type teammate. Knowing the league though, Casey will get fired before Bargs gets traded.

[d749]

hes done. im tired of his shit. get him out of here

[mountio]

He has regressed in the early games this year. Thats worse than plateauing. If he plays how he played (outside of Dallas, where he was somewhere been ok and pretty good) - then hes barely a serviceable NBA player. However, if he actually posts up (part his laziness, part HAS to be on Casey for not forcing him to do that) - he can be a dominant offensive force (espeically with JV on the court, because he will always have a size advantage). IF he does that, then he can absolutely improve.

Bottom line, this guy is too inconsistent to even deserve the label "plateau". Lets hope these first few games are a "funk" .. because if not, hes doing very little positive for the team.

[Hotshot]

He is the same, the only difference is that the offense isn't running through him anymore like it was last season or the season before where the focus was on him getting the ball. Now that the pressure is off of him "to be the man" since Lowry's arrival, he just being his lazy self.

Bargnani is just a slower/lazier version of Rashard Lewis with a worse 3 pointer shot, third scoring option at best and shouldn't be seeing the floor more then 25- 30 minutes a game.

[wallz]

If he had the drive and tenacity of Kevin Garnett.. he would be scary. Unfortunately he does not, so my guess is that he won't get any better

[Hello]

Has he plateaued? No.

Bargnani still has the ability to improve and play like an all-star. Its all about his attitude.
Saying that I am not sure if he will reach his potential, however it is definitely there.