Ready or Not, Andrea Bargnani Called to Lead Raptors

ORLANDO, Fla. -- When the Toronto Raptors made Andrea Bargnani the No. 1 pick of the 2006 NBA Draft, they were hoping for another hard-driving Dirk Nowitzki, a 7-foot European with great shooting and ball-handling skills.

They didn't even get Peja Stojakovic.

If Bargnani was playing for a good team now -- and wasn't that No. 1 pick -- he'd be seen as a nice, complimentary player, a big man with some impressive offensive skills.

He certainly looked that way -- at least in the first half -- Friday night, scoring a game-high 27 points in a 110-106 victory over the Magic.

For the Raptors this season, he might be in over his head.

While Bargnani has spent the first four years of his career mostly in the shadows of Toronto, he has been pushed front-and-center this season, suddenly finding the weight of a franchise on his shoulders.

The Raptors really have no choice. And he no longer has All-Star Chris Bosh to protect him.

Having lost Bosh to Miami in free agency and veteran Hedo Turkoglu to complacency and to Phoenix, the Raptors have begun another rebuilding project, focusing more on draft picks and future salary cap room than any serious playoff charge.

Bargnani has been left with a young, nondescript supporting cast with little hope of winning this season.

"It's not like we're coming off a championship run. We weren't even in the playoffs last season, so we needed to do something different,'' he told FanHouse Friday. "This is the kind of thing you work your whole career for. It's a good opportunity for me. Being that guy makes it tougher, but it will make me better.''

Bargnani clearly has become the Raptors' No. 1 offensive option, averaging 20.3 in 34 minutes through the first nine games. But he has found himself with a team that needs more than just his scoring.

The Raptors are weak defensively, desperate for his leadership and rebounding and creating for others, an all-around game that he hasn't showed to this point of his much-anticipated but spotty career.

Bargnani gradually has improved his scoring average from 11.2 his rookie season to 17.2 last season, but has stayed away from the physical side of the game, troubling now because the Raptors need him at center. Too often, in his first four years, he was content to float on the perimeter , where he felt most comfortable. Too often, he looked disinterested.

The Raptors, to succeed, need more.

"We need him to get where he's playing 40 minutes. He's our best player and needs to be on the floor for 40 a game, get to a level where it's a productive 40 and not just being out there for 40,'' said Raptors Coach Jay Triano. "He has to be a dominant part of our offense.''

Bargnani got a taste this summer of what it took to carry a team when he played for the Italian National Team, an experience that caught him a little off guard. Conditioning hasn't been his forte early this season.

When the Raptors lost seven of their first eight, he was usually strong in the first half, then faded in the second. He averaged 12 points in the first 24 minutes, but just 7.5 in the second 24. He also averaged only 3.2 points and shot 28.6 percent in the fourth quarter of games.

Even in Friday's victory in Orlando, he faded again. He scored 21 points in the first half, but managed just six in the final two periods combined. He made nine of 12 shots in the first half, and hit only two of 11 in the second half.

"To be the true leader on a team, and be the main guy, requires having a complete game, and there are still things he's working on to become that player,'' said Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo. "The offense comes easily to him. Some of the other things do not. He certainly has the potential (to do it all), but potential is just a word. Is he ready today? No, he is not. But does he have the potential? That's what we're hoping for.''

The Raptors won just their second game of the season Friday, but it didn't look promising at the start. Bargnani is their leading shot blocker and starting center, but he was nowhere to be found when the Magic opened the game with three consecutive layups.

It also was Bargnani's presence as a shooter, though, that allowed Sonny Weems to hit the game-winning 3-point shot with :07 remaining. The Magic were overplaying Bargnani, leaving Dwight Howard to both protect the basket and Weems.

"This is new to him,'' Triano said. "Do we want to put it all on him to create? I don't know if he has that in him right now. It's a work in progress.''