Hoops

NBL Tipping

ESPN have an interesting piece on number one pick Andrea Bargnani.

Early on, everyone had their doubts - more Darko than Dirk. But then every story about improvement seems to have that pivotal moment, and here's Bargnani's:

It was a Sunday, and the Raptors were coming off back-to-back road games. Coach Sam Mitchell had wanted to give his team the day off, but they were 2-7, losers of five straight and playing softer than smooth jazz. So he "invited" six big guys, including his tentative and unproductive No. 1 draft pick, to join him at a local health club.


You couldn't really call it a practice; there was no shooting, dribbling or passing to be seen. With patrons watching from stationary bikes and weekend warriors playing pickup on adjacent courts, Mitchell put one ball beneath the basket and two players at the foul line. One man's job was to get the ball, the other's was to keep him from touching it. By any means necessary.

"It was like a fight," Bargnani says three months later. "Nothing dirty, just a tough, physical practice. It was the right thing to do."

For years, NBA teams have used the Caliper Profile to evaluate potential draft picks. The Caliper is a personality profile used by numerous corporations and organizations to measure one's capacity to excel in specific situations. Over the past 24 years, Caliper has assessed more than 20,000 athletes, including NBA players from Detroit, San Antonio, Denver and Phoenix. Colangelo has long been sold on the system. When he heard how Bargnani measured up, he nearly dropped the phone.

"They said his upside and potential were off the charts," Colangelo says from the tunnel of the Air Canada Centre as Bargnani drains a three against the Cavaliers. "They said, 'Out of all the athletes we've profiled, we've never seen anything like this.' "