Bargnani on Bosh: "We never won anything with him"

[Built Ford Tough]

“Chris is a great player, but we never won anything with him. I respect Chris a lot and I learned many things from him, but it’s not like we were coming from a championship run, or we were first in the Eastern Conference before he left. It’s not like Cleveland when they lost LeBron. They were the best team in the NBA and we didn’t even make the playoffs. We still need a winning mentality, and it’s not like we had one when Chris was here and now we have to rebuild. We never had it, and we have to get a winning mentality before we can hope to be a good team. I’m not saying Chris was bad. He was an All-Star and a great player, but it’s not like we were a great team and now we’re not any more.”

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-2-a-new-beast-in-the-east

 

Just to clarify, I don't believe that Bargnani is openly trying to take a shot at Bosh and you will see that if you read the entire article. He is more talking about the team rebuilding after Bosh left, trying to establish a winning culture and things like that. He probably meant in more in the sense of saying that even when Bosh was there they weren't a good team and that is what they are striving to become now. Bargnani has always spoke highly of Bosh, even after he left, so I highly doubt he is trying to take a shot at him.

 

But, he does speak the truth and that is one thing that I always have liked about Bargnani. He doesn't try to be politically correct or sugercoat his answers. He always gives his 100% true thoughts.

[Pound the Rock]

Everything he says there makes perfect sense to me and I believe it all to be true. I remember recently this off-season Sam Mitchell was one of the analysis for NBA.com and they talked about the New Orleans future without Chris Paul. He talked about his time in the Raptors and said that the worse position to be in the NBA is at the 7-9 spot, because you get a low lottery pick and you're a burn out in the playoffs, exactly how the raptors were for most of the Bosh era.

 

Secondly, a winning environment and attitude is very important to succeed and it creates a culture. So far this season under Casey I have seen all players giving their all day in and day out, especially on the defensive end. This is what I love to see, a culture/attitude of toughness and the having the will to win, and not being labeled a 'soft team', so far the Raptors have shown me this attitude and I love it.

 

So, let's see what we've gotten these past 2 years and how bright our future can possible be:

 

- New developing attitude/culture under Dwayne Casey

- Bargnani coming into his own as a consistent score (at least for the first 3 Q's)

- Derozan, being inconsistent right now but we know what he can do offensively, hopefully will round out and find his niche in Casey's new defensive system

- Calderon playing some of his best basketball right now, hoping it will continue? (Possible J Kidd V2?)

- Amir Johnson is a great role player and has amazing chemistry with Jose. He dosn't try to do to much and does his role nicely.

- Ed Davis. He NEEDS to develop an offensive game, that same left handed hook shot doesn't cut it for me.

- Bayless, we have seen the past 2 games with him out how much his offensive punch means to us. We can still hope that he can take on some of Calderons passing/play making ability.

- James Johnson, We've already seen some amazing blocks from this guy. He is a hard worker. Obviously needs to work on his decision making and shot on the offensive end. Luckily for us he's young.

- Jonas V, this guy has alot of potential, as of now probably just as much as Derozan. Our possible starting C.

- If we choose to tank for the rest of the year (which i think we should do If we can't manage a 6th seed) I can see us getting somewhere around the 5th pick again in a DEEP draft. And with our success in picking up good players with low picks I'll trust BC to get us a good if not great player (SF or PG).

 

So yeah, I think so far we're moving in the right direction.