Dove eravamo rimasti???

Ah, adesso ricordo…

Ci siamo lasciati poco prima dell’All Star Game, e ci ritroviamo adesso con un Bargnani in piena ascesa verso i play off.

Dopo poco più di un anno il “nostro” Mago è stato dichiarato cedibile dal Presidente e General Manager dei Toronto Bryan Colangelo che non esclude nemmeno la possibilità di un eventuale scambio in fase di mercato.

Una “vignetta” su Bargnani, durante l’intervallo di Raptors-Clippers.
Tra gli altri, sono intervistati Flavio Tranquillo, telecronista di SkySport, e David Blatt, suo allenatore alla Benetton Treviso.

Andrea joined his new team in the training camp at Ghirada, knewing his coach Messina and his new team-mates: Edney, Garbajosa, Evans and mainly Pittis, the one who gave him the nickname “Il Mago”, not for his skills with the ball but for an assonance with his second name.
“Il Mago” had become his “official” nickname in Europe and also in the NBA: some times they translate it “The Magician” or they cripple it in “El Mago”, but the meaning is the same.
His debut in the Serie A with Benetton’s jersey dates back to October 12th 2003, against Livorno: 7 minutes and 2 points, with a block.
In that game his future team-mate in Toronto, Jorge Garbajosa, scored 24 points in 27 minutes.
In that season the appearances with the first team had been occasional, while he was a starter in the juvenile team. Messina considered him a small forward and not a point forward, and in that role the team had some other better players than Andrea.
The first important game was the last one of the regular season: against Biella Andrea had a very good game, playing 24 minutes and scoring 18 points on 8/10 shooting (2-2 from downtown).
In the playoffs Treviso was defeated by Fortitudo Bologna and Andrea played only two times for few minutes, but this wasn’t a failure for him: around him there was confidence and hope, and Messina seriously began thinking about moving him to the Point Forward position, also considering the imminent departure of Garbajosa and the arrival of Marcus Goree.
In the same season Andre made his debut in the Eurolega, collecting 8 presences with a high of 6 points and 5 rebounds against Alba Berlino.
In April 4th 2004 Andrea was called for the Nike Hoop Summit, a friendly match between the best American and European young players, an usual showcase for those who aim at playing in the Nba.
In Andrea’s team there were some imporant names like Sergio Rodriguez and Roko Leni Ukic (who also had been selected by Toronto), while in the Usa team there were Josh Smith, Daniel Gibson, Daniel Farmar and Rudy Gay, players who actually are in the Nba.
Bargnani played very few minutes (19), scoring 3 points and grabbing 3 rebounds.

The second meeting with his destiny occurred on October 20th 2004: his team was invited in Canada for a friendly match with the Toronto Raptors of Bosh, Peterson and Rose.
The MVP of the game was Bulleri (17points and 9 assists), but everyone remained impressed by the performance of that young tall kid with number 11, who tailled 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks, showing his skills in front of Cris Bosh, scoring in every different way: left-hand layup, right-hand layup, jump-shot from near the arc.
That was the appetizer for a season in which his playing minutes increased, a season in which his chase to the N°1 pick started.
In 2004/2005 season Messina decided to use him in Power Forward position, especially on the defensive end, while on the offensive one he maintained his peculiarities: a perimitrical player who brings his defender out from the painted area.
At first Andrea seemed to be very shy on the court, but then, while the season developed, he plays more and more, till becoming a factor in the playoffs, playing a good series against Napoli, scoring three times in double digits (13, 13 and 10).
The Benetton was defeated in the semifinal by Milano, but Andrea showed great abilities and personality on the court.
He also had some good games in the Eurolega, and all those good performances made Nba Scouts curios.
Andrea’s name began to appear frequently on scouts’ sheet and in the Mock drafts of the specialized websites.
Larry Tennenbaum, Toronto Raptors’ scout, increased his visits in Veneto, and in his reports he described Andrea like a tall guy, very fast and with a smooth touch, that is still too flat and ingenuos on the defensive end: so the first comparison with Dirk Nowitzki took place.
Basketball insiders and fans grew fond of this very tall guy that was as kind out the court as he was determined on the court; he was the only one who could surrender Italian delusion after Angelo Gigli’s failure at the last Nba Draft.
The 2005/2006 season was the one of his definitive seal: Andrea knew that he had the opportunity to enter in the history of Italian Basketball and so he worked very hard to improve the skills in which he was still lacking.
His new coach, David Blatt, loved him and gave him a prominent role in the team.
The “matinèes” on Sky were important opportunities to show to the entire European basketball environment his skills and Andrea seemed to get excited when he knew that the television cameras were framing him.
First, against Roma he put up a monster game, scoring 25 points, on a 4/4 shooting from behind the arc that decided the match; then, on November 27th 2005, against Milano he didn’t have a wonderful performance, but something of that game has to be reminded: in the last seconds of the first half, Milano was attacking with Diego Fajardo, whose shot from the middle range was blocked by Andrea; the ball returned in Fajardo’s hands, the player took another shot, that was again blocked by Bargnani; Treviso controlled the ball and ran a fast-break in which Andrea received the ball while the seconds were running down. He stopped, jumped, shot the ball from nearly 27 feet away from the basket: “swish”, only the net. Amazing.
But this isn’t the end of Bargnani’s astonishing exploits. On December the 18th 2005, at Casalecchio against Virtus Bologna he made his best play of the season: he drove the baseline, passing by Kris Lang and finishing it with a strong and flashing reverse dunk, under the eyes of Larry Bird, who at the end of the game pronounced these words “ He is truly beautiful to watch, he’s fast and co-ordinated..”.
In that season he established his average in points on double digits and he gained a spot in the starting lineup and he played near the hoop along with Marcus Goree.
In the Eurolega Andrea found more difficulties, but step by step he was able to find his own range, having his best game against Panathinaikos (20 points) and finishing the season averaging 10,9 points ppg, 4,1 rebounds, 55% from inside the arc and 41% behind the arc in 21 minutes of average play-time.
In the Italian championship, on the other hand, he had become an unescapable element in his team’s chase for the title.
In the quarter finals against Milano he started fast: 20 points in game one, with 10 fouls received.
The series was very rough and tight and Andrea was a prominent part of it, playing a lot of minutes (28, 32, 29, 25 and 31) and scoring in double digits average.
Treviso gained the semifanal, in wich it had to face Roma. The series, once again, was very tight.
Roma’s coach, Pesic, built a “cage” for Andrea, putting Tonolli and Bodiroga on him: this is a clear sign that he had become a very dangerous offensive player.
That very strong defense caused him a lot of troubles, and his scoring felt its effect but Treviso nevertheless reached the final.
That could be the last obstacle before his triumph, the best way to leave an environment that gave him a lot and to whom he was so grateful.
But the obstacle was very very tall and hard to climb over: the final was against the title-holder Fortitudo Bologna, a team that had a lot of young “terrible” players, and among them there was the other promising Italian player for the NBA: Marco Belinelli.
The press embroiders a lot of different stories about the comparison between the two little Italian jewels, but Andrea showed that he didn’t feel any sort of pressure: in game 1 he scored 16 points (7/13 shhoting, 2/5 from 3) and hit a cople of shot while the 24” clock expired, without a bit of emotion on his face.
In game 2 he played 32 minutes, collected 17 points and added the incredible number of 6 blocked shots, setting a record for a final game and contibuting to his team’s victory.
In Game 3 he again scored 16 points and resulted as the players with the more minutes on the fllor, a proof that his defensive and fouls troubles were something to leav to the past.
Game 4 was Andrea’s worst if we look at the numbers (8 points), but it was the game of the championship, the match that gave the title to Treviso.
Andrea could raise the championship trophy and he could celebrate with his supporters, who clasped him in a hug that was as fond as it was melancholy, because they already knew that their darling was taking another way, well far away from Italian basket.
And all what remains is his raised arm with the closed fist as a sign of victory and his shout heard by the whole country.
That was a goodbye that came in the best way: he left as a winner, ready to bring with him in the USA the name of Italian basketball. Like Toni Kukoc did, better than Toni Kukoc.
And the rest is an actuality story.

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