L'angolo dell'intervista

Rise and fall di un giocatore che o si ama o si odia. Noi lo abbiamo amato, finchè è durata!
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The Huge
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda The Huge » 07/02/2012, 13:36

Questo ragazzo è un mito! :approved:

Immagine

Sprawled across an oversize couch in a rumpus room tucked behind the Raptors’ ACC training facility, Andrea Bargnani is doing something weird.

He’s laughing.

On the court, in front of cameras and anywhere there’s a crowd, Bargnani wears an expressionless mask that his critics have spent six years trying to interpret.

The least charitable have decided he isn’t grinning or grimacing or generally clowning because he doesn’t care.

And he doesn’t care, but not in the way they mean.

When you get him in a room alone, he is an entirely different person. He is solicitous and engaging. He is more articulate in his second language because he can focus on a single conversation, rather than several scattershot ones. For someone who’s been kicked so often, he is amazingly open.

This version of Bargnani — the real one — is a lot of fun, which you’ll agree is a word not usually associated with the cornerstone of the Raptors franchise.

He knows what people say about the way he carries himself in public. There is an explanation, which is presented without the slightest hint of an excuse.

“I grew up with a really tough European coach (current Lakers assistant Ettore Messina),” Bargnani says.

Messina still figures largely in his imagination. The Italian had him at Benetton Treviso for three crucial years between the ages of 18 and 20. No mentor has had a greater impact. While his game has changed since, Bargnani’s demeanour was cemented as a teenager.

“All the stuff you can do here in college, the celebrating, that’s not allowed. If you do something like this” — and here he mimes the familiar gesture of pounding a fist to the chest — “you’re done. That’s really, really bad. So I got used to not doing it. I was very close to crying more than one time when I was young with that coach.”

Now he prefers hardcourt imperturbability, while still allowing himself the odd outburst.

“I do what I feel, not because people ask me to do this,” Bargnani says, holding his hands over his head and doing a strange chicken dance.

Do not ask Andrea Bargnani to dance. He doesn’t like that.

This is the treacherous shore to Bargnani that a series of NBA coaches have run up against and foundered — he will not do what you ask him to just because you asked. He wants to be included in the discussion.

Before Bargnani was drafted first overall, he took one of the personality tests that is administered to most hopefuls in order to reassure would-be employers they are not flakes or kooks. Shortly after that draft, GM Bryan Colangelo raved about Bargnani’s performance.

“(The testers) said, ‘Out of all the athletes we’ve profiled, we’ve never seen anything like this,’ ” Colangelo told ESPN. One of the things the profile showed was that Bargnani does not care what other people think of him.

Here is a case in point: Bargnani is the only man in the Italian diaspora who tells people he can’t stand watching soccer.

“Zero. No interest. It’s soooo boring.”

He finally succumbed to repeated invitations to go to a game featuring his hometown club, AS Roma, only three years ago. His highlight, the only one apparently, was sharing VIP seats with the country’s randy ruler, Silvio Berlusconi.

“It was good for public relations,” he shrugs, “but boring.”

My God, do Italians know you feel this way?

“Oh yeah, everybody knows.”

And they don’t want to string you up on a lamp post?

“No,” he says, confused at the suggestion that this might bother him. “I just don’t like it.”

This curious immunity to peer pressure has been a double-edged sword during his career, with the sharpest end often held out defensively.

“Criticism has two sides,” Bargnani says. “Most of the time it just comes here” — and he points to his right ear — “and goes out here” — the left ear.

“It doesn’t change a minute of my life. But if it comes from one of the few people I care about, the people you can count on one hand, it really changes me.”

If you’re trying to figure out why Bargnani has suddenly vaulted into the elite ranks during his sixth season, this might be part of it: He now has a head coach he can count on one hand.

When Dwane Casey got the Raptors job, one of his first acts was to phone Bargnani in Italy and hand him the on-court keys to the franchise.

Once Bargnani arrived in camp, Casey began taking him aside for one-on-one chats.

“A straight relationship, where you feel free to talk, is a very simple thing. A lot of people think it’s a normal thing, but in this business it’s not very common,” Bargnani says.

With coaches?

“Not just the coach, everybody. Having people say what they think to your face, not behind the shoulder,” Bargnani says. “He said to all of us at the beginning, ‘I’m going to say what I think, whether you like it or not.’ I think that’s very good.”

These are not handholding sessions designed to work on self-esteem. Whatever people have suggested, Bargnani is supremely confident in his ability. They are technical lessons being delivered by a man who revels in the details. Bargnani speaks proudly of having his strategic advice solicited by Casey during games.

“Of course, he always takes the final decision. But he asks me,” Bargnani says.

This is what Dwane Casey has figured out — that Bargnani wants to be coached collaboratively, not cajoled or disciplined or talked at.

Your opinion of him doesn’t matter — not to him, and not to you if your goal is to coax the best out of him. What matters is Bargnani’s opinion of you.

“Everybody’s good when things are going right,” Bargnani says. “In rough times, when you lose seven games in a row, that’s when you see what people are made of. (Casey) doesn’t change his idea. I say that in a very good way.”

There are other factors, of course.

Bargnani is a hard worker. We spoke on a rare team rest day this week. Though he’s sidelined with a calf injury, Bargnani came in to lift weights.

Big men take a while, and in this case maybe “a while” was five years.

His English has improved, and along with it his comfort and sense of belonging. During his first few seasons, there was always at least one other Italian speaker in the dressing room — Jorge Garbajosa, Rasho Nesterovic, et al. Now when he speaks, he must speak basketball’s lingua franca.

There is also a change in his personal life.

His first roommate in Toronto was his mother, Luisella Balducci. She arrived a month before her then-20-year-old son in order to scout the city. By the time he’d arrived, mom had everything sorted.

Later, his brother Enrico moved in. The younger Bargnani, a U of T business student, is spending the year studying in Tokyo.

Bargnani now lives with Nabila Chihab, a 27-year-old Moroccan-Italian he began dating last summer. She’s a professional volleyball player who stands 6 ½-feet tall in heels. Seeing the pair of them together is like surveying the results of a very successful genetic experiment.

He is settled in the city and does not view it as temporary lodging, but as his home. He’s not much for nights out on the town, but when he does go out he has a network of Italian restaurant owners and friends who shield him from gawkers.

His five-year, $50 million (U.S.) contract extends until 2015. Whatever it looked like at the end of last year, the deal now appears a ridiculous bargain for a versatile 20-odd point a night 7-footer who extends the floor for his teammates and can take over games.

Since this is Toronto, every silver lining has its cloud. It’s a matter of time before fans begin to fret that Bargnani will become the latest all-star who wants to venture south once he’s proven himself.

When I try to pin him down on this point, Bargnani does not use weasel words or get surly. He points out the flaw in the question.

“I don’t think it’s fair to ask me if I want to leave one day, because I think I’ve demonstrated the opposite,” he says. “I think it’s pretty clear that I’d like to stay in Toronto.”

Slowly, he extends a finger the length of a pencil. Then he begins to wag it playfully.

It’s no war whoop, but Bargnani is not the sort to celebrate when he knows he’s won the point.

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_Il Prescelto_
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda _Il Prescelto_ » 08/02/2012, 9:36

bellissima intervista!
Immagine

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fagiu
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda fagiu » 08/02/2012, 19:19

Quindi l'atteggiamento da tacchinone freddo del Bargna è frutto delle crudeli torture psicologiche di Messina?

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The Huge
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda The Huge » 27/04/2012, 22:33

Gran bell'intervista di Andrea! :approved:

Se solo smettesse di vestirsi come un barbone, sarebbe anche perfetto ... :lol:

Immagine

The cornerstone’s eyes were open wide, his expression no longer blank, distant or uncomfortable. Andrea Bargnani stood where he has been at the end of almost every season, trying to explain what went wrong. But this time it felt and he looked entirely different.

“I came here six years ago and I was just a kid,” Bargnani said, after his exit press conference interview. “The first thing was language. My English wasn’t good. It’s different now. Maybe English is my first language now, Italian my second.”

We stop for a moment in mid-sentence. That is was what constitutes a Bargnani joke. We chuckle and move on.

“I came here at 20, now I’m 26 about to be 27. You grow up a lot. It feels good to get your game to this point, to do the things I want to do on the court. I don’t like losing. Nobody likes losing. But I’m happy with my career. Every year, I’ve gotten better. It’s not good to look back. The first two years, I didn’t play much. One year I played about 23 minutes a game for whatever reason. That slowed down my growth.

“But this year was a losing year but not a wasted year. There’s a difference in that.”

A difference in the big bust who isn’t anymore. It may not have happened overnight, the first pick in the NBA Draft finally playing like a first pick, but it began to emerge in this uneven and now concluded Raptors season. Some things didn’t change this season. The Raptors still lost, just not enough of the time. The team isn’t in the playoffs, again. The franchise remains on the outside looking in when it comes to relevance in the NBA. But the big news other than the arrival of Dwane Casey was the emergence of Bargnani as a major force in the NBA.

In the U.S., where they never talk about the Raptors, there was talk of Bargnani this season. How he was a force. How he was unstoppable. How teams didn’t know how to defence him. A year ago, two or three years ago, he was just another guy, that big wasted pick, too often unengaged. Now the guy is bordering on stardom, assuming he can stay healthy, assuming he can duplicate what he showed in his first season playing for Casey.

“I’m not happy losing, nobody’s happy losing,” said Bargnani. “But this year changed a lot. It was not a wasted year. It was a frustrating year with the injury. I was happy and frustrated. Happy with the way I played. Frustrated that I got hurt at the worst possible moment ... I hated sitting on the bench in a suit. You don’t want to be there for games. I hated watching practice. Nobody likes that.”

When healthy, which he was for about 19 of 66 games this season, Bargnani averaged 24 points a game. Only four NBA players — Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Love — scored more than that. When Bargnani played more than 30 minutes for the Raptors, which he did 24 times and at least five of those games he shouldn’t have played, the Raps had a winning record: 13 wins, 11 losses. That’s a .541 winning percentage.

That’s playoff basketball.

“I’m not happy with my game,” said Bargnani, who appreciates the improvement he has made but wants to go even farther. “There’s no point talking about what I can do. You have to prove it every year. You’ve got to keep believing. I know I can drive more. I know I can play better D. I know I can use my left hand more. These are all things to build on. But I can’t sit here and say ‘I don’t want to play on this team, I’m tired of losing.’ You can’t have that attitude. You want to be part of something. It’s not just sport, it’s life. You don’t quit. You try to be part of the solution.

“Before the injury, I was among the top (scorers). That’s where I need to be and I know I can be there. Now I have to come back next year and do it.”

He will be back, along with the improving DeMar DeRozan, likely Jose Calderon, excited by additions Jonas Valanciunas, the still to be determined first round pick and whomever Bryan Colangelo uses all that salary flexibility and cap room on. “That makes us better,” said Bargnani.

“This year was about building. Next year is about playoffs.”

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Panzer
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda Panzer » 28/04/2012, 1:15

The Huge ha scritto:Gran bell'intervista di Andrea! :approved:

Se solo smettesse di vestirsi come un barbone, sarebbe anche perfetto ... :lol:



Ma come....io lo amo per questo,fuori dal campo è un po' pirata e un po' signore :lol:

“The first thing was language. My English wasn’t good. It’s different now. Maybe English is my first language now, Italian my second.”......certo,forse se lo paragoni a quello del Beli :lol:
Se non credi in te stesso scordati che qualcuno lo faccia per te (Kobe Bryant)

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max
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda max » 28/04/2012, 1:29

The Huge ha scritto:Se solo smettesse di vestirsi come un barbone, sarebbe anche perfetto ... :lol:

:lol2:

ma va, ma meno male che non si veste come una fighetta o con quei completoni orribili color pastello.

giuro, se lo vedessi vestito da demente fotonico come con LeBron o un Wade qualunque andrei in Canada solo per prenderlo a calci nel posteriore da Toronto fino a Vancouver.

diciamo NO tutti insieme ai vestiti orrendi dei giocatori NBA. come buttare nel cesso migliaia e migliaia di dollari.

è più elegante il Gabibbo :lol:
:ita:

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The Huge
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda The Huge » 28/04/2012, 12:22

Scusate, ma direi che c'è una bella differenza dai vestiti da pagliacci dei giocatori NBA a "normali" vestiti da italiani.

Per dire, Beli e Danilo si vestono 100mila volte meglio di lui, eppure mica si mettono i completi pastello! :mrgreen:

Cmq la colpa è sempre dei curatori d'immagine!!! :lol:

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Gabbo
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda Gabbo » 28/04/2012, 12:46

Se Danilo non si vestisse bene mi sorprenderebbe :lol:

Cmq
Maybe English is my first language now, Italian my second.”
We stop for a moment in mid-sentence. That is was what constitutes a Bargnani joke. We chuckle and move on.

Sbaglio o sarebbe più corretto dire "my second one"? :lol: :lol:
Figurarsi l'italiano allora :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
"Dottor/
Professor/
Truffatore/
Imbroglione"

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Rickett
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda Rickett » 28/04/2012, 16:07

Era una battuta gabbo.

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Stefanone
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda Stefanone » 10/05/2012, 22:31

“This year was about building. Next year is about playoffs.”

La frase conclusiva è proprio da 8) . Questa è la roba che piace ai 'mericani, è migliorato molto anche sotto questo aspetto :D
Real winners respect all opponents

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Viktor
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Re: L'angolo dell'intervista

Messaggioda Viktor » 10/05/2012, 23:10

Andrea :oops:

Mai visto così carico.
Dopotutto questa stagione l'ha passata più fuori che dentro al campo.
"Raps traded Bargs because he would block the tank" cit.

Immagine


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