Casey is partly to blame for Andrea's struggles

[aman_13]

i don't understand what you learned yesterday... i mean you said right there in your opening post that the coach didn't view Andrea as his first option on offense... why would you expect him to build his offense around what he considered to be the teams 3rd option?

Because last season he was the team's first option. My problem with Casey is that he changed the team's pecking order. A lot of you are fine with that but based on our current talent, Andrea playing at his best gives the Raps the best opportunity to win. Of course this is where my view differs from yours.

Though its not like the team is winning with Andrea as the third option.

[Jamiecballer]

Because last season he was the team's first option. My problem with Casey is that he changed the team's pecking order. A lot of you are fine with that but based on our current talent, Andrea playing at his best gives the Raps the best opportunity to win. Of course this is where my view differs from yours.

Though its not like the team is winning with Andrea as the third option.

no no our views don't differ there. we both agree that Andrea playing at his best is vital to our team winning. i just have no problem with the team changing its priorities as it upgrades it's talent. i think the problem is that the coach and GM are not in agreement as to what's best for the team.

[Jamiecballer]

let me ask you something aman_13. if the team acquired Chris Paul in the off-season would you expect them to cater the offense to Andrea because he was the first option last year?

[Nick O]

if he's to blame for anything it's not using the most effective weapon a coach has to coax effort - playing time.

it sucks cause i really feel he could be a good player if we had a coach who would ram his boot up his *** every once in a while. you know what i mean?

good point.. as much as i like andrea he needs a good *** ramming....

[bucketss]

that still doesn't explain why hes sucked so much hes a 7 year veteran we need to stop making excuses for him

[dalton749]

then maybe they should run in when jose is on the floor and bring bargs off the bench

[mike_noodles]

I love that we're finding more excuses for this guy's pathetic play (reminder, that I used to be a big fan of this guy). Every year there's a new excuse.

[Jamiecballer]

I love that we're finding more excuses for this guy's pathetic play (reminder, that I used to be a big fan of this guy). Every year there's a new excuse.

i'm going to do something i rarely do here - defend Andrea.

Andrea is not entirely to blame here. the organization tried to change him from the moment they drafted him. if they wanted a rugged forward then it was up to them to not reward him with playing time when he didn't do what they've asked. The only coach who actually did that was summarily dismissed.

Andrea probably doesn't have a clue what the organization wants from him any more and it stems in my opinion from the very confusing message the organization has given him for 7 plus years.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

Well, yea we all kinda knew this. Bargnani isn't working in the new offense.

That's why he needs a change of scenery.

[Raps08-09 Champ]

I love that we're finding more excuses for this guy's pathetic play (reminder, that I used to be a big fan of this guy). Every year there's a new excuse.

Is it still an excuse if it's a fact?

[Vampirate]

Last time I checked, we sucked last year too.

Maybe we should stop catering around Andrea?

We sucked even worse last year when Andrea was out.

The sad news is, even if we had last years version of Andrea Bargnani, we'd still be a terrible team.

What i'd do is shop Andrea for an expiring contract if I could, trade Calderon for picks+trade exeption and amnesty Amir Johnson.

This would make the Raptors lose some contracts while making us worse.

Yes, losing Andrea makes us a worse team, probably a top 5 pick kinda worse team, which is honestly what we need to be.

The thing with Andrea is, he's not good enough to propell the Raptors far into the Playoffs, however he IS good enough to affect our record enough from us getting better odds in getting a superstar type player in the draft.

[Jamiecballer]

in attributing blame for Bargnani's struggles i vote 90% Raptors 10% Andrea.

[Freakazoid]

A couple weeks ago Casey was on Primetime Sports and Bobcat had asked him about Andrea's struggles. Casey defended Andrea by acknowledging that he is no longer the first option of the team and because of Lowry, the team put in a whole new offensive system.

The coach went on to say that they did not have time to put in the Dallas offense which was what they used last season. The Raptors used this offense to get Andrea the same type of looks Dirk gets on the court.

We all saw what Andrea did in the first 13 games last season and all hoped that he will continue to play at that level but he's been terrible to this point and Casey has not helped at all. This is not an excuse but I just don't get how you don't put in the offense that helped our most vital player play at his highest level and essentially provide us the best opportunity to win games. I don't understand that thinking what so ever and would like to read your thoughts on this.

If anything he should be succeeding not failing under the motion offense.

Him jacking up shots has nothing to do with the offensive system. It has more to do with his lacking of conditioning and awareness.

[aman_13]

let me ask you something aman_13. if the team acquired Chris Paul in the off-season would you expect them to cater the offense to Andrea because he was the first option last year?

Of course not, but there really hasn't been any significant increase in talent on this team to suggest changing the number 1 option IMO.

[aman_13]

If anything he should be succeeding not failing under the motion offense.

Him jacking up shots has nothing to do with the offensive system. It has more to do with his lacking of conditioning and awareness.

But as Bramaca stated, there hasn't been any motion. The Raptors are not creating open shots. Even in the preseason when they were winning, a lot of the shots made were contested.

When Casey arrived, he talked about how there are similarities in Dirk an Andrea's games and that he will give Andrea similar looks. He did that and it was working. I hate making excuses, I'm not one of those pro Andrea posters. I think it's time to move on but Casey completely changed his offence when it really wasn't warranted. That I have an issue with.

Perhaps they are trying to phase him out and are looking to trade him, if that is the case, then my opinion changes. If BC has no intentions of trading him, then there is a huge problem..