Nesterofish
06-27-2006, 08:24 AM
TORONTO - Maurizio Gherardini, the newly hired vice-president and assistant general manager with the Toronto Raptors, had a hard time playing coy yesterday. But he tried.
"I don't know who you're talking about," he said yesterday when the name of top prospect Andrea Bargnani was raised during an informal meeting with the Toronto media. "I know nothing."
Gherardini, of course, knows just about everything there is to know about Bargnani, having recruited him for Italy's Benetton Treviso when the Italian big man was still in his teens.
"The priority is going to be what is best for the club," Gherardini maintained. "On the other hand, I have no doubt that Bargnani's a hell of a player."
But aside from waxing enthusiastic about the 20-year-old's potential, there was little Gherardini could say yesterday, the NBA Draft just two days away. Facts are hard to come by and, in their absence, the hypothetical rules.
The imagined possibilities for the Raptors are still apparently many. The list of players potentially bound for Toronto has grown in recent days to include Earl Watson of the Seattle SuperSonics and Marquis Daniels of the Dallas Mavericks -- possible trade bait including Mike James and Alvin Williams.
Meanwhile, popular opinion on who Toronto will draft if it keeps the first pick -- or at least remains near the top of the draft -- has narrowed to Bargnani, University of Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge and Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison.
If Gherardini knows anything about any of this, he did not offer any insight yesterday. Colangelo will meet with the media himself this afternoon, but all answers will likely have to wait until tomorrow night.
link (http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=28c99924-4ad6-4336-be61-f491572a044c&k=98116)
"I don't know who you're talking about," he said yesterday when the name of top prospect Andrea Bargnani was raised during an informal meeting with the Toronto media. "I know nothing."
Gherardini, of course, knows just about everything there is to know about Bargnani, having recruited him for Italy's Benetton Treviso when the Italian big man was still in his teens.
"The priority is going to be what is best for the club," Gherardini maintained. "On the other hand, I have no doubt that Bargnani's a hell of a player."
But aside from waxing enthusiastic about the 20-year-old's potential, there was little Gherardini could say yesterday, the NBA Draft just two days away. Facts are hard to come by and, in their absence, the hypothetical rules.
The imagined possibilities for the Raptors are still apparently many. The list of players potentially bound for Toronto has grown in recent days to include Earl Watson of the Seattle SuperSonics and Marquis Daniels of the Dallas Mavericks -- possible trade bait including Mike James and Alvin Williams.
Meanwhile, popular opinion on who Toronto will draft if it keeps the first pick -- or at least remains near the top of the draft -- has narrowed to Bargnani, University of Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge and Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison.
If Gherardini knows anything about any of this, he did not offer any insight yesterday. Colangelo will meet with the media himself this afternoon, but all answers will likely have to wait until tomorrow night.
link (http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=28c99924-4ad6-4336-be61-f491572a044c&k=98116)