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Rashp has a wife ?
And I'm single ???
this world
I did not want this article lost in the Raptors thread.
It was the situation, perhaps. It was the role, possibly. It was the baby, maybe.
Whatever the reason, Toronto Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic has been playing good basketball. Very good, even. Heck, the best of his NBA career, a mere 10 seasons in. Ask anybody.
"I don't even know who this guy is," says Raptors coach Sam Mitc . "I'm not even sure it's Rasho. What has he got, three 20-point games this year? I can't even remember a 20-point game Rasho had when we played together. And that's when he was a young man."
That was back when Rasho was between 22 and 26, before he had his first child, before he started this season on the bench behind some 22-year-old kid. But once Andrea Bargnani was finally sent back to the bench, Nesterovic flourished even as his team lagged around him. At 31, he has scored in double figures in 17 consecutive games, during which he has averaged 16.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocked shots and 58.5% shooting.
To put that in perspective, Rasho has averaged double figures in scoring just once in his 10-year career. Oh, and it's four 20-point games this month, Sam.
"I've never seen him producing like this at any level," says Raptors assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini, who first saw Nesterovic play about 15 years ago. "Even when he was at Bologna or Ljubljana, he never had these kind of numbers, never."
How many athletes find new life this late in the game? This isn't a Barry Bonds-like surge -- stand Nesterovic next to Dwight Howard, the guy he's going to be guarding in the first round of the playoffs against Orlando, and he will look like a 7-foot accountant next to a 7-foot bodybuilder. Howard's nickname is Superman. Rasho's could be Everyman.
"Rasho doesn't appear to be physically strong, but he's dense, so you're not going to move him," says Darrick Martin, who was named a basketball development consultant this season. You mean old-man strength, Martin is asked? He nods enthusiastically.
"Yes, exactly. He grabs you and you're like, 'Hey! Come on, man.' "
How Rasho uses his old-man strength and his cerebral game against Howard's young man strength will be a major key in any chance of a Toronto upset in this first-round series. The Magic have a suspect backcourt but a devastating frontcourt, led by the 22-year-old man-child who led the league in dunks, and who averaged 24.3 points, 12.7 rebounds and 71.1% shooting against Toronto. Howard will become the league's youngest rebounding champion this season. He is a muscle-bound, explosive, agile, slam dunk contest-winning handful.
"I don't think I'm the key guy," says Nesterovic, a funny guy who goes bland for the cameras. "I think the key is going to be how the team is going to play. I mean, he's so good ... To stop him completely is impossible. He's learned a lot in three years. He's one of the best players in the league right now."
Nesterovic's strategy is simple: Push Howard as far from the basket as possible, get him to face the basket if he can, contest every shot while avoiding fouls. And if necessary, flop.
"Sometimes," Nesterovic concedes, "but you can't flop 10 times."
But besides his defensive work, Nesterovic could tip this series at the offensive end. If he can pull Howard away from the basket with this new-found floor game -- "I wanted to be a point guard, too, but I grew up too much," Nesterovic half-joked yesterday -- then Toronto will be in much better shape. But that leads to the question: Where in the world did this late-season burst come from?
Two words: The kid. Nesterovic's first child was a son, Nikola, born in November. But instead of being exhausted, Nesterovic says he has been galvanized.
"It gives you extra energy," says Nesterovic, whose wife is 5-foot-10. "He is a good sleeper, better than his father. He slept well from the start. [Now], You can't carry him around for a long time -- he's too big. He's a pretty big kid, yeah. Genetics work out good ... Maybe that calmness [helped]. Probably."
"There's something about having a kid," Martin says. "As a father myself, I know I started playing much better once I had my child. I don't know what it is. I guess you know you've got that extra mouth to feed."
"The kid gave him a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of extra energies," Gherardini says. "Plus I think there are stages in your life, sometimes you click. Now he's settled in, he likes the town, he enjoys this environment, he feels at home. These are all positive factors ... The report that I gave on the Eurobasket [tournament last summer] was that the biggest surprise for me, even though it was our player, was to discover how Rasho played in terms of numbers, minutes, impact as a leader on the team -- things that to that degree, he has never done before."
In this series, he will have to do things he has never done before. He will have to grab Superman's cape, and hold on. But be warned, it won't be easy. Howard had his first kid this year, too.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/...e8&k=23009&p=2
Rashp has a wife ?
And I'm single ???
this world
So how many years did it take Rasho to finally start earning his money?
If you were in the NBA, raking millions and driving an exotic sports car, my guess is that you wouldn't stay single long, unless you wanted to.
Didnt he have a stretch of good games when he was still spurs, with duncan out injured, he posted up double figures and stuff..
I say dude is underrated or underperforms when his playin on a stack team where his the last option.....
funny face? dude never looks serious when he was on the spurs...
I wonder if his called duncan for any baby tips lol...
Beno might need a new job soon, well he has to do something to keep himself in northern america.....babysitting his next job?
Does rasho need a mandarin tutor for his child? Mengke Banteer is waitin for a phone call
Rasho is crap
But his name is carved into Ploto's vibrator, so there's always that.
So all we needed was for Rasho to have a kid so he'd show up to play? I'm a little angry at him, but I'm more disapointed in Angel Luv and Rashofan. Take one for the team and get knocked up! There's no is "I" in in "unprotected sex".
Poor lefty, can't find a boyfriend!
Rasho always had the talent to play like this...what he lacked was the motivation, and it wasn't due to Pop as Ploto blames...if you listen to anyone that has coached him, he just floats and he's just not that into it...when he is, he's capable of these kinds of performances, as evidenced by the numbers he put up when Duncan was injured a few years ago.
But as you can see...now that's he's finally putting them up alongside a dominant big...the problem was Rasho's...not Duncan, Garnett and Bosh's.
Looks like Fatherhood has finally brought out in him what every NBA coach he has had(and his multi million dollar contracts) could not...movtivation to live up to his talent.
Better late than never I suppose...
Hopefully this will end the talk of poor Rasho being victimized...now that he's got the "want to's", much to the suprise of his current coach.
Maybe you missed Colangelo's (?) qoute: "Rasho was always like this, he is just utilised differently."
Rasho was never lacked of motivation, that is pure BS! Rasho was never offensive option under the Spurs (quite logicaly with teammates Timmy, Tony and Manu). How many offensive plays for Rasho was there in the Pop's playbook?
See this also: http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost...0&postcount=70
Rasho is forever blameless.
He has always been perfect, it's just that no one noticed it.
I'm glad for Rasho - I always liked him. I'm glad he's in a situation where he's flourishing - kinda like Beno in Sacramento. But I had to laugh about the comment that he's more motivated now because he has an extra mouth to feed. When you make MILLIONS of dollars A YEAR, I really don't think the pampers and baby food is going to break the bank!
I should have known that most people could not appreciate a nice article about someone who was a good teammate and a true professional when he was on the Spurs.
I suppose none of you are parents or you might understand what it means to become a father or a mother, and how that touches your heart.
I am sad for you if you have never experienced a moment in time when everything in your life comes together just right- like it has for Rasho at this moment.
You really need to get over yourself.
rasho plays well without no bigman with him
with duncan he is useless without duncan on the spurs rasho is not a bad option
You should have known everyone would see through your continuing attempts to suggest that somehow Rasho has ever lived up to the money he earned or to try to make Spurs fans miss him.
I have two kids, but I had a strong work ethic before they were born, too.
Sounds like it's time for you to go dig your Rashobrator out of the drawer by the bed.
I want to see a picture of Sho's son.
And so did Rasho. The BS around here started by timvp and followed along by a bunch of mindless drones that questions Rasho's work ethic is ridiculous. You talk to anyone involved with the Spurs and they will tell you how hard Rasho worked. You talk to anyone in the NBA and they will tell you of his reputation. No one has ever questioned his work ethic.
This is about inspiration- looking over before an NBA game starts and seeing your first born child there. This is about when your life fits together- you are happy and you feel at home somewhere, and it allows you the freedom to do more than you imagined.
Sad people in here. As if your crude remarks have anything to do with my being happy for a wonderful and special family.
ploto the loser continues to shine.
Im just amazed Rasho could play so soon after giving birth honestly.
I don't know. He always dated some very pretty girls even before he went abroad (and way before his NBA career).
I guess we just don't see him the same way as women do
As for the article it's nice but it's also a lot of BS. Rasho can play, he has proven that enough time (yes in SA too), but if anything he's too disciplined. He will always do what the coach asks from him, he will not break his assignment - if he did he would have a better reputation as a player but I believe it would be at the expense of the team.
Look how he came to his recent fame in Toronto. Mitc had to give up on Bargnani first for Rasho to stop deferring to the young Italian. Look at Rasho's game until then and it's not even the same player.
As for how he was "used", I believe he was used exactly the way that the coach wanted to use him. When Pop needed him to score/post up he did (both times
Rasho has to accept part of the blame too since he should have/could have shown more confidence and challenged his role, but knowing his background and upbringing, I'm not really surprised he didn't.
What was his background like?Rasho has to accept part of the blame too since he should have/could have shown more confidence and challenged his role, but knowing his background and upbringing, I'm not really surprised he didn't.
Damn...when did Rasho get married??? He has a son too...I gonna go kill myself now
damn it!!!!
Very modest, he grew up in the worst part of Ljubljana (now that's not nearly as bad as it sounds, specially compared to some parts of big western cities - but it was where the cheapest appartments were) and very strict, his father is from Montenegro, and in that culture you respect your elders (speciall the father) and do as your told.
The best illustration of his upbringing IMO is that even after he was already a NBA millionaire, he still stayed in that small appartment in that neighbourhood when he was in Ljubljana. I'm guessing he won't anymore since he has a family of his own now, but you get the picture.
Oh you and your high horse, and don't even attempt to make it sound like your post was because you are happy about anything. You've gone out of your way to say something bad about the Spurs at every opportunity, and you've stuck around here for two full years so you can continue to attempt to belittle Spurs fans and take shots at the organization that traded your beloved overpaid countryman. If there's anyone worthy of pity in here, it's you. Unfortunately you aren't clever enough to like and are therefore not likeable enough to pity.
If Rasho wanted to stay here he should have taken a in' pay cut, because he and his strong work ethic were stealing money a Spurs organization that expected him to play as hard as he did his before they signed him. Funny how Rasho was inspired to do more than he imagined when he saw all those dollar signs his last season in Minnesota.
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