Obviously this is not Andrea Bargnani (maybe in 40 years?). This is Dr. Herb Greenberg, whom I interviewed for – you guessed it – Hoops Addict. Picture it: The spring of 2007. The Cleveland Cavaliers upset the “classically good” Detroit Pistons. Some blogger in Toronto harrasses Caliper into a telephone interview with its CEO. Good times.

Why do I bring this up? Well, I finally made my homer pick on Give Me The Mock and selected much-maligned big-man Andrea Bargnani. From all the articles I’ve read, it seems his sophomore campaign was a write-off, due to partly what was demanded (moving to center and starting) and partly his health (surgery this offseason for deviated septum and adenoid removal). Hey, you try playing at a high level without breathing.

Back to Dr. Greenberg. He was very high on Bargnani, giving the Raptors and Bryan Colangelo the thumbs-up. After the Italian Scallion’s impressive rookie season, the good doctor had this to say:

That’s the kind of thing we’re very, very proud of. We did some … I wouldn’t say
“arm twisting,” because they liked him, but they knew they’d get a lot of
criticism for drafting him. I can tell you right now: He will be one of the top
eight or ten centers in NBA history. They’re happy with it, we’re happy with it.