Just what the Raptors need... more soft foreign players. Delfino has some game but you can't have too many of those pretty boy types on one team.
A year out of the NBA may be a boost for him. His confidence in his game could propel him to be a player that can contribute in a regular basis for the Raptors. If signed, He could be a great addition for the Raptors. Additional scoring from the bench.
I don't think he means that all foreign players are soft. I think he means the Raptors have (and have had in the past) some soft players who happen to be foreign (or have played ball in foreign countries).
Nope, they bought his contract. Last year's off-season Garbajosa signed a 2 year contract with Khimki Moscow Region.
Nowhere in that post did I say "all" foreign players. I was talking about the type of soft players that the Raptors have had in recent years. For all Calderon's gifts, I consider him a softie. Same goes for Bargnani. Delfino is yet another one. Skilled but soft. If his hair gets knocked out of place, he needs a time out to fix it. Garbajosa acted tough but he was a soft perimeter player in the end that couldn't bang with most other players at his position. Looking back, I should have just said they don't need any more soft players, regardless of ethnicity. It's just that so many of those overseas players they've picked up have happened to be softies and the subject of this thread deals with one of their former softies. I just think the Raptors need an infusion of toughness. They have plenty of skill. Delfino makes no sense to me unless they have other moves planned.
Why, because he handled the pain of that heinous ankle break? That's not what I'm talking about when I refer to NBA toughness. If you're talking about pain threshold, then all women are tough enough to play in the NBA because they give birth. I'm talking about banging and battling down low in the case of a big like Garbajosa. He can't hang with the power forwards in this league. He played on the perimeter and rarely got to the line. No way he can mix it up on a game to game basis with most NBA bigs. Delfino was soft in the sense that he rarely took it to the basket hard and looked for contact. Like Garbajosa and many other players from overseas, he prefers a finesse/flopping/complaining-based game over the physicality of the NBA.
When did the last Charles Oakley or Chuck Hayes-type player come out of Europe, if ever? All I'm saying is that the style of play of many (not all) overseas players is more finesse-based than what they see when they come to the mecca of the basketball world. It's not because these guys are inherently soft or anything. Some of them are able to adapt to the physicality of the NBA over time. A lot of these softer foreign players may not have been like that if they grew up here. It's nurture, not nature.
I never said anything about Garbo's nasty injury. Can I ask you how many Raptors games you watched 06 -07? Garbo was regularly assigned the task of defending the opposing teams best bigs. He was easily their best post defender. I'll admit that, yes, he did get out muscled a lot in the paint... but he definitely did not shy away from contact. If your definition of "soft" means being weaker physically then your opponent, then I suppose Garbo was a big softie. He was limited to shooting 3's and long 2's, I'll give you that... but he just didn't have the tools to do much else. He was slow, uncoordinated and he just didn't have the strength to post up other 4's. I suppose I can understand why some would label him "soft"... but he's ****in Reggie Evans compared to most other Euro big's.
I've been getting LP for several years so I watch a ton of games every season, including Raptors games, but if you follow the Raptors regularly, I'll trust your observations over mine on Garbajosa. But being unable to hold your ground and getting outmuscled by the opposition is definitely a certain type of softness in my book. Being willing to try shows mental toughness but that ain't enough, even if it puts him ahead of other overseas guys. All I was basically saying with my first post was that I think the Raptors need to add toughness, regardless of ethnicity. They have plenty of skilled guys. Delfino is a fine player but I think they need a more aggressive scoring wing. Maybe that's the best they can hope for. I have no idea. I'm not too concerned with the Raptors. That was just my impression having watched them on occasion.
