The other night, Rasho Nesterovic had a bad game for the Toronto Raptors. It happens so rarely these days, that I marked it down to comment on here in Mug Shots. It also got me thinking. I don't think the big Slovenian has gotten the proper recognition he's due this year. For the last half of this season, he's been the most consistently good Raptor not named Chris Bosh. And I could make a case that he's been better than Bosh on meeting his playing goals.
I've used Rasho and his eight million dollar salary as both a bit of a joke and as the promise that he'll bring real value when he's gone. Can't wait to acquire some REAL talent with his expiring contract, or failing that, when he no longer has a contract. Better be a REALLY, REALLY good talent, cuz Nesterovic has been doing a stellar job of late.
Not a lot of people notice. He's been double-doubling so often of late so far under the radar, that you never see his name amongst the top four statistical performers as adjudged by RealGM.com each game. They don't notice him. I barely notice him, if only to trade him or to mis-spell his name. (Yeah, do a search for Nestorovic. The search won't come up empty. For shame).
He seems satisfied to get his 10-14 points and he wants 10 rebounds, but he's often content to punch the ball to a teammate rather than grabbing it himself. That doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but it helps his team win. He quarterbacks the defence when the Raptors are in the mood, and it is maddening that the team can play defence with the top ten and with the bottom five. Most times, the better defence is when he's on the floor. He will also foul an opponent hard, something the Raptors are loathe to do, even when that opponent used to wear #15 in Raptor purple. The colour and the former star are gone (as in out of the playoffs, heh, heh, heh).
It's a fact. Nesterovic's teams have never missed the playoffs. Something you can't say .... okay, I was about the beat a dead horse, heh, heh, heh.
Lately, Nesterovic has been playing so much, you can actually see him tiring out. Then a Milwaukee and Charlie Villanueva will come to town and you'll see Rasho faking shots and driving the hoop for layups and Kareem skyhooks. He and enfant terrible TJ Ford have an alley-oop pass worked out that allows the seven-foot centre to jump the minimal amount required by law to call it an alley-oop.
I haven't talked to Nesterovic myself, but people I respect, respect the heck out of him. They say he's funny too. He's the deadpan setup guy with the occasional zinger to lay on the brethren. I would have questioned the observer, except I've actually seen him yukking it up a bit on the bench since Primoz Brezec came over at the trade deadline. The same observer thinks Prezec is a marginal talent and a bit of a headcase, but his reuniting with his fellow countryman has had a good effect on Nesterovic. In fact, Nesterovic's string of good performances really started the night of that trade.
There was a time where I pictured Nesterovic's contract and those of Joey Graham and assorted other non-playing Raptor minions to be most valuable being traded. Now, I hope the Raptors find a way to keep Rasho around, even past next season. The trading chip that has to go is Ford's even bigger contract. Hopefully, the Twit Texan will bring the Raptors the athletic, defence-first, slashing wing player they need. That way, they can keep Nesterovic, draft a big guy (Roy Hibbert or Hasheem Thabeet), and keep Nesterovic around to play AND tutor his successor.
Although for a little less than eight million a season.
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