Andrea Bargnani: Remembering the good times (No really, there were good times)

After another poor performance from Andrea Bargnani, highlighted by a pitiful decision that's now gone viral, it would be incredibly easy to string together hundreds if not thousands of words on the former No. 1 overall pick's disappointing, frustrating, mostly uninspiring career through eight seasons.

But that avenue has been exhausted already, both in this space and countless others. It would be easy to go over, again, why Bargnani is a detriment to a flawed Knicks roster, or why the Knicks deserve the ridicule they've received for trading three draft picks and Steve Novak (plus a couple spare parts) for Bargnani, but let's not spend any more time on a bamboozled James Dolan or Bargnani the bad today. Instead, let us look back on the few instances throughout his once promising career that he was Bargnani the good, Il Mago.

It's hard to remember on days like this as Bargnani's ill-advised bricked three for the 8-17 Knicks replays in our head, but he was once the pride of the NBA's European boom, becoming the first European drafted No. 1 overall when Bryan Colangelo and the Raptors selected him in 2006 and immediately drawing comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki that have haunted him until this day.

This ESPN The Magazine piece from March of Bargnani's rookie year has become an easy go-to if you want to head back in time and find the promise and potential people saw in the seven-foot Italian's game. Here are a selection of quotes from that piece:

- "Years from now...when his uncanny passes draw comparisons to those of Bill Walton and Chris Webber," Chris Broussard wrote.

- "Dirk says that at 21, the newcomer is better than he was: 'Sky's the limit for him.'"

- "'He's like a junior Dirk,' LeBron says."

- "'He ain't no punk,' Mitchell says. 'He is Italian! Them Italians ain't backing down!'"

- "'They said his upside and potential were off the charts. They said, 'Out of all the athletes we've profiled, we've never seen anything like this,'" Colangelo was quoted as saying about Bargs' now famous Caliper test results.

- "The test showed that Bargnani is virtually oblivious to what others think of him. And his tremendous ability to block out such potentially negative pressures enables him to focus completely on the task at hand."

Well at least it's good to know Andrea won't be bothered by whatever his teammates were thinking here:

But enough about all of that wasted talent, let's look back on the better NBA days of Andrea Bargnani...

December 17, 2006 vs. Warriors: 18 Pts (6/10 FG), 10 Reb, 6 Blk, 1 Stl

The rookie was efficient offensively and impressive defensively, setting a personal high in blocks two months into his career that still stands today. Bargnani's performance was key for a Raptors team missing Chris Bosh that was starting to recover from a horrible start to the season.

December 22, 2006 @ Portland: The game winner

Bargnani only finished with 11 points and two rebounds in this game, but the most memorable moment of his rookie year saw him bury the Blazers and help the Bosh-less Raptors to another surprising win.

February 24, 2008 vs. Knicks: 25 Pts (5/10 3PT), 7 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Blk

In what would turn out to be his first of many big games against the Knicks (maybe Dolan only watched play New York? Dolan definitely only watched him play New York), Bargnani put together one of his more complete games of a disappointing sophomore campaign and helped the surging Raptors move to 30-24.

January 14, 2009 vs. Bulls: 31 Pts (10/14 FG), 10 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Bargnani posts his first career 30-point game on an incredibly efficient 14 field goal attempts that seems almost impossible from him now. He adds to that with 10 rebounds in 39:35 of playing time, as the Raps lose a heartbreaker and their still present playoff hopes take a dent.

February 22, 2009 vs. Knicks: 28 Pts, 10 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Blk, 1 Stl

Another big game against the Knickerbockers includes a double-double and 12 free throw attempts.

January 15, 2010 @ New York: 24 Pts (9/13 FG, 5/6 3PT), 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

After another brutal start to the season, the Raptors continue to turn things around by getting back to .500 at 20-20 with a win at MSG, thanks in large part to Bargnani beating up on the Knicks...again. He also did this to David Lee:

Lee took a technical later in the game for dunking and mimicking Bargnani's over-celebration.

April 12, 2010 @ Detroit: 33 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk

With Chris Bosh out for the remainder of the season with a broken face, the Raptors keep their faint playoff hopes alive with a big win over the Pistons in game no. 81, with Bargnani leading the way.

December 8, 2010 @ New York: 41 Pts (16/24 FG), 7 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Stl

In what will easily go down as his finest hour, Bargnani drops 41 points on The Garden faithful, including a cold blooded game-tying three with 28 seconds to go. Raymond Felton would end up spoiling Andrea's performance with a game winner, but you'd be forgiven if at the time, you thought there was a faint hope that this might have been a coming out party for Toronto's potential post-Bosh franchise player.

December 17, 2010 vs. Nets: 32 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 Stl

The Magical 13-Game Stretch: With the Raptors entering their second season post-Bosh in 2011-12 and Bargnani entering the second year of being 'The Guy' in Toronto, the man Colangelo had famously dubbed "the enigma of all enigmas" finally seemed to buy into putting forth a consistent effort on both ends of the floor under new Raps coach Dwane Casey. The result was a 13-game stretch that had fans thinking All-Star at the time and has begun somewhat of a punchline in Toronto.

In those 13 games (before he went down with a calf injury for the second time in that lockout-shortened year, Bargnani averaged 23.5 points on 47.8 percent shooting and a .576 True Shooting Percentage, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The highlight of that stretch?

January 24, 2012 @ Phoenix: 36 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk

Bargnani had missed the last six games with the first of his calf strains that season, and the Raptors went 0-6 without him for two weeks after starting 4-7 with him in the lineup. Bargnani returned in Phoenix and played over 42 minutes of inspiring basketball to help the Raps stop their skid.

The Raptors would also beat the Jazz in Utah the following night to sweep the tough road back-to-back and improve to 6-7 with Bargs in the lineup, but his second calf injury just two games into his return sidelined him for a chunk of the rest of the season.

There have been other solid performances since then, but Bargnani has never consistently looked like the inspired player he briefly was before that injury.