ROME (AP) — Andrea Bargnani will be the centre of attention inside the arena. NBA rivals back home will probably be more interested in seeing how the completely revamped Boston Celtics perform.
The Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors on Saturday to open the NBA Europe Live pre-season tour.
Bargnani was selected by the Raptors with the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft and will be playing his first game in his hometown in an NBA jersey. The Celtics have added two all-stars to their roster — former MVP Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — and have nine other new players as well.
"It’s a brand new team, brand new players. We’re still finding out about each other," said Celtics veteran Paul Pierce, another all-star. "The game versus Toronto is going to be a good game for the people to come out and see two of the better teams in the NBA."
Rome’s 10,500-seat Palalottomatica arena is sold out for the game.
The Raptors, who joined the NBA in 1995, won the Atlantic Division for the first time last season but were eliminated in the first round by New Jersey.
Toronto brings one of the league’s most international rosters to Italy. Besides Bargnani, the team features Spanish players Jorge Garbajosa and Jose Calderon, Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia and Carlos Delfino of Argentina.
But Bargnani will clearly be the main focus for the Italian fans, who helped him have the eighth-most popular NBA jersey in Europe, according to league numbers based on retail sales during the 2006-07 season. Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade was No. 1, followed Allen Iverson of the Denver Nuggets and French star Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs.
Also of interest to local fans will be Delfino, who played previously in the Italian league and is married to an Italian. Garbajosa was also Bargnani’s teammate at Benetton Treviso.
The Raptors take on Roma on Sunday, then travel to Spain to play Real Madrid. The Celtics meet Garnett’s former club, the Minnesota Timberwolves, on Wednesday in London.
The Celtics have been training in Rome since last weekend. On Wednesday, the first team lost scrimmages to both the second and third teams, and had to conclude practice by running wind sprints. In one eight-minute scrimmage alone, the starters allowed 25 points.
"Defensively we got to get better as a unit," Pierce said. "We know we can score.".
The Celtics have won an NBA-record 16 titles, but none since 1986. They compiled a 24-58 record last season and failed make the playoffs for the second straight year. With Garnett and Allen’s arrivals, they’re now being tapped as one of the league favourites.
"Expectations mean opportunity," said Doc Rivers, who is entering his fourth season as Celtics coach. "Who wants to be a team with low expectations? I don’t."
