Andrea Can Also Be A Manly Name

When I turned on the Mavs-Raps game Sunday afternoon, Dirk had the ball at the elbow with Andrea Bargnani guarding him. Dirk made one of his usual shimmy-shakes to lose the kid and hoisted up a shot but Il Mago got up and swatted it away. The two spent the rest of the game going at each other. Dirk was really getting in to it, making those ugly stick-out-your-tongue faces at the Raps’ bench, especially when he posterized Bargnani with a monster two-handed jam. Andrea took a few bad shots and Dirk definitely won the battle but there were more similarities than differences between the 7-foot Euros. Bargnani is getting recognized occasionally, especially by coaches and scouts, but he’s being slept on by a lot of NBA fans. No, the kid’s not a superstar but he’s showing brilliant flashes on a nightly basis. He’s a natural when it comes to passing, shooting and driving. His ability to block shots and defend players on the perimieter and inside has already improved a lot. I can’t count how many times he’s brought me out of my seat (check the vid). Only 3 months in to his career, people should start to see the potential this kid possesses. Dirk sure does:

“He’s a better player than when I was 19 or 20,” Nowitzki said of the 21-year-old Bargnani. “He’s going to be a heck of a player. He’s a little more athletic than I even was back then. He can drive a little better than me.”

Dallas 97, Toronto 96 [Yahoo! Sports]

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By Tas Melas at 11:02 am on 01.15.2007 — Tags: Dirk Nowitzki, Andrea Bargnani

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2 Responses to “Andrea Can Also Be A Manly Name”

  1. Sean at 2:40 pm on 01.15.2007

    At the risk of sounding stupid (I haven’t seen Lord of the Rings yet, and it might be from there), where was that epic music from?

  2. Mikal at 10:30 pm on 01.15.2007

    Ya, I think Andrea will be a GREAT player in the league because he plays much like Dirk.. And aww, I like that baby pic of Andrea in that video =P

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