Is Andrea Bargnani A Bust?
Watching Kwame Brown take the reigns at the center spot in LA while Andrew Bynum is down got me thinking: I am absolutely tired of hearing the number 1 pick in ‘06 is a bust.
Andrea Bargnani’s numbers are down from last season, his rookie year, while many expected him to have a breakout campaign. Watching those offensive skills he exhibited for a good stretch of the regular season sent some serious shivers down the spines of fans.
Was that a flash in the pan? Are we talking about a Michael Olowokandi or Joe Smith here? Not even close. Bargs has not regressed. His goods are still very evident at the offensive end. So, why hasn’t he taken off like people predicted? There are many, many reasons for that.
Bargnani is starting at center for the first time in his life, not his NBA career, in his life. He was a small forward for much of his youth and has played the last few years as a power forward. It’s not kosher to compare him to Brandon Roy, the stud taken in the same draft that has been handling the ball for all of his career. Bargnani is playing at a new position in a much different style of game. He hasn’t adapted well to the less physical style of the NBA. It takes a lot more for a big to foul a player in Europe and Bargnani has been plagued by committing touch calls while guarding highly athletic fours and fives (the likes of which he’s never seen before).
While backing up Rasho Nesterovic last season, Bargnani had the luxury of playing against team’s second units. Il Mago’s minutes are virtually the same as last year, but that time was spent playing against guys he could easily hang with. He started only 2 games in ‘06-’07 and his numbers are down minimally: 11.6 vs 9.4 PTS, .427 vs .390 FG%, and half a board. That is all while playing against better players.
As for the rebounding criticisms, Il Mago does not have that knack of getting after it on the boards. It’s not in him at this point but it is something that can be taught. He’s just never had to do it the way he’s needed to on this team. His numbers in Europe reveal he wasn’t much of a glass cleaner there either. Jorge Garbajosa’s absence at the small forward spot magnifies Bargnani’s inability to rebound the ball, especially considering Chris Bosh’s slow start. Yes, Jorge Garbajose is the solver of all problems.
Being taken out of the starting 5 can be a difficult transition for any player, and it was especially hard on Bargnani. He was yanked after only 5 games at the start of the season and has been playing in various roles since. Bargs was reinserted with the top dogs in late December but he’s still feeling out his situation. He’s always been a star on his team and has had to adapt to being less of a focal point. Bargnani’s only 22 years old and add in the fact he missed some time with knee trouble, and you can see there are a ton of variables to consider.
I’m not trying to make the point that Bargnani will be a superstar in this league, but it is way too early to judge him now, considering all he is going through. He has the fire to learn and the desire to be a superstar. A better question to ask is, was he the right player to draft for this team? Chris Bosh is the centerpiece of Toronto and he’s always been an average rebounder and defender. He does some nice things to effect the game inside, on both ends, but Bargs might not be tough enough to really compliment CB4.
If GM Bryan Colangelo drafted the Italian with the hopes the Raptors would outscore teams, a la those Phoenix Suns he built, then that would could be a more viable option once Bargnani becomes a little more competent. With an eye towards the future, Colangelo made these additions over two years: T.J. Ford, Jason Kapono, Anthony Parker, Bargnani, Juan Dixon, Fred Jones, etc. These are athletic players that can score. Bargnani might very well be a huge part of the team in the future, but it makes sense he isn’t right now.
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I’m sorry but all I hear is excuses for a player with a low basketball IQ and can only shoot. I’m not saying he cant improve but saying he is “only 22″ is ridiculous when you look at other players that are his age and younger with less experience.
Wasn’t it that ass hat Raps announcer that was the only one IN THE LEAGUE to not vote for BRoy for ROY?
I know its hard but please try to not be a homer here.
Bargs is just a bad fit for the Raptors, he needs some power next to him. If you look at frontcourt players in the NBA, they have a proper guy who can work the paint next to him
Lets do a quick run-down of all the teams with at least 20 wins:
KG/Perkins/BigBaby, Odom/Bynum, DHoward/Rashard, West/Chandler, Dirk/Damp/Diop, Jamison/Haywood, Amare/Marion, Harrington/Biedrins, Okur/Boozer, Aldridge/Przybilla, Sheed/Maxiell/McDyess, Martin/Camby, Yao/Hayes, Duncan/Oberto
for the most part there’s not a lot of overlapping of skills and a pretty decent job of one guy offering skills where the other guy is lacking. And every team has at least one guy that at the very least hang with the other teams’ power guys in the paint and at least 1 guy that can hit a 17 foot jumper and space the floor.
of the worst combos, Denver: Martin and Camby can both hit 17 footers, finish strong, and its a great defensive combo, plus they have 2 of the best offensive players in the league so they don’t need a big time scorer.
Houston is barely above .500, Yao can work the inside-outside game pretty good, but Hayes shouldn’t be an NBA starter.
Then Toronto, Bosh is pretty respectable at guarding bigger players for the most part when needed, but on offense he likes the J quite a bit to fit well with Bargs. Bargs is all about shooting the J. Makes for bad spacing, bad offensive rebounding. They can make it work a little, but to really maximize either of their potential, I think it’d be wise to get somebody who matches better. Bosh doesn’t need a superman or somebody that never leaves the 10′ area around the rim down low, but at least someone with a more well-rounded game and some proper size.
For Bargs they need somebody tethered to the basket, Diop kinda guy.
Toronto’s roster is talented, but not balanced. Your 2 most talented players should make your team better, if you look at the player pairings page:
http://82games.com/0708/ppairs0708.htm
most of the top pairs that are good (+100) make sense. Toronto’s best pair is only +65 and its Delfino/Bosh. Thats freakin weird. By skills, Bargs is Toronto’s 2nd best player, but he’ll never show up on those rankings with Bosh. Too many jumpers and not enough defense.
I personally think Toronto should play Bargs at SF, sign Diop next year to be the center, and try to swing a s&t w/ Calderon for a quality defensive SG; maybe Calderon to Phoenix for Raja Bell. Or sign a SG outright, Tony Allen, Josh Childress, maybe even Ariza, Bonzi, etc. Just somebody to help out in the areas where Bargs lacks at SF. Of course he’ll get burned a bit, but he has the length to make up for it a bit and he’ll have a Diop and Bosh to protect the rim.
thats my 84 cents
I look forward to Tas’ YouTube performance of “Leave Andrea Alone.”
No mention of Sam Mitchell or Dirk Nowitzki in your rant/post?
Then maybe you haven’t thought this thing through.
Haha, Zac, right back at you!
I know it’s hard but please try to not be a homer here.
I’d also add that Bargs is a 7 footer and big men ALWAYS take time to develop; he has had a tough time learning the NBA game beyond shooting, but every YOUNG big comes into the NBA with a hole here or there. He can score if given shots, that much is sure, but the rest of his game isn’t at a point where you can play him if he’s not the main option on offense.
It’s a tough situation, because both Bosh and Bargnani DO need a tough Big to play aside them. Aldridge is like Bosh, so he wouldn’t definately mesh well either, and I can’t remember ANY guard going #1 (aside from Lebron) even though a lot of drafts have a guard show to be the best player. Roy would fit well on most any team, but it isn’t crazy to NOT draft a guard with the #1 pick. Even the Blazers, who targetted Roy before the draft obviously, used their higher pick to snag the big man Aldridge before getting Roy with the 7th pick because of how highly sought after big men are in the draft.
Aldridge or Bargs make sense at the #1 in that draft, but neither make much sense next to Bosh currently. Aldridge has gotten a lot stronger and does play a lot of center, but he’s a scoring PF and not a banger. Bargnani will never be a banger, and Bosh likely won’t either, so if they’re gonna stick together in Toronto they need a more complementary player in the post other than the kinda soft n’ slow Rasho.
Bosh is clearly the better player here, and it’ll be tough to get him to NOT play to his strengths (a perimeter oriented big man) to make room for the Italian kid who is ONLY a perimeter player right now. With both loving the perimeter life mostly, they cannibalize each other on offense and if Bargnani ain’t scoring, he ain’t doing much else.
So what do you do? Force Bosh to get his butt in the post? I think he should look for his shot more down there, but I also think he should play to his strengths and use his quickness and range against slower bigs. Maybe Bosh should change his game to help incorporate The Barge, or play Andrea at the SF more. I’m not sure of the answer, and I think the only quasi-answer for now is that Bargnani doesn’t fit on the Raptors very well right now because the only thing he does well is already done better by many others.
He isn’t a bust, it’s much too soon for that. But he’s gonna have to work on his overall game if he’s gonna want playing time as the 3rd option (or less) on offense, because he just doesn’t offer enough.
And the Raptors are too good to risk losses with development right now. Might be worth it in the long run though…
Mortimer
You’re entirely bang on. The Stephen A. Smith wannabes here need to wait about two years before they speak.
I think it is unfair to call Bargs a Bust or even overrated, I think that he’ll get better. BUT I think it is very fair to challenge the draft choice/coaching decisions. Why would you start him at C if he’s never played there in his whole life? And why not Draft someone like Roy who’s been doing what he does best at every level.
Are the raps going to wait for Bargnani to “develop” towards the end of his contract and then be unable to afford him because many players have developed way faster and locked in long term (hopefully Calderon)
Bargnani - soon to be a has-been… poor kid.
Like the post, but I don’t really agree with you statement that he could learn to clean up the boards. Sure improvements can be made, but in my opinion, the sense to gain correct position for a rebound is nature over nurture.
hell yes! he is horrible. he’s the worst center in the league! even worse than those guys on the sonics team who were drafted high, but aren’t playing.
what a horrible draft choice!
The biggest problem with Andrea is that he is starting to get very one-dimensional, and when he isn’t shooting well (which is more often than not) it hurts the entire team because he keeps shooting and missing, and allows his counterpart to dominate him defensively. He’s seemingly too scared to go after balls, and whenever a team is grabbing an offensive board it’s his man. All he is is a streak shooter, and bad defender. The way Rasho is playing now, I’d leave him in the lineup when Chris gets back and the nights Andrea has it, leave him in and the nights he doesn’t you may as well put Hump in because he goes after the ball.
Much of Bargnani’s troubles are do to Sam Mitchell, who is an incompetent coach. Earlier in the season, he let Bargs take 20 shots a night even when he wasn’t hot, now he doesn’t even let him take 5 a night. It’s ridiculous. You need consistency with players that are trying to adapt to the NBA, like him. The best frontcourt for him, and the Raps, would be: Bosh, Rasho, and Bargnani. Take pressure off of him for the rebs and inside play, and allow him to ease into it. It’s not like the Raps have a stud SF in their roster anyway… and this would make them a more physical team, because 2 7-footers are still 2 7-footers, regardless of their aggressiveness.
I agree with Vlad. After this year’s playoff performance, I put the blame on Sam Mitchell. Terrible coaching.
problem with Bargnani is that he is such an a-typical player that probably even coaching stuff does not know how to use in properly. I mean yes, hes a 7f but used to play his entire career from out- to inside standing at the 3pt spot. Now the see a 7f and imagine that he could be just as good as C but it isnt that easy when you never had to play back to the hoop and post-up (and rebounder wasnt your 1st priority either). compared to soccer it would be like asking ronaldinho to become a central defender. I think that ABs first pro season we could call more of a “2nd” rookie year than a sophomore season. hopefully he will work hard this summer and learn the C game a bit better. I still feel that he can be and important franchise player but you got to be patient.
haha dude bargnani is garbage. his skills sent “shivers down your spine”? if missing 3 pointers and not playing defense sends chills down your spine then you got problems. face it, bargnani is a bust a terrible draft pick. why on earth a team with a need at center drafted a lanky shooting italian is beyond me. they could have had lamarcus aldridge but instead they have a soft, flakey, tender shell of a dirk nowitzki. colangelo is the most overrated GM in pro sports.