Most notably in this game was the insertion of Andrea Bargnani into the starting lineup in place of Jamario Moon. This is not the first time we have seen Bargs play the three spot over the years. Who could forget the disasterous results it had last year against the Magic in game one of the playoffs?
However, it somehow seemed to work yesterday vs the Heat. The Raps frontline absolutely dominated the Heat and with the increased roles of Bargnani and Humphries ended up outrebounding them by a final of 52-35.
Can we conclude this experiment a success? Should Moon be perma-benched?Positives include:
a) The aforementioned rebounding advantage
b) A competent offensive player like Bargnani on the court masks a number of Moon's deficiencies in terms of shooting/driving/decisionmaking
c) Without Calderon to create opportunities for teammates, the Raps offense clicked anyhow - I'm hesitant to give too much of that praise to Soloman in spite of his 11 assists
Negatives include:
a) The perimeter defence was horrific - giving up 8 triples (but isn't it always?)
b) The defense seemed incredibly porous at times and the Heat had little difficulty getting high quality shots at will
c) Bargs will never be able to cover small forwards - ever
Conclusion
I am still a huge skeptic. Bargnani may only appear to be the solution due to the generally horrific play of other Raps like Moon, Kapono, Graham, Adams, etc. In principle, he is simply not suited to play the 3. While it worked yesterday I do not foresee a lineup of O'Neal, Bosh and Bargs being effective over the long haul.
That being said, the improvement of Bargnani is very encouraging. His trade value has gone from nonexistant at the end of last season to incredibly valuable over the span of a few months. While I do not think Colangelo will trade him, it is nice to contemplate the type of players he could potentially bring back in a swap.
While he may never be Brandon Roy, things are definitely looking up.
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2 comments:
I think we must refrain from ever comparing him, or expecting him to be, Brandon Roy.
He's Andrea. And he will be a big part of this team.
I believe in the big Italian.
Do the Heat have anyone over 6'9"? I think the rebounding advantage was a matter of circumstance although it was still well exploited and executed by the Raps. I think Bargs is better off the bench right now - takes some pressure off him and gives some scoring punch on the 2nd unit.
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