KDS Commentary Presents: READING CLUB!

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

Challenge you all to read this article...it's probably one of the most interesting and refreshing articles I've read in a long time:

NBA Mythbusters: Is Andrea Bargnani A Terrible Defender? | NBA Playbook

Whip out that bball knowledge and let me know what you guys think! I'll be posting my thoughts after I grab some grub.

 

[Marco Doubypops]

I might be a little rusty on my analysis skills, but I'll take a whack at it.

Side note, do we have any other gamers who can't put Skyrim down? Juicy?

 

[Marco Doubypops]

He is mostly right. Mostly. In general, when Bargnani is face up on someone with the ball, he succeeds, I feel safe as a fan knowing that they have to put the ball in over Bargs. He's one of our best on-the-ball defenders (and before the jokes come in, he's good by any team's standards). His help defense is poor at best and he is very slow off the ball, and doesn't cause many turnovers.

He is an awful rebounder. He rebounds like a point guard, if the ball hits him in the hands, that how he gets a board. The frustrating bit is that once or twice a game he goes up and snatches one and you're sitting there like, maybe he is good, then you're left disappointed. He gets 5 boards a game alone because he plays so much and is 7 feet tall.

What this writer doesn't account for is matchups. There are certain big men who Bargs does well against and certain that he struggles mightily, even in one-on-one situations.

For example, whenever we played the Rockets with Yao in the lineup, no matter how well or poorly Yao was playing, Bargs destroyed him. Against stock, unathletic, lanky, tall big guys, Bargnani has always succeeded. (ie, Kaman, Bogut, Garnett (when Calderon isn't scrapping at him)). His problem comes on athletic freaks of nature like Howard and Josh Smith, and 75% of Eastern Coference big guys who he defends (which is unfortunate).

But seriously guys, why do we discuss his defense? Look at this picture. It's as though the heavens opened up and every other player on the court realizes that they have just witnessed something truly special. Who needs defense, honestly?

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

Two really telling things from the article:

1) Even better than his post defense is Bargnani***8217;s one-on-one defense in isolation situations. When faced with isolation situations, Bargnani is in the top 17% of the NBA in terms of Points Per Possession (PPP) allowed, giving up just 0.684 points per possession on 29.7% shooting

That's pretty darn good. This works to our favor as the NBA is still in an era of weak big men.

2) Bargnani***8217;s lack of understanding when it comes to help defense really hurts him in a number of ways. First, he doesn***8217;t really know how to help properly, so when he does help, he usually ends up turning his back to his own man, making it difficult to return to him and contest a shot. He also struggles understanding rotations. He never finishes off rotations correctly and always seems to run at a shooter when it is too late.

This, I completely agree with. It also doesn't help that Jose gets so many blow bys in a game and add that with Poon Machine's shitty ass help defense, it's always an easy bucket for speedy point guards.

Just looking at Poon's help defense, it can also help explain why he sucks so much at rebounding too. Either he really doesn't understand how to help or he's too soft on his rotations. Either way, it's really obvious now why BC got Dwane Casey to come in. We can't instantly make Bargs a good defender, but hopefully, Casey can create a system that can force Bargs to improve but not beyond his abilities.

 

[Marco Doubypops]

KDS, you really need to fix whatever crap you've got going on with your quoting. I'm not a fan of seeing "***8217" whenever I want to see an apostophe.

You use safari or something?

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

He is mostly right. Mostly. In general, when Bargnani is face up on someone with the ball, he succeeds, I feel safe as a fan knowing that they have to put the ball in over Bargs. He's one of our best on-the-ball defenders (and before the jokes come in, he's good by any team's standards). His help defense is poor at best and he is very slow off the ball, and doesn't cause many turnovers.

He is an awful rebounder. He rebounds like a point guard, if the ball hits him in the hands, that how he gets a board. The frustrating bit is that once or twice a game he goes up and snatches one and you're sitting there like, maybe he is good, then you're left disappointed. He gets 5 boards a game alone because he plays so much and is 7 feet tall.

What this writer doesn't account for is matchups. There are certain big men who Bargs does well against and certain that he struggles mightily, even in one-on-one situations.

For example, whenever we played the Rockets with Yao in the lineup, no matter how well or poorly Yao was playing, Bargs destroyed him. Against stock, unathletic, lanky, tall big guys, Bargnani has always succeeded. (ie, Kaman, Bogut, Garnett (when Calderon isn't scrapping at him)). His problem comes on athletic freaks of nature like Howard and Josh Smith, and 75% of Eastern Coference big guys who he defends (which is unfortunate).

But seriously guys, why do we discuss his defense? Look at this picture. It's as though the heavens opened up and every other player on the court realizes that they have just witnessed something truly special. Who needs defense, honestly?

Solid post, my friend. You're right. Matchups are key. The rumor now is to slot Poon Machine back into his natural position at the 4...and to be honest, I think we'd be stupid not to give that a try before deciding whether to keep in the Raps's long-term plan, to trade him or to have him coming off the bench. However, if we do that, he is going to see a lot more athleticism which doesn't help that he can be quite a stiff at times. If Jonas becomes our starting C and Poon goes full-time at the 4, he'll be guarding guys like: Josh Smith, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Millsap, Kevin Love and Amare on a nightly basis

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

KDS, you really need to fix whatever crap you've got going on with your quoting. I'm not a fan of seeing "***8217" whenever I want to see an apostophe.

You use safari or something?

Damn yo...just noticed that. Firefox is usually my go-to. Maybe that's the problem...

Also, this:

 

[CarlWinslow]

bargnani's legs are soooo straight and bad in that dunk

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

Check this out:

Using Basketball Prospectus' college basketball translations, we have determined player comparisons for 2011 draftees. Through game tape, our Sebastian Pruiti explores what makes these players so similar as well as what these draftees are going to have to improve on to validate the comparisons.

In the 2011 draft class, there seems to be a influx of skilled bigs playing overseas. Maybe the most interesting of the bigs is Jonas Valanciunas, who looks like he could be the first of the internationals selected. Valanciunas' comparison is to Tyson Chandler, the big man who anchored the Dallas Mavericks' defense during their title run.

What's Similar?

Help Defense. The first thing that really sticks out when watching Valanciunas on tape is that defensively he is a terrific help defender. Valanciunas knows when to leave his man to help on dribble penetration or a cut to the rim, putting himself in position to contest or block the shot. This is an art that Tyson Chandler has mastered over the years and he really put it on display in Dallas this past season.

from: Basketball Prospectus | The Clipboard: Valanciunas vs. Chandler

---------

Looks like Colangelo really did try to draft someone to cover Poon's weaknesses?

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

Either that or Casey forced his hand on any player in this draft that reminded him of Chandler

 

[CarlWinslow]

why don't people take into account jonas bro's own personal comparison of bosh?
he compared himself to bosh draft night

killer b's

reunited and it feels so good

fuck who are we kidding, this is ed davis' mother fucken house and don't you forget it

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

why don't people take into account jonas bro's own personal comparison of bosh?
he compared himself to bosh draft night

killer b's

reunited and it feels so good

fuck who are we kidding, this is ed davis' mother fucken house and don't you forget it

They haven't talked about the Bosh/Vajayjay comparison in a while. I've watched some clips on Jaundice and he doesn't play like Bosh at all.

I hope they don't lose sight of Burger's potential. He could end up being the odd man out as we have too many bigs as it is. If the Raps were smart, they should consider trading Amir in the next year.

 

[CarlWinslow]

I might be a little rusty on my analysis skills, but I'll take a whack at it.

Side note, do we have any other gamers who can't put Skyrim down? Juicy?

what is it, 60 bones for a rim job? way too expensive

 

[CarlWinslow]

They haven't talked about the Bosh/Vajayjay comparison in a while. I've watched some clips on Jaundice and he doesn't play like Bosh at all.

I hope they don't lose sight of Burger's potential. He could end up being the odd man out as we have too many bigs as it is. If the Raps were smart, they should consider trading Amir in the next year.

yeah he does seem like a better shotblocker in europe but then again many people do playing against whites. Burger aint gonna just dissapear though, guy has serious game and will be shitting on fools(my bet is bargnani or vj being the odd man out). My only worry about davis is that he's too ganster for canada and leaves

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

what is it, 60 bones for a rim job? way too expensive

MDP be getting some preme mile high rim jobs at Westjet.

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

yeah he does seem like a better shotblocker in europe but then again many people do playing against whites. Burger aint gonna just dissapear though, guy has serious game and will be shitting on fools(my bet is bargnani or vj being the odd man out). My only worry about davis is that he's too ganster for canada and leaves

Speaking of, any update on Burger's weight? Has he hulked up yet?

 

[KaponOOOOdontshoottheball]

Oh no...he still looks skinny as hell

 

[CarlWinslow]

he lead the team in double doubles skinny as hell coming back from knee surgery without a full season. Even if ed is just slightly improved and gets the minutes we're talking guarenteed 10 and 10 to help compensate for bargnani's 30 and 3

 

[Marco Doubypops]

I always forget how many big men we have.

Andrea is a star

Reggie is an animal

Eddie D is a future star

Big V is a champion

And then there's Amir. I'm not quite sure what Amir is, but I think I like it.



I really like all of our big men, but why aren't we good? I just don't understand that one.

 

[CarlWinslow]

we're not good cause the leagues rigged and stern is opting to milk other franchises at the moment. also probably a punishment for one of the healthier frachises in the league not going deep into the luxury tax filling sterns pockets