Andrea Bargnani’s shots set to M.O.P.’s ‘Ante Up’ is what the game’s been missing
This, friends, is why The Basketball Internet exists:
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Yep, that — via Devin Kharpertian, friend of the program and managing editor of The Brooklyn Game — is a minute and a half of Brooklyn Nets big man Andrea Bargnani shooting the ball set to the dulcet sandpaper-on-sidewalk tones of Brooklyn’s own Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame. All this time, Bargs’ destiny was to become the third member of the Mash Out Posse. How could I have missed this? How could I have been so blind?
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Kharpertian’s straight-out-of-Brownsville supercut highlights the quickness with which Bargnani — who joined the Nets on a two-year veteran’s minimum contract this summer after an underwhelming two-season stint with Brooklyn’s cross-borough rivals, the New York Knicks — has been hoisting up shots when he hits the court.
Through six games, Bargnani’s averaging 13 field-goal attempts per 366 minutes of floor time — actually a step down from his career mark of 15.2 shots per-36 — while connecting at a sub-robust 42.9 percent clip. He has yet to log an assist in 97 minutes this season, and is averaging just 13.8 passes per game, 283rd among 317 NBA players averaging at least 10 minutes a contest this season, according to NBA.com’s SportVU player tracking data.
The Nets’ offense has been about 3 1/2 points more potent per 100 possessions with Bargnani on the floor than when he’s off it, but that’s largely a function of just how punchless Brooklyn’s big-minutes bunches have been; the Nets enter Wednesday’s action ranked 29th among 30 NBA teams in offensive efficiency, scoring a dismal 93.7 points-per-100. The other end of the floor, as ever, has continued to Bargnani’s problem — Brooklyn’s hemorrhaging 113.4 points-per-100 with him on the court, compared to a more respectable 103.1-per-100 when he’s on the bench. In other words, regrettably for Nets fans, Bargnani’s impact on the game has not changed much since his move to Brooklyn.
And yet — despite the dismal metrics, the flagging shooting, the injuries that have kept him from suiting up for more than 42 games in any of the last four seasons and the congealed consensus that he’s never really come close to living up to the No. 1 pick the Toronto Raptors used to draft him in 2006 — the Italian 7-footer remains convinced that his best days are yet to come. From Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the Wall Street Journal:
At a recent practice session here at the Nets’ New Jersey practice facility, the 30-year-old center insisted that his peak years are still ahead of him as he begins a new chapter with the Knicks’ cross-river rivals in Brooklyn.
“I’m really looking forward to this situation,” Bargnani said. “I’m 30, so definitely a year of prime for athletes.” […]
The fresh start in Brooklyn, coupled with all the injuries and missed opportunities, have naturally led to reflection on the once-promising career that Bargnani insists is just now reaching its zenith. He thinks about the disappointment in New York, the expectations and achievements in Toronto, where the Raptors made him the first European player ever to be picked first overall in the NBA Draft in 2006, and even his aspirations growing up in Italy as an international prodigy.
“You always reflect on your career,” Bargnani said. “Not because you’ve got to live in the past, but you always see what you’ve done, what you can do better. Looking back is a way to get better and try not to make the same mistakes.”
And in Brooklyn, as Messrs. Fame and Danze can tell you, mistakes can cost you stuff like minks, things, chains, rings, bracelets and jewels … you know, metaphorically. (Literally.)
While I respect Bargnani’s optimism that his best NBA life will begin at 30, I reserve skepticism that the years of statistical and eye-test data suggesting he’s no longer a helpful player (especially on the defensive end) will reverse itself on a Brooklyn team that’s sunk to the bottom of the NBA as one of the league’s last two winless teams, along with the 0-7 Philadelphia 76ers, and that looks poised to give a very, very high draft pick to the Boston Celtics come the end of this season as part of the that imported Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry for a title push that never materialized. That said, I do remain hopeful that Nets coach Lionel Hollins will keep giving Bargnani chances to make good and prove he can still contribute at the NBA level.
We’ve got to have footage to set to the remix, after all.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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