The Bargnani Effect: How Andrea Bargnani Can Help the Nets this Season
The Brooklyn Nets have had a somewhat quiet offseason this summer. Normally, the Nets were the headline leaders coming into the fall, with big acquisitions that were supposed to take the team to the next step. This time around, the biggest thing that happened to Brooklyn was who was leaving the team.
The team made small moves in the offseason, bringing in a couple of cheap young veterans that can help the team in a supporting role. I think there’s one guy that can potentially have the biggest impact for the team this year. I think Andrea Bargnani is going to have a monster year for the Nets.
With the loss of Mirza Teletovic, the Nets needed a stretch big that could spread the defense and knock down threes. Bargnani can do just
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They both averaged about the same percentages from the three point line (both 36% when rounding up or down), but Bargnani takes (and makes) more threes than Teletovic. Bargnani will have to be more efficient if he wants to earn more playing time.
Size matters in the NBA more than maybe any other sport. Bargnani is a seven footer who can play both big positions off the bench. At 6’9, Teletovic was an undersized stretch four.
In the Nets offense, Bargnani should have a lot of open shot opportunities. He will be asked to be a corner three sniper, hitting open jumpers from the base line all night. His ability to capitalize on these moments will be very important for the Nets’ offense.
This will be Bargnani’s tenth season in the NBA and the former number one overall pick hasn’t quite lived up to his draft selection during his tenure in the league. He’s a terrible defender (although he can be a decent shot blocker at times) and doesn’t rebound despite his size. As mentioned earlier, he’s not an efficient three point shooter despite his outside shot being the best “strength” of his
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