Gareth and I went to the Raptors / Wizards game last night. In a bit I’ll give you my observations from the game. But first, here is my assessment of Andrea Bargnani. I don’t remember ever concentrating on one player as much as I had with him. So here is a Coles Notes version of Bargnani’s game from last night:

He is so far away from being a reliable offensive option. First off you have to ignore the fact that he was the leading scorer in last nights Wizards game. The contest was blow out right from the get go. Bargnani scored most of his points after the team had a double digit lead.
What was disturbing was the fact that he was being ignored early in the game. On the first several possessions Jose Calderon would initiate the half court offense by passing to Jamario Moon instead of Bargnani, despite the fact that Bargnani was wide open. Think about that. The team’s starting point guard elected to go with the former Globe Trotter vs. a #1 overall draft pick.

Andrea is starting to get the Hoffa treatment, where no one wants to pass him the ball. It’s affecting his shot as well. Too many times he would rush a shot because in his mind he must be thinking “damm if I don’t shoot right now I may never see the ball again.”

As for rebounding, well let’s just say Bargnani is a couple years away from being the next Dennis Rodman. He just doesn’t seem to want to rebound the ball. You could make the case that he actually hates touching the ball considering his aversion for rebounding and his propensity for rushing his shots. I’m convinced someone has fooled him into believing that if he holds onto the ball for too long he’ll contract some horrible disease.

All right now for some positives. Bargnani didn’t pick up his first foul into 4:20 of the first quarter … baby steps! Second with about 1:30 left in the first half Bargnani drew shooting fouls on two of three offensive possessions. Again it is a little thing but it is a sign of offensive aggression, a sign of confidence and an easy way to collect your points.

Overall though I wish I could be more convinced that he is coming around. I just don’t see it yet.

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