H1AND1 wrote:nixluva wrote:jrodmc wrote:51 wins, Toronto collapses, BKLN plays most of the season without Bropez (surprise!) and Deron. SofAtlantic is ours again. Melo hits 5.7 apg, and it's still not enough for the Sombers. Everyone else stays healthy (even Stat), nobody's overworked, and Phil works some sort of early magic deal that makes Bargs disappear in exchange for something(s) cheaper younger, and more durably workmanlike.
Good points, but I doubt that Phil makes a deal for Bargs unless it's a deal he can't refuse. Why take on salary when he's coming off the books? Maybe if it's a useful player who is also on an expiring. I think Phil really does hope to have Bargs play because he's one of the few players we have who is capable of reaching the kind of levels he has. Remember that Bargs had 4 straight seasons of 15.4, 17.2, 21.4 and 19.5 it's only the last 2 years that he performed below that, 12.7 and 13.3 last year. I think Phil believes he could get good production out of Bargs this year and that could raise his value a bit. It's worth a try.
The problem with Bargs is that when you see the guy its sure looks like he has lost all passion for playing the game. Im sure Phil sees that using him for midrange shots, aka the only type of shot Bargs has ever shot with any consistency would be great the only problem is Bargs has always been a chucker who shoots way too many of the shots he's NOT good at hitting. Then you have the problem of his piss poor defense so in totality you have an inefficient chucker who has never in his career stuck to his bread and butter who on defense just gets owned repeatedly by opposing players and on top of it all plays with zero passion and drive for large swaths of time.
In other words, Bargs is a net negative and I dont think all the zen and mindfulness in the world is gonna ever make Bargs into a net positive contributer on this team. Call me a hater, call me a pessimist. Whatever. Bargs BLOWS, and the only way he'll ever help the Knicks is by being cut outright or sitting on the edge of the bench in a suit and tie.
Whenever I remember we actually gave up multiple picks for this guy I get hives. What a farging awful move. Surely right up there with the top follies of Layden and Isaiah.
To be honest this is the usual line about Bargs which is why I keep defending him. You're actually wrong about Bargs and I'll prove it. My contention last year was that he needed to be used properly but wasn't. Bargnani's career 2pt% is 47%.
Last year he shot 48.7% for the Knicks from 2 point range. Bargs shot 394 2pt'ers and 108 3pt shots last year. His overall FG% was 44.2% so what brought it down was his 3pt% of 27.8%. In this system Bargs will be looking to take even more 2pt shots verses 3's. It's a good move given his ability to shoot from 2pt range. Last year he shot only 2.6 3pt'ers per game. He only needs more 2pt shots and that would solve most of his issues.
As for his defense, Bargs is one of the better man defenders. He's not getting beat by his own man. It's that he has poor help defensive awareness. I think that can be fixed and I think this scheme is a better fit for Bargs than that switching defense.
Synergy Sports ranked Bargnani in the 88th percentile in post defense on a per-possession basis, and the 56th percentile in isolation defense last season (with a gaudy 95th percentile overall). It wasn’t all Dwane Casey’s wizardry last season (though his work with Bargnani’s defense should not be ignored, but we’ll get there. In 2011, he was 47th percentile in post and 83rd percentile in isolation. 2010? 72nd percentile in the post, 28th in isolation. Bear in mind these numbers are regardless of the number of possessions, so someone that defended in the post once successfully logs in at the top of the chart. So basically, he’s even better than these numbers indicate, relative to his position.
IMO a better scheme that won't expose Bargs to his weakness on help defense should alleviate a lot of the problem. IMO Bargs real issue is staying healthy. Not so much in the same way as STAT who has needed surgery, but just those kinds of injuries that slow a player down and force him to shut it down. If he can get healthy and stay on the court the rest of the year he can be productive used the way Phil and Fish intend.
1/25/2015 3:17 PM