Has Bargnani turned the corner?

[Arsenalist]

We've seen these kinds of games before. He's lit up Boston and Detroit before and has had dominant games in the past. Is this season different? An 11-15 performance against Shaq and the Cavs looks mighty impressive but are we likely to see him revert to his inconsistent form or is he finally "fixed"?

- Too early to tell?
- Are Shaq/Big Z too easy of a matchup for him?
- ....

Career Averages:

Season    Age  Tm  Lg   G  GS   MP  FG  FGA  FG%  3P 3PA  3P%  FT FTA  FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV  PF  PTS
2006-07    21 TOR NBA  65   2 25.1 4.1  9.6 .427 1.5 4.1 .373 1.8 2.2 .824 0.8 3.1 3.9 0.8 0.5 0.8 1.6 2.8 11.6
2007-08    22 TOR NBA  78  53 23.9 3.6  9.3 .386 1.2 3.3 .345 1.8 2.2 .840 0.6 3.1 3.7 1.1 0.3 0.5 1.1 2.7 10.2
2008-09    23 TOR NBA  78  59 31.4 5.5 12.3 .450 1.5 3.7 .409 2.8 3.4 .831 0.9 4.4 5.3 1.2 0.4 1.2 1.7 3.1 15.4
Career            NBA 221 114 26.9 4.4 10.4 .424 1.4 3.7 .377 2.2 2.6 .832 0.8 3.6 4.3 1.1 0.4 0.8 1.5 2.9 12.4

Career Advance Stats:

Season    Age  Tm  Lg   G   MP  PER  TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg  OWS DWS  WS
2006-07    21 TOR NBA  65 1629 12.8 .546 .507  3.7 14.8  9.2  5.1  1.0  2.5 13.5 22.6   99  106  0.2 1.7 1.9
2007-08    22 TOR NBA  78 1861 10.6 .495 .448  3.2 15.2  9.2  7.4  0.7  1.6  9.9 22.5   98  109 -0.3 1.6 1.4
2008-09    23 TOR NBA  78 2453 14.6 .559 .512  3.4 16.4 10.0  6.4  0.7  3.1 11.2 22.7  105  110  1.8 2.0 3.9
Career            NBA 221 5943 12.9 .536 .491  3.4 15.6  9.5  6.4  0.8  2.5 11.4 22.6  101  109  1.7 5.4 7.2

What's a realistic goal for him this year?

[malefax]

The thing that makes me hopeful is that his mid-range and post-up game seems to have improved a lot. Last year, his off nights usually came when he had a lot of mid-range miscues. In the preseason and game one, his mid-range game was often more succesful than his shooting behind the arc. This is what will make him really hard to guard. He isn't going to _average_ 28 points, but I think his inconsistency will be much less of an issue this year because of those improvements to the rest of his offensive game.

[TorontoForever]

Of course he's turned the corner. That's not even a question now. He may have a few lows but don't think that he's a bust again. He knows what to do and I think the critics are gone.

I think good goals for this season would be:

17-18 PPG (This may go as high as 20, perhaps)
1-1.5 AST
5-6 REB (maybe if he really hustles, he can get to 7)

[Hotshot]

Yes Bargnani turned the corner in a sense of not becoming a complete useless player just like he was in his sophomore year and his first couple of months last season.

Bargnani challenge is to become a consistent scoring threat almost every game including almost every quarter especially in the third and fourth quarter. Notice against the Cavs, he scored 21 points in the first half of the game yet only scored 7 points in the second half. Even in his late surge play last season, he tended to dissapear in big games in the second half which didn't help the Raps stay competitive in the later stages of the game where it counts most.

Bargnani also seems to have an on/off switch and he still relies too much on his jump shots which on certain days will not fall in. Honestly he did great against the Cavs but I wouldn't be surprised if he has a subpar game against Memphis and will only avg around 9-11 points . He still needs to hit the glass more often and grab those rebounds because someone has to fill the gap when Bosh has an off night and cannot grab more then 6-7 rebounds a game.

Also there will come a time when Hedo's become more comfortable with the offence and will demand the ball more and takes some of the space on the floor Bargnani shares with him. How will Bargnani rise to that challenge?! Not to mention that if he does really well, teams will be advised to play him differently so he will need to adjust to the possibility as well.

Overall I am glad the Raptors never gave up on him and he may yet (if he is able to polish his game to the suggestions mentioned above), would prove that picking him 1st overall in the 2006 draft was the best choice to make.

[RaptorTalk]

I wouldn't say Bargnani has turned the corner as much as he continues to improve and become more consistent. Remember, he was arguably the Raptors best player in the preseason and if not for some terrible foul calls, he would have had an even better opening game. But 28 points in only 30 minutes isn't bad either.

In a year or two, his 5 year/ $50 million contract will be the biggest bargain in basketball.

[Sciloh]

Bargnani somewhat turned the corner, his shot selection and defense did improve alot from last season. Like the person above me indicated, he surges on the first half of the game then disappears in the second. This could have been attributed him being in foul trouble or the defense closing him in. Only time will tell...I give him about 10 games, and if he is consistent within those games, then he truly has turned the corner.