Sebastian Pruiti: "Jonas Valanciunas & Andrea Bargnani Can Work Defensively"

[nubreed000]

I think you may have quote the wrong comment, but I think a lot of people question his man to man defense. The thing is that people remember the good games he has, which are actually few and far between, and don't seem to remember that the vast majority of the games he actually struggled trying to contain his own man.

yea, 10 great games out of 82 isn't exactly worthy of being a starter on any team.

edit: and to add: those great games that he has should be the standard. By now great for him should be containing his man and scoring 40+ points while grabbing 7-11 rebounds and 2-3 blocks. Just writing that stat line and thinking "Andrea Bargnani" is making me laugh.

[matt]

I think you may have quote the wrong comment, but I think a lot of people question his man to man defense. The thing is that people remember the good games he has, which are actually few and far between, and don't seem to remember that the vast majority of the games he actually struggled trying to contain his own man.

Yeah my bad. Bargnani's main issue is his work ethic. He doesn't seem to take rebounding and defense as seriously as his offense which for any team's center is a huge problem.

[matt]

You ignored the positive blurbs Pruiti mentioned about Andrea, in that he IS a good one-on-one straight up post defender. With stats to back it up.

"In the 205 times he was posted up last season Bargnani held his opponent to just 182 points (0.888 PPP) on just 46.8% shooting." Considering guys who play in the post typically shoot anywhere from 50-58 percent, that's actually decent.

Bargs has taken on guys like Duncan, Howard, and Shaq, and not been as embarrassing as everyone likes to claim. He uses his length adequately enough. It's no secret he's not good at helping, but he's not exactly Yi's chair at the draft combine, either, on Man situations.

This is all basically moot anyway because when Jonas comes over, with Ed and Amir, I don't see Bargs being kept here anyway.

Nobody questions his 1-on-1 game defensively, but he's not playing 1-on-1, he's playing a team game and he's terrible when it come to help defense.

[bloodyhandedgod]

Saying JV and AB would complement each other on defense is like saying your new leather couch and that ugly looking lavender colored sofa you got talked into buying, which can't be returned because you lost the receipt, complement each other in your living room. Time to toss the sofa to the curb. Go to Wal-Mart and get something cheap if you must to tie you over until you find the right piece.

This. This. Bloody fawking this.

[Tim W.]

Nobody questions his 1-on-1 game defensively, but he's not playing 1-on-1, he's playing a team game and he's terrible when it come to help defense.

You know you posted this twice. I read it and it was deja vu all over again! I had to go back and make sure I wasn't imagining it.

[matt]

You know you posted this twice. I read it and it was deja vu all over again! I had to go back and make sure I wasn't imagining it.

Yeah well I was responding to another user and so I just copy/paste and left the one where I responded to you, just because if I deleted it it would like you're just speaking to yourself.

[Tim W.]

Yeah well I was responding to another user and so I just copy/paste and left the one where I responded to you, just because if I deleted it it would like you're just speaking to yourself.

It really wouldn't be the first time. I seem to be the only one in my house that listens.

[matt]

It really wouldn't be the first time. I seem to be the only one in my house that listens.

Did you say something??



.....LOL, I keed.

[ebrian]

I prefer they shop at Value Village, for this free agency. They still get what they need, temporarily, but it doesn't feed the big, bad machine.

LOL.. I'm thinking Dollarama.

[Papa Burgundy]

That last clip is of him blocking former Raptor Roko Ukic ... funny.

[Faux-ID]

that's not true. He complements the other team perfectly.

lol. +1

[jeff_hostetler]

Greg Oden the Wal-Mart center

-You know you shouldn't be buying him, cause, you know you shouldn't even be in a Wal-Mart to begin with. Anything you buy is likely to break, and regardless of the price, in the end when it does break, you have no one left to blame but yourself. Damn it! Why the fuck did I shop at Wal-Mart! Do I never learn?

Greg Oden does not equal a Wal-Mart center, but rather, the 3 legged dog you found at the Humane Society.

-You feel so bad for the guy that, despite the fact that you were actually in the market for a puppy, you end up buying him anyways because you think it deserves another shot at life, and maybe, just maybe, through some Dog-god miracle, it grows back its missing leg and becomes the dog of your dreams, full of love and devotion for having rescued it.

OR

Greg Oden does not equal any of those on the open market, because, what in reality is likely to be the case is that he actually IS both of those, it's just that Portland won't care, and will buy him anyways. Only, they won't pay the Wal-Mart price. They'll pay the Sharper Image price. And afterwards, the owners will cancel the season and lock out the players because the owners are all losing money and want a guaranteed profit REGARDLESS of how shitty their respective business practices are, thus ensuring they can in the future all shop at the Sharper Image for players that should be found at the Humane Society booth set up in the back corner of the local Wal-Mart.

[ebrian]

Haha Jeff, I appreciate the work you've put into these analogies.. but I actually don't mind taking a chance on Greg Oden.

Oden was not a project when drafted, he wasn't raw by any means and was NBA ready. He hadn't built his reputation in Faroffistan. He played college and he was very good, occasionally dominant. What if Tim Duncan or Shaq had missed 75% of their first 3 seasons due to injury -- what would their market value have been? At the time you probably stay the hell away, but what about knowing what you know now.. it's hard to say isn't it.

Those are pretty extreme examples though. How about Nene's market value after the 2007-2008 season? He was fresh off 3 seasons where he had played a total of 81 games. Nene is not exactly a mind-blowingly awesome player, but you can't argue that his career has taken off since then. I'd say he's worth every penny Denver is paying him.

[Apollo]

Greg Oden is made of glass. He's not worth the risk.

[Bendit]

I prefer they shop at Value Village, for this free agency. They still get what they need, temporarily, but it doesn't feed the big, bad machine.

Anyone who has shopped at Value Village (and I have!) will attest to some very good deals hidden on their racks. One just has to search thoroughly then wash/rinse. Good for a couple of years and at a very affordable price.

[Tim W.]

Anyone who has shopped at Value Village (and I have!) will attest to some very good deals hidden on their racks. One just has to search thoroughly then wash/rinse. Good for a couple of years and at a very affordable price.

We have a basement suite that we rented out furnished for a while, so we grabbed a couple of things from there. I ended up finding a great dresser and mirror combo that we ended up taking for our room and moving the dresser we had down to the suite. It was something like $50. Probably would have cost 10 times that, or more, new. And there was nothing wrong with it. Sweet deal.

[ebrian]

Greg Oden is made of glass. He's not worth the risk.

People used to say the same thing about Marcus Camby.

[Apollo]

Marcus Camby is an iron man when compared to Greg Oden. Greg Oden is in Yao Ming territory in terms of durability.

[Tim W.]

Marcus Camby is an iron man when compared to Greg Oden. Greg Oden is in Yao Ming territory in terms of durability.

Actually, Oden's dream would be to be in the Yao Ming territory. Right now he's not even in the Sam Bowie territory.

[ihatehaters]

We have a basement suite that we rented out furnished for a while, so we grabbed a couple of things from there. I ended up finding a great dresser and mirror combo that we ended up taking for our room and moving the dresser we had down to the suite. It was something like $50. Probably would have cost 10 times that, or more, new. And there was nothing wrong with it. Sweet deal.

Wow. Do you know where I can get a good deal on some fuschia lamp shades? Oh sorry - this is a bball forum...


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