Toronto Raptors' Andrea Bargnani: More Shots, Please!

Andrea Bargnani, the Toronto Raptors former No. 1 overall pick from the 2006 draft has had his detractors since the day he was drafted.  Singled out for being a soft European player who can’t rebound or guard his position, Bargnani has had as much a fight for respect from the Raptors coaching staff as with the media and fans.

But Bryan Colangelo has continued to back his big-man pick and when he finally installed his own selection as the Raptors’ head coach early last season, Bargnani’s fortunes began to change.

Under new head coach Jay Triano, the Italian began to accumulate the kind of statistics Colangelo had envisioned on draft day.  Andrea had his first seven-rebound-per-game month in February 2009 and his first 20-point-per-game month in March, ending the season with averages of 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.

More impressive were the 19 points and six rebounds per game Bargnani averaged after Jan. 1.

But Bargnani still had his detractors. Little faith was placed in his ability to maintain this higher level of production, let alone continue to improve.

Fortunately Triano has shown every confidence in Bargnani’s game this season.  In six starts, Bargnani is averaging 34 minutes per contest, up another 10 percent from last season.  Andrea is also getting more shots, 14 per game this season compared to 12.3 last year.

For some, the most important statistic is that Bargnani is tracking down 6.8 rebounds per game to start the year and looks far more active on the boards than he did even during the second half of last season.

But Bargnani is not just more active getting shots and rebounds.  He has become a far more effective offensive player this season.

Always recognized as a good outside shooter, Bargnani has taken his three-point shooting to new levels by going 16-for-31 to start the season and averaging 2.7 threes per game.  He has an effective 60-percent shooting rate on his jump shot so far this year.

His inside game has also improved.  About 30 percent of Bargnani’s shots are coming from in close this year with a 66.7-percent success rate.

All this has helped bring Bargnani to a 20.7 points per game average to start the year.

The only thing that may be holding back Bargnani from an even higher offensive output is his teammates not yet recognizing how effective a scorer he has been to start the season.

Over his first three seasons, the Raptors have intermittently attempted to develop his deep post-up game.  While Bargnani has struggled with this, on the occasions when he did pin an opponent deep under the basket, he rarely ever received a timely pass.

This lack of recognition by his teammates of his ability to pin an opponent under the basket continues.  And this season Bargnani has shown to be stronger and more effective in the post than in past years.

One offensive area that Bargnani still needs significant improvement is getting to the free-throw line.  It seems especially important this year, as he has started off shooting over 90 percent from the charity stripe.

So far, Bargnani has increased his number of free-throws per game from 3.4 last year to 3.7.  If he can start to receive more timely passes from his teammates when he achieves an inside position, the number of free throw attempts per game will rise.

Bargnani’s teammates should also be paying more attention to his three-point opportunities.

As Chris Bosh’s success inside this season escalates, Bargnani is finding himself standing on the three-point line completely unguarded on a regular basis.  Teams are unable to double-team Bosh without leaving the other Raptors big man.

While Hedo Turkoglu seems to be able to find Bargnani in these situations, Jose Calderon still suffers from the tunnel vision that has resulted from playing with Bosh.  The Raptors would benefit greatly if Bargnani’s number of three-point attempts increased from the current 5.2 to over seven per game.

It should be noted that Bargnani is passing up at least one or two open three-point shots per game early in the shot clock.  It would be incumbent on the Raptors’ coaching staff to insist that Bargnani shoot these early opportunities.  A 51.6 percent three-point shooter can’t be allowed to turn down open looks.  The team isn’t likely to generate a better shot by continuing to move the ball.

This season, Chris Bosh has led the Raptors with an average of 16 shots per game while drawing seven fouls, effectively giving him 23 scoring opportunities.  There is no reason to reduce Bosh’s touches given his effectiveness.

Andrea Bargnani, however, is the most effective shooter on the Raptors and shifting two or three shots per game from other players will result in a higher offensive output.  There are a number of average to poor shooters on the Raptors who should be taking fewer shots.

Many people were questioning the five-year, $50 million extension Raptors' GM Bryan Colangelo signed Bargnani to during the off-season. They questioned, Did the Raptors Over-Pay Andrea Bargnani?   The early answer is, the Raptors signed a great deal.

The call this year should be: more shots for Andrea Bargnani, please!