Last year, I started something called NBA Mythbusters, I’m bringing it back this offseason.
Background
You ask any Raptor fan to finish the sentence “Andrea Bargnani is…” and you are more than likely going to get the phrase “a terrible defender.” Bargnani, the number 1 pick in 2006, is the player that Raptor fans point at when looking to blame someone on their roster for their terrible defense. This past season, the Raptors had the worst defensive efficiency in the NBA, allowing opponents to score 109.8 points per 100 possessions with Bargnani anchoring the defense.
However, is this Bargnani’s fault, and is he truly a “terrible” defender. To be terrible, you shouldn’t really be able to do anything good (in this case, on the defensive end). Does Bargnani fit into this category?
Evidence
In my opinion, when you look at a player’s skill defensively, you need to focus on two very distinct aspects. On ball defense and off ball defense (help defense).
On Ball Defense
Despite the reputation, Bargnani is actually a very good on ball defender, both on the block and when put in isolation one-on-one situations. I recently looked at Bargnani’s post defense, here is what I wrote last week:
Despite the reputation, Andrea Bargnani is actually a good post defender. 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. The key is length. Bargnani has length, and when defending on the basketball, especially in the post, he knows how to use it well:
Bargnani isn’t going to block a lot of shots, but he is able to go straight up and use his length to contest shots without fouling (fouled opponents on the block just 7.6% of the time) by going straight up.
Even better than his post defense is Bargnani’s one-on-one defense in isolation situations. When faced with isolation situations, Bargnani is in the top 17% of the NBA in terms of Points Per Possession (PPP) allowed, giving up just 0.684 points per possession on 29.7% shooting:
Again, length is the key here. Bargnani is so long that he can sit back farther, allowing him to prevent penetration, while still being able to contest shots should his man choose to pull up. His length allows him to take both dribble penetration and shooting off of the dribble from his man at the same exact time.
Off Ball Defense/Rebounding
This isn’t to say that Bargnani is a tremendous defender, there is a reason why he has a reputation as a bad defender, and that reason is his help defense and poor defensive rebounding. Bargnani is not good at all when it comes to recognizing when he should send help and when he should stick with his man. The game tape and the numbers are proof of this:
On this play, stepping up and helping is absolutely Bargnani’s responsibility. However, he doesn’t and watches his opponent shoot a lay-up right over him. This is just one play, but it is very much the norm in help situations, Bargnani is just late recognizing and by the time he decides to bring help it is simply too late and he doesn’t effect the shot at all.
Even at times, his own man gets open looks on him when working off of the basketball. In “Spot Up” situations, opponents are shooting 49.4% (eFG% 60.6%) and posting a PPP of 1.142, which is a number that places him in the bottom 15% of the NBA:
Bargnani’s lack of understanding when it comes to help defense really hurts him in a number of ways. First, he doesn’t really know how to help properly, so when he does help, he usually ends up turning his back to his own man, making it difficult to return to him and contest a shot. He also struggles understanding rotations. He never finishes off rotations correctly and always seems to run at a shooter when it is too late.
Also included in defense in my opinion is rebounding. To end a possession, you need to be able to secure the defensive rebound. This is something that Bargnani doesn’t do, almost ever. Bargnani’s Defensive Rebound Rate was the second worst in the NBA among centers who play at least 20 minutes per game in at least 20 games (behind Brook Lopez). He doesn’t have the size, or the want to frankly, to get in there and grab rebounds. It should be at least mentioned that Bargnani’s DRR of 13.9 last year, the worst of his career, happened with Reggie Evans (a rebounding machine) playing next to him (his DRR holds around 16.0 for his career, which is still below average but not as bad as 13.9).
Conclusion
So is Bargnani a terrible defender? I got t say that this one is “busted” in my opinion. Does he deserve a large part of the blame for last year’s poor defense? Yes, but in my opinion, that doesn’t mean that he is this terrible defender that you can’t put out there. In my opinion he can be an average or even a good defender moving forward. It sounds crazy, but if you break things down and look at them, it isn’t that far fetched. First of all, he can stop players when they go at him one-on-one, whether in the post or out the outside in isolation. Second, he is still 26, I know he has been in the pros for a while now, but he is still young and is still learning.
Finally, look who his coach is now. If you want a NBA player to learn how to play defense, Dwane Casey is the guy you to teach them. Casey is a tremendous defensive coach and he is talking about playing Bargnani at the power forward spot, which is where he should have been playing from day one. Playing the power forward spot allows the Raptors to minimize Bargnani’s weaknesses while taking advantage of his strengths. Put him with the right teammates (specifically a big who can rebound hard and provide help defense, hello Jonas Valanciunas), and I don’t think he will be this huge defensive liability.
