Andrea Bargnani Throwing Wrench In New York Knicks’ Plans
One of the biggest decisions that Derek Fisher faced when he took over the job as head coach of the New York Knicks was how he would handle minutes at certain positions. Shooting guard has a glut of players in Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. that all can make a case to start and get minutes. Another position Fisher will have tough decisions to make will be at power forward. The player with the biggest question mark currently is arguably a player who isn’t even playing Wednesday in the Knicks’ preseason game, and whose status is in doubt for the season opener next week; Andrea Bargnani.
Bargnani was acquired by the Knicks last season in a trade with the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson and three draft picks; two second rounders and one first. He was expected to add another dimension to the Knicks offense that struggled to get production at times from anyone other than Carmelo Anthony when it counted most.
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While Bargnani flashed at times during the 2013-2014 season, like in the first meeting against the Brooklyn Nets when he was ejected for taunting Kevin Garnett. Another highlight was the defense he played against Dwight Howard when the Knicks had to face arguably the best center in the NBA without their starting center in Tyson Chandler.
But on the other hand, Bargnani showed more often than not the inconsistencies and the constant injuries that plagued him during his time with the Raptors. Bargnani managed to make it through only 42 games last season, resulting in another disappointing campaign for the former No.1 overall pick.
Coming into the 2014-15 season, the first with Fisher at the helm, it looked as if the Knicks would once again look to make Bargnani a big part of their rotation. To make a player a part of your rotation he needs to be healthy, and Bargnani already isn’t. Bargnani started the first preseason game of the season, but did not make it through unscathed as he injured his hamstring. That came on October 8th; he has yet to play since.
This throws a wrench in the Knicks plans, as a player they planned on competing for a starting spot has not played in over two weeks, and his return is currently unknown. In his place Quincy Acy has been starting at power forward, and has been performing admirably. Along with Acy, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jason Smith are also competing with Bargnani for minutes at power forward. Currently all are way ahead of where Bargnani is, and have the upper hand for minutes.
That will not necessarily stay that way though; Fisher seems intent on sticking with the Knicks’ original plan once Bargnani is healthy.
"“We still have eight days before opening night. I can’t say at this point whether or not that’s in jeopardy,” Fisher said in reference to Bargnani’s status for opening night at MSG against the Chicago Bulls next week. “But, obviously, getting some practice time in, being at the level of conditioning that you need to play the game, will be important for Andrea to get in. With that being said, when he’s healthy, he is the type of player that you need to have on the floor because he can do good things. We are not really focused on that at the moment, but obviously, as the week goes by, we will have to make a decision on it.”"
Fisher is partly right, in that there aren’t many big men that bring the offensively versatility that Bargnani has. He can be a fit in the triangle offense as a big man that is more than comfortable on the perimeter with the ball in his hands. He is a capable jump shooter, and has a low turnover rate, two necessities of running the triangle successfully.
But at the same time, it may not be worth the time to wait for Bargnani to come around. There will be a big adjustment period to getting Bargnani back in the swing of things. He is a player that will take some time to get used to playing with, and should only be on the court with certain players in certain situations.
Jan 13, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard Iman Shumpert (21) and Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) and Knicks power forward Andrea Bargnani (77) and Knicks shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (5) take the court for the final 0.2 seconds of the game during overtime of a game against the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks defeated the Suns 98-96 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Training camp was supposed to be when Fisher was able to figure those things out, but with Bargnani already being injured that plan was unable to be put into action. It will be one of the tougher things Fisher has to do in the early going of the season to get Bargnani up to speed and on the same page with his teammates as soon as possible. It is only one player, but it is something that could make or break the Knicks in the early going because no matter how much you like or dislike Bargnani, the Knicks had a plan for him and he has already thrown those out of whack as the same problems that have plagued him in his career are already creeping up in the 2014 season, and the games haven’t even begun to count yet.