Year One A.B: A New Franchise Player

Photo Credit: http://static.sky.it/static/images/sezioni/sport/Nba/bargnani_toronto_raptors_nba.jpg

Hate it or love it Raptor fans, we have just entered the age of Andrea. The success of the 2010-2011 season (and very well of future seasons as well) now lies on the shoulders of Andrea Bargnani. The first overall pick in 2007 had underwhelming rookie and sophomore seasons in the NBA, however in '09 and '10 Andrea really came into his own. The Raptors have seen Andrea gain confidence, weight, and a better grasp for NBA style basketball, providing the Raptors with a solid second option to the now departed Chris Bosh. Now it is Andrea's team to lead. How will he fare as the primary scoring option for the 2010-2011 Raptors?

Coming into the Association as a rookie, Andrea had a solid face-up game and a three-point shot that could scare any defender. The obvious comparison between Bargnani and Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki were made. I will take this comparison a little further because, best case scenario, we hope that Bargnani will do everything Dirk does and more.

Dirk became the franchise player of the Mavs in 2004 when his good friend Steve Nash left Dallas to play in cactus country. As a 26 year old, Dirk rose to the challenge and saw a per game point increase of 5 in his first season without Stevey (from 21 ppg to 26 ppg). He disproved many of his critics who said he could not play with another star. Since '04, Dirk has recorded career numbers in almost every category. His name is now synonymous with the Dallas organization.

Now let's look at our 7'0, 250 lb international forward. Playing second fiddle to CB4, Andrea's best season was his '09-'10 campaign, as he posted 17 ppg and 6 ppg, while shooting a career best 47%. The 25 year old Italian is about to become the focal point of the Raptor offense. I am hopeful because every season has seen Andrea's numbers increase, and there is no reason to suggest that he will slow down this season. His post game has improved significantly to the point where he can now be considered an "inside-outside" player. To keep his success going this season as the primary option, Andrea needs to not be flustered when he is counted on to put up 20 shot attempts per game this season. Furthermore, he needs to not force shots and not be afraid to kick the ball out for a re-post. Perhaps foul trouble, Andrea's old foe, is now his biggest threat. However, there is reason for hope even on this front. While Drea's foul numbers did increase with increased playing time (24 mpg to 32) in his third season (from about 2.7 fpg to 3.2), in his fourth season he showed a much improved ability to avoid fouls. His playing time increased to about 35 mpg but his fouls decreased to his early numbers - back to 2.7 fpg. For comparison's sake, Dirk averaged about 2.6 fpg in 2009-10, and Carlos Boozer averaged 3.2 in the same season. All this improvement came despite a sizable improvement in Andrea's intimidation on defense. In his second season, his blocks per game were an unimpressive .5 bpg. However, as with all his stats, he made a large stride in his third season, bringing his blocks up to 1.2 per game, and another improvement in his fourth to 1.4.

These all signify good things to come. This season could very easily be a beautiful thing for Andrea, we could see the birth of a new superstar. However, he needs to keep in mind that he needs to play within his own game and play with his teammates. Otherwise we could see a struggling Italian jump shooter for the first part of the season.

Raps Look for 3rd Straight in Dallas

The Raptors roll into Dallas (tipoff at 8:30PM EST) on the back half of two games in two nights, and hope to both extend their win streak to three games and to give Chris Bosh, playing at an MVP level thus far, his first win in Dallas in his career.

W2W4:
- Big man matchups. The four starting PFs/Cs in this game will have a huge impact on how the game turns out. Dirk Nowitzki has always been a Turok (averaging 24 points and 7 boards against the Raps), and the player whose ceiling was always "The Next Dirk," Andrea Bargnani, will hope to continue to take a huge step forward in his fourth season. If Il Mago continues to develop, he could turn out to be even better than the one-time MVP. As well, CB4 should give Erick Dampier fits with his improved play and newfound beastly-ness in the post. Look for Bosh to have a huge game (really going out on a limb there, eh?).
- New Mavs and new Raps. The two teams were involved in a mammoth four-team deal this offseason that brought Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright and Devean George (flipped to Golden State for Marco Belinelli) to Toronto, with Shawn Marion and Kris Humphries donning the Mavs blue. Turk has been a steady influence in the Raps' frontcourt thus far, being incredibly consistent on both offense and defense, while 'Toine and Marco have been instrumental in making the Raps' second unit one of their potent weapons. The Matrix has been his usual stat-filling self, putting up 14 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, while Hump has given them some energy off the bench with 6 points and 4 boards per game to go along with his trademark questionable shot selection (44% from the field).
- Jose Calderon. After some criticism incited by his slow start to the season, the object of many a man-crush delivered a classic Jose game, with tremendous efficiency against the Hornets: 16 points (on 6-11 from the field, 2-4 from three, and perfect 2-2 from the line), 8 assists to just one turnover and 4 rebounds. If Jose continues to be the floor general we know he can be, the Raps will be very tough to beat.