Sunday, June 25, 2006
Bargnani
of
Regarded
as the best young player on the Continent, Bargnani
won the Euroleague's Rising Star Trophy for the
just-completed 2005-06 season in which he played a key role as Benetton won an
Italian championship.
It
is hoped Bargnani will be more like Dirk Nowitski and Pau Gasol, European
imports that are standouts in the NBA, and less like Nikoloz
Tskitishvili, drafted out of Benetton Treviso in 2002
before he became a washout.
"Bargnani's a very good shooter, But
it's the guy's ability to create his own shots and get to the basket that will
surprise people. He's just so quick, and he wants to finish with a dunk. That's
the key thing NBA people are seeing". "He's not soft. He'll take the
contact in the paint. But most importantly, he finishes strong."
NBA DRAFT
BARGANI SHOWS HE CAN DO IT ALL
Italian forward thought by many to be next Nowitzki
You see video of
the tall, lanky wingman pulling up to bury a 3-pointer, and the imagination
races to all of the different ways he would be able to stretch a defense.
Another sequence shows him using a head fake and
then an explosive first step to dribble by a defender and finish with a dunk.
At
home in
Surely,
it didn't help when Dirk Nowitzki reverted to his
soft, jump-shooting style as the Dallas Mavericks collapsed down the stretch of
the NBA Finals and handed over the championship to
What
keeps general managers from
The
7-foot, 225-pound Bargnani also played for Benetton,
but that is where the similarities are said to end by those in the know. And in
a draft class where there is no consensus No. 1, Bargnani might be the most intriguing candidate.
"He
became a vital piece for our team," Benetton coach Dave Blatt told ESPN Insider. "There is
only a small handful of 20-year-old kids that you've ever been able to say that
about in Euroleague competition. Defenses have to
prepare for him. He's playing with and against men every night. He's the real
deal."
Regarded
as the best young player on the Continental, Bargnani
won the Euroleague's Rising Star Trophy for the
just-completed 2005-06 season in which he played a key role as Benetton won an
Italian championship.
He
has long arms and excellent footwork and carries a small forward's skills on
the still-growing frame of a center. Like most European big men, Bargnani is a good shooter from the perimeter, but what makes him stand out is an ability and a desire to put the
ball onto the floor and attack with a city kid's nose for the basket. He grew
up in
"I
learned how to shoot and dribble in
Bargnani is the one who most people have seen the least,
but according to many, has a wider collection of skills, if he can add some
weight to deal with the inside pounding of the NBA and not lose any of his
quickness.
He
is a good shot-blocker and a lane-filler with his size and long reach. The
comparisons are to Nowitzki and Memphis Grizzzly's Pau Gasol, who is
from
"Bargnani's a very good shooter," Blatt
said. "But it's the guy's ability to create his own shots and get to the
basket that will surprise people. He's just so quick, and he wants to finish
with a dunk. That's the key thing NBA people are seeing.
"He's not
soft. He'll take the contact in the paint. But most importantly, he finishes
strong."
Other
Prospects in Draft
The
forward crop in this year's class is as varied as the produce aisle in a
supermarket with an assortment of unripe talent of many textures and flavors.
Of
the
Tyrus Thomas (6-9, 229) and Adam Morrison were at
opposite ends of the college spectrum.
Thomas
was the high-energy leaper with great size and reach
who helped propel LSU to the Final Four, while Morrison (6-8, 205) rose up the
ranks at Gonzaga to become Division I's top scorer as a junior.
fran.blinebury@chron.com