Andrea Bargnani and Brook Lopez might play together
There was a time when Andrea Bargnani was a legitimately effective three-point shooter. Unfortunately for him and the Nets, that time isn't now—or at least it hasn't been for the past four years.
Bargnani has made just 30.2 percent of his threes since the start of the 2011-12 season, but he still finds himself hanging around the arc most of the time. In theory, that should provide spacing, giving the bigs room to operate or the ball-handers on the perimeter room to drive, but unfortunately, Bargs' men usually don't stick with him. That means he's still often clogging the floor for his teams.
So, what does all this have to do with the Nets, who just signed Bargnani over the summer? Brooklyn is planning on playing Bargs with Brook Lopez, or so says Lionel Hollins, via NetsDaily:
In theory, it makes some amount of sense. Lopez likes to operate in the paint and dominated the second half of last season with his diverse arsenal of floaters, hook shots and around-the-rim finishes.
If Bargs can hit his threes, he'll provide some value there, but that frontcourt is going to get beat on the defensive end, big time. Still, the Nets don't stand to be too competitive this year, regardless. Giving everything some sort of try isn't the worst idea in the world.
Tim Bontemps, in looking at who's doing well in training camp, confirms what others have said about Brook Lopez's game, that the "universal thought" is that Lopez "couldn’t be stopped.". The Nets vet credits his improved game to his rehab-free summer.
"My rhythm and touch, they [already] feel there," Lopez said. "I’ve had to work back into it the past few years because I couldn’t do anything with basketball during the summer.
But Bontemps' other tidbit is that Lionel Hollins thinks Lopez and Andrea Bargnani can play together. In fact, Hollins called Bargnani "a breath of fresh air." So that BIG picture has relevance. However, you won't be seeing it Monday night. Bargnani is out with a hamstring injury.
"Offensively, those guys are very versatile and they give a lot of problems to the defense, because both can shoot, both can pass, and both can put the ball on the floor," Hollins said. "I like those guys playing together at times."
Bontemps writes the two seven-footers played next to each other for long stretches of the portion of Friday’s scrimmage that was open to the media.
