ballocks

the reactions of teams and players (and especially coaches) to andrea's game remind me of the reactions to pavel podkolzine's 2003 draft workout (before he pulled out). it's a... human body you don't expect to be able to do what it can do. he's 7' tall. the precedent has been set in the league and throughout the world- 7 footers usually do some things and usually don't do others. you have expectations for them, their limitations and their potential. andrea's managed to turn some of those things upside-down, leading to the floored reactions we see on the court and sidelines regularly.

for one thing, the guy can shoot. we know that. but he can handle the ball- already much better than chris, imo- and see floor on the run. that's... really not common. when shaq used to do that, for example, he was doing it because he was having fun- not because he was particularly comfortable or effective while doing it. of course, he would talk about how adept he was in the open floor but he was speaking more from his personal fantasy land (hopefully). he didn't look like a 'good' basketball player with the ball, he just looked like a big basketball player with the ball. but when andrea moves, his body looks like it doesn't suffer the same physical drawbacks that other players of his size would suffer (although granted, he's nowhere near shaq- or pavel-size). he's like a guard who grew into a centre after he had already built a strong skillset and established his body in an athletic tone. he's the best of both worlds, in other words, and you don't see that too often.

i wonder if the european mindset lends itself to this kind of player. is it a coincidence that dirk and andrea are the two most confusing physical gems in the league? if they were brought up in north america, i think there would've been a greater chance that they'd have altered their chosen path of development and ultimately become more... typical.

players like shaq, for instance, as much as they'd love to believe otherwise, are poor shooters primarily because they didn't practice shooting as much (or feel the need to practice shooting as much) as they were learning the game. when 'they' do it now, it often looks like 'they're' doing it for the first time. and they probably are- not for the first time, no, but i bet they've only done it a tiny fraction of the times that their smaller counterparts have. why? i don't have the answer to that one.

regardless, it seems like andrea's built his talents with a focus on different goals than his 7' friends in north america. i bet he practiced playing with the ball and running when he was in his driveway, and didn't just look up at the rim and say, "hey man, i can probably stuff the ball in the basket every time- far out! i'm going to do it! why waste my time with this other nonsense?"

i think that different approach, along with his physical gifts like speed and agility, have produced a player we haven't seen the likes of in this league. for that reason i'd find it hard to set expectations for him this early. i just don't know what he could be because i've never seen it before. we talk about nowitzki but i haven't seen many similarities myself. i think andrea's far different than dirk. the only reason we mention the comparison is because nowitzki can also shoot from the outside, but that's oversimplified imo. it's like comparing tim hardaway to caron butler because they have effective crossovers. imo, andrea can probably become a more natural rebounder than dirk, for one thing, and certainly a more menacing defensive presence than the relatively lead-footed nowitzki.

by the way, where is pavel these days? running up and down the floor in front of the scouts, bombing threes, and still being 7'6". man, that was the stuff of myth.

peace

JuniorNoboa

Not a Shaq apologist, but come on now

Shaq is primarily a poor shooter because his hands are substantially bigger then the uber seven foot shooters such as Dirk or Shaq. That is the primary reason he is such a poor shooter, not practice. Practive could help improve no doubt, but he would still be a poor shooter.

And other then free throws why the hell do you want Shaq even practicing shooting... you want have to stay down low where his strenth, inside agility and quickness (expolisveness) dwarf that of Andrea. They are so great that he does not need to develop an outside game to create space for himself.

ballocks

yeah, i thought someone would bring that up. i considered addressing it in the post but decided against it.

i'm not a fan of the 'excuse'. in general. i know what theories people have, some of them have been ingrained over time, but it doesn't make them any more valid to me. we've heard 'bigger hands' for an eternity with shaquille o'neal (and others) and i've never liked it. when you're that big and don't do something very well, you can always find an excuse. always. it's right there for you. that's not the problem. it's being honest with yourself and moving away from the convenient traps that come in the form of those excuses.

personally, i believe practice is most of the story. i think there are some natural gifts that players have, too, but i think that practice can overcome even those. humans like shaquille o'neal have always had big/monstrous hands. it wouldn't be like you and i waking up with them tomorrow- they only know those hands like you and i only know ours. i think with practice, you'd find a way to deal with them eventually, provided you had the ultimate goal in mind throughout (that's crucial). it might take more or less time based on your natural gifts, but it's an inevitability down the road: you can find a way... that is, if you want to find one.

"why?" that's key. it's another question i wouldn't ask if it were me. has shaq (or anyone that big) ever been so dominating as to make improved shooting irrelevant? his size alone would make him good, true, since he's so much bigger than everyone else, but you'd have a hard time convincing me that a 'better' shooting shaq wouldn't be more effective than the shaq we've seen across his career. personally, i'd stress to place the focus on improvement. forget the 'why', forget cutting corners, forget being 'efficient' with your time, forget excuses. i would just want to improve. there's always a reason to not want to improve- it only comes down to a matter of listening to one conscience or the other imo.

i'm impressed with the decision-making ability/intuitions implied by andrea's performance to date. not everyone would have chosen the same paths that he evidently has. i think he's reaping the rewards of them today.

peace

Knick_Killer31

Calm down everyone....your all startin to get a little to excited about Bargnani. He will be a great player but common you guys are expecting a little much. He's still a rookie, he still needs to learn how to play and you guys are already saying hes going to be better than Bosh? Just wait...lets not go overboard.

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SkywalkerAC

Great post ballocks.

Yes, where the hell is Pavel? I know he wasn't a good basketball player but you have to wonder if his body has faltered already.

One can only see superstar potential when you look at Andrea as a rookie and try to extrapolate for his development.

Andrea is one of a kind. I do think he's similar to Dirk, hey they are the two best shooting 7 footers of all time, but he also has different dimensions. He's already more of a center than and has the potential to get MUCH better in big man skills and bigger and stronger with time. The crazy thing is that he already has more guard skills than Dirk as well - he's more fluid on the run, off his first step, and has even shown more advanced passing skills than I've seen from Dirk. Then there's his defensive instincts, which are really the most impressive aspect when you consider his skill set.

As for Shaq's shooting, it's supposed to be due in large part to a wrist injury but you can usually compensate through practice - see Ronnie Brewer.

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