And now, I am forced to acknowledge the fact that Andrea Bargnani is part of the Knicks’ seven worst three-man lineups over the past 10 games.
I was wrong. The Knicks have been outscored by nearly seven points every 100 plays with Bargnani on the floor. He fails to recognize players driving to the basket that must be stopped. He continues to drop passes and lose the basketball. He continually stands too close to the paint and hinders Carmelo Anthony’s ability to score. He’s shooting three-pointers at just 35 percent on the season. The only weapon he has offensively is a mid-range jumper, the most useless and inefficient shot in basketball. He’s made bad mental errors late in games. Simply put, he’s not good at playing the game of basketball.
And it’s all costing the Knicks three draft picks.
I ignored the offensive and defensive ratings early on, writing them off as some sort of product of playing with bad teammates in Toronto and needing time to gel with his mates in New York. I continually stated Bargnani could contribute on offense and take some of the scoring load off of Carmelo Anthony’s shoulders. I was terribly, terribly wrong.
No, Bargnani has frequently done the opposite and masked it with first quarter scoring explosions. Every time Bargnani does something ill-advised, everyone on press row is looking at me. Knicks fans on Twitter are tweeting at me. I’m known as the “Bargnani guy.”
I no longer want to be this guy. I no longer would like to have my name associated with a man so severely hurting the New York Knicks. While he’s scored some big baskets for the team, they’re few and far between. Of course, playing the number of minutes he does, he will get more of these buckets. That is fine.
For all I care, Andrea Bargnani could go on to lead the league in scoring after I’m done writing this. No matter what his future holds, I would like it to not be tied to his successes and shortcomings. I am hereby apologizing for bringing false hope into your lives through optimistic Bargnani thoughts, both verbally and via Twitter.
It has come time to admit I was wrong. In the future, I wish to make stronger and more thoughtful selections regarding in whom I place my basketball faith. Let this be a lesson always to pay attention to trends and never to find yourself in abject denial. You will only feel worse when it comes time to admit defeat.
— Kenny Ducey
