Interbasket

Continuing yesterday’s post, Interbasket presents the five least valuable international NBA players for the 2008 NBA Playoffs through the first two games:

1. Andrea Bargnani - Everyone was talking about the benching of Rasho Nesterovic in favor or Jamario Moon, but watching Toronto play, I don’t think Rasho’s the reason why the Raptors haven’t been successul. Instead I think it’s another international seven-footer that’s starting for the Raps that is negatively affecting Toronto.

Andrea Bargnani is that culprit, the former #1 overall draft pick may be more mobile and has a bigger body than Nesterovic, but he also has a plus/minus of -34 in his first two games and looks like a D-league stiff that was brought up the ranks. Bargnani la-dee-dahs without the ball, is slow as molasses, his shot-selection blows, rarely boxes out (important against Dwight Howard) and ruins any sort of offensive flow for the Toronto Raptors.

In roughly 46 minutes of play, the 7-0 Italian has a total of 4 rebounds. That’s four total rebounds in two games for an average of 2.0 rebounds a game for your starting power forward. And that’s far below his average for the regular season — a whopping 3.7 rebounds/game.

The Raptors were down 0-2 to Orlando. At his size and if his shot isn’t falling (which it isn’t) Bargnani needs to fall out-of-love with his outside shot and find another way to help the Raps win. He needs to utilize his thick body to rough up Dwight Howard and use his bulk to make a difference in the paint on the offensive end, defensive end, and on the boards.

2. Boris Diaw - Looking at his stats you don’t see anything that would indicate him being so high on the invaluable list. However, it’s obvious to anyone watching the Suns in the playoffs that the French forward looks lost on offense. Basketball is a game of flow, and that is especially true with the Suns. Too many times I saw the Phoenix Suns swing the ball through 3-4 players so smoothly only for it to end up in Diaw’s hands, wide open, and his hesitation to shoot a 15 footer or to methodically dribble towards the basket only to throw an unconfident pass or miss the shot, has been numerous. Not only are his tactics uneffective, but his overdribbling and uncertainty has taken the Suns out of a much-needed rhythm. The Suns are down 0-2 to the Spurs.

3. Dirk Nowitzki - whoa whoa whoa Stuart, what are you talking about? The same Dirk Nowitzki that is averaging 29 and 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists? That can’t fall on Dirk. Yeah, but this is the same Nowitzki that also has a plus/minus of -37 through the first two games, that’s one more than the margin of loss through the two games and by far the worst on the team (Jason Terry -is next at 29, Jason Kidd -28). And Dallas is down 0-2 to Chris Paul and the Hornets.

The 7-0 German needs to really crank it up as Chris Paul has, not only stats-wise (especially rebounds), but with leadership and raising the energy level. This isn’t the regular season and he has enough experience and skill to do better for his team. No way should the leader of a team like Dallas allow something like this to happen. Chris Paul is showing the skills that Dirk has always been questioned for - leadership. Yes, Paul is a point guard but there are many ways Nowitzki can leave more of an imprint on a game. And this is where Dirk has always been questioned in the past - his leadership skills.

4. Luis Scola - I like Luis Scola, and his stats look good through two games, nearly averaging a double-double, but he makes our list because of his bone-headed play towards the end of game two vs. the Utah Jazz. After having a call go against him on the defensive end, Scola was visably frustrated. With Houston down three with the ball, McGrady recovered a loose ball passed it to a wide-open Bobby Jackson who nailed a three. Unfortunately it didn’t count. Scola was called for an offensive foul for pushing Andrei Kirilenko off. Sure, it was a flop by Kirilenko and much more physical play usually goes uncalled, especially at that time of the game, but it did get called and Houston ultimately lost that game and went down 0-2 on their homecourt. That’s why Scola makes this list.

5 - Rasho Nesterovic - As mentioned above, I don’t think the 7-0 Slovenian center should shoulder the blame for Toronto’s woes, but Rasho does need to take some as this is a game of matchups.

It should be noted that I don’t fault Rasho’s work ethic and it should also be noted that no center in the league can match up with Dwight Howard’s freak-athleticism, but when you put both Dwight and Rasho on the same court, Rasho’s mobility and agility becomes painfully apparent and is a huge detriment for Toronto. Combine that with Bargnani’s overall poor play and Andrea’s inability to defend the center position despite his size, and coach Sam Mitchell had to change something. Rasho was more a sacrificial lamb because they knew he wouldn’t complain, and Toronto probably doesn’t want to shake the confidence of a young Bargnani again by benching him (they did so mid-season).