Apparently, Knicks head coach Mike Woodson has seen enough of Andrea Bargnani… as a bench player.
Mike Woodson says Andrea Bargnani will start tomorrow vs Memphis as #Knicks go with a big lineup.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) December 20, 2013
On the heels of Bargnani taking one of the most inexplicable shots in the history of the NBA (not an exaggeration, as you will see from the video), Woodson has inserted Bargnani back into the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Hilariously, Bargnani has come off of the bench only twice all season, but one of those was on Wednesday, when the “shot head ’round the world” occurred.
To be honest, this isn’t a big change, but it’s interesting to see that Woodson is comfortable going with Bargnani alongside the now-healthy Tyson Chandler in the frontcourt. On paper, this makes sense against the Grizzlies given their history of big-time size and strength, but with Marc Gasol out, the match-ups aren’t quite as simple, and it looks like Woodson is simply trying something here.
Bargnani, to be fair, has been pretty solid this season, averaging 14.8 points per game with an above-average 16.24 PER, but his old issues have popped up (lack of rebounding, horrible off-ball defense) recently, and that has caused him great scrutiny. With Chandler back, he won’t be asked to play center hardly at all (which is a good thing), and maybe this move will get the former #1 overall pick going.