Dwayne Bacon: Panathinaikos' game-changer or scapegoat? / News - Basketnews.com

As Dwayne Bacon is set to make his debut with Panathinaikos, BasketNews presents what the American swingman can bring to the table, looking at the elements that have defined his career so far.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

In early October, Dwayne Bacon was in Las Vegas, trying to make an NBA comeback with the Los Angeles Lakers. The team's training camp allowed the 27-year-old swingman to showcase his craft in front of LeBron James, who was sitting on the edge of the bench next to Anthony Davis.

Dwayne Bacon

Team:Panathinaikos AthensPosition:SG, SFAge:27Height:201 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:Florida, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

The Lakers were facing the Suns, and Bacon scored 11 points in just six minutes. LeBron only played in the first half and decided to spend the better part of the second half encouraging and cheering for Michael Jordan's former protege from the sidelines.

The bottom line is that Bacon didn't succeed in convincing the Lakers to give him a contract for the 2022-23 season and hence re-entered the free-agent market.

But October wasn't an eventful month for the former AS Monaco player only. The same applies to Panathinaikos Athens, who saw Nate Wolters get injured in late September and miss several games at a time when the Greek team was struggling on the offensive end.

Then, coach Dejan Radonjic let everyone know that he was on the lookout for a backup power forward.

The name of Jake Layman surfaced as a potential signing. Layman, 28, had played with the Blazers and the Wolves but had limited time during the 2021-22 NBA campaign when he stayed on the court for an average of seven minutes per contest.

At the same time, and in a universe not very far away, Bacon was receiving hundreds of messages from PAO fans who did everything in their power to bring him to the team.

The player became a trending topic on Twitter on many occasions during the summer. Still, everything changed when Bacon himself seemingly offered his services to PAO in what appeared to be an interview with the Greek public television's sports website.

As it turned out, the interview was just an exchange of Instagram messages, where Bacon gives an affirmative answer when asked whether he's willing to join Panathinaikos.

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He then denies ever doing an interview and withdraws from every PAO-related conversation. In the meantime, Dejan Radonjic is asked about Bacon, and his reply doesn't leave much room for speculation in terms of the team's interest in the player.

"What we need is a '4' man," the Montenegrin coach repeats in a presser following a Greek league game. "He [Bacon] has a different profile from what we need."

Radonjic also wonders why Bacon "is still a free agent" and stresses that for PAO, "it is and it will be important to have all info about everything because we're the second-youngest team in EuroLeague."

"So, we have to think about everything all the time," the Greens' coach points out.

A couple of days later, PAO get blown out in Berlin, losing to ALBA by 29. The disappointing performance forced the club to make a complete turn as far as the profile of the player they needed.

Owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos gives the green light and the necessary funds for Bacon to wear the green jersey, and the rest is history.

Since the transfer of the former Monaco player was completed, the main priority is now for Dejan Radonjic to incorporate the athlete into his system and take from him as much as he can without sacrificing the basic structure within the squad.

Similarly, based on his profile, the newly-acquired forward can potentially solve more problems than he can create.

A lot has been said about Bacon's attitude and his alleged non-coachability, explosive reactions, and much more.

That's the reason why Panathinaikos included several conditions regarding the player's behavior on and off the court, with the club reserving the right to unilaterally terminate the agreement at different times during the two sides' two-year deal.

Sasa Obradovic denied ever engaging ina verbal or physical fight with Bacon during their common Monaco stint. However, from what Bacon told BasketNews last February, it's crystal clear that his relationship with Zvezdan Mitrovic was problematic, to say the least.

On the other hand, no one can doubt his skills on the court. Upon his arrival to Athens, Bacon stressed that he can act as a game-changer for PAO and become their leader in the derbies against Olympiacos Piraeus.

"I'm bringing an elite skill set. I can score the ball, I can help others, and I can be a game-changer," he said.

Let's see to what extent Dwayne Bacon is likely to live up to the expectations and enthusiasm generated by his signing with Panathinaikos.

The skillset

Bacon is undoubtedly a reliable shooter and a scorer. In the EuroLeague last season, he averaged 14.0 points on 41.9% 3-point shooting, raising his tally to 15.0 points per contest and 44% in 3-point accuracy during the 5-game playoff series against Olympiacos. In the NBA, he averaged 7.3 points in the 207 games he played.

For now, only Derrick Williams has shown an ability to create for himself and play one-on-one.

Bacon's main feature is the mid-range shot, which he performs with miraculous consistency from 4-5 meters without being too worried about contact or defenders trying to contest it. His multifaceted offensive talent needs no discussion; mainly because he can attack vertically, facing the basket, and finish one-on-one plays. Those are some of the elements that PAO's existing roster lacked.

His explosiveness and athleticism can allow him to dunk or score with a layup once he bypasses defenders with a dribble, especially if he finds the required space. At the same time, his quick first step can offer easy points in 5-5 play and transition.

According to the numbers provided by InStat Scout, Bacon tiedMike James in attempted iso situations in the EuroLeague (3.7 attempts per game) whilst succeeding at an excellent rate (1.6 per game).

Dejan Radonjic's Panathinaikos spends less than two possessions on isolation in each of the five games that have been held so far in Europe's top-flight. Thus, it goes without saying that the Greens' highly problematic offensive production can get a big boost in terms of efficiency.

His strong upper body and size allow him to efficiently cover the shooting guard and small forward positions and be utilized as a power forward in small lineups. In this respect, Bacon can turn into a mismatch nightmare.

He's an above-average ball handler, and although his low-post efficiency can be somewhat hindered by his debatable shot selection, the Florida-born swingman can produce points even if the team's overall offensive flow is static.

The position

Some of the questions Radonjic must address as fast as possible is how Bacon can be a good fit with Marius Grigonis and Mateusz Ponitka, and whether he can spend more time as a power forward.

One of Bacon's key features is that he is mostly effective with the ball in his hands. He wants to make decisions and run plays for himself. The problem, in this case, is that there are four more on-ball players in Panathinaikos (Nate Walters, Paris Lee, Marius Grigonis, Mateusz Ponitka).

It remains to be seen what will happen with Andrew Andrews, although the American guard's future at OAKA seems uncertain.

Bacon has the speed to create defensive imbalances, and his playing style is clearly different than the one that Grigonis (a pure shooter who can also play off the ball) and Ponitka (a defensive-minded player who can do a little bit of everything) present.

The former NBA guard-forward can play next to Paris Lee or Nate Wolters as a shooting guard or serve as a '3' next to Grigonis. Especially for the Lithuanian sniper, who's been struggling at the beginning of the season, Bacon's arrival might offer some relief. So far, Grigonis looks misplaced, makes several mistakes, and it seems that pressure and anxiety have gotten the best of him since he has been called upon to take on a new role.

If Radonjic manages to create the right environment for spacing and for Bacon to pass the ball whenever he faces a double team and one of his teammates is open, things will get a lot easier for everyone at PAO's camp.

Now that the ball is expected to go through Bacon's hands, Grigonis might be able to find more opportunities to showcase his skills. The Lithuanian likes to play on the weak side, which will now be the case with Bacon on the floor.

At the same time, however, it seems even more obvious that the Greens are still undermanned in their front line. If 100% healthy and in form, Georgios Papagiannis can cover many holes and weaknesses in the paint, in addition to his reliable outside shooting.

Arturas Gudaitis lacks agility and often wastes too many free throws, but he's a center that can play back to the basket and post up, something no one else on the roster can do.

Derrick Williams is a 'light' power forward, who can do some damage with his shooting, as he showed against Monaco, but is hopeless against taller or stronger 4-men.

Panathinaikos initially targeted Eric Paschall, then turned to Layman before landing Dwayne Bacon. Clearly, the former Monaco player cannot take most of his minutes as a power forward and cannot support the center position by any means.

The only way this treaty could be camouflaged would be for 19-year-old Lefteris Mantzoukas to confidently develop his skills as a '4'. For the time being, Radonjic is giving him enough playing time but the Greek talent hasn't shown the progress many expected of him.

PAO still lack size, strength, and experience in this position since Nikos Chougkaz is usually off the 12-man roster.

Credit Vangelis Stolis

A winless track

An old Johnnie Taylor song says, "You can't win with a losing hand." Up until this season, Bacon has never hoisted jumpers in a place synonymous with winning.

"I've always lost," the player himself admitted in an interview with USA Today in 2015. "My whole life, on the court, I always played well; I’ve always scored, but I never won. Man, I just want to be a winner, that's all."

Bacon was a starter at McKeel Academy in Lakeland, Florida. He averaged 16 points a game as an eighth grader, 20 as a freshman, and 24 in route to winning conference Player of the Year as a sophomore.

"And we never won anything," Bacon continued. "I think people would just look at the fact that we were always losing and say, 'Oh he’s averaging all the points that must be all he cares about.' I tried not to let it bother me, but, if I'm being honest, I didn't like that people thought I was a selfish player."

Even though Bacon had every intention to silence the haters and doubters who called him a loser, pointing to the selfishness in his game, his maiden season in Europe with Monaco did little to dispel the myth.

Despite his contribution, the Roca Team lost the Final Four ticket to Olympiacos, while in the French LNB finals against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne he only scored 10 points on 4/9 from the field in Game 4, where his side had the chance to win the title. Despite starting the series with 3/5 from downtown in Game 1, Bacon went on to make only one three-pointer in his next 11 attempts up to Game 5.

In the championship-deciding game, he put up 14 points on 6/14 FG plus 8 rebounds, but ASVEL celebrated another domestic title. Overall, he and Monaco left the season empty-handed.

Bacon's scoring-oriented game has made some think he's selfish - and Panathinaikos' latest signing has addressed the issue, off the court, of course.

"People used to say I was selfish," Bacon said seven years ago. "To be honest, I'm still not sure where all that started. I'm really competitive, but selfish? Nah, can't see that. I've always been a player that's scored - always."

His scoring ability does indeed match the job description. But although Bacon has the tools to be an efficient scorer, he lacks a certain level of basketball IQ to do so consistently.

Quite frequently, he will chase the first scoring opportunity that presents itself. Taking a number of long, early mid-range jumpers is a very difficult way to make a living in the NBA, but Europe is a different beast - especially when it comes to dysfunctional teams like PAO.

Credit Vangelis Stolis

Given the fact that he often attacks the rim disregarding kick-out passes, indicates that his decision-making needs improvement. No matter how good an offensive player Bacon is, he's still got to prove that he is willing to trust his teammates by creating space and shots for them. He must also find a way to impact the game offensively without always being a ball-dominant player.

Moreover, his defensive commitment is inconsistent. He often loses his concentration off the ball, and is slow at rotating. When Bacon is engaged, he can be a reliable defender, using his size and length to keep the ball contained and contest perimeter jumpers.

He has the strength to contain most players his size, but the effort level and focus needed to be an impact defender fluctuates from possession to possession. Mental lapses of overcommitting or being late to closeout have certainly hurt his image as a defender.

Conclusion

Dwayne Bacon needed Panathinaikos just as much as the Greens needed to add a scorer to their roster. Among other things, the American swingman can help boost the team's fragile morale by taking the leading role.

Grigonis can make big shots but can't lead the team. Ponitka does dozens of things on the court, sacrificing his ego several times for the squad's sake, but the Polish forward can't provide an instant score.

Derrick Williams has the ability to produce points, but not the stability. He has proven that when the going gets tough, he's not one of those who get going. That's why -even on a career night like the one he had against Monaco- he didn't score a single point in the fourth quarter.

Credit Vangelis Stolis

If Bacon manages to take the reins at some point, PAO can also take one step forward. Radonjic has no choice but to hand him the keys, while making all the necessary adjustments according to what the gifted player brings to the table.

The last thing Bacon would want is to be part of a losing team. Time is ticking out at OAKA, since PAO stand at 1-4 and their next two home games against Partizan and Baskonia will largely decide the team's EuroLeague future.

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