FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.If you're attempting to put together a competing team without a superstar, you need a lynchpin. A guy who can do several things well, if no one thing brilliantly. Some opt for a point guard, some opt for a traditional big man. Larry Brown opted for Boris Diaw.
Since being traded to Charlotte last season, Diaw went from being the gap filler in Phoenix who could never quite fill the tank completely, to the lynchpin in Charlotte. The Bobcats came on strong at the end of the year, narrowly mising an oppotunity to lose to the Celtics in fewer games than the Bulls did. And if they're going to build on that success, Diaw is going to have to maintain his role on the Cats.
In Charlotte, Diaw posted a career high for points per 36, and had his best statistical year since 2005-2006 when he was the Amare fill-in for SSOL. This is especially impressive considering the pace differential. More important is how Brown used Diaw.
Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace benefited a lot from Diaw, thanks to his interior passing. Diaw's time in the high post allowed him to use his specialized, but diverse set of skills to create for the Cats, something that was missing when it was just Jason Richardson trying to score a lot of points.
Diaw led all players in plus/minus, and his time at the four allowed for a positional shift that was huge for the Cats. Putting Diaw at the power forward position allowed Gerald wallace to slide to three, not only boosting his natural abilities, but lowering the risk of him accidentally killing himself. Meanwhile, with Diaw's ability to play at the perimeter, pick and roll defense improved and both Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin had more room to work penetration.
Like I said, Diaw's a jack of all trades, master of none. He's extremely capable of handling a variety of roles, including low and high post, perimeter, catch and shoot, and working the glass on both sides. He's not a fantastic player, and can easily be overwhelmed by a superior player and removed from the flow of the game. But when he's working in every phase of the game and adjusting, it's hard to compensate, which also frees the other players up.
So we enter year two of the Bobcats makeover, with Gerald Henderson joining the party, D.J. Augustin settling in, and Tyson Chandler patrolling the paint. The question is if Diaw can actually improve or if he slides back with more weight on his shoulders. But as the lynchpin of this team, if you're going to watch one player on the Bobcats, keep an eye on Diaw, on and off the ball.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I disagree with "he's not a fantastic player". He was absolutely vital to that 05/06 Suns squad and really came through for them in the playoffs. His playoff stats were awesome.
Alas, the days someone would opt for a brilliant point guard were before the 24 second clock, and the lane widenings. Point guards could stall out games, leading to shots when defenses were bored or frustrated. Phil Jackson`s use of the triangle has not only won him 10 championships, more than any other coach, it has also firmly entrenched the notion teams need a big, scoring, guard who plays defense, to dominate one side of the court one on one, with little movement, and little team coordination, and a defending, one on one scoring, wing forward or power center, dominsting the other side. Slowing the game down, on both ends of the court, making it two on two, plus, not five on five, plus. The non Jackson championships of Bird and Johnson, which were once praised for Earvin`s passing, are now praised in the triangle mold, Johnson as the Pippen, Jabbar as the O`Neal, sort of, and Bird as the Pippen and Parish as the O`Neal. And the contributions of Walton, McHale, Ainge, DJ, etc., for Boston, and Worthy, Scott, McAdoo, Cooper, etc., for Los Angeles, underplayed to fit the Jackson style. And sure, superstars do a lot sometimes to help win games. But think of the all stars maligned as Jordanires. Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, BJ Armstrong. And the Lakers would even alotted as much as that indignity, though they had some of the same guys, Grant, Rodman, Harper, as well as other good players, like Derek Harper. But not a John Stockton/Bob Cousy among them. As for the BobCats, we`ll see if they can develop so guys in the half foot range between Chandler, 7`1, and Diaw, 6`7. Forwards. 6`9 and 6`11 on the bigger teams. Speed is valuable, especially in the regular season, but so is power. Speed alone may be better than power alone, but it is sure nice to have both.