Gorgui Dieng

[teamjosh04]

If he did tell a reporter that, it was in the heat of the moment after winning a National Championship. once the euphoria subsides, he will stick to his original plan.

I'm sure that he will enter the Draft, he is old and needs to start his professional career. Won't gain anything by staying at Louisville for his senior year.

Unless of course he wants an education. Being from Senegal, the education might mean a lot to him. His stock can't go lower if he stays, barring injury. If he uses it to work on his game, he might increase it. But who knows.

his education does mean a lot to him - which is why he is set to graduate early already

[ROballer]

He's apparently entering his name in the draft afterall

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... ill-return

[mid-post]

I started off as a skeptic, but his skills, bbiq and mobility seem to be pretty good for a guy his size. The Taj Gibson comparison might be mostly based on age and position, but I think Dieng's a good "potential" pick in the mid first round.

[countrybama24]

He's a starting big man for sure. He won't be elite, and might have to be the first big off the bench on some teams, but he will be able to knock down open mid range jumpers, play great help defense, stay out of foul trouble, and finish pick and rolls. He's truly an underrated passer as well, on top of great footwork (grew up playing soccer). He'll be one of the top 5 bigs in the draft imo.

[No-Man]

His problem is his body, he has no strenght, he could be a good all around player, but couldnt play Center and anchor a defense in NBA, he's a back up big for sure, he would be a nice fit in some places, like Brooklyn.

If he keeps developing his shot, he has a chance.

[jman3134]

Dieng is very strong. Are we watching the same guy?

[ManualRam]

i think he'll have issues with strength as well. he could be close to maxing out his potential strength-wise as well. he put on weight this past off-season, but he does have those sloping shoulders that give the appearance that he can't put on much more weight in the future.

[Mlockhart]

I wasn't sold on Deng early on, but he has quietly developed into an NBA prospect. He will probably get some consideration late first or early second round. One can make a ten year career out blocking shots, rebounding, and setting screens. I would rather have him than Miles Plumlee (NBA Draft 2012) who somehow convinced Larry Bird to ignore all the game film that existed and draft him at the end of the first round based off of how he performed at the combine.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Does he compare with Dalembert or Okafor?

His low scoring is a concern, but he does have the best assist rates among big men in the draft, so he could definitely be involved in a teams offense.


Would he be a stretch if a lottery team needed a defensive big man who could contribute sooner rather than later (I am thinking of Portland).

[Dr Positivity]

Does he compare with Dalembert or Okafor?

Better offense than either between shooting, hands and passing. A lot better instincts than plug Dalembert. I think the consensus will move increasingly towards that he's a starting C in the NBA, which wouldn't make him a lotto stretch at all

[ManualRam]

as bad as okafor is offensively, i don't think dieng will ever be as productive as emeka was offensively at one point. even if he lacked skill and touch, he still had the strength and athleticism to will himself to 13-15 ppg. dieng likely won't ever see double digits as a scorer, nor will he have the offensive freedom to see if he can.

[No-Man]

Dalembert and Okafor are strong as hell, Dieng is a piece of paper compared to them, his low body strenght specially sucks hard.

Dieng is similar too Udoh with better passing skills.

3rd string big at best.

[Ell Curry]

Dieng has the foot speed and intelligence to be a good defender at the 5 once he adds some more strength. Louisville pressed often, but unlike a team like VCU, their D in the halfcourt was also great. That is tough, and largely a result of Dieng being great on D.

On offense, he passes well, doesn't try to do too much and has a good mid-range jumper. Seems like that's enough to be a starting C in the NBA. As the league gets more spread, a mobile shot blocker who can defend the P+R (which Dieng was great at, as Louisville had the #1 pick and roll D in the country) like Joakim Noah will be prized as a defensive 5.

The big question for me with him is that Louisville was not a good defensive rebounding team. Dieng did get a decent number of boards (9 in 31 minutes) but still, that's a worry. Was he going for too many blocks and not boxing out his man enough? Their D still managed to be #1 in the country, though, so maybe it's not a big deal. Still, you worry about him getting empty rebounds without helping his team actually get more rebounds with him on the floor (I think Kris Humphries is an example of this, if I remember some blog post from last year correctly).

[SkyMason21]

Dieng has the foot speed and intelligence to be a good defender at the 5 once he adds some more strength. Louisville pressed often, but unlike a team like VCU, their D in the halfcourt was also great. That is tough, and largely a result of Dieng being great on D.

On offense, he passes well, doesn't try to do too much and has a good mid-range jumper. Seems like that's enough to be a starting C in the NBA. As the league gets more spread, a mobile shot blocker who can defend the P+R (which Dieng was great at, as Louisville had the #1 pick and roll D in the country) like Joakim Noah will be prized as a defensive 5.

The big question for me with him is that Louisville was not a good defensive rebounding team. Dieng did get a decent number of boards (9 in 31 minutes) but still, that's a worry. Was he going for too many blocks and not boxing out his man enough? Their D still managed to be #1 in the country, though, so maybe it's not a big deal. Still, you worry about him getting empty rebounds without helping his team actually get more rebounds with him on the floor (I think Kris Humphries is an example of this, if I remember some blog post from last year correctly).

Dieng was our best defensive rebounder per game wise (6.0 defensive boards per game and 7.7 per 40). It was mostly our other bigs and Guards that struggled on the defensive boards.. Harrell was probably the worst rebound out of our main rotational bigs even though he got better at times as the season went on(averaged 8.9 rebounds per 40, and 5.1 defensive boards per 40). Chane was good overall with 10 per 40 but he was meh on the defensive boards with 5.5 per 40. Van treese looked like our best overall rebounder some games but idk where to find his stats. Edit: Van Treese average 3.1 boards in 11 minutes a game so you can guess he was pulling down rebounds at a similar rate or better then Dieng.

Then if you factor in we basically started two PG sized players in Siva and Smith, as well as closing games with Hancock instead of Blackshear (who was the better rebound of the 2) you can see why we weren't the best defensive rebounding team.

[reapaman]

Dalembert and Okafor are strong as hell, Dieng is a piece of paper compared to them, his low body strenght specially sucks hard.

Dieng is similar too Udoh with better passing skills.

3rd string big at best.

What are you talking about, Dieng is very strong. Nobody was able to push him around in college this season. I mean Mcgary who's 250 lb was man handling guys in the tournament then he went against Dieng and Mcgary got pushed around and just couldn't do much versus Dieng.

Plus Udoh was just a shot blocker who didn't know how to get into a proper defensive stance let alone play good man to man defense. Dieng is an all around defensive monster.

I have no idea what guy your talking about but its not Dieng.

[Blazinaway]

Dalembert and Okafor are strong as hell, Dieng is a piece of paper compared to them, his low body strenght specially sucks hard.

Dieng is similar too Udoh with better passing skills.

3rd string big at best.

What are you talking about, Dieng is very strong. Nobody was able to push him around in college this season. I mean Mcgary who's 250 lb was man handling guys in the tournament then he went against Dieng and Mcgary got pushed around and just couldn't do much versus Dieng.

Plus Udoh was just a shot blocker who didn't know how to get into a proper defensive stance let alone play good man to man defense. Dieng is an all around defensive monster.

I have no idea what guy your talking about but its not Dieng.

Thx for your opinion on this. The one knock on Gorgui that seems common from what I have read is his lower body "weakness" - I wonder if this is really the case? I only watched him in the tourney but that did not at all seem to be a problem to me. I know he has changed his body greatly in the past 3 years and probably could even get stronger, however one has to ask is he "strong enough" in an era of NBA bigs that for the most part do not rely on having a behemooth in the middle. Shot blocking and defense/rebounding with good mobility seem to be the new NBA "C" - seems like Gorgui fits this mold very well.

[tidho]

Dieng looks like a 3rd big to me. Can probably play both positions, doesn't have much offense but will be a good defender after adding some lower body strength. I don't think he's a lottery pick, but late teens make sense to me.

[No-Man]

He's a good fit for Brooklyn, that's as high as I can see him going.