Moose On The Loose: The Moussa Diabate Thread

[JMAC3]

Moussa can play 50 games on the 2-way deal. He is only at 15 so far, so my guess is they see what the roster looks like heading into trade deadline before making anything official about contract. Him getting a real 15 man roster contract is probably what he is hoping for at this point, so see no issue with only being able to give him a 2 yr min deal.

[Rich4114]

It wasn't going to take much for me to say this, but Diabate is a better backup C for us than Nick Richards. Nick is better at finishing in the paint and that is it. Diabate clears in every other way especially around preserving possessions and being smart on defense. He's pure energy/effort. Nick has effort, but he's reckless with it and he has perceived value to the rest of the league. We can add better backup PG or wing if we're willing to move him to a team desperate for a big like NOLA or LAL.

[JMAC3]

It wasn't going to take much for me to say this, but Diabate is a better backup C for us than Nick Richards. Nick is better at finishing in the paint and that is it. Diabate clears in every other way especially around preserving possessions and being smart on defense. He's pure energy/effort. Nick has effort, but he's reckless with it and he has perceived value to the rest of the league. We can add better backup PG or wing if we're willing to move him to a team desperate for a big like NOLA or LAL.

I like Diabate, but I also think this is selling Nick pretty short and maybe dumbing down the offensive end too much. Nick is a better screen setter, better roller, better lob threat, better finisher all together, better free throw shooter...

Nick had some pretty awesome games in the 4 full games he played this year.
24 pts, 14 boards, 4 blocks, 4 assists
12 pts, 12 boards, 3 blocks
12 pts, 13 boards.

He had 17 offensive rebounds in that 3 game sample.

I do agree Diabate is a better switching big and the better offensive rebounder but his offense is wayyy behind Nick. We just need to continue to build his confidence and develop him, but as I stated a few weeks ago. Would be nice to actually have 3 real centers for awhile before we start mocking up trades sending one of them out. Then we are 1 injury away from being exactly where we are now.

[KembaWalker]

the most responsible option, especially with Mark as one of them is rolling with 3 centers in whatever order and get a cheap PG elsewhere, and get out from Jeffries, Rhoden, or Micic

[HornetJail]

It wasn't going to take much for me to say this, but Diabate is a better backup C for us than Nick Richards. Nick is better at finishing in the paint and that is it. Diabate clears in every other way especially around preserving possessions and being smart on defense. He's pure energy/effort. Nick has effort, but he's reckless with it and he has perceived value to the rest of the league. We can add better backup PG or wing if we're willing to move him to a team desperate for a big like NOLA or LAL.

I like Diabate, but I also think this is selling Nick pretty short and maybe dumbing down the offensive end too much. Nick is a better screen setter, better roller, better lob threat, better finisher all together, better free throw shooter...

Nick had some pretty awesome games in the 4 full games he played this year.
24 pts, 14 boards, 4 blocks, 4 assists
12 pts, 12 boards, 3 blocks
12 pts, 13 boards.

He had 17 offensive rebounds in that 3 game sample.

I do agree Diabate is a better switching big and the better offensive rebounder but his offense is wayyy behind Nick. We just need to continue to build his confidence and develop him, but as I stated a few weeks ago. Would be nice to actually have 3 real centers for awhile before we start mocking up trades sending one of them out. Then we are 1 injury away from being exactly where we are now.

Nick lights up Poeltl for whatever reason, i haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what he's exploiting, but he does that to him almost every time, and against nobody else.

Richards is a better catch-and-finish guy and that's about it. Which is important when Melo is feeding you, but Diabate has him beat essentially everywhere else. I know we're not romanticizing Nick Richards' screen setting now.

[fatlever]

I don't think you can argue that Nick Richards is a better screensetter. At best they are even. Nick is clearly a better option for lob and hitting him on the roll. Nick is clearly a more polished offensive player. The difference is on the defensive end. i think diabate demolishes nick defensively and right now that's showing in the on off stats and defensive rating stats with Diabate on the court.

And Nick's true elite skill is his offensive rebounding. And Diabate is actually a better offensive rebounder. Nick clearly is better when it comes to scoring off of those offensive rebounds. To me Nick is a lot of empty stats for a center.

[yosemiteben]

I don't think you can argue that Nick Richards is a better screensetter. At best they are even.

I know we're not romanticizing Nick Richards' screen setting now.

I actually don't think there is any real argument that he's not the better screensetter. Per 36 he is top 5 in the league in screen assists: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?sort=SCREEN_ASSISTS&dir=1&PerMode=Per36

He's got almost double the screen assists than Moussa on a per 36 basis.

[fatlever]

I do agree that ideally we roll with all three centers. so you can't trust mark to stay healthy, Mark is your starter and Nick and Diabate can be switched in and out based off of need.

[fatlever]

If we can get to the trade deadline with a healthy mark and Diabate continues to show some growth and doesn't regress it's possible we could flip Nick at the deadline for a couple of seconds.

[HornetJail]

I don't think you can argue that Nick Richards is a better screensetter. At best they are even.

I know we're not romanticizing Nick Richards' screen setting now.

I actually don't think there is any real argument that he's not the better screensetter. Per 36 he is top 5 in the league in screen assists: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?sort=SCREEN_ASSISTS&dir=1&PerMode=Per36

He's got almost double the screen assists than Moussa on a per 36 basis.

yeah because Nick was starting and therefore playing with Melo.

Which bench player was getting Diabate screen assists until like 3 games ago? Tre Mann? Seth? the ghost of Micic?

Richards is far from a good screen setter. Diabate may be worse, but it's more like asking which is better? Getting punched or kicked in the nuts?

[JMAC3]

I don't think you can argue that Nick Richards is a better screensetter. At best they are even.

I know we're not romanticizing Nick Richards' screen setting now.

I actually don't think there is any real argument that he's not the better screensetter. Per 36 he is top 5 in the league in screen assists: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?sort=SCREEN_ASSISTS&dir=1&PerMode=Per36

He's got almost double the screen assists than Moussa on a per 36 basis.

We haven't really been using Moussa as a screener much because he is such a bad finisher, even when he does set a screen Melo doesn't have as easy time scoring because the roll guy is less of a threat, but the numbers don't lie here.

Will be interesting to see how these numbers bake out too, Moussa has been awesome on/off defense but like someone just pointed out Moussa has been playing more against reserves in smaller sample sizes.

Fully healthy I would hope center rotation looks something like this....
Mark plays roughly 24 mpg.
Grant plays 6-8 mpg as a small ball 5.
Then Nick/Moussa play the other 16-18 mpg depending on matchup.
- Moussa vs the stretch 5s like Mo Wagner, Myles Turner etc because he is better at perimeter defense/switching
- Nick vs the teams who are smaller on the inside and can punish them on the offensive end or the real big backups like Drummond.

[fatlever]

Fully healthy I would hope center rotation looks something like this....
Mark plays roughly 24 mpg.
Grant plays 6-8 mpg as a small ball 5.
Then Nick/Moussa play the other 16-18 mpg depending on matchup.
- Moussa vs the stretch 5s like Mo Wagner, Myles Turner etc because he is better at perimeter defense/switching
- Nick vs the teams who are smaller on the inside and can punish them on the offensive end or the real big backups like Drummond.

Yeah I agree that's probably the best way forward assuming all of our big men are healthy. It will be curious to see if coach Lee is the type of coach who will interchangeably use these guys based on matchup. He definitely seems a lot more willing to do that than Clifford. Clifford would have had his set rotations no matter what. I think using grant Nick and Moose Interchangeably based on need opponent is the best way forward

[yosemiteben]

I don't think you can argue that Nick Richards is a better screensetter. At best they are even.

I know we're not romanticizing Nick Richards' screen setting now.

I actually don't think there is any real argument that he's not the better screensetter. Per 36 he is top 5 in the league in screen assists: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?sort=SCREEN_ASSISTS&dir=1&PerMode=Per36

He's got almost double the screen assists than Moussa on a per 36 basis.

yeah because Nick was starting and therefore playing with Melo.

Which bench player was getting Diabate screen assists until like 3 games ago? Tre Mann? Seth? the ghost of Micic?

Well let's be nice and act like if Diabate started he'd perform exactly like he did last night. On a per 36 basis, that would be good for *checks stats* 25% of the screen assists that Nick is averaging per 36 on the season.

Richards is far from a good screen setter. Diabate may be worse, but it's more like asking which is better? Getting punched or kicked in the nuts?

How do you square this sentiment with the fact that Nick is top 5 in the league in screen assists?

[JMAC3]

Fully healthy I would hope center rotation looks something like this....
Mark plays roughly 24 mpg.
Grant plays 6-8 mpg as a small ball 5.
Then Nick/Moussa play the other 16-18 mpg depending on matchup.
- Moussa vs the stretch 5s like Mo Wagner, Myles Turner etc because he is better at perimeter defense/switching
- Nick vs the teams who are smaller on the inside and can punish them on the offensive end or the real big backups like Drummond.

Yeah I agree that's probably the best way forward assuming all of our big men are healthy. It will be curious to see if coach Lee is the type of coach who will interchangeably use these guys based on matchup. He definitely seems a lot more willing to do that than Clifford. Clifford would have had his set rotations no matter what. I think using grant Nick and Moose Interchangeably based on need opponent is the best way forward

Don't want to get too far ahead of us, but also having a bit more depth up front could help us feel a bit more confident in being a more physical and aggressive team on the boards and protecting the rim. Are Nick and Mark able to block more shots knowing that if they pick up 2-3 early fouls we aren't completely screwed?

[SWedd523]

I have never understood why Nick gets so much hate when he produces at the high end of backup centers and it's not his fault he's been thrust into heavy starter minutes. If Mark ever could play basketball then Nick would almost always have an advantage against opposing backups.

Additionally, we are clearly right in the middle of the honeymoon phase with Diabetes

[KembaWalker]

I have never understood why Nick gets so much hate when he produces at the high end of backup centers and it's not his fault he's been thrust into heavy starter minutes. If Mark ever could play basketball then Nick would almost always have an advantage against opposing backups.

Additionally, we are clearly right in the middle of the honeymoon phase with Diabetes

Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year for a little fling with Diabetes

[wilson115]

Moussa got some playing time at least.

Read on Twitter

[MasterIchiro]

Moussa got some playing time at least.

Read on Twitter

I'm getting excited about his ceiling. And I think that's perfectly justifiable.

[Diop]

A couple of times I’ve seen the opposition get annoyed at him. Love his effort and his perimeter defense is truly elite for big

[MasterIchiro]

I do wonder why the refs ejected Aaron Holiday for smack-talking our C3 of all people, after the game was already settled. The deep bench of the Rockets did not like the way he manhandled them. Refs didn't hesitate. Diabaté kept his nose clean and let his fierce play do all the talking. And Holiday is a vet. I wonder what he said.