RealGM

I mean, I saw Felton get abused by an even more diminutive pg (Nelson), DJ run around like the new kid on the school playground, Jax throw around more bricks than a Haitian earthquake (too soon?), and Chandler/Ratliff/Mohammed/Thomas used and abused by Howard and Gortat (shudder). Pretty much everyone not named Gerald Wallace sucked this series. Yeah, I know Diaw's offense resembles something reminiscent of a milk carton graphic but considering that he played out of position a lot in the post this year due to various injuries to TC, Nazr and Co. and before TT was acquired, I thought he did a bang up job. Not stellar, but decent.

But he always seems to be the first name bandied about in trade ideas. What happened to the love for the quiet Frenchman?

he came in to the season overweight, shows zero drive and is not very aggressive .....he reminds me of someone that plays basketball cause they are good at it not cause they love it

The Diaw hate has nothing to do with the playoff performance.

Also, I don't know why Jackson gets hate at all for how he played against Orlando... Compared to how everyone else was performing, who else should've been chucking? We were getting buried and even though Jack was missing, I'd rather see him jack up 20+ shots than anyone else on the team at the time (other than Wallace of course).

Haters gon hate?

I can't speak for anyone but myself but I think Diaw is extremely talented. The guy can do it all. He's got post game, spin moves, up and unders, change of direction, hesitation, outside and inside skills. He can pass and shoot as good as anybody. He guy has game. What he seems to lack is want to, heart, passion for the game. He rarely brings it. It is frustrating to see glimpes of it and then he disappears for the rest of the game. Too bad.

Diaw is too much of a ball hog for my taste. He has never met a shot he didn't want to take and he goes into chucker mode far too often. If he passed the ball every once in awhile then maybe I'd want to keep him around.

SWEDD523 wrote:Diaw is too much of a ball hog for my taste. He has never met a shot he didn't want to take and he goes into chucker mode far too often. If he passed the ball every once in awhile then maybe I'd want to keep him around.

Wait what?

Diaw? A chucker? If anything he overpasses to the point where he breaks plays.

On paper, the guy looks like a solid, versatile NBA power forward. When you see what he can do physically, you can immediately recognize how gifted he is. Then you see him on the court... and you can't help but be enraged as you see this guy waste talent in a way that few ever have.

Well, not talent or potential but impact is what matters in basketball game.

I don't hate Diaw but he's a chronic underachiever. He reminds me of Derrick Coleman; extremely talented but unwilling to put it to use.

Diaw's not slim, but I've never seen him with his shirt off so I can't say he looks "overweight" either. He just looks solid and fairly muscular to me, which is what I'd want to look like if I had to play in the post night in and night out.

As far as underachieving, he's just been putting up the same general numbers since he entered the league except for that one season in PHX when Amare was on the DL. I'd never say he reminds me of someone like Derrick Coleman (DC used to be explosive and could elevate), more like a softer Anthony Mason, Jr. who can hit the open 3.

I still argue that much of Diaw's lack of aggressive play is the result of him not wanting to get into early foul trouble and hamstringing the frontcourt while (insert injury-prone Bobcat big here) was out. He has probably had trouble adjusting to all the roster flux that is typical of LB.

I don't want to sound like too much of a Diaw apologetic, I'm just as put off about his lack of assertiveness as anybody, but the guy chips in 11 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4 apg and does so much more in the intangibles section.

I blame Felton more for Charlotte's offensive woes, but that's neither here nor there.

The problem is Diaw doesn't want it enough. It looked like he wanted it more than ever the first 5 mins of the Orlando series but quickly got bored and decided to utilize 10% of his abilities.

He doesn't know how to dominate his skillset apparently, which is why most here aren't a huge fan of him.

Diaw = Expected production > Actual production

DY_nasty wrote:Also, I don't know why Jackson gets hate at all for how he played against Orlando... Compared to how everyone else was performing, who else should've been chucking? We were getting buried and even though Jack was missing, I'd rather see him jack up 20+ shots than anyone else on the team at the time (other than Wallace of course).

Anyone. I don't agree with the "letting a shooter shoot it out" approach unless your name is Kobe, LeBron or Dwayne. If you can't throw it in the ocean that game, pass the ball. Jack didn't even do that.

I certainly don't want to see Crash launch anything. If he's driving the ball and gets 20 shots, ok. If he's gotta jack them up from the perimeter, I'd rather almost any non-center shoots instead.

Rich4114 wrote:The problem is Diaw doesn't want it enough. It looked like he wanted it more than ever the first 5 mins of the Orlando series but quickly got bored and decided to utilize 10% of his abilities.

He doesn't know how to dominate his skillset apparently, which is why most here aren't a huge fan of him.

Rich nailed it.

Diaw is just too much of a tease.

BigSlam wrote:

Rich4114 wrote:The problem is Diaw doesn't want it enough. It looked like he wanted it more than ever the first 5 mins of the Orlando series but quickly got bored and decided to utilize 10% of his abilities.

He doesn't know how to dominate his skillset apparently, which is why most here aren't a huge fan of him.

Rich nailed it.

Diaw is just too much of a tease.

You can't turn a spaniel into a doberman by wishing it would act more like a doberman. Diaw is a talented guy, but he's a bit undersized at the 4, isn't a physical player, and just isn't focused on achievement. The argument Brother Dave makes for his averages makes the case of just how "average" Diaw is. I resent paying a guy $9M per season for average (or below average in many games). I especially resent having a guy who was finally to be our PF answer become such a tease (per Slam's words). He's French, so he brings a classic french attitude to his game...

Announcer: Boris, you were expected to deliver a strong performance in your matchup tonight, but only scored 5 points and grabbed 1 rebound. What happened"

Diaw: " Oh...C'est La Vie" ... (english translation.."such is life...")

That seems to sum up what he might say. I see that stupid look on his face as he goes through a game, letting us down, and that phrase is what I hear him saying...

hate is the wrong word... its diaw "frustration"

he frustrates me the same way okafor use to frustrate me. he has all the tools, yet he cant seem to put it all together for a long stretch and he seems to lack passion and fire.

No need to assign all of Diaw's failing to all French people eveywhere, there are plenty of fiery, super-motivated French people in the world....

fatlever wrote:hate is the wrong word... its diaw "frustration"

he frustrates me the same way okafor use to frustrate me. he has all the tools, yet he cant seem to put it all together for a long stretch and he seems to lack passion and fire.

+1 with one important exception....

I wouldn't say that Diaw "has all the tools," Lebron James has all the tools, Kobe Bryant has all the tools, Diaw? not so much. For all his skill, He's usually shorter, smaller, and less athletic than his match-up on any given night, and that counts for a lot in the NBA.

touche... perhaps "all the tools" is the wrong expression.

e4Nf6 wrote:No need to assign all of Diaw's failing to all French people eveywhere, there are plenty of fiery, super-motivated French people in the world....

fatlever wrote:hate is the wrong word... its diaw "frustration"

he frustrates me the same way okafor use to frustrate me. he has all the tools, yet he cant seem to put it all together for a long stretch and he seems to lack passion and fire.

+1 with one important exception....

I wouldn't say that Diaw "has all the tools," Lebron James has all the tools, Kobe Bryant has all the tools, Diaw? not so much. For all his skill, He's usually shorter, smaller, and less athletic than his match-up on any given night, and that counts for a lot in the NBA.

Does brain count into "tools"? Sometimes I don't think certain superstars has it.

in four games with the magic, the bobcats blocked 15 shots (diaw, starting PF had 3, chandler 3, mohammed 2, thomas 2). wallace had 6 blocks himself.

in four games against the bobcats, howard had 20 blocks.

what this means is that any penetrating guard will meet little resistance. you don't play individual defense. you play team defense. if felton/dj lets nelson go by and there's no help defense, then they start giving nelson room which means he has more opportunities to take open shots.

good defensive big men make perimeter defenders better.