Diaw and 38 cats games

[manou]

Ok I thought it was time to look at what Diaw is doing, after half a season under his belt here. He's a very important part of the team, and I think dealing for him was a great idea.

His cats line: 15.1pts (48.2%) - 6.3rbds - 4.9asts - 1.2trey - 1.0stl - 0.9blk

Really nice line, not enough rebound for a PF obviously, but he's not "really" a PF. I actually don't know what position he is, I don't know another player like him in the whole league.

Cats record: 19-19 with him in the lineup. That's not a "great" record, but it is a show of hope for the end of the season. He's a guy who needs to be accostumed to others in order to make his creative passes. Wait until next year, he'll be better (as in less turnovers...).

Noteworhy:
- only two players shoot 50% from the field, and 40% from the 3pt line for the season. One of them is Nelson, the other is Diaw (50% and 43%).
- only two players are in the 1stl-1blk-1trey club (Sheed and Lebron). Diaw is really really close to become a third member of that club.

[amcoolio]

19-17 if you exclude the two games Diaw played little minutes and acclimated to the system.

I agree that with a whole offseason I am excited to see how well Diaw and the team mesh instead of an in-season trade where they were thrown in the fire. Diaw was interviewed on WFNZ (in place for Larry Brown) yesterday and he seems to really enjoy Charlotte, his playing time and tutoring Ajinca. It was a win-win trade for the Bobcats, something they'd do every time.

I think with an offseason of practice and instruction from Brown (Diaw needs to be our go-to guy on offense, Brown is stressing that) Diaw could average 20/5/5 next season, or close to it.

Did you know the Bobcats have 4 of the NBA's top 3 point shooters? And this is after we traded Morrison, Carroll, and J-Rich.

[Walt Cronkite]

^Boris, Bell, Radmanovic, ????

[spectre_]

Just imagine if we'd have had Crash for that stretch after the LAL game. 5 losses, when we probably could have won at least 2 if not 3 of those games.

That'd put it up to around 21 - 15.

Amazing what he's done for us.

[fatlever]

^Boris, Bell, Radmanovic, ????

and dj

[fatlever]

i do seem to remember making a statement that if boris was here after the trade deadline i would buy a boris jersey. i'll have one by the start of next season..... which, of course, it the kiss of death.

[Dexmor]

Well to say there are no players like him is not entirely true but he is rare.
For his size and position though does it get any worse when it comes to rebounding?
He is not a small guy. He's got a huge but and is 6'8 and plays the 4. He should be getting min 8 boards a game.
I think he could average 20 points but will never be as consistant as you have to be to do so.

[amcoolio]

Whats nice is his ability to handle the ball. Having a point forward is always good, thats what made the Bulls unbeatable with Kukoc AND Pippen, both forwards who could act like PG's. Despite the over usage of "point foward" there are very few in the NBA (Lebron, Diaw, Tayshaun, Lamar Odom?) and in all cases it makes the team better.

[fatlever]

the two things that surprised me the most about diaw...

1) - not a huge surprise, but he is a better 3pt shooter than i anticipated.
2) - dude has some of the sickest post moves in the league. man, i love watching old school post moves ala mchale, hakeem - the up-and-under, the spins, the baby hook... boris has some of the best footwork in the post in the league. there's only a handful of players in the league today that are creative in the post, most just want to go around the defender or thru the defender and have no ability to just flat out abuse the defender with a series of fakes, spins etc...

[Dexmor]

I think MJ is what won the Bulls championships but your right pf's are awesome. The only problem I have with Diaw is that he rebounds like a wing player instead of a 4.

List of point forwards

Lebron
Diaw
Prince
Odom
Granger
Turk
Hill
Jackson


Maybe

Butler-Mostly scorers but do handle alot of pg duties so idk if you count them
Pierce-Same as Butler
Love-He can't dribble so Idk if you count him but makes plays like a pg
Walton-Ditto

[amcoolio]

Granger is more a SG/SF hybrid. Turk does handle the ball, I guess you can consider him a point forward but not a great one...Magic fans are not in love with Hedo's PG skills and were thrilled when they got Alston....Hill I was gonna mention but figured he is past his prime and needs to retire already...Steven Jackson is another one but I consider him to be in the same case of Granger

Love is like Bogut, a good passing big man but no handles

[Dexmor]

Dunleavy also.
Although I will say this, when it comes to just being a point forward not who is a better overall player but who is the best point forward the only person to beat Diaw is Lebron James.

Diaw's post moves didn't surprise me because Laker fan also so I have to know the West coast teams and players also. Plus he played Center for a whole year so it really shouldn't have surprised anybody.

[Bassman]

This offseason I would love to move Diaw to the 3, trade Crash and someone for a quality BIG PF, draft a killer SG, and pray Ajinca becomes a real NBA player. I think Boris can guard most 3's and create matchup issues on the post. Against smaller quicker teams he could play more minutes at the 4 and use our reserve SF to defend. While we will often be outmatched at the 5 when Oak plays big centers, a high quality PF with length and size, than can rebound and shoot with some range would help this team a lot. Crash does a lot of good work on the boards, but he is getting mauled in that role.

[thruthefire]

Boris at small forward = horrible idea

[BigSlam]

Boris at small forward = horrible idea

[Rich4114]

i do seem to remember making a statement that if boris was here after the trade deadline i would buy a boris jersey. i'll have one by the start of next season..... which, of course, it the kiss of death.

Don't do it! Actually you guys wanna hear a funny story regarding bad jersey karma? I'll tell you anyway.

So back when I was a Hornets fan, I went out and got myself an LJ jersey... favorite player... what happens 1 year later? Major back injury and they ship him off to the Knicks.

No problem, enter Glen Rice. Pick myself up a nice #41 Purple Road jersey... what happens? He gets pissed off at the team and they trade him for Eddie Jones.

Ugh, alright... a little later I push off buying a Baron Davis jersey so I end up coming across this #1 Charlotte jersey, no player name, just blank jersey. 1 year later the frickin entire team moves. Haven't purchased a jersey since.

[freakon0mics]

Not only has Boris been great on the court for the team, but picking him up in my fantasy league saved my season. He is just a beast when it comes to stats.

[fatlever]

i traded for boris in my dynasty league 2 weeks ago. now i have crash and diaw. woo hoo.

[Dexmor]

I am getting Jerseys. I have had to pay for Nets/Knicks games when I lived there and then nba league pass when I lived in iowa for 5 years so I haven't gotten to follow 1 teams every game since 02 or so. I am very greatful. I will embrace every good Bobcat player without being a homer. I just wish they didn't use the orange color so much.

Anyway Boris at sf is not a bad idea because he is such a good 3 point shooter and it's pretty easy to make plays being a wing player and HE CANT REBOUND. With that said it's not a bad combo having Wallace and Diaw as the forwards because Wallace does rebound like a 4 or close to it. Overall it's a small front lineup and considering we use a 2 pg backcourt it's bringing a new name to small ball.
Raja Bell I would say we should keep him long term if he was 28 or even 29 but at 32 going on 33 or is he 33 I would say we should go for a sg. I could see playing Wallace at the 2 if he can learn to shoot the open 3.
I do think moving Diaw to the 3 would be the best option and getting a pf would be good or getting a C and moving Mek to pf would be equally as good.
Either way like I posted before we need to keep Felton/Diaw/Mek and get 2 new starters hoping 1 will be an allstar. Maybe we will get one threw the draft (a starter not allstar Im not delusional) and maybe a midlevel fa or a Wallace trade.
I do think they would be alright if they can get Diaw to rebound more and Felts is a good rebounder so if they can idealy get a sg that can create and score 15-18 and 4-5 boards they can contend. Top 4 seed.
I think if there gonna trade Wallace now is the time because he is a player who coasts on athletism and hustle but no skill. He is getting older. Problem is he has no trade value. A John Salmons would have been the perfect 2 for us cause he boards.
The good thing about LB is he wants every player to board (he got Rip up to 5) so hopefully Diaw will improve his rebounding which would mean we are a sg away from contending assuming we sign Felts from contending.

Our pick is top 16 or 17th protected so even if we do make the playoffs we got a chance at a sg.

[rsavaj]

Boris>Richardson