Moose On The Loose: The Moussa Diabate Thread

[MasterIchiro]

If he keeps playing this well Jeff Peterson needs to give him a regular NBA contract.

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So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

[yosemiteben]

If he keeps playing this well Jeff Peterson needs to give him a regular NBA contract.

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So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

He looked fine but he wasn't why the lead grew like it did.

[HornetJail]

If he keeps playing this well Jeff Peterson needs to give him a regular NBA contract.

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So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

not good, but he doesn't completely hemorrhage baskets on defense like Richards does. Lost in Richards' big stats, his defense was absolutely painful last night, even worse than it usually is.

But no I don't think Diabate had a big impact, it was the other guys on the floor making the runs

[yosemiteben]

If he keeps playing this well Jeff Peterson needs to give him a regular NBA contract.

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So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

not good, but he doesn't completely hemorrhage baskets on defense like Richards does. Lost in Richards' big stats, his defense was absolutely painful last night, even worse than it usually is.

But no I don't think Diabate had a big impact, it was the other guys on the floor making the runs

I just truly don't know how you can watch that game last night and came away blaming our bigs for TOR's ease in scoring the ball.

ETA: Here is a link to players defense stats filtered for last game for centers: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall?LastNGames=1&PlayerPosition=C

Nick's DFGA is 17, and his DFG% is 58.8%. Not great, but that percentage is comparable to JJJ and Zubac higher than Gobert, Kessler, and Bam.

We also play a very switch heavy defense, so Nick is not just sitting in drop contesting everything in the paint. He is not the one getting blown by on the perimeter, and it's not his job to always be in the paint to protect the rim.

[MasterIchiro]

If he keeps playing this well Jeff Peterson needs to give him a regular NBA contract.

Read on Twitter

So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

not good, but he doesn't completely hemorrhage baskets on defense like Richards does. Lost in Richards' big stats, his defense was absolutely painful last night, even worse than it usually is.

But no I don't think Diabate had a big impact, it was the other guys on the floor making the runs

I share your pain when watching Nick let down his guards on defense.

I suppose the eye test depends on differences in tendency to notice guards letting down Nick vs. noticing when Nick lets down POA defenders and the rest of the defense. His slow reads compromise the whole defense and look like the trigger of collapse too often for me.

I can see guards being a factor in 82 points surrendered in the paint.

What I cannot see is how any fan could grant blanket immunity to Nick Richards and never acknowledge the many times when he lets down guard defenders, not the other way around.

I do want to acquire a C2 and push Nick to C3 by the start of next season when we are positioned to make some big moves.

We may be an OK regular season team with Nick as C2 but I don't trust him enough to play minutes in a series. We are not a serious team with Nick in our rotation.

[HornetJail]

So wait, the victory margin was created during the minutes where Diabate subbed in and Nick Richards sat?

What did Diabate do out there? How does he look?

not good, but he doesn't completely hemorrhage baskets on defense like Richards does. Lost in Richards' big stats, his defense was absolutely painful last night, even worse than it usually is.

But no I don't think Diabate had a big impact, it was the other guys on the floor making the runs

I just truly don't know how you can watch that game last night and came away blaming our bigs for TOR's ease in scoring the ball.

ETA: Here is a link to players defense stats filtered for last game for centers: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall?LastNGames=1&PlayerPosition=C

Nick's DFGA is 17, and his DFG% is 58.8%. Not great, but that percentage is comparable to JJJ and Zubac higher than Gobert, Kessler, and Bam.

We also play a very switch heavy defense, so Nick is not just sitting in drop contesting everything in the paint. He is not the one getting blown by on the perimeter, and it's not his job to always be in the paint to protect the rim.

Oh he's far from the only one, this game was an entire disaster class from just about everyone on defense. But let's be real, the defensive instincts have never been there for Nick. Positioning, timing his block attempts, selling out for the block and missing the defensive rebounding opportunities, etc. All were pretty evident in this game as they usually are. He's not a deterrent, he's a target.

[MPM]

Really liking what I'm seeing from Diabate. Just 22, incredibly active, and think we've yet to see the breadth of his game. Last night was the first I've seen him switched out on guards on the perimeter and he looked very good defending out at the 3. Rumor is he has a shot as well. Time will tell, but so far, so good.

[KembaWalker]

Really liking what I'm seeing from Diabate. Just 22, incredibly active, and think we've yet to see the breadth of this game. Last night was the first I've seen him switched out on guards on the perimeter and he looked very good defending out at the 3. Rumor is he has a shot as well. Time will tell, but so far, so good.

If he has any shooting touch he certainly doesn’t display it at the FT line, been treating his shooting fouls as a turnover

[MPM]

Really liking what I'm seeing from Diabate. Just 22, incredibly active, and think we've yet to see the breadth of this game. Last night was the first I've seen him switched out on guards on the perimeter and he looked very good defending out at the 3. Rumor is he has a shot as well. Time will tell, but so far, so good.

If he has any shooting touch he certainly doesn’t display it at the FT line, been treating his shooting fouls as a turnover

Beyond a strong showing in Summer League (92% FT), I've yet to see any evidence of it as well. 33% from the stripe so far in the regular season. Mostly rumblings I've read from UM fans - past glimpses that never evolved into anything sustainable.

[HornetJail]

It is pretty telling that every year we commit to Nick Richards playing real minutes, and then the nobody we sign off the streets winds up having the same impact. It's happening now with Moussa and happened last year with Marques Bolden.

Going from Nick to Moussa, I don't think we lose anything except for an offensive rebound or two. If anything, Diabate is out of position less often

[CuseMayne]

It is pretty telling that every year we commit to Nick Richards playing real minutes, and then the nobody we sign off the streets winds up having the same impact. It's happening now with Moussa and happened last year with Marques Bolden.

Going from Nick to Moussa, I don't think we lose anything except for an offensive rebound or two. If anything, Diabate is out of position less often

Diabate's been way better than Bolden was IMO.

[wilson115]

Plus 3 blocks to help us beat a conference finalist with multiple starters out. Time to lock this guy up, Mr. Peterson.

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[MasterIchiro]

He reads and reacts to rebounds so much better than any Hornets center I've seen outside of Mark Williams. That's a valuable skill that's been missing. Very grateful Peterson and our scouts zeroed in on him. He's the kind of guy who shows up on the Heat and leaves opposing fans baffled.

[Diop]

Love the front offices plan and culture, they understand importance of good role players with character, you need these players to win.

[fatlever]

He's better defensively than Nick. obviously not ideal offensively other than grabbing rebounds. But love his energy love the rebounds love the defense.

[MasterIchiro]

It is pretty telling that every year we commit to Nick Richards playing real minutes, and then the nobody we sign off the streets winds up having the same impact. It's happening now with Moussa and happened last year with Marques Bolden.

Going from Nick to Moussa, I don't think we lose anything except for an offensive rebound or two. If anything, Diabate is out of position less often

Whatever we lose in offensive rebounds we regain in defensive rebounds. I prefer Diabetes rewarding the defense by securing those.

And like you said, Diabaté seems to be in the right place more often on defense. His instincts for rebounds look better. He reads the ball better off a miss and reacts quicker.

Nick is a spare part when Mark reestablishes himself.

[HornetJail]

Diabate is currently younger than Nick was when he was drafted, and probably already more impactful. Hopefully the offense comes along, but I like this dude's hustle. My only major concern is he can't catch any pass Melo slings at him

[JMAC3]

Giving props to Peterson, seems like he has found his first hidden gem.

Not a star, but I think he is proving he is a real NBA player, should be getting a real roster spot very soon.

At the very least he seems like a solid 3rd center with room to grow from there.

[wilson115]

What are we waiting for? Lock this guy up now.

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[EmpireFalls]

Trade Nick tomorrow