Any chance to get Kyrylo Fesenko?

[e4Nf6]

People forget that Diop gave Tim Duncan more hell than anyone in the league at one point... I don't think he'll ever return to that form, but he can certainly get back to the level of a decent bench player.

That's the thing about Diop, he is, and has always been an excellent defender. If he could even get his offensive game up to a Tyson Chandler level he would be a useful player. Unfortunately Diop makes Chandler look like Hakeem. Some guys you cringe when they take a shot, with Diop you hold your breath when he even touches the ball.

He may be my least favorite NBA player, I just can't believe a guy can care at all and be that un-skilled. In the 7-8 years he's been in the NBA (and with millions of dollars as the reward) he really couldn't have learned a single post move? is it really that hard? Guys like Theo Ratliff and Ben Wallace were just as terrible offensively coming into the league, and, well, they are both still pretty bad. However they improved enough to get on the court. Diop can only dream of consistently hitting the rim on free-throws like Ben Wallace does.

[BigSlam]

but if we are playing diop 20 mins per night we are in worse trouble than i suspected.

my guess at the center breakdown
nazr (starter) - 20mins
diaw - 12
brown - 10
diop - 6

I wouldn't be playing Brown in front of Diop. In fact I wouldn't be playing Brown at all unless one of the other bigs are carrying an injury/suspended etc.

Not considering the comparable skill sets but difference in contracts.

[Jaruff]

I want whomever is going to give me the best chance of winning to play. That's Brown.

Playing Diop just because he makes 6m would have been like Chicago playing Jerome James last year because he makes 6m or New York playing Eddy Curry just because he makes 11-12m (or whatever the figure is).

[BigSlam]

I want whomever is going to give me the best chance of winning to play. That's Brown.

Why would Brown give us the best chance? Just like Diop, he's pretty much a 13-14th roster player.

Playing Diop just because he makes 6m would have been like Chicago playing Jerome James last year because he makes 6m or New York playing Eddy Curry just because he makes 11-12m (or whatever the figure is).

Except that both those were too fat to take the court.

[Bassman]

I think our 3 centers will all need to demonstrate what they can do, in both preseason and during season play. None of them makes a major dent in other teams. Nazr is clearly the best, but he can't go long minutes and will get hurt at some point. Kwame is better than Diop, which isn't saying much, but he has a little offense to go with some so-so D and rebounding. All the talk about Diop being OK, and a good defender...all that is based on the distant past. He could suddenly turn into something better, but he's gotta show me. In fact, everybody on this squad's gotta show me what they've got.

[SteveMorrison15]

ummmmmm, how tall are you Slam?

[Jaruff]

I think our 3 centers will all need to demonstrate what they can do, in both preseason and during season play. None of them makes a major dent in other teams. Nazr is clearly the best, but he can't go long minutes and will get hurt at some point. Kwame is better than Diop, which isn't saying much, but he has a little offense to go with some so-so D and rebounding. All the talk about Diop being OK, and a good defender...all that is based on the distant past. He could suddenly turn into something better, but he's gotta show me. In fact, everybody on this squad's gotta show me what they've got.

Absolutely. Regardless of age, contracts, and other factors, you have to find the squad that gives you the best chance of being competitive each and every night. Last season, we made the playoffs with Chandler, Nazr, and Theo. Our current squad isn't substantially worse than that.

[doc.end]

ummmmmm, how tall are you Slam?

Well, that would be a helluva reason to follow Red Claws