Boris Diaw Who/Updates

[George O'Brien]

Why would he say that Pietrus would play center if that's who he is talking about? He's only 6-6 215.

Boris is only 6'8" and he was covering Okur. It does make you wonder where Petro is.

 

[elindholm]

I think there's some ESL, but there is little doubt it just about Boris playing better than Parker and Pietrus. A better writer would have clarified who "he" was when he began "A true all-around player, he showed he could defend positions from 1 to 4 equally as well, at least at the Euro level", but it was taken from thread on Boris Diaw.

Not to nitpick, but this is wholly unnecessary. Diaw is clearly identified as the subject, and the only subject, of the immediately preceding sentence. The "he" needs no further clarification.

 

[Ollie]

Boris is only 6'8" and he was covering Okur. It does make you wonder where Petro is.

Petro's in Seattle, trying to learn how to not fouling out after 10 mns and the other big guys are either hurt, small or bad... so Boris have to play 2, 3 and 4.

 

[Joe Mama]

Geez, is everybody testy because things are so slow right now? I know I had to read that post twice to be sure they were talking about Diaw the whole time. They called him Bobo. I had not heard that nickname before, and I don't think they ever even used his real name.

Joe Mama

 

[Arizona's Finest]

"Viva La BOBO!"

 

[F-Dog]

It's good to hear that Diaw is holding his own alongside Parker and against Kirilenko. It's even better to hear that he's so aggressive, because that's where most of his NBA upside lies.


Now that I'm enthusiastic about Barbosa and Diaw, it will be bitterly disappointing if they're both chained to the bench next season, with D'Antoni running Jax/Raja/JR for 30 mpg each.

 

[panfolk]

Man this is kinda scary. I went to do some minutes charts for players and went under the assumption that Tischer is going to the DL along with Thompson. I was hoping we could more or less preserve Grant til the playoffs by limiting his use... not much hope of that is there.

Anyhow if Diaw has found some inspiration in signing with the Suns, and is showing that in his solid summer play, he could be as useful to us as Turkoglu might've been and will see himself on the floor at 1-4 given the needs of the team. I'm very excited (now let's see about Hornacek coaching his shot) about the prospect of retaining a 6'8" point. Might look a little funny with him pushing the ball and either Barbosa or House on the perimeter but could be a positive mismatch for both.

I think minute charts are a little bit of a waste. Staying in tune with the tempo and mismatches, keeping Nash and Grant from exhausting themselves, and keeping Amare and KT out of foul trouble is what will dictate who's on the floor. Someone said House should get a lot of CD DNPs and I agree. Developing Barbosa is too important and JJax's composure will always keep him on the floor. I just hope I don't see as many box scores (this year I'll be watching the games!) with players passing the 40 minute mark. 35 would be nice.

 

[Errntknght]

How fast is Eddie House at getting up and down the floor? Assuming he is reasonably fast and assuming Joe is right about Diaw's ability to push the ball a second unit of those two plus Barbosa could allow the Suns to keep the tempo up all game long and all season long. We talked a lot about how the team ran all game every game last year but in reality they slowed considerably in the late stages of games after that burst out of the gate. Diaw appears to be the key to that though I guess we shouldn't entirely rule Barbosa out as backup point after his revival with his national team.

I'm still fearful of a situation where there is no true PG to backup Nash and it leads to overextending him. But House does give us another player with some PG skills and from among him plus Diaw, JJack, Barbs, and Bell the coaches should be able to find a unit that can operate a half court offense efficiently. They also have the challenge of finding an offensive scheme that doesn't depend on Nash's unique skills. It will certainly be interesting to see what they come up with...

 

[Joe Mama]

I hope in the preseason they spend some time with Diaw and Barbosa in the back work together. Neither one of them may be a true point guard, but together I think there are enough ballhandling skills to run the offense well. They could certainly push the tempo.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Draft Express on Diaw

Draft Express

The Star
Boris Diaw- 6-9, SG/SF, Phoenix Suns, 23 years old

Malek Ait-Kaci

Boris Diaw is having a great summer so far, after getting his wish and being traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Phoenix Suns, he’s heading to the European championship as a key player for the French team. While the team is struggling with its defense but also on offense, Diaw is taking responsibility on himself and is becoming more aggressive on the offensive end, taking open shoots and playing one on one when he has to. He’s still the absolute team player who can play any guard or forward position. On a French team which lacks size in the paint he’s very valuable, especially for defensive rebounds. His size, long arms and good vertical leap enable him to crash the glass in front of other big men.

He’s still a team oriented player who has excellent passing ability, but he will surprise a lot of fans who only saw him in Atlanta. As team chemistry is still a big issue for France, he has to create for others but also for himself and has been surprisingly aggressive in the paint. Finally, he’s one of the best one on one defenders on the French team, but has struggled a bit with his team defense during the friendly games as was the case with the whole team. If he can stay on the same path he has shown offensively in the European Championships and then later on in the season with Phoenix , we’ll be able to see the all-around player (defensively and offensively) he was meant to be entering the league. The confidence he can gain in himself playing against some of the top talent in the world here can be huge right before the NBA season kicks off.

 

[Yuma]

Thanks for the post!

 

[mathbzh]

A few words about Diaw after a France - Italy game :

Avec 19 points à 7 sur 12, le nouveau Sun n'a pas seulement terminé meilleur marqueur de la rencontre, il en a en effet également été le meilleur rebondeur et le plus ‘bo' défenseur. T

it says :

With 19 points with 7 out of 12, new Sun did not only finish better marker of the game, he was indeed also the best rebondor and defender.

On his 4 last games with France, Boris scored:
17 pts (7/11) : France - Ukraine : 96 - 83
14 pts 5/10 : France - Bulgarie : 98 - 59
17 pts (7/11) : France - Turquie : 75 - 56
19 pts (7/17) : France - Italy : 83 - 75

Diaw can score with good % when he needs to.

 

[George O'Brien]

A few words about Diaw after a France - Italy game :


it says :

With 19 points with 7 out of 12, new Sun did not only finish better marker of the game, he was indeed also the best rebondor and defender.

On his 4 last games with France, Boris scored:
17 pts (7/11) : France - Ukraine : 96 - 83
14 pts 5/10 : France - Bulgarie : 98 - 59
17 pts (7/11) : France - Turquie : 75 - 56
19 pts (7/17) : France - Italy : 83 - 75

Diaw can score with good % when he needs to.

Welcome aboard. This is very good stuff. Do you have a link?

 

[George O'Brien]

To answer my own question, some of the writeups can be found at Eurobasket

The French are playing much better than did in their first series of games, so while Diaw continues to impress the rest of their guys are picking things up.

Against Ukraine, "Boris Diaw (203-F/G-82) scored 9 of the first 11 French points to help his team to remain in the course. Ukraine was leading 20-11 when Antoine Rigaudeau (200-G-71) came from the bench to give France a spurt and replace Tony Parker (183-G-80) who was lacking intensity."

Diaw shot 2 of 3 three pointers.
-------------------------------------------
Against Bulgaria, "At the beginning of the second period, Bulgarians rallied and were only trailing by 4 (22-18) when Boris Diaw (203-F/G-82) decided to take his responsability. He scored 7 points during the period to spur France."

The French national team turned the game into a rout early in the second half. French players provided a very agressive and efficient defense allowing Boris Diaw (203-F/G-82), Mickael Pietrus (198-F-82, agency: Interperformances) and Mickael Gelabale (201-F-83) to run the show with very spectacular slam-dunks.
--------------------------------------------
Against Turkey, "Tony Parker (183-G-80) led France with game-highs 20 points and 7 assists while Boris Diaw (203-F/G-82) added 16 points at 7-of-11 shooting and 6 rebounds."

 

[F-Dog]

Supposedly, Diaw dominated against Italy, scoring 18 points and also running the bulk of his team's offense. I think that both Tony Parker and M. Pietrus sat out that game with minor injuries.

Suffice to say, the reports on Diaw in these pre-Eurobasket friendlies are much more positive than the ones he was getting in summer league. He seems to be playing with much more effort, and he's also taking more responsibility on offense, which is something Hawks fans never saw him do with any consistency.

 

[SweetD]

Man this kid has got fire in him. I can't wait to get him back over hear and have him playing along Nash, Amare, and Marion.

 

[George O'Brien]

Every comment I've read makes the point that Diaw's confidence seems to be returning. On possibility is that he has been working on three point shooting, which was a major problem for him in Atlanta.

If you take away his three point shooting, Diaw averaged 47% shooting. Unfortunately, Diaw's confidence was not very high and it is certain that he did not receive many passes from his teammates (Atlanta was 25th in assists).

The confidence problem was the issue that haunted JJ for the first two and half seasons he played in Phoenix. In his first three seasons, JJ's stats were:

2001-02 24.9 minutes 6.3ppg 43.0% and 27.3% for three
2002-03 27.5 minutes 9.6 ppg 39.7% and 36.6% for three
2003-04 40.6 minutes 16.7 ppg 43% and 30.5% for three

JJ's play picked up late in 2003-04, but he was mostly promise up to then. If memory serves me, at the time Marbury was traded JJ was shooting around 39% overall.

I do not expect Diaw to become the next JJ. JJ was a very good shooter in college and always had great form. Questions are likely to remain about Diaw's shooting since he does not have a strong history. However, the reasons the Suns were interested anyway can be seen from this Eurobasket profile

Boris Diaw-Riffiod
Career: JSA Bordeaux (France-Youth Teams, 1995-98), INSEP (France-3rd Div. 1998-2000), Pau-Orthez (France-Pro A, 2000-03), Atlanta Hawks (NBA, 2003-…). Drafted in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft (#21), by the Atlanta Hawks.

Son of Elisabeth Riffiod, one of the best European centers in the seventies, and Issa Diaw, former Senegal champion in high jump, Boris had obviously some genes to become an accomplished champion. One of the closest friends of Tony Parker, with whom he played in INSEP and won the 2000 U18 European Championship Men, Diaw is the perfect example of unselfishness and versatility. He can play positions 1 to 4 and always looks to pass before looking for his shot. Only problem, he sometimes pushes these qualities to the excess. In a selfish world like the NBA, and even more in Atlanta where “team play” is an unknown concept, Boris drove his coach crazy! Not a good shooter, he fills out all other statistical categories with ease. One of those rare players that can dominate a game without scoring a single point, Boris is the only French league MVP in history (in 2003) who averaged less than 10 ppg (7.2).

 

[mathbzh]

Just to complete my previous post.
During the games against Bulgaria, Ukraine and Turkey, Diaw scored 5/6 3pts.

I hope he will become consistent in this aspect of the game.

You can find more stats here:

http://www.basketfrance.com/edf/page.php?id_equ=7

 

[George O'Brien]

Just to complete my previous post.
During the games against Bulgaria, Ukraine and Turkey, Diaw scored 5/6 3pts.

I hope he will become consistent in this aspect of the game.

You can find more stats here:

http://www.basketfrance.com/edf/page.php?id_equ=7

Before getting carried away, this is the international 3 and not the NBA 3. Still it is nice.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

What interests me is that I always watched Pietrus during about 12 Golden State games I saw over the last two years, and came away impressed as he is a fine defender and a young player with the body and athletic ability to really develop. All indications are that Diaw is completly outplaying him, and they play a similar position, so any comparison would be pretty fair.
That is good news.
Getting excited about the season. Any ideas on who will have the bigger break out year between Barbosa and Diaw?

 

[JCSunsfan]

What interests me is that I always watched Pietrus during about 12 Golden State games I saw over the last two years, and came away impressed as he is a fine defender and a young player with the body and athletic ability to really develop. All indications are that Diaw is completly outplaying him, and they play a similar position, so any comparison would be pretty fair.
That is good news.
Getting excited about the season. Any ideas on who will have the bigger break out year between Barbosa and Diaw?

. . . or Jones or Bell?

 

[JCSunsfan]

From http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/ci...id_fH-HlW5SGnwsyHAlDmoLm1.articleMode_on.html

In August, the coach was planning on selecting only two pure playmakers: Parker and either Fred Fauthoux (a good shooter and a great team-mate) or Joseph Gomis (a poor man’s Tony Parker), thinking both Diaw and Rigaudeau can help at the position. On the outside, France are loaded with talent with Mike Pietrus (9.5 pts with Golden State), Alain Digbeu (14.4 pts in Varese), Mike Gelabale (one of the two best newcomer in Liga ACB, Spanish champ’ with Real), Rigaudeau and the all-around talent of Boris Diaw. Boris, a 2.03 m “point-forward” able to fit-in at every position, did not play much in Atlanta last season but should blossom next year with Phoenix. With the Hawks, coach Woodson said he didn’t know “where to play” Diaw. Let us bet that Mike D’Antoni’s European approach to basketball will find a way to use this guy…

 

[mathbzh]

There is a nice paper on Diaw (in french).
http://sports.voila.fr/fr/cmc/basket/200537/cmc_75120.html

It reports the impression of Richard Dacoury (Best French BB player between 1985/1995).

For me, Boris Diaw is undoubtedly the (french) basketball player more talented with his generation. (including Tony Parker and M. Pietrus)
...
It is a super player, a very good basketball player who feels the play. And whose level can only progress.

Then he comes back on the reasons why diaw succeed with France and not with the Hawks.

With France, he reached a certain dimension. It is because he is finally used in his best position (3-4).

And finally, about Atlanta (Not and exact translation just the idea)

Atlanta was not a balanced team. Atlanta didn't know where to play him. He didn't know what was expected from him. Other player didn't understand him.

Dacoury know a bit about BB. Boris Diaw is not a PG. Because he is skilled he can play this position but he is a wingman.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

mathbzh...only your third post and you are already a winner in my book. ...keep em coming and dont be a stranger when the season roles around, if only so we can get news about what the french media is thinking about Boris' potential break out season......

 

[George O'Brien]

mathbzh...only your third post and you are already a winner in my book. ...keep em coming and dont be a stranger when the season roles around, if only so we can get news about what the french media is thinking about Boris' potential break out season......

Absolutely.