Dragic To Stay In Europe

[SirStefan32]

Haha, OK. Just, it appears Porter and Kerr don't agree with u, as the signing of Barnes indicates so.

It is still possible for Diaw to play a lot of minutes at 3, since Hill and Barnes both can be moved to 2. A still in prime Bell, together with the new PG we r adding, that would mean few minutes left for Barbosa ...

Barnes signing only indicates that a very good player was available for veteran minimum. It means nothing more and nothing less.
Barnes signing has as much to do with Diaw and Giricek signing last year had to do with Bell.

I agree that Diaw will not be a FT small forward until Hill is gone, but that doesn't mean he is not better at SF than at PF or C. Great thing about Diaw (when he decided to play hard) is he is a match up nightmare. Put a smaller guy on him and he will torch him in the low post. Put a big guy on him, and he will destroy him away from the basket.

A lot will depends on how everyone plays. If Lopez can play, there is no need for Diaw on 4 and 5. If Barnes finds his shot, he may very well be backing up Bell. As you pointed out, that leaves Barbosa as the odd man out.

It will be interesting to see what happens. This is first time in quite a few years that I am looking at the roster, and there just aren't enough minutes to go around. Good problem to have, that's for sure.

 

[SirStefan32]

Oh, this team will not radically change their style with Gentry in charge of their offense. I do think they will avoid taking as many contested early offense shots, but they will run.

However, it is not necessary to play small ball to run. Quick outlet passes by Shaq can get them going just as well as having five sprinters. If anything, having Shaq in the lineup will eliminate the paradox of having Marion (the Suns best rebounder) also being their finisher on the break.

I have no clue as to whether Barnes will find his three point shot. My guess is that he will get more open looks with the Suns because the Suns have a vastly better inside game than the Warriors.

Last year the Warriors had 29.5% of their shots were for three compared to the Suns 26%. Teams geared up to defense them and they hit only 34.8% of them. The Suns shot 421 fewer three point attempts, but hit 39.3% and had only 67 fewer made threes. Some of this may be better shooters, but Nash does generate a lot of open looks.

Excellent post George.
I'd like to add that even "small ball" has some value. We are all down on "small ball" now, but small ball is a very nice gimmick that works really well for a while. Problem is that teams adjust to small ball and start taking advantage of it. Problem was that D'Antoni had nothing up his sleeve except small ball.

I can't wait to see how this team plays under Porter.

 

[cly2tw]

Barnes signing only indicates that a very good player was available for veteran minimum. It means nothing more and nothing less.
Barnes signing has as much to do with Diaw and Giricek signing last year had to do with Bell.

I agree that Diaw will not be a FT small forward until Hill is gone, but that doesn't mean he is not better at SF than at PF or C. Great thing about Diaw (when he decided to play hard) is he is a match up nightmare. Put a smaller guy on him and he will torch him in the low post. Put a big guy on him, and he will destroy him away from the basket.

A lot will depends on how everyone plays. If Lopez can play, there is no need for Diaw on 4 and 5. If Barnes finds his shot, he may very well be backing up Bell. As you pointed out, that leaves Barbosa as the odd man out.

It will be interesting to see what happens. This is first time in quite a few years that I am looking at the roster, and there just aren't enough minutes to go around. Good problem to have, that's for sure.

Diaw, with confidence and motivation, is a matchup nightmare for most teams. He is not super athletic but fundamentally sound so that he could truly take matchup advantage in any slight mismatch, postup smaller players and drive by bigger and slower ones. With his court vision, he could be the silent assasin.

However, he is kind of a tweener 3/4. A little too slow for athletic 3s like Butler and Jefferson. A little to small for regular 4/5s.

 

[SirStefan32]

Diaw, with confidence and motivation, is a matchup nightmare for most teams. He is not super athletic but fundamentally sound so that he could truly take matchup advantage in any slight mismatch, postup smaller players and drive by bigger and slower ones. With his court vision, he could be the silent assasin.

However, he is kind of a tweener 3/4. A little too slow for athletic 3s like Butler and Jefferson. A little to small for regular 4/5s.

Well, right. I mean, you can't have it all. I would argue, however, that while Diaw is a bit slower than Butler and Jefferson, he could still keep up with them to some degree (remember, he did a decent job on Parker) while neither one of them could stand a chance of stopping him in the low post.
By the same token, sure he is not quite as strong as regular 4's and 5's, but again, Diaw can slow them down to some degree while I really don't think there is a PF or a C that could stop him (remember when Amare was out- Diaw torched everyone he went up against when he played C)

I think what you are saying is absolutely correct, but what Diaw gives away in terms of mismatches, he more than makes up on the other end of the floor.
But again, it all depends on who shows up next year- Boris Diaw or Doris Diaw.
If Doris shows up, (s)he is going to be useless. If Boris shows up and plays up to his potential, he might be the MVP of this team.

 

[Irish]

Well, right. I mean, you can't have it all. I would argue, however, that while Diaw is a bit slower than Butler and Jefferson, he could still keep up with them to some degree (remember, he did a decent job on Parker) while neither one of them could stand a chance of stopping him in the low post.
By the same token, sure he is not quite as strong as regular 4's and 5's, but again, Diaw can slow them down to some degree while I really don't think there is a PF or a C that could stop him (remember when Amare was out- Diaw torched everyone he went up against when he played C)

I think what you are saying is absolutely correct, but what Diaw gives away in terms of mismatches, he more than makes up on the other end of the floor.

But again, it all depends on who shows up next year- Boris Diaw or Doris Diaw.
If Doris shows up, (s)he is going to be useless. If Boris shows up and plays up to his potential, he might be the MVP of this team.

You've stated the issue fairly well. Boris is an amazingly talented player, but is wildly inconsistent in the level of effort he gives. I think the other thing that is frustrating is how inconsistent his outside shooting is. That's what hoopshype focuses on

http://hoopshype.com/players/boris_diaw.htm

Long arms... Excellent athleticism... Good defender... Can play all
five positions... Good passer... Very unselfish... Great knowledge
of the game.. Not a good shooter... Bad from the foul line... Has really flourished with the Suns

While his free throw shooting during the season was a respectable 74.4%, Against the Spurs he shot only 50% from the line.

My big concern with Diaw is that he's a weak rebounder. Last season he averaged 0.164 rebounds per minute which is very weak for an inside guy. His best season was 2005-06 and he averaged 0.194. Amundson averaged 0.263 per minute in limited play.

Playing inside in the first three games of the Spurs series, Diaw did almost nothing. He improved when moved to the outside with decent rebounding numbers for a wing.

Game 1 - 31.39 minutes - 4 rebounds - 0.127 per minute
Game 2 - 24.3 minutes - 2 rebounds - 0.08 per minutes
Game 3 - 33.04 minutes - 4 rebounds - 0.121 per minute
Game 4 - 44.51 minutes - 10 rebounds - 22.5 per minute
Game 5 - 44.3 minutes - 8 rebounds - 0.185 per minute.

Here are some of the other Suns regular season numbers:

Amare - 33.9 minutes - 9.1 rebound - 0.268
O'Neal - 28.1 minutes -10.6 rebounds - 0.377
Skinnerl - 12.8 minutes - 3.6 rebounds - 0.281
Hill - 31.7 minutes - 5 rebounds - 15.8
Diaw - 28.1 minutes - 4.6 rebounds - 0.164
Barnes - 19.4 minutes - 4.4 rebounds - 0.227

Rebounding is real indicator of effort. Last season, Diaw played inside while Hill was an SF, but but their rebounding was not that different. This is where I hope to see Diaw's game improves.