Boris Diaw Re-revisited

[Final_quest]

Watching Diaw play against Cleveland you have to say that indeed he was a better pick than Josh Howard.

We haven't talked about Diaw nearly as much as we have talked about CP3, Marvin, or Al. I have to say it's painful to watch him play so well. To watch him drive to the hoop in traffic, swish jumpers, and pass to players who are dunking, it's hard to take.

I don't regret losing JT, SAR, Theo, Walker, but Diaw and Przybilla have gone on to be outstanding with other teams. Has Steve Nash really made Diaw that much better?

[TheDude]

yes, plus Diaw doesn't have the pressure of HAVING to make shots on a bad team that depends on him...he steps up when not depended on...he can kiss off

[Nicholasp27]

there are no regrets because boris would NEVER have re-signed with us, so we HAD to trade him to get something of value for him

woody ruined our chances of boris being a "lifelong hawk"

i liked diaw when he was here but knew last year that he had to be traded because woody played him inconsistently and didn't use him properly so he wasn't coming back; at one point he was considering just going back to France

he's gonna continue to be a good player and get better (there is a reason he was the MVP of his euroleague only averaging 9ppg) but there are no regrets because we couldn't have kept him anyway nor would he have grown here; this is just another thing to add to the list of woody's faults and how he has hurt the franchise

[tarco69]

Wow Diaw has really done sumtin big. How in the world can u say that. He is da same player passing up shots passive, only difference, he has better ball players around him and thats the fact. How much times did i hear anouncers making the same comments they said when he was in Atlanta. He plays the same way to me. And is scared to shoot.

[Packfill]

Lets just hope Woody doesn't mess up Smoove, Childress and Marving the way he messed up Diaw.

[Guest Walter]

Every time I see Diaw. The guy is what he is but he's very good at what he is. I cringe to think Woody, the laughable defensive coaching specialist, couldn't find room for Diaw, a very good defensive player, in his consistent rotation. Woody may well ruin other players for us, but more importantly he's such a poor coach and certainly not the future at coach so why do we let him try?

W

[chillzatl]

because I know that Diaw wouldn't be half the player he is right now on all but 2-3 teams in the NBA. Oddly enough every one of those teams has an MVP caliber player on it too.

Diaw is the ultimate role player, nothing more, nothing less. On a team stocked with shooters, experienced talent and a visionary PG, he looks all world. Without those things, you would get the same Diaw we had here in Atlanta.

What hurts most to me is people who look at his stats on paper and blame the Hawks for his lack of production here. The guy wouldn't shoot the ball enough for us to prevent his teammates from getting eaten up by double and triple teams. We didn't have enough talent that his passing ability could make up for that either. If we could have kept him AND gotten JJ, he would have been a much more productive player for us this year. But there was no way that was going to happen.

[Final_quest]

He certainly is not playing the same.

He isn't passing up shots. You can't score 25 points passing up shots.

It's very obvious he's playing significantly better.

[chillzatl]

his team fed him and looked for him and wanted him to have a big game against us. The following game against cleveland, all three announcers commented on how he is ALWAYS reluctant to shoot the ball. on most nights, unless the matchup is insanely in his favor, he will only take 4-8 shots per game. Even on those big nights, more of his points are made off being found by teammates than making shots for himself. He still passes up the shots. The difference is that he has teammates that make those passed shots into assists.

[troubleman]

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Watching Diaw play against Cleveland you have to say that indeed he was a better pick than Josh Howard.

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I disagree, especially when it comes to what the Hawks needed at the time. Boris Diaw was never a good fit for the Atlanta Hawks. His main problem was his unwillingness to shoot the damn ball, regardless of how wide open he was. He was given plenty of opportunities at different positions, and it always came down to his unwillingness to shoot. I would find myself screaming at the damn tv because Boris Diaw would not shoot the ball. SHOOT THE DAMN BALL BORIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE SHOOT THE DAMN BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lascar78]

he was drafted to make up for JT's deficiencies. If we had kept JT in the long run, he would have been an excellent. JT + Diaw as a combination gives you a good mix of shooting, D, and playmaking. As it turned out, BK was giving the green light to clean house (and ship JT) six months later

[troubleman]

Yeah, I know why he was drafted. That still doesn't take away from the fact that he was a liability here, because he refused to shoot when open.

[Final_quest]

He is averaging about 10 FGA/game. That doesn't sound like passing up shots. I'm sure he passes up shots from time to time, but why did he play the way he did here and not there?

Is Steve Nash so good that he can take someone who doesn't shoot into a scorer?

We all saw how crappy he played here. The question is why?

[drzachary]

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We all saw how crappy he played here. The question is why?

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Players who phone it in when they're not on a winning team are widespread. Diaw is an excellent example of that. Usually it's an established star, but Diaw taught us that you could be a quitter and a rookie. He's garbage.

[Final_quest]

That's probably the best explanation.

Do you guys ever get the feeling that Salim gets in that mode?

It's like he's saying, "Screw it, if we're gonna lose, I'm gonna score at least 15 points."

[thesheedera]

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It's like he's saying, "Screw it, if we're gonna lose, I'm gonna score at least 15 points."

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Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but I think what we see when he gets in his gunner mode is less negative than that. I think he's saying, "alright, enough of this BS, if no one else wants to make a big shot give me the f-ing ball and I'll do it"

The kid's used to being the man, and he's as dangerous a scorer as they get. When he sees us struggling it must eat him up inside because he truly believes he can get a shot off almost any time he wants to.

Pretty awesome characteristic if its used correctly. Its an awful one when its abused. Good coaching can keep it moving in the right direction...okay, now I'm depressing myself.

[Final_quest]

You characterized that very well, and I agree.

Salim hates losing. You can tell that he hates it more than any of our other young players. I think its awesome!

[thesheedera]

Lute and Salim had their differences early on, but he finally got through to the kid and by his senior season he had won his coach's adoration back. I hope it was a permanent fix.

Some people mature in a specific situation but then go back to old habits when the going gets tough. I like everything I've heard him say since we drafted him, I'm completely sold on him right now, I really really hope it doesn't go bad on us.

[CrawDaddy]

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It's like he's saying, "Screw it, if we're gonna lose, I'm gonna score at least 15 points."

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Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but I think what we see when he gets in his gunner mode is less negative than that. I think he's saying, "alright, enough of this BS, if no one else wants to make a big shot give me the f-ing ball and I'll do it"

The kid's used to being the man, and he's as dangerous a scorer as they get. When he sees us struggling it must eat him up inside because he truly believes he can get a shot off almost any time he wants to.

Pretty awesome characteristic if its used correctly. Its an awful one when its abused. Good coaching can keep it moving in the right direction...okay, now I'm depressing myself.

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Great description of Salim. I truly believe the kid just wants to win in the worst way, and gets pissed when he can't will the team to victory himself. He's going to be a star.