Noah Vonleh

[Monster]

Q - Good point about Gorgui's play during the final stretch of last season. The chorus of criticism directed at Gorgui has become a bit excessive to the point where he's perceived as completely worthless. In truth, he does some things well and I think he can be a decent rotation player. The bigger issue with Gorgui is his contract, which grossly exceeds his value on the court.

The ideal outcome would be Vonleh continuing his positive progression from last season and starting next to KAT.

Regarding Bell, I don't believe he has motor issues. In fact, I think he's regarded as having a terrific motor. His issues are apparently IQ and maturity. Unlike motor issues, IQ and maturity issues can be overcome. Probably the lowest IQ player I've ever seen in the NBA is Gerald Green. It took him a long time, but he eventually became a decent rotation player. So you can still learn in spite of a low basketball IQ; it just takes longer and ultimately prevents you from taking full advantage of your physical gifts. And immaturity is something you can grow out of. I'm not sure how bad Bell is on the basketball IQ or maturity scale. We'll soon find out.

I didn't watch all the last few games but yeah Dieng played better down the stretch. The idea though that he wasn't good last season before that I don't think is accurate. If you look up his per 36 numbers you could argue it was one of his best seasons of his career depending on what you value. It was that way before his positive stretch. He just looked to be back to his usual self last year. Remember last offseason I wondered about the guy seriously. Regardless I agree that Dieng can still be useful. It's also possible that he is a better player than the 2 young guys we just signed. On the other hand if he is actually the worst big on the team we are gonna be in pretty good shape relatively speaking because that likely means the other guys are better than decent.

[Monster]

The one negative I could find on him is he really struggled learning plays in Charlotte so he doesn't sound like a bright bulb. You can have all the physical tools and talent in the world and it doesn't matter if you can't even learn plays/systems to use it. If he still has Basketball IQ issues then I don't see him amounting to much anywhere, but one can hope he's improved enough in that area to stick with us.

Good point I remember reading that also. I saw a couple Portland fans say he sometimes looked lost on offense there also. It seemed like some advanced stats I was looking from his time with the Knicks at made it look like he made a jump there last season. It could also be a change in the offense he played in also. Stotts is a good offensive coach but I believe he runs a more structured offense with lots of plays. I can't pretend to know what Fizdale did with the Knicks. I do know Prigoni said he is looking to utilize more of a read and react system with guys able to flow to various positions and make plays. It LOOKS like watching some highlights Vonleh has some varied offensive skills which could lend himself to that type of thing. I read somewhere he played PG in HS or at the very least they just got him the ball and let him make plays. It's HS but I thought that was kinda interesting. Regardless you have to have some sort of BBIQ to play in any system but some may fit some guys better than others.