TheGrey08 wrote:Dieng can still bulk up a bit. That doesn't worry me that much especially if he's paired with a strong PF. Who cares about PF spacing if the dude can't hit shots. I'd rather have a strong PF that can rebound and be solid defensively.
Grey, the spacing thing gets oversold. There are still more traditional power forwards in the NBA than stretch 4's. Hell, look at tonight. Faried, Mozgov, Nurkic, and Hickson are a bunch of smash-mouth bangers. Nene and Gortat for Washington. Randolph and Gasol for Memphis. Drummond and Monroe for Detroit (who are on a nice hot streak since getting rid of Smith by the way).
Dieng operates a lot now out of the high post and has shown the ability to hit cutters and guys ducking in for quick low post touches. I think he can eventually be a reliable mid-range shooter too based on what appears to be a naturally good touch (look at his FT%, which is pretty good for a Center).
To be fair Q... how effective are most of those teams? Memphis is a bit of the anomaly. Granted, simply dumping Josh Smith seems to have done wonders for Detroit. It's all about the sum of the parts.
Rubio is a poor shooter. Wiggins and Muhammad have potential, but do they scare defenses with their shooting yet? And then there's Dieng who can hit free throws (as can Pekovic), but does he really have much range or would teams simply allow him to shoot open 15 footers all game if that was an option? Adrien is a hustle guy, but he's very limited in size and ability.
There's no guarantee that two big guys without range wouldn't work. But there are some issues that would have to be addressed.
Dieng needs to work hard on his base. Q made a good point today when he said Gorgui has a high center of gravity. You saw that very thing several times tonight. But believe it or not, Larmarcus Aldridge had a similar issue when he first came into the league.
TheGrey08 wrote:Dieng can still bulk up a bit. That doesn't worry me that much especially if he's paired with a strong PF. Who cares about PF spacing if the dude can't hit shots. I'd rather have a strong PF that can rebound and be solid defensively.
Grey, the spacing thing gets oversold. There are still more traditional power forwards in the NBA than stretch 4's. Hell, look at tonight. Faried, Mozgov, Nurkic, and Hickson are a bunch of smash-mouth bangers. Nene and Gortat for Washington. Randolph and Gasol for Memphis. Drummond and Monroe for Detroit (who are on a nice hot streak since getting rid of Smith by the way).
Dieng operates a lot now out of the high post and has shown the ability to hit cutters and guys ducking in for quick low post touches. I think he can eventually be a reliable mid-range shooter too based on what appears to be a naturally good touch (look at his FT%, which is pretty good for a Center).
To be fair Q... how effective are most of those teams? Memphis is a bit of the anomaly. Granted, simply dumping Josh Smith seems to have done wonders for Detroit. It's all about the sum of the parts.
Rubio is a poor shooter. Wiggins and Muhammad have potential, but do they scare defenses with their shooting yet? And then there's Dieng who can hit free throws (as can Pekovic), but does he really have much range or would teams simply allow him to shoot open 15 footers all game if that was an option? Adrien is a hustle guy, but he's very limited in size and ability.
There's no guarantee that two big guys without range wouldn't work. But there are some issues that would have to be addressed.
Bottom line Abe is this: Spacing is the least of our worries right now. We need some guys that can compete down low physically and defend better. Thad and AB are failing in this regard. Hummel is probably the best defender of our 3 active power forwards, but he's no answer either.
TheGrey08 wrote:Dieng can still bulk up a bit. That doesn't worry me that much especially if he's paired with a strong PF. Who cares about PF spacing if the dude can't hit shots. I'd rather have a strong PF that can rebound and be solid defensively.
Grey, the spacing thing gets oversold. There are still more traditional power forwards in the NBA than stretch 4's. Hell, look at tonight. Faried, Mozgov, Nurkic, and Hickson are a bunch of smash-mouth bangers. Nene and Gortat for Washington. Randolph and Gasol for Memphis. Drummond and Monroe for Detroit (who are on a nice hot streak since getting rid of Smith by the way).
Dieng operates a lot now out of the high post and has shown the ability to hit cutters and guys ducking in for quick low post touches. I think he can eventually be a reliable mid-range shooter too based on what appears to be a naturally good touch (look at his FT%, which is pretty good for a Center).
To be fair Q... how effective are most of those teams? Memphis is a bit of the anomaly. Granted, simply dumping Josh Smith seems to have done wonders for Detroit. It's all about the sum of the parts.
Rubio is a poor shooter. Wiggins and Muhammad have potential, but do they scare defenses with their shooting yet? And then there's Dieng who can hit free throws (as can Pekovic), but does he really have much range or would teams simply allow him to shoot open 15 footers all game if that was an option? Adrien is a hustle guy, but he's very limited in size and ability.
There's no guarantee that two big guys without range wouldn't work. But there are some issues that would have to be addressed.
Bottom line Abe is this: Spacing is the least of our worries right now. We need some guys that can compete down low physically and defend better. Thad and AB are failing in this regard. Hummel is probably the best defender of our 3 active power forwards, but he's no answer either.
Yes. There are many problems. Some are very significant. Some are less so...
