Dieng is such a key to this franchise

[Monster]

It doesn't really matter what happens with Love, Dieng can be a huge key to this franchise. If he turns into a legit defensive starting center with some decent skills that means we finally did something with a draft pick for the first time since we drafted Rubio. Also it makes Pek an asset that can be dealt to help at another position or keep him if Love is around form a nasty front line if we somehow shore up the wing positions. I have a hard time not being too positive that Dieng will be this type of factor in the near future. I liked what I saw of him in the NCAA tourney and wanted him badly in the draft. He showed some life even early in limited action then exploded onto the scene later. His stats last year show a guy with potential to be pretty good. It feels weird but I feel like its hard to understate what he could mean to this team going forward if he turns out to be the guy we hope him to be.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

So true. The emergence of Dieng was the most surprising positive of the 2013-4 season. What has me excited are two things: 1) the sharp learning curve that resulted in such enormous improvement during the year (who knows how high his ceiling could be), and 2) the remarkable consistency he showed after he started to get regular minutes. Truly impressive.

He seems to have a high basketball IQ to go along with his obvious physical gifts, and that offsets his relative lack of basketball experience. I recall Lip's comments also about how Dieng carried himself at a season ticketholders' gathering, and the maturity he seemed to have.

Dieng is going to turn out to be the steal of the draft, and he provides Flip with some flexibility going into this critical summer.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

Could he? Certainly, but not likely in my opinion. When Shved showed signs of promise, he still never showed consistency. Gorgui's consistent good performances last year make me think he's for real.

[mrhockey89]

Shved never showed the upside or consistency that Dieng did in a Wolves uni. Additionally, Dieng's game really didn't change much (outside of adding polish) from what he was at Louisville, so there's no reason to think he'll take a major drop in production outside of less minutes.

Shved was from Russia and has had to adapt his game. Completely different situation. If anything, the question (IMO) should be "can Shved take a leap forward ala Pekovic". If you recall, Pekovic took a year of absolutely horrible play to adapt to the NBA, and he's been probably the best center in Wolves history in the years since. Shved's been here two years already, but he's still not showing he's comfortable with the US game, but he does have a skill set that if he does adapt he could be pretty good offensively ala Rudy Fernandez.

I'm definitely ready to unload Shved to another team, but if he's on this team next year, I hope he can make that step forward.

[Monster]

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

Could he? Certainly, but not likely in my opinion. When Shved showed signs of promise, he still never showed consistency. Gorgui's consistent good performances last year make me think he's for real.

Cam brings up a good point. Dieng really had a little over a month of sustained success when he got significant minutes. Having said that numbers before that in limited minutes show he should at least be able to block shots and rebound at a pretty healthy rate. I wanted to see him get more minutes before that and then he blew up and showed legit signs he was the guy I was hoping for all along and quite frankly faster than I was expecting.

[mrhockey89]

Looks like we agreed on this right in line longstrange

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Just wanted to reiterate that I don't think Dieng takes a step back and I have always thought that he'd be successful. Just thought it was worth bringing up.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

I think the situation is different. Shved's good games lined up almost perfectly with Rubio being out, when he was playing PG. After Rubio came back Shved either played SG with Rubio or even worse SG with JJ this past year. When he changed positions he no longer had the ball in his hands creating for teammates and what made him successful early on he could no longer do. The difference with Dieng is he played center last year and he will play center in the future. What made him successful last year will make him successful in the future.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

I think the situation is different. Shved's good games lined up almost perfectly with Rubio being out, when he was playing PG. After Rubio came back Shved either played SG with Rubio or even worse SG with JJ this past year. When he changed positions he no longer had the ball in his hands creating for teammates and what made him successful early on he could no longer do. The difference with Dieng is he played center last year and he will play center in the future. What made him successful last year will make him successful in the future.

I know this is a

Does anyone think Dieng could have a Shved-like season next year? Remember, Alexey showed signs of being a really nice player for us just two seasons ago, then dropped off terribly. Personally, I think Gorgui's level of play in college followed by his remarkable improvement throughout the year has me thinking he'll continue to trend upward. I just wonder if anyone on here thinks he'll take steps backward next year.

I think the situation is different. Shved's good games lined up almost perfectly with Rubio being out, when he was playing PG. After Rubio came back Shved either played SG with Rubio or even worse SG with JJ this past year. When he changed positions he no longer had the ball in his hands creating for teammates and what made him successful early on he could no longer do. The difference with Dieng is he played center last year and he will play center in the future. What made him successful last year will make him successful in the future.[/quot

I know this is a Dieng thread, but you make a great point about Shved. You're right...his best moments in his rookie year were at PG, because that is his best position. Adelman had him playing out of position at SG with predictable results. I don't fault Rick for the 2012-3 season, because Kahn gave him a roster with Rubio, JJ and Luke as PGs, but I do think Shved should have gotten JJ's point guard minutes last year.

I look for the new coach to put Shved back in his natural position, and for him to step up and solve our backup point guard problem.