Zgoda's tweet about Gorgui's passing

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Gorgui got a little prickly when I asked him if he's surprised himself some w/ his passing in the pro game. "Did you see me play in college"?

I love it! It shows me that Gorgui has a lot of confidence in his passing game. I have to admit I didn't focus on him much in college, other than watching him block shots, so I have been astonished at his ability to distribute...Joakim Noah potential. What is so impressive is the way he gets his assists...he really sees the court. He can get an assist by quickly redirecting a pass he has just received to an open teammate, or by holding the ball and surveying the court as teammates cut. These are skills you just don't see in most rookies, and I only expect Dieng to improve on his current high level of passing. Regular 5-6 assist games for G in the future won't surprise me at all. And put a couple 3-point shooters out there with him, Love and Rubio, and this offense could be unstoppable.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Our FG% has been the highest it's been all year the last two months. Do we attribute that to better ball movement from the center position?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Opponents FG%

October- 47%
November- 46%
December- 49%
January- 46%
February- 45%
March- 49% (Dieng's first start: 3/16)
April- 46.5%

I don't know if FG% is the best stat to show Dieng's defensive ability (FG% from 5 feet and closer are probably better), but the Wolves just haven't been good on defense regardless of who's at center (Pek, Turiaf, Dieng). I'm in the thinking that Dieng's defense is slightly overrated right now, but his offense isn't getting enough praise. So there's that.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Opponents FG%

October- 47%
November- 46%
December- 49%
January- 46%
February- 45%
March- 49% (Dieng's first start: 3/16)
April- 46.5%

I don't know if FG% is the best stat to show Dieng's defensive ability (FG% from 5 feet and closer are probably better), but the Wolves just haven't been good on defense regardless of who's at center (Pek, Turiaf, Dieng). I'm in the thinking that Dieng's defense is slightly overrated right now, but his offense isn't getting enough praise. So there's that.

I think it's just offsetting Pek's good man defense and Dieng's poor man defense with Pek's poor team D and Dieng's good team D. Hence why they would be really good on the same team

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Defense is something that most rookies struggle with and Dieng is no different. Over time, he should master the nuances of the game while also gaining more respect from officials, thus allowing him to be a bit more physical.

According to ESPN's newfangled Defensive-RPM stat, both Dieng and Pek are positives on team defense. Love and Rubio are too (with Rubio by far being our most impactful defender according to that stat). I kind of agree with Alex that Dieng's man-to-man struggles in the low post somewhat cancel out all the great things he does as a weakside shotblocker and pick-and-roll defender. Pek on the other hand is a very good positional defender. We've seen how guys have a really hard time establishing good position against him. Cousins especially resorts to becoming a pure jump shooter against Pek. But over time, I have no doubt that Dieng will be the superior defensive presence.

I think the way to look at Pek vs. Dieng isn't about one player being better than the other. It's about how it provides the front office with a potential trade chip in beefing up another critical spot on the roster. The jury is out whether Pek can yield us a good return. If not, we need to hold onto him. I have no problem with a Dieng/Pek platoon at Center.

[Monster]

Dieng flashed that passing in the tourney last year and it was one of the reasons I really liked him. Honestly he is a perfect type ot fit in an Adelman type offense he has run for years and utilized various guys that have passed well. Pek is a nice player, but he isn't a great passer. He has improved in that are and is a willing passer and makes a nice one here and there, but thats not his strength. Dieng has that gift.

[mjs34]

Long, you need to be more careful with your titles. At first glance I thought Gorgui died! :)

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Long, you need to be more careful with your titles. At first glance I thought Gorgui died! :)

Ha...I gotta watch out for that!

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Let's look at it this way...We'll have 2 pretty good centers for a total of about 13.5 million next year! Still cheaper than Loul Deng or Eric Gordon.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Let's look at it this way...We'll have 2 pretty good centers for a total of about 13.5 million next year! Still cheaper than Loul Deng or Eric Gordon.

2 pretty good centers for 13 1/2 million would be a good thing if we were set everywhere else. But when you have no 2-way SGs on the roster, it becomes a luxury we can't afford.