Mustachio
12-15-2008, 01:05 PM
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcats/story/415811.htm
An idol becomes a teammate
Alexis Ajinca sees a familiar face in new Bobcat player Boris Diaw – he was a fan of Diaw in their native France.
By Rick Bonnell
rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com
A late addition to Gerald Wallace's Christmas list: A French-English dictionary.
The Charlotte Bobcats moved new guy Boris Diaw into a vacant locker cubicle near co-captain Wallace. Not coincidentally, Diaw's new space is next to rookie Alexis Ajinca's cubicle. Diaw and Ajinca both grew up in France.
After two days of the Frenchmen jabbering at each other in their native language, Wallace playfully declared one of them has to teach him enough French to feel part of the group.
“I've been through this before with Vlade and Peja,” Wallace said of his days in Sacramento, hanging with Eastern Europeans Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.
Coach Larry Brown said a side benefit to last week's trade with the Phoenix Suns is the potential for Diaw to mentor Ajinca through his France-to-NBA transition. Diaw is a former captain of the French national team with five seasons of NBA experience.
“When I was in France, he was my idol, and now he's playing with me,” Ajinca said. “Pretty cool.”
And already pretty helpful. When the Bobcats went big during the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss to the Detroit Pistons, 7-footer Ajinca occasionally had to guard 6-9 small forward Tayshaun Prince. During timeouts, Ajinca quizzed Diaw for how to defend smaller, quicker scorers.
Nothing complicated, really.
“Back up and use your length,” Diaw advised, “because they can't shoot over you.”
Simple as that sounds to a veteran, Ajinca needs the advice. He's a rare athlete for his size and a quick study, but his experience was so limited when he arrived here, there's plenty still to learn.
The Bobcats promised the Denver Nuggets a future first-round pick, in order to draft Ajinca, so they're vested in fast-tracking the rookie's development.
WALLACE UPDATE: Gerald Wallace's father died last week, shortly after Wallace's grandmother passed away in Alabama. Wallace might miss Tuesday's home game against the Chicago Bulls, with the wake and funeral for Wallace's father Wednesday and Thursday.
Pretty cool article, not a whole lot you couldn't have guessed, but it's good to confirm that one positive of the trade is already being realized.
I'm gonna buy Rosseta Stone for French, and then buy bench seats and yell smart alek comments in French. Then I am going to stop pretending I have enough money to do either of those things.
An idol becomes a teammate
Alexis Ajinca sees a familiar face in new Bobcat player Boris Diaw – he was a fan of Diaw in their native France.
By Rick Bonnell
rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com
A late addition to Gerald Wallace's Christmas list: A French-English dictionary.
The Charlotte Bobcats moved new guy Boris Diaw into a vacant locker cubicle near co-captain Wallace. Not coincidentally, Diaw's new space is next to rookie Alexis Ajinca's cubicle. Diaw and Ajinca both grew up in France.
After two days of the Frenchmen jabbering at each other in their native language, Wallace playfully declared one of them has to teach him enough French to feel part of the group.
“I've been through this before with Vlade and Peja,” Wallace said of his days in Sacramento, hanging with Eastern Europeans Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.
Coach Larry Brown said a side benefit to last week's trade with the Phoenix Suns is the potential for Diaw to mentor Ajinca through his France-to-NBA transition. Diaw is a former captain of the French national team with five seasons of NBA experience.
“When I was in France, he was my idol, and now he's playing with me,” Ajinca said. “Pretty cool.”
And already pretty helpful. When the Bobcats went big during the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss to the Detroit Pistons, 7-footer Ajinca occasionally had to guard 6-9 small forward Tayshaun Prince. During timeouts, Ajinca quizzed Diaw for how to defend smaller, quicker scorers.
Nothing complicated, really.
“Back up and use your length,” Diaw advised, “because they can't shoot over you.”
Simple as that sounds to a veteran, Ajinca needs the advice. He's a rare athlete for his size and a quick study, but his experience was so limited when he arrived here, there's plenty still to learn.
The Bobcats promised the Denver Nuggets a future first-round pick, in order to draft Ajinca, so they're vested in fast-tracking the rookie's development.
WALLACE UPDATE: Gerald Wallace's father died last week, shortly after Wallace's grandmother passed away in Alabama. Wallace might miss Tuesday's home game against the Chicago Bulls, with the wake and funeral for Wallace's father Wednesday and Thursday.
Pretty cool article, not a whole lot you couldn't have guessed, but it's good to confirm that one positive of the trade is already being realized.
I'm gonna buy Rosseta Stone for French, and then buy bench seats and yell smart alek comments in French. Then I am going to stop pretending I have enough money to do either of those things.