DeSagana Diop arrives in Charlotte

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

I saw some of these clips on the news yesterday..Here's an interview of Diop at practice yesterday

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/

[countryboi]

he sounds just like i thought he would

[BETCATS]

this might work great for us.
I dont see it hurting us in any way.

We still have a lot of what we lost in Carrol (Spot up shooter in Morrison, Cold as Ice shooter in Shannon Brown)

We still have a long skinny young center for the future (ALEXIS)

He just adds to what the team was missing, more D.
Just what Larry Brown wants.

[TattoodCatswife]

I can't wait to see how he performs.

[G-Force for MVP]

i hope he is a solid defender

[BETCATS]

i hope he is a solid defender

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLVh3aYkyfI

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^
I hope this shows he is.

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

I saw this video yesterday too...he is very agile/quick, a step up from nazr. i would contend he is even quicker than Mek on defense

good timing on his shot blocks...

but these are just highlights..gotta see if he can bring that a-game on consistent basis

what i'm excited about is adding depth to the center position. when mek has to take the bench there is an obvious momentum change. while we may/may not a drop in our offensive production, Diop will provide a boost on defense and help us maitain our lead or at least not let it slip...or if we are losing, avoid the margin to worsen

[LB4President]

Yea I watched this man give Tim Duncan a run for his money in a seven game series a couple of years ago. He is a very solid defender. I want to see if his offense develops playing next to Diaw similarly to the way Okafor's did. I know Okafor is smart and more talented offensively to begin with, but I wouldn't be suprised if Diop became a solid 8 or 10 point man just on put backs and easy dunks off Diaw and DJ assists.

When they made this trade I kept wondering long-term do you think Brown will start Diop after he is comfortable with the system. He might slide Okafor to the four like you know he wants to and Diaw to the three. Then Wallace could come off the bench a la Manu Ginobili. He would really give us a huge lift off the bench with energy and scoring. Which is something we have been missing all season. We don't have depth but that might balance out the lineups. I just think we might be overloading the starting five a little by starting Diaw, Okafor, and Wallace. Thoughts?

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

GW off the bench?...i would find that hard to believe for a whole season?

I think it will be all based strictly on match ups...conceivable there might be times where GW might be on the bench... but that's only if Mek does produce points at the PF position. I really don't see this happening, specially a whole season

But..it's too early to tell, I'd like to see what happens if Mek does get the chance to play PF first.

[TattoodCatswife]

GW off the bench?...i would find that hard to believe for a whole season?

I think it will be all based strictly on match ups...conceivable there might be times where GW might be on the bench... but that's only if Mek does produce points at the PF position. I really don't see this happening, specially a whole season

But..it's too early to tell, I'd like to see what happens if Mek does get the chance to play PF first.

Yeah, Wallace off the bench for a whole season won't fly...that dude gives us so much energy every game and he is a worthy starter.

[TattoodCats4life]

Wonder if we could run a lineup like DJ/Felton, Diaw, Wallace, Meka and Diop when a team has a really big front court and or a oversized 2. Diaw can play the first 4 positions, and his ball handling is unreal for his size, so I wouldn't be afraid to use him on the 2 for certain rotations... We've also seen Wallace play as the 1 guard because that's all we had (8 active and only 6 "qualified" to play for various reasons in one game last season). I think our roster, and the amount of flex with Meka playing 4 and 5, Diaw playing 2/3/4 and our 3 PGs able to play on or off the ball, I think that helps make our depth better than it looks.

[ammofan]

he sounds just like i thought he would

"They are who we thought they were!" lol

[spectre]

Wonder if we could run a lineup like DJ/Felton, Diaw, Wallace, Meka and Diop when a team has a really big front court and or a oversized 2. Diaw can play the first 4 positions, and his ball handling is unreal for his size, so I wouldn't be afraid to use him on the 2 for certain rotations... We've also seen Wallace play as the 1 guard because that's all we had (8 active and only 6 "qualified" to play for various reasons in one game last season). I think our roster, and the amount of flex with Meka playing 4 and 5, Diaw playing 2/3/4 and our 3 PGs able to play on or off the ball, I think that helps make our depth better than it looks.

I imagine we'll see that some. Going up against a team with 2 above average scoring wings might be difficult (I think Boris is average/below average defending the 2/3) but in some matchups we'd have the advantage.

[WAM9]

When they made this trade I kept wondering long-term do you think Brown will start Diop after he is comfortable with the system. He might slide Okafor to the four like you know he wants to and Diaw to the three. Then Wallace could come off the bench a la Manu Ginobili. He would really give us a huge lift off the bench with energy and scoring. Which is something we have been missing all season. We don't have depth but that might balance out the lineups. I just think we might be overloading the starting five a little by starting Diaw, Okafor, and Wallace. Thoughts?

Great thought. My initial thought to your suggestion was no but after thinking about it for a minute, I can actually see the possibilities. As long as Mek can hold down the 4 or 5 and obviously, Diaw can play the 3 or 4. We get huge flexibility in our substitution patterns. Wallace could be the first off the bench and sub for Diop, Okafor or Diaw easily.

This all hinges on Diop however. He does look athletic and long. I can't wait to see what Larry Brown can do with him. If he turns into a legitamate starter, then we will have a great problem trying to figure out the lineup:)

[WAM9]

Yeah, Wallace off the bench for a whole season won't fly...that dude gives us so much energy every game and he is a worthy starter.

He does give us great energy and he needs his minutes on the court but whether he gets them as a starter or reserve isn't as big of a deal to me. No doubt though, he is certainly a worthy starter.

[BETCATS]

i think that idea of Felton-Wallace-Diaw-Okafor-Diop might work in moderation
HOWEVER if you look at the Sixers who tried a simmular idea (Andre Miller-Iggy-Thad Young-Elton Brand-Dalembert) and ended up failing to the point where they fired their coach and started playing better AFTER changing their lineup back to Thad YOung at Power Forward and Iggy at Small forward.

Not sure if it applies to this situation, but my point is, Small Forwards playing the shooting guard postion when they are a Iggy/Crash type does not seem smart.

[TattoodCats4life]

Great thought. My initial thought to your suggestion was no but after thinking about it for a minute, I can actually see the possibilities. As long as Mek can hold down the 4 or 5 and obviously, Diaw can play the 3 or 4. We get huge flexibility in our substitution patterns. Wallace could be the first off the bench and sub for Diop, Okafor or Diaw easily.

This all hinges on Diop however. He does look athletic and long. I can't wait to see what Larry Brown can do with him. If he turns into a legitamate starter, then we will have a great problem trying to figure out the lineup:)

I think I'd LOVE the cats to have a problem picking who gets the start... I mean that's like having a problem because you cant figure out how to spend your money because you have too much :)

[LB4President]

I understand that the situation has a lot of variables and is still up in the air, but if the situation plays out the way I believe it will our current starting lineup would be too talent heavy. I think Felton, Diaw, Okafor, and Bell can carry scoring to start the game with Diop in the middle. Then bring Wallace in for a scoring punch. He would still benefit from Diaw and Okafor but now we wouldn't go through a huge scoring drought when two of our trio of bigs were on the bench. If we develop a rotation where atleast two of them are on the floor together for entire game we could be dangerous.

I am an avid Spurs fan and I remember that is what they did with Duncan and Robinson. They both started and finished the games together, but throughout the game atleast one of them would be in to anchor the team. Diop and DJ are good players, but you have to agree that Wallace would have a much greater impact as a sixth man than either one of those two.

Also I think alot hinges on whether Felton gets traded or who he gets traded for...

[BobCatsFanInTx]

Great thought. My initial thought to your suggestion was no but after thinking about it for a minute, I can actually see the possibilities. As long as Mek can hold down the 4 or 5 and obviously, Diaw can play the 3 or 4. We get huge flexibility in our substitution patterns. Wallace could be the first off the bench and sub for Diop, Okafor or Diaw easily.

This all hinges on Diop however. He does look athletic and long. I can't wait to see what Larry Brown can do with him. If he turns into a legitamate starter, then we will have a great problem trying to figure out the lineup:)This would be so cool.

[BobCatsFanInTx]

I understand that the situation has a lot of variables and is still up in the air, but if the situation plays out the way I believe it will our current starting lineup would be too talent heavy. I think Felton, Diaw, Okafor, and Bell can carry scoring to start the game with Diop in the middle. Then bring Wallace in for a scoring punch. He would still benefit from Diaw and Okafor but now we wouldn't go through a huge scoring drought when two of our trio of bigs were on the bench. If we develop a rotation where atleast two of them are on the floor together for entire game we could be dangerous.

I am an avid Spurs fan and I remember that is what they did with Duncan and Robinson. They both started and finished the games together, but throughout the game atleast one of them would be in to anchor the team. Diop and DJ are good players, but you have to agree that Wallace would have a much greater impact as a sixth man than either one of those two.

Also I think alot hinges on whether Felton gets traded or who he gets traded for...Crash is one of the most unselfish players in the league and if coming off the bench helped the team I know he would be okay with it.

[TattoodCatswife]

I think I'd LOVE the cats to have a problem picking who gets the start... I mean that's like having a problem because you cant figure out how to spend your money because you have too much :)

LOL yeah like the Lakers and the Celts.. :biggrin:

[BobCatsFanInTx]

LOL yeah like the Lakers and the Celts.. :biggrin:Actually the Lakers are pretty deep but the Celtics biggest Achilles heel is that they don't have serious depth. It's a good thing for them that they have three stars playing a ton of minutes. The team aside from the Lakers with a fair amount of depth would be the Cavaliers imho.