San Antonio Spurs 2012-2013 Player Profile: Boris Diaw

By Chris Hawkins
Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Time with the Charlotte Bobcats: You got a pretty good read if you ever googled “Boris Diaw fat.” Holy hell, he came into Bobcats training camp this year looking like he had a mechanic install a Krispy Kreme in his kitchen.

Things didn’t get better during the regular season, the Bobcats were comically horrendous and Diaw looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than a basketball court. Bobcats head coach Paul Silas and general manger Michael Jordan grew tired of Diaw’s laissez-fare attitude and sent him on his way after they agreed to a contract buyout.

Arrival to the San Antonio Spurs: Diaw went from being a non-factor on the NBA’s worst team to being a heavy contributor on the one of the NBA’s title contending teams when the Spurs signed him.

He took DeJuan Blair’s spot in the starting line-up once he got back into decent shape and the results were largely positive. Diaw started in 15 of the 20 games that the Spurs’ 20 game winning streak that lasted into the Western Conference Finals. He also proved to be a capable low-post defender, using some of the extra weight he kept to keep the likes of Pau Gasol and Paul Millsap from backing him down. 

Playmaking: The most noticeable element Diaw added to this team was his playmaking. Not enough can be said about his feel for the game and basketball IQ He assisted on 22.4 percent of the Spurs’ made field goals.San Antonio would either post Diaw on the right block and have a swingman cut the basket or he drive the ball from the top of the key and find an open teammate.

Shoot the ball: The Spurs don’t need Diaw to score much, but he has to shoot the ball when he is open. At times when he found himself wide open, would either hesitate or pass it back to a teammate for a contested jumpshot. This is nothing new as this flaw of Diaw’s has driven several of his former coaches crazy. But this flaw was particularly evident during the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the Thunder eventually found out how to defend Diaw. Ignore him and play him to pass when drives the ball. The Spurs played four-on-five offensively after that.

What to expect this season: It looks like Diaw will remain in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season. And unless a trade is made for another starting caliber big-man, I expect him to be there during the end of the season as well. The Spurs will probably attempt to post-up Diaw more as he was excellent at finding swingmen cutting to the hoop. Diaw should look to be more aggressive when smaller guards switch on to him. I don’t think he took advantage of that enough last year and Diaw thrives in those sorts of situations.

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