Once again, returning to Amare Stoudemire's suggestion that the theme for the 07-08 season should be 'Revenge,' let's take another look at a player returning next season. While there was plenty of discussion about what Marcus Banks could have done last season, Boris Diaw had a letdown after winning the Most Improved Player Award in 05-06.
Rather than focus on his numbers, which were mostly down with a strange exception of three-point shooting, I want to focus on his role. Boris was the number three option in 05-06. What he brought to the table every night was a major part of the offense and the bulk of his points were in the paint. After Kurt Thomas' season ended, Diaw had a much larger role and showed improvement in his first playoff action even sonning Dallas in the two Suns wins in that WCF.
With a healthy Amare and Kurt Thomas returning, this past season figured to be bolstered by Diaw's versatility. It was assumed by yours truly that his playmaking would get better because he'd get plenty of easy baskets off of Amare and vice versa. Lest we forget that we are dealing with men and men have egos. Ego in sports is often tied to contract and with a breakout year heading into free agency, Mr. Diaw got an extention. Boris got $9 million dollars and once again, the Suns had another fourth star. Boris was a throw-in in a awkward trade for our previous fourth star Joe Johnson and now he was almost making the trade look lopsided. Boris was on the cover of the NBA Live video game in France. He even did motion capture. Boris was getting big.
After putting on weight after doing nothing after the world championships, Boris showed up to training camp in Italy out of shape. On the court, through the preseason and in the beginning of the year, Boris looked to pass more even though Amare clearly was not ready to contribute a lot of minutes nor points. His aggressiveness fluctuated throughout season. He often drew the ire of Steve Nash. Either in newspaper quotes or screaming about Boris to the bench during games, Nash didn't hide his frustration with Diaw passing up easy shots.
We all know and love the Suns offensive attack but the are subtle things we can miss in the flowing beauty of it all. When they primarily played small ball in 05-06, they relied on the three pointer far more than they needed to with last season's roster. Diaw passing up a layup for three would get a shooter going and provide an opportunity for him to get one of his array of floaters later in the game. This new Boris however continued to pass up shots. Then we started to hear excuses that Boris and Amare needed to operate in the same areas on the floor. A lot of versatility that Boris brought to the table was seemingly wasted but the cause was never clear.
Boris' attitude rubs many as aloof but he may in fact be very internal and a perfectionist. His pal Laker Ronny Turiaf made as much clear in interviews saying Boris felt he was letting the team down somehow. While he always talked about making the right play, Boris' mercurial attitude was a sharp contrast to Steve Nash's. It was clear from day one that Nash was committed to winning a title last season and the edge he played with kept him and the Suns on the lips of NBA heads all year. There was no doubt the team had enough talent to win, it was a matter of commitment and toughness once the regular season wins stopped piling up and the playoffs began.
To be fair to Boris, he was injured late in the year and his attempt to be a glue guy worked really well during long stretches of the season. The inconsistent aggressiveness though hurt this team and gradually exposed their biggest flaw: Star treatment. Role players got very small windows of opportunity on a team that had fun while playing. When a star player is struggling and gets shuffled in the lineup it affects chemistry. Part of the problem is guys bitching about shots. Boris was the player willing to give up his shot. Why? Because Amare Stoudemire doesn't kick out to three point shooters. Then how do you motivate a guy who is clearly not the same player? Mike D'Antoni refused to criticize Diaw and seemed to ridicule the fans who would scream at the arena (and at our TVs) when Diaw would give up easy baskets to pass. However in an attempt to properly utilize Diaw's playmaking, D'Antoni started James Jones, who had his own shooting woes. Diaw's struggles created a hole in a t-shirt worthy starting five.
OK, here's one number. Boris played in 73 regular season games and 17 times he played 20+ minutes and scored four points or fewer. Boris rarely used mismatches to score. He had trouble guarding bigger players and many times looked like a cat playing with yarn while trying to guard smaller ones. Diaw looked so bad after earning a bigger deal than the explosive Leandro Barbosa, he became the player several fans seemed most willing to wave goodbye to.
If we attribute the porous Diaw performance last season to his unclear role, then we can find a roadmap to improvement a lot easier. As the Spurs series showed, there is a premium on easy baskets in the playoffs. Boris has the ability and handle to get good shots for himself and others. It's key he gets them for himself. The midrange game is lacking in the Suns offense. If Boris gets back to providing points and assists within the 8-15 range, the offense can utilize a little more one-on-one. Stagnant isolation offense dominates the NBA but the quick passing Suns need a little bit more for the tough nights and Boris can provide it.
It is imperative that Boris get in shape. He obviously kept on extra pounds because he knew he'd have to bang with bigger players because Marion whines about it and Amare is a terrible defender. This was a factor with his back injury and he'll need to pay a lot more attention to his training regimen. The Diaw we saw in the playoffs was a ghost of the previous year. The only impact he had was being part of the infamous suspension. F*ck the Sp*rs.
With the Grant Hill signing, it's clear Boris' role is a bench role. Hopefully knowing he has major role as a playmaker off the bench will make it easier to showcase his talents in a way that improves depth. Seeing how smoothly Diaw developed chemistry with Shawn Marion (resulting in some of the prettiest oop dunks ever) is encouraging as we entertain the thought of this team having an actual second unit. While the team has done a great job of stockpiling stars, the bench has been sorely lacking. Maybe this former budding star can rediscover his game as a reserve and help the guys at the end of the bench soar when they hit the floor. Revenge for Boris would be shoving a croissant in the mouths of his critics and earning his salary by running this team smoothly and creating a lethal second unit.
Labels: Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns
