<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">(11-08) 04:00 PST Oklahoma City -- The Warriors escaped major injury when Monta Ellis awoke with merely some soreness after Monday's scary fall in Dallas, but their infirmary is still growing by the day. Forward Ike Diogu sprained his left ankle Tuesday after landing on the foot of a Hornets defender during the second quarter and did not return. Diogu's injury comes a night after starter Mickael Pietrus sprained his left ankle in the same manner against Dallas, and about a week after backup guard Keith McLeod sprained his left ankle during the season opener. Pietrus sat out all of the Hornets game, but remained hopeful of returning for Thursday night's rematch at Oracle Arena. All four are listed as day-to-day. No hard feelings: Diogu, a native of Garland, Tex., had about 25 friends and family ready to cheer him in Dallas on Monday. Problem was he didn't get off the bench. Coach Don Nelson went with an eight-man rotation and later apologized to Diogu for not playing him in front of his hometown crowd. "He just said, 'Forgot about you,' " Diogu said with a smile. "That's just how it is sometimes." </div> Source
LOL "Forgot about you?" Nelson's brutal honesty approach is comical at times. How the hell do you forget about Ike though?
Man, well we won that game against Dallas, but I think most people know in some games we're going to need a guy like Ike Diogu because without that inside game, our outside game suffers. In other words our floor spacing goes to hell, nobody gets clean looks at the basket or in the crowded high % area in the paint. We don't really get too much consistency shooting from deep from our other bigger, slower players especially if their legs get tired with the running game they might not be built for. Maybe Ike needs to develop because he's got some issues like any other rookie who didn't play much and got injured a lot, but he's pretty polished as it is with post footwork. I don't think he's that weak on defense compared to other slow laterally moving players that can also score. The poor defensive rebounding can be an issue, but when I see Ike he's usually boxing out for other guys so we can get defensive rebounds. He will get on that offensive glass pretty well if one of our guards miss and that earns us extra posessions. I'd be happier if we had more offensive rebounders. Offensive rebounds can help a low % team like us just as long as they make the basket the second or third or however many times around. But I think everytime we try to do the running game, it's like stuff gets sloppier both defensively or offensively. Maybe we're just not a transition team with our current starters. We need at least a Kmart, an Amare, or a Chris Wilcox. I'm hoping Biedrins can be that defensive guy who can catch and finish with high% and we throw Ike in there to be a hustle Zach Randolph or Elton Brand lite. Just not so sure about Ike's footspeed and intimidation factor. Also Biedrins is known to blow about 60% of his free throws. That just can't fly for starting centers who make up some of our high% game. 65% at least... Keep Baron healthy, get Richardson healthy and adjust his position to SG or SF when necessary, get Pietrus or draft a new blue chip SF, and maybe we can turn the corner with a little more experience and a deeper bench?
Check it out, Ike's Rebounds/48 this year is higher than Ben Wallace, KG, Tim Duncan, Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph, and Dampier. Even higher than Andris, and yes, twice the rate of Murph. Granted, it's early in the season, but Ike is clearly becoming not just a better rebounder, but a very good rebounder, even compared to NBA starting big men. His RP48 is 32% higher than last year, and will almost certainly improve on that as the season goes on.I'm not going to call Murph completely worthless, but I'll take Ike in his place any time. Ike's Points/48 is also higher than Murph's, BTW.
Ike had 8 reb in 11 min against NOKC, if he stayed he would have helped the big discrepency in rebounds. He's a very good offensive rebounder as well.
I agree with CR2, we'll definitely need him in other games but during the Dallas game Murphy and Dre were very hot and we were winning. Games like the NO game are where he'll be most valuable. He was fresh that game and really beat the hell out of the NO big men who had previously been dominating the inside and he produced offense by getting to the line when the team was cold. His shot blocking and rebounding seem to have improved significantly this year, he was always a good offensive rebounder but now hes able to clear the defensive glass.
Per 48 minute stats can be misleading as we all remember Adonal Foyle didn't work out as starter along with Murphy or anybody when he got his knees hurt and he turned 30 (29?). Maybe if he started sooner when he was actually healthy and relatively young and athletic we could see if those per 48 min stats translate over. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/adonal_foyle/career_stats.html 6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 22 min average for 02-03 year when fans were calling for Adonal Fole over Erick Dampier. So if we're talking per 48 minute averages, we'd be expecting almost Ben Wallace or Theo Ratliff numbers. The thing I like about Ike Diogu is he doesn't need to have the ball in his hands to be effective. If we're talking open court play, he reacts accordingly to where he should be when moving off the ball. He also makes hustle plays like an Eduardo Najera to gain extra posessions and he'll play tough like him. I think that is what we need in our center and power forwards. Andris has it, Ike has it, I hope POB and Murphy get some back because they can be physical if they apply themselves. But it is tiring work, especially if one has more of a finesse game and needs somewhat fresh legs and loose back to shoot. All the leaning big men do in the post really takes a toll on the back and lower legs. Anyone hear play any post positions? I'm sure it's tougher when centers weigh around 240 to 300 lbs these days, but luckily not too many centers are good at putting the ball on the floor and finishing close in. Some even have trouble just catching. It's definitely a position that requires some decent footwork, the ability to use either hand to go either shoulder when backing down. Chris Kaman of the clippers has this skill. Ike has it. Dunleavy has it but he is not very good inside, but can nevertheless finish with his weak hand and make it. But aside from technical skills that may seem important to the variety of ways a big guy can score, a hot per 48 minute player has to dictate the tempo as a starter. He can't be too wild, too passive, too inconsistent. He needs to set the tone for the position he is in. If he's backcourt, he needs to initiate plays, shoot the ball well, and take care of the ball. If he's frontcourt, he's got to get good position inside and coordinate with the guards so they can be in the right spots they like to score from. They need to be able to stay on the floor and not hamper the offense or defense. Ike has 1v1 offense down, he's actually IMO an underrated passer, and he can work on his play against individual assignments. He never really played D in college, but he can block a few shots and earn some extra posessions by knowing what is going on in the defensive end.
