<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Diener Resembles Price</p> <span style="font-style: italic">Sep 18</span> - What did you see in Travis Diener during your pursuit of signing him? Among all of the NBA players you played with or against, who does he most closely resemble? </p> </p> Larry Bird: "Travis is the type of player we're looking for in the fact he can shoot the ball, he can get us into our offense, he's quick, he can make plays for other players. I've been following Travis since he was in college and I've always had the utmost respect for his game. He brings a lot of things to our team that we don't have. He sort of resembles Mark Price a little bit. I always had a lot of respect for Mark as far as his ability to dribble the ball, shoot the ball and make plays for other people. Travis has got all those same qualities." </p> </p> </div></p> -- Pacers.com </p>
I loved Diener in Orlando and I hope he does well in Indiana. He is a great hustle player who always gives 100% and plays with a ton of heart. He's a great shooter too and should surprise a lot of people who don't know much about him this season.
I love Travis Diener. That 2002-2003 Marquette team was off the hook. Travis Diener, Dwyane Wade, Scott Meritt, Steve Novak, and Robert Jackson. Three NBA players on that team, 2 great role players, and a superstar. Its a shame of the overall inexperience though. Diener was only a sophomore and Steve Novak a freshman. Diener just owned the court his senior year, same with Novak, its a shame those versions of the players weren't the guys playing. They had Todd Townsend on that team too (he started with the other guys I listed above, and Novak was the 6th man), and he was pretty solid. I know Scott Merritt made it to the NBDL. Robert Jackson was very solid, 15 points 8 rebounds per game his senior year. Not sure how he didn't get drafted. He had a good body. Amazingly dumb for people to pass on Jackson, especially after he led the pre-draft camp in field goal %, scoring good, and rebounding good. He would have been a Carlos Boozer type steal imo. Once he didn't get drafted though, he never pursued his basketball career, and became a doctor instead.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BG7 Lavigne)</div><div class='quotemain'>I love Travis Diener. That 2002-2003 Marquette team was off the hook. Travis Diener, Dwyane Wade, Scott Meritt, Steve Novak, and Robert Jackson. Three NBA players on that team, 2 great role players, and a superstar. Its a shame of the overall inexperience though. Diener was only a sophomore and Steve Novak a freshman. Diener just owned the court his senior year, same with Novak, its a shame those versions of the players weren't the guys playing. They had Todd Townsend on that team too (he started with the other guys I listed above, and Novak was the 6th man), and he was pretty solid. I know Scott Merritt made it to the NBDL. Robert Jackson was very solid, 15 points 8 rebounds per game his senior year. Not sure how he didn't get drafted. He had a good body. Amazingly dumb for people to pass on Jackson, especially after he led the pre-draft camp in field goal %, scoring good, and rebounding good. He would have been a Carlos Boozer type steal imo. Once he didn't get drafted though, he never pursued his basketball career, and became a doctor instead.</div> </p> sheesh. a marquette fan??</p> </p> Diener seems like he could do good as a backup. he's a pretty good shooter, and idk about anything else.</p>
Diener can start, certainly for the Pacers. Jamaal Tinsley is a know entity, and it isn't one that's fantastic, certainly not with Larry O'Brien coaching. As evidenced by his Celtics teams, he likes to gun. Diener is good at that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Montaman)</div><div class='quotemain'>Diener can start, certainly for the Pacers. Jamaal Tinsley is a know entity, and it isn't one that's fantastic, certainly not with Larry O'Brien coaching. As evidenced by his Celtics teams, he likes to gun. Diener is good at that.</div> </p> The Pacers brought Larry O'Brien back from the dead? Then they should be able to do the same with Tinsley's career. Lol.</p> I think Diener's solid, but shooting and playmaking only take you so far in the league these days(sounds silly, doesn't it?). He's stuck as a backup, even in indy. Bird might like him, but he's always had a soft spot for players with old fashioned skills. Not a bad thing, but even he knows that he needs to balance that with new age players.</p>
