<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> DeSagana Diop can't help himself, he's actually walking around with a swagger these days. It doesn't work too well because "Gana," as his teammates call him, is as genuine as they come. That makes it hard for him to hide his excitement. Two games don't make a season, but Diop's just had himself a career week. Often tagged with a "bust" label after two unimpressive seasons, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft is starting to change minds. His defensive presence late in the past two games has arguably equaled the sum of previous professional accomplishments. It's no coincidence those have been the two best games the Cavaliers have played this young season. Almost completely out of the blue seats of Gund Arena, there's actually a developing controversy at the center spot. During a narrow loss Friday at Indiana and the victory Saturday over Washington, Diop blocked 10 shots and altered the way both opponents ran their offenses. He got six rebounds, several of them coming at key moments, and scored 10 points in the same timeframe. He played 42 minutes in the back-to-back games, which would've been impossible to fathom while carrying the weight he did the past two seasons. "I'm just playing, man, doing what I do," Diop said, trying to act like the recent success isn't fazing him. "I'm getting more minutes now so it shows up." He's playing more minutes because he's in better shape. He's in better shape because he spent more time in Cleveland than in his native Senegal over the summer, where he had daily workouts. He's producing more because during those workouts he improved his hands and his footwork and even his jumper, which has become reliable inside 18 feet. "He's really figuring out how he fits and he's being relentless," Cavaliers Coach Paul Silas said. "He knows he doesn't have to score as long as he plays defense." Diop's defense has been so valuable recently that Silas didn't summon Zydrunas Ilgauskas from the bench in the fourth quarter of the past two games, leaving Diop in during crunch time. It has been a shocking development because the Cavaliers seem to be responding better with Diop in the game instead of Ilgauskas, the All-Star in the middle of a maximum contract.</div> Full Story
Good news for the big kid. It shocks me how many times it's introduced that spending the summer working out is anything but normal for an NBA player. You're paid to play a sport. You'd think that would mean be in good shape be focussed, get strong... I guess even pro athletes are still only human.
He seems to be a better fit for the Cavs new style of play than Ilgauskas. Lets see how these next few weeks play out before I would explore the opportunity of trade.
