Diggs

[GP1]

A quick, really quick, look at box scores shows that Diggs has been up and down recently. Good game last night. Some not so good games coming into last night. Also, his production seemed to go down a lot when AA was not playing. So here are the questions.

How come he isn't starting with all of that talent?

Is his game really as dependent on AA as the stats might show?

He gets plenty of playing time and I'd like to see his production to be more even in lieu of up and down.

[The Hip Zip]

A quick, really quick, look at box scores shows that Diggs has been up and down recently. Good game last night. Some not so good games coming into last night. Also, his production seemed to go down a lot when AA was not playing. So here are the questions.

How come he isn't starting with all of that talent?

Is his game really as dependent on AA as the stats might show?

He gets plenty of playing time and I'd like to see his production to be more even in lieu of up and down.

IMO : Diggs is a much better player with AA in the lineup because he's much better playing off of the ball. When AA is on the bench Q often finds himself on the point and that is not his best spot. Q is much, much better when he has some space to work with.

[gozips19]

KD has also stated that Gilliam is better as a starter so that is why Q is coming off the bench. Just trying to get the most out of the roster. I agree that Q plays much better off the ball. When AA is on the bench Q is often the point.

[Quickzips]

My opinion:

Diggs has struggled when asked to run the point at times this year. He's been able to do it somewhat effectively in spurts, but in those games when Alex has been injured and he's been asked to be the primary ball-handler for the majority of the game he has struggled and the numbers reflect that.

He's been coming off the bench in large part because we needed some players with experience and ball-handling ability coming off of the bench. Walsh and Gilliam weren't cutting it as the "leaders" of the 2nd unit, which is why they are now starting and Q and Nitro are coming off of the bench. A starting lineup with Q and Nitro in there along with Nik, Zeke and Alex leaves all first year players coming off of the bench. As much talent as we have in the first year players, the lack of experience would be a significant detriment.

Q's game picks up when he is on the floor with Alex because of the matchup problems that particular lineup creates. It is tough for defenses to stay in front of either of those guys individually. Put them both on the floor together and you have a real difficult time trying to defend them. When Alex isn't on the floor, Q tends to be the only guy out there that can consistently break down a defense from the perimeter. Our opponents know that, and they key on Q. Q doesn't quite do as good of a job responding to that as Alex does. This tends to result in more turnovers from Q and at times poor shot selection.

[skip-zip]

To simplify that even more, he's just able to be much more effective when he doesn't have the added responsibility of bringing the ball up the floor and running the offense. It's just not natural to him, and unfortunately he has had to handle those duties too much to start the year.

Just like last year, I expect that we will continue to see more and more of those isolation plays with him during conference play, where opponents who put a guard on him simply can't stop him from elevating at the rim. Last night, I think he did a great job down the stretch making the decision to go, or not to go, based on the situation. I think that's the only element that needs some work. If he ever truly gets the feel for that on a consistent basis, and develops a point guard-type mentality while he's in the paint and can find the open guy when the defense collapses, he's going to be a pretty special player.