Suns' outlook shines brightly with Diaw in pivot
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — Mom was in town last week. So was the French magazine L'Equippe. Both journeyed across the Atlantic to see firsthand the "gros surpris" of the NBA.
Phoenix Suns swingman Boris Diaw — shown driving around Denver's Greg Buckner this season — has lit up the NBA.
By Yoko Furukawa, The Arizona Republic
Third-year player Boris Diaw (pronounced DEE-ow) — known as "3D" in these parts for his three-dimensional mix of defense, dishes and dunks — has emerged out of the dark dungeon of the Atlanta Hawks as the "other Frenchman" in the league and the "big surprise" of the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns were the charmed surprises of the NBA last season, winning a league-best 62 games with an entertaining, high-speed offense that finally ran out of gas in the Western Conference finals against the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs. (Related item: Phoenix's lineup this season and last)
But when management broke up the popular team — trading three-point specialist Quentin Richardson to the New York Knicks and versatile Joe Johnson to the Hawks after contentious negotiations failed to sign him as a free agent — some labeled the Suns the cursed surprises of the offseason.
The Suns added seven players to a mix that included MVP Steve Nash and All-Stars Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. But doom-and-gloomers predicted a setting Sun in the desert after Stoudemire, their top scorer, had micro-fracture surgery on his left knee in the preseason. He will be out until at least mid-February.
"Everybody left us for dead," says former Suns star and TV analyst Dan Majerle.
A 4-5 start sank the team into last place in the Pacific Division — and sent reigning Coach of the Year Mike D'Antoni back to the laboratory.
The league's best out-of-the-box thinker on the bench turned the 6-8, 215-pound Diaw, a backup point guard, into a playmaking center-power forward. It's a move club President Bryan Colangelo says "not many people would have thought of or had the nerve to try."
The Suns responded with a nine-game winning streak before dropping two in a row, in which Diaw had so-so production. They embark on a three-game trip tonight against the Dallas Mavericks with a 13-7 record, tied for fifth-best in the league entering Tuesday, and lead the NBA in scoring (103.1 points a game). It's a stunning U-turn for a team without three players who combined to average 58 points last season.
"They've played at such an unbelievable level without Amare," Knicks coach Larry Brown says. "Diaw has been a huge addition."
Talents being put to better use
The Suns got deeper with the acquisitions of defensive specialists Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell and shooters James Jones and Eddie House, who provide instant, long-range offense. But no newcomer has had the impact of Diaw, enjoying a breakout season.
The 23-year-old from Bordeaux, France, acquired in the Johnson sign-and-trade deal, is a triple-double waiting to happen — a mini-Nash inside, a developing Scottie Pippen-type on the perimeter.
"He has that vision," D'Antoni says, "plus his angles are, at 6-8, so much different than Steve. He wants to pass."
Since joining the starting lineup 10 games ago, Diaw has averaged 11.6 points, 6.9 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. He's also one of only four players in the league (with the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, the New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd and the Sacramento Kings' Brad Miller) to average at least six rebounds and six assists.
Even more startling: The Suns have outscored opponents by 167 points with Diaw on the floor. By comparison, they are plus 67 with Nash and plus 79 with Marion on the court.
Long, lean, young and athletic — the exact description that fits Stoudemire and emerging but also sidelined talent Leandro Barbosa — Diaw is the perfect antidote for a team that hasn't stopped running and continues to create small-ball mismatches.
Outside, Diaw was out of position, not quick enough to guard point guards and not a great shooter. But inside, he proved in preseason he could guard centers and power forwards, emboldening D'Antoni to make the move. "I try to make them lose their rhythm and mess up their minds on defense," Diaw says.
With his perimeter skills, quickness and size, Diaw also creates problems offensively. "I'm quicker than the big guys and try to get around them," he says.
Add his ability to find the open man, and he's a major headache.
"He sees the floor unbelievably well," Nash says. "He's creative and skilled and very versatile."
Coming into his own in NBA
In Atlanta, which picked him No. 21 in the 2003 draft, Diaw was mostly used as a point guard but saw his playing time dwindle last season. The rap against him: He played soft.
He heard that. "I love to pass," he says. "Maybe they say I didn't have the heart to go to the basket. When you are on a losing team, you need scorers."
That's not his role here. He can score and is shooting 50.9%. But he has embraced defense and dishing more than dunking and allowed Marion to return to his natural position, small forward, a major bonus.
Diaw is appreciative of the opportunity he didn't get in Atlanta. "You want a coach to use all your potential so you can express yourself," he says.
He speaks fluent English and has adjusted to life in the USA well. His mother, Elizabeth Riffiod, stayed with him during his rookie year and visited last week.
She knows the game. Regarded as the best woman player in French history, she played center 13 years for the national team. "Big and strong," she describes herself as a player. Diaw's father, Issa, is a former Senegalese high jump champion.
"She had a better career than I have now," Diaw says of his mother, then adds, "but my career is not over yet."
It has really just begun. He is not a household name back home, even though he helped the French national team end a 45-year medal drought with a bronze finish in the 2005 European championships. But L'Equippe sent a reporter to chronicle his emergence.
Diaw's high school teammate and national team roommate, Tony Parker, the Spurs' star point guard, commands the French headlines in basketball. Diaw says he has no problem being the "other Frenchman" in the NBA.
"It's cool. He's my best friend," he says.
Parker says he isn't surprised his buddy is finally showing off his talents. Phoenix's gain is Atlanta's loss, he says. "They gave him no chance. The coach didn't believe in him. He was very sad over there."
Diaw mostly played forward for the national team and starred the past two summers. "He's at his best at forward," Parker says. "He's too fast for the big men."
And, Parker says, maybe too unselfish. "He wants to make the other guys look good, but he's definitely a scorer, too. The day when he does both, he'll be great."
For now, Diaw will settle for dishes and defense over dunks. But he loves his nickname. "3D, that's pretty cool," says Diaw, who wears No. 3.
It fits him perfectly. Just like he fits his new team.
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