Could this be our new Center??

[Diesel]

Diop gets Avery's vexed message: Johnson's benching of backup center sent clear signal

01:50 AM CST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

esefko@dallasnews.com

The subtle hints weren't working on DeSagana Diop.

Avery Johnson had waited long enough. A little drop in playing time wasn't getting the backup center's attention.

So in Toronto on Jan. 13, Johnson excluded Diop from several drills in practice. Then, he held him out of the game against the Raptors the next afternoon, only the second "did not play-coach's decision" that Diop has had in two seasons with the Mavericks.

Sometimes, it takes a full-blown call-out for a coach to get his point across.

"It was a strong message," Johnson said. "Subtle is if you're playing 30 minutes and maybe you play 12. It's not subtle when you get benched."

Since then, Diop has been in boot camp, the sort of regimen usually reserved for the off-season or training camp. He has shown up before practices and shootarounds to work on the court with developmental coach Popeye Jones. He has stayed after practices to lift weights with strength and conditioning coach Robert Hackett.

Diop admits he had slipped after starting the last half of the 2005-06 season. He was replaced in the lineup by Erick Dampier the first week of the season when the Mavericks were losing their first four games. That pecking order isn't changing. But Diop is back on Johnson's radar after coming to life with a chain of solid games lately.

"That day at Toronto, I could tell he wasn't happy with me," Diop said. "Sometimes you need something like that, Avery pushing me. I'm so glad he did it."

In the last five games, the playing time has started to come back Diop's way. He's averaged just over 18 minutes per game and 6.4 rebounds, along with 1.2 blocks. Those are numbers Johnson can live with.

They are a result of hard work in the weight room and on the court. Diop, it can be said, needs to be pushed as much or more than any Maverick. Hackett, who was Johnson's conduit for delivering word that a demotion was imminent if Diop didn't get his act together, knew how hard to push.

"He wasn't beating around the bush," Hackett said of Johnson's message. "There were two days of practice where they kind of excluded him, like he was demoted.

"We wanted him to bring the same energy he had brought last year when he first got here. I truly believe you don't stay the same from year to year. You either get a little better or you get a little bit worse. And I think he lost a little from last year. Now, I think he's found it and added a little."

The first step was Diop admitting that to himself. Once he did, while Hackett worked on the conditioning, Jones attacked the basketball skills, addressing the fundamentals that still are a work in progress for the 25-year-old Diop.

"It was all on him," Jones said. "He realized he wasn't performing well. And Avery sent a message to him by not playing in Toronto. The first conversation I had, he said, 'Hey, it's no fun not playing.' So we started doing something about it.

"I think Avery understands how to motivate every player on this team. In this case, he had to bench him and see how he responded."

So far, the results have been as good as could be expected. Now, Diop must be consistent.

"It's paying off," Diop said. "Sometimes you need somebody to come at you and say something like that to get you going. I don't want people to think I had one good year and that's it. It's all about what you did for me lately. Nobody cares what I did for them last year."

[Popeye]

It's not like they are trying to get rid of him, that's just how Avery is.

[Packfill]

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It's not like they are trying to get rid of him, that's just how Avery is.

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Exactly. Avery is an example of a good coach not afraid to bench a struggling youngster. Woodson is an example of a bad coach.

[macdaddy]

Avery has it all wrong. You bench them and never speak to them again and then tell the media there is no problem you just can't work them into your 6 man rotation. Eventually, they just start showing up in street clothes.

Anyone old enough to remember Happy days when one of those guys pulls off his sweats and he's just wearing his regular clothes underneath. That's Salim...and Jones... and Batista...and

[CBAreject]

We can't afford to play those guys. We're pushing for the 10th seed here. Obviously that's much more important to our future.

[Diesel]

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Exactly. Avery is an example of a good coach not afraid to bench a struggling youngster. Woodson is an example of a bad coach.

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Which struggling Youngster did Woody not bench?? You guys just talk a lot of stuff but never consider what you're saying.

Woody benched JSmoove.

Woody benched Shelden and Solomon.

Woody benched every youngster we have except JJ??

Except when Woody does do it, you say he's a bad coach.

If he wasn't to do it you would say he's a bad coach.

Where's the fairness?

[Diesel]

I think if the pot were sweet enough, they might trade him!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Exactly. Avery is an example of a good coach not afraid to bench a struggling youngster. Woodson is an example of a bad coach.

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Which struggling Youngster did Woody not bench?? You guys just talk a lot of stuff but never consider what you're saying.

Woody benched JSmoove.

Woody benched Shelden and Solomon.

Woody benched every youngster we have except JJ??

Except when Woody does do it, you say he's a bad coach.

If he wasn't to do it you would say he's a bad coach.

Where's the fairness?

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LOL . . exactly.