Ike Diogu agrees to 1 year w/Spurs

[ducks]

sounds like a 5 big

[G-Dawgg]

The major red flag with Diogu: Why the didn't the Clippers re-sign him? They are amazingly desperate for a backup big. They've been using the rotting corpse of Brian Cook as their third big so far this season. Bonner >>>>>>>> Cook

I know they are waiting for Reggie Evans to heal but the Clippers signed Solomon Jones today, a pretty damn bad bigman whose ceiling is a worse Francisco Elson. They obviously wanted no part of Diogu.

It's possible that the Clippers got tired of Diogu since he's a sub par defender and doesn't pass. Or maybe the doctors wouldn't clear Diogu due to something regarding his knee. But if the most bigman starved team in the league wouldn't even give Diogu a non-guaranteed deal, that can't be a good sign.

Maybe he's just not quick and athletic enough to run with their "lob city" style and keep up with an uptempo all-pointguard backcourt.
Then again, I guess the Spurs could just hope that was just the Clippers being the Clippers.

[The_Worlds_finest]

i know its old and highlites but this is what the guy is bringing to the table.

[my2sons]

Really he is a prolifent 3pt shooter that can open up the middle for timmy?

[Solid D]

Really he is a prolifent 3pt shooter that can open up the middle for timmy?

Ducks? Is that you?

[lefty]

Greg Oden father ?

<li class="rg_li" style="width: 188px; height: 147px;">

More like his son

[Brazil]

More like his son

thats true

[jgome21]

I'll take that. We can use more depth right now esp with Duncan's age and Bonner's ineffectiveness on D/rebounding.

[weebo]

scrub...nothing to get your panties wet

[Ice009]

RC and the FO has been on a pretty bad slide the past 3 years or so however.

Isn't that about the time Sam Presti left? Would you say that is a coincidence?

[TJastal]

ESPN's John Hollinger's take on the Ike Diogu signing, and how it fits with the Spurs:

+ Undersized 4 with great activity around basket. Good rebounder. Draws fouls.
+ Struggles to finish against size. Poor defensive player because of lack of height.
+ Mediocre outside shooter. Tunnel vision -- just looks to score. Limited handle.

"After missing a season with a knee injury, Diogu showed he can still score with great efficiency, albeit not quite at the rate he did pre-injury. He shot 56.1 percent, drew his usual horde of fouls and averaged a very solid 17.6 points per 40 minutes. However, Diogu needs to boost his contribution in other respects. The fact he has a grand total of five assists in his past 65 NBA games tells you a lot about his approach -- catch ball, attack rim, repeat. He needs to share the wealth a bit offensively, and defensively he needs to improve too. He's not terrible, because he moves decently and will get physical, but he's short (6-foot-8) for a power forward and has to compensate with greater effort than he's shown. All the same, it's puzzling he hasn't been able to carve out a greater role. Countless big men with lesser production have become established rotation players; between injuries and constantly being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Diogu hasn't."

Cuz he sucks?

[angelbelow]

i know its old and highlites but this is what the guy is bringing to the table.

Bad highlight video because he really looks like a good player. Hes not.. hes not even a prospect anymore. At this point, hes a 5th big/roster rounder. He couldn't stick with a bigman depleted clippers and that says a lot. But given our situation, I'm not complaining about having him. (Although Lawal might have been better for defensive purposes.)

I caught quite a few clipper games last year with the impression that he was an intriguing prospect that just needed an opportunity to play. Well he had plenty of opportunities last year and hes simply too one dimensional.

He can score the ball, maybe grab some rebounds but he lacks defense and athleticism. His work ethic is also a HUGE question mark. Despite what you read, anything a player with the "talent" that Diogu poccesses but never seems to have the "opportunity" to play, hes either has character issues, lazy/no work ethic, or a weak body. Maybe we'll find out exactly why this guy hasn't been able to establish a role for himself yet.

[callo1]

Good pick up by the Spurs front office. Ike has good touch around the rim, and has just enough junk in his game to be able to get his shot off down low against taller opponents. He plays bigger than '6"9 in part due to his "88 wingspan. He can bang, rebound decently, and he can even get after some shots...more of a shot changer than a shot blocker, but shoot, I'll take that over Bonner's post defense any day. He is kind of like Blair with a more size and a better offensive game.

While we all would have like to have seen the Spurs sign a 7 footer, there really isn't one out there in the Spurs price range with the skill set of Diogu.

This guy is a good character guy, he isn't afraid of contact...he actually looks for it, and he leaves it out on the floor. He is a very hard worker, despite what others are saying... I'm sure that is why RC and Pop went after him.

Don't have to run any plays for him, he can clean up fairly well.

I see Ike fitting in very well in the silver and black.

I'm really excited, this guy is way underrated, and is a sleeper pick up that will make the team better. Book it.

[Buddy Holly]

Good pick up by the Spurs front office. Ike has good touch around the rim, and has just enough junk in his game to be able to get his shot off down low against taller opponents. He plays bigger then '6"9 in part due to his "88 wingspan. He can bang, rebound decently, and he can even get after some shots...more of a shot changer than a shot blocker, but shoot, I'll take that over Bonner's post defense any day. He is kind of like Blair with a more size and a better offensive game.

While we all would have like to have seen the Spurs sign a 7 footer, there really isn't one out there in the Spurs price range with the skill set of Diogu.

This guy is a good character guy, he isn't afraid of contact...he actually looks for it, and he leaves it out on the floor. He is a very hard worker... I'm sure that is why RC and Pop went after him. I see Ike fitting in very well in the silver and black.

I'm really excited, this guy is way underrated, and is a sleeper pick up that will make the team better. Book it.

I like and agree with this.

[dylankerouac]

I'll take it, at least the front office did something - we've all been wanting some sort of action on the big-man front. If he's not a good fit then in a month or so he'll just be let go. At least his strength is Timmy's biggest weakness right now. Also, any time he gets the ball he will likely already be in the low block (weakness anyone?) making a presence felt, hopefully a positive one. If he makes his presence felt and starts to pass the ball though, that may be interesting too.

[DJ Mbenga]

saw him with the clippers. he can rebound and gives energy. other than that his offense is cherry picking.

[jjktkk]

Diogu might be just the 1st of of a few bigs the Spurs bring in, but its good to see the FO finally bring in a player.

[Manu-of-steel]

I like this signing. Let's wait and see how it turns out

[WeNeedLength]

He dropped a 32 pt 11 rbnd game on Denver a couple years back. Has Bonner ever done that???

[jimo2305]

a 6'9 bigman.. OH MAI GAWD YES!! THIS IS JUST EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED

[Xevious]

I'll take any bigman just for injury insurance at this point.

[angelbelow]

He dropped a 32 pt 11 rbnd game on Denver a couple years back. Has Bonner ever done that???

Actually, IIRC, Bonner had a 30pt 15 rebound game in 2008.

Edit. Okay my bad, it was 25 pts and 17 rebounds: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...712110GSW.html

[Russo21]

Now to trade Bonner and i'd be moderately happy

[Proxy]

Anything to cut into Bonner's minutes is good in my book.

[Spurtacus]

Meh. Hope he was cheap. Hope he outplays Bonner.