The case for the Timberwolves’ Gorgui Dieng

After a slow start, Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng has shown improvement over the past few weeks.

You remember that movie “How Gorgui Got His Groove Back”?

Wait, maybe that wasn’t the title. Well, anyway, Gorgui Dieng has seemed to have found his “groove” in 2015-16. He’s starting to see more minutes off the bench, and is playing some valuable crunch time minutes as well.

I have been accused of vastly overvaluing Dieng in the past, and I’ve been ridiculed for my allegiance to Dieng’s abilities. Despite what others may say, I’m sticking by Gorgui Dieng.

He struggled at the beginning of the season, and that caused a lot of hooplah in Wolves-land. I cannot count how many tweets, posts, etc, that said Dieng is “regressing”. Now it seems like he’s back to his normal form, and he’s steadily improving. That is why I continue to have faith in Gorgui.

The claim of Dieng regressing were not completely bogus as he indeed struggled in the early going of the season. In the Timberwolves’ first 13 games, Dieng averaged a measly 6.4 points and 5 rebounds per contest. He was also only playing around 19 minutes a game, much lower than his minutes per game from last season.

Dieng struggled on both ends of the floor, with below average offensive and defensive ratings throughout the first 13 games. However, I think this could be attributed to Dieng’s lack of minutes. With a cluster of player’s vying for minutes in the front court it’s hard for Sam Mitchell to divvy them up evenly. It seemed as though Dieng was an odd man out in that discussion.

However, the injury to Nemanja Bjelica opened up a door for Dieng to get a few more minutes. This has spawned a terrific six game stretch from Dieng. Over the Wolves last seven games, Dieng has seen his minutes increase to 27 per game. He’s also seen his per game numbers increase to 12 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

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Dieng has also been far more efficient in his increase in minutes. His offensive rating jumped from 93 in the first 13 games to 126 in the last seven. He also has a true shooting percentage of nearly 72 percent in this seven game stretch. On top of all of that he’s taking smarter shots as his efficient shooting percentage has increased to 62 percent from 48 percent.

Perhaps all it took was more minutes for Dieng to pick up his play. He currently ranks second on the team in win shares per 48 minutes (behind Karl-Anthony Towns), and he’s leading the Timberwolves in box plus-minus rating (including a +14 rating on Monday night against LA).

I have made the case that Dieng could be a starting center somewhere in this league. I’m starting to think ‘why not’ for the Wolves? Having Dieng and Towns on the floor at the same time makes for a interesting shot blocking duo.

Think about it, think of some of the starting centers in the league. If Dieng were to play in Indiana or even Cleveland you mean to tell me he wouldn’t start over a guy like Ian Mahinmi? Or Timofey Mozgov, who’s struggled quite a but this season. It’s at least, a conversation is it not? I don’t see why that’s so crazy.

As odd as this comparison is going to be, Dieng has similar stats to Dallas’ Zaza Pachulia, who has had been playing out of his mind so far this season. Their per 100 possession stats are nearly identical if you’re looking at points per game, as well as offensive and defensive ratings. However, Pachulia is playing almost eight more minutes a game than Dieng.

Is it really so crazy to think that Dieng could be a starting center? He and Towns on the floor together makes sense. Towns has the ability to play a power forward-type game, and the two would be fun to watch on defense as well.

The vast improvement in Dieng’s game over the past few weeks has to bring about the question of whether or not he should be starting. I realize that Kevin Garnett is still a valuable defender, but if the Wolves are really looking at Dieng as their long-term option I don’t see the harm in putting him in the starting lineup.

Along with the shot blocking aspect, Dieng also brings a little more offensive firepower than Garnett. At this point he just seems like the more efficient option.

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Some may call me a lunatic for liking Dieng so much, but I will forever be a supporter of his game. The way he’s picked up his game over the last seven outings should remove all doubt as to if he is in “regression”. This guy is the real thing, and other people besides me need to make note of it.