Boris Diaw

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Boris Diaw
Position	Guard/Forward/Center
Height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Weight	230 lb (105 kg)
Team	Phoenix Suns
Nationality	France
Born	April 16, 1982 (age 24) Cormeilles, France
Draft	21^st overall, 2003 Atlanta Hawks
Pro career	2001–present
Former teams	Pau-Orthez (2001–2003) Atlanta Hawks (2003–2005)
Awards	2005-06 NBA Most Improved Player

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, better known as Boris Diaw, (born April 16, 1982 in Cormeilles, France) is a French professional basketball player for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. Diaw is 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), 230 lb, and can play any position from point guard to center. His career averages are 7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

At the end of the 2005-06 NBA season, Diaw was awarded the Most Improved Player trophy by garnering 80 first-place votes in balloting by 124 sports writers and sportscasters. He received 489 overall points.

1 Career
2 Player profile
3 Family
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Career

Diaw was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, twenty-first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft where he played for two seasons before being traded in the offseason of 2005 with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Joe Johnson.

In Phoenix, Diaw blossomed into an all-round player, playing any position from center to point guard and garnered the nickname "3D" because of his multidimensional play (his motto being "drive, dish, defend") and the combination of his number (3) and last name. Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.05 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 73.1% from the free throw line in the 2005-06 season for the Phoenix Suns, playing mostly small forward and then center in absence of the injured big men Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas. During the 2006 NBA playoffs as the Suns' starting center, Diaw averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.10 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 76% at the free throw line in 3 rounds of the playoffs. In Game 1 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Mavericks, Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, including the game-winning 7-foot turnaround jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation, to help his Suns to a 121-118 victory.

Diaw recorded his first career triple-double on January 31, 2006 when his Suns defeated the Philadelphia 76ers at Philadelphia, 123-99. Diaw had 14 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds, as well as a block and zero turnovers in 39 minutes. He is the first French NBA player ever to record a triple-double. He recorded his second career triple-double shortly afterwards on March 5, 2006 when his Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks at Dallas, 115-107. On April 14, 2006, Diaw recorded his third career triple-double when the Suns suffered a loss to the Golden State Warriors, 110-102. Diaw had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high, 16 assists, while adding three blocks and two steals in 42 minutes. Two days later, Diaw recorded his fourth career triple-double against the Los Angeles Lakers as his Suns lost 109-89. On December 15th, 2006, Diaw recorded his fifth career triple-double in a victory against the Golden State Warriors.

In July of 2006 Diaw was named captain of the French national team after San Antonio Spurs' guard Tony Parker requested not to be considered for the spot. Diaw led the French team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship with 107 points and 22 assists in 9 games.

[edit] Player profile

At 6'8" and 230 lbs, Diaw is a natural small forward. However, his passing skills and capability to score inside have earned him a reputation of being capable of playing all positions on the floor well. This is best seen in the 2005-06 season, where Diaw started as a bench player, then convincingly subbed as a point guard when starting play maker Steve Nash (that season's MVP) was injured, then started as a small forward and was finally moved to center when all three Suns pivots got injured, posting impressive stats of 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the playoffs [1] despite playing out of position. His breakout season (13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game) was crowned with the Most Improved Player Award. He is lauded for his unselfish, but assertive play, and his versatility also makes him a triple-double threat: as of December 2006, he has recorded five of them.

[edit] Family

Athletics run in his family as his mother Elizabeth Riffiod is regarded as one of the best centers in French women's basketball history, while his father Issa Diaw was a Senegal high jump champion. He also has a half brother, Paco Diaw, who is a guard at Georgia Tech. He is the brother of Martin Diaw, who has also played basketball for California University of Pennsylvania.

[edit] See also

List of French NBA players

[edit] External links

2003 NBA Draft
First Round LeBron James \| Darko Miličić \| Carmelo Anthony \| Chris Bosh \| Dwyane Wade \| Chris Kaman \| Kirk Hinrich \| T. J. Ford \| Michael Sweetney \| Jarvis Hayes \| Mickaël Piétrus \| Nick Collison \| Marcus Banks \| Luke Ridnour \| Reece Gaines \| Troy Bell \| Žarko Čabarkapa \| David West \| Aleksandar Pavlović \| Dahntay Jones \| Boris Diaw \| Zoran Planinić \| Travis Outlaw \| Brian Cook \| Carlos Delfino \| Ndudi Ebi \| Kendrick Perkins \| Leandro Barbosa \| Josh Howard
Second Round Maciej Lampe \| Jason Kapono \| Luke Walton \| Jerome Beasley \| Sofoklis Schortsianitis \| Szymon Szewczyk \| Mario Austin \| Travis Hansen \| Steve Blake \| Slavko Vraneš \| Derrick Zimmerman \| Willie Green \| Zaza Pachulia \| Keith Bogans \| Malick Badiane \| Matt Bonner \| Sani Bečirovič \| Maurice Williams \| James Lang \| James Jones \| Paccelis Morlende \| Kyle Korver \| Remon Van de Hare \| Tommy Smith \| Nedžad Sinanović \| Rick Rickert \| Brandon Hunter \| Xue Yuyang \| Andreas Glyniadakis

Phoenix Suns Current Roster

Coach D'Antoni

EA Sports NBA Live Cover Athletes

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Boris Diaw

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[edit] Career

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[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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