Boris Diaw
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Boris Diaw (right) and Brian Skinner (left)
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| Position | Guard/Forward/Center |
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| Height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| League | NBA |
| Team | Phoenix Suns |
| Jersey | #3 |
| Born | April 16, 1982 Cormeilles, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Draft | 21st 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 |
| Official profile | Info Page |
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) and 235 lbs (106,6 kg). He played for Pau Orthez, France's top league team, before joining the NBA. His NBA career averages are 8.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.0 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.
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[edit] Career
In 2000, he won the European Junior Championship with the French National Team. He was selected 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. He had won the bronze medal at the European Championship with the French National Team in 2005.
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. He was named to the All-Tournament Team. 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. Diaw led the French team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship with 107 points and 22 assists in 9 games.He has very long arms which helps him with excellent blocking.
In the 2008 NBA Playoffs, 1st Round, Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, even though he was fouled out in the game, he recorded almost another triple double which is 20 PTS, 10 RBD, and 8 AST. He also recorded 4 Turnovers, 2 Blocks and played longest in the game with 44:51 mins.
[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. Based on the 2007-2008 Season: His PPG: 8.5 his RPG: 4.50 his BPG: 0.5 his APG: 3.9 his EFF: +11.71. 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 Élisabeth Riffiod is regarded as one of the best centers in French women's basketball history, while his father Issa Diaw was a Senegalese high jump champion. He also has a half brother, Paco Diaw, who was a guard at Georgia Tech, but transferred to Lee University, a small NAIA school in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Paco's major is French, which he already speaks as a native of Dakar, Senegal. He is the brother of Martin Diaw, who has also played basketball for California University of Pennsylvania.
[edit] Trivia
- Diaw and fellow French NBA star, Tony Parker, are long-time friends and former roommates. Diaw was the best man in Tony Parker's wedding to American actress Eva Longoria.[1]
[edit] Quotes
""When you look at Diaw and what he's done in this league - he's changed everything. As we celebrate his brilliance and talk to Boris - what a classic human being he is. It was 201 years ago today, that Beethoven's Symphony #3 in E-flat escorted in the age of romanticism in music. And when I look at Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven in the age of the romantics - this guys got it all!" - Bill Walton, Golden Commentary
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Boris Diaw, Are You Ready to Be Tony Parker's Best Man?. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
[edit] External links
- NBA.com
- BorisDiaw.com
- ESPN.com
- Basketball-Reference
- Boris Diaw Player Profile (InterBasket)
- CBS Sportsline
| Preceded by Bobby Simmons |
NBA Most Improved Player 2005-06 |
Succeeded by Monta Ellis |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Diaw, Boris |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Diaw-Riffiod, Boris Babacar |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Professional basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1982 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cormeilles, France |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
