Photo from: Gorgui Dieng IG
The Hawk’s are off to a great start this season. After a blowout win against the Mavericks, a tough loss to a young Cav’s team, a routing of the Detroit Pistons, and a close win on the road vs the Pelicans, the Hawk’s seem to be picking up right where they left off.
Throughout these four games, there have been numerous standout performances. It’s easy to notice Cam dropping 20 and 19 in back-to-back games, or Trae having one of his typical 20 and 10 games, or a stout defensive performance from DeAndre Hunter. However, these showings make it easy to overlook some of the more lowkey contributors for the Hawks.
The players who come in and do the dirty work may not earn the statistics and praise that some of the stars receive, but their impact on the game is just as significant. Everyone has a job to do, and Gorgui Dieng does his to perfection. Whether it’s a subtle pass out of the high post to an open Bogdonvic, or a timely block, or even hitting a three-pointer when the offense is going stale, Dieng has put on a masterclass of making the right plays. That’s why it’s so easy to overlook; there’s no high-flying alley-oop or step-back fadeaway three. It’s just simply a basketball player doing his job.
As a fan of basketball at its simplest form, Gorgui Dieng has been one of my favorite players to watch this season. The old Coach’s cliche “He just plays the game the right way” is one of the best ways I could think of describing Dieng. He may not put up 40 points or drop ten assists, but his fingerprint is always all over the game. Just looking at his averages through these three games, nothing pops out, just 6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. However, if you look at the advanced statistics, a 23.5 PER, which is higher than Trae Young’s PER this past season, 72% True Shooting, which is far above league average, and he ranks third in the entire NBA for Net Rating (106.3); all of which are within the top 3 of each category for the Hawks.
In fact, Gorgui Dieng ranks in the top 5 of 14 out of 20 of the advanced statistical categories for Atlanta this season. Don’t start the MVP campaign quite yet; there’s still a lot of basketball left to play, but Gorgui Dieng has not only become Shlenk’s best pick-up this offseason but one of the most impactful players on this Hawk’s team so far this season.
