How Cheick Diallo Can Learn From the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam

NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 15: Cheick Diallo #13 of the New Orleans Pelicans shoots over Lucas Nogueira #92 of the Toronto Raptors during the first half of a game at the Smoothie King Center on November 15, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 15: Cheick Diallo #13 of the New Orleans Pelicans shoots over Lucas Nogueira #92 of the Toronto Raptors during the first half of a game at the Smoothie King Center on November 15, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 15 (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 15 (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

If you have read any of my previous articles in which I mention Cheick Diallo, you would probably come to the correct conclusion that I am not a big fan of his. I see Diallo as someone with the perfect NBA body who, through either his fault or his coaches’, has been completely ineffective on the basketball court.

Diallo’s on court play only makes me more angry when it is compared to that of Pascal Siakam, someone with very similar athleticism, size and NBA experience. Unlike Diallo, Siakam has turned himself into a very good role player in two years, with a real plus-minus of 1.52, while Diallo has seen fluctuating minutes, and has been declared a four-five “tweener”, posting a -2.55 RPM.

So what’s the difference?