What's With Boris and Amare?

It seems like Boris Diaw is a lot better when playing without Amare Stoudemire. The last quarter of the Bulls game was dramatic when Boris played extremely well. But it is something a lot of commentators have noticed. However, the explanation is always to say the problem is that Boris just isn't assertive enough.

I'm sure that's true, but I think there is something else going on as well. The defenses he's facing when Amare is in the lineup are different than when he's not.

When Amare is in the lineup, opponents become obsessed with stopping him. Increasingly, opponents are putting as many as three guys close to basket. With the added danger of Hill's drives, Barbosa's drives, Nash's drives, and Marion's backdoor cuts; opponents are prepared to risk the Suns going bombs away from the outside. They prefer risking 40% for three than fouling everyone out failing to stop Stoudemire with a straight defense.

The problem for Diaw is that he is best at drive and kick plays which are effectively taken away when opponents are that tightly packed. He's open for mid range jumpers because opponents will accept those rather than let him get in close.

What's interesting is that when Amare is out, opponents start paying more attention to the shooters. During 2005-06, opponents were far more concerned about the three than the inside. This meant that when Diaw would get around his man, there weren't a bunch of other defenders under the basket waiting for him. In the fourth quarter of the Bulls game, the open defensive setup meant Diaw was able to shine.

Using Diaw in more of point guard role when Nash is not in the lineup gives him a valuable function. But it appears he's best when Amare is on the bench and floor is opened up. Considering how often Stoudemire gets into foul trouble that can be a lot of minutes, but Diaw's minutes may go down if his value is limited to when Amare sits.

In the second Kings game, the Suns showed used Skinner along with Stoudemire during a stretch. It worked quite well. Skinner offers some of the same things that Marion offers such as rebounding, defense, weak side shot blocking, and cuts to the basket. It's only one game, but this looks like it may be a better combination than using Diaw with Stoudemire since those are not Diaw's strengths..

Restricting Diaw to backing up Amare and some point guard work would mean fewer minutes for Diaw, but it could mean a lot more productivity