Enough to Make Me Yak

(Boulder-CO) After looking at the box score again from the Dallas game there is one Nugget that has blatantly dropped the level of his play in the most recent handful of games. He hasn’t shot well, his defense has become less intense, and despite playing more minutes and moving into the starting lineup has not upped his averages. Yakhouba Diawara is the player I am spotlighting and the bulb is close to burning out.

In the Dallas game, Yak played his worst game statistically in the most minutes he has played so far this year. The embarrassing stat line reads one point, one assists, one block and five rebounds. Diawara went 0-4 from the three-point line, 0-11 overall with four personal fouls and two turnovers in 40 minutes.

I have been one of the biggest supporters of Yakhouba Diawara even before he had played a single minute for the Nuggets, but enough is enough. If you’re not hitting, stop shooting! Diawara needs to hunker down on defense and reestablish himself for the Nuggets. His shot was falling early this year, but not all that glitters is gold. And in this case… it is definitely Pyrite at this point.

The Nuggets need Yakhouba to step-up and if it isn’t in the scoring column than he needs to find another way. I’m conjuring up old adages from coaches of yesteryear and the one that sticks out more than any is this; offense has off nights, defense doesn’t!