Our French generations have talent. Generation 2002 with Matthew Strazel, Juhann Begarin, Ismaël Kamagaté. Generation 2004, with Victor Wembanyama header. The 2003 generation is also talented. During the 2022 Draft which will take place this Thursday, the French have beautiful jewels to polish, capable of grabbing a good place. The most talented of them: Ousmane Dieng.
Native of Villeneuve-sur-Lot Ousmane Dieng plays from an early age in the club of his city, the Villeneuve Basket Club. Very quickly, Ousmane Dieng gets noticed by some people from the biggest basketball club in the area. It was therefore at the age of 13 that he joined the minimal French team of the JSA Bordeaux. He follows in the footsteps of another Frenchie who passed through the Phoenix Suns, Elie Okobo. But there again, Ousmane shows an even greater margin for improvement. Bordeaux very quickly becomes too small, and the winger joins the Pôle France. In U18, Ousmane Dieng made his debut in National 1 and very quickly took a leading place in the team and continued to progress in an incredible way. It is also here that it reaches 2 meters. His stats speak for him: the team’s second-best scorer with an average of 10.1 points ahead of another NBA contender in 2022, the player from Paris Basketball Ishmael Kamagaté. One year later, Ousmane Dieng becomes the first striking force of the team in scoring with 12.6 points on average.
NBA: The favorites of the 2022 Draft https://t.co/luTnJyeknf pic.twitter.com/v0FyJhJaCb
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Everyone tears Ousmane Dieng
After obtaining the bac, everyone wants to attach the services ofOusmane Dieng, qualified as France’s best hope. G League, American university programs, French clubs. But none of them will have succeeded in obtaining the signature ofOusmane Dieng. Those are the New Zealand Breakers and the NBL who pull off the big shot. At the same time, he becomes the first European player to join the “Next Star Program” set up in the Australian League. In front of a certain Hugo Besson, the frenchie who will follow the same trajectory asOusmane. Despite a complicated collective season, Ousmane Dieng has been able to develop throughout the season. Enough to go try your luck for this class of Draft 2022, this Thursday. He is announced in the mock drafts between 12th place and 21st place.
Ousmane Dieng, what profile?
Firstly, Ousmane is a winger. Very nice athlete. His statistics with the Breakers bear witness to this: 13 points on average over the last 11 games of the season. A good progression therefore for the French. Its potential is enormous. His new franchise during the Draft will have to be patient to allow him to express his full potential. His big strength is his ability to make others play for a winger. A faculty that far exceeds all its competitors in this 2022 vintage. His game vision is very interesting.
A shot to improve
If he shines with his passing game and his reading. Its big weak point is in the shoot. Ousmane Dieng must work on his shooting efficiency. Especially since in the NBA, we rely heavily on the ability of a position 3 to know how to finish near the circle or to sanction on catch and shoot. His percentages are not high enough. This season, he’s only shooting 27% from 3 points. Defensively, too. Ousmane Dieng must also progress. His lateral movement needs to be perfected when he faces wingers smaller than him. And in front of more physical wingers than him, Ousmane usually has trouble holding the duel.
Direction OKC
According to US media, Ousmane Dieng would be approached from the side ofOklahoma City. What could be better for him than to play alongside other French people like Jaylen Hoard et Theo Maledon. OKC is a franchise in total reconstruction and then he risks having playing time to show what he is capable of.
