MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — To be successful in the NBA, young players need a veteran player to teach them the ins and outs of the league. For the Grizzlies, Gorgui Dieng is one such player and sources of information that rookies Desmond Bane and Xavier Tillman Jr. can learn from.
Before their first preseason matchup against the Timberwolves, Tillman and Bane walked into the Target Center in Minneapolis not knowing what to expect. Yes, they are basketball players and have played countless games before but this exhibition game was different.
This would be their first time playing on the professional level.
That’s where Dieng comes in. He’s been there and able to provide the young guys with some much needed knowledge, since training camp, to prepare for this moment.
“Just be patient, to be successful in the NBA, you have to be very patient,” Dieng said. “You have to be very consistent. In the NBA, you have to be good at something, whether it’s screening, it’s passing, it’s shooting, you have to be good at something to last long in this league.”
Dieng knows a thing or two about the NBA. After all, he’s played in over 500 career during the last seven years. He understands that a player’s game is not defined by one game, good or bad. It is the body of work displayed over a player’s career which defines them.
Dieng said both Tillman and Bane have been very receptive to the advice and life lessons that he and all of the guys on the team have been giving them.
“They listen, and they want to be good,” Dieng said. “It is too early to tell but this is just preseason. I hope they just play and go with the feel of the game.”
The Grizzlies are now 2-0 in the preseason and Bane and Tillman will have two more exhibition games to play in before the regular season starts on December 23 against the San Antonio Spurs.