"Wake up number 37"

Mothman Prophecies. Anyone? Bueller? The most important figure in Gorgui Dieng's impressive stat line (12 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks) is 37. As in minutes played. For a center.

After years of watching Samardo Samuels, Terrence Jennings, and David Padgett, it's such a welcome luxury to have a big man pull down double-digit rebounds that routinely eclipse his scoring (even Padgett, for all his prodigious talents, only averaged 4.8 rebounds a game his senior year). Maybe we've been spoiled, myself included, because I confess to some consternation in the first half watching Gorgui play soft; Nova guards were going to the rim with too much confidence and, on a couple possessions, Dieng appeared to only make the smallest of efforts to contest a shot.

It's a trade-off, pure and simple. As satisfying as it would be to watch Gorgui monster sky for every block and swat balls into the 10th row, I understand the value of picking his spots. It's not a stretch to say that Gorgui is the indispensable player, there's no one on the team that can even remotely do what he does.

And I still think Dieng is an effective defender, even if not a dominant one. Last year, going up mostly against Terrence Jennings, Villanova's Mouphtaou Yarou scored 18 points and snagged 11 boards. Last night against Gorgs? 10-7. We need to be more understanding of the long game approach to playing, well, a longer game.