Diop regains confidence

A change in attitude is sometimes only eight minutes away.

That’s the length of time Avery Johnson and Gana Diop spent together Friday morning hashing a few issues out. Chief among them: Diop’s noticeable unhappiness with his lack of playing time.

“I just told him how I felt,” Diop said Sunday before facing New Jersey. “It was just a man-to-man talk, coach and player, and he told me to keep working and do what I do. I was trying to do that the last game.

“I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t like to go up to people and talk, especially coaches. I hold a lot of stuff inside me and just keep working, but it came to that point where we needed a talk and I felt great afterward.”

Filling in for the injured Erick Dampier, Diop delivered his strongest effort since possibly November with 12 rebounds, eight points and two blocks in Friday night’s 92-81 win over Memphis. The showing came two days after Johnson didn’t play Diop at Orlando.

Not getting off the bench was especially hard on Diop’s psyche. Johnson wasn’t happy with the center’s body language, so he called for the private session before the morning shootaround.

Johnson wasn’t the only one to pull Diop aside. Dirk Nowitzki, a regular one-on-one partner with Diop before games, sensed his teammate needed a pick-me-up.

“You try to talk to him as much as you can, you try to help him out, but ultimately it comes down to him and whatever he wants to do,” Nowitzki said. “He’s going to be fine as long as he keeps working and stays fit.

“There are always going to be opportunities, especially with the West getting bigger, we definitely need him. I like his game. I like his energy. He’s a great guy in the locker room, a chemistry guy, so you definitely don’t want to lose him.”

Diop seemed especially moved by Nowitzki’s support. This is their third season as teammates.

“We’ve always been close, but I think this year with what I’m going through, after what he went through early in the season when he was struggling, too, got us closer,” Diop said. “People care about you when you’re down, people who love you, are going to be around. He did that a lot this year.

“We’ve talked a lot over the last week. He told me to keep working, that I’m on a good team and something is going to happen. Almost everybody on the team has talked to me about that.”