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Gorgui Dieng says Louisville will be better next season

Gorgui Dieng

Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng looks at his phone in the locker room before practice for their NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball game Sunday, April 7, 2013, in Atlanta. Louisville plays Michigan in the championship game on Monday. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AP

Gorgui Dieng is gearing up for next Thursday for the 2013 NBA Draft. On Tuesday, following a workout with the New York Knicks, the former Louisville center had time to talk about his old team.

“I think they’re going to have a better team this year,” Dieng told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and SNY.tv on Tuesday.

Dieng went onto say that the guard depth with allow Louisville to press more.

The 6-foot-11 Dieng leaves a void defensively in the middle for the Cardinals, however, forwards Chane Behanan and Montrezl Harrell are expected to have big seasons for Rick Pitino. . Besides Dieng, the Cards have to replace the leadership of Peyton Siva with likely successor Chris Jones -- the JuCo player of the year -- sharing time with freshman Terry Rozier (Hargrave Military Academy/Shaker Heights/Ohio). All four of Louisville’s incoming players are four-star recruits, according to Rivals.

Oh, and they bring back Russ Freaking Smith for his senior year, and the shooting of Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock.

Whether Dieng is right is his assessment or not, it will likely add to some trash talking between Louisville and 2011 national champion (and archrival) Kentucky. The Wildcats are projected by many to be the team to beat -- including CBT’s preseason rankings -- due to its heralded recruiting class.

“Kentucky always have a chance to win it,” Dieng added.

“We (Louisville) always have a team,” Dieng continued. “That’s what Coach ‘P’ is all about – team. He doesn’t care who you are . You can be the best player but if you do something wrong, he’s going to sit you down. If you’re body fat is over nine percent, you won’t play.”

Dieng is projected to go No. 20 overall to the Chicago Bulls in next week’s draft according to DraftExpress.

The last two national champions are scheduled to play Dec. 28 at Rupp Arena.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne