A few quotes that really stood out to me:
The most immediate question, even more immediate than his draft status, is where does Diallo's game stand right now? What does he most have to work on?
"Consistently making shots," Espinosa said. "His strength is when the game is up and down in the open court. When you get in the half court, slow the game down, that's when Hamidou struggles. With us, A. he'd take bad shots. B. he'd miss a lot of shots.
"It's also maturity on the court. People ask me what are you going to do without Hamidou? We've been playing without Hamidou for the last two years. He has been in my doghouse at times. Discipline issues, he hasn't played. He has been in foul trouble a lot, missed half the game. We're used to playing without him. We are going to be fine."
"Hamidou is a freak athlete," Espinosa said. "Gifts God gave him, not many people have. But at the same time, there's a lot of guys who are 6-5, 6-6 who are athletic who can't shoot. He has got to separate himself. He has taken too many days off, especially this fall with us, not getting better. He has so many tools, but he has to get so much better, work harder every day and be mentally tougher."
In summary:
- "Takes bad shots"
- "Misses a lot of shots"
- "Been in foul trouble a lot"
- "Not getting better"
- "Be mentally tougher"
His coach is making HD sound like a microcosm of everything that's been wrong with our teams the past year or so.
I know this could just be sour grapes on my part, but we may be better off in the long term without him -- It all depends who we can recruit in his place.