Diamond Stone (Committed to Maryland)

[Jluc]

Honestly until Ollie became the head coach and really started using the stretch 4 with Deandre I dont think any of you would have questioned whether Stone and Brimah can play together. Not every 4 man is the type of player deandre was.

 

[aceboon]

Honestly until Ollie became the head coach and really started using the stretch 4 with Deandre I dont think any of you would have questioned whether Stone and Brimah can play together. Not every 4 man is the type of player deandre was.

maybe to some who don't watch any other basketball besides UConn(there are alot of folks on here that fit into that box), but I would. I wasn't the biggest fan of JC's insistence of forcing 2 bigs together. I know he was flexible during games, but for example I would've just started the Roscoe/AO combination right off the bat instead of forcing the TO/AO or Chuck/AO lineups to start with. Its not like Ollie playing DeAndre at the 4 was some revolutionary move, college teams feature NBA sized 3s at the 4 spot all over the place. I'm not saying Brimah and Stone can't play together because obviously it hasn't happened yet, but I do think there will be issues defensively at times if he tries to guard perimeter based 4s. I mean just look at the NC game, Calipari was going smaller more often with Randle at the 5 and Poythress(sp) at the 4 to be able to match up better defensively with UConn.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Well when you do have some free time, survey the college bball landscape and get back to me, I'll be waiting.

Stone won't be hoisting up jumper after jumper in college, but he's certainly skilled and athletic enough on offense to be an on the block and mid range threat...when I say inside out threat I don't mean deep range shooting

Wow, you're a , huh? ( I have no doubt you'll be waiting.) You're also wrong. The prototypical big-bodied power forward is a dying breed.

 

[Jluc]

maybe to some who don't watch any other basketball besides UConn(there are alot of folks on here that fit into that box), but I would. I wasn't the biggest fan of JC's insistence of forcing 2 bigs together. I know he was flexible during games, but for example I would've just started the Roscoe/AO combination right off the bat instead of forcing the TO/AO or Chuck/AO lineups to start with. Its not like Ollie playing DeAndre at the 4 was some revolutionary move, college teams feature NBA sized 3s at the 4 spot all over the place. I'm not saying Brimah and Stone can't play together because obviously it hasn't happened yet, but I do think there will be issues defensively at times if he tries to guard perimeter based 4s. I mean just look at the NC game, Calipari was going smaller more often with Randle at the 5 and Poythress(sp) at the 4 to be able to match up better defensively with UConn.

No I absolutely hear what you're saying. It just really all depends on matchups. If Stone and Brimah are on the floor together that could also cause a mismatch defensively for the opponent. But I'm sure if Diamond ends up coming here Ollie will strategically use his lineups based on the opponent they are playing. I dont think Ollie will force a two big man lineup if it isnt needed. The point I'm really trying to make is that I believe Stone plays a lot more than 15 minutes a game if he lands in storrs. Too talented of a player not too. Theres always a way.

 

[James]

Wow, you're a , huh? ( I have no doubt you'll be waiting.) You're also wrong. The prototypical big-bodied power forward is a dying breed.

Pretty confident response thats pretty much false. All the top power forwards in the game are basically 'big bodied' ( 6'10 + 240+). Sure they can stretch the floor to an extent, but they weren't touted shooters until they got to the nba(excluding love). Aldridge/Davis/Love/ibaka/Griffin/Duncan.

Diamond Stone has said in interviews 4 years he wants to play both positions. Watching fiba he played more faceup paired with harry giles, who played more like the 5. He has great shooting mechanics for someone his size. he is DEFINITELY fast enough side to side to guard college pnr.

 

[champs99and04]

maybe to some who don't watch any other basketball besides UConn(there are alot of folks on here that fit into that box), but I would. I wasn't the biggest fan of JC's insistence of forcing 2 bigs together. I know he was flexible during games, but for example I would've just started the Roscoe/AO combination right off the bat instead of forcing the TO/AO or Chuck/AO lineups to start with. Its not like Ollie playing DeAndre at the 4 was some revolutionary move, college teams feature NBA sized 3s at the 4 spot all over the place. I'm not saying Brimah and Stone can't play together because obviously it hasn't happened yet, but I do think there will be issues defensively at times if he tries to guard perimeter based 4s. I mean just look at the NC game, Calipari was going smaller more often with Randle at the 5 and Poythress(sp) at the 4 to be able to match up better defensively with UConn.

Kentucky last year is a great example of a team that played way too many over-sized lineups and it cost them. Andrew Harrison would have been better at the two, Aaron would have been better at the three, and Poythress is a major weapon at the four whereas he can't play the three at all. Randle had a lot of trouble defensively at times.

And for the people who think it's sacrilege to think a big time recruit can have his minutes cut into, Dakari Johnson - ranked around the same place as Stone on some sites - played only 14 minutes last season because Cauley-Stein was the better player. Even if Brimah doesn't develop offensively as much as we hope, you're probably looking at a similar dynamic there. Playing those sort of players together isn't always viable.

 

[Walker11]

This got me interested in thinking about how the 4 man is used in MCBB.

The following are the projected 4's for some of the top teams in the country.

UK - Towns, Marcus Lee, Poythress. I have no idea who is starting for them. Towns and Poythress are more stretch 4's. Lee more prototypical.
UA - Ashley. More of a stretch I guess. Junk points, can shoot when open. Not back to basket.
UW - Hayes. Back to basket. Their center, Kaminsky is a stretch.
UNC - Brice Johnson. Can hit mid range shot and good back to basket.
Kansas - Perry Ellis and Alexander. Back to basket
Duke - Jefferson. Slashing, undersized, but can't really shoot. Don't know how to categorize.
Ville - Harrell. Definitely back to basket. Decent mid-range, against us at least.
Texas - Jonathon Holmes. I didn't watch Texas play much. 6'8
Iowa State - Niang. Undersized. More of a high post guy.
UF - Walker. True post. May see Robinson and Finney Smith at the 4 who are stretch 4's.
Nova - Pinkston. Slasher, driver. Undersized.

In this very small sample size, it doesn't seem that there are many true bigs playing the 4 but a lot of them aren't known for their shooting either so I wouldn't call them stretch 4's. Basically, this ten minutes of posting told me nothing. All are pretty mobile and can probably guard the perimeter besides Towns and Ellis. Maybe not Harrell or Hayes.

 

[aceboon]

This got me interested in thinking about how the 4 man is used in MCBB.

The following are the projected 4's for some of the top teams in the country.

UK - Towns, Marcus Lee, Poythress. I have no idea who is starting for them. Towns and Poythress are more stretch 4's. Lee more prototypical.
UA - Ashley. More of a stretch I guess. Junk points, can shoot when open. Not back to basket.
UW - Hayes. Back to basket. Their center, Kaminsky is a stretch.
UNC - Brice Johnson. Can hit mid range shot and good back to basket.
Kansas - Perry Ellis and Alexander. Back to basket
Duke - Jefferson. Slashing, undersized, but can't really shoot. Don't know how to categorize.
Ville - Harrell. Definitely back to basket. Decent mid-range, against us at least.
Texas - Jonathon Holmes. I didn't watch Texas play much. 6'8
Iowa State - Niang. Undersized. More of a high post guy.
UF - Walker. True post. May see Robinson and Finney Smith at the 4 who are stretch 4's.
Nova - Pinkston. Slasher, driver. Undersized.

In this very small sample size, it doesn't seem that there are many true bigs playing the 4 but a lot of them aren't known for their shooting either so I wouldn't call them stretch 4's. Basically, this ten minutes of posting told me nothing. All are pretty mobile and can probably guard the perimeter besides Towns and Ellis. Maybe not Harrell or Hayes.

Texas is actually pretty interesting because there is talk that they will move Holmes, who is a true college 4, bouncy athletic type with a nice build in the mold of KFree(with a couple more inches), to the 3 because they face the "dilemma" of bringing in a top 10 recruit in Miles Turner and him obviously wanting to start. Ridley is better than him right now as a 5, and Holmes is much better suited at the 4 spot and would be better there defensively than Turner, but it looks like Barnes is going to concede on this front because you have to placate Turner. Holmes has decent range but he still would be playing out of position out on the wing imo, and defensively I think they're gonna be a bit of a mess with that lineup because Turner doesn't really have the footspeed to deal with defending the pick and roll. I guess we'll find out when UConn plays them.

 

[Matrim55]

Honestly until Ollie became the head coach and really started using the stretch 4 with Deandre I dont think any of you would have questioned whether Stone and Brimah can play together.

Anybody who was forced to watch Oriakhi & Drummond share the same court would have questioned it. And anybody who understands offensive efficiency (specifically how to achieve it) would do the same.

True story: If Enoch can, in fact, shoot the way everybody says he can, he'll be a much more important recruit for us than Stone.

Not saying I don't want Stone (I do), but the game is about time & space. Putting shooters on the court creates exactly that.

 

[intlzncster]

Or how calhoun used Villanueva and Boone, Okafor and Boone, Armstrong and Boone, Armstrong and Nelson, Boone and Nelson, Thabeet and Edwards....all the comments that stone "could get 20 minutes a game maybe" are ridiculous. Hes a top 5 recruit and a most likely first round pick after one year. Hes going to play.

Throw Charlie V in there too.

 

[intlzncster]

Pretty confident response thats pretty much false. All the top power forwards in the game are basically 'big bodied' ( 6'10 + 240+). Sure they can stretch the floor to an extent, but they weren't touted shooters until they got to the nba(excluding love). Aldridge/Davis/Love/ibaka/Griffin/Duncan.

I think he was talking about college power forwards. Not pro.

 

[intlzncster]

True story: If Enoch can, in fact, shoot the way everybody says he can, he'll be a much more important recruit for us than Stone.

Not saying I don't want Stone (I do), but the game is about time & space. Putting shooters on the court creates exactly that.

Depends when (and who) guys jump.

 

[intlzncster]

Texas is actually pretty interesting because there is talk that they will move Holmes, who is a true college 4, bouncy athletic type with a nice build in the mold of KFree(with a couple more inches), to the 3 because they face the "dilemma" of bringing in a top 10 recruit in Miles Turner and him obviously wanting to start. Ridley is better than him right now as a 5, and Holmes is much better suited at the 4 spot and would be better there defensively than Turner, but it looks like Barnes is going to concede on this front because you have to placate Turner. Holmes has decent range but he still would be playing out of position out on the wing imo, and defensively I think they're gonna be a bit of a mess with that lineup because Turner doesn't really have the footspeed to deal with defending the pick and roll. I guess we'll find out when UConn plays them.

Barnes can't count on winning as a recruiting draw, so he's got to placate his studs if he wants to keep getting more in the future.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Throw Charlie V in there too.

I don't know about this one. Charlie could shoot, and he took a fair number of threes, at least as a freshman. He even played some 3 in the NBA.

 

[intlzncster]

I don't know about this one. Charlie could shoot, and he took a fair number of threes, at least as a freshman. He even played some 3 in the NBA.

Absolutely, RE the NBA. And he did jack up some threes freshman year, but he settled in down low. We were much more stacked down low his freshman year. You could argue it either way I suppose.

I certainly wasn't expecting him to take people off the bounce a la Daniels.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Absolutely, RE the NBA. And he did jack up some threes freshman year, but he settled in down low. We were much more stacked down low his freshman year. You could argue it either way I suppose.

I certainly wasn't expecting him to take people off the bounce a la Daniels.

Sure, but Daniels at the 4 was never the plan. Daniels ended up at the 4 because there was no one else to play there, and he was just OK enough at rebounding to get by.

 

[Silk31]

Wow, you're a , huh? ( I have no doubt you'll be waiting.) You're also wrong. The prototypical big-bodied power forward is a dying breed.

Not a guy take it easy...but you admit yourself you don't have the time to survey the college bball landscape, I guess I just have way more time on my hands or I'm way too into college bball...if you think there are are more stretch 4s than actual PFs then you are watching too much of DeAndre Daniels the last two years and believe that to be status quo

Very good points by other posters on here about how well we utilized guys like Boone, Okafor, Charlie V, Hilton, Ed Nelson together and how Florida had no issues playing two now NBA centers in Horford and Noah together...if Brimah is as good as everyone hopes and Stone is as good as he looks and as advertised then they will both get plenty of minutes...TOGETHER

Remember those stretch 4s will have to guard Stone on the block so it's not just a one sided argument to help prove your own point...mismatches happen all the time, it's who exploits them better that wins

 

[BearJWS]

I think I'd be more convinced of Stone coming to UConn if he makes an official visit. His visit this summer was unofficial. I'm less concerned about him "worrying about fitting in". If he's serious, he would schedule an official visit. He's said some very nice things about Ollie & UConn, so that's encouraging. If he were to commit, UConn's front court would be stacked. Nolan-Brimah-Stone-Facey-Lubin-Enoch. That's a 6 depth He would get time, based on his offensive skills.

 

[Zionn]

Two OVs set up-

OKie State 10/10
MD 10/17

 

[UConNick]

Us or Wisc will probably be the last one the first weekend of November. That could be quite telling, because he is likely to give a silent verbal on one of the upcoming visits.

 

[aceboon]

Mark Miller
@WisBBYearbook
Appears likely Diamond Stone will not sign during the early period in Nov. Likely to take officials during the season to Duke, UConn, WI.

 

[intlzncster]

Mark Miller
@WisBBYearbook
Appears likely Diamond Stone will not sign during the early period in Nov. Likely to take officials during the season to Duke, UConn, WI.

Hopefully we are having a good year so we don't have to break down every tweet during the season. Like the official to UCONN though.

 

[tcf15]

From same guy in ace's post:

http://www.wissports.net/Playground/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1242947

From a conversation with his AAU coach, Deshawn Curtis, today ...

1) Diamond will visit Oklahoma State the weekend of October 10 and Maryland the following weekend.

2) Diamond then begins weekend prep classes for the ACT exam.

3) Diamond most likely will visit Wisconsin, UConn and Duke during the season.

4) Diamond almost "certainly" will not sign in the fall, but wait until the spring.

5) "He will go through the whole process and make a decision when he's comfortable," Curtis said.

 

[aceboon]

Sure, but Daniels at the 4 was never the plan. Daniels ended up at the 4 because there was no one else to play there, and he was just OK enough at rebounding to get by.

With KO as coach I think DD was going to play mostly at the 4 regardless of who we had. Amin Elhassan, who is a former NBA front office exec turned ESPN NBA Insider knows KO well, and when Roscoe came out the gates putting up dbl dbls and crazy rebounding numbers for UNLV he said that KO told him back when Roscoe was at UConn that Roscoe would be so much more effective as a college player if he just embraced being a stretch 4. If KO felt that way about Roscoe, then I don't see why he wouldn't feel the same about DD.

 

[Rico444]

But they'd look good next to each other on the blocks wouldn't they? But Rock, Phil and Facey may have to say something about that too.....a good problem to have

That's the million-dollar question. If either one can play the 4 effectively then there's plenty of playing time to go around. If not, things can get a little dicey.