Mamadou Diarra played three more minutes than David Onuorah this season

[upstater]

Kind of ironic that you’re trying to defend a coach who dreams of a team of positionless players. A lineup with guys with actual talent like Williams and Diarra can be effective if you don’t let the opposing team always force you into a half court battle. If you have athletic players, implement a system that allows you to go small and utilize their strengths instead of letting the other coach dictate a style that completely negates their strengths.

Say wha? Defending a coach? Where am I defending a coach? I'm laughing at you guys grasping for straws, clamoring for players who can't do what you want them to do. Last year it was get Brimah out of there, play the future: Enoch. Now we have play Diarra and Kwintin at center. It is ridiculous. Akoy Agau had a career game. Akoy Agau!!

There were people clamoring for Cobb yesterday. Did they really believe Cobb would do anything different than what he did today? How is that a defense of the coach?

 

[uconnbill]

Diarra was misused this entire season and should have played more and anyone who can see knows this.

Diarra was not on Agau most of the time.

 

[upstater]

Look back at the game and he scored many of Those points on DO, Whaley and Carlton. Diarra was the only big guy who provided resistance and was key in our second half run. He has the weight and then length(long arms) to play center for us.

Just a bad post by you. Now Whaley has no business playing center for us as he was getting abused by Akoy Agau.

I just went back through the game. This is definitely not the case.

Agau on Diarra: 1st half layup at 16:44; offensive rebound 14:20; assist to Emelogu for three at :40; layup at :18; 2nd half layup 19:18; foulon Diarra 2 free throws for Agau at 8:06; layup at 3:04; assist to Emelogu for dunk at 1:04;

Agau on Carlton: 1st half offensive rebound 5:05; foul on Carlton free throws 5:04; offensive rebound 19:17; layup 19:11; foul on carlton free throws 18:36;

Agau on Whaley: 2nd half dunk at 6:39; layup at 6:08.

I don't like to watch DO play. I've said all season long I prefer Carlton. If only Carlton didn't foul so much. He was abused today. But regardless, Agau did most of his damage against Diarra.

This isn't an attack on Diarra either. Put him at PF, and hope he learns not to foul, and he could be a very good player for us.

 

[upstater]

Blah blah blah. I was a KO defender for a long time but I always thought one of his biggest weaknesses was refusing to play young bigs because of their failings in positional defense. How do you get better at your failings if you don't play? This was true of Facey as a frosh, Lubin (yeah I know a limited player, but Nolan was horrific), and Enoch as a freshman. It was also true this year with Dave O vs. the youngsters.

You have to give young guys minutes so that they can improve. KO does that in the backcourt, but does not do it AT ALL in the frontcourt.

As for the "he's not a center" argument, blue93 is right. Play TWO of them, instead of trying to pretend Larrier is remotely capable of being a 4. If you're Whaley or Carlton or Diarra and Larrier is your 4, WTF chance do you have at trying to stop anything inside? And yet somehow the blame for that always falls on them.

Finally, and the crucial point - Dave O didn't ever stop anyone from anything anyway so why on earth play him so much.

You'll see next year what a disaster Enoch is. You can't give layups to 6 foot guards without any resistance whatsoever.

You guys are trying to fit weaker 6'6" guys into the center position. Diarra is just not strong enough. Carlton is much stronger, and he only has 2 more inches on him.

 

[upstater]

When you deeply a front court of smaller guys, you adapt the philosophy. Perhaps more fronting and guards pinching down. It's doable.

I just disagree with your premise that Williams And MD are too small to play C when I routinely see other teams trot out even smaller front courts.

They can be small. They can't be weak.

Take that Zanna or Zanny guy (sorry, too lazy right now to look up his name) from Houston last week. Same size as Diarra, but he was not getting backed down by anyone. He was 245 pounds at 6'6", and built. Diarra is much much lighter. Kwintin is just lost.

I totally recognize what you're saying. One of my favorite all time players at UConn is Tim Coles, who was 6'5" at center. But Diarra will never be Tim Coles. Not enough sand.

 

[upstater]

Look back at the tape it wasn’t Diarra. It was the other 4 centers we used.

I did. You're wrong.

 

[upstater]

Diarra was misused this entire season and should have played more and anyone who can see knows this.

Diarra was not on Agau most of the time.

I just rewatched Agau's minutes. Diarrra was on him much more than anyone!! He really was. Watch it.

I would have liked to see Diarra a lot more this year too. At PF. But he was also a foul machine. I think I would have gotten to see him more... if this were the old 6-foul Big East.

 

[UConnNick]

You'll see next year what a disaster Enoch is. You can't give layups to 6 foot guards without any resistance whatsoever.

You guys are trying to fit weaker 6'6" guys into the center position. Diarra is just not strong enough. Carlton is much stronger, and he only has 2 more inches on him.

We need the kind of center the late Al McGuire always called an "aircraft carrier". We have zero rim protectors because none of our bigs are big or strong enough to do what Brimah did, even though he was a foul machine.

Our perimeter D is so bad we need a Brimah/Okwandu/Thabeet/Okafor/Voskuhl type as our last line of rim defense. If we could start scaring some of these teams away from the rim we might have a chance to guard somebody on the perimeter. When we give up drives to the basket, we need somebody there to erase those mistakes.

 

[Chief00]

Blah blah blah. I was a KO defender for a long time but I always thought one of his biggest weaknesses was refusing to play young bigs because of their failings in positional defense. How do you get better at your failings if you don't play? This was true of Facey as a frosh, Lubin (yeah I know a limited player, but Nolan was horrific), and Enoch as a freshman. It was also true this year with Dave O vs. the youngsters.

You have to give young guys minutes so that they can improve. KO does that in the backcourt, but does not do it AT ALL in the frontcourt.

As for the "he's not a center" argument, blue93 is right. Play TWO of them, instead of trying to pretend Larrier is remotely capable of being a 4. If you're Whaley or Carlton or Diarra and Larrier is your 4, WTF chance do you have at trying to stop anything inside? And yet somehow the blame for that always falls on them.

Finally, and the crucial point - Dave O didn't ever stop anyone from anything anyway so why on earth play him so much.

It all goes back to having no real Bigs Coach as Chief has been advocating for a few years. In Ollie’s mind he solves that problem by bringing in a precoached grad transfer, who must lead the country in illegal screens per minutes played.
So what that Clyde V paid $10 for a BJ 14 years ago on a Hartford street. The dude could coach and recruit.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

We just need Carlton to do the classic “add 15 lbs of muscle”

 

[mauconnfan]

Akoy Agau had the best game of his career against mainly Diarra today.

I mean, what more proof do you need?

This is a replay of the Enoch/Brimah argument last year.

When Enoch was in, there was absolutely no resistance at all.

There's a reason so many bigs, like Agau, have been successful against UConn this year.

Williams? At center? Please.

People were even calling for Cobb. What a disaster that was today.

I don't have any doubt Diarra could play the 5 but he would need to understand defense a heck of a lot more. Agau didn't have a career game because Diarra is too small it was because he's clueless on positioning on D, whether it would be bodying up or playing off his man. He has decent feet but that doesn't matter of you don't know how/when to use them, and he's strong enough too. Williams, no way.

 

[The Funster]

DAMMIT, who went and wound upstater up?

Don't you know better by now???????

 

[Doctor Hoop]

As for the "he's not a center" argument, blue93 is right. Play TWO of them, instead of trying to pretend Larrier is remotely capable of being a 4. If you're Whaley or Carlton or Diarra and Larrier is your 4, WTF chance do you have at trying to stop anything inside? And yet somehow the blame for that always falls on them.

This. I wrote in another post that Ollie’s seemingly-beloved 3 guard lineup is useful down the stretch when you’re protecting a lead and you want FT shooting and ball-handling on the court. And possibly if the team you’re playing can’t hurt you inside. But if they can hurt you, then you have to double inside, and that leaves - ta da! - open threes.

Larrier isn’t a four, and is a lousy defender to boot. Ollie from day 1 needed to develop a 4/5 rotation involving Carlton/Cobb at 5, Diarra/Williams at 4, and Whaley swinging 4-5 depending on matchups. Period, full stop.

 

[August_West]

Finally, and the crucial point - Dave O didn't ever stop anyone from anything anyway so why on earth play him so much.

Because:
1) he made our team defense schemes go from patently abysmal to just simply horrible
2) Because he showed a better motor in practice and games than the other choices. Say what you want about DO his skillsets were lacking but he played harder than everyone.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Because:
1) he made our team defense schemes go from patently abysmal to just simply horrible
2) Because he showed a better motor in practice and games than the other choices. Say what you want about DO his skillsets were lacking but he played harder than everyone.

Both true, but his 1 year timeline and very limited upside means you have to see the big picture and develop players to supplant him.

 

[Huskybass]

Because:
1) he made our team defense schemes go from patently abysmal to just simply horrible
2) Because he showed a better motor in practice and games than the other choices. Say what you want about DO his skillsets were lacking but he played harder than everyone.

He did not play harder than Kwintin Williams. Your statement is absolutely false.

 

[upstater]

I don't have any doubt Diarra could play the 5 but he would need to understand defense a heck of a lot more. Agau didn't have a career game because Diarra is too small it was because he's clueless on positioning on D, whether it would be bodying up or playing off his man. He has decent feet but that doesn't matter of you don't know how/when to use them, and he's strong enough too. Williams, no way.

Don't think he's strong enough. Even when he has position, he gets blown back when backed down on the blocks. Even Carlton does better with that. Strength is my main beef with him.

 

[upstater]

It all goes back to having no real Bigs Coach as Chief has been advocating for a few years. In Ollie’s mind he solves that problem by bringing in a precoached grad transfer, who must lead the country in illegal screens per minutes played.
So what that Clyde V paid $10 for a BJ 14 years ago on a Hartford street. The dude could coach and recruit.

Enoch, Durham, Brimah, Facey went out the door. The calendar said it was May.

Your options at that point are: Whaley, Cobb, Onuorah.

This comes down on Ollie for bad recruiting, but not because he has a plan to bring in well-coached Ivy League transfers.

 

[djct1999]

Guys, I just ran a few of my statistical models. If Diarra played more minutes, it turns out our record would be exactly the same. The clear conclusion after sorting through piles and piles of data was that while you all are right that DO isn't any good, neither is Diarra, except of course at getting called for a foul.

 

[Candyman]

Personally I think it can only work if you have a true 4 in there too. Larrier had no business being our 4 all year. And unfortunately if KO is back, Sid Wilson will probably get stuck in the same role. It's like KO is trying to recreate Deandre Daniels.

This right here.

Larrier is not a 4, Sid Wilson is not a 4. Ollie loves small ball and wants so badly to have a stretch 4 and that has hurt this team this year. Next year people on the BY are even calling for Sid to play the 4. I don't care if he is a 20 times better rebounder than Larrier he is not a 4 at the college level. When you have a stretch 4 you take away any chance of an offensive rebound.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This. I wrote in another post that Ollie’s seemingly-beloved 3 guard lineup is useful down the stretch when you’re protecting a lead and you want FT shooting and ball-handling on the court. And possibly if the team you’re playing can’t hurt you inside. But if they can hurt you, then you have to double inside, and that leaves - ta da! - open threes.

Larrier isn’t a four, and is a lousy defender to boot. Ollie from day 1 needed to develop a 4/5 rotation involving Carlton/Cobb at 5, Diarra/Williams at 4, and Whaley swinging 4-5 depending on matchups. Period, full stop.

Absolutely. Diarra needed to play, and would have learned how not to foul, and defend. But he also needed to play alongside Carlton, as a PF. That's his position. All season, Ollie insisted on the stupid 3 guard lineup, and played a swingman (Larrier or Polley) out of position. That made both Larrier and Polley less effective, hurt our rebounding and interior defense, and just generally made us easy to defend. That he didn't recognize this is astonishing. The front court rotation should probably have been Carlton with Diarra and Cobb with Whaley, with variations on match-ups. Larrier at the 3, and Polley as his backup. Adams and Vital, with Anderson backing up both of them. That's it. It's not rocket science.

I don't think there was anybody on this team that really knew what their role was game to game. Now we'll do it all over. When Adams knew he was a PG and played as a PG, he was tremendously effective. But for two years in a row, he prepared to be an off guard. Now he will do that all over again. It's a role he's not good at.

 

[upstater]

Absolutely. Diarra needed to play, and would have learned how not to foul, and defend. But he also needed to play alongside Carlton, as a PF. That's his position. All season, Ollie insisted on the stupid 3 guard lineup, and played a swingman (Larrier or Polley) out of position. That made both Larrier and Polley less effective, hurt our rebounding and interior defense, and just generally made us easy to defend. That he didn't recognize this is astonishing. The front court rotation should probably have been Carlton with Diarra and Cobb with Whaley, with variations on match-ups. Larrier at the 3, and Polley as his backup. Adams and Vital, with Anderson backing up both of them. That's it. It's not rocket science.

I don't think there was anybody on this team that really knew what their role was game to game. Now we'll do it all over. When Adams knew he was a PG and played as a PG, he was tremendously effective. But for two years in a row, he prepared to be an off guard. Now he will do that all over again. It's a role he's not good at.

Ok, we agree on lots but....

Cobb?!?!?!

Ball handling is of course a big problem on this team as well.

Pick your poison. No resistance down low, or no ball handling.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ok, we agree on lots but....

Cobb?!?!?!

Ball handling is of course a big problem on this team as well.

Pick your poison. No resistance down low, or no ball handling.

I'd expect Cobb and DO to split that backup center job based on performance. I think Cobb is rather talented, he just doesn't have any discipline. But a rotation like this allows you to coach properly. He screws up and drifts outside, you yank him and explain why. Same every single time Vital hoists up a stupid shot. Or Adams goes 1 on 4. Or Larrier dribbles into traffic. Hook....teachable moment. Over and over and over. Ollie set his lineups in such a way that he couldn't do that. He's done it for 3 years in a row now, and not surprisingly, nobody gets better.

 

[August_West]

He did not play harder than Kwintin Williams. Your statement is absolutely false.

Kwintin Williams didnt meet the criteria of number 1. And from all accounts was not bringing in practice.

 

[Huskybass]

Kwintin Williams didnt meet the criteria of number 1. And from all accounts was not bringing in practice.

We talkin' bout practice...