Mamoudou Diarra update

[pj]

Is Ollie just messing with us at this point? So I guess all the talk about positionless basketball was all lip service.

Nonsense. Ollie surely wants versatile guys who can play any role on the court, but you have to have something that is your bread and butter where you are better than everybody else. This guy is never going to be the best perimeter scorer on the team, but he can be the best interior defender and rebounder, and by doing that can earn some opportunities to do the things he likes.

"Positionless basketball" means players have to be prepared to play any position -- as Niels Giffey played the 5. If Mamoudou like Vance only wants to play one position and one role, and not a position of high need, then I'd rather get Chris Efretue.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I just want someone. I want to know what it's like to feel loved again

 

[Stainmaster]

Dude, we have 2 returning healthy players, we have like 5 scholarships to fill, our team is a bunch of 6'2 guys, thiss kid is 6'9 with athleticism and upside. He looked like a surefire commit a couple weeks ago, now we are telling him he will inly play here as a 5? No clue wtf is going on anymore.

I know the point of view du jour here is that Kevin Ollie has a horrible basketball mind and doesn't know what he's doing at all, but maybe (just maybe) KO and staff only think he would be an asset to the team from the post, not as a 3? I feel like if they liked him as a 3, he'd be here already.

 

[superjohn]

Nonsense. Ollie surely wants versatile guys who can play any role on the court, but you have to have something that is your bread and butter where you are better than everybody else. This guy is never going to be the best perimeter scorer on the team, but he can be the best interior defender and rebounder.

"Positionless basketball" means players have to be prepared to play any position -- as Niels Giffey played the 5. If Mamoudou like Vance only wants to play one position and one role, and not a position of high need, then I'd rather get Chris Efretue.

Again, we have a bunch of scholarships that need to be filled, it's not either or. If you think Diarra is raw, that 7 footer is a whole different level of raw. Half this board seems to be totally clueless as to how thin we are for next season.

 

[AntG168]

Dude, we have 2 returning healthy players, we have like 5 scholarships to fill, our team is a bunch of 6'2 guys, thiss kid is 6'9 with athleticism and upside. He looked like a surefire commit a couple weeks ago, now we are telling him he will inly play here as a 5? No clue wtf is going on anymore.

I dont believe ollie would tell him hes playing purely the 5. Idk @chevtheman i hear he's credible, but that seems unlikely to me

 

[superjohn]

I know the point of view du jour here is that Kevin Ollie has a horrible basketball mind and doesn't know what he's doing at all, but maybe (just maybe) KO and staff only think he would be an asset to the team from the post, not as a 3? I feel like if they liked him as a 3, he'd be here already.

For the millionth time, we need bodies. Are you comfortable we will have a full roster of capable guys for next season or you're satisfied rolling with 8 guys and Foxen getting rotation minutes?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

For the millionth time, we need bodies. Are you comfortable we will have a full roster of capable guys for next season or you're satisfied rolling with 8 guys and Foxen getting rotation minutes?

Yeah dude, Duke and Kansas only play 8 so we should be good.

 

[superjohn]

I dont believe ollie would tell him hes playing purely the 5. Idk @chevtheman i hear he's credible, but that seems unlikely to me

Nice to see you aren't as far gone as Strawmaster. If Ollie is only recruiting Diarra as a 5 with the situation we are in for next year then he has really lost it.

 

[Stainmaster]

For the millionth time, we need bodies. Are you comfortable we will have a full roster of capable guys for next season or you're satisfied rolling with 8 guys and Foxen getting rotation minutes?

Maybe I'd just prefer that the roster be as full as it can be, but full of guys who are actually acquainted with how to play their positions well -- like in this case, a legit SF or combo F with a track record of producing in that role against a certain level of competition instead of a 6-9 PF who wants to be the next Durant or Giannis.

Gosh bro, why are you holding the program to such a low standard???

 

[AntG168]

Nice to see you aren't as far gone as Strawmaster. If Ollie is only recruiting Diarra as a 5 with the situation we are in for next year then he has really lost it.

Agreed. He can be whatever position he pleases. We need capable bodies. He's not a natural 5 anyway. He's a 3/4

 

[Mr. French]

He's probably being told the 5 and the accompanying traits and roles as a player are the ticket to PT, that's where the need is.

I doubt he's being told "you're only a 5" but more like "we need someone to help do some things the 5 does and that's where the PT is" because next season, regardless of his ultimate goal of being a 3, I highly doubt he's good enough to play over our other wings and we can't play only wings ... It's not telling him he's only a 5, but it's breaking down the obvious for him.

As others have said, if he's that pigeonholed into playing a wing and never considering an interior role, then that's not really what we need unless he's immediately better than our wings, which he isn't.

 

[AntG168]

Ollie recruiting him as a "5" would be a total contradiction of himself. In positionless basketball there is no "5". So that language leads me to believe that isnt the whole story. I dont believe Ollie said that

 

[UCfor3]

For beggers who are having trouble filling out our roster with St Johns rejects, we sure do seem to have a lot of stipulations for potential players. Not saying these stipulations are wrong in a vacuum or a perfect world, but we are pretty damn far from a perfect world at this point. Is Ollie overcorrecting because of the transfers or is our situation just that toxic right now? I want tough and unselfish players for the future too but for next year we need some frontcourt bodies. If our Diarra's knee acts up again we are essentially without a true 4. 3 weeks ago there was time. Now it is panic time. We are going to waste Jalen's best year with an incompetent frontcourt.

 

[AntG168]

He's probably being told the 5 and the accompanying traits and roles as a player are the ticket to PT, that's where the need is.

I doubt he's being told "you're only a 5" but more like "we need someone to help do some things the 5 does and that's where the PT is" because next season, regardless of his ultimate goal of being a 3, I highly doubt he's good enough to play over our other wings and we can't play only wings ... It's not telling him he's only a 5, but it's breaking down the obvious for him.

As others have said, if he's that pigeonholed into playing a wing and never considering an interior role, then that's not really what we need unless he's immediately better than our wings, which he isn't.

Who are our wings? Larrier and.......maybe polley(he's more of a stretch 4)

 

[superjohn]

He's probably being told the 5 and the accompanying traits and roles as a player are the ticket to PT, that's where the need is.

I doubt he's being told "you're only a 5" but more like "we need someone to help do some things the 5 does and that's where the PT is" because next season, regardless of his ultimate goal of being a 3, I highly doubt he's good enough to play over our other wings and we can't play only wings ... It's not telling him he's only a 5, but it's breaking down the obvious for him.

As others have said, if he's that pigeonholed into playing a wing and never considering an interior role, then that's not really what we need unless he's immediately better than our wings, which he isn't.

We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.

 

[Stainmaster]

We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.

I agree that we need players. However, I'm of the mind that we need bigs a heckuva lot more than we need wing players. If KO ends up structuring the lineup the way I think he will next year, Larrier and Polley would be able to absorb all of the minutes at the 3 (it wouldn't be ideal, but they could manage). Furthermore, comparing Polley to Diarra head-to-head, Polley a) is a good 50+ spots higher on 247, b) boasts a much more robust stable of other schools who offered and actively recruited, and c) actually has some game experience at the 3 over the past couple of years (Diarra's tweet mentioned each of his last two prep schools only playing him down low). So if Diarra is refusing to play anywhere other than the wing, he's a 3rd-stringer at best. Give me first and second-stringers at PF and C before we worry about filling that hole.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.

Ater Majok had videos of himself shooting threes in an empty gym too and he had as much of a shot at playing the wing out of the gate as this kid does. Has anyone seen anything to refute the fact that this kid is not nearly skilled enough to be a college swingman (anytime soon)?

Polley looks like much more of a natural wing.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

We may need bigs, but that doesn't make everyone we recruit a center. This kid isn't a 5, and if we told him that it's no wonder he's still looking.

 

[superjohn]

Ater Majok had videos of himself shooting threes in an empty gym too and he had as much of a shot at playing the wing out of the gate as this kid does. Has anyone seen anything to refute the fact that this kid is not nearly skilled enough to be a college swingman (anytime soon)?

Polley looks like much more of a natural wing.

Ater Majok would start for us next season.

 

[Fishy]

Nantumbu Willingham would start next season.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Nantumbu Willingham would start next season.

Who is that? Maybe I'm too young.

 

[uconnbill]

Who is that? Maybe I'm too young.

You don't remember Boo, the shame of it.

It's going to be a long year if UConn can't land one more big at least.

 

[temery]

Based on the accuracy of past predictions from boneyard knowitalls, my guess is this year is going to be great.

The greatest obstacle is you idiots doing your best to convince anyone considering UConn that it'll be a waste of their time.

 

[Fishy]

I dont believe ollie would tell him hes playing purely the 5. Idk @chevtheman i hear he's credible, but that seems unlikely to me

You're right - it makes no sense.

 

[tzznandrew]

You're right - it makes no sense.

Which is probably why it's along the lines of what @pj pointed out. If the kid wants to come in and get minutes quick (they all do) then they'll be in the post. That doesn't cut off opportunity to play the 3 in the future, but if the whole thing we've been trying to preach is "Team First," it's immediately toxic to either turn around and start bending over backwards for a player who would probably be 3rd on the depth chart at wing, or just straight up lie.