Mamoudou Diarra update | Page 8 | The Boneyard

Mamoudou Diarra update

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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.
 
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.
 
Mr. French said:
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.
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Who are our wings? Larrier and.......maybe polley(he's more of a stretch 4)
 
Mr. French said:
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.
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We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.
 
superjohn said:
We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.
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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.
 
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superjohn said:
We have one wing that we know of. Diarra and Polley would be getting minutes by default. We need players.
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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.
 
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.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
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.
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Ater Majok would start for us next season.
 
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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.
 
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Fishy said:
You're right - it makes no sense.
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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.
 
uconnbill said:
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.
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I love Boo!!

When I was like 8 another kid and I finagled our way into the locker room after a game and Boo signed his wrist band for me and gave me a coke. lol

Love that guy.
 
uconnbill said:
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.
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He might not even have been born at that stage.

I looked up Boo to see exactly what age he was these days, and this was the first link (from The Courant). Hilarious caption:


Nantambu Willingham Hartford Courant.png
 
temery said:
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.
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Best post in many weeks. No one really needs to do any negative recruiting against UConn.
 
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temery said:
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.
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Yup, that's why we aren't getting recruits.
 
temery said:
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.
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^^^Brilliant!^^^
 
Am I the only one who thinks Majok would have been a great asset as a senior if he stayed? He probably had something fishy with his transcripts or something and I know he didn't pan out for the Lakers, but he showed some flashes of that Deandre/Neils type of great all around player
 
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upstater said:
Some people have literally done what Temery has said they've done. "Don't come here, you won't improve."
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The good news is any recruit is free to search the archives for the past 15 years. In the spring and summer before each championship, they will see the same negativity, with a different spin.

Ollie has to get his act together - on that, I agree. But he's proven at his best, UConn is THE BEST.

UConn bounces back. That's the bottom line.
 
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BigErnMcCracken said:
Yeah probably but he certainly wouldn't be doing it as a swingman, which I think might demonstrate the point. Maybe you're being obtuse on purpose, I don't know.
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What don't you get about we desperately need players and Ollie constantly preaching positionless basketball? This kid wouldn't be all that comfortable at the wing or at center next year. His skills are more 3 than 5 right now but 4 is more the more natural fit. He needs development but he has good upside and he is a body we could certainly use next season where we lack so much. If chev and 99 are right that Ollie is telling a kid who was all but coming here that we will only play him as a center at UConn then Ollie has officially lost it.

You seem to know a fair amount of basketball but you know very little about high school players and recruiting if you don't realize a ton of kids talk about what position they are and end up playing a different position in college.
 
Kembacity said:
Am I the only one who thinks Majok would have been a great asset as a senior if he stayed? He probably had something fishy with his transcripts or something and I know he didn't pan out for the Lakers, but he showed some flashes of that Deandre/Neils type of great all around player
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He did? He had good size and was pretty athletic but I do not remember him showing any real skill (besides shotblocking) in games. I know there was some rust, but he was a 2ppg, 3rpg player who shot 40% from the field and line. I know, he absolutely brutalized that chair and maybe some of those skills were there. But in real life, he was not a very good player. I'd of course take him now and there was potential but comparing him to Deandre in any way is insane.
 
Doctor Hoop said:
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.
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There's no reason to think anyone told him he's a 5 - only Boneyard fantasies. It's quite likely they see him as a stretch 4 a la Deandre Daniels. Defend PFs and provide offense from anywhere on the court (interior, perimeter, transition).

Offensively this is a world of difference. Playing with your back to the basket on offense is a totally different skill set than playing facing the basket. Mamoudou has spent nearly all his time on offense facing the basket, and you can see in his practice videos he's facing the basket.

Defense is much more a position-independent capability. If he wants to be a good player, he has to learn how to defend all kinds of players. Switching is rampant so perimeter guys end up defending big men close to the basket. As a stretch 4, you're not really asking him to do anything a 3 wouldn't do, just differences in the proportions of activities.

That's why players who get fixated on a position ("I'm a 3", "I'm a PG") are really doing themselves a dis-service. They should aim to be versatile. Basketball players, as KO says, not position players.
 
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