Please don’t blame Diarra

[UCan3]

Hassan Diarra started the year as the 6th Man and now he's expected to be the only guy in the starting 5 who can take the ball and make something happen. Even worse, at the end of clocks he's expected to be an isolation scorer

It's not fair to him but he's taken it in stride and done it as well as he can. Even when he plays poorly it's really hard to blame him for being forced into a role 2-3 levels above what it should be

Diarra is one of the bright spots since Liam has gone down.

I sometimes view basketball - simple analysis.

At the last game, until the 2nd half, I see Samson Johnson sitting at the FT line, camping out, setting screens 20 ft away from the basket. Most of them moving screens…

I see Mahaney comfortable dishing the ball but appearing to not want it back. He runs around, hucks up a shot here or there…

That leaves 3 on 5.

Ball is being face guarded many times.

Alex appears to have, at times, a case of lead feet.

That leave Diarra 1 of 3 many time without may viable options.

When Johnson started cutting to the hoop, Diarra found him.

But we can simply not approach offense with a 3 vs 5 approach. Mahaney, Johnson, and a few others need to stop watching the game from the outside perimeter and join the attack. Whether it’s rebounding, cutting to the hoop, we can’t have them as observers and Diarra shouldn’t get the blame for the things he does to try and overcome this.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I love Diarra's defense and his vision in the open floor, but he is not the best PG in the half court. As good as he is on the fast break, he's equally not as good feeding the post, but sadly, he's not alone on this team. He is also often slow/hesitant with a pass to a guy curling around a screen.
I think the frustration for me is that he over-penetrates a few times a game in these situations. I know the elbow jumper may not be his strength, but it's better than a few of the shots he has thrown up.
He does get the ball too often late in the shot clock, but like it's been said, it's often not of his creation. I've mentioned in a few posts that there are a few guys on this team who don't really 'hit' guys often with solid picks. To Karaban's credit, he is often looking for contact. Some of the guys just fake the pick and cut too often. I know it's part of the offense, but for it to be effective, you have to body up half of the time instead of always cut to the basket.
Still, he seems to be the litmus test for the team. They tend to go as he does. When he is playing well, the team plays well. When he struggles, they more often than not they struggle.

 

[Scottobot]

In an end of clock scenario his handle just isnt quite solid enough to get to even that spot with everyone overplaying. Otherwise, yes.

I don’t disagree but I think with practice I think he will improve and get there. I remember a game against Kansas many years ago … I think it was Rip Hamiltons first year. All of our PGs were either injured or suspended so we had none, and Rip played the point. At first his handle was a little sloppy but he eventually got pretty comfortable and ended up playing a great game at the point. I think this experience really helped him level up. My recollection was he was a bit shaky at start of freshman year, but by the end of the year he was very good.

Here is box score from that 1997 game

http://www.rockchalk.com/games/g199718.

 

[mauconnfan]

Like it or not it’s real he ends up taking way too many end of the clock shots. Some are his fault some are coaches. I mean to continuously have him dribbling off times isn’t a good move he’s not that guy but it’s what coach likes, oh well.

Having said that he’s tough, he defends well and he can distribute pretty well. I think the failure to find another good PG has hurt because he’s a great 6th man and would’ve loved to see him there again but DH fell short. Considering all of that he’s been great and couldn’t ask for more from HD.