THE DIALLO ERA
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I think Diallo allows us to run, run, run. Yes, it was nice that our perimeter guys grabbed 18 boards last night, but if we had a manbeast in the middle getting those caroms, then the Franks, Devontes, and Waynes would be out on the break instead of having to sag back on the defensive end to get boards. Diallo should completely open up our offense in a big way. We’re going to be the Running Jayhawks !
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@KUSTEVE Nice! I am beyond happy for and excited for Diallo to finally be able to play ball for KU. However, I am going to temper my expectations for him a bit. He will be a serious upgrade to our bigs when he gets up to speed.
Diallo getting boards and able to run with the guards will solidify, in my opinion, that Frank, Devonte and Wayne are the best back court KU has had since Chalmers, Russ Rob and Collins.
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@Lulufulu Diallo will help our guards tremendously. I wouldn’t be surprised if Diallo doesn’t play huge minutes from the get-go- he is that much of an upgrade over what we have.
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@KUSTEVE Ohhhhh yah.
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When I hear Self say that Diallo won’t make an immediate impact. But perhaps by conference play or say February… That tells me that he won’t be seeing huge minutes immediately. But I’ll be happy to be wrong about that. It’s about time we had a so called freshman phenom that was actually worth all the hype. Could also just be Self downplaying what he really has in Diallo also. We all know he does that from time to time. I hope that’s the case
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@cragarhawk It’s worse than February – Self said Diallo could impact us by conference or February yesterday. I just listened to an interview on ESPN from after last night’s game. This should cause all KU fans to shutter. Here’s the link. The first video are the game highlights, then there is Self’s interview. Be patient.
Here’s the quote on Diallo: “He’ll give us an inside presence, a shot blocker. You know, we’ve got good bigs, though, they’re veteran guys. He’s not going to come in and change us immediately but he’s got a chance to change us a lot by February or March because he has so much raw talent, but he is raw.”
So, a top 10 guy has a “chance” to change us a lot by “February or March.” And “we’ve got good bigs.”
Good grief.
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Hopefully Self will use some of the December cupcake games to play him 15-20 minutes per game. Yeah, dreaming, I know.
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@cragarhawk I posted this over on another post “Diallo cleared” and I will cut/paste it here.
Let’s not think he will step in next week and be a 20 minute guy right off the bat.
I’m as happy as everyone else that he is cleared to play. Don’t get me wrong there!!!
Just saying he is in no way shape or form in game shape. 8-12 the first two games. Unless he is completely highly better than advertised.
He will probably get most of Lucas’s minutes and Hunters too. Then Traylor’s as the season goes on.
Let’s not forget that Embid took a bit to get his feet under him in the college game. Black was in front of him in the rotation. Once Joel got his lungs and legs and proved how good he was in a game, then he played until injury.
Nobody needs to get bent out of shape next week when he’s not starting game 1 or playing 20-25 minutes.
Give home time. Let him get adjusted to game speed and his teammates get used to him as well.
Just sayin.
I will add this to it as well. He needs to get timing down on offense with his teammates. Build trust in a game with them. Can they trust him on defense to make the right reads and covers?
It’s one thing to do it in practice and another to do it all in a game without coach stopping a play half way through and starting over.
The speed of the game will be a huge factor is in his progression.
So saying conference play or February is setting the bar at a reasonable and obtainable goal. If Self game out and said wait til Christmas and he was fumbling all over the place this board would be blowing up about the over hype.
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@HighEliteMajor I guess I feel like that’s an echo of my thoughts. I mean we have ppl getting all googly eyes here about Diallo’s clearance. And I’m not saying I’m not excited about it. I am. But do we really think, based on past experience and what we know of coach self. That this is an immediate impact situation?? I never really have thought that simply because that’s not how freshman seem to workout for us. Especially so called “bigs”. When the man himself is telling you basically that the kid may make an impact virtually by seasons end… That’s enough to convince me. But as I said. I’ll be happy to be wrong. And please nobody take me wrong here… I’m not a Self hater. There’s nobody else I want here right now. But I do think we’re better by March if Diallo is allowed to play major minutes and thru some growing pains right now. Rather than later
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@JRyman Ya know. I’m fully aware that I come off as a “negative Nellie” or whatever alot of the time… I mostly just consider myself realistic rather than negative. But am I wrong to wonder why some ppl think Diallo is the second coming of Joel Embiid??? I mean even the inches alone would suggest this is not probable wouldn’t it?? I see him being an impact player here eventually if he is here that long… Other than that right now I would need to see much more of him to believe anything beyond that. Am I just wrong on this?
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@cragarhawk: Not saying that Diallo will be the second coming of Embiid, but it was Larry Brown who said that Kansas got the best recruit in this class in Diallo and that it wasn’t even close. I will take that testimonial from the coach who brought Danny Manning here. Also, didn’t Diallo also play soccer in his youth instead of basketball, just as Joel did? Just some really good reasons to be optimistic.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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@cragarhawk I mean we have ppl getting all googly eyes here about Diallo’s clearance.
That’s me. All googly eyed.
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@HighEliteMajor Agreed. Based on what we know about HCBS’s predilictions, difficult to envision Diallo get major minutes. Look how few minutes Svi and Bragg got in the MSU and Vandy games (and how many Jamari continues to get). They, along with Diallo, are the most talented guys on the team and have the highest upside. Sure, they will make mistakes, but if all 3 were consistently getting 20+ minutes, does anyone (other than Self I guess) not think we wouldn’t be much better off by the time March rolls around.
And, somewhat related - and not intending to put a damper on the Vandy win - but Selden played 40 minutes last night and both Graham and Mason were mid-high 30s. At that pace, all will be worn down by the end of the year - esp. if Self insists on playing the way we did in the MSU and Vandy games, which means short second half benches and inevitably tight games. We have perhaps the most quality depth in the backcourt in recent memory, if not ever, but it isn’t be utilized.
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@HighEliteMajor Why don’t you call in to Hawk Talk and ask Self some questions about this?
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@DCHawker Agree. I couldn’t t believe when I saw that Selden played all 40 mins. Surely he could get the guys a little more rest.
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@Hawk8086 said:
@DCHawker Agree. I couldn’t t believe when I saw that Selden played all 40 mins. Surely he could get the guys a little more rest.
I was unable to watch the game last night but reading post here and other article about the game I’m afraid of Wayme sat any at all that 7 or outcome might have been different.
1). He’s young. Quick recovery. 2). He had last night to recover, what are they 7-8 hours behind us I. Central time?? 3. He was in Hawaii. 4. He has that long flight to rest his legs. 5 Mext game is Tuesday.
He’ll be ok.
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Our composite 5 scored 11 points and snagged 11 rebounds and had few TOs. I seriously doubt Diallo will be able to match that production on his own against ranked teams till next season. It’s going to be interesting to see how Self starts Diallo to satisfy recruiting perceptions AND plays his composite 5 to keep production up. Wild ride. Lots of permutations and combinations possible. Or Diallo could be the stud everyone says.
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@JRyman Not concerned about coming back from one game, but rather whether this will be an issue all year long - that is, Wayne, Devonte and Frank getting heavy minutes in every reasonably close game and not having fresh legs by March. Mason really seemed to be worn down at the end of last year.
Yes, Selden came up big, but the offense was very productive for the relatively short time that Bragg and Svi were in the game in the second half. Self just won’t play them down the stretch. Had the starting 5 in almost the entirety of the last half of the second half (LL got in for a couple of minutes). And, missing 6 out of the last 8 FTs (Wayne 4 straight) might have had something to do with tired legs.
Apart from the issue of being fresh, due to foul trouble or someone being nicked up, we’re going to need some of the regular rotation guys to perform in crunch time at some point.
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I fully believe that Self does not intend to play Diallo much from the start. I also fully expect that Diallo will not give him much of a choice because he will be so much better than the other guys we have. Sure he is raw but he can run like a gazelle and is going to be an animal on the boards. Let the tres go up and if they miss big CD will clean it up.
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@JRyman I hope they had a blast today!
