Block everything or no?
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I noticed during Diallo’s first game he attempted to block EVERY shot around the rim. This occasionally took him out of position and allowed an offensive rebound. So my question is do we want him to continue his all out aggression trying to block everything he is even close to or does he need to learn a little restraint to minimize mistakes?
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I think he was trying to make up for missing the first few games by having a big immediate impact. The adrenaline got to him a little bit and had him bouncing around too much.
I think that will correct itself once he is able to settle down and just play.
I think he understands what he can get to and what he cannot, and I anticipate that he will adapt once he gets a few more games under his belt.
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I’m not in any way trying to criticize or be negative. It’s an honest question I am struggling with. I love the mentality that he owns the paint and enemies beware: he will try to block everything! But I also see some easy buckets coming off of that. The obvious answer is balance, but if he has to lean one way or the other which do we want?
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Good topic … I say definitely "no.’
The best education is to watch Withey. Withey did a nice job of affecting shots by his mere presence. He was excellent at not leaving his feet until the offensive player shot, or a the last possible moment. Sometimes he’d just stand there with hands up. Good in the vertical chamber.
He was definitely overly aggressive Tuesday in this phase. As @justanotherfan mentioned, he’ll settle down.
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@HighEliteMajor Withey was the best! Along with staying vertical he kept most blocks in bounds! I hope CD can develop those soft block skills.
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Self is asking Diallo to do what he asked Jamari to do his first season seeing some backup rotation minutes. Come in and make plays exploding out of position to take the opponent out of its comfort zone.
It makes a lot of sense to me, unless and until Self commits to Diallo as his starter.
Self knows a green player, even a talented green player, as Diallo is, is going to make TOs and read errors, so he has to get as much positive out of him as he can as soon as he can to offset those TOs and read errors. By encouraging Diallo to explode out of position and risk fouls, that ups his net benefit while he’s in, and getting the experience he will need come spring to be a serious contributor against the top teams and top players. Since Diallo is not starting, playing explosively is the way to get a feel for what he can and cannot get away with at the limits of play; then, as he figures that out, Self can reign him back in when it seems his TOs and misreads scope down to a level where he can be a net benefit starting.
My guess is that if Diallo improves sharply and proves he can protect and read correctly, then we may see him start and play more within himself, and we may see Traylor, or others, take on the task of maximizing net benefit in a short period of play by challenging every shot.
KU needs a lot more rim protection and it needs to get opposing teams out of their comfort zones more frequently.
Diallo can do it.
Diallo can also force the tempo faster, according to Self, simply by his rebounding and ability to get to the other end faster than other post men sticking around to try to block him out on defense. Self maybe overstating that some, as he overstated Jamari being the best player on the floor vs Loyola, but there was some substance to both remarks. Self exaggerates, and changes his mind, but IMHO, he only lies about injuries.
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Good call !
Withey also had an uncanny ability to drift backwards while still getting enough elevation to block or alter the shot .
The drift avoided contact and prevented a lot of foul calls, as the principal of verticality didn’t always seem to be considered when Ostertagg or Cole or especially TRob were swatting them away, but were also absorbing contact.
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Also, it will take him time to figure out when to stay on his man, and when to leave him to try and block a shot of another player. This is a bit trickier than just playing close clean d and timing your jumps.
For instance, i saw in the last two games good discipline plays by both traylor and hunter where they were guarding their man down low, and another opposing player had got by a ku defender (perry and wayne) and were driving towards the basket. Rather than go over to help right away and thus leaving their men open for a easy pass, rebound, and a bucket, they waited until the driving player commited to the shot before trying to block it.
I also saw a few plays by bragg and one by lucas where they went to help too soon, and the guys they were supposed to guard down low were then open for easy passes and baskets, or rebounds and baskets. Cheick will need to learn discipline, and i have no doubt he will, plus he looks to be a great natural shot blocker
