Diarra in the portal

10,336 Views | 82 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Proposition Joe
Complete Idiot
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Diarra was a solid bench contributor and developing player, given the relationship between he and Buzz I am surprised to see him go. If we aren't getting top 50 type recruits, I'd like to see a team built with guys that are warriors and productive as junior/senior - next year I might rather have Diarra as a JR rather than a top 100 recruit as a fish. Maybe.

Diarra was 4th on team in points/min played, 3rd in assist/min (Williams #1), had fewer turnovers/min than Quenton, Taylor, or Williams (surprising to me), was 3rd in steals/min. None of these stats mean he should have stayed, or we should have tried harder to keep him, but he was a bit underrated because his TO's tended to be ugly and he was a bit out of control at times - although better at close of season.

I do agree we can win without him and could get someone more talented in a specific role that is more needed than the role Hassan played - but the jury is out until we see who we bring in. And yes, I am surprised to see him go given the type of coach and program I perceive us as having.
Topher17
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AG
Diarra was a fine player and developing nicely. I'm sure we'd all enjoy having him on the squad next season, but losing him also isn't some huge deal or a bad sign for the program overall.

I think this is an example of a good use of the portal. He wants an increased role as he heads into his junior season. He talked to his coaches about what he wants and his goals. The coaches weren't willing to make any guarantees, which is also the right move as a coach. Buzz's culture is all about earning it and being honest with his guys. Hassan then decided he believes his best chance to meet his goals and get an increased role was to find a new situation. I think that is more than respectable.

bobinator
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Complete Idiot said:

Diarra was 4th on team in points/min played, 3rd in assist/min (Williams #1), had fewer turnovers/min than Quenton, Taylor, or Williams (surprising to me), was 3rd in steals/min. None of these stats mean he should have stayed, or we should have tried harder to keep him, but he was a bit underrated because his TO's tended to be ugly and he was a bit out of control at times - although better at close of season.

Some of this is a quality of competition component. If you just look at conference games/40 mins he had the same number of turnovers/min as Taylor and the only player with more was Williams, and he drops to fourth in steals/min. Or by Torvik's numbers if you only look at games against top 100 teams he was third worst (Williams/Henderson) in TO rate, and below Jackson, Taylor and Williams in assist percentage.
Hop
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Texas A&M said:

Hop said:

Texas A&M said:

MarcAg said:

Texas A&M said:

This is less than ideal. But on the bright side... if the team underperforms next year Buzz can blame recruiting again.
The mob- "Buzz needs better player as these players aren't good"

(Current player leaves)

The mob- "OMG what is going on, why we are losing players"

Do our players suck or do we need them to stay?
I don't see a lot of people next year saying man we sure miss Diarra. There are 189 guards better than Diarra in the portal.
Buzz needs to recruit and develop the talent he recruits. I'm not sure what so hard to understand about that concept for the Buzz fanboys. It is the same mentality of those calling for Hefner to be gone. Why would we want to push guys out who are still improving and start over with another player. I get it... the new player is always 'better'.
Many basketball pundits list A&M in their way too early Top 25 lists. Lunardi has A&M as a No. 6 seed. So somebody has been developed.
I hope they're right and we become a top 25 team and make the tournament. That doesn't change my stance that losing Diarra is not a good thing. His two game winners alone show enough promise to want to keep him.


Red White hit a game winner against ISU back in the day and he was one of the worst D-1 scholarship players I've ever seen.
bobinator
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Whoa whoa whoa, that's too far. Is he even bottom five at A&M?
WGann3
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Antwan Space and Red White in the same thread... take me back to college please.
Hop
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bobinator said:

Whoa whoa whoa, that's too far. Is he even bottom five at A&M?


I said "one of the worst". That means I include Larry Scott on that list.
EliteZags
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bobinator said:

I do think Diarra could still be a really good player in the right situation. It's not like he's a flat out bad player. I think the length and athleticism of the really good SEC teams is a problem for him, but on the right team/in the right league I think he could be a nice piece.

thanks for having maturity to get this fluid situation back on topic, sure he's had streaky runs of crappy shooting, but has overall has done a solid on the regular as a leaky defender and plays loose and generally lax with fouling, not just a turd that hasn't done squat we'd want to dump in the porta
SouthwesternAg
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S
I believe he hit one just before that to set up the game winner and they were both from distance. Not sure if that was the NIT year or "The Shot" year but I thought Red would stick around just for pulling Billy Clyde through that year.
NumberEinAg
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Love the guy, hate to see him leave, but wish him all the best.
"They who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
EliteZags
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SouthwesternAg said:

I believe he hit one just before that to set up the game winner and they were both from distance. Not sure if that was the NIT year or "The Shot" year but I thought Red would stick around just for pulling Billy Clyde through that year.
def The Shot year

immortalized
greg.w.h
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I like Diarra more for the person who grew up in front of us than even for his visible contributions both tangible and intangible.

One has to hope overall both he and the team benefit from his potential transfer. It is potentially a win-win!!!
Proposition Joe
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Unfortunately it's the reality of college hoops now. Most of us don't like it, and I'm sure Buzz doesn't like it (nor does it really play to his strengths), but if you aren't constantly trying to upgrade your roster you are falling behind.

Yeah, we'd all love to have a guy like Diarra with us for 4 years watching him grow along the way and being a solid contributor his JR/SR years... But if while we're waiting on that another team in conference is added a transfer piece that can contribute immediately, then we're falling behind.

We'd all love to win with a roster of multi-year kids that have matured in front of our eyes. But that ain't college hoops anymore.
 
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