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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 08-10-2017, 01:19 PM:

Diallo not playing meant we didn’t know much about how far his game had come. But what everyone did know is that he was going against some of the best guards in college basketball in De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Isaiah Briscoe in practice. Plus, he was going through the ever-vigorous training routine that Calipari’s teams always go through.

Thankfully for Kentucky, Diallo withdrew from the draft to return to school. Since that decision, we’ve gotten to actually see him in action with the USA U19 team, and while he needs to improve certain areas, he was a whole lot of fun to watch. That potential he showed with his athleticism at the combine translated to monstrous dunks.

So it’s clear that the athleticism is NBA-ready, but after the World Cup, it’s clear that the shot still isn’t. Diallo shot just 20% from deep in the tournament.

But being a human highlight reel is always good for your NBA odds, and it’s a great starting point for him to build on. And Calipari knows there’s already a great skillset for Diallo to build on.

"I can't wait to get him on the court and have all of you fans see what I know," Kentucky Coach John Calipari said back when Diallo decided he would return to Kentucky. "He's a special player and a special person."

And his now-former teammates, like Malik Monk, know what he’s capable of doing on the floor.

"I think he'll take a humongous step," Monk said of Diallo to Adam Zagoria after one of his pre-draft workouts. "He's a leader, just wants to win so I think they'll be pretty good."

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Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 08-10-2017, 01:35 PM:

I watched all of those U19 games and was very disappointed in his play in that tournament. I do hope he does more for us at UK than he did for the U19 team. Hopefully he will perform much better in a regular team setting than he did in an all star team setting.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 08-10-2017, 07:49 PM:

I'm not worried about Diallo. He is a super athlete. Once he is out on the floor with KENTUCKY across his chest and starts playing above the rim, he will have a huge fan base of non U.K. Fans , because they will be playing his highlights on the national sports shows after every game.

Of course the Kentucky fans will be looking forward to see what he will do next.

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 08-11-2017, 07:34 AM:

I agree, Boom. It make take a month or so for this team to come together (as it does for many of Cal's teams), but I think if this team gels like you would expect, this will be another super-fun team to watch. The athleticism of this team is through the roof. All they have to do is buy in to the team approach and get a good feel for one another and the sky's the limit.