re: Tide Hoops | 25-12 (13-5)

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but I wouldn't mind seeing Dioubate immediately put on Broome

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I think our fans need to pump the brakes a little on Dioubate. He's tough and a good rebounder, for his size. But, he's also an undersized 4 that is going to struggle mightily trying to defend a good 5 post player. And his offense is early Herb level.

Herb also had to play in Avery's stand around 1997 NBA offense his freshman year. I'm guessing if he shows up as a freshman with Oats his game looks a lot like Mo's on offense.

Mo does appear to be a better finisher than Herb was most of his career.

Shooting percentages this year split a bunch of different ways. Certainly the most consistently good and across board good shooting team Oats has had.



We've definitely shot it worse from deep on the road, though. Significantly. We are #345 in home/road difference.

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I think our fans need to pump the brakes a little on Dioubate. He's tough and a good rebounder, for his size. But, he's also an undersized 4 that is going to struggle mightily trying to defend a good 5 post player. And his offense is early Herb level.

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I think he's got a clear role on this team as a firestarter off the bench. Matchups will probably dictate how much he plays. His slashing ability is definitely going to be a big piece moving forward in games where teams just decided to overplay the perimeter and lock down the rim. He is athletic enough to get into creases and cause issues with that style. We really don't have another guy with that ability on this roster.

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I think our fans need to pump the brakes a little on Dioubate. He's tough and a good rebounder, for his size. But, he's also an undersized 4 that is going to struggle mightily trying to defend a good 5 post player. And his offense is early Herb level.

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All of our guys struggle mightily to defend a good 5. I mean Pringle and Wague need 10 fouls to last 30 collective minutes against a good 5 and I think Nelson is too valuable to waste fouls and send to the bench early in this game.

Dioubate is light years ahead of Herb's first two years at Alabama offensively. Herb wasn't beating anyone off the dribble his first 2 years in college. Junior year he showed signs and Senior year Herb started to blossom a good bit in iso dribble penetration, but he still threw up some stuff that looked like missiles going off the backboard.. That said, I have never seen someone cover 4 guys in one possession except Herb Jones and he became an extremely well rounded player by his senior season.

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I posted this before but Dioubate led EYBL in points at the rim

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Yea, his length ability at the rim is going to be a big part in helping us bust open teams that try and defend us the way a lot of teams have.

Mark and Estrada can get to the rim, but they are too small to effectively finish against bigs who don't budge or help from big 4s. Mo can.

Wednesday will probably be a chance for him to do that.

I know I am on repeat here in agreeing, but I am yet to see anyone stop Dioubate from getting to the rim when he wants to go. That has been the case for over a month now. Does he miss some bunnies, sure... But is he out of control? No.

It would be hard for me to make any definite statements about Dioubate with the minutes he's played, mostly when games are over. But it does look promising.

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Make him score 30

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He's an extremely talented player, no doubt.

Last go-round he had 25 in 26 minutes. Smith had 23 points against us the other night.

A big difference is that we took 68 shots against Auburn two weeks ago, and 83 against State.

That's obviously our weakest spot on the floor, but if we can consistently make baskets, I'll trade his 11-12 post-ups for our 15 made-threes every time.

That's totally fair and in general I agree with you. Dioubate is going to have moments when he struggles as a freshman and he is probably going to start seeing defenses pack it in when he touches the ball because he has limited shooting skills. Im not attempting to overhype the guy. He doesn't have a ton of offensive tools except for a reliable handle for a wing and he gets to rim fairly easily. But I do think Oats has known something about him all year long and has continued to try to find his spots for him. I love the way he rebounds and I think he is naturally one of those guys who annoys the hell out of you when he defends.