As most everyone around college basketball already knows, the NCAA finally cleared Kansas freshman Cheick Diallo in a ruling that figures to add much-needed frontcourt depth and rim protection to the Jayhawks’ roster. Diallo will make his college debut tonight, giving a boost of significance to what would otherwise be a relatively meaningless home cupcake game against Loyola (MD). While Bill Self said yesterday that the Mali native would come off the bench and recommended that initial expectations remain tempered, there will be considerable interest in how Diallo looks right out of the gate. Let’s take a look at what kind of opportunities the Greyhounds will present to the long-awaited jewel of the Kansas recruiting class.
Much-hyped freshman Cheick Diallo makes his collegiate debut as the Jayhawks battle Loyola (MD) tonight.
Over the last few years and for a variety of reasons, Self’s marquee freshmen have struggled to hit the ground running. Tonight should be a somewhat different story as Loyola’s attacking style of play should provide Diallo with opportunities to create highlight-worthy plays from the start. The Greyhounds rely heavily on their inside game to generate offense, which means that they’ll be coming right at the freshman in spite of his defensive abilities. According to hoop-math.com, 46.7 percent of the Greyhounds’ field goal attempts this season have been at the rim (27th nationally), but the Greyhounds are shooting just 55.5 percent on those close looks. For some context, last year’s Kansas team that struggled to find answers inside made 58.0 percent of its close shots. Put differently, one of the worst-performing offenses in Bill Self’s 13-year tenure at Kansas still had more success at the rim than Loyola has experienced in its first six games this season. That’s not good, and making matters worse for Loyola (or better for Diallo), the Greyhounds don’t have the long-range threats needed to make the Jayhawks stretch their defense.
While Wayne Selden, Svi Mykhailuk and even Perry Ellis capable of opening things up with their three-point shooting, Loyola has just one legit threat from distance (senior Tyler Hubbard). Without much of a perimeter attack to keep the Jayhawks’ defense honest, Diallo should be able to stay at home near the rim, where his shot-altering ability has a chance to lift Kansas’ defensive prowess from good to great. Kansas had dedicated itself to crashing the defensive glass with abandon in Diallo’s absence, hauling in opponents’ misses at a robust rate of 78.7 percent. With the freshman projecting to eat into the workload of Landen Lucas (the team’s best defensive rebounder), we could see a slight decline in the Jayhawks’ efforts on the defensive backboards as they pursue more blocks. But if Diallo succeeds in that department and initiates the Jayhawks’ transition game (which is usually lethal when they have a true rim protector), any dip in rebounding productivity should be more than adequately compensated for.
Transition defense is another area where scouts have raved about Diallo’s potential, but we may not see that part of the big man’ game shine very much this evening. Just 19.9 percent of the Greyhounds’ shots have come in transition, which puts them in the lower third of Division I basketball in that category. For our own selfish purposes, that reduces the chances of seeing Diallo make an electrifying chase-down block, a play of which Self believes him quite capable. While the freshman was able to practice with the team during the never-ending investigation into his eligibility, a player’s first collegiate game can always be challenging. Diallo will surely be eased into the rotation, but once he enters tonight’s game to what will undoubtedly be a massive ovation from the home crowd, expect him to show us at least a little bit of what made so many people care so much about his eligibility.