Diallo Thrives in New York Homecoming
John Calipari is always concerned when a Kentucky Wildcat returns home for a game. The situation, in his experience, comes with pressure that can have adverse effects.
Hamidou Diallo, it seems, is the exception that proves the rule.
“It’s just great, coming out here playing in front of a crowd that I haven’t played in front of for a long time and just seeing my family again,” Diallo said. “So it’s just been great, and we got a W, so that was the big part about it.”
The Queens, New York, native came back to the Big Apple on Saturday, playing in front of a large crowd of family and friends as Kentucky took on Monmouth at Madison Square Garden. All the redshirt freshman did was score a career-high 23 points in his homecoming, a 93-76 win for the No. 8/7 Wildcats (8-1).
“It’s just a blessing,” Diallo said. “This is my first time playing in the Garden. I never got to play in the Garden, so coming from New York City, that’s every kid’s dream. He wants to play in the Garden. You grow up watching it, going to games. For me playing in there, having a good game is just a blessing.”
Diallo had some extra pressure heading into this game, as he hadn’t played in New York City since before he burst on to the scene as a five-star high-school prospect.
“I was young,” Diallo said. “So when I played three years ago, I was young. I was a no one. Not a lot of hype around me, but just coming back today, like I said earlier, it was just great. I got a lot of friends and family out there and they just wanted to see me play. They haven’t seen me play live in a long time.”
Diallo’s big day in front of his loved ones didn’t come out of nowhere though. The 6-foot-5 swingman scored 19 points in each of his previous two outings to bounce back from three straight single-digit scoring performances. Over his last three games, Diallo has now made 22-of-40 shots, including a handful of jumpers and a 3 on Saturday as an answer to critics of his outside shot.
“Of course it motivates me,” Diallo said. “I don’t listen to it as much, because at the end of the day I’m the one putting in the work. I’m the one playing. But it’s definitely motivation and just fuel. That’s just fuel to my fire but, like I said, we got a good W. I hit a couple shots and back in the gym tomorrow.”
Calipari will be happy to hear that, because repetition in practice leads to habits. He believes that’s what it’s all about for Diallo.
“There’s nothing wrong with his shot,” Calipari said. “It’s sometimes shot selection, but you have to get in a habit of every shot I take I hold my follow through. Then it becomes the same shot every day. Then it becomes more consistent. You’re not making every shot, but you’ll be consistent.”
Though Diallo isn’t going to stop working on his outside shot, he knows overall improvement needs to be his overarching priority.
“I’ve just been working on my whole game,” Diallo said. “Just not try to focus on one part. Just try to get better as a total basketball player and just be what this team needs me to be and just be a complete version of that.”
