Diallo Takes Off, Credits Defense
Hamidou Diallo had just enough time to come to the realization that he was about to do something cool.
With a clear path to the basket and possessing a 40-plus inch vertical leap, he was free to figure out the details in the air.
“I just jumped and whatever came in my mind, that’s what I did,” Diallo said of his left-handed windmill dunk, the punctuation mark to Kentucky’s 95-75 win over Buffalo in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was the best game of the season for Diallo, who had a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds.
Unlike the dunk, the recent turnaround in Diallo’s game after an uneven redshirt freshman season did not simply happen on the fly.
“I just had to re-identify myself,” he said.
Rather than focusing on his offensive game, Diallo began to see himself as “one of the best defenders in the country, when I’m playing defense.”
“I feel like from the SEC Tournament on I’ve just been locked in on defense and that’s been my main focus,” he said.
The attitude adjustment was on display Saturday. While his dunks – there was also a one-handed put-back in the first half – and scoring, which included 16 points in the second half, stood out against Buffalo, his defense in the first half helped Kentucky set a tone. After blocking three shots against Davidson, he turned away two more at the rim Saturday.
It was a rejuvenated performance on both ends of the floor for Diallo, who is open about his struggles at points in the season.
“I went through a little adversity, I wasn’t playing well and I just stayed mentally focused,” he said.
“These last couple games I feel like I’ve just been building up…I knew my time would come and I just had to stay patient.”
Diallo appears to be playing his best basketball at the ideal time. The same can be said of Kentucky, who is on to next week’s Sweet 16. For both, there’s hope that there is even better moments remaining.
I can’t wait to see what I am as a finished product,” he said.
He deserves it. He’s worked for this moment (and more to come.) #MarchMadness
A post shared by Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@kentuckymbb) on Mar 17, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT
