Class of 2025 - C Tiefing Diawara (Mali/WI) COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE (5/26/25) | Page 5 | Syracusefan.com
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Class of 2025 C Tiefing Diawara (Mali/WI) COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE (5/26/25)

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IthacaMatt said:
So was Petar. We still needed - and got - some decent minutes from him last year. Guys do get hurt, and he is now physically the biggest guy on the roster. A very good late pick up.
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Great take. Totally agree.

There is no reason to dislike this pick up. Anyone who is needs to revaluate their FACTS and REASON by watching Ben Shapiro debate 20 year old philosophy majors.
 
IthacaMatt said:
So was Petar. We still needed - and got - some decent minutes from him last year. Guys do get hurt, and he is now physically the biggest guy on the roster. A very good late pick up.
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Petar looks like a lottery pick compared to Diawara. If Diawara plays any meaningful minutes this season we'll all be talking about who's replacing Red. Then again, that will be discussed after the first loss... None of this is a knock on Diawara. Once upon a time, guys developed over two years and played.
 
wiCuse said:
Petar looks like a lottery pick compared to Diawara. If Diawara plays any meaningful minutes this season we'll all be talking about who's replacing Red. Then again, that will be discussed after the first loss... None of this is a knock on Diawara. Once upon a time, guys developed over two years and played.
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I'm actually much more confident in Diawara's development than I was for Petar. You can see the raw talent in his tapes, and some already solid skills that can be refined. Petar seemed like he was maxed out at his talent/athletic level and wasn't going to be much more than he was.
 
bnoro said:
I'm actually much more confident in Diawara's development than I was for Petar. You can see the raw talent in his tapes, and some already solid skills that can be refined. Petar seemed like he was maxed out at his talent/athletic level and wasn't going to be much more than he was.
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I agree, I like Petar as a player, but I think he would only get incrementally better and he is not a center. Diawara has the potential to be a force at center.
 
i'm afraid we're going to be disappointed similar to other 7 footers in the past and for the record, I want to be wrong so badly
 
rocklloyd said:
i'm afraid we're going to be disappointed similar to other 7 footers in the past and for the record, I want to be wrong so badly
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If there are expectations tied to this kid it would be a mistake. He has good measurables and upside which is all you look for with a developmental big at this juncture. I wouldn’t place one bit of expectations on him until he gets on campus and is evaluated in practice and even then anything more than end of the bench (break glass in emergency) and future contributor would be a bonus.
 
Orangezoo said:
If there are expectations tied to this kid it would be a mistake. He has good measurables and upside which is all you look for with a developmental big at this juncture. I wouldn’t place one bit of expectations on him until he gets on campus and is evaluated in practice and even then anything more than end of the bench (break glass in emergency) and future contributor would be a bonus.
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Sorry, that's not what we delusionally, positive people do here. He's Patrick Ewing to me until he proves different.
 
bnoro said:
I'm actually much more confident in Diawara's development than I was for Petar. You can see the raw talent in his tapes, and some already solid skills that can be refined. Petar seemed like he was maxed out at his talent/athletic level and wasn't going to be much more than he was.
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Absolutely agree… Majstorovic had already been playing in his French semi pro league for three years before coming to Syracuse. He wasn’t fully formed, but he wasn’t going to get leaps better. Diawara probably was only seeing his first basketball three years ago. :)

Diowara could get a lot better, and fast.

Plus, there is the physical difference. Diowara is three inches taller, 20lbs heavier, with much longer arms, and a higher vertical, I would guess. Nobody watched Majstorovic play and noticed his exceptional athletic ability, to say the least.

If we were doing an even up trade Majstorovic for Diowara, I’d be ecstatic with that end result.
 
bnoro said:
I'm actually much more confident in Diawara's development than I was for Petar. You can see the raw talent in his tapes, and some already solid skills that can be refined. Petar seemed like he was maxed out at his talent/athletic level and wasn't going to be much more than he was.
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That's a fair assessment of Petar.

He would have gotten better at some things like positional defense, but he probably wasn't going to suddenly get a lot faster.
 
bnoro said:
I'm actually much more confident in Diawara's development than I was for Petar. You can see the raw talent in his tapes, and some already solid skills that can be refined. Petar seemed like he was maxed out at his talent/athletic level and wasn't going to be much more than he was.
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Good points. With guys like this for me it always comes down to how aggressive they play. When put on the court do they try and find their way around and float or attack the opportunity and play hard? A lot of times that is what is the key. Take Naheem for example- he never attacked the opportunity and it showed. Great kid all around but just not an aggressive player in a position that requires it, especially if your role is defense and rebounding.

It’s a perfect example also of how the opportunity that was given to Souare worked out well for him and now he’s part of our portal additions. Not at all refined offensively but plays with a high motor, attacks the rim and defends aggressively using his athleticism.

Just to add, I don’t mean aggressive in the sense they hack at every shot or run around aimlessly. There needs to be some understanding of the game in there but too but if they are low motor and have very little offensive game then it simply isn’t going to workout.

Petar is a guy better suited to play as small school 5 like where he landed. If he had a consistent 3 pt shot his value goes way up but at this point that isn’t the case and without having good measurables and athleticism he’s not going to be more than what he was without having that outside shot working for him.
 
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I'm looking for upgrades year over year.

Over the last few years here are the backups at the 5 we’ve had.

Peter Carey, William Patterson. Also Naheem the Dream and Hima in there as well. Not exactly a murderers row of physicality or athleticism, not even considering all the injuries.

We have to see how tough this room is at the 5 this year but they appear stronger and for sure are heavier at 225, 230, and 240 as the listed weights that the others.
 
Red2003 said:
I'm looking for upgrades year over year.

Over the last few years here are the backups at the 5 we’ve had.

Peter Carey, William Patterson. Also Naheem the Dream and Hima in there as well. Not exactly a murderers row of physicality or athleticism, not even considering all the injuries.

We have to see how tough this room is at the 5 this year but they appear stronger and for sure are heavier at 225, 230, and 240 as the listed weights that the others.
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And unlike any of those other players all 3 have shown a nastiness with 2 handed dunks .That's how a big man should dunk.
 
Orangezoo said:
Take Naheem for example- he never attacked the opportunity and it showed. Great kid all around but just not an aggressive player in a position that requires it, especially if your role is defense and rebounding.
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This is a fair point, and a recurrent theme for SU and other teams as well. I suspect that a lot of this comes to development (physical and athletic), and even the timing of their growth.
Someone who is in the G/ size range and only much later has a growth spurt (Anthony Davis and David Robinson, to pick two overly obvious examples) learns to fight harder to score, rebound, dribble, etc., and they maintain that mentality after their growth spurt as well.
The kids who are very tall at a younger age can score/rebound easier because of their height alone, but if they are seen as "aggressive," they often get called for fouls too readily, thus being dissuaded from that mindset (classic operant conditioning) going forward.
The same often happens (I suspect) with those with good size but are late to the game. We can see this with kids from other countries who weren't exposed to much, if any, basketball growing up, but "have all the physical gifts." Again...some, NOT all.Hakeem Olajuwon only started playing at 15 and is an all-time great. Our own Rony Seikaly was a raw, foul-prone physical specimen who became a star at SU and had a very nice NBA career as well.
Let's hope for the best for this young man.
 
pearl31 said:
I mean, are you expecting him to start or even play serious minutes (in, say, his first two years)? Then yeah, you will be disappointed. Not sure why anyone would expect that though
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I’m not. I’m hoping he does not foul out before he scores a point. My bar is fairly low.
 
Dmcnabbrules said:
Diawara plays for a legit AAU program and is putting up decent numbers. Also shooting 80% from the free throw line. I think that with the size is definitely worth a flyer.
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Wasn’t out best FT shooter last year our biggest guy? Interesting development
 
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