Long quote but felt worth it to share the whole thing given what Oats said and how Dioubate has played.
Dioubate in two games in the Player's Era Festival: 20 points, 25 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, 3 steals
Full quote from Oats after the Rutgers game:
“He’s kinda what we try to embody in the blue-collar mentality that we try to preach. We obviously play fast, score a lot of points. But we try to build the base of what we do around some blue-collar mentality and he’s been the best at it. We write out blue-collar points, we count them, he’s won the Hard Hat the last two games. I mean, he gets a ridiculous amount of them, to be honest with you. He’s making bets with his teammates as to weather he’s gonna win it. Most of them would be smart not to bet him anymore because he’s gonna win it about every night. I mean he gets to the offensive boards. He gets offensive boards from the free-throw line. He gets them everywhere. He’s finishing at the rim. Shoot, he’s 6 of 6 from the free throw line [in the last two games].
"I tell the guys ‘When you’re locked in, you’re locked in.’ I think he’s locked in to make winning plays. When you’re locked in you just go to the free throw line, you step up and you make the free throws. He’s struggled at the free throw line a little bit but he’s been really looked in to just what we need to win. He’s just making good plays. He had a couple big blocks — I think three big blocks yesterday. He had big blocks tonight. He’s just looking ‘Where can I make an impact?’ Shoot, he had another block, they called the foul on somebody else — he had the block over the top.
"He’s figuring out ways to impact winning outside of just scoring the basketball, and then he ends up scoring it because he finds ways to get to the rim, get some dunks, get some tough buckets at the rim. I think three games ago he took more 3s than he had rebounds. We told him it’s not a recipe for you to be playing. And we said that can’t happen again. I don’t mind if he shoots a wide-open, catch-and-shoot 3. He’s been working on his shot. But he’s got to really focus on the stuff that he’s great — offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, getting stops, making blocks, getting deflections. The steal he had when we blitzed them on the ball screen was a big play because we weren't getting stops. It kind of went to where we had to blitz them. The first time we kind of tried to blitz Dylan (Harper) on the ball screen he makes a big play making the read on the backside.
"So he makes big plays, he’s tough. He’s got the best attitude. I mean, even when he doesn’t play very many minutes he’s the best teammate ever. He’s a guy that as a head coach you wanna find more minutes for him because his attitude’s been so great ever since he’s been here. He’s helping us win games right now. It would be stupid not to find him minutes the way he’s playing.”
Dioubate in two games in the Player's Era Festival: 20 points, 25 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, 3 steals
Full quote from Oats after the Rutgers game:
“He’s kinda what we try to embody in the blue-collar mentality that we try to preach. We obviously play fast, score a lot of points. But we try to build the base of what we do around some blue-collar mentality and he’s been the best at it. We write out blue-collar points, we count them, he’s won the Hard Hat the last two games. I mean, he gets a ridiculous amount of them, to be honest with you. He’s making bets with his teammates as to weather he’s gonna win it. Most of them would be smart not to bet him anymore because he’s gonna win it about every night. I mean he gets to the offensive boards. He gets offensive boards from the free-throw line. He gets them everywhere. He’s finishing at the rim. Shoot, he’s 6 of 6 from the free throw line [in the last two games].
"I tell the guys ‘When you’re locked in, you’re locked in.’ I think he’s locked in to make winning plays. When you’re locked in you just go to the free throw line, you step up and you make the free throws. He’s struggled at the free throw line a little bit but he’s been really looked in to just what we need to win. He’s just making good plays. He had a couple big blocks — I think three big blocks yesterday. He had big blocks tonight. He’s just looking ‘Where can I make an impact?’ Shoot, he had another block, they called the foul on somebody else — he had the block over the top.
"He’s figuring out ways to impact winning outside of just scoring the basketball, and then he ends up scoring it because he finds ways to get to the rim, get some dunks, get some tough buckets at the rim. I think three games ago he took more 3s than he had rebounds. We told him it’s not a recipe for you to be playing. And we said that can’t happen again. I don’t mind if he shoots a wide-open, catch-and-shoot 3. He’s been working on his shot. But he’s got to really focus on the stuff that he’s great — offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, getting stops, making blocks, getting deflections. The steal he had when we blitzed them on the ball screen was a big play because we weren't getting stops. It kind of went to where we had to blitz them. The first time we kind of tried to blitz Dylan (Harper) on the ball screen he makes a big play making the read on the backside.
"So he makes big plays, he’s tough. He’s got the best attitude. I mean, even when he doesn’t play very many minutes he’s the best teammate ever. He’s a guy that as a head coach you wanna find more minutes for him because his attitude’s been so great ever since he’s been here. He’s helping us win games right now. It would be stupid not to find him minutes the way he’s playing.”
