KAEO: Dibaji Walker

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by 69MG » Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:35 am

Baj plays with a lot of energy and will be missed. Get well and come back stronger next year.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by nv73 » Tue Dec 07, 2021 12:27 pm

What really hurts is Dbaji went from “ don’t ever shoot a 3!” at the beginning of this season to one of the better 3 point shooters on the team @ 7 for 16. Hope he can come back.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by Juice Stand » Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:28 pm

With Walker out for the season, who steps up in his place? He averaged about 16 minutes per game so far this season. Some have suggested that this could be Preston's opportunity, which would be great. I would love to see him bounce back from taking last year off and do well.

It could also mean that those minutes go to Steadman and Garcia. Steadman is, of course, just returning from an early injury and has looked good, and Garcia seems to be a guy that either gets a lot of minutes or is glued to the bench. Another possibility is increasing Dyondre's role as they have similar positions/body types, but I'm not 100% sold that he's ready for it yet, and maybe McCall isn't either as his minutes have dropped off drastically the last few games in favor of Greg Jones.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by DoctorJ » Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:31 pm

DD is doing some things much better this season and looks much more comfortable. Problem is, we give up a ton of points with him in there.
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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by inthescoop » Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:39 pm

jrdupe wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:18 am Tough news for Dibaji! Hopefully Santos gets those minutes...I think he is more of an offensive threat than Dibaji and he seemed to rebound just as well as Walker did.

Hopefully Dibaji fully recovers and can get the year back
Big blow for UMass, but there is no doubt that Dibaji will be our number 1 fan from the bench - a great spirit and leader to have in the locker room.

No idea how Santos is more of an offensive threat than Dibaji… Some of these head scratching comments.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by uz2b-len » Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:30 pm

Juice Stand wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:28 pm With Walker out for the season, who steps up in his place? He averaged about 16 minutes per game so far this season. Some have suggested that this could be Preston's opportunity, which would be great. I would love to see him bounce back from taking last year off and do well.

It could also mean that those minutes go to Steadman and Garcia. Steadman is, of course, just returning from an early injury and has looked good, and Garcia seems to be a guy that either gets a lot of minutes or is glued to the bench. Another possibility is increasing Dyondre's role as they have similar positions/body types, but I'm not 100% sold that he's ready for it yet, and maybe McCall isn't either as his minutes have dropped off drastically the last few games in favor of Greg Jones.
Didn't the Harvard game show us that Jones was getting the PF minutes? No one else was in that slot except for 2 minutes of DD.
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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by Juice Stand » Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:52 pm

^ yes, but he's also had some not very good games and I don't know how effective he can be on a nightly basis. Matchups probably play into it and I think Garcia will benefit even though he plays a different position.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by JoleonLescottsHair » Tue Dec 07, 2021 5:27 pm

Major blow. Probably our best defender both in man and anchoring back line in zone. He made some big plays in our wins. Ugh. It is always something.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by Floyd » Tue Dec 07, 2021 5:48 pm

^ agree, Dibaji always seemed to get them fired up defensively, really seemed to accept his role. Just hope he comes back healthy, seems like a great kid
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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by uz2b-len » Tue Dec 07, 2021 5:55 pm

I hope Garcia gets back into the rotation. I don't know what's up with him.
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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by natwam2547 » Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:23 pm

He had a concussion a few weeks ago and McCall wants to cut down the rotation and because of this, he was an easy casualty. He'll see plenty of run as the season goes on I'd imagine. Santos/McCrory probably not.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by inthescoop » Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:54 pm

natwam2547 wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:23 pm He had a concussion a few weeks ago and McCall wants to cut down the rotation and because of this, he was an easy casualty. He'll see plenty of run as the season goes on I'd imagine. Santos/McCrory probably not.
I mean if McCall just wants to play 4 guards then the 2 Kelly’s, Fernandes, and Weeks are definitely ahead of him on the depth chart concussion or not. They’ve produced a lot more on both ends. With that said, I do hope Garcia gains the confidence he needs, he was very hesitant with his shot early on in the season.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by natwam2547 » Wed Dec 08, 2021 10:19 am

Well all that is moot now with the new info from McCall about Garcia.

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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by UMass'96 » Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:42 pm

inthescoop wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:39 pm Big blow for UMass, but there is no doubt that Dibaji will be our number 1 fan from the bench - a great spirit and leader to have in the locker room.
As long as he doesn't get ejected from the game while sitting on the bench...
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Re: KAEO: Dibaji Walker

Post by MikeUMA » Wed Mar 02, 2022 2:24 pm

Reviving Dibaji's thread for this.

Over on Instagram, yesterday, he posted a highlight reel with the caption "‘Til next time…"
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cak_kfljTB_/
No other context. The timing is curious as that was soon after the McCall dismissal news went public.

Just makes me wonder what he's thinking for next season. The next head coach is going to be a massive factor in all of our guys' decisions, so unless guys hate it here in general, the next coach has gotta be right up their in their minds.

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