xtrawildcat wrote: ↑February 5th, 2020, 9:31 amI hope that those critical of Carti also remember some of the criticism about Kam and Barry Brown during the junior year. Selfish players out to get their own, etc.
I talked to another poster about that criticism of those two and suggested the narrative won't change til we win more games. And it didn't til we were into the Big 12 race their junior year and then criticism of Brown came around. Criticism of Stokes continued til about half way through the Big 12 season his senior year. The posts are all there for those who want to search for them.
Diarra is in the same spot. Team is losing and as the highest usage player he catches the most blame. Body language is studied and used as proof he doesn't care every time he makes a bad pass or takes a shot that is forced. (If it was at the end of the shot clock, it is because he dribbled the ball out top til the shot clock ran out, never because a team mate didn't get open or passed up a better shot.)
An example of this: Remember all the comments about Stokes smiling after the over threw a lob pass. So bad execution must be explained away by attitude, facial expression, lack of team leadership, playing to go pro, etc.
And it will continue with Carti til we start winning more.
No question things really get nit-picked when you aren't winning games. When things aren't going well we start to look at every little crumble of information and dissect it, looking for reasons.
When I was able to be front row and in the tunnel during the Tulsa game, it was actually fun watching Carti interact with people. He was talking to older fans in the tunnel, talking to people on the front row, heck I even told him to get in that corner and look for his shot because it was his spot and he was on fire and he looked at me and smiled and shook his head. But he was also in the lockerroom a good bit of the time when the rest of the team was warming up, went in early, came out late, and sometimes that kind of stuff makes people think you are doing your own thing and not what is expected of the entire team. Honestly, he acted more like you would see an NBA player act as they prepared themselves for a game.
Body language is ridiculed more when things don't go well, simple as that. I am not sure I see bad attitude body language from Carti as much as I see frustration body language from him a lot of times.
To me there is no comparison to Foster. Carti is still playing hard and trying, in my opinion and that is why Fran's insistence was over the top.
But if you are going to ask me what the biggest issues with this team are, I am not going to get to a lack of commitment from Carti Diarra until down the list a ways. We can't shoot the ball. That is the biggest issue, in my opinion. We are overall just sloppy with the ball, and that includes but is not limited to Carti. We have done a poor job of closing out games.
This team has a multitude of issues, only some of which are with Carti.