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One-on-One: Cartier Diarra

Grant Flanders and Logan Mantz sat down with Cartier Diarra to discuss what he looks forward to in the upcoming season.

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KSO: What do you think of the new jerseys?

Cartier Diarra: Pretty dope. I like the gray on the side. Different colors, I'm not that big of a fan of it on the white jerseys, but the purples are really nice.

KSO: How do you feel about being a leader on this team now?

CD: It's definitely going to be a challenge, of course. I'm never going to say it's easy, because I know it wasn't easy for the guys last year that did it. I know how hard they worked and how hard they pushed everybody. It's definitely going to be tough. But it's something that I've been wanting, and something that makes college basketball special is that you're going to have your chance once the seniors leave. It's definitely my time, X's (Xavier Sneed) time, Mak's (Makol Mawien) time, and PJ's (Pierson McAtee) time. All the vets that have been here trying to teach the the new guys the ropes and get them on board, so they can be just as good as you.

KSO: Give me your thoughts on all the newcomers this year...

CD: Each of them have their own little things they have to get better at, because you know they're different positions. One thing I can say is that they all play hard and they all compete. They show signs of special things that they can add to the team. But of course practice just started, and we have our system, and they just got to learn it. They got a little bit of time, and they're still learning, but they want to get it right and that's the biggest thing.

DaJuan (Gordon) is an amazing athlete. Likes to play defense. We always track stuff during practice like scoring and points and field goal percentage, and he was leading it the first five days. Field goal percentage was the best, and all that other stuff was really good. So he's been showing good progress.

David (Sloan) is a really good point guard. He makes good reads. Just trying to get him to understand the defensive level is really different and him being a smaller guard he got to play harder. And that's just the biggest thing, and he's going to get that because he wants to play, and you got to do what you got to do to play. He can shoot the ball, too.

Monte (Murphy) has had some really good practices. I think he's starting to get it and understand his position being a possible pick and pop four. He's got to know the read of when to pick and pop and when to dive. I think he's been making really good plays, and he's really good in the paint.

Antonio (Gordon) has been a dog. Been really good on the offensive glass and been crashing. I think he's starting to understand his role that he could be a pick and pop four and a great offensive rebounder for us.

They all coming together at a different pace, but all together in a similar way. We was number four in the nation last year, and we're trying to be that again, so that 's going to come and offense is going to come when we play good defense. We have a great team of runners. And the people we brought in are stretch fours, so they can do other things and guard switch onto a guard and contain him.

We also have a walk on Joey. 6-foot-10. He's good, too. Probably red-shirt, get his body right and get some more muscle on him. Another pick and pop four or five maybe. Can shoot the ball well. Being another big body on the defensive end and being a threat on offense.

So we brought in some good pieces. We always bring in some really good players, but not like ESPN rated, but dogs that want to work and because when you come to K-State you understand that. This is real blue collar work. We work really hard in the weight room, conditioning on the court everyday. So, if you're going to come here you're going to have to understand what you're doing, and if you make it through everything and you're still here then you know that you're capable. I think everybody on this team is capable of upholding our championship DNA and possibly giving us another chance to repeat it, so I'm really excited. I'm ready to play other teams because, I'm tired of playing ourselves.

KSO: Have you noticed anything different from Bruce Weber last year before coaching USA basketball to this year?

CD: Nah. Actually I know a couple of players that play for USA and they were told me that Coach was doing what we do. Coach been coaching for thirty plus years. He knows what works. He's been in a national championship game. He's coached a bunch of NBA players. He's won championships. He knows what's been working for him, and he sticks with that. He definitely does change a little bit, but it's most likely he sticks with what we do, because we win when we stick with what we do. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

KSO: Who has impressed you the most in the offseason?

CD: I can't put a hand on who's made the biggest improvement, simply because I've seen a lot a of improvement by a lot of people. I see that Mak has been shooting the three-ball really well. Let everybody know that my man is going to come out sniping on them. They better be ready to come out and guard the 3-point line. Space the floor off the guard that drive and kick it to Mak at the five or four, wherever he plays, and hitting a three is scary. Mike (McGuirl) been shooting the ball extremely well, too. He looks like he's going to get me like three assists a game just off catch and shoots. I like that. X has been driving more, which is really good. Got to get to the free throw line and get easy buckets. We already know he can shoot the ball. His defense has always been good. X is X, he's already got that, just need to tune it up and be more efficient and we will be straight. Levi (Stockard) has been getting a better mid-range. That's going to be helpful, because if they double Mak or someone like that he should be able to pop up at the pinch post and hit a middy jumper and make them not be able to double. Or Levi face up jumper. James (Love) has got a nice jumper, too. Our bigs been shooting the ball a lot better now. I really think we will be a really good 3-point shooting team and 2-point. So I think offense is going to be really good if we stick to everything and everybody keeps staying in the gym after practice getting shots up and being consistent everyday. So I think I've seen progress from everybody.

KSO: How much different is the new 3-point line going to make things this year?

CD: It definitely makes it tougher on defense, because it's a longer close out, but offensive wise I think it's better for driving. I've been shooting from distance for a little minute, so now the old line feels like a mid-range jumper. I've been shooting further out. A lot of us have been. It is going to drop 3-point percentages for a lot of people, and it may for us, but hopefully it doesn't because we've been seeing really good numbers as a team shooting the three. Like I said we track everything, so everybody has been making a lot of shots. But other than that I think it's just going to be toughness. All it's doing is bringing that NBA vibe, because it's getting further out with more space. I don't know if they are going to do anything with the paint. Now it's just more of being on an island and really guard one-on-one. Or if your defense is more help, you have to be in a good position to help.

KSO: Where have you improved the most this off-season?

CD: Damn near everything. But I'm not going to tell everybody what to look out for, because I want them to see it first in the game, because now they know it's too late for them to watch out for it because it's getting done already. I think the biggest thing is that people are going to be surprised how willing to pass I will be. Even knowing that I'm a big option to score, but I'll be really looking at my teammates. What I know from the past is that when you're a main option and everybody is focused on you, and then you're passing to your teammates are just killing, now they can't double and focus on you, because now I get the time to do what I want to do, since I feel like I'm really good one-on-one and nobody can stop me, until maybe I see a Patrick Beverly or an Avery Bradley.

KSO: You think you will test the NBA waters next offseason?

CD: I'm a realistic person with myself. I feel like I have the talent. I can be a pro. But if I don't do what I need to do on the court and put, not only the numbers, but the winning into it, then I don't feel like I'm ready. That's going to be based off of how I do during the season. But I have the opportunity, it's just going to come down to preparation. I feel like I've been preparing very well but still have more to do. It will be a thought later on in the season, but if I'm not winning and it don't look good, then I'm going to come back definitely for another year. It's mostly winning, because coach always tells us, if you want to go to the NBA 80 percent of the NBA people that get drafted went to the NCAA Tournament. Can't finish 9th in the conference, can't finish 8th or 7th. You have to be at the top of the league.

KSO: Do you see yourself being the main ball handler this season carrying the ball up the floor and being a playmaker considering the other PG options on the team?

CD: I think it will be a mixture. I kind of want to be off the ball, because I'm really good at coming off of pin down curls. I can curl really well. I want to play off the ball because, when you bring up the ball all the eyes are on you, so if I can play off the ball and eyes aren't on me I can maneuver and do what I want to do, but I'll probably have the ball most of the time, but I'll try to pass the ball and do all sorts of things. It's going to be a good thing, everybody is going to get their shots up. We really going to be running.

KSO: How fast will this team really be?

CD: I think there's going to be a lot of dunks. Going back to that Elite 8 year, we had a lot of lobs and stuff like that. We're just trying to get back to that. Just pushing it and score more points. We were number four in the nation last year on defense, but we were really at the bottom on offense. If we can bring that same intensity on defense and add to offense, we're blowing teams out now. It ain't close games and we don't have to worry about crunch time and being clutch and all that. I'd rather win by a lot than have a close game.

KSO: Going out in the first round of the NCAA tournament wasn't expected coming off of a Big 12 championship. Do you still feel that or is it something you put behind you?

CD: That's behind me. I felt like that UC Irvine game, I was really upset with it more that I'm never going to play with Barry, Dean, and Kam again like that. That was really my biggest thing with losing that game. You're going to lose games. But I was really excited we won the Big 12. We won something, and I got a ring. It's a huge accomplishment in itself. Of course we got upset in the tournament, but when we got them rings in August I didn't care about UC Irvine at all. We still made the tournament, it happened. Virginia lost first round against UMBC, and then next year they won the national championship. You're going to lose. It's a tournament. Every dog has its day. It's match-ups, and they won that match-up. You go to respect that and tip the hat to them, but we won the Big 12, and they didn't win that, so I'm excited about that.

KSO: Do you feel like there is a target on the team's back this year?

CD: I never felt like we have had a target on our back. I always feel like the underdog. The coaches told us that the Big 12 coaches voted us at nine, which I thought was pretty funny. Coaches don't respect what we got so, hey I've never been a big talker, I like to just be quiet and be real chill, real calm and play my game and see what happens. Honestly all I know is winning since I've been playing at K-State. First year Elite 8, second year Big 12, hey lets try to get a national, lets go. So I'm excited. We will let everybody talk and do what they got to do, and were going to work hard and do what we got to do.

KSO: Your personal and team goals for this year?...

CD: For the team, another Big 12 championship, and really go undefeated. I want to feel that. It starts at practice everyday, winning at practice and winning the day. You know exhibitions and playing against another team for the first time, we got to dominate them and show that okay, we're pretty good. Team wise, I want everybody eating. I've never been the type that I need to average 20 points a game, no I want it to be spread out and everybody to be noticed, everybody eat, and all the scouts come out to see everybody. Understand that this is a really good team, and that everybody is skilled and adding something to the team. That's the biggest thing for us.

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