Is Zoom an upgrade from Lowe?

Katscratch

Junior
Oct 9, 2022
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Posters that think that Zoom Diallo is a better player than Aberdeen very likely have not watched full games of Zoom Diallo. He’s fairly good and he’s more of a point guard than Aberdeen, but Aberdeen is 100% a better overall basketball player.

Zoom is talented but not an especially good player from the neck up, and his distance shooting sucks. Good coaching might help him develop and mature.
 

Hopmix

Senior
Mar 7, 2011
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I’m not too familiar with Zoom and Lowe was barely around considering his injury so I’d be curious how the two PGs compare to one another.
6’4 combo guard. He’s more physical We play in the SEC remember? As fans we just have no idea what offense pope is gonna run. He totally abandoned his offensive scheme last season. Was that an anomaly, a product of the injuries, or him over correcting from his first season where they struggled against physical teams.
 

Lameguy

Sophomore
Mar 20, 2026
100
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Posters that think that Zoom Diallo is a better player than Aberdeen very likely have not watched full games of Zoom Diallo. He’s fairly good and he’s more of a point guard than Aberdeen, but Aberdeen is 100% a better overall basketball player.

Zoom is talented but not an especially good player from the neck up, and his distance shooting sucks. Good coaching might help him develop and mature.
Aberdeen averaged 13 points a game and was a ball hog. He was a senior trying to impress NBA scouts. Don’t think that qualifies as 100% better. The biggest Problem last year was the lack of a point guard. It‘s not a good comparison.
 
May 30, 2008
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Hope everyone realizes this last season was a disaster because of the disconnect between players. We didn't have a talent problem. Maybe slightly yes because of injuries. If Lowe played we would be slightly better

I would pick this guy 10/10 times over Lowe. Get some grown *** men in here. All these guys are talented. Get some guys like Diallo and other above average players and then throw Stokes in the middle to facilitate. Question remains will Pope get that Stud in Stokes?
You act like it’s about recruiting. In 2025 it’s not. Stokes grew up on the West coast, not a Kentucky HS. I think some think if you drove across I 75. Your Kentucky’s to lose. Pope getting ZooM is plus fr UK
 
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howitis_rivals115807

All-Conference
Aug 28, 2001
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Agreed.

What I'm asking is if he can be one of those building blocks that can get us there.

I hope he so. Time will tell.
I think everyone understands that a final four is a giant reach for next year. minus stokes making the tourney will be the goal as sad as that is to say,
 
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Feb 17, 2025
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Save the big bucks on Stokes, and get the pieces that make a team. If you get the right pieces you don't need a prima dona player just looking for the biggest paycheck.
False that doesn't work look at the elite 8 and final 4 most of those teams had a top talented player surrounded by complimentary pieces.
 
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Pope wound up with a team full of role players Oweh was good but not top talent.There were a few sec teams I doubt he would have started on.
 

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
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Kid is definitely good enough to win the NIT.
Nice Try GIF by Knorr Malaysia


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Rainmaker

All-Conference
May 13, 2015
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Zoom is a massive upgrade. He’s Otega Oweh but with Handle and much better passing ability. He was better than Oweh in every metric last season and has the assist ratio of Wall and Ullis. He will be our best PG since Fox and SGA. His catch and shoot 3 is also very efficient, he could play himself into a first round pick.
 

Katscratch

Junior
Oct 9, 2022
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Zoom is a massive upgrade. He’s Otega Oweh but with Handle and much better passing ability. He was better than Oweh in every metric last season and has the assist ratio of Wall and Ullis. He will be our best PG since Fox and SGA. His catch and shoot 3 is also very efficient, he could play himself into a first round pick.
Diallo is a good high major player, but he is not Oteh and he most definitely was not better than Oteh in every metric last year.

For instance,
  • Oteh got to the line about one and half times as often as Diallo.
  • Otheh had two and a half times more steals per game while fouling far less,
  • Oteh turned it over about 30% less (but with 50% fewer assists)
  • Oteh was a better rebounder,
  • Even in his worst 3pt % season, Oteh was a better distance shooter on far more volume. Oteh was relied on to create shots at the end of the shot clock and Ziallo is not as much that guy - he was at 31.5% on very low volume, so he was open catch and shoot from three primarily. If you watch video, Diallo's outside shot is a little funky and slow-release.
Once again; Diallo is good and he is a good get for UK, but if people are expecting Aberdeen or Oteh-level performance from Diallo, that will mean that Diallo took a major step in his development.
 
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HipTer

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Apr 11, 2012
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Lowe absolutely but Aberdeen no. If he didn’t shoot the 3 so awful then he would be.
I think we have to remember this is a guy who came up through basketball being able to drive and have his way in the lane against his competition. He didn’t need to shoot from the perimeter. In fact, it usually would have been an inefficient - selfish even - play for his team. So, like a large percentage of highly ranked high school Guards (practically all of them prior to the last few year’s influence of NBA 3pt.-centric emphasis) he wasn’t a good 3pt. shooter coming out of high school for the simple reason that he didn’t have enough reps and emphasis on it.

If you haven’t already, watch some video of Diallo’s shot and see what you think. The shot looks fine to me, and given his good FT% and the 3pt.% jump he’s already made from his freshman to sophomore seasons I think there’s a good basis to project even better perimeter shooting.
 
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kfwa

Senior
Oct 12, 2014
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Diallo's value will who you surround him with.

give him a dead eye shooter and a guy that closes at the basket and his assist ratio will improve.
 
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Apr 6, 2026
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Posters that think that Zoom Diallo is a better player than Aberdeen very likely have not watched full games of Zoom Diallo. He’s fairly good and he’s more of a point guard than Aberdeen, but Aberdeen is 100% a better overall basketball player.

Zoom is talented but not an especially good player from the neck up, and his distance shooting sucks. Good coaching might help him develop and mature.
It's a bit of a misleading argument between Zoom and DA. We're talking a sophomore vs a senior who played on a championship team.
Just look at DA's numbers his sophomore year, most folks would have given up on him by that point.
Zoom may take a massive leap forward, he has the potential and athleticism for it, hopefully it translates and we have a star in the making. If not, he's still a productive player that isn't THAT far off from where DA was this year.
 

ZaytovenCat

All-American
Apr 25, 2013
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Major upgrade, Diallo is SGA-Lite
One of the more delusional posts I’ve seen here. He’s more Briscoe if Briscoe had been higher usage and shot a bit more. I agree he’s better than Lowe but I don’t think he’s as good as Aberdeen. If he could shoot even halfway respectable then he could be great but he hasn’t come close to proving that.
The real question for debate is:

Is Diallo a PG that can lead us to the Final Four?
If and only if the roster has Stokes, Freeman and atleast 2+ high level shooters added. If we go into the year with a roster that shoots like last year then no I don’t believe he can. If we don’t have shooters on both sides of the floor then the defense will just sag and dare him to shoot and Zoom can’t shoot. Hes like Oweh in that he needs driving lanes but he’s an even more extreme case IMO.

But with that said, this time last year I’d said that Silas Demary couldn’t take a team to the Elite 8, let alone a final 4.

One thing I’ve found funny about the Wright/Zoom thing, I’ve seen our fans here claim Wright was no big loss because he’s been at two Big 12 programs the last two years and neither won anything but at the same time not saying a word about Zoom being in the Big 10 and winning less than 30 games combined the last two years. I don’t know, it just feels like last year where Pope missed on plan a/b at every position. We all got rightfully worried but then he got his plan c/d and then a certain portion of the people here talked themselves into how great the guys were that he landed and how we didn’t need the ones he missed on. Just feels like a rerun.
 
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Rainmaker

All-Conference
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Diallo is a good high major player, but he is not Oteh and he most definitely was not better than Oteh in every metric last year.

For instance,
  • Oteh got to the line about one and half times as often as Diallo.
  • Otheh had two and a half times more steals per game while fouling far less,
  • Oteh turned it over about 30% less (but with 50% fewer assists)
  • Oteh was a better rebounder,
  • Even in his worst 3pt % season, Oteh was a better distance shooter on far more volume. Oteh was relied on to create shots at the end of the shot clock and Ziallo is not as much that guy - he was at 31.5% on very low volume, so he was open catch and shoot from three primarily. If you watch video, Diallo's outside shot is a little funky and slow-release.
Once again; Diallo is good and he is a good get for UK, but if people are expecting Aberdeen or Oteh-level performance from Diallo, that will mean that Diallo took a major step in his development.
Let me clarify, Metrics for a PG. Effeciency, Assists, mid range %, Conversion etc. That's what a PG is supposed to do, He ranked in the 90%+ in every advanced metric and was one of the most efficient outside the rim and inside the arc. His midrange game is superb. There's a reason he will end up being drafted and Oweh won't. Diallo is a more complete player, of course he is a PG and not a 2/3 like Oweh so not all comparisons will be equal or an upgrade in regards to rebounding etc.
 
Jun 30, 2025
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One could argue who was better last year, Aberdeen or Diallo.

Diallo’s last season, however, was better than any season Aberdeen had at Florida.
 
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Diallo last season took almost exactly the same number of shots from 2 and 3 as Oweh did as a junior.

Diallo is not the exact copy of Oweh. At least offensively, he should offer some role compression. Diallo, as a high usage guard with similar 2 vs 3 shot distribution, offers more assists with his possessions.
 

W1LDCAT22

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2013
1,151
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Two very different guards. Zoom is a better scorer and defender. Bigger and stronger. Lowe is smaller and shiftier and a better passer.
I think Zoom is a far better passer than Lowe. The thing I like most about Zoom is his ability to get to the lane. He has some Oweh in him with his knack on getting to the rim.
 
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Eagles_Ball_69

All-American
Dec 19, 2003
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I think the better question might be, is he an upgrade to Aberdeen. They seem very similar based on descriptions of Zoom’s game.
For sure. Aberdeen was the actual PG last season. Zoom and Aberdeen are pretty similar. Analytically Aberdeen is a bit more productive.
 

K_TIME

Heisman
Jan 2, 2003
18,394
25,703
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Jalen Lowe (last year at Pitt)...16 pts a game, 5.5 assist vs. 3 To, 4.2 reb, 1.8 steals but 37% FG and 26%3pt

Zoom Diallo....15 pts a game, 15pts a game, 4.5 assist vs. 2.5 To, 4 reb, .7 steals on 49% FG and 31%3pt

So, it's pretty obvious....Diallo is way more efficient of a shooter than Lowe ever was. Plus, he's 6'4 vs. 6'2 for Lowe.... I never got why Pope went for Lowe who is so inefficient last year...

And I'd add Diallo took a big step from Freshman year to Sophmore year in shooting better. I'd hope a Jr year would see a bit more bump and for all of Pope warts....he tends to get kids shooting better in his system (i.e. Butler, Aberdeen got better, Chandler got better, etc..)
 
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