After the Princeton game, but I disagree that he was frustrated with Mag. Steve had said in the preseason that once he is cleared medically, it would be up to Mag to decide if he felt good enough to play. What be Mag’s motivation not to play? He worked hard in rehab, and players want to play.
Mag????
- Thread starter RUich
- Start date
Just wanted to say Mag was also an incredible rebounder for us as well as our best cutter. I like wolf but once Mag comes back things will make more sense in the team.
He sounded similar with Caleb early last season too. I think he just has no patience for injuries in general.
He'll play when the Docs say it's OK not based on fan speculation
Good point on the cutting. A lotttt of standing around last season. Mag would actually make cuts to the lane for some off ball movement
More movement this year already overall though. Less standing and watching
If you put him out too early you risk a career ending injury. It’s that simple. You’re not going to get “info” on that, it’s college basketball not the NBA.
I don’t know Mag’s situation but an ACL is no longer a 12-month recovery for athletes. I think some fans are thinking it’s 1995.
He said doctors had cleared him opening day on the post game press conference
I heard that press conference and he did not sound frustrated to me, not sure what others are talking about. Of course he wants to play.
He still looked explosive on his dunks in warm ups. He also looked like he put on 10-15 pounds of muscle
Yea I thought it was said that Mag is cleared and it will be up to him at this point as to when he feels ready
Nothing has changed at all.....you and other fans stay in denial about last year and what happened in February and March...once Mulcahy scored 17 points in the 2nd half at MSG when Mag was injured, we had 3 real options to backfill the minutes.....
A) Play Simpson more minutes and move Mulcahy off the ball
B) Play Palmquist more and keep Simpson minutes under 15 per game.
C) Play Woolfolk and Palmquist more as a tandem and keep Mulcahy's minutes the same and keep Simpson minutes down, as the 4th guard, while continuing to play Mulcahy, Spencer and Caleb 32+ minutes per game.
To recap...Mulcahy in the games since the injury.
At Indiana 31 minutes.....2 points.....loss by 6. Palmquist played well enough hitting some timely 3s....did Mag not playing result in RU not winning this game....NO, because Mags production on offense was offset by the Palmquist production.
At Illinois 34 minutes....12 points....loss by 9....I believe Paul had 10 1st half points....but I do think Mag could have helped us vs Coleman Hawkins, but not a game RU would have been expected to win Mag or no Mag.
Nebraska 35 minutes......2 points....loss by 10....Nebraska shot lights out from 3 and Mag could have helped but Hyatt actually scored 27 points, so while giving up 82 was rare, I give Nebraska credit for lights out shooting.
At Wisconsin 36 minutes 6 points....win by 1......could RU have won by more points if Mag played?? Yes, but Hyatt scored a key basket down the stretch.
Michigan 35 minutes....9 points....loss by 13.....only scoring 45 points and giving up 58, isn't a Mag issue in my opinion. More defense wasn't going to help RU. We needed points from our guards.
At PSU 29 minutes.....0 points....win by 3.....while RU won this game, I believe the damage was done with Mulcahy not being productive and we were in a free fall. 0 points is hard to fathom in 29 minutes but Mag is the issue???
At Minny 35 minutes....6 points...loss by 1.....no need to explain how critical Point guard leadership is and was for this game....6 points on the road from your PG, has ZERO to do with Mawot Mag. Could Mag have overcome Mulcahy's fall off?? That's Simpson who could have helped not Mag.
NWestern 34 minutes...8 points....loss by 12...damage was completely done at this point, another lackluster performance on offense, not a lack of defense where Mag excelled.
Mag was the 5th scoring option after Cliff, Spencer, Caleb or Mulcahy and after Hyatt.
I have FIVE players that RU asked to score points and help RU before I get to Mag....one of those options to actually score, wasn't played enough in Simpson. All of those players (Cliff, Simpson, Spencer, Mulcahy, Caleb and Hyatt are ALL more likely to score more points than Mag. Defense was NOT the problem, the lack of productivity from the guards was.
RU didn't play poor defense when Mag left, they just didn't have elite, top of the food-chain defense. RU needed more offense and leadership from its starting backcourt... that is the point guard, not Mawot Mag.
Soooo......why do I think Mag is important in 2023-24. ?? It comes down to 15 to 17 minutes per game in 23 to 25 most important games....these games are....
Wake Forest, Seton Hall and Mississippi State....then 20 B1G games....and possibly 2 B1G tournament games.
Here's the minute distribution as of today in the 1st 5 games.
Cliff 26 minutes
Hyatt 26 minutes
Simpson 25 minutes
Fernandes 27 minutes
Griffiths 23 minutes
Woolfolk 19 minutes
Davis 22 minutes
Austin Williams 19 minutes
Palmquist 15 minutes
Chol 6 minutes
Do I think this minutes distribution is realistic going forward.....YES, 100%.
Is there a situation where minutes will go up dramatically for some players...maybe Cliff gets from 26 to 30 to 32 minutes. The rest seems in line going forward....maybe a few less for Woolfolk, but not limited to just backing up Cliff for 8 minutes a game in all 23 of these legitimate games on the schedule.
Will Austin Williams stay at 19 minutes?? Probably not, but he's a guard.....those minutes don't fall in the Mag category.
Where do I see Mag fitting in?? Not at 32 minutes a game, not at 28 minutes....maybe 12 minutes to get set....then in January maybe up to 18.....that's about it on average.
If I look at the minute breakdown, for the 23 games, my guess is Mag absorbs and plays in the 15 minutes or so that Oskar is playing. Maybe not all 15, maybe Oskar plays 6 to 8 minutes....maybe Hyatt goes from 26 to 22 minutes....maybe Woolfolk is back to 15 minutes vs 20, but Woolfolk and Mag today, provide the same things. We just need 40 minutes of that production, when Woolfolk isn't on the court.
Do I want Mag playing 12 to 18 minutes in all 23 most important games OR Palmquist in those same minutes.....?? It would be Mag, for rebounding, defense and post up offense. Those things are not where Oskar thrives. Palmquist and Chol would be competing with Hyatt at the perimeter forward spot. If Palmquist and Chol defended or rebounded better, there wouldn't be a need for Mag, his role would be covered.
So it's Mag for Palmquist minutes in 80 to 90% of the scenarios I can see for a rotation. Hope this helps!!
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Mulcahy was fantastic thru the Michigan State in 2022-23. As you stated his production fell off dramatically.
Instead of even trying to guess why you just assume Mulcahy is what he was in the 2nd half of last year.
You also just seem to want to ignore the stretch we had in the middle of the year with everyone healthy.
I just don't understand your A. inflated view of Hyatt B. deflated view of Mag
A healthy Mag without question takes minutes primarily from Hyatt. I wouldn't even think that would even be debateable for a Rutgers fan.
Instead of even trying to guess why you just assume Mulcahy is what he was in the 2nd half of last year.
You also just seem to want to ignore the stretch we had in the middle of the year with everyone healthy.
I just don't understand your A. inflated view of Hyatt B. deflated view of Mag
A healthy Mag without question takes minutes primarily from Hyatt. I wouldn't even think that would even be debateable for a Rutgers fan.
And his scoring was trending up.
Mulcahy won the Mich St game that Mag got hurt in. He was one of the top 20 players in the B1G when healthy. Played thru a shoulder injury much of last season, even got it bumped in that very same Mich State game at MSG. Played poorly much of the remainder of the season. I do, however, believe that Mag will have a massive impact on our season. We will go as far as he will take us. Very wide gap between what this team will achieve. Deep NCAA run? Top 4 in the B1G? Or a step back.
It actually doesn’t help at all haha. The question I asked you here was about Mag and only Mag. Not sure why you proceeded to write about 15 paragraphs mentioning almost every player on this year and last years roster.
Last year you said that losing him wasn’t a big deal and there was no impact to our team/results.
Now you’re saying that his minutes this season are valuable and he will impact our ability to win.
So I’ll try this again - what has caused the drastic change in your perspective of Mag’s value and impact from last year to this year.
The only 2 things that I can think of that changed are 1) he’s recovering from an ACL and 2) he’s a year older.
I’m just trying to figure out why you now suddenly are saying he’s an important piece of the puzzle but completely disregarded his value last year.
In Hawk's head Hyatt shoots 45% from 3 not his 29% career average
I do think Hyatt had a career season from 3 though. It doesn't change his past 4 season stats
Agree with you. It seems like RU has cleared him, but Mag isn't ready to come back yet.
Hawk thinks he is Glen Rice.
That's OK because we think Mag is Pippen.
At least we are right.
99% chance THIS
1% he is taking redshirt so he can get paid 2 more years
If I were Mag I'd have to consider it.
We play a demanding defnse.. and now fast offense too.
The Mag of last year.. he was in amazing basketball-playing shape to start the season.. as they all should be. But he is recovering from an injury that prevents him from being in that shape. Pike will know when he is ready.. if Mag is honest with him. Mag will probably not be quite himself.. at least to start.. when he does come back. Give him time. Patience please.
The Mag of last year.. he was in amazing basketball-playing shape to start the season.. as they all should be. But he is recovering from an injury that prevents him from being in that shape. Pike will know when he is ready.. if Mag is honest with him. Mag will probably not be quite himself.. at least to start.. when he does come back. Give him time. Patience please.
Emily Mason of RU soccer certainly did & much earlier than expected & with no loss of ability.
Would you look at that. People are arguing about women's college soccer. I hope the one chick with the colored hair is finally happy.
Unfortunately if he wants to get paid his best bet would be transferring to another team taking an overseas trip next offseaosn.
This made me laugh pretty hard 🤣
He was cleared for contact back in October though and scrimmaging with the team. It's not like he got cleared last week. If they weren't being cautious he could have already played
Exactly she was probably around 9 months also and she wore a brace her first 2 games back and then got rid of it
I am sure this decision to play is between him and the doctors he wasn’t even wearing a brace in warm ups so I am sure he is very very close as it has not even been 9 months for Mawot
Chick?
CHICK?!
How do you know that is (fill in pronoun)'s chosen form of colloquial evocative? What if she/he/it/they/etc wants to be colloquially referred to as dude/babe/chap/bloke/prat/slug/soak/benny/shoebie/towny etc etc?
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Mag's greatest value is as a defensive player. Pike realizes that with all the bending and quick lateral movement required to play great defense - it makes sense to bring him along slowly.
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