I’m not forgetting Young. If we get more out of him than Texas did that will be great. But I’m expecting Mulcahy to make a bigger impact next year.
Montez Mathis
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I’m not forgetting Young. If we get more out of him than Texas did that will be great. But I’m expecting Mulcahy to make a bigger impact next year.
Being in the DC area I had the chance to see MM play multiple times in HS. He was not a great shooter or ball handler, but rather an elite scorer at the high school level. His 4* ranking is/was based on his elite athleticism. He was always going to be a bit raw/need to develop coming up to this level. He was recruited at a high level (NC ST, WVU, Uconn, etc) because a plethora of schools believed he was/is a high major player.
In my opinion he is the best pure athlete to come to Rutgers MBB since Dane Miller. And I think he is going to be a very good player for us.
In my opinion he is the best pure athlete to come to Rutgers MBB since Dane Miller. And I think he is going to be a very good player for us.
How was his body language and demeanor in those games?
It's really simple to me if you are Pike. You want Mathis to be a contributor. You know Boston should be a beatdown. Get Mathis some more minutes and confidence. Play him with Geo and the rest of the better passers on the team like Harper EO and Myles. Get him some easy buckets in transition and a dunk or two and watch the rest of his game and body language get better.
The way this team passes and share the game and the way they all seem close makes me think the players see this too and are going to be looking to get him involved. I think you'll see his best game by far vs Boston
NO!!!!!!
Mathis didn't get minutes in garbage time. It was crystal clear he was being punished for his attitude. Pikiell has been very good and fair giving him minutes. There is no doubt to me Pikiell believes he can help us significantly this year. His playing time has to be linked to his attitude. Players can't mope and not cheer for teammates.
I don't think Montez lacks confidence. I want to see McConnell get the opportunity to show he can add value.
I also expect Pikiell to not sleep on Boston. BU will be no different to Pikiell than Michigan state. Last night I thought Pikiell was very slow to garbage time. mcConnell could have played an extra 3 or 4 minutes easily in the end.
I did not notice the attitude/demeanor folks are citing here either this year or in high school. He is a bit demonstrative on the court, but I am not certain I would confuse that with sulking/attitude.
As to the EMU game I heard Coach P state in his presser that he felt he needed to go "bigger" in this game due to EMU's size and that is why he played Myles and Shaq together more in this game than any other and also why Doucoure got his first meaningful minutes. I did hear Coach P in his presser mention MM as one of the players he has been pleased with thus far. Eugene also played significantly fewer minutes than normal in this game as well.
Coach P has options and he is going to use them (because he is a good coach). Reading too much in to game by game minutes which, in my opinion, are significantly impacted by who we are playing and as importantly how guys are playing in that specific game is a bit of a folly.
As to the EMU game I heard Coach P state in his presser that he felt he needed to go "bigger" in this game due to EMU's size and that is why he played Myles and Shaq together more in this game than any other and also why Doucoure got his first meaningful minutes. I did hear Coach P in his presser mention MM as one of the players he has been pleased with thus far. Eugene also played significantly fewer minutes than normal in this game as well.
Coach P has options and he is going to use them (because he is a good coach). Reading too much in to game by game minutes which, in my opinion, are significantly impacted by who we are playing and as importantly how guys are playing in that specific game is a bit of a folly.
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YESSSSS!!!! That was last game. How long should the punishment continue? Just keep him on the bench out of spite? Soooo short sighted and unnecessarily punative. Bad coaching 101. It is not what is best for Mathis or the team. A productive Mathis would really help this team and this is clearly the game to try to get him going. You're dead wrong here.
Now if he continues to pout this game then react appropriately if/when it happens. Your approach seems to be to try to make him miserable and start a negative downward spiral. The exact opposite of what a good coach would do. Thankfully we have Pike
As long as he plays D and continues to crash the boards, MM will find playing time. He will eventually learn that there is no time to sulk on the court. Don't see "an attitude" problem, just a kid who needs time to figure it out. I would be surprised if the coaches aren't spending time with him to drop the negative body language and to obtain a play for the "next play" attitude.
This thread kills me. He is LITERALLY 4 games into his TRUE FROSH season. R....E....L....A....X people!
these fans always look for the negatives--geez give the kid a minute
You've been around long enough to know these boards always need a whipping boy. I'm sure if you went back to the 1st game threads some had called him a bust by halftime.
Literally nobody is calling him a bust. Believe it or not we can talk about weaknesses without jumping to conclusions.
As a reminder this was what started the thread... hardly an overaction or bashing of the player... RELAX! CALM DOWN! ITS ONLY 4 GAMES! These posts are all pointless stawmen arguments arguing against no one
No one is saying he is a bust. No one is freaking out. Pretty much everyone has said they think he is talented and will be a good player. A 4 game sample of poor body language when in all 4 he showed it is worth discussing.
Classic case of going from a big fish in a little pond to a big fish with a bunch of other big fish. He has plenty of natural talent, but he needs to harness it within a team concept. Coach will get him there, probably sooner rather than later. He'll be an important part of the team.
Agreed. I see mostly frustration from Montez, which is a sign that he's just struggling to adjust. Way to early to sound alarm bells.
Maybe just stick to scarletknights.com. We understand you don’t like anything that doesn’t tow the party line.
A little smile here and there would be good optics
Enthusiasm off the bench from a true frosh
I remember Pike telling a story about going to see Mathis at a game and Montez apologized for the way he played. Pike said: What? You played well enough to score 22pts. I think Montez may be putting too much pressure on himself to do well and impress everybody. I think he'll be fine... it's just a highly rated frosh adapting to a major change of D1 BB. We all need to have a little patience.
