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Mulcahy was 29th out of 30 B1G guards in PPG

OP is dead on. A guard who can't score is useless. We only won games or caught up when he was off the court. He was a piss poor leader all year and refused to shoot, to the point teams new it and would hardly challenge his shot fakes.

Off the ball he is better. We obviously need to find replacements but lets see what the team looks like in November.

Paul was not going to play guard next year!

We brought in a guard (Fernandez) and also have Simpson.

Not sure why some people don’t understand that.
 
What is a guard ? How is a 2 different than a 3 ? Is there a clear distinction between a 3 and a 4 in today’s game ? Most teams don’t have 5s. What is Lebron ?

None of that matters. What matters
is ability to defend and score. He can’t consistently do either in high major competition.
 
OP is pointless because he wasn’t going to play PG next year.
also pointless because PM was 4th in assists per game in the league.. on a defensive team... in steals we had 3 of the top 5. read that again... 3 of the top 5 in steals per game were Rutgers players.. McConnel, Spencer and Mulcahy. How many of those higher PPG guards lost to Rutgers? PM was 54th overall (all positions) in rebounds per game though Spencer and edged him out there and McConnell exceeded him. I think he should have done better there. (though thinking this trough.. Paul was often the outlet man.. looking to push ball up the court with a pass.. maybe he got fewer of those bounds because of that assignment.. and he often blocked out big guys.. as much as he could).

Tell you what.. looking at all these stats... we are really gonna miss McConnell and Spencer. UCONN is very lucky to get Cam. He was at or very near the top among guards in so many categories it is scary... and that includes his dreadful streak.
 
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This isn't the time to discuss toughness, grit, heart.....it is insulting to the other teams and guards across the B1G, as if they don't also play with toughness, determination, heart etc.

Once you remove the gray area and look at actual numbers, RU should improve drastically in the backcourt in 2023-24.

Here is what fans believe we are losing in Mulcahy BUT the comparison to our peers is telling. Here are the PPG for guards in the B1G, playing approximately 28 to 30+ MPG. Keep in mind, Mulcahy absorbed 32 Minutes Per Game.

B1G guards Approximately 28 to 30+ MPG

NEB. Tominaga 13.2
NEB. Greisel 12.0
INDY Hood Schifino 13.5
iOWA. Perkins 12.9
IOWA. McCaffrey 6.5
WiSC. Hepburn 12.2
MARY Young 15.8
MARY. Hart 11.4
ILLINI Shannon 17.2
PSU. Pickett 17.7
PSU. Lundy 14.2
PSU. Funk 12.4
MSU. Walker 14.9
MSU. Hoggard 12.9
MSU. Akins 9.8
NW. Buie 17.3
NW. Audige 14.1
MICH. Howard 14.2
MICH. Bufkin 14.0
MICH. McDaniel 8.6
MINN. Battle 12.4
MINN. Cooper 9.8
OSU. Sensabaugh 16.7
OSU. Thornton 10.6
OSU. McNeil 9.7
PUR. Loyer 11.0
PUR. Smith 9.7
RUT. Spencer 13.2
RUT. McConnell 9.1
RUT. Mulcahy 8.3

.
Wait, does this mean Spencer IS going to be missed?
 
If Cam and Paul left right after the season, initial reaction would have been bad, but it would have given us a chance to get quicker and more athletic with tons of portal options

Now it's TBD. If we bring in an Agee level replacement for Paul it's obviously a net negative

Paul's leadership and experience will be missed. He was a much better spot up shooter than some give him credit for. If Hyatt ever shot the 3 like Paul Hawk would be on cloud 9.

Paul was injured. Mike said on the podcast that he actually came into the season injured so he basically wasn't healthy the entire season. There is at least a chance that he would be closer to the Paul who dominated for a stretch the previous year if healthy. We will never know

Being faster and more athletic on both ends might end up being a positive for us. I am looking forward to a more fast paced offense. Paul held the ball too long, wasn't aggressive enough shooting, slow footed one on one. There are holes in his game

Will we be better off without him? It's all TBD with 4 open scholarships. Anyone making definitive predictions at this point has an agenda. The prudent thing to do is wait until we see how the roster turns out first.
 
We are better off with him gone compared to him starting. Same as Myles Johnson.

Pike understands that, obviously. So he encouraged them to leave rather than lose major minutes.

Win win.

All would agree the team would be better with them as reserves, but Pike didn’t want to do that to them.
 
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Paul was not going to play guard next year!

We brought in a guard (Fernandez) and also have Simpson.

Not sure why some people don’t understand that.
It's the same thing. Caleb wasn't a guard but he was. The ball wasn't going to go through him (which is what he needs).
 
It's the same thing. Caleb wasn't a guard but he was. The ball wasn't going to go through him (which is what he needs).

Okay so Caleb was a guard.

And you just said guards who can’t score are useless. So that would have made Caleb useless by your logic….got it.

Mulcahy’s role next year would have been totally different and much more of what it should have been in prior years if we had the right personnel…anyone thinking we won’t miss his skillset at the 3/4 position is clueless. We currently have a very shallow team and any portal guy we go after will likely require NIL and we will be up against tons of other schools.

In the end it doesn’t matter bc Mulcahy probably wants to go somewhere where he can play PG because it wasn’t happening here next year.
 
I’m not looking to dump on Paul but he wasn’t a perfect player. He made some boneheaded mistakes late in games that killed us. You take the bad with the good. I also thought looked disinterested and simply unhappy late in the year. He needed a fresh start, and in that sense I’m happy from him, but his timing stinks.
 
Okay so Caleb was a guard.

And you just said guards who can’t score are useless. So that would have made Caleb useless by your logic….got it.

Mulcahy’s role next year would have been totally different and much more of what it should have been in prior years if we had the right personnel…anyone thinking we won’t miss his skillset at the 3/4 position is clueless. We currently have a very shallow team and any portal guy we go after will likely require NIL and we will be up against tons of other schools.

In the end it doesn’t matter bc Mulcahy probably wants to go somewhere where he can play PG because it wasn’t happening here next year.
As Hawk said, Caleb was an elite defender. That can off-set someone who can't score. What was Paul? A guy who couldn't score who was an average defender. He's replaceable dude. He stunk most of the year outside of a few games here and there.
 
As Hawk said, Caleb was an elite defender. That can off-set someone who can't score. What was Paul? A guy who couldn't score who was an average defender. He's replaceable dude. He stunk most of the year outside of a few games here and there.

Your logic in this thread is saying that Caleb was “useless” because he couldn’t score….so almost stopped reading your posts.

But now I’m officially done reading your posts here after stating “As Hawk said……” lololol.
 
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What is a guard ? How is a 2 different than a 3 ? Is there a clear distinction between a 3 and a 4 in today’s game ? Most teams don’t have 5s. What is Lebron ?

None of that matters. What matters
is ability to defend and score. He can’t consistently do either in high major competition.

It's some dumb rationalize people are doing. It's a sign if how archaic our offensive philosophy has been.
Richie even did it the podcast recently saying "Gavin can't be the 2. He's 6'7" " as if that means something.
We had a 6'5" PF in RHJ.

PG (which isn't even real anymore),
Wing (pretty much everyone)
Post player (which is just a way of saying a tall guy who can't shoot in college).

Did Geo bring up the ball 100% of the time? No. Did Cam bringing up the ball make him a PG? Will Simpson never bring up the ball when Fernandes is in the game?
 
Since when are you allowed to disclose a college player's injury-- especially if he doesn't want it disclosed?
 
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It's some dumb rationalize people are doing. It's a sign if how archaic our offensive philosophy has been.
Richie even did it the podcast recently saying "Gavin can't be the 2. He's 6'7" " as if that means something.
We had a 6'5" PF in RHJ.

PG (which isn't even real anymore),
Wing (pretty much everyone)
Post player (which is just a way of saying a tall guy who can't shoot in college).

Did Geo bring up the ball 100% of the time? No. Did Cam bringing up the ball make him a PG? Will Simpson never bring up the ball when Fernandes is in the game?
At this point, the ideal team had 4-5 guys who can hit from deep if given an open shot. It has 3-4 guys who can handle the ball and drive, and 2-3 guys who can distribute and run the offense.

Whatever you want to label them, we have two deep threats on the roster right now for next year, and one has not yet played college ball. We need more.

If Fernandes or Griffiths are out for foul trouble or injury, or just for rest, we're down to one. Whether you want to call them "shooting guards" or not, we need more "guards who can shoot". It's the skill set that's a gap, not the positional label.
 
We are better off with him gone compared to him starting. Same as Myles Johnson.

Pike understands that, obviously. So he encouraged them to leave rather than lose major minutes.

Win win.

All would agree the team would be better with them as reserves, but Pike didn’t want to do that to them.
So now Pike encouraged Cam and Paul to leave?

People are just making stuff up now
 
This isn't the time to discuss toughness, grit, heart.....it is insulting to the other teams and guards across the B1G, as if they don't also play with toughness, determination, heart etc.

Once you remove the gray area and look at actual numbers, RU should improve drastically in the backcourt in 2023-24.

Here is what fans believe we are losing in Mulcahy BUT the comparison to our peers is telling. Here are the PPG for guards in the B1G, playing approximately 28 to 30+ MPG. Keep in mind, Mulcahy absorbed 32 Minutes Per Game.

B1G guards Approximately 28 to 30+ MPG

NEB. Tominaga 13.2
NEB. Greisel 12.0
INDY Hood Schifino 13.5
iOWA. Perkins 12.9
IOWA. McCaffrey 6.5
WiSC. Hepburn 12.2
MARY Young 15.8
MARY. Hart 11.4
ILLINI Shannon 17.2
PSU. Pickett 17.7
PSU. Lundy 14.2
PSU. Funk 12.4
MSU. Walker 14.9
MSU. Hoggard 12.9
MSU. Akins 9.8
NW. Buie 17.3
NW. Audige 14.1
MICH. Howard 14.2
MICH. Bufkin 14.0
MICH. McDaniel 8.6
MINN. Battle 12.4
MINN. Cooper 9.8
OSU. Sensabaugh 16.7
OSU. Thornton 10.6
OSU. McNeil 9.7
PUR. Loyer 11.0
PUR. Smith 9.7
RUT. Spencer 13.2
RUT. McConnell 9.1
RUT. Mulcahy 8.3

Is PPG the only variable to look at?? YES, because we are not getting all B1G caliber play elsewhere within his game.

Caleb was the Defensive Player of the Year.....you can carry that defense if others on RU, were more productive on offense.

While Spencer hit 39% of his 3s against non Q4 competition, I can at least point to Griffiths being able to take more 3s than Spencer.

Fans will point to Mulcahy assists....if you look at assists per game and it's not mixed with PPG, the assist factor becomes less reliable to determine whether the player is producing.

If Mulcahy was the 2nd lowest starting guard in all the B1G in PPG AND was not going to start this year, how was his PPG, or Assists per game improve?? What is the projected "loss", if he's not productive, vs the peer guards in the B1G??

Only Connor McCaffrey scored less PPG at Iowa and that's kinda deceiving, because Iowa plays up tempo and had 5 other players average more PPG.

In February, Mulcahy numbers dropped to around 6PPG, despite playing the same minutes.

There had to be a change made for RU to get better and this transfer of Mulcahy, is going to open up more PPG and wins for RU. If you remove the emotional aspect of a 4 year player who did his best, RU needed to move in a different direction.

Assists Per Game LEADERS​

RK​
PLAYER​
TEAM​
GPMPGASTAPGTOTOPGAP40MAST/TO
1​
PSU​
3536.42346.7772.27.33.04
2​
MINN​
3136.61966.3832.76.92.36
3​
MSU​
3130.41866.0772.57.92.42
4​
RUTG​
2932.11424.9582.06.12.45
5​
Boo Buie, G​
NU​
3234.81454.5792.55.21.84
6​
PUR​
3430.11474.3621.85.72.37
 
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I’ve argued dozens of times on this board if we have a player hurt, in pain or compromised …. He should be lauded for his sacrifice and gutting it up for the team.
Countless posts “Cliff is obviously hurt”
“Paul playing hurt”
But no affirmation by the coaches after games.
In this era of analytics and breaking down film, every opposing coach and staff know exactly who’s injured, compromised and exactly how to exploit it.
People have argued with me if Pike defended his players by acknowledging how selfless and tough they are to play through an injury he’d be giving the other team information…lol… they already know.

Paul had some horrific games with no points and just a couple shot attempts as a starting guard, that’s impossible for someone of his skill set….Pike should have protected him and lauded him for manning up if he was hurt as you say.
Pike still hasn’t said anything!
Yup….looked like Mulcahy was hurt and was gutting it out….should have been commended for that and any fan would. Maybe docs/Pike told PM to shut it down and he didn’t? Maybe Pikes couldn’t publicly say “he’s hurt” otherwise bad look on RUs part?

Who knows….but the fact that Pike didn’t address this better and get out ahead of the criticism led to…..well…..we see what happened. Self inflicted wounds from Pike and Mulcahy.
 
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Since when are you allowed to disclose a college player's injury-- especially if he doesn't want it disclosed?
Who’s you?
What are you talking about?
There’s not a high level player of a sport in the world who wouldn’t want the public to know they’re playing hurt if your performance is suffering….none.
Acknowledging injury is in no way disclosing what the injury is,
It’s why lower body, upper body or undisclosed is the norm.
They are the norm to protect and support your players, as well as lauding their courage for manning up.
 
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Yup….looked like Mulcahy was hurt and was gutting it out….should have been commended for that and any fan would. Maybe docs/Pike told PM to shut it down and he didn’t? Maybe Pikes couldn’t publicly say “he’s hurt” otherwise bad look on RUs part?

Who knows….but the fact that Pike didn’t address this better and get out ahead of the criticism led to…..well…..we see what happened. Self inflicted wounds from Pike and Mulcahy.
Looks like Paul was playing hurt and not making excuses for it,just gutting it out
>Fighting through a shoulder injury most of the season, Mulcahy struggled the last month plus of the 2022-2023 campaign.<

https://thescarletfaithful.com/paul-mulcahy-has-never-been-more-important-rutgers-mens-basketball/
 
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To me, you can’t use the ‘hurt’ excuse when he plays poorly bc he’s also had good games. Does it only hurt on Wednesdays ? Or when the guy he defends blows by him every time ?

Can’t be selective in asserting the excuse.
 
To me, you can’t use the ‘hurt’ excuse when he plays poorly bc he’s also had good games. Does it only hurt on Wednesdays ? Or when the guy he defends blows by him every time ?

Can’t be selective in asserting the excuse.

Also the "playing hurt" isn't a benefit when it's negatively impacting the team.
If he was so hurt that he was playing so badly and costing the team games - then he needs to not play.
It's either on him or HC Pike in that case to be the adult in the room and sit out.

Is the answer "well there was nobody else to play" - I don't get that.
A diminished, severely hurt Mulcahy was better than every other lineup option?
If Clif was hurt then it could maybe make sense "A 65% Clif was a better option than anything else we had."
He has a specialty role and there were limited backups.
 
Also the "playing hurt" isn't a benefit when it's negatively impacting the team.
If he was so hurt that he was playing so badly and costing the team games - then he needs to not play.
It's either on him or HC Pike in that case to be the adult in the room and sit out.

Is the answer "well there was nobody else to play" - I don't get that.
A diminished, severely hurt Mulcahy was better than every other lineup option?
If Clif was hurt then it could maybe make sense "A 65% Clif was a better option than anything else we had."
He has a specialty role and there were limited backups.
Yep. Was he 100% ? Probably not. But if he’s out there playing and sometimes playing well you can’t make excuses for when he isn’t.
 
Also the "playing hurt" isn't a benefit when it's negatively impacting the team.
If he was so hurt that he was playing so badly and costing the team games - then he needs to not play.
It's either on him or HC Pike in that case to be the adult in the room and sit out.

Is the answer "well there was nobody else to play" - I don't get that.
A diminished, severely hurt Mulcahy was better than every other lineup option?
If Clif was hurt then it could maybe make sense "A 65% Clif was a better option than anything else we had."
He has a specialty role and there were limited backups.
Who was replacing him? Early on Simpson wasn’t ready yet. Then when Mag got hurt they couldn’t afford to play Miller for significant minutes.

This is why Paul & Caleb both played hurt down the stretch even though it was hurting them on offense. Pike’s Achilles heel has always been bench depth and it bit RU hard last year.
 
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Paul must have been hurt his junior year too, cause he was pretty average outside of that 5 game stretch
The offense completely changed during that 5 game stretch. We put cliff in high ball screen action what felt like every possession for ten days.

Paul just backed down his defender until cliffs man committed to helping. When he did he threw a lob/dish. If he never came he put up a shot within 6ft of the basket.
 
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Our offense was truly pitiful last year and changes obviously had to be made. Hobbs moving on heralds a new offense and Fernandes, a rising Simpson, and Griffiths likely push Mulcahy out of the starting lineup. However, I think he would've been a valuable 6th man that could play 1 through 4 depending on the situation. That plus inevitable injuries means there was still an important role and major minutes available to him if he stayed. Now our bench is seriously weakened and I think it'll be hard to find quality portal replacements that are looking to transfer into a backup role.
 
Everyone knows Paul was hurt. A few strangely fight the obvious. Mike even said on the podcast that Paul actually came into the season hurt as well
Paul was playing 27 to 30 minutes a game when he hurt his shoulder against UMass Lowell and missed a series of games.
You’re saying he was hurt while playing in those games?
 
Paul was playing 27 to 30 minutes a game when he hurt his shoulder against UMass Lowell and missed a series of games.
You’re saying he was hurt while playing in those games?
Played hurt the whole season.
 
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