My thoughts on 2022, 2023, and beyond
- Thread starter kcg88
- Start date
Will be listening to his senior day interview which PSAL referenced. But from what Paul seemed to indicate in that interview, I do think he wants to play another year. I see him up close from where I sit at JMA.
Unsure what specifically you are alluding to… perhaps the quality of his play which may be a factor of his shoulder injury?
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Body language on the court
Seems to get down on himself and blame teammates
Does not seem the same as he was earlier this season
Dude can you just stop posting about Mag?
Like please do us all a favor and stop.
Your takes on him are all-time horrific, and that’s saying a lot for you.
Super Competitive. Had high expectations for this season. Has taken a physical beating this season.
He and the team have not played well over the last month.
That will do it.
We’ll see once the season ends.
Good points overall. Few thoughts in response:
- Hyatt: I wish him well but hope moves on. Hyatt could be an 6th/7th guy but he’s just too inconsistent on both ends to get starting minutes and I don’t think he’ll be happy with going back to the bench with his experience.
- Oscar/Dean/Miller: Also wish them well. I think Dean moves on. I actually thought Dean could give us a handful of solid minutes this year, seems like he’s regressed. I could see Oscar and Miller back, especially Oscar who seems to be a Pikiell favorite. I’m okay with this as long as he gets no more than 6-8 minutes a game and is used sparingly, we can use his shot.
- Paul: He will be back unless he hangs it up (which I doubt). Definitely want him back as long as we bring in a PG and he has better body language on the court next year.
- Cliff: Please be back. Please. Cliff’s decision will have huge implications on our potential success next year imo.
- Mag: I can see a late January return, easing him back. Hopefully by March he’s almost back to 22/23 Mag.
- Spencer: I see him in the starting lineup, with Gavin Griffiths as the 6th man. Need to find more ways to get him more consistently involved game over game.
- Simpson: Looking forward to his progression and growth. I think we see more consistent flashes next year, and he will really take off Junior year. Some folks need to temper expectations - don’t think he’s a true PG.
- Woolfolk: He’s got the BIG10 body. Not quite sure he will ever be a starter (unless Cliff leaves or he really improves his offense), but that’s okay. He will be a valuable contributor for 3 more years and provide much needed size/defense.
- Chol: No idea
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He looks like a guy who is playing hurt. That's what he looks like.
He isn't playing like shit because he doesn't want to finish out the year strong.
Mag had turned into a difference maker and quality Big 10 player. Not sure how anyone who writes 2000 word message board posts not be able to see that.
Just talked to a friend of mine who sits close to our bench. He said when Paul is sitting on the bench he sees him rubbing his shoulder a lot.
To be fair Paul might also turn the ball over less if he played at a greater pace.
Kinda doubt he wants to go out like this.
Completely agree. His shoulder must be severely banged once again unfortunately. You don’t go from a meaningful pivotal efficient player to a zero overnight. I feel terrible for him . . He’s a class kid who comes from a class family and bleeds scarlet. I , for one , hopes Paul comes back next year !
I can't tell if that's a joke about him being slow or if it's serious! 😀
I agree, I'm sure Paul doesn't want to go out like this. What I was trying to say about him not looking like he'd want to come back for another year is that he looks miserable.
He’s not the same player imo. I hope he can be healthy to be more of his normal self Thursday
Well, a little of both. Not about him being slow in the sense of footspeed but more in the sense that a lot of his turnovers seem to result from getting in trouble on the plays where he methodically dribbles around.
He probably is miserable now but I still bet once he's removed from the grind of the season he will want to come back. Obviously complete speculation though.
Maybe - speculation by me too
We could get young real quick with Caleb gone and possibly Paul, Hyatt, Dean, Miller and Oskar gone we'd have Cliff, Cam and Mag as upperclassmen and a bunch of young guys (plus transfers).
Could go either with way with Paul - maybe he will not want to be around that many young guys or maybe he would want to be the leader of that group?
So if Paul is not a pt guard (Don't disagree that we cna use an upgrade - But not sure if JMD & Simpson can't be it) why would he start over Cam?
Cam is a better player than Paul. The only reason Paul would start is if he's playing PG and we got a transfer who is better than Cam. Seems unlikely.
Because it's helpful to have two guys who are threats to create offense on the floor. Unless the PG transfer we get is a true high level dude we're gonna want flexibility and options.
You guys are going to love Jamichael Davis. Played against better competition than Derek did and can create and take it to the hole with either hand. Would love Air Bailey to reclassify to 2023 but have no idea how far along he is with his academics.
Excited to see Davis.
Playing better AAU is huge in adjusting to the next level. I think you see it with Simpson driving into traffic and thinking he can finish when it's a very low percentage even this late in the season. I think/hope he can adjust but guys who played high level AAU have already made those kinds of adjustments.
I think mental exhaustion and tightness coupled with injuries had brought us here.
Davis didn’t really play high level AAU, but played high level high school.
Thanks - for some reason I thought he was an EYBL kid
Seems like you know what you're getting with EYBL players more than anything else
Well, I said I was going to use this as my catch-all thread for transfers so here goes.
PG Hysier Miller from Temple is in the portal. When I was scouting Temple once that game was announced I tabbed him as a guy to watch out for in the portal after his sophomore year... he didn't take quite the step forward I thought he might but had an okay season. From February 1 until the end of the year he averaged 4.4 assists per game. Temple was a poorly-coached mess for most of the season so I think there's upside.
PG Hysier Miller from Temple is in the portal. When I was scouting Temple once that game was announced I tabbed him as a guy to watch out for in the portal after his sophomore year... he didn't take quite the step forward I thought he might but had an okay season. From February 1 until the end of the year he averaged 4.4 assists per game. Temple was a poorly-coached mess for most of the season so I think there's upside.
We don’t have any sort of regional tie but Kevin Miller out of Central Michigan was someone who entered the portal last year that I did a quick scout on and now is seemingly in to truly transfer. He’s lightning quick, great passer and decent scorer. Only problem is he is fairly small. I think we should get a grad transfer PG more considering the types of players were bringing in this year and next, but this guy is a player. Jammer Nelson jr is interesting too, but he doesn’t have great stats against actual competition.
He committed to Wake Forest, so we'll see him next year.
Central Michigan transfer guard Boopie Miller commits to Wake Forest
A Sunday trip to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan bore immediate fruit for Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes and his staff, as Central Michigan guard Kevin “Boopie”
247sports.com
Wake forest got another transfer guard that everyone is going to wonder why they didn’t get themHe committed to Wake Forest, so we'll see him next year.
Central Michigan transfer guard Boopie Miller commits to Wake Forest
A Sunday trip to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan bore immediate fruit for Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes and his staff, as Central Michigan guard Kevin “Boopie”
Let's revisit this, now that the emotions have subsided for some people and we now have the 1st 2 rounds of both the NCAAs and NIT out of the way.....and let's debunk anything that stated I said Mag wasn't a B1G player, that's never been said by me...if anything, I am probably too "Pro RU player" so let's stop with the BS.
We have 1 recruit in the last 4 recruiting classes of 2019 to 2022, that was a 4* player (Cliff Omoyuri). Whether fans want to believe this or not, Cliff is probably at worse the 3rd best big in the B1G.
It is the following beyond that we somehow have fans blinded by emotion or fandom, instead of taking off their Scarlet glasses and looking at the entire landscape of the B1G OR a national level.
Beyond that, we had a PG at 33 MPG average around 8 PPG.....that's lowest by 2 full points per game vs the 13th PG in the B1G. That's not a rumor, it's what we watched over 30+ games.
We had another transfer guard in, who averaged 13PPG and is a excellent 3 point shooter and 90% FT shooter.
But Spencer shot 58.5% from 3 in 10 games that were not good opponents (Q4 games, plus 2 vs Minnesota and 1 NIT game vs Hofstra).....in those 10 games, Spencer averaged 17.3 PPG.
In the other 24 games against decent OOC opponents (Temple, SHU, Wake and Miami and the rest of the B1G except Minnesota)....the 3 PT% drops 20 points from 58.3% to 38.5%..... and the PPG drops from 17.3 PPG against softer, slower (not good competition), all the way down to 11.4PPG. Is that a concern or do we put our heads in the sand and ignore it?? 6PPG is a huge dropoff if you just look at overall stats for the entire year.
Mag, somehow evolved into the sole reason RU wasn't good after his injury, or became the 2nd coming of Ron Harper Jr.....he averaged 7PPG in his 1st 15 games of the year...which is good for a 1st time starter and developmental player.
In Mags last 8 games, that production jumped from 7PPG to just under 9PPG.
In either case, the injury or not, as a starting SF in the B1G, it is below average for our competition in terms of production, even if I take the trend UP to 9PPG. Is that the standard some fans are looking and asking for as unbeatable??
Our other forward is also at around 9PPG and is the co-defensive player of the year, but I have a duplicate player in that type of player with Mag as a defense-1st glue guy, who is not a player that gets his own offense or a volume shooter from 3. You simply could not or should not have both players as starters and I would not have taken out the defensive player of the year, for Mawot Mag, under any circumstances.
These are the items that we are looking to upgrade or improve upon, yet fans are still wondering if 8PPG is the standard for 33MPG from our Point guard and 7 to 8PPG is what fans are in love with from 1 forward, while mixing that with another defensive 1st guard forward??
Add the SG who absolutely must be left wide open to shoot and cannot generate his own shot.....aren't ALL of these things on the table to consider as needing improvements??
Or are we just looking for fans to say "they were right" when the numbers and watching the games that matter the most, tells or shows something else??
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You are overlooking Mag's defensive presence. When he got hurt we went from an elite defense with an offense just good enough to win to a good defense with an offense that wasn't good enough to win.
You literally said in this very thread that mag is not a BIG caliber 3 or 4. He’s clearly not a SG so I don’t know how else that statement could be interpreted.
