rlo24
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Post by rlo24 on Dec 4, 2019 23:56:06 GMT -5
Someone I respect pointed out to me that James isn’t even looking in Mac’s direction anymore when he’s looking to pass. Can’t blame him. Mac needs to come off the bench and see if he can provide the team a spark. Josh needs to start. Period ...end of story. What's your thinking now? You may still have been right had it happened this way but wondering if you're reconsidering at all. Or too early to say with 100% confidence as befoe?
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Dec 5, 2019 0:01:48 GMT -5
Especially when the poster is seldom right. Seldom right lol if I really wanted to do victory laps for everything that I said that eventually came true on here the first few pages would all be threads of me. I bashed James as much this year as anyone. I said him icing out Mac wasn’t good for the team. I said Allen should be the PG but enjoy your victory lap tonight guys. Mac played very well. On this page you literally give credit to James for icing Mac out...
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hoyainla
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Post by hoyainla on Dec 5, 2019 0:04:20 GMT -5
Seldom right lol if I really wanted to do victory laps for everything that I said that eventually came true on here the first few pages would all be threads of me. I bashed James as much this year as anyone. I said him icing out Mac wasn’t good for the team. I said Allen should be the PG but enjoy your victory lap tonight guys. Mac played very well. On this page you literally give credit to James for icing Mac out... I said when Mac was off James decided to ice him and that was fine but bad for the team. I’ve always said Mac is extremely streaky and when he is on you need to feed him. Keep trying though.
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JohnnyJones
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Post by JohnnyJones on Dec 5, 2019 0:15:03 GMT -5
How did this thread die considering what we now know. I mentioned at the beginning of the Mac hype that Mac being the superstar would be fine as long as everything was going well for the team. As they say everything is better when you are winning. I was told I had no idea what I was talking about and that him, James and Josh were best buds that had each other's back. I am around enough of those involved to know the landscape has changed. You have to finesse egos as much as you have to do anything else. James and Mac didn't ask for the Mackinjo moniker. It was forced on them. While I think this post was before tonight’s game, it’s pretty funny that the two guys you have been killing made you look like a fool tonight and you are out patting yourself on the back suggesting you have been right about everything. You are so smart and insightful. Please don’t stop informing and teaching us the rest of the year.
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Dec 5, 2019 0:22:52 GMT -5
On this page you literally give credit to James for icing Mac out... I said when Mac was off James decided to ice him and that was fine but bad for the team. I’ve always said Mac is extremely streaky and when he is on you need to feed him. Keep trying though. The post is quoted on the previous page. That is not what you said at all.
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blueandgray
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Post by blueandgray on Dec 5, 2019 0:29:05 GMT -5
There can only be one alpha dog....and it clearly wasn't working with two ball dominant guys. That was the entire premise for this thread. Now that we only have one.....we looked a heck of a lot better. Big character win and Mac looks very comfortable in the role of alpha dog. Yeah baby!!
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Dec 5, 2019 0:48:13 GMT -5
There can only be one alpha dog....and it clearly wasn't working with two ball dominant guys. That was the entire premise for this thread. Now that we only have one.....we looked a heck of a lot better. Big character win and Mac looks very comfortable in the role of alpha dog. Yeah baby!! You could have absolutely made it work, but the players have to want it to work. It’s clear one didn’t, and that’s a real problem when they are the pg. Bluntly, neither Mac nor James is good enough to not play within a team concept and still win. I’ve always called it the Chris Thomas effect, after the old Notre Dame pg. When you have someone insistent on being that ball dominant, their ceiling is the team’s ceiling. And that’s a problem unless that player is a Top 5 player. The jury still has a long time out to see the full effects of the loss of talent versus chemistry, etc. It’s easy to paint it as addition by subtraction after a big win, but it’s premature. But that said ... Painting this as an unsolvable conflict with no one at fault is inaccurate. A real PG and leader works to lead, to make teammates better ... not to make sure it’s about them. Tons of much more talented players than James and Mac have worked it out before.
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EtomicB
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Post by EtomicB on Dec 5, 2019 0:52:42 GMT -5
There can only be one alpha dog....and it clearly wasn't working with two ball dominant guys. That was the entire premise for this thread. Now that we only have one.....we looked a heck of a lot better. Big character win and Mac looks very comfortable in the role of alpha dog. Yeah baby!! You could have absolutely made it work, but the players have to want it to work. It’s clear one didn’t, and that’s a real problem when they are the pg. Bluntly, neither Mac nor James is good enough to not play within a team concept and still win. I’ve always called it the Chris Thomas effect, after the old Notre Dame pg. When you have someone insistent on being that ball dominant, their ceiling is the team’s ceiling. And that’s a problem unless that player is a Top 5 player. The jury still has a long time out to see the full effects of the loss of talent versus chemistry, etc. It’s easy to paint it as addition by subtraction after a big win, but it’s premature. But that said ... Painting this as an unsolvable conflict with no one at fault is inaccurate. A real PG and leader works to lead, to make teammates better ... not to make sure it’s about them. Tons of much more talented players than James and Mac have worked it out before. Very well stated SF...
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blueandgray
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Post by blueandgray on Dec 5, 2019 0:58:32 GMT -5
I hear you SF....but regardless of how talented they are...if a point guard with the ball in their hands is reluctant to give up the ball to a natural born scorer, it hurts both players. It started at the first open practice when James and Mac came to throwing blows and spilled over to the court when James pretty much stopped looking in Mac’s direction. Was it solvable? Sure. Would it be solved? It’s questionable.
Mac will have his good days and his not so good days. The difference now however is that he will always have the green light and Ewing is going to give him a much longer leash. This is much more familiar to Mac and what he’s always known. We will undoubtedly get a much better version of Mac...the question is...will that be enough?
All this being said, big character win tonight.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Dec 5, 2019 1:10:26 GMT -5
I hear you SF....but regardless of how talented they are...if a point guard with the ball in their hands is reluctant to give up the ball to a natural born scorer, it hurts both players. It started at the first open practice when James and Mac came to throwing blows and spilled over to the court when James pretty much stopped looking in Mac’s direction. Was it solvable? Sure. Would it be solved? It’s questionable. Mac will have his good days and his not so good days. The difference now however is that he will always have the green light and Ewing is going to give him a much longer leash. This is much more familiar to Mac and what he’s always known. We will undoubtedly get a much better version of Mac...the question is...will that be enough? All this being said, big character win tonight. Agree, I think. It’s a shame it came to this, really. I think this was completely avoidable with the right mindset. But either way, what’s done is done. My only ask at this point is to see a team that plays hard, and plays as a team. We might be undergunned, but at least we get to where the culture needs to be.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Dec 5, 2019 1:12:32 GMT -5
I hear you SF....but regardless of how talented they are...if a point guard with the ball in their hands is reluctant to give up the ball to a natural born scorer, it hurts both players. It started at the first open practice when James and Mac came to throwing blows and spilled over to the court when James pretty much stopped looking in Mac’s direction. Was it solvable? Sure. Would it be solved? It’s questionable. Mac will have his good days and his not so good days. The difference now however is that he will always have the green light and Ewing is going to give him a much longer leash. This is much more familiar to Mac and what he’s always known. We will undoubtedly get a much better version of Mac...the question is...will that be enough? All this being said, big character win tonight. This is the first I ever heard of this. Could you elaborate on what happened?
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Hoyas4Ever
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A Wise Man Once Told Me Don't Argue With Fools....
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Post by Hoyas4Ever on Dec 5, 2019 1:57:41 GMT -5
I hear you SF....but regardless of how talented they are...if a point guard with the ball in their hands is reluctant to give up the ball to a natural born scorer, it hurts both players. It started at the first open practice when James and Mac came to throwing blows and spilled over to the court when James pretty much stopped looking in Mac’s direction. Was it solvable? Sure. Would it be solved? It’s questionable. Mac will have his good days and his not so good days. The difference now however is that he will always have the green light and Ewing is going to give him a much longer leash. This is much more familiar to Mac and what he’s always known. We will undoubtedly get a much better version of Mac...the question is...will that be enough? All this being said, big character win tonight. This is the first I ever heard of this. Could you elaborate on what happened? I heard that fight was with Akinjo & Mosely?
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Hoyas4Ever
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Post by Hoyas4Ever on Dec 5, 2019 2:01:05 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, I would have loved to been a able to watch the game with Akinjo and his uncle. You know they watched. I would have Love to see their reaction as it feels like from the social media post they thought this team would collapse without Akinjo. And for McClung to put on a show... You know that ate at them.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Dec 5, 2019 2:29:25 GMT -5
I imagine this was his uncle, with the aunt looking on
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Dec 5, 2019 6:52:14 GMT -5
There can only be one alpha dog....and it clearly wasn't working with two ball dominant guys. That was the entire premise for this thread. Now that we only have one.....we looked a heck of a lot better. Big character win and Mac looks very comfortable in the role of alpha dog. Yeah baby!! When you have someone insistent on being that ball dominant, their ceiling is the team’s ceiling. And that’s a problem unless that player is a Top 5 player. . And caveat emptor when there is noise about wanting to go where he is the man. You have to wonder if last night’s performance might put James’ transfer in new light....at least to any staff not just looking at star ratings.
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bostonfan
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Post by bostonfan on Dec 5, 2019 8:53:54 GMT -5
I think Mac has had the green light offensively since the first day he stepped on campus, but that doesn't mean Coach Ewing lets him do whatever he wants. He still coaches Mac hard and when he takes bad shots and makes bad decisions he hears about it and/or takes a seat on the bench. It looks like Ewing wants him to constantly look for his offense, but to make the correct basketball play when a good shot is not there. It appeared that he sometimes felt he needed to make/force plays everytime he had the ball in his hands when Akinjo was the PG, because he wasn't sure when he would get his next opportunity. Now he knows he is going to touch the ball pretty much every possession he is in the game and hopefully that allows him to make better decisions.
It takes a special type of player to maintain that aggressiveness and still be willing to take the coaching/criticism that he gets when he makes a mistake. I think Mac has grown as a player since last year and with this new expanded role he is going to have to play, I expect he will continue to grow. He will likely still take a few bad shots and try to force some plays that turn into turnovers, but if he learns and grows from those experiences he will reach his full potential.
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Bigs"R"Us
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Post by Bigs"R"Us on Dec 5, 2019 9:04:32 GMT -5
Touching the ball is very important. I think that’s why Mac shot so well last night. You need rhythm and feel.
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hoyajmw
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Post by hoyajmw on Dec 5, 2019 9:07:41 GMT -5
The analogy that occurs to me is Akinjo =s poor man's Bryce Harper. Tremendous talent, but subject to prolonged stretches of not playing well, very "me, me, me" in terms of style of play and apparent attitude (I sit directly across from GU bench for home games and you can see that on the court and off) and makes chemistry AS A TEAM difficult. Many, many of us in the DMV were not sad to see Bryce go last year -- and you see how that worked out on the field and in the dug-out. Bumpy roads can lead to beautiful places (to steal a phrase big in these parts). Maybe they will again...
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 5, 2019 9:15:58 GMT -5
The analogy that occurs to me is Akinjo =s poor man's Bryce Harper. Tremendous talent, but subject to prolonged stretches of not playing well, very "me, me, me" in terms of style of play and apparent attitude (I sit directly across from GU bench for home games and you can see that on the court and off) and makes chemistry AS A TEAM difficult. Many, many of us in the DMV were not sad to see Bryce go last year -- and you see how that worked out on the field and in the dug-out. Bumpy roads can lead to beautiful places (to steal a phrase big in these parts). Maybe they will again... Brings to mind Akinjo being the only player remaining seated on his stool after timeouts as the rest of the team returns to the bench or court. I didn't think much about it at the time but it takes on more significance in hindsight. Now if the Hoyas can find its version of "baby shark" . . .
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 5, 2019 10:06:10 GMT -5
The problem was always apparent and I do not think it makes sense to assign blame at this point to anyone. The coach recruited two alpha-males to essentially share the same position.
Two ball dominant guards and one ball--it was only a matter of time. One stayed, one left. Both will be better off and the team will benefit from the reduced tension even though it has lost a very talented player. There should be no need to trash the kid that left because he was not happy. That describes many kids who switch schools, including Yurt for leaving NC State, and Patrick Ewing Jr. who transferred to the hilltop.
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