Mac McClung

[smokeyjack]

...shred WV? Good Lord, what a way to end a day. Feel like I did when Trump was elected. Call me when this nightmare is over.

[hoyaboya]

He’s lighting it up - seems to be a much better player than he was at Georgetown.

[Bigs"R"Us]

We had the goods, just couldn’t make it work.

[guru]

Jan 25, 2021 22:36:27 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

We had the goods, just couldn’t make it work.

It’s so painful watching the guys who left and are excelling elsewhere this season. I still don’t understand the Mcclung thing. Just a mystery to me how we couldn’t make that work. His game has deficiencies - though fewer this year - but at the very least he would have brought some buzz, as opposed to the current total irrelevance.

Credit Ewing for seeing this in him, but it does legitimately make you skeptical of what this staff will be able to do with next year’s influx of promising talent. We’ve seen this movie before.

[smokeyjack]

Jan 25, 2021 22:36:27 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

We had the goods, just couldn’t make it work.

We had plenty of talent that ONE guy couldn’t make go. And if you recall, Pat also had issues the previous season again and again with Marcus D. At what point does it become a coach who can’t adjust to players instead of a veritable stream of top players who can’t adjust to a coach?

Just sayin. Red flags are everywhere.

[hoyaboya]

I think in Mac’s case, he made the correct calculation that he’d improve his NBA stock more playing for Chris Beard than Patrick Ewing.

We’ll never know, but it would’ve been interesting to see what Jamorko Pickett could’ve become if he had played for a competent college coach.

[DFW HOYA]

WVU holds off TTech, 88-87. McClung finishes with 30 points, 24 after halftime.

WV took the lead with 5.9 sec. remaining and McClung missed a game-winning fall away at the buzzer. Could have gone either way.

It's the Red Raiders' 11th appearance on the ESPN networks this season. The front page of ESPN.com had him as the lead image tonight during the game--not Mahomes or Brady, not LeBron.

It's safe to say he wouldn't have got that attention in DC.

[Deleted]

I've always thought Mac was legit but his numbers are virtually the same as they were here. I think he's improved, but imo he looks better because he's playing with better players. On that note I think if Pickett or Blair had more talent around them folks would look at their games differently.

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4397071/mac-mcclung

[the_way]

And West Virginia won.

Go Hoyas!

[trillesthoya]

I really don’t think he is all that different. He is just consistently healthy for the first time since his freshman year. That’s not to say he isn’t great, but it was always the case that he was a very talented offensive player that couldn’t play a lick of defense. The stats indicate notable improvement in some areas but overall he is just better by nature of being healthy, a year older, and surrounded by better talent. Him looking better on D is probably a coaching thing though.

[4aks]

Jan 25, 2021 23:13:25 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

WVU holds off TTech, 88-87. McClung finishes with 30 points, 24 after halftime.

WV took the lead with 5.9 sec. remaining and McClung missed a game-winning fall away at the buzzer. Could have gone either way.

It's the Red Raiders' 11th appearance on the ESPN networks this season. The front page of ESPN.com had him as the lead image tonight during the game--not Mahomes or Brady, not LeBron.

It's safe to say he wouldn't have got that attention in DC.

just watched this replay - didn't see any TT players in position to take a pass - was just mac doing a nice job of quickly bringing upcourt, into position for a shot, maybe if he had pulled up a moment earlier, would have been less of an awkward angle .. WV coverage was very good

[jester]

Someone commented on the YouTube video of the highlights of the game, and felt it was spot on:

-dribbles with head down, can’t create for others
-sg stuck in of body
- but liability to guard a SG
-plays hard
-fan favorite
- will make money and perhaps be a star...overseas

I did watch the Baylor game and he had some great blocks, but can he hold his own defensively ?

Can get buckets, which is something we could use...that being said we also need to play better. I was at the Duke game last year and as good as Mcclung/ Leblanc/ akinjo are, those combined with Jamarko took a lot of bad shots and turnovers (and we still had a chance). Plenty of teams that are beatable this year.

[hoyazeke]

I feel like there is a lot of misremembering when it comes to Mac by GTown fans. If you look at just the stats from OkSt to AU you see the best version of Mac. He was healthy, free of the Akinjo drama and he was balling out. I know it's a small sample size but he was healthy and surrounded by D1 talent. I believe everyone but Yurt7 looked better after the defections. Then Mac and Yurt7 got injured and their weren't enough bodies to handle the competition.... imo

[hoyalove4ever]

Health has a lot to do with it. He was almost always hobbled at GU.

[rhw485]

While the game looks very similar, Mac's efficiency has taken a pretty sizeable leap at Texas Tech.

Sophomore year: 104.5 O Rating on 29.6% Usage
Junior year: 115.7 O Rating on 26.3% Usage

A lot of the numbers and percentages really do look similar, although Mac has upped his FT rate and is a good FT shooter so that's helping.  And his assist rate is actually down a little bit (say it aint so PG Mac), although in same ballpark.  But the difference is in the TYPE of shots he's taking (per Bart Torvik):

Sophomore year:
Close 2: 25%
Far 2: 41%
3 point: 35%

Junior year:
Close 2: 24%
Far 2: 34%
3 point: 42%

He's basically traded long 2's for 3s.  This is modern coaching 101 imo.

Now does this mean he's an NBA player? No, probably not.  But he'll probably get a legitimate G league chance or a huge marketing opportunity overseas.  No ill will here, good for him

[overseasfan]

Jan 25, 2021 23:32:47 GMT -5 trillesthoya said:

I really don’t think he is all that different...

He is #2 in scoring in the Big 12 with 17.2 points per game on 44% shooting and he's 35% from 3.

He is #1 in scoring in Big 12 conference play with over 20 points a game.

He is the only D1 player this year to score 20 or more points against 4 ranked opponents.

His defense has improved a lot this year as well.

Saturday they play LSU and Leblanc, which will be interesting. I haven't seen him play this year, but his numbers aren't looking that good. I feel kinda bad for the guy.

This is the first season in years that I haven't seen every Hoyas game. It's been depressing to be honest. We have some good recruits coming, so fingers crossed...

[bostonfan]

Jan 25, 2021 22:36:27 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

We had the goods, just couldn’t make it work.

I am disappointed that Mac left Georgetown because I think the program gave him every opportunity to succeed and I would have liked to see him stay, but he made a decision to leave and it is hard to argue with that decision from his prospective at this point. He seems to be on national TV twice a week lately and has been producing impressive numbers for a good team.

As far as his play goes, I think he has improved from last year. Part of it is him just having another year of experience/growth and also staying healthy. I think if he was still a Hoya, and healthy all year, he would have been preforming at a similar level. All the talk of him leaving because he needed to be able to play point guard to improve his NBA opportunities doesn't seem to have happened. He plays the same position at Tech that he played at Georgetown (albeit on a better team) as a off guard who looks for his offense/shot pretty much every time he gets it. He is still not a very efficient shooter, but he can beat his man off the dribble and get to the rim and has done a good job finishing tough shots. I think he is always going to be a below average defender

Give him the credit he is due, the guy is a supremely confident offensive player that is always on the attack and will put up good scoring numbers most nights at the college level. I still question his viability as an NBA guard because of his size and lack of a consistent 3 point shot, but he is a very talented college player that is going to be paid to play basketball somewhere next year.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

Playing for a top 25 team gets you on TV a lot. That is about the only change I see. Maybe Beard is better at hiding Mac's defensive deficiencies as he is a good D coach. I have a feeling we will be having this discussion until well into next season until the freshman class starts to excel.

[Deleted]

Mac’s a good kid and he works hard. Nice to see him do well.

[guru]

Jan 26, 2021 7:21:31 GMT -5 rhw485 said:

While the game looks very similar, Mac's efficiency has taken a pretty sizeable leap at Texas Tech.

Sophomore year: 104.5 O Rating on 29.6% Usage
Junior year: 115.7 O Rating on 26.3% Usage

A lot of the numbers and percentages really do look similar, although Mac has upped his FT rate and is a good FT shooter so that's helping.  And his assist rate is actually down a little bit (say it aint so PG Mac), although in same ballpark.  But the difference is in the TYPE of shots he's taking (per Bart Torvik):

Sophomore year:
Close 2: 25%
Far 2: 41%
3 point: 35%

Junior year:
Close 2: 24%
Far 2: 34%
3 point: 42%

He's basically traded long 2's for 3s.  This is modern coaching 101 imo.

Now does this mean he's an NBA player? No, probably not.  But he'll probably get a legitimate G league chance or a huge marketing opportunity overseas.  No ill will here, good for him

I’m honestly not that concerned about whether he’s an NBA player. As a college player he was very valuable, both in talent and in buzz for program. He was an enormous loss for the program.