78HOYA78
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 404
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Post by 78HOYA78 on Mar 18, 2022 11:45:41 GMT -5
I know this is a JP discussion - but surprised that MAC is not getting time upstairs (probably his size). He is lighting up the G-League. Just saying. He did excite for a little while at GU.
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
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Post by SSHoya on Mar 18, 2022 11:53:52 GMT -5
I know this is a JP discussion - but surprised that MAC is not getting time upstairs (probably his size). He is lighting up the G-League. Just saying. He did excite for a little while at GU. My take - JP brings something Mac lacks (aside from size): Defense.
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dense
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by dense on Mar 18, 2022 12:47:30 GMT -5
I know this is a JP discussion - but surprised that MAC is not getting time upstairs (probably his size). He is lighting up the G-League. Just saying. He did excite for a little while at GU. NBA has very little use for combo guards under 6-3 who are volume shooters. Take Isiah Thomas for example. If you gonna be that kinda player you gotta play defense or shoot really well from the outside like a Terry Rozier.
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hoyazeke
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hoyazeke on Mar 18, 2022 12:53:42 GMT -5
I know this is a JP discussion - but surprised that MAC is not getting time upstairs (probably his size). He is lighting up the G-League. Just saying. He did excite for a little while at GU. NBA has very little use for combo guards under 6-3 who are volume shooters. Take Isiah Thomas for example. If you gonna be that kinda player you gotta play defense or shoot really well from the outside like a Terry Rozier. Yeah you either have to be elite at something (scoring, running PG, D) or good at everything. Right now Mac is neither.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 18, 2022 22:57:16 GMT -5
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 19, 2022 19:06:49 GMT -5
I know this is a JP discussion - but surprised that MAC is not getting time upstairs (probably his size). He is lighting up the G-League. Just saying. He did excite for a little while at GU. NBA has very little use for combo guards under 6-3 who are volume shooters. Take Isiah Thomas for example. If you gonna be that kinda player you gotta play defense or shoot really well from the outside like a Terry Rozier. Except he's a point guard. Has started every game at point guard ahead of guys like Frank Mason and Tremont Waters... also point guards, both were second round picks and both spent 2 seasons in the NBA. The shooting guard in a point guard's body narrative is dead and has been for awhile. He ranks 3rd in the G League in assists.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 19, 2022 19:28:55 GMT -5
NBA has very little use for combo guards under 6-3 who are volume shooters. Take Isiah Thomas for example. If you gonna be that kinda player you gotta play defense or shoot really well from the outside like a Terry Rozier. Yeah you either have to be elite at something (scoring, running PG, D) or good at everything. Right now Mac is neither. Mac's current efficiency is 26.0 which is good for 4th in the G League. The formula for NBA efficency is PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK − Missed FG − Missed FT - TO) / GP. Pretty good indicator of how good of an overall player you are. Mac averages 22 pts, 8 assists and 7 boards a game on 48/39/86 shooting. He's also the youngest player in the top 10 for efficiency. He's probably the likely favorite for G League RotY and an all G League 2nd or 3rd team award. He's a guard and guards in the G League seem to get far less opportunities than bigs. His teammate Mason Jones played 2 years with the Rockets. He's on a 2 way contract with the Lakers and is probably going to get 1st or 2nd place for G League MVP this season. His lone callup to the big club came during the Covid spike. Meanwhile the team just signed Wenyan Gabriel to their other 2 way slot less than 2 weeks ago. A big who was playing for the Clippers G League team. He instantly went up to the Lakers and got minutes his first day there. He started the last game the Lakers played. Mason Jones has been balling out all season and can't even get a callup for practices, while this Gabriel guy is starting less than 2 weeks after signing out the G League. Mac and Mason will both likely get a real opportunity next season to sign with an NBA team. Caruso, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn... none of these guys got call ups their first season in the G League. Caruso was still being sent to the G League even in his 3rd season. It's a marathon not a sprint. Mac has overcome his biggest obstacle which was showing he can play point guard. Now he just needs to stay healthy and continue to play how he's been playing and the opportunities will be there soon.
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Post by professorhoya on Mar 20, 2022 9:29:34 GMT -5
Would have been fun to see him in the NCAA tournament this year. Huge exposure if he was on Texas Tech or UK (maybe things turnout different if he's on that team) from March Madness. I can only imagine the amount of NIL exposure he would have had. Probably would have had national TV commercials if he had stayed.
As CG said in the other thread, national exposure and winning is critical and what NBA teams look for, so even with the skills development he is getting in the G league, I believe that the right decision should have been for him to stay in the NCAAs. The national media exposure he is getting from the G league is virtually nil.
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dense
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,021
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Post by dense on Mar 20, 2022 14:24:14 GMT -5
NBA has very little use for combo guards under 6-3 who are volume shooters. Take Isiah Thomas for example. If you gonna be that kinda player you gotta play defense or shoot really well from the outside like a Terry Rozier. Except he's a point guard. Has started every game at point guard ahead of guys like Frank Mason and Tremont Waters... also point guards, both were second round picks and both spent 2 seasons in the NBA. The shooting guard in a point guard's body narrative is dead and has been for awhile. He ranks 3rd in the G League in assists. Will it make you happy if I say he will get a cup of coffee? I get it you are a Mac defender, but the kid gonna be like Tremont and all the others you named. They don't have the ability to stick cause of height and/or game. He is playing well against other guys who are right in that level, congrats. That wasn't what I was stating. Look at NBA rosters backup PGs and you won't see any players like Mac at all. Gotta be a defensive pest or a ridiculous shooter to be 6-2 and stick now.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 20, 2022 16:29:12 GMT -5
Will it make you happy if I say he will get a cup of coffee? I get it you are a Mac defender, but the kid gonna be like Tremont and all the others you named. They don't have the ability to stick cause of height and/or game. He is playing well against other guys who are right in that level, congrats. That wasn't what I was stating. Look at NBA rosters backup PGs and you won't see any players like Mac at all. Gotta be a defensive pest or a ridiculous shooter to be 6-2 and stick now. Tremont Waters is 5'10, Frank Mason 5'11, Mac 6'2. Waters current body type I would describe as pudgy... Mason borders on being fat. Waters and Mason are both below average athletes for the position, Mac is above average. Frank Mason spent 4 years playing point guard for Kansas, 2 years playing PG in the NBA, and now his 3rd year playing PG in the G League. Tremont spent 2 years playing point guard at LSU, and 3 years bouncing between the NBA and G League as a PG. Mac spent 3 years in college... the first 2 playing exclusively at SG and the the 3rd year playing some possessions at PG in an offensive system that didn't utilize a PG the way most offenses do. In his first season playing the position, he is already ahead of 2 guys who played it their entire careers and also have far more NBA/G League experience than him. He's nothing like those two guys because they're not NBA caliber athletes, and while Mac is far from tall, he's still 3-4 inches taller than both with an NBA type physique opposed to their overweight (for an athlete) body types. From a skills standpoint Mac is the better passer, rebounder, and ball handler. As for shooting, Tremont has the prettiest stroke, from a statistical standpoint, Mac actually beats them both soundly in all 3 shooting categories (FG, 3 Point and Free Throw). And that is looking at either their career shooting numbers in the G League or numbers from just this season. Frank is actually close in 3 point and FG% from his career numbers, but still below in both. Defensively, none of the 3 are very good, but Mac because of his athleticism is able to be a much more disruptive defender and also plays with a lot more heart and hustle in terms of diving for loose balls, taking charges, etc. Lastly, Mac is of course far better at getting to the rim and finishing. My point being, if those 2 were good enough to hang on with NBA teams for a couple years, and Mac is bigger, way more athletic, and overall more skilled in just about every area, I would say he could do more than hang on for a couple years. On top of that, he's been improving rapidly. He was awful in the summer league... spent a month with the Lakers in training camp and came into the G League a completely different player... a few months later he gets a call up and spends 3 weeks with the Bulls. Again, comes back to the G League as an ever better version than he was before. That shows me a player who's learning and improving by practicing and playing against elite guys like Lebron, Lavine, Derozan etc. I also imagine that once he saw he could compete against those guys in practice, his confidence likely went through the roof. Lastly, I could easily name far more players 6'3 and under that are neither elite defenders or shooters in the NBA, than you could name guys that are 6'3 and under that are great defenders and shooters. There's very few elite defenders in the NBA period, and the majority of the ones that are are 6'6 and up. Most of the elite shooters are also 6'6 and up. The trait the smaller guys share in common the most is that they can create a shot for themselves and others. They can dribble, pass and shoot (albeit not elite), and most are very quick. All traits Mac possesses.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 21, 2022 13:46:15 GMT -5
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyarooter on Mar 21, 2022 19:27:09 GMT -5
I agree with the marathon, not a sprint argument, and that Mac may have a shot at sticking with a team next season. I wish him luck. And at least we are rid (I hope) of the Jason Williams comparisons. Let Mac stand on his own.
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 26, 2022 16:44:25 GMT -5
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Post by cgallstar02 on Mar 26, 2022 16:47:38 GMT -5
Edited. As this is subscription content, an excerpt and link to the entire article follows below.--AdminWhen Mac McClung arrived at the UCLA Health Training Facility on the first day of Los Angeles Lakers training camp in late September, he felt like he was walking into a real-life version of NBA 2K. McClung looked around the gym and saw LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard — players the then-22-year-old point guard grew up watching and idolizing. “The first day, LeBron had a team meeting with just the players,” McClung told The Athletic. “Like, it’s LeBron. It’s crazy. I’ve watched this guy my whole life. Every time you open anything on social media, this guy’s there. Now you’re with him and practicing with him.” The surreal nature of the moment quickly dissipated by the second day of camp as McClung realized the rare opportunity in front of him. When McClung signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers — a training camp invite that could lead to a two-way contract or, more likely, a spot with their G League team — on Aug. 10, 2021, he knew he would have to scrap to establish himself among his NBA peers. This was that moment. McClung, recognizing he was an afterthought offensively in five-on-five scrimmages, determined that his defense, energy and effort would be the best way to stand out. What better way, he thought, than by defending the Lakers’ star players? McClung matched up against Westbrook and even switched onto James as often as he could. He pressured Westbrook full court. He stuck with him on drives, absorbing blows to his chest. He took charges and dove on the hardwood for loose balls. He fearlessly competed. “I was like, ‘OK, this dude’s got a little stuff to him. Some real-life toughness and some real-life, like, I’m just not gonna back down from anybody or anything,’” South Bay Lakers head coach Miles Simon said. “And I was like, ‘OK, I’d be excited to work with that.’” theathletic.com/3207916/2022/03/25/3207916/
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Post by cgallstar02 on Apr 3, 2022 1:06:30 GMT -5
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Post by cgallstar02 on Apr 6, 2022 0:44:22 GMT -5
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Bigs"R"Us
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by Bigs"R"Us on Apr 6, 2022 12:51:19 GMT -5
I still think losing McClung was the end of Ewing. No confidence vote.
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hoyaroc
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by hoyaroc on Apr 6, 2022 13:31:29 GMT -5
I still think losing McClung was the end of Ewing. No confidence vote. Who cares about McClung. He’s no longer a Hoya.
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78HOYA78
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by 78HOYA78 on Apr 6, 2022 13:37:02 GMT -5
Maybe but this was his team to lose - now he is stuck in the G-league.
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Post by FromTheBeginning on Apr 6, 2022 17:37:21 GMT -5
On an ironic note - cane across a G-League Lakers game on TV last night - Starting Backcourt - Mac McClung & Tremont Waters
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