Macinjo and Team Chemisty

[HamptonHoya]

I really believe this team is showing the chemistry that we have been looking for. I don't see guys playing hero ball or dribbling the air out of the ball to create a bad shot. I see our guards looking for the open man. I am starting to see Q passing out to the shooters. I did not see panic set in when St. Johns took the lead late in the game. It is going to take some time, but they are getting it together. I am still surprised by their defensive struggles. None of the teams in the conference strikes fear. We were standing toe to toe with the number one team for 30 plus minutes. Also the staff is seeing in game situations who we really have. I am interested to see what we do on the boards this game. We are going to handle the press just fine.

[x-centercourt400s]

Honestly this thread is pretty embarrassing.

[kbones17]

Dec 18, 2020 22:42:52 GMT -5 x-centercourt400s said:

Honestly this thread is pretty embarrassing.

I don’t find it embarrassing. Some of the comments are a little over the top but it shows the passion we have for our team. Personally, I am very interested in how Mac and James do this year, mostly because I think it will be potentially indicative of how our coaching/development compared to other top programs. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that a large part of me wants them to be the same players due to how it will reflect on our staff. But regardless, it will remain point of interest/debate this season and beyond. We talk about other BE teams/players constantly; this is is no different and more related to our current program.

[blueandgray]

Dec 18, 2020 22:42:52 GMT -5 x-centercourt400s said:

Honestly this thread is pretty embarrassing.

So many masochists on Hoyatalk. Stop reading it if you don’t enjoy it.

[Deleted]

I usually pick a thresd to comment on based on what the subject of that thread is. If I see a subject that doesnt interest me, I generally don't pick the thread to read or make comments for that mattwr.

It seems quite strange that people would come onto a hread and constantly badget others about the thread. It just seems like really strange or maybe I just don't get it.

Can someone please explain why someone might do this? Or better yet, can someone who actually badgers the thread please explain??

[cgallstar02]

Reading the last few pages of this thread, one would think Mac put up a doughnut and his team lost by 30 to a mid-major. He had more than a third of his team's points and they lost by 1 to Kansas, the 5th ranked team in the country. Ironically on the Tech board and in all the Tech media articles (people that actually have a vested interest in how Tech and their players perform) the general consensus is that Mac was the second best player on the floor for his team, next to Shannon. Which is pretty much what I saw as well. I'm also curious what people expected to see? Did they think they were gonna turn on the TV and see Mac had become Steve Nash or John Stockton? Mac will always be a scorer first... that's who he is and it's also what his team needs him to be. To expect him to suddenly be a pass first playmaker would be no more silly than it would be to expect Akinjo to turn in to a post up player at Arizona. 

Defensively he has improved a ton. Tech is currently the #1 ranked defense according to Kenpom in all of college basketball... Mac is a starter who plays the second most minutes on that team. I don't think it would be possible for a. Mac to be starting and second on the team in minutes, and b. his team be #1 in the nation in defense if he was still the turnstile he was made out to be at Georgetown. Even more impressive... Kevin McCullar, a starter and Tech's best defender hasn't played a game all season. He should be back in the next game or two, so their defense will likely get even better. I've followed every one of Tech's game threads... there's been 1 mildly critical post on Mac's defense in 8 games. On the flip side, the first 2 or 3 games were pretty much shock and awe at the fact that he came in with a reputation as such a poor defender. 

As a playmaker his improvements have been more subtle. He has certainly made strides as a playmaker and has limited his bad shots... that said he kind of reverted back to his old ways in the Kansas game, so if that's all you're going off of, it's not really fair given he's played 8 games and that was his most shot happy one thus far. Also in his defense, playmaking didn't seem to be much of an option. Kyler Edwards, their 3rd leading scorer was 0-9 with 0 pts. Santos Silva, the starting center also had 0 points. Burnett and Burton, the main 2 scorers off the bench were a combined 2-10. Running the offense was not leading to points or open shots. The only guy to get decent looks the whole game was Edwards, who was again 0-9. Their best offense was Mac going 1 on 1 in the first half and Shannon going 1 on 1 in the second half. 

A lot of the credit goes to Bill Self and Kansas. They too have a great defense and are ranked #6 in the country. Mac was being guarded by Marcus Garrett the entire first half... yes, the guy who was the Naismith defensive player of the year last season. I certainly wouldn't say Mac struggled in the first half in that match up. In fact, Mac's success against Garrett was likely Self's reason to switch to the zone. The zone definitely stifled Mac. Still, he had 2 three pointers that went in and out. If those drop they win by 5, Mac has 27 pts and its crickets on the board. I didn't have a problem with him looking for his shot in the second half... again the offense wasn't generating good shots when they ran it and the few times it did guys weren't hitting. My biggest critique of Mac as well his teammates would be the fact they were in the double bonus with over 8 mins left and suddenly decided to just shoot jumpers. Would've loved to seen Mac and a few of his teammates drive hard to the basket and try to get some calls. For whatever reason they didn't do that. 

A few other observations and notes; According to Beard's press conference the last play of the game was supposed be for Shannon or Mac. Shannon was supposed to get the ball, drive left and either shoot or pass to Mac. For whatever reason he chose to drive right, shot and got blocked. Mac's one bad defensive play that of course everyone chose to grasp on to and ignore the fact he played very good defense the entire game was in fact not a bad defensive play. Both live and during the replay it was blatantly obvious that Garrett used his forearm and elbow of his off hand to push Mac in the chest in order to get the separation he needed to get the layup off. Mac did a great job of staying in front of him. Garrett got away with a very obvious offensive foul. The play was even detailed and discussed in a Bleacher Report article where the author talks about the exact same thing. I get that refs didn't wanna call it due to the fact that players get away with a lot more in the final seconds of games but that doesn't detract from the fact that it was still good defense from Mac and Garrett had to push off to score. 

At the end of the day there were a lot of reasons Tech lost that game. The play of Mac was not one of them. Beard singled out the issues during his press conference and he pretty much saw what I saw. Players not named Mac were 2-8 from the free throw line. Kyler Edwards, their longest tenured player played 37 mins to lead the team. He was 0-9, 0 pts, 1 asst, 1 Reb, 0 stls, 0 blks. That's pretty much the ball game. You gotta hit free throws. And if you're gonna go 0-9 and play 37 mins you gotta at least contribute with some rebounds or assists. When asked about Edwards play, Beard said he would have to answer those questions. He was the lone player he sent out to talk to the media after the game. 

At the end of the day Mac will have some good games, he'll have some bad ones. Myles Powell was in my opinion the best player in the Big East last year. He shot under 40% from the field, under 31% from 3, and had 1/1 asst/to ratio. Not sure why Mac is held to some standard that if he doesn't shoot 50/40/90 with a 5 to 1 asst/to ratio and doesn't give up a basket on D all season that he's a huge failure and his decision to transfer to Tech was a massive blunder. He has goals to make it to the NBA. He wanted to get better and challenge himself. Beard is light years ahead of Ewing as a defensive coach. He's already made massive strides in that area. Offensively, he's now playing with 3 players that are projected as future NBA draft picks... Tech isn't Kentucky or Kansas or Duke when it comes to churning out NBA players, but the fact is it's a lot more impressive to average 10 pts on one of those teams than it is to average 30 on a mid major. Averaging 15 at Tech is gonna mean more to scouts than if he stayed at Georgetown and averaged 20 plus. Lastly, the competition level is higher. The Big East is no slouch, but the Big 12, at least this year is certainly better. They currently have 5 of the top 10 defensives teams in the nation. Mac will be the focal point of all of those teams defenses. I imagine he'll have some rough games in at least a few of those, but what better way to prepare yourself for the next level than games like the one last night?

Lastly, I'm still not sure why everyone not only here but even on YouTube comments, instagram comments, etc is so obsessed with Mac being drafted or not. It's literally all everyone talks about related to Mac and is quite frankly bizarre. Cindad literally rolled in here specifically to declare that Mac will never play in the NBA and then give some random comparison to another borderline NBA player. You can't make this stuff up. Who the heck cares if he plays in the NBA? As a fan, on the one hand it would be nice just to shut everyone up, but we all know that wouldn't happen. 0 credit would be given, instead it would turn to well he sucks, he's the 12th man, he only averages 2 pts a game. If he was the 8th man averaging 9 pts, it'd be well he doesn't even start, can't even average double figures, told you he's a bum! Realistically though as a fan, unless he was able to carve out a major role, I'd rather see him start and play 30 mins a night in the G League. Nothing fun about watching a guy nailed to the end of the bench. 

[Bigs"R"Us]

It’s going to be difficult to discern between good coaching and the natural skills progression that McClung and Akinjo make, especially as time passes.

[aleutianhoya]

Dec 19, 2020 4:43:06 GMT -5 cgallstar02 said:

Reading the last few pages of this thread, one would think Mac put up a doughnut and his team lost by 30 to a mid-major. He had more than a third of his team's points and they lost by 1 to Kansas, the 5th ranked team in the country. Ironically on the Tech board and in all the Tech media articles (people that actually have a vested interest in how Tech and their players perform) the general consensus is that Mac was the second best player on the floor for his team, next to Shannon. Which is pretty much what I saw as well. I'm also curious what people expected to see? Did they think they were gonna turn on the TV and see Mac had become Steve Nash or John Stockton? Mac will always be a scorer first... that's who he is and it's also what his team needs him to be. To expect him to suddenly be a pass first playmaker would be no more silly than it would be to expect Akinjo to turn in to a post up player at Arizona. 

Defensively he has improved a ton. Tech is currently the #1 ranked defense according to Kenpom in all of college basketball... Mac is a starter who plays the second most minutes on that team. I don't think it would be possible for a. Mac to be starting and second on the team in minutes, and b. his team be #1 in the nation in defense if he was still the turnstile he was made out to be at Georgetown. Even more impressive... Kevin McCullar, a starter and Tech's best defender hasn't played a game all season. He should be back in the next game or two, so their defense will likely get even better. I've followed every one of Tech's game threads... there's been 1 mildly critical post on Mac's defense in 8 games. On the flip side, the first 2 or 3 games were pretty much shock and awe at the fact that he came in with a reputation as such a poor defender. 

As a playmaker his improvements have been more subtle. He has certainly made strides as a playmaker and has limited his bad shots... that said he kind of reverted back to his old ways in the Kansas game, so if that's all you're going off of, it's not really fair given he's played 8 games and that was his most shot happy one thus far. Also in his defense, playmaking didn't seem to be much of an option. Kyler Edwards, their 3rd leading scorer was 0-9 with 0 pts. Santos Silva, the starting center also had 0 points. Burnett and Burton, the main 2 scorers off the bench were a combined 2-10. Running the offense was not leading to points or open shots. The only guy to get decent looks the whole game was Edwards, who was again 0-9. Their best offense was Mac going 1 on 1 in the first half and Shannon going 1 on 1 in the second half. 

A lot of the credit goes to Bill Self and Kansas. They too have a great defense and are ranked #6 in the country. Mac was being guarded by Marcus Garrett the entire first half... yes, the guy who was the Naismith defensive player of the year last season. I certainly wouldn't say Mac struggled in the first half in that match up. In fact, Mac's success against Garrett was likely Self's reason to switch to the zone. The zone definitely stifled Mac. Still, he had 2 three pointers that went in and out. If those drop they win by 5, Mac has 27 pts and its crickets on the board. I didn't have a problem with him looking for his shot in the second half... again the offense wasn't generating good shots when they ran it and the few times it did guys weren't hitting. My biggest critique of Mac as well his teammates would be the fact they were in the double bonus with over 8 mins left and suddenly decided to just shoot jumpers. Would've loved to seen Mac and a few of his teammates drive hard to the basket and try to get some calls. For whatever reason they didn't do that. 

A few other observations and notes; According to Beard's press conference the last play of the game was supposed be for Shannon or Mac. Shannon was supposed to get the ball, drive left and either shoot or pass to Mac. For whatever reason he chose to drive right, shot and got blocked. Mac's one bad defensive play that of course everyone chose to grasp on to and ignore the fact he played very good defense the entire game was in fact not a bad defensive play. Both live and during the replay it was blatantly obvious that Garrett used his forearm and elbow of his off hand to push Mac in the chest in order to get the separation he needed to get the layup off. Mac did a great job of staying in front of him. Garrett got away with a very obvious offensive foul. The play was even detailed and discussed in a Bleacher Report article where the author talks about the exact same thing. I get that refs didn't wanna call it due to the fact that players get away with a lot more in the final seconds of games but that doesn't detract from the fact that it was still good defense from Mac and Garrett had to push off to score. 

At the end of the day there were a lot of reasons Tech lost that game. The play of Mac was not one of them. Beard singled out the issues during his press conference and he pretty much saw what I saw. Players not named Mac were 2-8 from the free throw line. Kyler Edwards, their longest tenured player played 37 mins to lead the team. He was 0-9, 0 pts, 1 asst, 1 Reb, 0 stls, 0 blks. That's pretty much the ball game. You gotta hit free throws. And if you're gonna go 0-9 and play 37 mins you gotta at least contribute with some rebounds or assists. When asked about Edwards play, Beard said he would have to answer those questions. He was the lone player he sent out to talk to the media after the game. 

At the end of the day Mac will have some good games, he'll have some bad ones. Myles Powell was in my opinion the best player in the Big East last year. He shot under 40% from the field, under 31% from 3, and had 1/1 asst/to ratio. Not sure why Mac is held to some standard that if he doesn't shoot 50/40/90 with a 5 to 1 asst/to ratio and doesn't give up a basket on D all season that he's a huge failure and his decision to transfer to Tech was a massive blunder. He has goals to make it to the NBA. He wanted to get better and challenge himself. Beard is light years ahead of Ewing as a defensive coach. He's already made massive strides in that area. Offensively, he's now playing with 3 players that are projected as future NBA draft picks... Tech isn't Kentucky or Kansas or Duke when it comes to churning out NBA players, but the fact is it's a lot more impressive to average 10 pts on one of those teams than it is to average 30 on a mid major. Averaging 15 at Tech is gonna mean more to scouts than if he stayed at Georgetown and averaged 20 plus. Lastly, the competition level is higher. The Big East is no slouch, but the Big 12, at least this year is certainly better. They currently have 5 of the top 10 defensives teams in the nation. Mac will be the focal point of all of those teams defenses. I imagine he'll have some rough games in at least a few of those, but what better way to prepare yourself for the next level than games like the one last night?

Lastly, I'm still not sure why everyone not only here but even on YouTube comments, instagram comments, etc is so obsessed with Mac being drafted or not. It's literally all everyone talks about related to Mac and is quite frankly bizarre. Cindad literally rolled in here specifically to declare that Mac will never play in the NBA and then give some random comparison to another borderline NBA player. You can't make this stuff up. Who the heck cares if he plays in the NBA? As a fan, on the one hand it would be nice just to shut everyone up, but we all know that wouldn't happen. 0 credit would be given, instead it would turn to well he sucks, he's the 12th man, he only averages 2 pts a game. If he was the 8th man averaging 9 pts, it'd be well he doesn't even start, can't even average double figures, told you he's a bum! Realistically though as a fan, unless he was able to carve out a major role, I'd rather see him start and play 30 mins a night in the G League. Nothing fun about watching a guy nailed to the end of the bench. 

I mean, it's a fan board. Of georgetown. Not of any individual players. There's going to be a considerable amount of schadenfreude for people that proactively reject the school, especially in the context of all that happened last year. I'd be shocked if there wasn't. Rationality isn't the point.

He was a very inefficient offensive player at Georgetown that had some spectacular games and some duds but always showed the ability to create for himself. He was never a guy that drove in order to draw and kick....he had already made up his mind he would shoot before he started his move. It appears he is largely the same guy at TT. Probably better at being him as you'd expect.

Defensively? I'd hope he's better, since he's playing for Beard and he must know that's an area he needs to improve.

[dense]

Dec 17, 2020 22:45:15 GMT -5 hoyafansinceewingera said:

After his team lost the game, at the end while on the court it look like Mac was thinking.."Oh god I wonder what they are saying about me over at Georgetown".

He probably isn't but cgallstar is lol. Wow that was a book. One thing about everyone being obsessed with if he makes the NBA or not. Thats the reason he gave for transferring. You can't say something like that and not deal with the scrutiny. He is the same player in better condition but watching that game, I didnt see anything different sorry. The 1 assist regardless if people make shots or not proves it.

[oldbigeast]

We are counting Mac's near misses and adding them to his point total and blaming his lack of assists on guys missing shots. Can't wait 'til we get back to winning. The fans have fallen further than the team.

[paranoia2]

It is though some fans on the board don’t want to fork over the $ and cover up their McDung or Bratkinjo TRAMPSTAMPS.

[hoopsmccan]

Dec 19, 2020 0:48:05 GMT -5 hoyafansinceewingera said:

I usually pick a thresd to comment on based on what the subject of that thread is. If I see a subject that doesnt interest me, I generally don't pick the thread to read or make comments for that mattwr.

It seems quite strange that people would come onto a hread and constantly badget others about the thread. It just seems like really strange or maybe I just don't get it.

Can someone please explain why someone might do this? Or better yet, can someone who actually badgers the thread please explain??

Can only speak for myself, but I use the last 10 posts feature. Whether I’m interested or not, I see most threads. I’m sure I miss posts doing this, especially during the season when there is more activity, but it works for me. If it seems like I missed something interesting, I just go back a couple of pages.

hm

[HamptonHoya]

Dec 19, 2020 6:40:52 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

Dec 19, 2020 4:43:06 GMT -5 cgallstar02 said:

Reading the last few pages of this thread, one would think Mac put up a doughnut and his team lost by 30 to a mid-major. He had more than a third of his team's points and they lost by 1 to Kansas, the 5th ranked team in the country. Ironically on the Tech board and in all the Tech media articles (people that actually have a vested interest in how Tech and their players perform) the general consensus is that Mac was the second best player on the floor for his team, next to Shannon. Which is pretty much what I saw as well. I'm also curious what people expected to see? Did they think they were gonna turn on the TV and see Mac had become Steve Nash or John Stockton? Mac will always be a scorer first... that's who he is and it's also what his team needs him to be. To expect him to suddenly be a pass first playmaker would be no more silly than it would be to expect Akinjo to turn in to a post up player at Arizona. 

Defensively he has improved a ton. Tech is currently the #1 ranked defense according to Kenpom in all of college basketball... Mac is a starter who plays the second most minutes on that team. I don't think it would be possible for a. Mac to be starting and second on the team in minutes, and b. his team be #1 in the nation in defense if he was still the turnstile he was made out to be at Georgetown. Even more impressive... Kevin McCullar, a starter and Tech's best defender hasn't played a game all season. He should be back in the next game or two, so their defense will likely get even better. I've followed every one of Tech's game threads... there's been 1 mildly critical post on Mac's defense in 8 games. On the flip side, the first 2 or 3 games were pretty much shock and awe at the fact that he came in with a reputation as such a poor defender. 

As a playmaker his improvements have been more subtle. He has certainly made strides as a playmaker and has limited his bad shots... that said he kind of reverted back to his old ways in the Kansas game, so if that's all you're going off of, it's not really fair given he's played 8 games and that was his most shot happy one thus far. Also in his defense, playmaking didn't seem to be much of an option. Kyler Edwards, their 3rd leading scorer was 0-9 with 0 pts. Santos Silva, the starting center also had 0 points. Burnett and Burton, the main 2 scorers off the bench were a combined 2-10. Running the offense was not leading to points or open shots. The only guy to get decent looks the whole game was Edwards, who was again 0-9. Their best offense was Mac going 1 on 1 in the first half and Shannon going 1 on 1 in the second half. 

A lot of the credit goes to Bill Self and Kansas. They too have a great defense and are ranked #6 in the country. Mac was being guarded by Marcus Garrett the entire first half... yes, the guy who was the Naismith defensive player of the year last season. I certainly wouldn't say Mac struggled in the first half in that match up. In fact, Mac's success against Garrett was likely Self's reason to switch to the zone. The zone definitely stifled Mac. Still, he had 2 three pointers that went in and out. If those drop they win by 5, Mac has 27 pts and its crickets on the board. I didn't have a problem with him looking for his shot in the second half... again the offense wasn't generating good shots when they ran it and the few times it did guys weren't hitting. My biggest critique of Mac as well his teammates would be the fact they were in the double bonus with over 8 mins left and suddenly decided to just shoot jumpers. Would've loved to seen Mac and a few of his teammates drive hard to the basket and try to get some calls. For whatever reason they didn't do that. 

A few other observations and notes; According to Beard's press conference the last play of the game was supposed be for Shannon or Mac. Shannon was supposed to get the ball, drive left and either shoot or pass to Mac. For whatever reason he chose to drive right, shot and got blocked. Mac's one bad defensive play that of course everyone chose to grasp on to and ignore the fact he played very good defense the entire game was in fact not a bad defensive play. Both live and during the replay it was blatantly obvious that Garrett used his forearm and elbow of his off hand to push Mac in the chest in order to get the separation he needed to get the layup off. Mac did a great job of staying in front of him. Garrett got away with a very obvious offensive foul. The play was even detailed and discussed in a Bleacher Report article where the author talks about the exact same thing. I get that refs didn't wanna call it due to the fact that players get away with a lot more in the final seconds of games but that doesn't detract from the fact that it was still good defense from Mac and Garrett had to push off to score. 

At the end of the day there were a lot of reasons Tech lost that game. The play of Mac was not one of them. Beard singled out the issues during his press conference and he pretty much saw what I saw. Players not named Mac were 2-8 from the free throw line. Kyler Edwards, their longest tenured player played 37 mins to lead the team. He was 0-9, 0 pts, 1 asst, 1 Reb, 0 stls, 0 blks. That's pretty much the ball game. You gotta hit free throws. And if you're gonna go 0-9 and play 37 mins you gotta at least contribute with some rebounds or assists. When asked about Edwards play, Beard said he would have to answer those questions. He was the lone player he sent out to talk to the media after the game. 

At the end of the day Mac will have some good games, he'll have some bad ones. Myles Powell was in my opinion the best player in the Big East last year. He shot under 40% from the field, under 31% from 3, and had 1/1 asst/to ratio. Not sure why Mac is held to some standard that if he doesn't shoot 50/40/90 with a 5 to 1 asst/to ratio and doesn't give up a basket on D all season that he's a huge failure and his decision to transfer to Tech was a massive blunder. He has goals to make it to the NBA. He wanted to get better and challenge himself. Beard is light years ahead of Ewing as a defensive coach. He's already made massive strides in that area. Offensively, he's now playing with 3 players that are projected as future NBA draft picks... Tech isn't Kentucky or Kansas or Duke when it comes to churning out NBA players, but the fact is it's a lot more impressive to average 10 pts on one of those teams than it is to average 30 on a mid major. Averaging 15 at Tech is gonna mean more to scouts than if he stayed at Georgetown and averaged 20 plus. Lastly, the competition level is higher. The Big East is no slouch, but the Big 12, at least this year is certainly better. They currently have 5 of the top 10 defensives teams in the nation. Mac will be the focal point of all of those teams defenses. I imagine he'll have some rough games in at least a few of those, but what better way to prepare yourself for the next level than games like the one last night?

Lastly, I'm still not sure why everyone not only here but even on YouTube comments, instagram comments, etc is so obsessed with Mac being drafted or not. It's literally all everyone talks about related to Mac and is quite frankly bizarre. Cindad literally rolled in here specifically to declare that Mac will never play in the NBA and then give some random comparison to another borderline NBA player. You can't make this stuff up. Who the heck cares if he plays in the NBA? As a fan, on the one hand it would be nice just to shut everyone up, but we all know that wouldn't happen. 0 credit would be given, instead it would turn to well he sucks, he's the 12th man, he only averages 2 pts a game. If he was the 8th man averaging 9 pts, it'd be well he doesn't even start, can't even average double figures, told you he's a bum! Realistically though as a fan, unless he was able to carve out a major role, I'd rather see him start and play 30 mins a night in the G League. Nothing fun about watching a guy nailed to the end of the bench. 

I mean, it's a fan board. Of georgetown. Not of any individual players. There's going to be a considerable amount of schadenfreude for people that proactively reject the school, especially in the context of all that happened last year. I'd be shocked if there wasn't. Rationality isn't the point.

He was a very inefficient offensive player at Georgetown that had some spectacular games and some duds but always showed the ability to create for himself. He was never a guy that drove in order to draw and kick....he had already made up his mind he would shoot before he started his move. It appears he is largely the same guy at TT. Probably better at being him as you'd expect.

Defensively? I'd hope he's better, since he's playing for Beard and he must know that's an area he needs to improve.

I am curious cgallstar02, are you a Georgetown fan or just a defender of McClung?  You appear to know all things McClung and I guess that is cool and all.  Perhaps a relative or from his hometown.  I get it, I am defensive of those people as well, in my own way.  We were looking forward to McClung playing a pivotal role this year, but he divorced us.  He pretty much inferred he was going to a program where he is more comfortable, on and off the court.  He is in a better place.  I for one don’t need my ex wife coming around telling me how much better her life is without me.

[blueandgray]

Dec 19, 2020 4:43:06 GMT -5 cgallstar02 said:

Reading the last few pages of this thread, one would think Mac put up a doughnut and his team lost by 30 to a mid-major. He had more than a third of his team's points and they lost by 1 to Kansas, the 5th ranked team in the country. Ironically on the Tech board and in all the Tech media articles (people that actually have a vested interest in how Tech and their players perform) the general consensus is that Mac was the second best player on the floor for his team, next to Shannon. Which is pretty much what I saw as well. I'm also curious what people expected to see? Did they think they were gonna turn on the TV and see Mac had become Steve Nash or John Stockton? Mac will always be a scorer first... that's who he is and it's also what his team needs him to be. To expect him to suddenly be a pass first playmaker would be no more silly than it would be to expect Akinjo to turn in to a post up player at Arizona. 

Defensively he has improved a ton. Tech is currently the #1 ranked defense according to Kenpom in all of college basketball... Mac is a starter who plays the second most minutes on that team. I don't think it would be possible for a. Mac to be starting and second on the team in minutes, and b. his team be #1 in the nation in defense if he was still the turnstile he was made out to be at Georgetown. Even more impressive... Kevin McCullar, a starter and Tech's best defender hasn't played a game all season. He should be back in the next game or two, so their defense will likely get even better. I've followed every one of Tech's game threads... there's been 1 mildly critical post on Mac's defense in 8 games. On the flip side, the first 2 or 3 games were pretty much shock and awe at the fact that he came in with a reputation as such a poor defender. 

As a playmaker his improvements have been more subtle. He has certainly made strides as a playmaker and has limited his bad shots... that said he kind of reverted back to his old ways in the Kansas game, so if that's all you're going off of, it's not really fair given he's played 8 games and that was his most shot happy one thus far. Also in his defense, playmaking didn't seem to be much of an option. Kyler Edwards, their 3rd leading scorer was 0-9 with 0 pts. Santos Silva, the starting center also had 0 points. Burnett and Burton, the main 2 scorers off the bench were a combined 2-10. Running the offense was not leading to points or open shots. The only guy to get decent looks the whole game was Edwards, who was again 0-9. Their best offense was Mac going 1 on 1 in the first half and Shannon going 1 on 1 in the second half. 

A lot of the credit goes to Bill Self and Kansas. They too have a great defense and are ranked #6 in the country. Mac was being guarded by Marcus Garrett the entire first half... yes, the guy who was the Naismith defensive player of the year last season. I certainly wouldn't say Mac struggled in the first half in that match up. In fact, Mac's success against Garrett was likely Self's reason to switch to the zone. The zone definitely stifled Mac. Still, he had 2 three pointers that went in and out. If those drop they win by 5, Mac has 27 pts and its crickets on the board. I didn't have a problem with him looking for his shot in the second half... again the offense wasn't generating good shots when they ran it and the few times it did guys weren't hitting. My biggest critique of Mac as well his teammates would be the fact they were in the double bonus with over 8 mins left and suddenly decided to just shoot jumpers. Would've loved to seen Mac and a few of his teammates drive hard to the basket and try to get some calls. For whatever reason they didn't do that. 

A few other observations and notes; According to Beard's press conference the last play of the game was supposed be for Shannon or Mac. Shannon was supposed to get the ball, drive left and either shoot or pass to Mac. For whatever reason he chose to drive right, shot and got blocked. Mac's one bad defensive play that of course everyone chose to grasp on to and ignore the fact he played very good defense the entire game was in fact not a bad defensive play. Both live and during the replay it was blatantly obvious that Garrett used his forearm and elbow of his off hand to push Mac in the chest in order to get the separation he needed to get the layup off. Mac did a great job of staying in front of him. Garrett got away with a very obvious offensive foul. The play was even detailed and discussed in a Bleacher Report article where the author talks about the exact same thing. I get that refs didn't wanna call it due to the fact that players get away with a lot more in the final seconds of games but that doesn't detract from the fact that it was still good defense from Mac and Garrett had to push off to score. 

At the end of the day there were a lot of reasons Tech lost that game. The play of Mac was not one of them. Beard singled out the issues during his press conference and he pretty much saw what I saw. Players not named Mac were 2-8 from the free throw line. Kyler Edwards, their longest tenured player played 37 mins to lead the team. He was 0-9, 0 pts, 1 asst, 1 Reb, 0 stls, 0 blks. That's pretty much the ball game. You gotta hit free throws. And if you're gonna go 0-9 and play 37 mins you gotta at least contribute with some rebounds or assists. When asked about Edwards play, Beard said he would have to answer those questions. He was the lone player he sent out to talk to the media after the game. 

At the end of the day Mac will have some good games, he'll have some bad ones. Myles Powell was in my opinion the best player in the Big East last year. He shot under 40% from the field, under 31% from 3, and had 1/1 asst/to ratio. Not sure why Mac is held to some standard that if he doesn't shoot 50/40/90 with a 5 to 1 asst/to ratio and doesn't give up a basket on D all season that he's a huge failure and his decision to transfer to Tech was a massive blunder. He has goals to make it to the NBA. He wanted to get better and challenge himself. Beard is light years ahead of Ewing as a defensive coach. He's already made massive strides in that area. Offensively, he's now playing with 3 players that are projected as future NBA draft picks... Tech isn't Kentucky or Kansas or Duke when it comes to churning out NBA players, but the fact is it's a lot more impressive to average 10 pts on one of those teams than it is to average 30 on a mid major. Averaging 15 at Tech is gonna mean more to scouts than if he stayed at Georgetown and averaged 20 plus. Lastly, the competition level is higher. The Big East is no slouch, but the Big 12, at least this year is certainly better. They currently have 5 of the top 10 defensives teams in the nation. Mac will be the focal point of all of those teams defenses. I imagine he'll have some rough games in at least a few of those, but what better way to prepare yourself for the next level than games like the one last night?

Lastly, I'm still not sure why everyone not only here but even on YouTube comments, instagram comments, etc is so obsessed with Mac being drafted or not. It's literally all everyone talks about related to Mac and is quite frankly bizarre. Cindad literally rolled in here specifically to declare that Mac will never play in the NBA and then give some random comparison to another borderline NBA player. You can't make this stuff up. Who the heck cares if he plays in the NBA? As a fan, on the one hand it would be nice just to shut everyone up, but we all know that wouldn't happen. 0 credit would be given, instead it would turn to well he sucks, he's the 12th man, he only averages 2 pts a game. If he was the 8th man averaging 9 pts, it'd be well he doesn't even start, can't even average double figures, told you he's a bum! Realistically though as a fan, unless he was able to carve out a major role, I'd rather see him start and play 30 mins a night in the G League. Nothing fun about watching a guy nailed to the end of the bench. 

This is a great post. Yes, perhaps Mac left to improve in areas where he perhaps felt limited at Georgetown. Perhaps he also wanted to win and win now. That being said, Mac is still what he is. If Myles Powell is struggling to sniff the NBA ....not sure what Mac can do to get there. He is a 6’1” guard who struggles on defense, is not a facilitator by any stretch of the imagination and who is a streaky shooter that is inefficient. His one nba skill set is his athleticism but not sure that alone gets him there.

This thread isn’t about Mac though....it’s about improved team chemistry. It was even more evident last year when Akinjo left the program. As soon as James left, it opened up the door for terrell Allen to step in, become the best player on the team, and play team ball. But for injuries and a lack of depth, we became a better team.

[Filo]

Dec 19, 2020 6:40:52 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

I mean, it's a fan board. Of georgetown. Not of any individual players. There's going to be a considerable amount of schadenfreude for people that proactively reject the school, especially in the context of all that happened last year. I'd be shocked if there wasn't. Rationality isn't the point.

He was a very inefficient offensive player at Georgetown that had some spectacular games and some duds but always showed the ability to create for himself. He was never a guy that drove in order to draw and kick....he had already made up his mind he would shoot before he started his move. It appears he is largely the same guy at TT. Probably better at being him as you'd expect.

Defensively? I'd hope he's better, since he's playing for Beard and he must know that's an area he needs to improve.

Not embarrassed to admit a little schadenfreude. I rooted like hell for the kid when he was at GU. He left, which is fine. Now, I don't root for him. I don't particularly root against him, either; in fact, I try not to think about him at all.  LOL.

But there is some schadenfreude due to the way it all went down. Coach gave him the keys to the kingdom; had is back at every turn. Could even be argued that we lost Akinjo due to Coach's support of Mac. If Mac just left with class, I would have been OK; but the insinuations and the comments from Mac left a bad taste in my mouth given how much Coach had his back. Good riddance.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Mac’s agent left a really bad odor!

[drquigley]

Dec 18, 2020 18:19:24 GMT -5 the_way said:

Dec 18, 2020 14:48:21 GMT -5 drquigley said:

You guys are all missing one important point. Did you notice the excitement in the arena every time Mac had the ball? I agree, he's not NBA caliber but he sure brings something special. I really miss his ability to take guys off the dribble and crash the hoop. Don't have anyone on our team who can do that. In fact haven't had anyone for a while. Plus, remember Mac was facing one of the best defensive teams in the country. All things considered I'd love to have him and D. Harris playing together.

Did they win? Excitement is cool and all, but I'd rather win. And that is the point.

NBA evaluators didn't care too much for the excitement he brings either. They wanted execution as a facilitator, not excitement.

Hero ball is cool, but if the hero can't save the day...he isn't a hero...just a rebel without a cause.

That is the point Mac and other players have to grasp.


JT2's great teams of the past had talent of course, but they were selfless and humble and for the team. III's best teams (the Green-Hibbert era) were the same.

THAT is chemistry. That is winning basketball. That is excitement. That is something special.

Did they win? They were playing the #5 team in the country and lost by one! Hey all I'm saying is that you can like a player even after he leaves your school. Mac was the guy I wanted to see when I went to the Cap Center and he will be the guy I want to see when I'm channel surfing for college bball games. No disrespect to PE or the Hoya program. I'm starting to feel the same way about D.Harris and will follow his games if he ever leave GU.

[HamptonHoya]

Dec 19, 2020 13:00:44 GMT -5 drquigley said:

Dec 18, 2020 18:19:24 GMT -5 the_way said:

Did they win? Excitement is cool and all, but I'd rather win. And that is the point.

NBA evaluators didn't care too much for the excitement he brings either. They wanted execution as a facilitator, not excitement.

Hero ball is cool, but if the hero can't save the day...he isn't a hero...just a rebel without a cause.

That is the point Mac and other players have to grasp.


JT2's great teams of the past had talent of course, but they were selfless and humble and for the team. III's best teams (the Green-Hibbert era) were the same.

THAT is chemistry. That is winning basketball. That is excitement. That is something special.

Did they win? They were playing the #5 team in the country and lost by one! Hey all I'm saying is that you can like a player even after he leaves your school. Mac was the guy I wanted to see when I went to the Cap Center and he will be the guy I want to see when I'm channel surfing for college bball games. No disrespect to PE or the Hoya program. I'm starting to feel the same way about D.Harris and will follow his games if he ever leave GU.

I like your honesty.  You are quite hilarious.

[cgallstar02]

Dec 19, 2020 6:40:52 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

I mean, it's a fan board. Of georgetown. Not of any individual players. There's going to be a considerable amount of schadenfreude for people that proactively reject the school, especially in the context of all that happened last year. I'd be shocked if there wasn't. Rationality isn't the point.

He was a very inefficient offensive player at Georgetown that had some spectacular games and some duds but always showed the ability to create for himself. He was never a guy that drove in order to draw and kick....he had already made up his mind he would shoot before he started his move. It appears he is largely the same guy at TT. Probably better at being him as you'd expect.

Defensively? I'd hope he's better, since he's playing for Beard and he must know that's an area he needs to improve.

I definitely get what you're saying, but it doesn't explain both the massive attention and general disdain folks have for Mac in comparison to his transfer counterparts Akinjo and Leblanc. If you compare the three players time at Georgetown and the circumstances behind their transfers it looks like this:

Leblanc - Had a restraining order placed against him by a fellow student. Was accused of theft and threats. Dragged two talented teammates down with him. Was pulled from the starting lineup and in Ewing's doghouse for presumably not practicing hard. 

Akinjo - Blatantly pouted and rarely cheered on teammates from the bench. Blew off Ewing's play calls more than once and had to be benched for a game as a freshman as a result. Was jealous of a teammates attention and more than likely avoided passing him the ball on certain occasions. Allegedly got into a locker room shouting match with Ewing shortly before transferring. His uncle took direct shots at Ewing, Georgetown and Mac after he transferred. 

Mac - 0 legal or off court issues. Always played hard and practiced hard. Never pouted and cheered his teammates on as hard or harder than anyone when he was on the bench or out with injury. 0 reports of any issues of arguing with or refusing to listen to Ewing and the coaching staff. Played the season out till it was ended by injury. Entered the draft, got feedback of what to work on. Chose to transfer to a school that features a recent AP Coach of the Year winner. Took one thinly veiled shot at the program and Ewing on his way out the door. Said shot was almost certainly not written by him and almost certainly was written and worded to aid in his transfer waiver being approved. Nothing more. 

So you have one player essentially forced to transfer due to behavioral and legal reasons. One transferring out of jealousy of a teammate and clashes with Ewing. And one transferring to improve himself as a player and potentially increase his chances of fulfilling his dream. Now look at the general attitude towards the three players. 

Leblanc - Easily the most toxic transfer situation of the three. Gets very little attention on the board. What little he does get is either neutral or positive for the most part. 

Akinjo - Hated almost as much as Mac. Get's about 10% of the attention Mac gets. 

Mac - Get's more attention than just about every current player on the roster. 98% of said attention is negative. 

If you were to write a scouting report on these three players based on HoyaTalk it would look like this:

Leblanc - Amazing player. Great rebounder. Great defender. Selfless player. Future NBA role player. 

Akinjo - Skilled me first player. Alpha dog mentality. Poor teammate with an attitude problem. Known to dribble the air out of the ball. Small and unathletic. Little to no chance at an NBA career. 

Mac - Athletic undersized shooting guard. Me first player. Black hole on offense. One of the worst defenders in college basketball. Wildly inefficient on offense. 0 chance at an NBA career. 

Based on those scouting reports, losing Leblanc was a massive blow. Akinjo and even more so Mac were additions by subtraction. One would think that by far the best player (Leblanc) who transferred under the shadiest circumstances would catch the most heat. His loss was by far the biggest to the program. And he took two other talented kids with him. Both Mac and James by all accounts did the program a huge favor. They were huge net negatives whose presence would of cost the team their chemistry and likely several wins throughout the course of the season. 

When Lebron or some other great player chooses to leave his team, fans generally go nuts with the hating. When some cancerous player who was deemed to make his team worse and was clearly an addition by subtraction chooses to leave his team, fans generally take a few shots initially and then move on and forget about said player pretty quickly. You would think folks would simply be grateful Mac and James left and move on, but would still be grasping on to Leblanc and lamenting that loss. 

[cgallstar02]

Dec 19, 2020 9:55:15 GMT -5 Filo said:

Not embarrassed to admit a little schadenfreude. I rooted like hell for the kid when he was at GU. He left, which is fine. Now, I don't root for him. I don't particularly root against him, either; in fact, I try not to think about him at all.  LOL.

But there is some schadenfreude due to the way it all went down. Coach gave him the keys to the kingdom; had is back at every turn. Could even be argued that we lost Akinjo due to Coach's support of Mac. If Mac just left with class, I would have been OK; but the insinuations and the comments from Mac left a bad taste in my mouth given how much Coach had his back. Good riddance.

Ewing certainly gave Mac his opportunities, but to say he gave him the keys to the kingdom is blatantly false. Akinjo led the team in minutes as a freshman and was leading the team in minutes as a sophomore before transferring. Akinjo was the point guard who had the ball in his hands virtually every single possession. Mac started and played decent minutes but he also spent his fair share of time watching much of the game from the bench. 

In saying that the team lost Akinjo due to Ewing's support of Mac, are you suggesting that Akinjo should've been allowed to dictate the starting lineup and other players minutes instead of Ewing? That's pretty much what it sounds like. Imagine a 7 foot NBA Hall of Famer letting some 6 foot 19 year old kid tell him who to play and how to coach. Also, just curious, what exactly did Mac do to Akinjo and what could he have done to make Akinjo happy? Should he have stopped shooting? Maybe asked Ewing to only play him the 8 or so mins a game that Akinjo is on the bench. Transferred to accommodate James? Shut down his IG and request that Overtime, Ball Is Life, Slam and the rest no longer post any videos of him? 

For the record, I'm pretty sure Terrell Allen's presence had almost as much to do with James transferring as Mac did. Allen was a legit threat to James' playing time and starting spot. Reports are the alleged locker room blowup between Ewing and James came after he was informed Allen would be starting the next game following the UNC Greensboro loss. Maybe Allen should've decline the promotion to appease James.