Mag no PT last night

wrsu74

Redshirt
Oct 12, 2019
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RUTGERS only played seven men last night plus two minutes by MD. Why no Mags?
 

Scarlet Blind_rivals

All-Conference
Aug 5, 2001
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I wouldn't read too much into it. It was more of a learning experience for Mag, show him the speed of a B1G game as opposed to a non conference game, even Doucoure knows B1G speed if needed. Out of all 4 freshman, only Cliff played in AAU games, national top 50 recruit and is used to playing on this stage and speed. Mag playing at Prolific Prep will be that next guy. Oscar and Reiber will see time against lesser opponents in the B1G to get them experience when Pike can. That's what happens on deep teams, especially with Geo back at 75-80% is still better than a true freshman.
 
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MLBash93

All-Conference
Jan 23, 2012
1,507
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I think the flow of the game really dictated Mags playing time, He is essentially a montez replacement, albiet at a very raw and inexperienced level. But when between geo young mulchahy tez the minutes aren't really there for him consistently.

Harper was on fire and although tez wasn't scoring he wasn't playing bad, so maybe he could have played a few minutes here or there but in a close game that it was for most of the game I wouldn't have played him unless absolutely necessary. Although I rather him or reiber play that Doucoure
 
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Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
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I wouldn't read too much into it. It was more of a learning experience for Mag, show him the speed of a B1G game as opposed to a non conference game, even Doucoure knows B1G speed if needed. Out of all 4 freshman, only Cliff played in AAU games, national top 50 recruit and is used to playing on this stage and speed. Mag playing at Prolific Prep will be that next guy. Oscar and Reiber will see time against lesser opponents in the B1G to get them experience when Pike can. That's what happens on deep teams, especially with Geo back at 75-80% is still better than a true freshman.
I'll always read in to things. Doesn't mean I will come to conclusions.

It certainly is not a positive.
 

ScarletDog

All-Conference
May 7, 2007
2,087
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The other thing is we have so much time between games that we don't need to worry about playing our main guys too many minutes. They have literally a week to recover...not like playing another tough game two days later.
 

Perricone7

All-Conference
Jan 26, 2015
1,492
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The other thing is we have so much time between games that we don't need to worry about playing our main guys too many minutes. They have literally a week to recover...not like playing another tough game two days later.

I think this is the answer. 2 games over a 12 day stretch opens the door to a 7 man lineup.
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
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Would have liked to have seen Mag in there at some point, but I understand why he didn't see time with Baker back.

Minus Doucoure, I think we saw the primary 7 rotation guys last night - but it's telling that Doucoure is more trusted right now to come in for spot minutes than Reiber is, even though Doucoure didn't see a lot of time in the 4 OOC games.

Mag and Palmquist are both wings, and we've got a lot of competition right now for that spot.
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
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Would have liked to have seen Mag in there at some point, but I understand why he didn't see time with Baker back.

Minus Doucoure, I think we saw the primary 7 rotation guys last night - but it's telling that Doucoure is more trusted right now to come in for spot minutes than Reiber is, even though Doucoure didn't see a lot of time in the 4 OOC games.

Mag and Palmquist are both wings, and we've got a lot of competition right now for that spot.

My thoughts....and I know some won't agree and give pushback. looking at last nights minutes...

Mathis 35
Mulcahy 24

I'd like to be able to trim 10 off of each.
 

jordkap

All-Conference
Jul 11, 2016
2,825
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Would have liked to have seen Mag in there at some point, but I understand why he didn't see time with Baker back.

Minus Doucoure, I think we saw the primary 7 rotation guys last night - but it's telling that Doucoure is more trusted right now to come in for spot minutes than Reiber is, even though Doucoure didn't see a lot of time in the 4 OOC games.

Mag and Palmquist are both wings, and we've got a lot of competition right now for that spot.
Duke knows his assignment and role, really giving him 2 minutes and telling him to protect the basket makes sense to me. Reiber’s role moving forward will be mop up duty until next year barring injury. Not the end of the world, he’s a true freshman and will get better.
 

kcg88

Heisman
Aug 11, 2017
10,862
17,230
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Rutgers brought back 90% of their roster. The entire point of building a roster like this is to have years where you don't have to play freshmen a lot of minutes.

Top recruits are going to play right away (like Cliff). And freshman are going to get more playing time on worse teams (Brad Davison started right away for Wisconsin, but it was a bad Wisconsin team).

Some examples:

Zavier Simpson was a top-75 recruit and played 9 minutes in his first Big Ten game.

PJ Thompson turned into a great player for Purdue, he took four DNPs his freshman year and had plenty more single-digit minute games.

Keita Bates-Diop was a DNP in his first Big Ten game.

Would it be great if Mawot Mag stepped on campus and it was immediately clear that the recruiting services had under-ranked him and he was ready to play 20 high-level minutes right away? Of course, but there's a reason that doesn't happen very often.
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
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My thoughts....and I know some won't agree and give pushback. looking at last nights minutes...

Mathis 35
Mulcahy 24

I'd like to be able to trim 10 off of each.

Don't disagree that 35 min is too much for Mathis, but with Harper at 30 with foul trouble and Baker at 28 still not 100%.... he was called on to do a little more.

I get that the freshmen aren't ready yet, especially with a shortened OOC schedule, and this was a really important game to notch as a first victory. But once we get into the thick of the conference schedule, I'd expect to see the freshmen a bit more.

By midseason, I'd expect something in the ballpark of:
Harper 30-34
Baker 30-34
Young 30-34
Mathis 24-28
Mulcahy 20-22
Johnson 20-22
Omoruyi 18-20
Mag 8-12
Palmquist 4-6
Doucoure/Reiber 2-3
 
Dec 4, 2010
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Adjusting to the speed of the game takes time. We heard last night (I forgot which announcer said it) that the game has "slowed down for Harper Jr". Once you adjust, and are comfortable with the tempo of the game, your rhythm, anticipation, decision making, and confidence all improve. Harper is a great example, as is JY.

When I'm evaluating new talent, I always ask myself, "Is the game moving too fast for him/her?" Sometimes a player has great instincts, but lacks skill. You can work with that. Cliff, Mag, and Oskar all seem to fit that category. Reiber, I'm not sure of yet. Doucoure, on the other hand, is a still a step slow with just about everything he does. Lost cause at this point.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
74,993
91,784
103
Adjusting to the speed of the game takes time. We heard last night (I forgot which announcer said it) that the game has "slowed down for Harper Jr". Once you adjust, and are comfortable with the tempo of the game, your rhythm, anticipation, decision making, and confidence all improve. Harper is a great example, as is JY.

When I'm evaluating new talent, I always ask myself, "Is the game moving too fast for him/her?" Sometimes a player has great instincts, but lacks skill. You can work with that. Cliff, Mag, and Oskar all seem to fit that category. Reiber, I'm not sure of yet. Doucoure, on the other hand, is a still a step slow with just about everything he does. Lost cause at this point.
Explained in a nutshell.
It’s a series of adjustments and jumps from one level to the next.
You make them or get left behind.
 
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Degaz-RU

Heisman
Dec 19, 2002
22,347
26,641
88
My thoughts....and I know some won't agree and give pushback. looking at last nights minutes...

Mathis 35
Mulcahy 24

I'd like to be able to trim 10 off of each.

There was a time not too long ago when you thought Mathis was the most important player on the team. I'm guessing you still love his defense but dislike (hate?) his offense.

Btw, I don't disagree that Mathis should be playing about 25-28 mpg.

But I think Mulcahy's sweet spot (right now) is in the mid-20s. He was definitely playing too much when Baker was out, but 20-25 mpg sound about right for him.
 
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Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
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Like Mathis D and toughness. Half court offense not his strength. Also like Paul playing 10-15 minutes.

we beat Maryland convincingly so both these guy can’t be doing that bad though
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
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Choppin,

thats 2 straight games with twin towers playing together.

is it....
A. He likes these guys together
B. He doesn’t like players 8 thru 12

I think it is a little of both, but mostly A and add the opponent.

I see Myles 25-27 MPG and Cliff 17-20
 

RutgHoops

Heisman
Aug 14, 2008
9,239
12,411
102
With no OOC schedule you can see freshman across the country, even the elite at programs like Duke and Kentucky, really struggling. No warm up games against soft non-conference opponents to build confidence and learn the college game, and instead thrust in to high level D-1 competition is hard. Give it some time. I posted in another thread that Eugene (who is playing like an AA at Oregon) was pretty useless as a frosh in league play. Myles wasn't ready so he RS'd. Caleb looked bad against schools like NJIT and FDU. If those three were forced to play @Maryland in their 5th college game ever I'm certain they would have not played/looked pretty bad. Patience.

I'm fairly certain one (or more) of Mag, Oskar and/or Reiber will be getting minutes by the 2nd half of the B1G schedule.
 
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Greene Rice FIG

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With no OOC schedule you can see freshman across the country, even the elite at programs like Duke and Kentucky, really struggling. No warm up games against soft non-conference opponents to build confidence and learn the college game, and instead thrust in to high level D-1 competition is hard. Give it some time. I posted in another thread that Eugene (who is playing like an AA at Oregon) was pretty useless as a frosh in league play. Myles wasn't ready so he RS'd. Caleb looked bad against schools like NJIT and FDU. If those three were forced to play @Maryland in their 5th college game ever I'm certain they would have not played/looked pretty bad. Patience.

I'm fairly certain one (or more) of Mag, Oskar and/or Reiber will be getting minutes by the 2nd half of the B1G schedule.
Out of hibernation!
 
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