Paul Mulcahy is a B1G guard , strong , powerful with great feet . Eyes behind his head not an Ivey type player but if he keeps this tenacity up he just makes us better all around. Mulcahy and Reiber both written off but bothe turning out to be pretty decent.
Paul
- Thread starter Danprusa_4
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I am so happy for Paul. I raved about him when we landed him from Gill St. Bernard. So many on here said he was too slow and should never be starting. Some even said he wasn't a Big Ten player. He and a few of our other players have been ripped from time to time. Paul I think took a back seat to the older veterans but trust me he can play and lead this team. I saw him play about 12 games when he was at Gill St. Bernard and he averaged a triple double for points, rebounds & assists when he was at Gill. I know a few really quick guards gave him fits but he makes steals and seems to make very good defensive plays quite often now. I just wish many would eat some crow for ripping him and many of our players at every chance they get. I feel it is deplorable.
You said Paul and Miller would start the season as PGs. Miller started the season on redshirt and Geo ran a lot of point... odd flex lol
I think most people thought it would be a combo of Geo Paul and Miller running the point which is exactly what we have seen with some flashes of Caleb
For Paul's sake he should hope he has the same effect on the ladies. Saw that dude at the Hollywood Bowl once. We had to walk through a sea of panties to get back to our car.
It all gets back to his finally being used properly. Geo is not a one and never has been. He can help bring the ball up the court but he is very challenged creating for others and even himself at times.
Keep him at the 2 and have Paul create forcing defensive slides allowing Geo to shoot more uncontested open jumpers or drives when the defense isn't staring him down. Or PM finds other guys. Cliff is a dunking machine. Paul allows him to be that.
Izzo had it on tape and all he talked about in his pregame press conferences leading up to the game. Guess what? They couldn’t stop it , nor could Notthwestern ,, nor will most other teams because he is 6’6 and a triple double threat now. Ron and Geo being first on the scouting report will have to share the 1 line which makes our team more dangerous and more efficient and more unselfish but assertive. We are in for a beautiful ride down the stretch.
Had an MSU buddy next to me at the game. He leaned over in the second half and said my God your No. 4 is a college version of Luka Dončić! He was tonight!
He wasn’t in that role because he would hesitant , get stuck , not shoot , then turn the ball over . That is what happened the first few games of the year.
The other night in the second half against NW, he finally became the shooting , scoring , passing , triple double machine point guard he was in high school and we have waited 2.5 years for it to emerge. Pike and the team (geo defers as well) realized it the other night and now it is here to stay. Doubtful anyone will be stopping our 6’6 point guard, triple double threat if he plays with this confidence and continues to attack without hesitation
Right now Paul is playing like he's Neo The Matrix. Everything slows down for him and the passes just seem so easy. I'm excited to see where he goes from here.
I still believe they should have started the season with Miller as a direct backup to Paul and we might not of lost a couple of those early games if we did. There was a need for Miller's skill set in 6-10 minutes those first 6 games. You see how effective Paul will be with a guy like Miller or even Derek Simpson next year as a back court mate on offense than Geo or Caleb. Caleb is more effective from the wing or posting than a true 2, unlike Geo's combo guard skill set.
He popped in the game thread to briefly complain about Miller I believe
Paul is turning into the player we all hoped he would be over the last few games. It really does feel like he’s starting to turn a corner.
He’s already proven to be a gifted passer who sees the floor very well. Now showing that he's a threat to score as well, it should make facilitating even easier for him, which should give a boost to everyone else on the floor. We’re seeing it big time with Cliff, the two man game between the two of them over the last few games has been so so enjoyable to watch.
I was surprised in the second half of the Northwestern debacle, when I suddenly saw the future on display with Paul and Cliff.
And then Dean showed up.
Wa wa woo wee.
Could this be Pike's best team ?
3. Is shoot and score.
Paul shooting with confidence draws the double team and when he is double teamed knows where the open player is 9 out of 10 times. Making shoots really opens up his game. He seems like the kind of player that would prefer averaging 15 assists a game versus 15 pts a game. Paul getting high number of assists is predicated on him scoring 8-10 pts a game so the defense respects his offensive game. Love Paul backing down smaller guards into the paint and him taking the shot which plays right into his hands.
As someone mentioned, the Paul show at point worked well the last couple games and will be interesting to see how teams adjust and how Pike uses him and Geo in running the offense. Right now the magic is with Paul which isn’t always the case but the kid is playing with a ton of confidence which means great opportunities for his team mates and the RU offense to score.
Look forward to Paul continuing to back down guards into the paint and the chemistry with Cliff to go to another level.
GO RU
And arguably his best pass was waived off by a foul, when he drew a double-team and split the defenders with a beautiful dime to Cliff for the jam.
I agree and have to believe Pike and our coaches gave him the green light to get aggressive in the paint. Beyond that there’s not much you can teach, it’s all instinct with Paul.
I talked about this in the preseason... Mulcahy being more aggressive scoring the basketball is a game changer for him and for the team. Forcing the other team to respect him as a scoring threat opens up so much.
1. If they double, that leaves an open man who he is very likely to find. The risk/reward on this is high... because you're stopping Mulcahy, but you're doing it by giving up higher percentage shots to other players.
2. If they put a better/bigger defender on him who he can't as easily shoot over and/or who doesn't need to double, it'd likely be a guy they were previously planning on putting on Harper.... which gives him more mismatch opportunities.
Having two 6-6 scoring threats, who can both play in the paint and on the perimeter, forces tough decisions from a defense.
3. He's drawing more fouls, because defenders have to respect his paint game. He's been to the line for 14 FTA in the last two games.... after having just 14 FTA in the past 20 games. Getting to the bonus faster, and getting wing defenders in foul trouble, are both big benefits to the offense.
4. It forces other teams to game plan around him, with there now being 4 potential scoring threats instead of 3. More focus on Mulcahy means less focus on Harper, who has been the laser focus of our opponents for most of our games.
Really hoping he can keep this style of aggressive "get to the tin" play going forward, as it really changes the whole complexion of our offense. Of course, he'll now be the subject of much more defensive attention and game planning... but that might help open things up in other areas to.
1. If they double, that leaves an open man who he is very likely to find. The risk/reward on this is high... because you're stopping Mulcahy, but you're doing it by giving up higher percentage shots to other players.
2. If they put a better/bigger defender on him who he can't as easily shoot over and/or who doesn't need to double, it'd likely be a guy they were previously planning on putting on Harper.... which gives him more mismatch opportunities.
Having two 6-6 scoring threats, who can both play in the paint and on the perimeter, forces tough decisions from a defense.
3. He's drawing more fouls, because defenders have to respect his paint game. He's been to the line for 14 FTA in the last two games.... after having just 14 FTA in the past 20 games. Getting to the bonus faster, and getting wing defenders in foul trouble, are both big benefits to the offense.
4. It forces other teams to game plan around him, with there now being 4 potential scoring threats instead of 3. More focus on Mulcahy means less focus on Harper, who has been the laser focus of our opponents for most of our games.
Really hoping he can keep this style of aggressive "get to the tin" play going forward, as it really changes the whole complexion of our offense. Of course, he'll now be the subject of much more defensive attention and game planning... but that might help open things up in other areas to.
I don’t understand why anyone would ask this question when the fact is outside of sporadically, Paul has never really chosen to assert himself scoring wise until the second half of Northwestern.
Four game ago had 0 points in 28 minutes.
What he’s doing now is a huge deal, what he did four games ago was negligible
Paul had been playing at a certain level since he got here. All of a sudden at NW, his game goes up by multiple levels. The sudden change makes me wonder if he and Pike had a sit down either at Pike's request or from Paul saying just give me more freedom and let me run this team coach since your way isn't cutting it this season. I could really see Paul doing something like that.
I think Pike has been patiently waiting for this Mulcahy, sometimes the light goes on. Paul has been phenomenal the last two games
Caleb like JY in that he always shows defense, hustle and effort. Mulcahy was amazing!! Caleb and Reiber had wonderful games yesterday in addition to Paul and Cliff.
and you could be right, what it looks like now is that he is trusting his post moves more and more..
so we can hope that going forward he is able to continue with that
What about the question don't you understand ?
Are you saying that Hawk WASN'T down on Paul until recently ?
He's made it clear why he was down on PM, but the fact is that he was.
It's still only two games, amazing as they were, so we will see what develops moving forward. But if this pattern continues, it may be as simple as a changing of the guard and Ron/Geo deferring to Paul running the show more, rather than Paul deferring to the guys who were here longer.
It is like BL stepping aside to let Rice carry the ball so much and embracing his new role on the team, because that was best for the program. Leonard still got his moments to shine, and Ron and Baker will still have theirs.
Beat the Buckeyes!
It is like BL stepping aside to let Rice carry the ball so much and embracing his new role on the team, because that was best for the program. Leonard still got his moments to shine, and Ron and Baker will still have theirs.
Beat the Buckeyes!
This is partly true. Paul was so afraid to make a mistake or miss a shot. I forget which game it was, but he missed a a bunch of fairly close up shots like he has been making now, and he passed up a few others right after that. He needs to have the confidence that even if he makes a mistake or 2, to forget them and keep moving forward. Confidence is everything.
Keep shooting when you are open Paul and keep playing the way you are now. YOU have OPENED up the offense to where everyone can't be guarded when you get into the lane and are dishing out those assists.
Best of Luck,
Groz
Yeah. Rich has just changed his target. Reading his posts is like getting a root canal.
Think he realized he cannot rely on deferring to Ron and Geo anymore .
Hawk wasn’t the only fan down on PM. The fact of the matter is Paul’s growth in confidence has allowed his game to blossom. Being a scoring threat opened everything up for Paul and the entire RU offense along with it.
Let’s continue to ride the wave to a string of Ws.
GO RU
If he keeps playing like this it will be Paul’s team and the future doesn’t look quite so horrible next year.
It also will make RU an even more attractive destination for transfers. Scorers want to play with someone like Paul