Update on Malik, looks like he might be back !!!

[fishwater99]

https://www.sny.tv/college-recruiti...plating-return-to-mississippi-state/179031276

"Right now everyone is projecting him a second round pick and, to be quite honest with you, I don't know if we're going to take the chance on being a second-round pick," Horatio Webster, Newman's father and a former Mississippi State star, told SNY.tv by phone on Thursday. "Being that he's just a freshman, if he don't get a promise or something that's concrete, then we're not going to take the chance on being a second-round pick. He would pull his name out by the 25th."

..........


Still, Webster said he wasn't sure his son was used properly under coach Ben Howland.
"I don't know if he was used the right way, either," Webster said. "Fifty percent of the time he was just sitting in the corner, which I think Ben is a phenomenal coach. Ben did whatever he could to make your team win so I'm not knocking him for that but I just think Malik is really good with the ball in his hand and he didn't get a chance to show that part of his game, either."
Asked if he was considering transferring, Webster said of Newman, "No."

 

[coach66]

Would love to see this have a happy ending for all parties. Come back and

Listen to Ben.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

While that second paragraph you posted sort of looks like a dig

at Howland, I get it. He even acknowledges that Ben is a great coach and did what was best for the team instead of catering to one player. That was phrased in a way that shows that Malik could be better than he showed as MSU, without throwing MSU or Howland under the bus. He's a smart dude.

 

[aTotal360]

But he also says...

"I don't think he did enough to be a first-round [pick] but if it's a good situation in the second round then we would entertain it," Webster said.

I don't even know what that means. You can't predict past the first 3 picks. Much less the second round. I hate to say it, but it sounds like they are giving lip service so the locals will stay calm. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[57stratdawg]

Newman was the 3rd best guard on last year's team at the rim. I'm sure that's probably related to his turf toe which is a hard injury to overcome for a basketball player. I see Howland's thought process though.

 

[dawgstudent]

Sounds like Horatio wants to coach his son while at State.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

Yeah I don't like that. Howland's job is to win games not just showcase your son's NBA skills Horatio.

 

[121Josey]

at Howland, I get it. He even acknowledges that Ben is a great coach and did what was best for the team instead of catering to one player. That was phrased in a way that shows that Malik could be better than he showed as MSU, without throwing MSU or Howland under the bus. He's a smart dude.

Nope. That's throwing Howland under the bus. I watched at least half of the games and this quote is so far off-base it's not funny:

so I'm not knocking him for that but I just think Malik is really good with the ball in his hand and he didn't get a chance to show that part of his game, either.

That's just a test-run at the 2016-2017 MN Apology Tour. I haven't seen that in any of the games MN has played since winning the state championship. If MN couldn't show out playing with RR's recruits, what's he going to do playing with these 4-5* players who can do something with the ball in their hands.

 

[coach66]

Newman was banged up pretty bad last year. I am going to give him

The benefit of the doubt. If he wants to get to the first round he needs to listen
more to Howland and less to daddy and not meant as a jab at daddy.

 

[johnson86-1]

Nope. That's throwing Howland under the bus. I watched at least half of the games and this quote is so far off-base it's not funny:

Acknowledging that Howland did things that gave the team the best chance of winning and stating that those things did not give Malik the best chance to showcase his game is not throwing Howland under the bus. It may be inaccurate and an excuse, but it's not a knock on Howland whether it's true or not.

 

[121Josey]

Acknowledging that Howland did things that gave the team the best chance of winning and stating that those things did not give Malik the best chance to showcase his game is not throwing Howland under the bus. It may be inaccurate and an excuse, but it's not a knock on Howland whether it's true or not.

I don't mean that he's throwing Howland under the bus for not winning. He's throwing Howland under the bus for why he's not expecting to cash an NBA paycheck this summer. But if you want to challenge that, then you can start by explaining what it means to use MN properly. Does using MN properly not equal to helping the team? Like DS said above, HW thinks he's got a better gameplan than Howland.

The message in the article is quite simple. MN says his body was the problem. HW says that Howland was the problem. Just look at how the quote was framed:

Still, Webster said he wasn't sure his son was used properly under coach Ben Howland....

Asked if he was considering transferring, Webster said of Newman, "No."

 

[RocketDawg]

Yeah I don't like that. Howland's job is to win games not just showcase your son's NBA skills Horatio.

Yeah, that doesn't sound all that great. I'd love for Malik to come back, but he'll have to be coached by our coach ... he's very capable.

Sorta reminds me of when I coached tee ball and coach pitch ... many of the parents thought their son was a sports prodigy. And it's true that some of them were pretty good, but there's always someone who's better and plays harder. And that's the case here. If Malik wants to be a first-rounder, he's going to have to prove it himself and not mope around if he's taken out of the game. And Horatio has to remember ... Malik was injured about the first half of the season.

 

[Digging dog]

Based on what I saw last year, he should be back for 2 more years at least. Assuming grades are a factor.

 

[esplanade91]

I liked Brandon Walker's take on Newman. He was without question our best player last year, but in addition to spending the entire season injured (don't forget his back) I'm not so sure the hype translates to the college game. AAU ball is nothing like college ball, so if his goal was to put on a clinic he should have gone to Europe.

Ideally he comes back for one more season, we ship IJ Ready to the Sun Belt, and we give the PG role to him on day 1.

 

[121Josey]

I liked Brandon Walker's take on Newman. He was without question our best player last year, but in addition to spending the entire season injured (don't forget his back) I'm not so sure the hype translates to the college game. AAU ball is nothing like college ball, so if his goal was to put on a clinic he should have gone to Europe.

Ideally he comes back for one more season, we ship IJ Ready to the Sun Belt, and we give the PG role to him on day 1.

MN was not in any way, shape, form, or fashion State's best player last year (and Shrek did not say that). And MN is not a (natural) PG in the NCAA or Europe (or the NBA). He had the PG role from Day 1 last year. Ready outplayed him in SEC play.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

Sorry to tell "Big Train" Webster but I fully expect "Q" to be running our Offense next year.

 

[esplanade91]

MN was not in any way, shape, form, or fashion State's best player last year (and Shrek did not say that). And MN is not a (natural) PG in the NCAA or Europe (or the NBA). He had the PG role from Day 1 last year. Ready outplayed him in SEC play.

I'm a huge fan of Q, but he's not better than Newman and I don't care if he had a better PPG.

How is he not a natural PG? He's the prototype in size and ball handling, and if I had any complaint with Howland in year 1 it's that he didn't run the offense through Malik enough.

He needs to come back, work on his strength, secure the #1 PG position, and stay healthy. His shooting isn't in question, it's his offense in the paint and whether he can support 4 other players' offensive skill sets. Wasn't really working with a full deck of cards on that last part.

 

[121Josey]

I'm a huge fan of Q, but he's not better than Newman and I don't care if he had a better PPG.

Yeah. If I'm playing HORSE, then I want MN. But if I'm playing college ball, I want Q. You just got through saying that MN can't play the collegiate game.

Not just Q, but Gavin Ware was a better player than MN - and Ware was undersized.

How is he not a natural PG? He's the prototype in size and ball handling, and if I had any complaint with Howland in year 1 it's that he didn't run the offense through Malik enough.

How does he have protoypical size for a PG? Have you seen the size of the projected PG draft picks? Of course you haven't because he's at the bottom of the list. And as if being prototypical in size has anything to do with being a natural point guard.

He is fluid dribbling but he showed this year that he couldn't take his man off the dribble and he has no vision when inside the 3pt line. It's sad that Ready dribbles the air out of the ball but still runs circles around MN in playing the position. The combine only confirmed what we've known about MN for five months now.

How is Howland going to run his offense through MN when MN can't create? It would involve putting him in the corner and setting him up for a spot-up 3 half of the time. Oh wait, HW said that wasn't good for MN.

He needs to come back, work on his strength, secure the #1 PG position, and stay healthy. His shooting isn't in question, it's his offense in the paint and whether he can support 4 other players' offensive skill sets. Wasn't really working with a full deck of cards on that last part.

Yes, he needs to come back. But MN wasn't playing with a full deck of cards as much as anybody else.

 

[HueFreeze]

i think what he is saying is ...chemistry problems in a not so blunt way

Howland had to finally play others and just move malik to the corner to flow any offensive movement because ij sword didn't not gel. It was a lot of chemistry problems with guys starting 3-4 years and malik coming in like the savior. EGOs and ****

 

[fishwater99]

I'm a huge fan of Q, but he's not better than Newman and I don't care if he had a better PPG.

How is he not a natural PG? He's the prototype in size and ball handling, and if I had any complaint with Howland in year 1 it's that he didn't run the offense through Malik enough.

He needs to come back, work on his strength, secure the #1 PG position, and stay healthy. His shooting isn't in question, it's his offense in the paint and whether he can support 4 other players' offensive skill sets. Wasn't really working with a full deck of cards on that last part.

Malik might have the size to be a prototype PG, but he hasn't developed the skills needed at that position.
He averaged 2.2 assists to 1.9 turnover's per game, that just isn't very good. IJ had 4.5 assists to 1.6 turnover's per game.
I think his best bet at the next level is at the 2, he needs to work on his shooting and defense..

 

[johnson86-1]

I don't mean that he's throwing Howland under the bus for not winning. He's throwing Howland under the bus for why he's not expecting to cash an NBA paycheck this summer.

It's not throwing Howland under the bus to say that Howland was doing what he was supposed to do, which is maximize the teams chance of winning. It's an excuse for Malik, but it's not throwing Howland under the bus.

But if you want to challenge that, then you can start by explaining what it means to use MN properly. Does using MN properly not equal to helping the team? Like DS said above, HW thinks he's got a better gameplan than Howland.

If you take Horatio's statement at face value, using MN properly for showcasing him for the pros would not result in the best chance of winning, or at the very least he acknowledges that Howland has justifiable reasons for thinking so.

 

[maroonmania]

Acknowledging that Howland did things that gave the team the best chance of winning and stating that those things did not give Malik the best chance to showcase his game is not throwing Howland under the bus. It may be inaccurate and an excuse, but it's not a knock on Howland whether it's true or not.

Fact is Malik was allowed to play various positions last year (both 2 guard and PG) and allowed to do many things including running the offense, distributing, driving to the hole and shooting from the perimeter. Unfortunately, the only thing Malik generally excelled at was shooting from the perimeter. That wasn't Howland's fault. Malik just needs to work more on the other parts of his game against collegiate level defenses.

 

[121Josey]

It's not throwing Howland under the bus to say that Howland was doing what he was supposed to do, which is maximize the teams chance of winning. It's an excuse for Malik, but it's not throwing Howland under the bus.

Am I understanding the definition of "to throw someone under the bus" correctly or do you know what it means? To say that MN had injury problems is an excuse. To call Howland out for how he used MN is throwing Howland under the bus. And even HW's comments were hyperbole or outright untrue on MN's usage, so you've go a steep hill to climb on your "excuse" apology. When someone gives the "don't get me wrong, he's a cool dude" compliment, it just polishes the knife that is about to cut to the bone. HW doesn't want to use a dirty knife since he might have to heal that wound in a few months.

If you take Horatio's statement at face value, using MN properly for showcasing him for the pros would not result in the best chance of winning, or at the very least he acknowledges that Howland has justifiable reasons for thinking so.

Again, if you take HW's statement at face value, do you think that having someone (i.e., the NBA prospect) stand in the corner 50% of the time is a recipe for success? Is that a completely innocuous comment - at face value, of course? Shirley you know father speak from age 7 to 27: "My son is great and he needs to have the ball in his hands or be around the action." Is HW talking at face value in the court of public opinion or the court of basketball strategy? You decide.

 

[mstateglfr]

I'm a huge fan of Q, but he's not better than Newman and I don't care if he had a better PPG.

How is he not a natural PG? He's the prototype in size and ball handling, and if I had any complaint with Howland in year 1 it's that he didn't run the offense through Malik enough.

He needs to come back, work on his strength, secure the #1 PG position, and stay healthy. His shooting isn't in question, it's his offense in the paint and whether he can support 4 other players' offensive skill sets. Wasn't really working with a full deck of cards on that last part.

Dont look at PPG then. Look at rebounds, steals, overall shooting %, and 3pt shooting %. Oh, add FT% and blocks to the list of stats too. Basically, Newman had more assists than Q and thats it.
Newman had 11 steals ALL SEASON. 11. He is a guard playing 27mpg and he had 11 steals for the season?!? Johnny Z had more steals than Newman. And Newman had 8 offensive rebounds for the season, which is 2/3 as many as IJ Ready even had.


As for the natural PG comments...Newman could be the prototypical PG in size and ball handling, but he was clearly not able to lead a team that didnt even make the post season. If he was better than Ready, he would have been the lead PG.

 

[Philly Dawg]

If he was truly set back by injuries, he should return.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Fact is Malik was allowed to play various positions last year (both 2 guard and PG) and allowed to do many things including running the offense, distributing, driving to the hole and shooting from the perimeter. Unfortunately, the only thing Malik generally excelled at was shooting from the perimeter. That wasn't Howland's fault. Malik just needs to work more on the other parts of his game against collegiate level defenses.

^^^This^^^

 

[T-TownDawgg]

I'm with you Bone. 17 that. Malik Newman showed absolutely zero progression. Go pro, or come in and be a team guy 100%. If daddy starts bitching on your behalf like you are in kindergarten, bye. Don't want another relardo. Don't like class and studying? Bye. Better start studying how to speak Romanian

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

IF Malik returns and works on finishing drives and seeing the court better to make assists we will be a tough nut to crack. It will take a lot of pressure off Q as well and they BOTH can flourish even more.