Malik is coming back

[esplanade91]

I would expect all of those things from our team's starting point guard.

He is a liability on both ends of the court, and I don't see how you can't acknowledge that. EVERYTIME IJ had the ball this season I knew he would fire off an unadvised shot without using any of the game clock.

As for his stats, they don't tell the whole story. You could easily attribute his world beating 4 assists per game to playing in a better offense, for a better coach, with some better players, or the new game clock. But to brag about his A/TO ratio while his TO's actually increased? Come on.

This is without getting into how he's demonstrated a horrible attitude and by bringing him back he inherits a team full of impressionable freshman.

I wish him all the best in the world, I would just rather it be no where near Starkville, MS.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

IJ passed to Q against Vanderbilt when he could've ball hogged

 

[johnson86-1]

What does sitting out and playing another year accomplish aside from easing the thought that Malik's underachieving is his fault? Kid needs to leave and get groomed in the D league or accept some college coaching asap. He has loads of potential but is a tweener for the nba and needs all the coaching and practical experience he can get. Sitting out a year to play in college somewhere else is boneheaded. I don't care what he does bc, frankly, he didn't do **** for us this year and we got some talent coming in. This just stinks of helicopter dad and kid being annointed far too early. Be a bad ***. Or don't. Your choice, AAU all star.

THis is a little ridiculous. 11 points a game as a true freshman despite battling injuries. He did a lot and he'll be better. I just don't understand the world people live in where they are not excited to have a true freshman return that averaged 11 points a game. He and Q will both get better and we'll need both of them since we're going to be extremely limited as far as scoring from the post.

 

[ckDOG]

Rodney Hood would disagree.

Stans to Coach K. Upgrade. Howland to ??. Not many coaches out there I could see being a clear upgrade in NBA prep. Daddy has already made statements that sound like they don't think he's in the right coaching / scheme situation. Howland has put enough kids in the NBA to make me believe that being the motivation is short sighted.

 

[ckDOG]

THis is a little ridiculous. 11 points a game as a true freshman despite battling injuries. He did a lot and he'll be better. I just don't understand the world people live in where they are not excited to have a true freshman return that averaged 11 points a game. He and Q will both get better and we'll need both of them since we're going to be extremely limited as far as scoring from the post.

That's fair. My statement is too hard the stat line. He produced well for 99% of true freshmen. I guess I'm comparing him to the freshmen that come in with SI articles calling him the second chosen one and kids that have iammaliknewman.com type websites. I want chosen one performance before chosen one drama.

 

[patdog]

There really hasn't been much drama from Malik at all. His biggest fault is that he didn't completely live up to the hype. But he's worked hard, kept a good attitude, and been a good teammate, through a very difficult season for him.

 

[aTotal360]

Very true. If he can stay healthy, he should be able to improve his draft position. I don't see any red flags around him.

 

[fishwater99]

started making the extra pass and playing like a point guard I thought he was pretty decent. We got much better.

IJ improved as the year went on. He went from a shoot first guard to looking to pass, he was much better at the point than MN this past year.
Malik is a 2 guard, I just don't see him running the point unless he improves drastically at handling the ball and making passes, not to mention defense.

 

[coach66]

Good post, if Malik and Horatio will follow Howland's lead and buy into what he

wants to do and what Malik's role will be then we will be a better team and Malik will improve his draft status. Got to buy in.

 

[rugbdawg]

You are COMPLETELY wrong about this. In fact, last year IJ was more valuable to the team than Newman.

Ready-29.5 mpg, 42% from field, 29% from 3 Pt, 80% from free throw line, 39 steals, 2.6 RPG, 4.5 APG, 9.2 PPG, 2.8 ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO

Newman-27.7 mpg, 39% from field, 38% from 3 Pt, 69% from free throw line, 11 steals, 2.8 RPG, 2.2 APG, 11.3 PPG, 1.2 ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO.

Newman had 54 turnovers on the year while Ready had 48 turnovers. Btw, Ready took the 5th most shots of anyone on the team and had the 5th best shooting percentage. By every statistical measure, Ready is NOT a ball hog. Your team ball hog would be Craig Sword.

BONUS QUESTION: Statistically, who was the best three point shooter on the squad last year? If you guessed Travis Daniels, you would be correct. He shot 40% from behind the arc. Surprised the hell out of me too.

 

[rugbdawg]

You're wrong about everything except for the fact he sucks defensively. But the whole damn team sucked defensively with the exception of Spoon and Sword. Malik was worst defensively than IJ by the way. They both got consistently beat but at least IJ would get steals.

 

[ckDOG]

None at all yet.

There really hasn't been much drama from Malik at all. His biggest fault is that he didn't completely live up to the hype. But he's worked hard, kept a good attitude, and been a good teammate, through a very difficult season for him.

I agree. I'm only commenting on rumor, which may or may not amount to anything. Webster's quotes from last week about Malik not getting to show certain talents didn't get me fired up though. Could have been quotes taken out of context, but also could have been laying the groundwork to be courted by teams that in his view would allow Malik to show these hidden talents. Again - probably amounts to nothing and he's back next year - which I hope is the case.

 

[coach66]

Deep says Kansas is recruiting the heck out of Malik for what it is worth.

nm

 

[patdog]

"There is no talk of going juco or transferring," said Webster with a laugh. "He is at Mississippi State and we haven't discussed anything about leaving and that is not a concern. We heard a lot of everything yesterday and today with a lot of rumors and even heard (playing basketball) overseas. But he is a Bulldog and I don’t think they gave away his scholarship."

Link

 

[ckDOG]

Pine Box**

nm

 

[patdog]

You never really know until school starts. But comparing Webster and Newman to Tubberville is an insult to both of them. Horatio has been a good Bulldog and has supported MSU for 20 years. And Malik has done an admirable job of keeping a good attitude in a very difficult season for him. And they've both handled the draft situation exactly the way they should have and have made the smart decision. It's a shame some of our own fans want to insult them.

 

[ckDOG]

Sarcastericks, Pat.

nm

 

[patdog]

Damn. Never mind, then.

 

[fishwater99]

Link[/FONT][/COLOR]

""There is no talk of going juco or transferring," said Webster with a laugh. "He is at Mississippi State and we haven't discussed anything about leaving..."

 

[mstateglfr]

Stans to Coach K. Upgrade. Howland to ??. Not many coaches out there I could see being a clear upgrade in NBA prep. Daddy has already made statements that sound like they don't think he's in the right coaching / scheme situation. Howland has put enough kids in the NBA to make me believe that being the motivation is short sighted.

Your post answers your question.
It doesnt need to be a coaching upgrade to make sense if the change allows the player to be better/more properly utilized.

 

[mstateglfr]

I would expect all of those things from our team's starting point guard.

He is a liability on both ends of the court, and I don't see how you can't acknowledge that. EVERYTIME IJ had the ball this season I knew he would fire off an unadvised shot without using any of the game clock.

As for his stats, they don't tell the whole story. You could easily attribute his world beating 4 assists per game to playing in a better offense, for a better coach, with some better players, or the new game clock. But to brag about his A/TO ratio while his TO's actually increased? Come on.

This is without getting into how he's demonstrated a horrible attitude and by bringing him back he inherits a team full of impressionable freshman.

I wish him all the best in the world, I would just rather it be no where near Starkville, MS.

You may expect it from our starting PG, but you wouldnt have gotten it from anyone else on the team. Sword would have had the assists, but would have turned the ball over constantly. Newman needed spot up shorts to even shoot the % he did, so the ball in his hands would have most likely made for a worse shooting %. And considering Newman couldnt finish at the rim to save his life when he wasnt the primary handler, why would he have suddenly been a finisher as the lead guard?


You complain and make fun of the starting PG, yet you must know there isnt anyone who would have been better. You would have complained EVEN MORE if someone else took Ready's minutes and this can be seen in the stats of each player. I didnt brag about his A/TO ratio. I simply pointed out that the ratio has consistently improved, meaning Ready has steadily progressed. Ready had 2.81 assists for every 1 turnover. That is a good ratio and we simply dont have many PGs who have that sort of ratio. Dee Bost, our best PG since Zimmerman, even he didnt have a 2to1 A/TO ratio. Gordon didnt even come close to that and was a scoring guard tasked with ball handling(and it showed).

You complain about Ready's poor D. Cool, I wont disagre that its poor. But once again, look at the alternative. Newman had 11 steals all season. Zuppardo managed more steals than Newman while playing less than half as many minutes. Seriously, just standing there with your arms out should net you more than 1 steal every 3 games as a guard. Newman consistently lost his man on D. Would Newman have been a better choice for Ready's role? Of course not.


Complaining without acknowledging that there wasnt a better alternative = complaining about the team's best option. Thats crazy talk.