good thing there is depth. pop so far looks like the guard that buzz had to run off. marcus williams?

flow stopper

Pop is gonna be ok I think. You can see him starting to get it.

Mgbako… you can see the potential but he needs to be more than a tall, long armed 3 pt shooter which is kind of what he's been so far. He's also been a turnover machine. To be fair , he hasn't practiced or played much yet with this group. Has only played 58 mins to date . Maybe needs a blood transfusion from Agee .

What exactly does the best version of Mgbako look like? Doesn't seem like he has the handles to really create for himself.

halfastros81 said:

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Mgbako… you can see the potential but he needs to be more than a tall, long armed 3 pt shooter which is kind of what he's been so far. He's also been a turnover machine. To be fair , he hasn't practiced or played much yet with this group. Has only played 58 mins to date . Maybe needs a blood transfusion from Agee .

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He just needs to trust his foot is OK and get back into playing shape.

I bet he looks like what he did last year sometime in January for us.

going way back here, but from what ive seen so far he sort of reminds me of Anthony Jones at Baylor from 2008-2011 or so. Those kind of tweeners must be equally exciting and frustrating for coaches.

I don't honestly know. Haven't seen him play enough . I'm willing to guess the hands , dribbling , passing issues are timing and conditioning from not having played enough in general recently and with this group. I think it's reasonable to say he needs to be somewhat of a help on the boards and defending in the paint at 6 ' 9" . I hope the best version can hit open 3's which he has done but also pass or move to the basket when he's overplayed and also move without the ball to set up scoring/rebound opps.

Redfishag93 said:

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Mgbako played very well at the NBA predraft camp last year against very good competition, and was considered a 2nd round pick if he had come out.

That's enough for me to know he can be a very good sec player. I just think he needs time coming off the injury.

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Was that not the NBA summer league?

Redfishag93 said:

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Mgbako played very well at the NBA predraft camp last year against very good competition, and was considered a 2nd round pick if he had come out.

That's enough for me to know he can be a very good sec player. I just think he needs time coming off the injury.

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I think the question for him, like it is for a few guys on our team, is can he play physical basketball.

He looks great in a space and shoot style game, which the NBA predraft camp scrimmages definitely are. But we need him to be more physical and play some ugly basketball. He's 6-9, he can't be soft on the boards and not give us any help defensively in the paint.

Right now he's basically a taller Dominguez, but again, he's still working his way back, we'll see where he is in a month or so.

Coming into the season- I thought they would be our 2 best players.

At this point- they are maybe our 4th and 5th best payers. Totally disappointed with them thus far but much season left.

We are only gonna get better

I'll clarify: for Mgbako- I feel his effort is lackluster and his overall feel for the game is still way off even with only a handful of weeks with the team. He is a very experienced player and isn't playing g that way.

I'll still say- I'm only disappointed "so far." A handful of games ago- our team was playing like trash and each week since you see a building momentum and chemistry. I'll hold out hope that this occurs for Mgbako and Pop.

His tape didn't exactly scream "first to the floor" kind of guy anyway, but certainly he needs to improve there some for sure.

I think the only player I'd say I'm disappointed in so far is Federiko.

I think for most everyone else it's either too early to tell (Griffen, it looked like he was starting to put it together before he got sick, Mgbako, Isaacs) they're better than I expected (Agee, Lane, Vinson, Clemence, Dominguez) or they're about what I expected (everyone else).

So far from my perspective Mgbako doesn't do a whole lot beyond shoot open three's at a good clip. He gets a few boards , his length probably bothers shooters some but I can't really point to anything that he does beyond hitting open threes that really has a major positive impact on outcomes . Am I missing something?

I believe he needs to broaden his game to become more of a force in the paint both for the good of this team and for his pro prospects but a good bit of that is not purely physical it's mental. Coaching can develop it but likely not in a significant way during the season.

My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

PJYoung said:

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He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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I think this is Federiko and it's not particularly close although he did give us some good minutes yesterday finally.

PJYoung said:

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My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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Fedi is the only one of our struggling big 3 acquisitions who doesn't have an injury excuse, so he's the guy underperforming the most to this point. Thankfully Agee has been a horse to help make up for it.

We have to get more production out of Fedi, Pop and Mac. Or at least two of the three.

DTP02 said:

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PJYoung said:

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My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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Fedi is the only one of our struggling big 3 acquisitions who doesn't have an injury excuse, so he's the guy underperforming the most to this point. Thankfully Agee has been a horse to help make up for it.

We have to get more production out of Fedi, Pop and Mac. Or at least two of the three.

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Anyone that watched him at prior stops knew he shouldn't have been part of a "big 3". Vinson is a better player than him

He's an ok backup defensive big that gives practically nothing offensively. That's why he's 24 and on his third school in three years. People see that size/length and get enamored but he is what he is, a below average P4 player

I think he's been a disappointment even by the standards of people that had realistic expectations of him.

I don't think it was unreasonable to expect him to be a guy that could give us 15 minutes in the post, play good defense, set good screens and reliably get boards and maybe make a dunk or two if the defense leaves him wide open. That's basically what he was at Texas Tech last year and they were a lot better than we are. (19 mins a game, 4.5 boards, 5 points last season.)

But maybe he's figuring it out, he was actually one of the bright spots yesterday.

bobinator said:

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I think he's been a disappointment even by the standards of people that had realistic expectations of him.

I don't think it was unreasonable to expect him to be a guy that could give us 15 minutes in the post, play good defense, set good screens and reliably get boards and maybe make a dunk or two if the defense leaves him wide open. That's basically what he was at Texas Tech last year and they were a lot better than we are. (19 mins a game, 4.5 boards, 5 points last season.)

But maybe he's figuring it out, he was actually one of the bright spots yesterday.

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I mean sure I agree he should be better than he has been, but he wasn't even top 7 of our top portal commits imo. Hes a backup big but some think he was gonna play a huge role

Someone on premium said hes getting $2.1 million in nil. No idea if thats true or not but if it is that was a massively bad evaluation

AggieCrew44 said:

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DTP02 said:

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PJYoung said:

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My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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Fedi is the only one of our struggling big 3 acquisitions who doesn't have an injury excuse, so he's the guy underperforming the most to this point. Thankfully Agee has been a horse to help make up for it.

We have to get more production out of Fedi, Pop and Mac. Or at least two of the three.

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Anyone that watched him at prior stops knew he shouldn't have been part of a "big 3". Vinson is a better player than him

He's an ok backup defensive big that gives practically nothing offensively. That's why he's 24 and on his third school in three years. People see that size/length and get enamored but he is what he is, a below average P4 player

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Our staff, and multiple other staffs, all held him in much higher regard than that. On this team we needed a big who could run the floor, be a shot blocking deterrent, and play defense for 20 mins, first and foremost.

And he's on his third school in three years because people keep offering him more money (and, in our case, opportunity as well).

And he's part of our struggling big 3. Griffen was up here with those guys as an acquisition, and Agee probably would have been as well except for the uncertainty around his eligibility, but they aren't struggling.

DTP02 said:

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AggieCrew44 said:

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DTP02 said:

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PJYoung said:

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My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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Fedi is the only one of our struggling big 3 acquisitions who doesn't have an injury excuse, so he's the guy underperforming the most to this point. Thankfully Agee has been a horse to help make up for it.

We have to get more production out of Fedi, Pop and Mac. Or at least two of the three.

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Anyone that watched him at prior stops knew he shouldn't have been part of a "big 3". Vinson is a better player than him

He's an ok backup defensive big that gives practically nothing offensively. That's why he's 24 and on his third school in three years. People see that size/length and get enamored but he is what he is, a below average P4 player

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Our staff, and multiple other staffs, all held him in much higher regard than that. On this team we needed a big who could run the floor, be a shot blocking deterrent, and play defense, first and foremost.

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Those staff's all had bad evals then. He's 24 and a finished product that has been nothing more than an ok backup big

I'd rather see Vinson. He has potentially two more years of eligibility and has good physical tools

AggieCrew44 said:

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DTP02 said:

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AggieCrew44 said:

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DTP02 said:

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PJYoung said:

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My hope is Mgbako returns to his summer form in a few weeks as he begins to trust his foot more and gets in playing shape.

He is the biggest disappointment on the team so far but I cut him some slack because of his injury and lack of practice time.

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Fedi is the only one of our struggling big 3 acquisitions who doesn't have an injury excuse, so he's the guy underperforming the most to this point. Thankfully Agee has been a horse to help make up for it.

We have to get more production out of Fedi, Pop and Mac. Or at least two of the three.

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Anyone that watched him at prior stops knew he shouldn't have been part of a "big 3". Vinson is a better player than him

He's an ok backup defensive big that gives practically nothing offensively. That's why he's 24 and on his third school in three years. People see that size/length and get enamored but he is what he is, a below average P4 player

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Our staff, and multiple other staffs, all held him in much higher regard than that. On this team we needed a big who could run the floor, be a shot blocking deterrent, and play defense, first and foremost.

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Those staff's all had bad evals then. He's 24 and a finished product that has been nothing more than an ok backup big

I'd rather see Vinson. He has potentially two more years of eligibility and has good physical tools

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I know our staff thought he was a much better fit for the style we run than what Tech runs. And on paper that belief makes sense, but not so much on the court to this point. Hopefully he's starting to turn the corner after this last game.

He also had some really good games when Toppin was out last season for Tech.

All fan sites fall victim to a sort of acquisition bias where we think we can turn a mediocre player into a great one, but I think even if you had reasonable expectations for Federiko he hasn't lived up to them yet.

But again, he was a bright spot yesterday and he did what we need him to do. Protect the paint, get boards, play extremely hard for a few minutes at a time and give us a spark. We don't need him to go hold down the block for 30 minutes.

I disagree with most of yall.
I thought Pop and Mgbako both played their best games against SMU...they're coming around, like I have been thinking they will.

Yes it was disappointing when we had made such a remarkable comeback. Couple plays and we're all very excited about the progress of the team.

These two keep improving, combined with Agee, Dominguez, and Lane and we might have something.

Really need Griffen to come on also...wasn't very impressed with his play vs SMU.