Welcome back to the Thompson’s Towel Mailbag! In this edition, Will and Jacob talk about Mac McClung’s ceiling, Jahvon Blair’s shooting, important bench players, and the understated importance of Jagan Mosely to the team.
Q: What do you guys think Mac McClung’s ceiling can be after this week? Do you think by next year he can take over the Big East in a similar way to Myles Powell or Markus Howard?
Jacob: I think last week was Mac McClung’s ceiling. He did everything he was asked. In both games, he was an efficient scorer, shooting over 50% from the field. He also was a threat from deep, knocking down a combined nine threes on 14 attempts across both games. What’s more, McClung posted a career-high seven assists in Saturday’s win over SMU. Now that we know he can play to that level, the real question is consistency. We’ve seen him go on scoring outbursts before, but he has not yet been able to maintain that level of play for an extended period of time. If he does that, we can start to consider Mac among the best in the Big East, alongside Powell and Howard. However, I don’t think Ewing wants to put McClung in a position like that of Powell or Howard where he has to put the team on his back. That said, having the luxury of a player who can take over a game at any moment is always a plus, and something we can only hope McClung will become moving forward.
Will: I’m bullish on Mac McClung. The guy can flat-out score. I think if he continues his development and continues as a four-year player, he will at the worst have a strong career as a basketball player, whether that’s in the US or overseas.
As Jacob pointed out, he has to show that scoring ability consistently. Now that he has more of a green light (as well as the offense overall actually passing the ball around), he’ll have plenty of opportunity to do so. I don’t think that he’ll ever have to be in that position where he can take over the Big East, and I don’t know if he would. The Hoyas at least have multiple scoring threats that can threaten to put up double digits in a game, which you can’t really say about Marquette or Seton Hall, so I don’t think he’ll take over the Big East or will he have to.
Q: Is Jahvon Blair a flash in the pan?
Jacob: Yes, I certainly think so. Blair is a career 33.5% three-point shooter, and 36.7% this year. Not bad, but certainly not to the level of a sharpshooter off the bench. For comparison, Greg Malinowski shot 38.7% from beyond the arc last year. Additionally, Blair’s overall numbers are inflated by hot shooting nights like Saturday’s against SMU. Blair has 10 games where he’s hit three or more threes; take out those 10 outings and Jahvon is just a 26.7% three-point shooter. Blair always has been, and in my mind always will be, a streaky shooter. That being said, having Blair consistently knocking down shots would be big for the Hoyas’ success moving forward. Over the course of his career, Blair shoots 38.6% from deep in games Georgetown wins but just 28.8% in losses. I’m not confident that Blair can become a more consistent shooter, but if that were to happen, it’s impossible to deny that it would be a positive development.
Will: Blair is an enigma. As Jacob said, he’s shown the ability to get scorching hot, but he can also be ice cold. It’s frustrating for Hoya fans, and it makes it tough to know if he’ll contribute or detract for the team in any given game. To the extent that he’s a “flash in the pan”, I certainly don’t think his performance against SMU is close to his norm, so I suppose you could call him a flash in the pan. If he could just be a consistent shooter off the bench, that’d go a long way.
Q: Who do you guys think is our most important player coming off the bench moving forward?
Will: I think that Qudus Wahab is the most important player off of the bench at this point. He’s played extremely well off the bench as a freshman, including strong performances in place of Yurtseven when Yurtseven got into foul trouble. Having someone like Qudus (who’s still admittedly a little rough around the edges) come in off the bench for one of the bigs should they reach foul trouble is really important, since our positional depth at the 4 and the 5 has gone down given LeBlanc’s transfer.
Wahab’s also shown the ability to contribute positively on offense and defense, so it’s important to have someone out there on the court who can play well when the starters are resting or in foul trouble.
Jacob: Putting aside all the off the court issues and not taking into account the potential repercussions that they could entail, my gut feeling on this is Galen Alexander. Looking solely at what Alexander can contribute on the basketball court, he has a lot to offer. Put simply, Alexander is the team’s only bench player who can consistently contribute on both sides of the floor. Offensively, Galen can both stretch the floor with his three-point shooting ability (43.8% on the year) and collapse the defense by attacking the rim. Granted, he has not yet developed into a primary option offensively, but the Hoyas don’t need him to be that. So long as he can divert some attention away from McClung and Yurtseven, and knock down the occasional three, Alexander is a perfectly fine complementary piece. On the defensive end, Alexander’s combination of strength and quickness make him a valuable swiss-army knife defender, especially given the departure of Josh LeBlanc. Alexander’s size also make him a capable rebounder, something that will be necessary given the Hoyas’ occasional struggles to control the glass. I’m not saying the rest of Georgetown’s bench cannot contribute in meaningful ways, but none are as complete players as Alexander. Wahab and Gardner are valuable on defense and on the glass, but both have yet to show consistency on the offensive end. As for Jahvon Blair, he is basically a one-trick pony with his three-point shooting ability, and even that is sometimes a liability.
Q: Can you guys talk about Jagan’s role on the team and why Ewing has so much faith in him? He has seemed to be the starter who’s gotten the least amount of publicity since the transfer news.
Will: I love Jagan. He’s really developed over the past three years that I’ve been watching him (I’m a junior) into a leader of the team and someone who really puts forth a strong, consistent effort. Mosely isn’t flashy on offense, but his role on the team is that of a lockdown defender who can give a team’s best scorer fits. And his ability to draw a charge? Love at first sight.
His role on the team this year is that of a veteran presence I believe. He’s the only senior who/s been with the Hoyas for the past three years and has seen significant minutes (sorry, George Muresan), so having that presence on the court and in the locker room, especially as the team still maintains some hope of making the NCAA tournament, is really important.
Jacob: There’s been a lot of talk of praise heaped upon Terrell Allen the last few days (and rightfully so!) about how well he’s run the offense. You can easily make a similar case for Jagan Mosely. The reason Ewing has so much faith in Mosely is because he does everything he’s asked to do. Virtually every game, Mosely is tasked with guarding the opponent’s best defender. He may not get the flashy blocks or steals, but more often than not, Mosely limits his matchup and forces teams to go to their second or third option. Offensively, Jagan is not asked to shoulder much of the load, as he has the lowest usage percentage of any member of the team at 9.6%. Instead, he has worked on his jump shot extensively in order to space the floor for his teammates. This work has paid off, as Mosely has seven made threes on 12 attempts so far this season. I think Jagan summed up his role the best when responding to a question on how he was preparing for the Syracuse game: “Just being ready for whatever coach needs me to do. I think my job changes from game to game.”
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to submit your questions for our next mailbag, either at the link or below!
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