I don't know what to make of the guy because he red-shirted last season. I'm wondering what his game will translate to at this level and if he could provide some guard minutes off the bench.
Do You Think We'll See Much Of Ryan McMahon?
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Sure, like everyone else, he will play. And, like everyone else, further playing time depends on how he does. Freshmen and new guys have to know they are on a short leash. He'll need to be under control and not schizophrenic about playing out there. Levitch has already proven himself - this is what Ryan will need to do.
Short answer. No.
Long answer - I hope we're never in a position where we see a lot of McMahon on the court.
Long answer - I hope we're never in a position where we see a lot of McMahon on the court.
A few years ago,I'd say probably not.Pitino has always rewarded guys for being tenacious defensive players.Not that Ryan isn't that type player(I don't know) but he probably has been brought in to fill the role of shooter.I think our coach has subtly moved towards finding more offense to complement the ever present defensive philosophy he has.If this is the case,it bodes well for Mac.
I disagree, I hope we see lots of him as the Sharp-Shooter Specialist he was brought into be. He doesn't have the build of Patrick Sparks but from his highlights his game reminds me a lot of him. Sparks didn't get recruited by big time programs because of his size so he ended up at WKU. He torched the Wildcats and then promptly was offered a scholarship after UL offered him one. He thought about UL but ended up at UK and beat us with the phantom foul on the 3 point attempt. Kid was a fiery competitor with a nose for the game.
If McMahon is only called to shoot the rock and he does it at a high clip he will get on the court if for nothing else to be a zone buster. But if the kid plays like his highlights show him capable of we might all be pleasantly surprised. He did out play I believe Blankley down there in Florida.
McMahon is physically small and in big-time D-I basketball you better be one helluva stud athlete to overcome that big disadvantage. I wish him the best, maybe if he just flat shoots the hell out of the ball it gets him some clock but I'll be surprised if he ever plays much here.
I am actually a fan. Watching him in Puerto Rico last season showed a savvy kid unafraid to mix it up with the physical PR's. He has very fast hands, deflected a number of balls on the press and he is quite a bit more athletic than many of us seem to think. An entire last season spent scrimmaging against larger and older guys has to have made him understand his position and possible impact better. Some guys are just basketball players, in the end. I have to think Ryan is one of these guys. I doubt we will ever see him NOT trying to maximize his game to help our team - and he can include shooting in that mix.
I'm a fan too. Then again, I'm a UofL homer so I'm a fan of every kid that puts on the UofL uniform. I hope he does great for the Cards. Not sure why any true homer UofL fan would bad mouth any of the kids who decided to be L1C4. It doesn't make much sense to me.
I think you can be a fan of every kid in your program and still understand that each kid has limitations both physically and with their game that will hold them back or make them less likely to be impact players.
I hope Ryan is the 2nd coming of Steph Curry and Allen Iverson...realistically though just like @ShortCreek said, he's physically limited and you have to be a transcendent player to overcome those physical limitations. Combined that with the fact that he was playing high school basketball in a state that allowed him to be seen by tons of coaches and none of them saw fit to give him a scholarship or even offer him a walk-on spot. Now I trust Rick to a certain degree and I don't know what his plan was when he brought Ryan in, but I hope it works out. But I'm not holding my breath that Ryan will ever be an impactful player at Louisville.
I hope Ryan is the 2nd coming of Steph Curry and Allen Iverson...realistically though just like @ShortCreek said, he's physically limited and you have to be a transcendent player to overcome those physical limitations. Combined that with the fact that he was playing high school basketball in a state that allowed him to be seen by tons of coaches and none of them saw fit to give him a scholarship or even offer him a walk-on spot. Now I trust Rick to a certain degree and I don't know what his plan was when he brought Ryan in, but I hope it works out. But I'm not holding my breath that Ryan will ever be an impactful player at Louisville.
I get that. That's OK to do. We all critique the play of these kids. If we didn't then it wouldn't mean all that much to us. I have zero issues with kids being critiqued for their play. I have issues with people bad mouthing the kids with slurs or name calling. It's over the line IMO and no true fan would ever do that to a player on the team they claim to support. We've all seen it. He's a slug, he's a wasted scholarship, etc. That's the kind of stuff that doesn't make sense to me.
Look we all would like to take the 15th guy on the roster and replace them with a potential NBA lottery pick. The reality is that only 5 guys start and play at any one time. What you need are role players. Guys that can contribute and not hurt you when you're in the game. If they're good enough to see significant playing time they're going to be playing somewhere else like Elijah Justice, who did contribute while he was here. Hustle, play defense, hit an open jump shot, make foul shots... You will play.
It's not often you see a kid redshirted without injury in basketball. I just can't see someone who gets redshirted at this level getting major minutes in his redshirt freshman year. He is definitely a project. If he contributes it will be junior or senior year I believe. If his shot is as good as advertised then he will find his way on the floor at some point but Pitino (with some good work ethic from Ryan) will need to work his magic- just like any coach would do.
I don't know if he gets major minutes year 1 but he may get his shot. SU redshirted Trevor Cooney because of the log jam of talent ahead of him. Not to say that Ryan will be the next Cooney but we could only hope so. Cooney isn't playing in the NBA but he was a good college player. Wisconsin has also used a lot of redshirt players while Bo Ryan was the coach. http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2014/11/18/5131498/wisconsin-basketball-recruiting-redshirts-bo-ryan
I haven't seen Ryan's body post redshirt. We know he probably didn't get any taller but he may have gotten stronger. And if going head to head with Mitchell and the other guards last season allowed him to build his confidence without pressure then again we maybe pleasantly surprised.
I haven't seen Ryan's body post redshirt. We know he probably didn't get any taller but he may have gotten stronger. And if going head to head with Mitchell and the other guards last season allowed him to build his confidence without pressure then again we maybe pleasantly surprised.
That foul call was total BS. Add to the fact that he traveled as well prior to jumping into our player - think it was Myles - completely initiating contact and flopping after throwing up that ridiculous "shot". I still cannot believe we got that called on us in OUR house!! Total F'ing BS.
I agree 100% still doesn't change the fact that a lightly recruited kid had the work ethic and game to compete at a high level.
I don't think we'll see Ryan in anything but mop up this year but that certainly doesn't make him a wasted scholarship at all. I think CRP took a swing on a guy that could be a knock-down shooter/ scrappy type of player. How many times have we played a team that has some 5' something guard that just drives us crazy (Spike Albrecht among others) or plays for a "mid-major" and is lighting it up and said to yourself, "why doesn't Pitino get more guys like that"? Sometimes you have to take chances to find those diamonds in the rough.
This is unrealistic. There is no way a program can survive solely recruiting and signing players that can play year one. In a 3-5 man class you will have 1-2ish contributors and 1-2ish that need development. Some years are up and some years are down.
And it's not all about star rankings. In 2010 we had a low rated class of Russ, Gorgui and Elisha Justice. In 2011 we had a loaded class of Wayne, Behanan, Angel Nunez, Zach Price and Kevin Ware who arrived late in December. Which class was better in the end?
Keep in mind I said "solely". I understand that those guys down the road "reload" every year but even over there not every one of their recruits contribute in year one.
Ill take that model any day you see Duke has adopted it. Hate to say their is something to it and Ricks style works but only because he is an elite level coach. A lesser coach trying to do what Rick does with the same talent would look horrible.
CRP gave Ryan good marks in a recent interview with R & R
lets hope that Ryan shoots like spike in the first half of the MNC his entire career.
GO CARDS!!!
GO CARDS!!!
I think looking back,teams making deep runs have to have guys that can come off the bench and not only understand what they're doing,but be able to hit open shots.He might not be needed in every game,but I'm guessing he will be needed at some point when others struggle shooting it straight.
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