Importance of McCabe

[gohwks13]

With the recent deflections I think its obvious the importance of McCabe has increased. I seem to remember him being pretty slim. Can he guard a typical big 10 PF? If not him, our bigs are the frail Archie, Cougs, and Cole. Not a lot of versatility with those 3. Can't help but wonder how Fiedorowicz would compare to our current bigs....

 

[drew003]

I've been wondering where McCabe fits in with McCaffery. I presume McCaffery places more emphasis on explosion, foot speed, and ability to create pressure off the dribble than Lick. I wonder if McCabe has enough of these skills to play the wing position for him or not. Likewise he isn't physically read to play the 4 spot, and even if he develops physically he will always be undersized playing that spot.

It seems apparent he has a nice skill-set as far ball-handling, passing, and shooting. I'm just curious where he fits in because he seems like the classic tweener.

 

[talkinhawks]

I've been wondering where McCabe fits in with McCaffery. I presume McCaffery places more emphasis on explosion, foot speed, and ability to create pressure off the dribble than Lick. I wonder if McCabe has enough of these skills to play the wing position for him or not. Likewise he isn't physically read to play the 4 spot, and even if he develops physically he will always be undersized playing that spot.

It seems apparent he has a nice skill-set as far ball-handling, passing, and shooting. I'm just curious where he fits in because he seems like the classic tweener.

I didn't get to see a lot of McCabe in highschool (only 2-3 games) but what I saw is a kid who has a good understanding of the game and plays within himself. He is not an explosive player, but he is fundamentally sound, makes good decisions, and can knock down open shots. I think he is athletic enough to play at this level, but it would be nice to give him a year or two before we asked him to play 20 minutes per game. Unfortunately, he may be another guy who is forced to step in and play before he is physically ready.

Fran prefers the up tempo style but he is smart enough to understand that he needs a bench in order to play that way. When he was hired he said that he prefers to run but depending on the opponent and situation, they will press when they need to, play zone when they need to, etc.

In other words, I think he is a coach that adjusts well depending on situations and the opponent. Lickliter did not seem to adjust and did not want to adjust. Lick's philosophy is that we do what we do and if we do it better than the other team we will win. As we saw in the last game of the year, he probably should have inserted the zone defense a little more often.