In Reply to: Thoughts on the bigs …. posted by mikeo on November 10, 2024 at 22:23:46
doesn't Mara have a decent 3 point shot? In his earlier videos he displayed an ability to find open men from up on high. I think using Mara outside on offense can end up being a real plus. He just needs more time to adjust to the more physical college game than he is accustomed to. And importantly to get stronger in order to more easily adjust to this level of play. Getting stronger will improve all aspects of his game including mobility and maybe even some improvement with his quickness.
Now of defense, I would like to see Cronin use him differently where he can stay close to the basket. But that's not Cronin's style. He wants his defenders to be aggressive and to pressure the offense. He seems to always require his bigs to be able to play outside defensively. IMO that's going to be a problem with incorporating Mara into that kind of defensive schemes - at least for the foreseeable future until Mata get get stronger and more mobile.
We'll see how all that evolves. Even though it may mean a lot of growing pains for everyone, Mara able to play defense outside will be a huge boon for his overall game and future prospects. Cronin keeping him away from that does no one any favors.