In Reply to: I’m not exactly sure what “arrived” means, but he… posted by Fuzzy on February 05, 2025 at 11:00:10
yes, I agree with you. Certainly. But there remain two concerns both having to do with his young age at this point in his development:
1) Can he reliably play more than 24 minutes a game without tiring and becoming far less effective when he does so?
Tracy Murray was a bit worried at halftime that Mara had already played 13 minutes, hoping that wasn't too much for him. Earlier - not that long ago - in the season he had games where he tired after the first half and was far less effective as the game went on in the second half. He had that breakthrough game where he played 30 minutes but Mick is clearly managing minutes for him and for others to keep them fresh for the late game. Hope he can continue to improve his ability to play more and more as we head toward March.
2) Simply - again age and development related - can he hold his own in the paint against the likes of Michigan's Goldin and other bull dozer posts? He's getting better at it and he's clearly working really hard on strengthening; he's improved a great deal but he'll be a lot better a year from now with continued strength work especially on his lower body and simply more physical maturity