2023 SF/PF Mackenzie Mgbako to Texas A&M via Portal

[Muskie plays the four]

Been said before. But  at 14 to 16 people thought he was the next superstar. 

[American HoosierX]

19 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Hidden and ruined by Woodson’s complete lack of perimeter sets and schemes.
Said it earlier whether or not people like him he’s a talented player, he’ll do well elsewhere, he just had a sh$t coach

Woodson didn't help him to be sure, but in my opinion he just doesn't have it mentally. He'll have some great games, but I think he'll always continue to have disappearing acts. And I doubt his defense will ever even be average.

There's a reason he was so far down in the transfer rankings.

[HoosierHoopster]

17 minutes ago, HoosierX said:

Woodson didn't help him to be sure, but in my opinion he just doesn't have it mentally. He'll have some great games, but I think he'll always continue to have disappearing acts. And I doubt his defense will ever even be average.

There's a reason he was so far down in the transfer rankings.

Time will tell. McD’s players don’t usually fall apart, but a sh@t coach who runs a front court offense only can turn a good perimeter player into a nonproductive player.

[Home Jersey]

3 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Time will tell. McD’s players don’t usually fall apart, but a sh@t coach who runs a front court offense only can turn a good perimeter player into a nonproductive player.

For me it’s very simple. 

In HS/AAU, he was much bigger than most of his competition and generally more athletic too. He didn’t get great coaching at that level. College level either so far, for sure.

In college the game is much faster and more complex. So his lack of athleticism really hurts at this level and he’s not yet a smart enough player / doesn’t have a very intuitive feel for the game yet.

He is a good shooter and we saw him score by putting it on the floor a little more often too. He will probably score well at A&M if nothing else. Like you said, time will tell.

[CSP]

2 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Time will tell. McD’s players don’t usually fall apart, but a sh@t coach who runs a front court offense only can turn a good perimeter player into a nonproductive player.

Where's the evidence hes a good perimeter player though? 

[CSP]

Best part of the box score.. MMs team lost by 40. How fitting 

[AZ Hoosier]

2 minutes ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

Best part of the box score.. MMs team lost by 40. How fitting 

Look again... MM was on team THREE who won 101-63...

[CSP]

28 minutes ago, AZ Hoosier said:

Look again... MM was on team THREE who won 101-63...

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story!!! 

[HoosierHoopster]

1 hour ago, Certified Sunshine Pumper said:

Where's the evidence hes a good perimeter player though? 

Plenty of it. Obvious you don’t like him. 

[Demo]

Mgbako and Tamar Bates both with the call up to the NBA Combine. Good for the young men. 

[jermhoosierfan]

56 minutes ago, Demo said:

Mgbako and Tamar Bates both with the call up to the NBA Combine. Good for the young men. 

Good for them.  It wasn't their fault they had a coach at IU who didn't bother to run stuff to get shooters shots.  It wasn't his job to do that.

[Hoosierinbham]

Bucky will know how to use MM. He’ll force him to learn to drive, and also create open looks for him from 3. He doesn’t have the post game of Trendon Watford, but plays very similarly on the wing.

[Home Jersey]

After shining at last weekend's G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako and Bates were among five of 4 players called up for the upcoming NBA Draft Combine. The other three to get called up for the NBA Draft Combine are Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard, Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Australian forward Lachlan Olbrich. 

Across two scrimmages at the G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako tallied 41 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and two steals in 41 minutes, shooting 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from 3-point range and 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Mgbako recorded a +31 plus/minus to help lead his team to a pair of wins.

Bates posted 28 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 36 minutes, shooting 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from the field, 2-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Bates started both games which resulted in victories.

Mgbako transferred to Texas A&M this offseason after spending his first two years at Indiana. Bates played his first two seasons at Indiana before finishing his final two years at Missouri. 

The full G-League Elite Camp roster is here:

https://gleague.nba.com/news/2025-g-league-elite-camp#

[BannerVille]

3 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

After shining at last weekend's G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako and Bates were among five of 4 players called up for the upcoming NBA Draft Combine. The other three to get called up for the NBA Draft Combine are Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard, Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Australian forward Lachlan Olbrich. 

Across two scrimmages at the G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako tallied 41 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and two steals in 41 minutes, shooting 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from 3-point range and 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Mgbako recorded a +31 plus/minus to help lead his team to a pair of wins.

Bates posted 28 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 36 minutes, shooting 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from the field, 2-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Bates started both games which resulted in victories.

Mgbako transferred to Texas A&M this offseason after spending his first two years at Indiana. Bates played his first two seasons at Indiana before finishing his final two years at Missouri. 

The full G-League Elite Camp roster is here:

https://gleague.nba.com/news/2025-g-league-elite-camp#

Obviously we see when coaching results in a team being greater than the sum of its parts, but I've never seen a coach actively make his players worse like Woody.  It's remarkable in the absolute worst way.

[str8baller]

5 hours ago, BannerVille said:

Obviously we see when coaching results in a team being greater than the sum of its parts, but I've never seen a coach actively make his players worse like Woody.  It's remarkable in the absolute worst way.

Several Archie players transferred out and had success elsewhere. But yea…I wrote at the beginning of transfer season that I understand why CDD cleared out the roster entirely but some posters are going to be surprised when they see these guys go to other schools and play well. Mbako was an obvious one. Rice could be another one. 

[cybergates]

7 hours ago, BannerVille said:

Obviously we see when coaching results in a team being greater than the sum of its parts, but I've never seen a coach actively make his players worse like Woody.  It's remarkable in the absolute worst way.

I remember watching the UT scrimmage and thinking Mbako looked like he had a good offseason and may have a good season. He looked progressively worse instead.

[jermhoosierfan]

12 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

After shining at last weekend's G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako and Bates were among five of 4 players called up for the upcoming NBA Draft Combine. The other three to get called up for the NBA Draft Combine are Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard, Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Australian forward Lachlan Olbrich. 

Across two scrimmages at the G-League Elite Camp, Mgbako tallied 41 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and two steals in 41 minutes, shooting 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from 3-point range and 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Mgbako recorded a +31 plus/minus to help lead his team to a pair of wins.

Bates posted 28 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 36 minutes, shooting 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from the field, 2-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Bates started both games which resulted in victories.

Mgbako transferred to Texas A&M this offseason after spending his first two years at Indiana. Bates played his first two seasons at Indiana before finishing his final two years at Missouri. 

The full G-League Elite Camp roster is here:

https://gleague.nba.com/news/2025-g-league-elite-camp#

Woodson just didn't know how to feature any wing players because he did a disservice to any he had in my view.  Those are 2 "5 Star" players he had that were a lot better than what they shown in his system.  He had the players, but he just didn't know how to allow them to flourish, and that is why he failed.

[Home Jersey]

2 minutes ago, jermhoosierfan said:

Woodson just didn't know how to feature any wing players because he did a disservice to any he had in my view.  Those are 2 "5 Star" players he had that were a lot better than what they shown in his system.  He had the players, but he just didn't know how to allow them to flourish, and that is why he failed.

I am rooting for them both. Mgbako was definitely pitched/sold on the Carmelo Anthony development path. I am surprised that Woodson, having spent so much time with Melo, apparently could not develop wings but could with big men… didn’t he say TJD was the first time he had a big man that he ran an offense through? Idk… the whole era with Mike was a sh!t show that I’m very pleased we’ve flushed. 

[str8baller]

41 minutes ago, jermhoosierfan said:

Woodson just didn't know how to feature any wing players because he did a disservice to any he had in my view.  Those are 2 "5 Star" players he had that were a lot better than what they shown in his system.  He had the players, but he just didn't know how to allow them to flourish, and that is why he failed.

 

37 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I am rooting for them both. Mgbako was definitely pitched/sold on the Carmelo Anthony development path. I am surprised that Woodson, having spent so much time with Melo, apparently could not develop wings but could with big men… didn’t he say TJD was the first time he had a big man that he ran an offense through? Idk… the whole era with Mike was a sh!t show that I’m very pleased we’ve flushed. 

Yep, he had issues with perimeter players both offensively and defensively. Otoh, he did allow our bigs to flourish. TJD, Ware, Teneau and even Ballo were at least good under him. 
 

Now we have posters freaking out because we don’t have bigs. Gotta love IU basketball!

[BA47591]

On 5/15/2025 at 8:25 AM, cybergates said:

I remember watching the UT scrimmage and thinking Mbako looked like he had a good offseason and may have a good season. He looked progressively worse instead.

Rice ate Zeigler up and we locked Lanier down. That was after both teams had been playing pick-up predominantly and had not been "coached" up. Then we started getting coached. 

Mgbako has been tearing it up in the scrimmages during the process, on both ends. The groovy OG of coaching approach, treating kids like 30 yo's  wasn't a culture builder. 

Rice under DeVries would've thrived and a Ware or Ballo would have me pretty excited.