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MM is probably the ultimate key to Lehigh’s season. You know what you have in CJ, HG, GK and JH, but he is the wildcard. Guard play in college is huge, especially at the point. Nobody would doubt his physical tools, which are unmatched at his position in the league. He really needs to work on/improve his mental approach, which is tougher. Knowing when to push the ball, when to slow it down, when to involve your teammates, when to go yourself into the lane or pull up, etc. That will hopefully come from experience. I liked the few times he pushed the tempo after made baskets last night. It was effective. Bucknell doesn’t want to get in a track meet with Lehigh, but he needs to push tempo, as Lehigh is far better in transition than in the half court sets. I think most of us would agree that Lehigh plays its best basketball in the 70’s or 80’s, which is why last night’s win in the 50’s was a pleasant surprise. But, he needs to think more like a pass first PG, more often. Distribute, penetrate and dish, hit the jumper when left open, limit turnovers and improve assist/turnover ratio. You can’t win when your PG is limiting shot opportunities by turning over the ball with bad decision-making or forcing bad shots. What makes him the wildcard is he has a scorer’s mentality at times, and a scorer’s ability. He can score, but he needs to pick his spots a little better. He did that well in the second half last night, not as good in the first. He frustrates us all (Reed included), and tantalizes us with his talent. A little better decision-making and a little better jump shooting, and he could be huge going forward. I think he has more potential upside than Marquis Hall. He is actually shooting 10% higher from the field over last season, which is a huge improvement, and 3.7 assists to 1.7 turns, which is not terrible. His 3 shooting is about the same at about 31%. If he could get that up a bit, it would be big. We just see the flashes and hope he can elevate his game to that level, all the time.
