MSU-Mankato

[jacks1]

Per Matt Zimmer:


MSU-Mankato's Zach Monaghan and Matt Margenthaler are NSIC player and coach of the year.

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: MSU-Mankato

Good for Zach. Would have liked to have seen him stay in Brookings, but it sounds like he has found a good fit and a chance to be a star on the DII level.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: MSU-Mankato

State needed a true PG this year. He definitely could have helped.

[NorCalJack]

Re: MSU-Mankato

State needed a true PG this year. He definitely could have helped.

I would take Carlson over Monaghan any day of the week. Carlson is a first team All Academic All American. He may also be a first team All Summit League. Monaghan is where he should be. In the NCIS.

[SanDakotaState]

Re: MSU-Mankato

I would take Carlson over Monaghan any day of the week. Carlson is a first team All Academic All American. He may also be a first team All Summit League. Monaghan is where he should be. In the NCIS.

Carlson still would have started at the point but Monaghan would have gave us more depth. The kid can play, he just had this one guy who is playing in nba in front of him. Also if Monaghan would have stayed Broman could have redshirted and made him that much better.

[jackrabbit1979]

MSU-Mankato

Carlson still would have started at the point but Monaghan would have gave us more depth. The kid can play, he just had this one guy who is playing in nba in front of him. Also if Monaghan would have stayed Broman could have redshirted and made him that much better.

And if Monaghan would have stayed we probably wouldn't have had an open scholarship for some guy named Cody Larson...think about that.

[SanDakotaState]

Re: MSU-Mankato

And if Monaghan would have stayed we probably wouldn't have had an open scholarship for some guy named Cody Larson...think about that.

well then it looks like that Nagy would have had a decision to take someones scholarship away.....i'm just saying that Monaghan could have helped this years team out.

[goon]

Re: MSU-Mankato

I am bummed zm left. I thought he was going to be a big part of our team after he showed promise his freshman year.

[jack power]

Re: MSU-Mankato

I am bummed zm left. I thought he was going to be a big part of our team after he showed promise his freshman year.

I don't remember him standing out that much. I just looked at his stats and they were brutal.

[SanDakotaState]

Re: MSU-Mankato

I don't remember him standing out that much. I just looked at his stats and they were brutal.

He was a true freshman who played limited minutes. Players do get better with experience. If you have watched any of his games on midco this year you could tell that he has improved even though its against lower competition.

[jack power]

Re: MSU-Mankato

He was a true freshman who played limited minutes. Players do get better with experience. If you have watched any of his games on midco this year you could tell that he has improved even though its against lower competition.

Yes,i know players can get better,i'm simply saying i don't remember what was so promising about him. I also think some fans get a little hyped about players that leave, "the one that got away" syndrome.

[goon]

Re: MSU-Mankato

We haven't had an impact freshman for several years but he seemed good with the ball and I felt earned his playing time. Decent shooter. Maybe not 1st team summit but a guy who would have helped the team if he stayed.

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: MSU-Mankato

He was a true freshman who played limited minutes. Players do get better with experience. If you have watched any of his games on midco this year you could tell that he has improved even though its against lower competition.

Nagy was disappointed he left and said publically Zach would have played an important role had he stayed.

[SanDakotaState]

Re: MSU-Mankato

For those who might be interested Zach Monaghan will be playing against Winona State in the NSIC title game on midco tomorrow night at 7:30pm

[MrAugustana]

Re: MSU-Mankato

So I want to throw a question out there that's been on my mind for a couple of days, especially based on the discussion happening in this thread. Would love to hear anyone's thoughts who is willing to chime in.

I know the general consensus is, "Monaghan is only doing as well as he is because he's at a lower level." That's fine. I get why people, particularly SDSU fans, look at it that way.

So here's the setup for my question, and hopefully people get the point I'm trying to make...

Let's look at Nate Wolters. The general consensus is that his final choice was between Augie and SDSU. At least, that's what he said in that big ESPN article during your first NCAA Tourney appearance. Unfortunately for Augie fans, he chose SDSU.

Now, on the one hand, part of the reason Nate got so good was because he was playing against D1 competition. I hope it's clear that I understand that point. But let's say Nate had actually chosen Augie and averaged 30 ppg at the D2 level, won a Player of the Year award or two, maybe a National Championship, etc., and still went to the NBA as a 2nd round draft pick. If, during his time at Augie, some Augie fan got on these boards and said "Bet you wish you'd gotten Nate Wolters," would SDSU fans have responded with something along the lines of, "Well, it's because he's playing at a lower level that he's doing so well."?

Even if he were foundationally the same player (worked just as hard in the offseason, got up just as many shots in his late-night shooting sessions, etc.), would you guys simply dismiss him as a "playing at a lower level so he can't be as good as the guys at our level" type of player?

Like I said, I get that he played against D1 competition for four years and had an opportunity to play in some big games (Washington, etc.), so that in itself adds a major element of "we'll never know." It just makes me wonder if there's not so much of a talent gap as it would appear (at least in regards to specific, individual players) or if the level makes that much of a difference. What I mean is, it's obvious that Monaghan is playing at a lower level, but it's not like D2 is junior high girls basketball compared to the Summit League. Yes, the Summit League is a higher talent level overall top-to-bottom, I totally admit that and agree, but would Monaghan not still possess the skills to be a serviceable (or better) player for SDSU, regardless of the level he's currently playing in?

To be clear, I'm not a Monaghan fan. Particularly after hearing him f-bomb the Augie coaching staff after a made 3 in front of Augie's bench earlier this season, amongst other things. But it seems like, at least on these message boards, any player at the D2 level is automatically dismissed as being incapable of competing at the D1 level. But I find it hard to believe Monaghan wouldn't be helping SDSU in some form or fashion based on the skills he has displayed this season at Mankato.

To compare it differently, you look at a guy like Mike Rostampour. When he played a year at St. Cloud back in 2011, he averaged 7.8 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. Not exactly someone you would expect to do more than ride the bench in the Summit League (based on the perception it seems people have for D2 basketball). Yet this year he's averaging 9.1 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game for Nebraska-Omaha. Not saying he's a superstar, but he started 29 of 30 games for UNO and seems to be a pretty important piece of their puzzle. And it's not like he transferred in to UNO from St. Cloud averaging 22 ppg and 12 rpg.

Anyway, the original point of this post was to get thoughts on how you would've viewed an alternate universe version of Nate Wolters that was nearly the same player, just dropped down a level. If he would've been immediately dismissed as a result of being at a D2 school or if there's a chance that version of Nate Wolters might've been able to make an impact for a D1 school like SDSU. I apologize if it just turned into a big, rambling mess.