Mike Muscala Is Ready For More Minutes in 2015-16

In year two of his young NBA career, the big man out of Bucknell Mike Muscala made the most of his playing time and broke into the Atlanta Hawks’ playoff rotation.  Much like during his rookie year with the Hawks, Muscala played sparingly during the regular season, as he only got on to the court for 40 games in 2014-15.  For most of early part of the season, Moose received spot starts in the D-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants to improve and shake off rust while not factoring into Bud’s early to mid-season bench rotation.

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But once the Atlanta Hawks were within striking distance of the East’s top seed, Muscala started to get more frequent playing time.  Bud had used Mike as a starter against inferior opponents on the road when Coach wanted to give members of his starting five a breather for a game.

In the final 11 games of the regular season for the Atlanta Hawks, Muscala played in each one and averaged roughly 24 minutes per game in those contests.  24 minutes is a healthy allotment of playing time in an NBA rotation.  During that 11-game stretch, Moose averaged 8.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG.  He also shot 55.6% from the field and 57.1% from three.

Apr 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Muscala (31) shoots the ball against the Brooklyn Nets in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Nets 131-99. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It has been Mike’s soft touch offensively as a stretch five that has allowed Moose to break into Bud’s rotation.  His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in 2014-15 was 18.0, where 15 is the league average.  Muscala also had a True Shooting Percentage of .608 this past season. TSP accounts for the overall efficiency of a players’ shooting performance in terms of two-point field goals, three-pointers, and free throws.

Mike is also a plus defensive player with 0.7 Win Shares in 2014-15 on defense to go along with his 1.2 Win Shares on offense.  Overall, Mike Muscala accounted for 1.9 Win Shares in 2014-15 despite playing only in 502 minutes this regular season.  His efficiency on both ends of the floor make him a valuable piece to Bud’s puzzle for the foreseeable future.

It was going to take some time for 44th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft to adjust to the Association’s style of play.  Now that he has as he played big minutes in playoff games against the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the all-time leading scorer in the Patriot League should find himself deeply entrenched in Coach Bud’s rotation in 2015-16.