To start off I think he's a positive addition to the team overall as another scoring threat. This game is the first I've seen, against a lesser opponent, so I'm not certain how this will translate against higher level competition.

I hope he settles down though, because I see potential, but last night he looked wild and out of control when handling the ball. Over 18 minutes he had 4 turnovers while the rest of our team had 6 the entire game.

To be fair his wild ball handling on offense translated into high energy on defense as well, with 3 steals and 5 rebounds (3 defensive). So at least he is bringing the same energy on both sides of the court.

It looked like a lot of "me" ball when he got the rock, he took the most shots out of anyone on the team. Maybe it needs to be that way sometimes to open things up for the rest of the team. He did go 8/13 and generate 3 fouls on his 5 misses. I would still like to see better than 1 assist and 2/6 free throw shooting from a guard.

Overall I would give him a B+ for showing several areas in need of improvement but also putting up some impressive stats against a weaker opponent. Looking forward to see Buzz integrate him into the team.

Why didn't he play vs UCF? And where is Turkson? Sorry I missed the game last night

Tobias Funke said:

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I have zero problem with somebody playing B-level me ball. I think that's exactly what this team needs this year to take some attention off of Wade and Payne and create some action in our offense

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I agree with this. Buzz teams seem to always have a need for more offensive-minded players that can score. I think this team looks like it could be very good and very balanced come March.

My only criticism of Phelps is that he doesn't look to pass. I think I saw him pass twice, including one assist for a Garcia bucket. Phelps looks at the basket, puts his head down and runs through defenders to get to the rim. There are definitely times we need someone to create offense and it's easy to do against the quality of opponent that we played last night, but will need to distribute more.

I am also interested to see if he's capable of pulling up and shooting a jumper once his hand more fully heals.

We don't need him to look to pass right now. I think someone said he missed multiple weeks of practice. We need him to drive the ball and test his limits and get up to speed. He can pass later.

The addition of Payne and Phelps gives this two exceptional players and and depth. In tough games we will be able to rotate 10 to 12 players without too much drop in talent.

I hope Buzz shortens the bench quickly.

Anybody else think this thread was going to be a comparison of Phelps to Elston Turner?

I absolutely loved the pick up when we got him this off season and liked his debut. He was the new guy I was most looking forward to seeing.Sure he was a little wild but he also looks like the best ball handler I've seen here since I've been an Aggie in 2010.


I also thought the offense still ran well with him in, and Taylor out which I need to see more games and games against better teams to definitively say that

Tobias Funke said:

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Anybody else think this thread was going to be a comparison of Phelps to Elston Turner?

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bingram1230 said:

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Sure he was a little wild but he also looks like the best ball handler I've seen here since I've been an Aggie in 2010.

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These statements seem contradictory, unless you're saying you saw him handle the ball differently throughout the game. Or if you have a different definition of ball handler than I do. I'm hoping he settles down as he gets more comfortable with the team. Going to be fun to watch the next few games with him - especially Ohio State.

Best ball handler since 2010 is an absolutely wild thing to say unless you mean you haven't seen us play since 2010.

I still have an irrational fear that he won't be a good fit for a Buzz team, despite the fact it seems like he'd bring an element this team was missing.

Irrational. Probably.

My only real concern is how he and Taylor are going to play off of each other against high level competition. Last year, the better the opponent, the lower the assist rate was for Phelps. That's not that surprising, but it still makes his ability to distribute the ball against a good teams something of an unknown.

We need someone other than Taylor who can pass the ball at a high level against decent-or-better teams.

That was one of our big weaknesses last year. Yeah we need guys to shoot better, but we also need good passes that set people up to shoot.

Woooah no way. Elston Turner could actually shoot lol. Phelps is a very poor shooter throughout his career