TjgtAg08 said:

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Method Man said:

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TjgtAg08 said:

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We've somewhat discussed this before, but I'll be really interested to see if we can get anything out of the 2024 guys. All 3 have definite potential, especially Mills, and McDermott has played a couple minutes and at least didn't look lost.

But looking back through the entirety of Buzz's HS recruits at A&M, he's never gotten anything out of a player that didn't play a lot as a freshman. Most of them have left after a single year.

Maybe it will be different next fall, because we really didn't have room for those guys to play (I think maybe Mills could have been useful, but that's hindsight with the Wade injury), but at some point we've got to get multiple guys to their sophomore years and get the benefit out of them being in the Buzz program for a full year.

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Didn't Boots redshirt at Va Tech?

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Yes he did, but I think that was an academic eligibility issue.

I was just talking about recruits at A&M. I'm not familiar with what he did at Vtech and Marquette. Probably a lot different with the transfer portal not existing.

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Which Buzz Marquette and VTech rosters, or previous Aggie rosters, would we be willing to trade for this current Aggie roster?

I've seen some talking heads opine that this Buzz team is potentially the best of all the rosters that he has thus far constructed.

Probably none at Virginia Tech. Maybe the 11-12 or 12-13 Marquette teams? The 11-12 team had at least 2 NBA draft picks on it and was damn good.

But with a healthy Wade and how well Payne is starting to play, not sure I'd trade at all.

TjgtAg08 said:

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Probably none at Virginia Tech. Maybe the 11-12 or 12-13 Marquette teams? The 11-12 team had at least 2 NBA draft picks on it and was damn good.

But with a healthy Wade and how well Payne is starting to play, not sure I'd trade at all.

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If we all agree this is at worst one of Buzz's top-3 best constructed rosters in his career…then what we see right now is a 'peak' Buzz team.

And that means if someone still finds it lacking, because it is missing some definite NBA draft picks or lacking several pure shooters or whatever…then that may mean Buzz's style simply isn't that poster's preferred style. Just recognize that this 2024-2025 team is probably at least close to the best of Buzz.

Method Man said:

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Well, pumpkin head. He's coached at Marquette where he had multiple nba players, Virginia tech which is a basketball school that's worse than ours, and now us. I'm open to him doing better than he has or... this is Sisyphus. I'm good with the results the last few years but with an added ball handler and a couple more shooters we could be more. Doesn't everyone want/strive for more?

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Yep, A fan always wants more!

Should we not? You think Buzz sits back and thinks "this is good enough. We should keep things as is"?

He's a pretty driven dude. He's limited at a football school, but I'm sure he'd love to win a natty.

We can be happy but want more.

I think as others have said Buzz' type player is always going to limit our multi-year ceiling. Yes, there are recruits out there that are willing to do all the work, put in the hustle, be the defender, etc, etc... that are also stud scorers. But the pool of those type players is incredibly small and they are still getting offers from all of the blue bloods.

So I think realistically under Buzz what you hope for is a Top 30ish team every year with the stars aligning certain years like this one producing a legitimate national contender.

That's probably about right (and a reasonable expectation) - tournament team almost every year, maybe a second weekend team depending on matchups, and a higher seed every few years when we get a crop of guys that have been together for 2-3 years in the system.

Based on history and financial commitment, I'd think almost all Aggie bball fans would be happy with that.

The delta might be a bit greater given the boom/bust nature of the transfer portal, but I think the portal is tailor-made for Buzz and his recruiting style (and wants).

Method Man said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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Method wants pretty basketball. Method wants us to be duke or UConn. Method doesn't realize that's not going to happen here, so a coach like Buzz or BCG is our best case scenario. Maybe people should enjoy the ride instead of always wishing for something they're never going to have.

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Auburn, Tennessee and Bama are football schools with less money than us. All are top five teams.

I am enjoying the ride and like with Johnny's first season it has left me wanting more.

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Those schools still receive more fan and financial support specifically for basketball than we do. 90% of our students & alumni don't give a **** about basketball. They just don't.

I do agree though. I'm not saying we need to have the best defense AND the best offense, but there's nothing preventing us from getting the right players that keep us from being literally one of the worst offenses every year.

I'm also quite concerned about the future. We've had (seemingly) promising freshmen transfer out or completely flounder in each of the past 3 years. And if Buzz doesn't want to be a portal-reliant program (which I agree with), then I'm not exactly sure what a post-Wade world looks like for us.

agspirit_09 said:

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Method wants pretty basketball. Method wants us to be duke or UConn. Method doesn't realize that's not going to happen here, so a coach like Buzz or BCG is our best case scenario. Maybe people should enjoy the ride instead of always wishing for something they're never going to have.

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There's no reason we can't get to the point bama is at right now. We're not far off, just haven't landed the all American guys yet. If we had a couple of big basketball fan major donors, we could attract that type of talent. I think Oates is a much trendier guy to play for and wish we had a newer arena, but I think we can get back to the consistency of relevance that we had under BCG and Turge. What I don't want is to return to the BK type days where it's a great year every few years and awful in between. This offseason will be critical for Buzz. He really has to pull in a couple of bigtime transfers, bigger than any he has to this point

zgolfz85 said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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Method wants pretty basketball. Method wants us to be duke or UConn. Method doesn't realize that's not going to happen here, so a coach like Buzz or BCG is our best case scenario. Maybe people should enjoy the ride instead of always wishing for something they're never going to have.

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If we had a couple of big basketball fan major donors, we could attract that type of talent.

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That's a massive and unrealistic "if". If such a donor existed, then they would've shown themselves by now.

I think most are just speculating that the money isn't there.

Don't take that as me saying we can compete with any other school out there -- I was one of the few a few years back ringing the alarm about how Texas was lapping us in football NIL fundraising so I'm hyper-aware that our fundraising efforts aren't what they could be.

But if Buzz has legitimate interest in a stud, and the stud has legitimate interest in us - the resources are there.

halfastros81 said:

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I think getting a player that is really good in the post up role shows Buzz is evolving . Next step is to find a few really solid shooters that he can mold into his style of defender . Find the shooters early and convince them they can go next level if they learn to play lock down defense

This team is constructed to do very well in the Big Dance imo if everyone is healthy .

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We had a decent one with Marble and we have no idea when Buzz was informed that he would not be with us the entire season last year. No telling how much better we might have been with him.

What's the expectation of this year's freshmen going forward?

jja79 said:

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What's the expectation of this year's freshmen going forward?

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I don't think anyone can answer that, in any year. Buzz doesn't really give freshmen a chance to play much. Most of these freshmen he brings in are semi-projects.

Tyler Davis
DJ Hogg
Elijah Thomas
Admon Gilder

In one class. To a team that had Caruso, house and jones.

It can be done.

HotardRat said:

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Proposition Joe said:

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I think most are just speculating that the money isn't there.

Don't take that as me saying we can compete with any other school out there -- I was one of the few a few years back ringing the alarm about how Texas was lapping us in football NIL fundraising so I'm hyper-aware that our fundraising efforts aren't what they could be.

But if Buzz has legitimate interest in a stud, and the stud has legitimate interest in us - the resources are there.

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I just don't think that this is the case. I do truly believe the gap is significant for basketball.

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I think Prop Joe is correct, from what I know. We're not going to put together a roster of 15 studs like a Duke or Kentucky, that's not what we're saying.

But there's two levels here to me.

1. I think we're already more competitive in the NIL space than people think. This narrative that we're way behind peer school is off base. The only evidence you need for that is a) we haven't lost a rotation player to the portal in like three years and b) we got Pharrel Payne out of the portal. He wasn't exactly an under the radar wing from Portland State or something. A lot of schools wanted him.

2. I do also think we could be even more competitive for higher ranked players if Buzz really wanted to be. For the most part, I think Buzz is getting the guys he wants.

Kentucky had been doing NIL for the last 13-14 years under Cal, and it only produced 1 title. I definitely feel this team is Special, and maybe better than any of our teams over the last 20 years.

BCG's teams don't make the tourney without Acie. This team Could "possibly" make the tourney without its best player. This team has Incredible fight, but they are also Talented and fully bought in. These Wadeless games will pay off in March. Let's all sit back and enjoy what Buzz is cooking...dude is on to something!

rondis23 said:

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BCG's teams don't make the tourney without Acie. This team Could "possibly" make the tourney without its best player. This team has Incredible fight, but they are also Talented and fully bought in. These Wadeless games will pay off in March. Let's all sit back and enjoy what Buzz is cooking...dude is on to something!

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I know what point you're trying to make, but the 06-07 team won 27 games. They weren't a S16 team without Acie, but they were a tourney team with or without him with Carter/Jones/AK/Kirk.

Hell, the S16 game where we took Memphis to the wire, Acie had a pretty mediocre game.

They defended him well.

It's both ironic and amusing Cal took Gillispie's place first at Kentucky and then the position at Arkansas that was pursuing him prior to Kentucky hiring him. The one email Bill Byrne answered he confessed he wasn't sure we could keep BCG. He wasn't wrong.

AggieCrew44 said:

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Well, Buzz is in on the best player in the country in the 2027 class out of Rockwall. I sure he'd love to have him, but we won't land him

If we took just 10% of our football efforts and gave it to basketball Buzz could build something special here. As it stands getting underdog types will have to suffice

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Would be a much better ROI for sure

They had Some depth, but it's tough to see them: Beat Louisville that 2nd round game. Split the Texas series like they did. The Oklahoma schools probably win at least 1 or 2. Baylor games would've been closer. Tech Swept us that year.

Maybe they get to the tourney, but we don't get past Louisville without Acie. Kansas game doesn't happen without Acie.

This team is learning to play, and play Well without Wade.

Yeah I mean the '08 team was basically the '07 team without Acie and they ended up easily made the tournament (though it got hairy for a bit.)

You added Jordan but lost AK.

Proposition Joe said:

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rondis23 said:

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BCG's teams don't make the tourney without Acie. This team Could "possibly" make the tourney without its best player. This team has Incredible fight, but they are also Talented and fully bought in. These Wadeless games will pay off in March. Let's all sit back and enjoy what Buzz is cooking...dude is on to something!

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I know what point you're trying to make, but the 06-07 team won 27 games. They weren't a S16 team without Acie, but they were a tourney team with or without him with Carter/Jones/AK/Kirk.

Hell, the S16 game where we took Memphis to the wire, Acie had a pretty mediocre game.

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I'm sorry. I don't remember. We played Memphis?

HotardRat said:

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Method Man said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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Method wants pretty basketball. Method wants us to be duke or UConn. Method doesn't realize that's not going to happen here, so a coach like Buzz or BCG is our best case scenario. Maybe people should enjoy the ride instead of always wishing for something they're never going to have.

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Auburn, Tennessee and Bama are football schools with less money than us. All are top five teams.

I am enjoying the ride and like with Johnny's first season it has left me wanting more.

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Those schools still receive more fan and financial support specifically for basketball than we do. 90% of our students & alumni don't give a **** about basketball. They just don't.

I do agree though. I'm not saying we need to have the best defense AND the best offense, but there's nothing preventing us from getting the right players that keep us from being literally one of the worst offenses every year.

I'm also quite concerned about the future. We've had (seemingly) promising freshmen transfer out or completely flounder in each of the past 3 years. And if Buzz doesn't want to be a portal-reliant program (which I agree with), then I'm not exactly sure what a post-Wade world looks like for us.

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I just want to note to folks that A&M is currently ranked #30 in offensive efficiency on Kenpom.

This team is actually decently good at generating points. Now, it may be doing that helped in large part by going to FTs and getting a lot of extra looks by being elite at offensive rebounding...but it is no where close to being one of the worst offenses'.

You want to see notably worse offenses in the SEC, then watch the games played by...let's see...

South Carolina #111
LSU #104
Arkansas #75
Georgia #73

Teams in A&M's neighborhood right now in offense ranking:

Ole Miss #31
Missouri #28
Tennessee #27

Now, A&M of course is not nearly as nice to watch score the points as these teams who are truly elite offensive teams:

Auburn #1
Alabama #2
Kentucky #3
Florida #8

Top-3 in the country all in the SEC! Whoa!!!

zgolfz85 said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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Method wants pretty basketball. Method wants us to be duke or UConn. Method doesn't realize that's not going to happen here, so a coach like Buzz or BCG is our best case scenario. Maybe people should enjoy the ride instead of always wishing for something they're never going to have.

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There's no reason we can't get to the point bama is at right now. We're not far off, just haven't landed the all American guys yet. If we had a couple of big basketball fan major donors, we could attract that type of talent. I think Oates is a much trendier guy to play for and wish we had a newer arena, but I think we can get back to the consistency of relevance that we had under BCG and Turge. What I don't want is to return to the BK type days where it's a great year every few years and awful in between. This offseason will be critical for Buzz. He really has to pull in a couple of bigtime transfers, bigger than any he has to this point

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We ARE now essentially back to the equivalent of the BCG/Turge era. We will definitely make the NCAAT this season for the third consecutive year. This team if healthy looks like it would have a shot to at least make the second weekend.

Now of course if Buzz is going to fully follow in the footsteps of BCG and Turge, right about now (at the end of this season) is when he uses us as a stepping stone to a 'basketball school' job .

Method Man said:

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Tyler Davis
DJ Hogg
Elijah Thomas
Admon Gilder

In one class. To a team that had Caruso, house and jones.

It can be done.

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Sea urchins!

Buzz doesn't get a guy like Payne if A&M doesn't have a least a couple of bucks in its NIL checking account. As you said, although he can't go buy a Calipari or Duke-level roster, he presumably has the funds to cherry pick a guy or two that he really likes. As well as keep key guys in his program like a Wade Taylor.

bobinator said:

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Yeah I mean the '08 team was basically the '07 team without Acie and they ended up easily made the tournament (though it got hairy for a bit.)

You added Jordan but lost AK.

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Would the '08 team have scored more than 10 points in the first half @ Oklahoma if had Acie?

10 points! That one still in Pumpkin's old memory bank.

Pumpkinhead said:

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Buzz doesn't get a guy like Payne if A&M doesn't have a least a couple of bucks in its NIL checking account. As you said, although he can't go buy a Calipari or Duke-level roster, he presumably has the funds to cherry pick a guy or two that he really likes. As well as keep key guys in his program like a Wade Taylor.

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Pretty sure we were also trying to land Pope when he left Oregon St and ended up at tu. Looking back if it was Pope or Phelps, with no chance of both, are we happy we ended up getting Phelps. Would we have taken both if the option was there???

The thing is that the things that make us an efficient offense wouldn't have to change if we were better at actually playing offense.

We're good at exactly two things, getting fouled and getting offensive rebounds.

Imagine if we were also just decent at putting the ball in the basket. We could still be good at those things.

Everyone focuses on shooting, but shooting is often just a byproduct of your ability to handle the ball. If you have guys that can handle the ball and create space, you get better shots and your mediocre shooters become decent ones.

In six years we've had like three guys that could legit create space for others off the dribble at the level you need for a top 25 type team. Taylor, Boots and now Phelps. Maybe 3.5 if you want to count Q, I think he was more of a slasher than someone who's really creating space off the dribble but he did handle the ball a lot. 3.75 if you want to count those like two weeks that Marcus Williams played well. Diarra showed some potential to do that and he's doing it now at UCONN but he wasn't that guy here.