Bunk Moreland said:

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I think bobinator is right. Wade has been figured out, at least in the SEC. Teams don't make any defensive adjustments to account for him like they used to. And now Wade often looks uncomfortable in the (mom existent) offensive gameplan.

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Think they've figured him out to an extent in that they double him on most ball screens, hence all the assists

Teams are fine with forcing others to make plays and score, because come crunch time that's hard to do. Usually have to have guards take over

I really think we should change everything we do and fire our coach after we lost to the #6 team in the country. Not sure what we've been doing, even if we are #7 in the country, can get us the only thing that matters - a natty! Texas A&M is title or bust - been that way for decades!

I thought our identity was supposed to be driving to the basket and getting fouled so we can do something else we're not good at. What happened to that?

Heineken-Ashi said:

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All of that, with one of the worst offenses in the country. Buzz focuses on defense and rebounds. Nothing in his tenure shows he's capable of coaching a good offense. Nothing in your post proves that wrong. My comment stands.

I like Buzz. I hope he stays here forever. The point of my comment was to stop expecting anything different on offense. We are what we are because he can't do it any other way.

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You are correct. We are dead ass last in the SEC in ft, fg, and 3 pt %. Sure, our rebounding makes up for it to an extent, but it is not enough.

Method Man said:

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We were in the bonus with like 13 min and shot 95% from the FT line. Our answer was to jack 3s. uT had a midget drive into the lane and draw fouls.

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Quote:

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Quote:

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16% from 3

The coach can't make the shots for them.

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He recruits the shooters. He coaches the team. There is no rule if you can't shoot you have to shoot a bunch of 3s. Very ignorant take.

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A&M took 10 3's in that last 13 minutes, and 3 were inside the last minute of the game when forced to a bit. We took 13 free throws during that stretch, UT took 16 FT;s but 6 were in last minute when we were fouling.

70% of the 3 point attempts, 7 of the 10, were taken by Wilcher and Wade. 41% and 33%, our two best, from beyond the arc on the season. Do you tell them stop shooting because you missed your last 5? Or your last 2? Or do you trust their shooting percentage and they can get hot?

Phelps and Hef took 1 each, Not great percentages but they need to take those. Carter and Washington took 1 each between 10 and 13 minutes left in the game, they aren't good shooters.

5 of 30 is AWFUL, maybe nearly historically awful, from beyond the arc. But can you just say - stop taking 3's? Our great ball handling and drive to the basket team will just take over, or hope to be helped by refs, against the #1 defensive team in college basketball? They flat out ignored CArter, GArcia, Washington beyond the arc - probably as a defensive choice, maybe not I'm not sure - but it's hard to tell even a 20% 3 point shooter to not take a wide open, unhurried shot. Garcia was 2-2, CArter exceeded his average, Washington couldn't make them pay. It was Phelps, Wade, Wilcher that really let us down from 3 but only Phelps is one I question taking too many 3's. 10 of his 17 shots were from inside the arc at least, but maybe he should have done that more and not take those 7 3's.

I'd agree with you there are certain players I would say shouldn't be shooting 3's - those players were 3 for 9 from beyond the arc today.

There are 2 players I will never question them taking a 3 (well, maybe if it's forced ie not open) and they were 1 of 13 today.

There are some players that should take opportunistic 3's but that's it, they were 1 for 8 today.

We just shot bad, but I really question the "well, I know you shoot 30% over 25 entire games but you are shooting 10% in the first 25 minutes today so stop shooting them and drive and hope we get fouled (not blocked, not lost as we dribble)"

Heineken-Ashi said:

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All of that, with one of the worst offenses in the country. Buzz focuses on defense and rebounds. Nothing in his tenure shows he's capable of coaching a good offense. Nothing in your post proves that wrong. My comment stands.

I like Buzz. I hope he stays here forever. The point of my comment was to stop expecting anything different on offense. We are what we are because he can't do it any other way.

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So, you think advanced offensive metrics are not only useless but in fact false?

I agree it's not a pretty offense. I agree it is a below average shooting team. But other offensive metrics, used by so called experts, do not accurately reflect offensive efficiencies in your opinion?

You said nothing in my post proves your statement is incorrect, but in that post I shared "A&M still top 10 in effective offensive possessions", which is why I am asking the questions above.

I will try to put key points in bold or color coding for you.

zooguy96 said:

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Heineken-Ashi said:

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All of that, with one of the worst offenses in the country. Buzz focuses on defense and rebounds. Nothing in his tenure shows he's capable of coaching a good offense. Nothing in your post proves that wrong. My comment stands.

I like Buzz. I hope he stays here forever. The point of my comment was to stop expecting anything different on offense. We are what we are because he can't do it any other way.

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You are correct. We are dead ass last in the SEC in ft, fg, and 3 pt %. Sure, our rebounding makes up for it to an extent, but it is not enough.

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Well, in conference games we are 14th in FG percentage while taking the 8th most FG's. We are 12th in 3 point percentage while taking the 6th most 3 point attempts. We are dead last in FT percent (had a good day and I swear we were ahead of MSU when we played them) but have taken the 3rd most FT's.

Those are "in conference" numbers. There is a wide variety of non con quality resumes.


We are first, by a lot, in offensive rebounds but I guess true basketball X's and O's fans don't count offensive rebounding as an offensive stat or offensive skill.

We are a team that excels in defense (2nd in conference in opp. scoring) , rebounding (second in conference in rebounds gained, second in opp. allowed rebounds), effort. I don't think a team that is top 10 due to it's defense and rebounding is any less worthy or impressive than a team that is top 10 due to it's offense or shooting percentages. It's all part of basketball. But I get how the average fan says one is "ugly" and one is "pretty".

Can you restate my hyperbolic point?

Complete Idiot said:

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zooguy96 said:

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Heineken-Ashi said:

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All of that, with one of the worst offenses in the country. Buzz focuses on defense and rebounds. Nothing in his tenure shows he's capable of coaching a good offense. Nothing in your post proves that wrong. My comment stands.

I like Buzz. I hope he stays here forever. The point of my comment was to stop expecting anything different on offense. We are what we are because he can't do it any other way.

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You are correct. We are dead ass last in the SEC in ft, fg, and 3 pt %. Sure, our rebounding makes up for it to an extent, but it is not enough.

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Well, in conference games we are 14th in FG percentage while taking the 8th most FG's. We are 12th in 3 point percentage while taking the 6th most 3 point attempts. We are dead last in FT percent (had a good day and I swear we were ahead of MSU when we played them) but have taken the 3rd most FT's.

Those are "in conference" numbers. There is a wide variety of non con quality resumes.


We are first, by a lot, in offensive rebounds but I guess true basketball X's and O's fans don't count offensive rebounding as an offensive stat or offensive skill.

We are a team that excels in defense (2nd in conference in opp. scoring) , rebounding (second in conference in rebounds gained, second in opp. allowed rebounds), effort. I don't think a team that is top 10 due to it's defense and rebounding is any less worthy or impressive than a team that is top 10 due to it's offense or shooting percentages. It's all part of basketball. But I get how the average fan says one is "ugly" and one is "pretty".

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It's not just one is "ugly" and one is "pretty". It's one wins championships and one doesn't. Just winning more than you lose is not the ultimate goal.

Well, I agree the Ags won't win the championship this year. They aren't good enough all around to pull that off. I also don't think Buzz is the best coach in college basketball.

Still a far cry from "buzz williams doesn't know a lick of x's and o's and the ags can only win ugly".

As a fellow A&I Javelina, y'all might need to lower your expectations of a former asst Javelina coach.

That's what I was afraid of, I'll have to take it.

I would have wanted my point to be Buzz obviously is skilled at x's and o's and a team ranked top 10 late in the year in a great conference cant be labeled as "only winning games ugly".

But I included my snark so I derailed myself.

Complete Idiot said:

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Method Man said:

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We were in the bonus with like 13 min and shot 95% from the FT line. Our answer was to jack 3s. uT had a midget drive into the lane and draw fouls.

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Quote:

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Quote:

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16% from 3

The coach can't make the shots for them.

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He recruits the shooters. He coaches the team. There is no rule if you can't shoot you have to shoot a bunch of 3s. Very ignorant take.

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A&M took 10 3's in that last 13 minutes, and 3 were inside the last minute of the game when forced to a bit. We took 13 free throws during that stretch, UT took 16 FT;s but 6 were in last minute when we were fouling.

70% of the 3 point attempts, 7 of the 10, were taken by Wilcher and Wade. 41% and 33%, our two best, from beyond the arc on the season. Do you tell them stop shooting because you missed your last 5? Or your last 2? Or do you trust their shooting percentage and they can get hot?

Phelps and Hef took 1 each, Not great percentages but they need to take those. Carter and Washington took 1 each between 10 and 13 minutes left in the game, they aren't good shooters.

5 of 30 is AWFUL, maybe nearly historically awful, from beyond the arc. But can you just say - stop taking 3's? Our great ball handling and drive to the basket team will just take over, or hope to be helped by refs, against the #1 defensive team in college basketball? They flat out ignored CArter, GArcia, Washington beyond the arc - probably as a defensive choice, maybe not I'm not sure - but it's hard to tell even a 20% 3 point shooter to not take a wide open, unhurried shot. Garcia was 2-2, CArter exceeded his average, Washington couldn't make them pay. It was Phelps, Wade, Wilcher that really let us down from 3 but only Phelps is one I question taking too many 3's. 10 of his 17 shots were from inside the arc at least, but maybe he should have done that more and not take those 7 3's.

I'd agree with you there are certain players I would say shouldn't be shooting 3's - those players were 3 for 9 from beyond the arc today.

There are 2 players I will never question them taking a 3 (well, maybe if it's forced ie not open) and they were 1 of 13 today.

There are some players that should take opportunistic 3's but that's it, they were 1 for 8 today.

We just shot bad, but I really question the "well, I know you shoot 30% over 25 entire games but you are shooting 10% in the first 25 minutes today so stop shooting them and drive and hope we get fouled (not blocked, not lost as we dribble)"

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Exactly. But you'll likely get accused of having an idiotic take by the geniuses that just wanna drive hard for hopeful fouls and some "and 1s" instead of expecting to make a few more of the good 3 ball opportunities

Complete Idiot said:

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Well, I agree the Ags won't win the championship this year. They aren't good enough all around to pull that off. I also don't think Buzz is the best coach in college basketball.

Still a far cry from "buzz williams doesn't know a lick of x's and o's and the ags can only win ugly".

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I agree with you on all of the above. It's just hard for me to believe that Buzz will ever be able to recruit the 1 to 2 offensive talents he will someday need to get over the hump with his style of coaching. Those players generally don't want to put in the type of work he wants on the defensive end of the court and rebounding.

People get far too caught up in effective offense.

You can have both an effective offense and a good shooting % and a good free throw %. They aren't mutually exclusive.

You can be really good at getting second chance opportunities AND actually shoot at a halfway decent clip. Reference Houston.

Complete Idiot said:

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That's what I was afraid of, I'll have to take it.

I would have wanted my point to be Buzz obviously is skilled at x's and o's and a team ranked top 10 late in the year in a great conference cant be labeled as "only winning games ugly".

But I included my snark so I derailed myself.

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Fair enough.

Complete Idiot said:

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If by "over the hump" you mean win the SEC or win the NCAA, I agree with you.

We were 15-3 in the SEC a couple years ago, 2nd place, but if the league stays like it is now I don't see him getting over that hump. Certainly not a national championship. One might claim he's that good of a coach, but it's A&M reputation or financial basketball support that is holding him back, but I don't fully agree. Maybe, MAYBE, at Duke he could be a fit and get the top recruits and win it all with his style -which he does tweak - but I doubt it.

To me "over the hump" would mean getting to second weekend of tourney, which he did at MArquette multiple times and at Virginia Tech too. But I also know it can be a crapshoot even with a really good team, it's single elimination.

When we hired him I wanted to make tourney every year and be a top 4 SEC team. I balanced my opinion of Buzz versus what I feel does limit A&M recruiting and success. I of course want to make Sweet 16 or better but I also don't label an entire 5 month, 35 game season GOOD or BAD based on making the second weekend. Two years ago I felt we had a VERY good season, but hugely disappointing finish.

2022 and 2024 were basically washes to me, as entire SEASONS, even though one ended with NIT vs NCAA.

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This is the best take this board has had in a long long time.

BuzzFan24 said:

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Complete Idiot said:

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If by "over the hump" you mean win the SEC or win the NCAA, I agree with you.

We were 15-3 in the SEC a couple years ago, 2nd place, but if the league stays like it is now I don't see him getting over that hump. Certainly not a national championship. One might claim he's that good of a coach, but it's A&M reputation or financial basketball support that is holding him back, but I don't fully agree. Maybe, MAYBE, at Duke he could be a fit and get the top recruits and win it all with his style -which he does tweak - but I doubt it.

To me "over the hump" would mean getting to second weekend of tourney, which he did at MArquette multiple times and at Virginia Tech too. But I also know it can be a crapshoot even with a really good team, it's single elimination.

When we hired him I wanted to make tourney every year and be a top 4 SEC team. I balanced my opinion of Buzz versus what I feel does limit A&M recruiting and success. I of course want to make Sweet 16 or better but I also don't label an entire 5 month, 35 game season GOOD or BAD based on making the second weekend. Two years ago I felt we had a VERY good season, but hugely disappointing finish.

2022 and 2024 were basically washes to me, as entire SEASONS, even though one ended with NIT vs NCAA.

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This is the best take this board has had in a long long time.

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I agree with most of this take as well. But, if Buzz were at Duke or Indiana, with all of its history and NIL, I believe his style would still come up short, both in championships and retaining elite talent. I think he may be more apt to get the needed elite talent at those places. I just don't believe he'd be able to keep it the way he coaches.

Iraq2xVeteran said:

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We were in the bonus with 12+ minutes left and made 18/20 (90%) free throw attempts. Yet, we attempted 30 3-pointer shots when we could have just driven to the rim more frequently and drawn even more free throw attempts. If we had attempted 10 less 3 pointers, and made 5/10 shots from inside the paint, we would have won.

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Or just make our typical crappy average of 30% from 3, (which has us at like #300 in the country from 3), and we'd also win

Doesn't sound like many of you are worried about losing Buzz.

90% free throws. 16% Threes.

We've obviously been spending too much of our time practicing free throws.