THAT WAS THE APEX FOR BUZZ HERE

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Just Tired
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9:21a, 3/24/25
this team beat FIVE eventual sweet 16 teams:
tech on 12/8
purdue on 12/15
ole miss on 1/22
arkie on 2/15 and
auburn on 3/4

whenever you see a mid-major team do something in the tourney it is typically b/c they have a seasoned roster that has played together multiple years. that is what the ags had this year and as a result they hit their peak fairly quickly relative to the mostly younger teams they faced. unfortunately, their peak was capped by their talent (and notoriously poor shooting). save for that auburn game, everything after mid-february was pretty poor and they definitely finished the season on the fade. perhaps having to play with a "hair on fire" mentality all year contributed to them running out of gas. but whatever the cause, what they achieved early in the year, they sure couldn't duplicate when it counted. (a recurring theme for the athletic department in general.)

i think a good mid-major team is a pretty good comp for what buzz has and will consistently produce here. he wants players he can get to dive on the floor and i'm not sure future nba-talent would even enjoy his style. they sure haven't been attracted to sign up for it.

so this is likely buzz's opus. if you were satisfied with it, he's your guy. while you could certainly do worse, if you want a potentially higher ceiling, it's time to enter the coaching lottery.
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AgEfan
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9:25a, 3/24/25
I don't understand why that was the apex here. It keeps being thrown around a lot. Sur that was the best team he has had here, but that doesn't mean it would be the best team he would have here if he sticks around. And also a lesser team could advance further depending on hot nights and matchups. I am not saying we will get to Sweet 16, but to act like it's a given this is the apex is a bit silly.
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Just Tired
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9:25a, 3/24/25
btw, a quarter of the teams that made the sweet 16 did so with a first-year coach. arkie, kentucky, byu and (ugh) michigan. meanwhile buzz has two tourney wins in six years.
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bobinator
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In reply to AgEfan • 9:30a, 3/24/25
AG
It's wild, on one hand Wade is overrated, Manny sucks, Hefner should have been banned from basketball, Coleman has the hands of a premature newborn, Wilcher doesn't know what the word defense means, Phelps is a turnover machine and Garcia is a decent role player but also at the same time this is obviously and without question the best team we're ever going to have.
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Luke The Drifter
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9:33a, 3/24/25
AG
I think people believe it was the apex because it is unlikely we will ever be able to put together a better roster than we had this season. There are lots of reasons for believe that ... we don't have the NIL dollars the other schools have, we're not a traditional basketball power, our fan base (as a whole) cares nothing about basketball, we will always be a football-first school (no matter how mediocre we continue to be), we care more about baseball ... and so on.

I don't know if this will end up being Buzz's best season at A&M or not. But there are indeed a lot of reasons fans believe it was "this year or bust" for Buzz...and it may turn out those reasons are not wrong. Time will tell.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
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bobinator
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 9:36a, 3/24/25
AG
I think it's also based on this idea that older players work better in Buzz's system which may or may not be true.
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AgEfan
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 9:36a, 3/24/25
Luke The Drifter said:
I think people believe it was the apex because it is unlikely we will ever be able to put together a better roster than we had this season. There are lots of reasons for believe that ... we don't have the NIL dollars the other schools have, we're not a traditional basketball power, our fan base (as a whole) cares nothing about basketball, we will always be a football-first school (no matter how mediocre we continue to be), we care more about baseball ... and so on.

I don't know if this will end up being Buzz's best season at A&M or not. But there are indeed a lot of reasons fans believe it was "this year or bust" for Buzz...and it may turn out those reasons are not wrong. Time will tell.



But as Bob said these same people have been saying the roster isn't that good.
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Just Tired
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9:36a, 3/24/25
^ a roster with more talent could easily be achieved (though i doubt buzz can do it). but a team that had as much experience as this one did is a rarity in today's college basketball.
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Detmersdislocatedshoulder
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9:36a, 3/24/25
i think to call this the apex of what buzz can accomplish assuming he stays at texas a&m is foolish. the tourney is a crap shoot so any year could be the year we get a little luck. buzz has also taken other programs further so it's not as if he is limited by past failures at other schools. i do think it would be wise if buzz to at least entertain some sort of addition to his staff that can assist with offensive game planning. we do appear to be pretty vanilla.
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Just Tired
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In reply to bobinator • 9:38a, 3/24/25
bobinator said:
I think it's also based on this idea that older players work better in Buzz's system which may or may not be true.
can we agree that experienced players generally work better in any system? i don't think there is anything special about buzz's system that makes that more true.
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bobinator
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In reply to Just Tired • 9:43a, 3/24/25
AG
Sure, obviously, all things equal you want more experience. But three of our rotation players this year were first year players, and every year under Buzz we've incorporated first-year players into key roles on the team. (Last year those players weren't very good, but still...)

I also think Wade Taylor's departure frees us up a little bit offensively to go in some other directions. I love Wade, all time great, but he does lock you into some things on both ends of the floor.
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Luke The Drifter
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9:45a, 3/24/25
AG
It hurts worse when you know this year we beat 5 teams in the Sweet 16, so fans know we are capable of winning big games. We just haven't won the big games when they matter. Arkansas making the Sweet 16 AGAIN this year was a huge dagger through my heart. They lost their best player to injury and at one point we had discussions of them going 0-18 in SEC play because we couldn't come up with any team in the league we thought they could beat.

Whether you think the roster was good or bad, it is hard to overlook the things that kept us from getting a better seed and/or moving on to the second weekend of the tournament.

  • In 5 of our losses, we held double-digit second half leads - choking like that once or twice during the year is one thing...but FIVE TIMES??? Geez...
  • You can't lose to Vanderbilt at home. You just can't.
  • While Carter and Heffner may be two of the nicest, kindest guys you'll ever meet, they were getting way too many minutes for the team to be successful. If those guys were indeed our best options, then either our roster wasn't great or our Buzz committed coaching malpractice.
  • You can't lose 2 of 3 to Texas in a year they should not have made the tournament and their coach got fired. You just can't.
  • And don't get me started on the UCF loss. I don't care that we weren't at full strength, UCF was a bad team this year. Championship caliber teams don't lose games like that...especially when they have one of those aforementioned big second half leads.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
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bobinator
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 9:48a, 3/24/25
AG
In 2023 Uconn lost at home to a St. John's team worse than UCF was this year. That one feels like a weird one to be hung up on.
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OKC~Ag
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 9:51a, 3/24/25
So, I am too jealous of Arkansas for tournament success.

Q is does Arkansa have much more talented players even though we beat them?

If not is coaching better than Buzz...

So, if not no to both what account for obvious difference? luck?
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greg.w.h
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In reply to bobinator • 9:55a, 3/24/25
AG
bobinator said:
I think it's also based on this idea that older players work better in Buzz's system which may or may not be true.
As with Kennedy, Buzz's coaching is more effective with more talented players.
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bobinator
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In reply to OKC~Ag • 9:56a, 3/24/25
AG
Yes, Arkansas has more talented players and yes John Calipari is a better coach than Buzz Williams. They didn't have all those players all season and definitely had to go through the process of integrating that roster together, but both of those things are still true.

Arkansas is also dealing with an NIL bag that's a whole order of magnitude higher than ours. They have two guys signed for next year that would be the highest ranked players we've ever signed.
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wacarnolds
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In reply to AgEfan • 9:58a, 3/24/25
AG
AgEfan said:
I don't understand why that was the apex here.

If Buzz is capable of doing better, this would have been a good year to display that.
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Ag-ME
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In reply to Detmersdislocatedshoulder • 10:03a, 3/24/25
AG
Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:
i think to call this the apex of what buzz can accomplish assuming he stays at texas a&m is foolish. the tourney is a crap shoot so any year could be the year we get a little luck. buzz has also taken other programs further so it's not as if he is limited by past failures at other schools. i do think it would be wise if buzz to at least entertain some sort of addition to his staff that can assist with offensive game planning. we do appear to be pretty vanilla.


I don't think you have ever been around Buzz much if you think he would allow an assistant to make important decisions
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Divining Rod
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10:05a, 3/24/25
We had a very favirable draw and we blew it. thats the bottom line.
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Luke The Drifter
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In reply to bobinator • 10:07a, 3/24/25
AG
bobinator said:
In 2023 Uconn lost at home to a St. John's team worse than UCF was this year. That one feels like a weird one to be hung up on.

To me, it kind of set the tone for the season.

And yea...UConn lost to St. John's in 2023, but UConn didn't chase that loss with several more questionable losses, including more games where they blew double-digit second half leads. UConn took that bad loss, learned from it, and improved. We took the bad loss to UCF and did the same thing again 4 or 5 more times.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
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beatlesphan
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10:09a, 3/24/25
AG
Is it possible that the seniority of this team was a negative? Like they were all so anxious about this team experience ending that it made them play tight. I kinda got that impression in the final press conference.

Is it possible that Buzz's best team was the one that got snubbed from the tournament when we had a lot more youth?
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OKC~Ag
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In reply to bobinator • 10:12a, 3/24/25
thanks for reply...truth kinda hurts
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bobinator
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 10:13a, 3/24/25
AG
I mean if the tone was that this was a really good team but one with flaws that could bite it at times, then yeah.
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rlb28
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In reply to Just Tired • 10:14a, 3/24/25
AG
Just Tired said:
btw, a quarter of the teams that made the sweet 16 did so with a first-year coach. arkie, kentucky, byu and (ugh) michigan. meanwhile buzz has two tourney wins in six years.
I think that's the same amount of wins John Calipari had in the same timeframe at Kentucky.
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Ag-ME
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10:15a, 3/24/25
AG
We swoon late in the season practically ever year.
Buzz gets the most out of our players and with a senior laden team we did well at the start of the season.
As the season goes on the opponents learn what we have and figure out how to play against it. We always win a few games we probably shouldn't due to high energy and hustle. We also lose or get close to losing some games where we should be blowing people out, due to lack of energy or bad coaching, etc.

If you watched the MI coach even when we were ahead in the second half he was cool collected and business like. Buzz as normal is screaming and jumping around like a maniac.

Every time we had a person get hot the MI coach changed defenses and stopped our run. By the end of the game our whole team was just standing around trying to figure out what to do or Wade would just throw up a hell mary.

Thru good coaching and good players we had no answer and they took us apart. It was embarrassing bad.

For Buzz that was his apex.
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bobinator
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In reply to Ag-ME • 10:16a, 3/24/25
AG
Ag-ME said:
We swoon late in the season practically ever year.
Coming into the season the commonly accepted narrative was the exact opposite.
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Ag-ME
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In reply to bobinator • 10:20a, 3/24/25
AG
bobinator said:
Ag-ME said:
We swoon late in the season practically ever year.
Coming into the season the commonly accepted narrative was the exact opposite.


By swoon I mean play better at the end of the season than the first part. Which means progressing far into the sec tournament or ncaa tournament which wouldn't be expected from the regular season record.
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Just Tired
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10:29a, 3/24/25
swoon - to sink into a fainting fit, in which there is an apparent suspension of the vital functions and mental powers; to faint; -- often with away.
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Luke The Drifter
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10:39a, 3/24/25
AG
In many ways, this was an anti-Buzz season. Other than UCF, we didn't crap the bed against the likes of Wofford, Harvard, or Fairfield in the fall...which was a nice change. Conversely, we didn't dog fight our way to a few wins in Nashville at the SECT...which was an unwelcome change.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
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Part Time Lurker
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10:42a, 3/24/25
AG
I see it differently. I feel like Buzz's system is one that has a pretty low talent retirement. I kinda feel like we were good this year with not very talented players. You really only need guys who hustle for rebounds, and work hard on defense. That's just effort. If you get guys who can shoot 3s and make free throws, then that's already an upgrade over this year.

Will we be better next year? Highly doubt it. But is it impossible to eventually reach or exceed the level of this year's team? Nah. The biggest advantage we had with this group was the familiarity they had with the system and each other's shot selection.

Not trying to hate, but Wade was our best player and he was very often the reason we lost. He had the worst shot selection of possibly anybody I've ever seen and he could go on insanely hot shooting streaks but was just as likely to frustrate. I don't think it's that hard to find bigs who will hustle for boards and guards who can take care of the ball and shoot. Heck, we might even get a team that can shoot free throws and pass to the block when someone like Payne is on a heater.

Buzz's system is perfect for a school that isn't going to put a lot of resources into the basketball program. It really doesn't require amazing players.
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TyperWoods
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10:44a, 3/24/25
Buzz has 4 sweet 16s and 1 elite 8.

It seems like to me Elite 8 is currently his ceiling. Since, ya know, he's done it before.
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agracer
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 10:44a, 3/24/25
AG
Luke The Drifter said:


  • In 5 of our losses, we held double-digit second half leads - choking like that once or twice during the year is one thing...but FIVE TIMES??? Geez...

While I don't watch as much BB as others, the few times I do watch other teams it does not seem like they go on 5-minute scoring droughts in EVERY GAME the way A&M does.

Maybe I should CHATGPT the team with the highest number of 5m scoring droughts per game...seems like A&M would be at the top of that list.
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NyAggie
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In reply to Luke The Drifter • 10:55a, 3/24/25
AG
Luke The Drifter said:
It hurts worse when you know this year we beat 5 teams in the Sweet 16, so fans know we are capable of winning big games. We just haven't won the big games when they matter. Arkansas making the Sweet 16 AGAIN this year was a huge dagger through my heart. They lost their best player to injury and at one point we had discussions of them going 0-18 in SEC play because we couldn't come up with any team in the league we thought they could beat.

Whether you think the roster was good or bad, it is hard to overlook the things that kept us from getting a better seed and/or moving on to the second weekend of the tournament.

  • In 5 of our losses, we held double-digit second half leads - choking like that once or twice during the year is one thing...but FIVE TIMES??? Geez...
  • You can't lose to Vanderbilt at home. You just can't.
  • While Carter and Heffner may be two of the nicest, kindest guys you'll ever meet, they were getting way too many minutes for the team to be successful. If those guys were indeed our best options, then either our roster wasn't great or our Buzz committed coaching malpractice.
  • You can't lose 2 of 3 to Texas in a year they should not have made the tournament and their coach got fired. You just can't.
  • And don't get me started on the UCF loss. I don't care that we weren't at full strength, UCF was a bad team this year. Championship caliber teams don't lose games like that...especially when they have one of those aforementioned big second half leads.



We were capable of beating good teams when we played well, but our shooting struggles left us susceptible to losing games we shouldn't as well.

In just about every game we played this year we were good for a prolonged scoring drought, and in our losses that bit us.

Same thing happened against Michigan.

We were doing great then suddenly could t make a shot for a long period of time.

Buzz needs to build the roster a little bit differently this go round by getting some guys in here that can shoot the ball.

The question is, will he have the nil money at his disposal to do it?

Because those types of players probably cost more

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AggieCrew44
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In reply to Divining Rod • 10:55a, 3/24/25
AG
Divining Rod said:
We had a very favirable draw and we blew it. thats the bottom line.
It wasn't a favorable draw at all. We did it to ourselves, but to say it was favorable is just wrong

#13 overall seed got gifted the Ivy leave champs whom are notorious over the years for first round upsets (and Yale returned a lot), the big ten champs in round 2, followed by the #1 overall seed

It was as bad of a draw as possible
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Honolulu Blue
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In reply to AgEfan • 11:14a, 3/24/25
AgEfan said:
I don't understand why that was the apex here. It keeps being thrown around a lot. Sur that was the best team he has had here, but that doesn't mean it would be the best team he would have here if he sticks around. And also a lesser team could advance further depending on hot nights and matchups. I am not saying we will get to Sweet 16, but to act like it's a given this is the apex is a bit silly.



Semantics. That's his best, most experienced team in 6 years and likley his best team for the next handful of years. So yes, maybe not his apex. But likley his best team for years to come, when he will have been here a decade. Maybe then, we can hope for a sweet 16.
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