Key to Bucky's success

3,555 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 12 mo ago by jphelmet
jphelmet
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4:28p, 4/8/25
AG
I am excited about Bucky and think he has lots of potential, very likable and like what I see with X's and O's.

The idea he is going to win because he is innovative and a great coach, which will make the sum of our parts so much better we can now compete for championships is wishful thinking at best.

I keep reading of we are going to be the next "40 mins of hell" or some dream that we are going to win with depth because of our system and playing lots of guys, or we will tire teams out because we play with tempo. While none of these things are bad, they mean very, very little without the players to do so. In fact playing with tempo and pressure are a sure fire way to get blown out against teams that are more talented. It's a very simple math equation.

The last 25 NCAA champions have had no less that two NBA players on their teams, and the average is 3.52 nba players per championship team. Simply put you don't build a championship team without elite players. There are no exceptions. College basketball (and HS for that matter) are filled with great coaches that understand X's and O's, but elite teams/ programs have the resources and the recruiting to go along with it. I am hopeful that we are going to commit more to recruiting and NIL, especially with paying less for the coach, but the success is going to be defined with the players we can get.

I honestly have no idea how good of a recruiter Bucky is, or how relatable he is to players. This is, along with the administration giving him the money to be competitive is going to be the key to his success.

He may be a great coach (I am cautiously optimistic), but the reality is even a great coach can only make mediocre players a good team. No coach no matter how great can't take mediocre players and make them great. You have to have elite players to win championships.
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NoahAg
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4:29p, 4/8/25
Talent. No talent, no success.

Posted before reading the OP. I agree 100%. Buzz did the best he could (maybe overachieved) with the talent he had. Fact is, swap Cooper Flagg with anyone on our roster and we would have made the final four. Talent > coaching.
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Kampfers
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4:30p, 4/8/25
AG
Yeah, all we need to do is recruit like the bluest of blue bloods! Should be easy, right guys?
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GoatmanAggie
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4:31p, 4/8/25
AG
I like this take. Hopefully we get active soon in the transfer portal. If we rack up little wins every day eventually it will pay off.
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greg.w.h
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5:48p, 4/8/25
AG
If you want a championship, then be a fan of our current coach no matter what. Every coach needs the unconditional support as do the players.
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DukeMu
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6:16p, 4/8/25
N

I

L
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Method Man
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6:36p, 4/8/25
This is true. That's why I say we need a big donor who wants to make his mark.
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JDCAG (NOT Colin)
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8:15p, 4/8/25
AG
Can he get to the 2nd weekend of the tournament? That doesn't take elite talent and would be a nice step forward.
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Ag_EE_88
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8:26p, 4/8/25
AG
In his first press conference, he says that the Xs and Os is like 5% of winning. He understands vey well that he needs really good players to even compete in the SEC. You can tell that he knows he's not going to win with just anyone.
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Heineken-Ashi
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In reply to Method Man • 9:16p, 4/8/25
Method Man said:
This is true. That's why I say we need a big donor who wants to make his mark.
Maybe get this guy to stop donating to stupid academic things and focus attention on basketball

Quote:
HOUSTON Texas A&M University announced last week that former student Arch "Beaver" Aplin III -- founder of Buc-ee's -- is contributing $50 million toward establishing an academic center that will serve as an immersive learning laboratory for students. 06/18/2022
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Method Man
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9:19p, 4/8/25
Agreed.
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Whaler
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In reply to NoahAg • 7:34a, 4/9/25
AG
NoahAg said:
Talent. No talent, no success.

Posted before reading the OP. I agree 100%. Buzz did the best he could (maybe overachieved) with the talent he had. Fact is, swap Cooper Flagg with anyone on our roster and we would have made the final four. Talent > coaching.
Well, I don't agree completely. Cooper Flagg would still have to have some players to pass to that could shoot. I kinda doubt any of our players would have started on Duke's team. But generally you're right, we gotta have better players, especially on the offensive end… our defense did pretty well.
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aggie-1997
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In reply to Heineken-Ashi • 7:56a, 4/9/25
AG
Heineken-Ashi said:
Method Man said:
This is true. That's why I say we need a big donor who wants to make his mark.
Maybe get this guy to stop donating to stupid academic things and focus attention on basketball

Quote:
HOUSTON Texas A&M University announced last week that former student Arch "Beaver" Aplin III -- founder of Buc-ee's -- is contributing $50 million toward establishing an academic center that will serve as an immersive learning laboratory for students. 06/18/2022
I really hope you are being sarcastic.
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FTAG 2000
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In reply to aggie-1997 • 7:59a, 4/9/25
AG
aggie-1997 said:
Heineken-Ashi said:
Method Man said:
This is true. That's why I say we need a big donor who wants to make his mark.
Maybe get this guy to stop donating to stupid academic things and focus attention on basketball

Quote:
HOUSTON Texas A&M University announced last week that former student Arch "Beaver" Aplin III -- founder of Buc-ee's -- is contributing $50 million toward establishing an academic center that will serve as an immersive learning laboratory for students. 06/18/2022
I really hope you are being sarcastic.

Nothing wrong with hoping someone like Arch would take an interest in making Aggie basketball the best program in the country.
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aggie-1997
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In reply to FTAG 2000 • 9:23a, 4/9/25
AG
FTAG 2000 said:
aggie-1997 said:
Heineken-Ashi said:
Method Man said:
This is true. That's why I say we need a big donor who wants to make his mark.
Maybe get this guy to stop donating to stupid academic things and focus attention on basketball

Quote:
HOUSTON Texas A&M University announced last week that former student Arch "Beaver" Aplin III -- founder of Buc-ee's -- is contributing $50 million toward establishing an academic center that will serve as an immersive learning laboratory for students. 06/18/2022
I really hope you are being sarcastic.

Nothing wrong with hoping someone like Arch would take an interest in making Aggie basketball the best program in the country.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with hoping someone like Arch take an interest in Aggie basketball. Just simply thought the suggestion around diverting donations away from what one felt was "stupid academic things" was ridiculous.
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FTAG 2000
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9:26a, 4/9/25
AG
Relatively speaking, nothing wrong with his comment.

TAMU, on the academic side, has a ridiculous amount of money. The idea the school is cash strapped or needs additional massive donors to come through to pay for buildings on the academic side is hilarious.



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aggie-1997
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In reply to FTAG 2000 • 9:35a, 4/9/25
AG
FTAG 2000 said:
Relatively speaking, nothing wrong with his comment.

Relatively speaking, nothing wrong with my comment either.
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MMantle
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10:25a, 4/9/25
AG
My close friend was a basketball coach for 20+ years

Season after season, fans would be propping up one Coach after another, based on single season success.

His response

"We can all coach, it's a question of who has the players."

I played a number of sports for years, at different levels.

When we lost, very seldom were we out-coached, it was because we were out-played.

Yes, we need players,

RR

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halfastros81
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10:31a, 4/9/25
AG
One step at a time . Sure we need great players to win a national title . How about we get the players to be a consistent tourney entrant, which Buzz did succeed at . Granted next year may have been a different story with all of the guys that used up their eligibility this season. That should be the immediate goal, get a roster and buy in and work towards being the best you can be and a tourney entry most years. Then build toward the next level. Player development is also a piece of the puzzle . I look at UH as an example. J Roberts is a good example of a guy that wasn't highly recruited but has developed into a game changing college player and a likely future NBA player. Payne was headed in that direction as well from last yrs team. You need development in addition to getting top graded recruits and transfers .
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bobinator
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In reply to halfastros81 • 10:42a, 4/9/25
AG
This is the thing, we're not going to buy the best players. People can forget it. Never going to happen.

It's doing some combination of these things:

  • Finding under-the-radar players - For whatever reason these guys are better than their current value. Maybe they're playing in a system they're not good at, maybe they started basketball late, could be a million reasons, but having a keen eye for undervalued talent.
  • Players with specific skill sets that can help us - Maybe they're not the best all around player, but they do a couple of things really well that makes them a good fit in our system of basketball.
  • Developing players - I think Buzz developed players in some ways, but he did not develop basketball skills. Having good fundamental basketball coaches that can improve a players skill level can make up a talent gap.
  • Keeping players in the program. Evan Miya did a good breakdown of this but the last four national champions are all teams that brought back at least 50% of their minutes from the year before. I know that people think this is a year-to-year sport now but the results say otherwise. You have to figure out a way to keep guys in your program. There might be some exceptions for the programs truly throwing around elite money, but that's not going to be us.
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halfastros81
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In reply to bobinator • 11:09a, 4/9/25
AG
I agree on every point .

Kind of off topic a bit but I was thinking about Sampson's UH teams and how they seem to compete well despite being "undersized" relative to the Duke's and Florida's of the world. They may be undersized strictly from the height of their head but when you consider wingspan and hand size i think they are not . I surmise that Sampson and staff value wingspan and hand size more that strictly height wrt to bigs particularly. That's the kind of thing that could be a difference maker as well. Targer Underdeveloped guys - so perhaps not highly rated - with reasonable athletic skills, long wing spans , and big hands
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bobinator
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In reply to halfastros81 • 11:14a, 4/9/25
AG
That's part of it, I think another part is valuing athleticism over pure height. You mention wingspan and hand size but I'd also include things like their vertical, quickness and speed as factors. I'd rather have a bouncy 6-8 guy that can move his feet well than a lumbering 7-footer.

Both Houston and Florida though are good teams to emulate from a roster composition standpoint. They have some high value players, but I'd guess neither of them are the very top in terms of total roster cost.
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AggByMarriage
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In reply to halfastros81 • 11:42a, 4/9/25
halfastros81 said:
I agree on every point .

Kind of off topic a bit but I was thinking about Sampson's UH teams and how they seem to compete well despite being "undersized" relative to the Duke's and Florida's of the world. They may be undersized strictly from the height of their head but when you consider wingspan and hand size i think they are not . I surmise that Sampson and staff value wingspan and hand size more that strictly height wrt to bigs particularly. That's the kind of thing that could be a difference maker as well. Targer Underdeveloped guys - so perhaps not highly rated - with reasonable athletic skills, long wing spans , and big hands


I tried to make a similar point in a different thread. Players basically offer 3 traits: speed, size, and skill. Everyone would like to have all three, and you can't win with just one. But if your team has 2 of the 3 you can build a winning program.
Sampson has speed and skill, but not size. He doesn't play the run-and-gun that characterizes Buckyball, instead he emphasizes pressing and slow tempo.

bobinator makes the good points (again). Bucky needs to find the guys who are under the radar with a chip on their shoulder.
I thought this was Buzz's superpower finding the guys that no one else wanted.
My biggest concern with Bucky's strategy is it works great in mid-major conferences, but to expect scores in the 80s, 90s, or 100s seems unrealistic for the grind of the SEC.
I want Bucky to succeed. Love the fact that he wants to be a part of the community. Next season will be interesting and hopefully fun to watch.
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12Power
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In reply to AggByMarriage • 11:48a, 4/9/25
Bama scores that many points in most of their games.
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AggByMarriage
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In reply to 12Power • 12:15p, 4/9/25
12Power said:
Bama scores that many points in most of their games.

My bad. You are right. Averaging 90.1 per game.
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BasketballCoach2015
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8:14a, 4/10/25
AG
https://coachesinsider.com/mens-basketball/the-4-phases-of-the-game-with-bucky-mcmillan-samford-univ/
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BuzzFan24
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In reply to 12Power • 8:44a, 4/10/25
12Power said:
Bama scores that many points in most of their games.
Can Bucky be Oats? - is the question then
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jphelmet
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In reply to BuzzFan24 • 11:25a, 4/10/25
AG
BuzzFan24 said:
12Power said:
Bama scores that many points in most of their games.
Can Bucky be Oats? - is the question then


Maybe If he can get comparable talent, oats has had a lot of nba level players to work with.
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