Something done by a female staffer for social media. My post is tongue-in-cheek, but his answers were our reality.

-When asked if he'd rather have a team with a better offense or defense he said "defense"
- Would he rather win a game on a buzzer beater or a defensive steal he said "a defensive stop"
- In a game would you rather have zero turnovers or 100% made FTs, he said "no turnovers". And he said he is thinking about hiring a free throw coach, that way all emails about FT % can go to that person.

https://www.tiktok.com/@terrapinhoops/video/7493195512351362347?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7433819741628614174

bobinator said:

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jeremy said:

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He's an analytics guy. He just reads the analytics and comes to a different conclusion than most of us do.

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I don't even think it's a different conclusion, he just says things in a weird way.

Like you'd obviously rather be ahead and playing defense than be behind and playing offense on the final possession of a game so that answer makes sense on what he'd prefer.

And in most games the difference between shooting 60-70% and shooting 100% at the free throw line is probably fewer points than the difference between how many more shots you'd get if you never turned it over combined with the opponent getting no points off turnovers.

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And outrebounding opponents with second chance points makes a big difference.

I don't disagree with those answers or what he had done here, but that doesn't mean you can completely neglect offense. It was so awful sometimes watching us play on that end of the floor. Same way you can't neglect defense either

His answer to all the questions should have been -

BOTH…

MarcAg said:

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When can we stop talking about him?

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The thread title has his name in it. Don't click on it.

MarcAg said:

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rlb28 said:

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MarcAg said:

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When can we stop talking about him?

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The thread title has his name in it. Don't click on it.

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You didn't answer my question

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Never

Where I think Buzz is either wrong or he's he knows his and his staff's limits as coaches is that he just ignores trying to improve some basic fundamentals that would make the actual offense better.

I think he decided here that, from a time and effort standpoint, it would be more valuable to teach the team how to be elite offensive rebounders in an effort to get up more shots than it would be to get better at things like setting screens, having good shot mechanics, etc to increase our overall FG% by a few points.

But the thing is he could be right. If they're not good at teaching those things, then he's probably right that the time is better spent on things they can teach.

Wasn't Buzz the free throw coach?

jrdaustin said:

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bingram1230 said:

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I don't disagree with those answers or what he had done here, but that doesn't mean you can completely neglect offense. It was so awful sometimes watching us play on that end of the floor. Same way you can't neglect defense either

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This.

Buzz's answers not only highlight what he prefers, but it can be argued that his preferences become his sole focus to the neglect of other aspects of the game.

It's wonderful to want no turnovers, but if you cannot score, in the end it just doesn't matter.

And when you lose by 3, but went 50% at the line with 20 free throw opportunities, FT %age becomes a primay factor of why you lost the game, being a relatively easy thing to fix with a little focus.

And, as stated above, when the defensive scheme fails, as against Michigan, there is no path to victory because you never were focused on offense.

It's great for Buzz to like and focus on certain aspects of the game, such as defense and turnovers; but, doing so to the neglect of other aspects ultimately becomes a losing proposition, and will arguably never get you to the mountaintop.

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Or the second weekend of the tournament

#1- There is no difference between being good at offense and being good at defense. Each side of the ball is perfectly symmetrical with the other. One point scored is worth the same as one point allowed, and most points wins. The most important part is by how much you're scoring more than you're allowing and you can be at the same place with an elite offense and and average defense as you can with an elite defense and an average offense. Any other kind of conventional "wisdom" about it needs to be proved up. Things like "defense travels" or whatever.

#2- You win the game by the same amount in either scenario. It makes no difference. As bob pointed out, if you extrapolate beyond the boundaries of the question (in which winning is given), then situationally the answer would not always be quite as clear. In most cases, I think you'd rather be winning going into the final possession than losing, but that could change depending on the offensive and defensive capabilities of each team.

#3- Not turning the ball over is simply more critical than free throw percentage. No turnovers is likely a guaranteed gain of 5-10 points at least? 100% free throw percentage could be a huge range of points, some of which might not benefit you at all. If you wished on the monkey's paw for 100% free throw percentage you would lose your next game going 2-2 at the line.

Meh

Don't care, he left.

His tenure here was a disappointment. Most of us are tired of him. Best of luck to him (don't really mean it that much, just being polite). Next man up.

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#1- There is no difference between being good at offense and being good at defense. Each side of the ball is perfectly symmetrical with the other

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Points given up and scored- obviously count for the same.

Here's the difference though- I don't think Buzz really gets it that it's a lot better to recruit scorers and THEN turn them into defenders... Rather than recruit defenders and then turn them into scorers.

The Collective said:

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I expect the offense will look 100% different at Maryland, and people are going to ***** about it here an unhealthy # of times.

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Yep. And I honestly wouldn't blame them. It would be par for the course to see a Buzz team become good at shooting and offense all of a sudden.

The Collective said:

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I expect the offense will look 100% different at Maryland, and people are going to ***** about it here an unhealthy # of times.

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I get the vibe that Buzz understands he is going to need to make some big philosophical changes to be successful with expectations at Maryland (recruit NIL bucks, attempt to transfer portal in an abundance of studs- don't settle for mediocre existing guys, etc.)

And yes that will be annoying if he does that. Cause he could have done that here.

When I say what I said above, I think he decided a certain strategy for the group of players that we had & went with it. It's almost like Buzz is like me when I was younger playing NCAA football in dynasty mode. Can I really build a powerhouse at Army running only the triple option and mad dog blitz?

I think he does get that but thought it would be easier to just recruit athletes and figure the rest out later.

I don't even think it's philosophical changes. I think people are making a mistake by thinking that Buzz wanted to play the way we ended up playing here. I don't really think that's the case. I just think he felt like it was the easiest way to win here based on the level of players he had and the level he could recruit.

At Maryland he might have a higher baseline level of NIL to recruit with, so he can recruit different players. He also isn't building a team around a player like Wade Taylor for three years, so that opens up more options too.

I agree what he does at Maryland is going to look completely different.

I'm just looking forward to 4-5 years from now when Maryland realizes they are never going anywhere and they come to the cope portion of their Buzz tenure.

Zero turnovers is absolutely > hitting 100% of free throws.

Who is Buzz.......

bigdaddygriffin said:

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Who is Buzz.......

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Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams (born September 1, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the University of Maryland. He previously served as head coach at Texas A&M from 2019 to 2025, Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marquette from 2008 to 2014, and New Orleans during the 200607 season, and as an assistant coach at Texas-Arlington, Texas A&MKingsville, Northwestern State, Colorado State, and Texas A&M.

Williams has been known to bring struggling and mid-tier programs to new heights throughout his career. He has also garnered a reputation for never staying at a program for more than 5 seasons. He coached at Marquette for 6 seasons, Virginia Tech for 5, and Texas A&M for 6.

Brent Langdon Williams grew up in Van Alstyne, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Oklahoma City University in 1994 and a master's degree in the same field at Texas A&M UniversityKingsville in 1999. Williams married Corey Norman in 2000. They have two daughters (Addyson and Zera) and two sons (Calvin and Mason). Referring to his boundless energy, his coaches at Navarro College nicknamed him Buzz. He was inducted to the Navarro College athletic hall of fame in 2021.

Just remember: many of the posters wanted him as head coach…

bobinator said:

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jeremy said:

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Also, we always talk about how good our defense was under him. Giving up 90 to Michigan is unacceptable. I say giving up 75 to Michigan is unacceptable. We're we that good on defense when it counted? Nah.

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I think it some ways it's kind of fitting that his last game here was one we lost for things we're normally good at.

Everyone *****ed about our three point defense, well we hold Michigan to 27% from 3 and 43% from the field but we get killed on the offensive boards and let them shoot 36 free throws.

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we did let one dude kill us from 3 who doesnt normally. so we're consistent

Buzz is a fake!

Please delete this thread.

He isn't here anymore so who gives a Flying F!

bobinator said:

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I don't even think it's philosophical changes. I think people are making a mistake by thinking that Buzz wanted to play the way we ended up playing here. I don't really think that's the case. I just think he felt like it was the easiest way to win here based on the level of players he had and the level he could recruit.

At Maryland he might have a higher baseline level of NIL to recruit with, so he can recruit different players. He also isn't building a team around a player like Wade Taylor for three years, so that opens up more options too.

I agree what he does at Maryland is going to look completely different.

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Wasn't Turgeon's record at Maryland worse than his record at A&M? I liked Buzz, but I don't see him having much more success unless he changes his recruiting attitude. Not in this era of college basketball