Amelia: Mason will be biggest surprise; staff wants Buggs to add 15-20 lbs

per Amelia's Q&A:

@CreaAlex: @AmeliaRayno Who will be the biggest surprise on next year's team? #aMAILiabag

I'm going to say freshman Nate Mason. Minnesota will need contribution from a lot of the new guys, including Carlos 'Squirrel' Morris, who will likely start in the vacancy left by Austin Hollins. But Mason has the potential to be the sixth man and provide a spark a la the early-season version of Malik Smith last year. Mason is a talented and quick guard that can score the ball on the drive or from the perimeter. He can help to back up DeAndre Mathieu at point or step in at shooting guard. There isn't room for him in the starting five right now, but he will be used plenty off the bench.

@zmotalk: @AmeliaRayno What do you think playing time for [Charles] Buggs will look like this upcoming season? #Gophers #aMAILiaBAG

I think it will grow, certainly, but modestly. Buggs still needs to show he can pack on some muscle (Minnesota's staff wants him to add at least 15-20 pounds this summer) and understand where to be on defense. He showed a little bit of scoring ability in the Gophers home game against Iowa in January, when he put up 13 points in 19 minutes. But in the very next game, at Michigan, when he got another big opportunity, Buggs looked a little lost. As Pitino has said all along, the forward has plenty of potential, but the journey is long and right now, the sample size is small.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/263661551.html

Go Gophers!!

Nate Mason is the highest rated recruit that we have isn't he? So hopefully one of the other 5 lower rated recruits are more of a surprise. Especially since our future All Big Ten point guard is starting in front of him.

I think it could be a real key for next year's team if Buggs shows enough improvement to be a "designated scorer" coming off the bench - a guy who can come in, put up 5, 6, 7 points, and come out. Just enough to give the team a spark and give some of the other front-line players a quick break. But, to do that, he has to be able to do it consistently.

I would really like to see more scoring from the bench. Of course, that depends on whether Eliason or Walker starts at Center. If EE starts, then Mo will score plenty off the bench. If Mo starts, EE is not going to provide points off the bench, but he could come in to play defense, rebound and block shots. Still, that means the bench points will have to come from someone else.