I Like Buggs!

I really like the improvements that Buggs is making. His athleticism and quickness stands out when he is on the court.

+1 He is fun to watch. I hope the limited success he has found this season and positive feedback helps him dedicate himself to the game and maximize himself. There's a lot more in there. He would be a great development story for Pitino.

During the game he skied in to miss an easy layup, missed block outs and also made a perfect ally oop pass to Konate, played with energy, hit a big three- the whole works. I would like to see him add enough muscle so that they could post him up at times against an opposing SF..he'd be tough to stop.

I agree. Buggs seems so much more confident and he's earned the confidence with solid play. Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I've also been impressed with Joey. Not only because he's shooting the ball well, but I've been impressed with his defense. He's often going to struggle one on one against bigger, more athletic power forwards (who doesn't?), but he's done a much better job lately of being in position and contesting everything. His pick-and-roll defense in particular seems improved as he's done a really nice job hedging and recovering. He always seems to be there with his rotations as well. Hopefully this is the Joey we can expect in the future.

Pitino has handled him perfectly. He has one orttwo good plays in him per game, and Pitino doesn't leave him out there long enough to get in too much trouble.

He's very likable and even entertaining. However, he doesn't really know the game of basketball. Buggs lives in a parallel universe on the court.

alchemy2u said:

I really like the improvements that Buggs is making. His athleticism and quickness stands out when he is on the court.

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I like him as well. One way for the Gophers to improve next year is to figure out how to get 20 minutes of the "good Buggs" every night instead of 5 minutes every third game.

He looks so, so good at times. He is long and very fluid. His catch and release is very quick and fluid as well. Watching only snippets you would think you were watching one of the better players in college basketball. Hopefully the development continues.

Buggs for sure is fun to watch solely on the reason that you have no idea if he's going to throw the ball into the 1st row or put a graceful 1 hand slam from the free throw line. He is the definition of potential, flashes in the pan. I'm not as bullish on what some of called "solid play", but he has removed some of the defensive mistakes and I like that he has shown a time or two that he CAN go to the rim. Still way too finesse (has grabbed some nice RB, but has missed many as well), but you can be finesse and be effective. I'd much rather see him be a high motor guy making hustle and athletic plays, I think that is his path to productivity much easier than adding weight and instilling a bunch of basketball savvy in him. I don't think the latter is possible.

Comment on Joey King, he's making shots right now. To me, and i'm a Joey homer as many know, he's playing almost exactly as he has all year except for he's hitting shots and isn't making bone head mistakes on the offensive side. And that's a byproduct of his confidence being sky high. Defensively I've never been as low as others, and his rebounding is almost unchanged. Joey is Mr. Consistency. Not consistently great, just consistent, and that's why he gets PT, you can plan for Joey.

I am a big fan of Buggs as well! Still needs to improve some of his court awareness, especially on defense, but he has improved a great deal and I think there is no where to go but up with his development. Hoping he puts his nose to the grind this off season because he has potential to be a very good player.

Moonlight said:

However, he doesn't really know the game of basketball. Buggs lives in a parallel universe on the court.

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Totally agree. Buggs has length, natural athleticism, and a nice looking shot, nearly everything on the surface you'd want in a great basketball player. But you can tell that his basketball IQ is very low, which is why he gets himself into trouble and can't stay on the court longer. Only time will tell if he can figure it out, but some players never do.

Its interesting to watch players develop and regress under a new coach system. Our players all have had their ups and downs under Pitino.

Buggs has always impressed me as an athlete first with very little hoops instincts and is gradually doing more good things on the court. Same with Konate and Deidehou (sp). King has been our most consistent player lately and always gives 100%. Morris is erratic and often a detriment but has shown spurts. Mason is talented and is getting better and hasn't hit the "wall". Walker is doing what Pitino has asked with the ball even though he is limited in other ways. We all know the story with Matthei, EE and Hollins and they have not performed as we would expect from seasoned seniors. To me, I am most disappointed with Matthei as he fits into Pitino's system better than any Senior.

Maybe these guys will be lucky enough to get to the NIT as the returning players can certainly use the floor time. Then the trip to Spain in the Summer to start blending in with the newbies.

Buggs' length gives him some advantages for small stretches, but he does not have a real position.

If he wants more than a bit role, this offseason he either needs to add muscle+attitude to become a PF, or add ball handling skills to become a SF.

Winasota Gopher said:

Buggs for sure is fun to watch solely on the reason that you have no idea if he's going to throw the ball into the 1st row or put a graceful 1 hand slam from the free throw line. He is the definition of potential, flashes in the pan. I'm not as bullish on what some of called "solid play", but he has removed some of the defensive mistakes and I like that he has shown a time or two that he CAN go to the rim. Still way too finesse (has grabbed some nice RB, but has missed many as well), but you can be finesse and be effective. I'd much rather see him be a high motor guy making hustle and athletic plays, I think that is his path to productivity much easier than adding weight and instilling a bunch of basketball savvy in him. I don't think the latter is possible.

Comment on Joey King, he's making shots right now. To me, and i'm a Joey homer as many know, he's playing almost exactly as he has all year except for he's hitting shots and isn't making bone head mistakes on the offensive side. And that's a byproduct of his confidence being sky high. Defensively I've never been as low as others, and his rebounding is almost unchanged. Joey is Mr. Consistency. Not consistently great, just consistent, and that's why he gets PT, you can plan for Joey.

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Here's the funny thing about Buggs - he actually very rarely turns it over- one of the lowest TO rates on the club. But every time he touches it - it looks like he might turn it over. His outlet passes scare the tar out of me but he always hits the guy on the hands- there is just something funny about his snappy movements.