If we shoot 40% in any game and play our normal defense and rebound like we can - we can beat anyone. We just have to play our game, limit mistakes (costly turnovers and poor shot selection), and move the ball. Our offense is far different when we move the ball as opposed to street ball.

For me "red hot" is like at least 15% above normal.

Like Phelps is shooting 30% from 3 in conference games, which isn't great, but isn't awful. (It's actually a little better than Hefner on a similar number of shots, and better than Boots shot last year.)

But he and Taylor are both shooting sub 40% from 2, and for Phelps that's on a massive number of shots. He's taken a little under a third of all of our 2pt shots in conference play. (granted, a big chunk of these were when Taylor was out, a whole quarter of them were just against Kentucky.)

Taylor on the other hand shoots 35% from 3 normally and has the highest assist rate on the team so defenses already have to pay extra attention to him. What it always comes down to with Taylor is him having to make the right call on when it's time to use that extra attention to set up other people or when he just needs to go for it himself no matter what the defense is doing.

That's why having Payne be reliable in the post would be such a game changer. Right now if Taylor decides the game flow is best suited to him setting up other people, there's nobody to set up that we can count on every night, but Payne could be that guy.

Whether or not we move the ball basically just comes down to whether or not the other team is in a zone or playing man. If they're in man to man, and they're any good it at all, we aren't going to move the ball well. It's just now how we're built.

Mizzou is the team that has ran that crazy hybrid zone the last few years. Not sure if they are still doing it this year but, it was wild in theory.

I don't know that we can really call what any other team is doing a "crazy" hybrid zone lol. We probably run the most complicated hybrid defense in college basketball.

I don't remember seeing Mizzou in anything but pure man to man last night although I was kind of halfway watching.

Method Man said:

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They can't.

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This...

I think Buzz can someday. He seems to always be 1 shooting forward away. One day he will get that. And we will be able to play with anyone. But right now, we are not much different than the Army football team.

You know exactly what they are going to do, but you still cant seem to to stop it. We are built better for the ncaa than we are for conference. Not playing us, is a big advantage to us.

New coach who can recruit. Or start buying him players.

Disagree. Against quality teams we don't get blown out and we don't blow teams out. We're built to have a shot to beat anybody . That's not what Army football is.

We could win it all . Chances are very high we won't but it's within a reasonable realm of possibility relative to Army football winning a national title in 2025 for example. Army football has next to zero chance because they have collectively have C - level talent roster . A& M basketball has a B + level talent roster this yr . One guy going off and the team playing well and you can beat an A roster .

With regard to this I think Buzz's system can't work with players with superstar mindsets . It's very much a system and mentality as opposed to overwhelming teams with next level players . I think he's adapting to some degree to fill gaps and I cite bringing in Payne this year as exhibit a . Payne was not a cheap addition. I think Buzz knows that an influx of future NBA guys with the wrong mindset would do more damage than good.

The system and approach on the court and even in recruiting isn't all that different from Sampson's at UH and I think it's pretty clear that they are a perennial top program nationally.

halfastros81 said:

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With regard to this I think Buzz's system can't work with players with superstar mindsets . It's very much a system and mentality as opposed to overwhelming teams with next level players . I think he's adapting to some degree to fill gaps and I cite bringing in Payne this year as exhibit a . Payne was not a cheap addition. I think Buzz knows that an influx of future NBA guys with the wrong mindset would do more damage than good.

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Or…Buzz hasn't chased them to build out his approach and show it works with more modestly talented players if they put the work in. There is no reason for a highly talented player to be afraid of hard work. In fact really talented people tend to be drawn to challenge. Only afraid people aren't.

Highly talented with the right mindset would absolutely work but imo those guys are relatively rare.

Like I said, similar system at UH seems to have them competing for titles yr over yr. I'd argue that they are also not among the Top 5-10 programs in roster talent yr over yr but they are in terms of results .

You lose the first game of SEC tourney

Not a bad point at all. Get your guys rested and as healthy as possible for the real tourney. Hold anyone out that isn't 100% ready to play but might be with a little more down time and also minimize the risks of key injuries in the SEC tourney .

Of course no coach is going to try not to win but certainly manage your roster for the Dance.

halfastros81 said:

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Highly talented with the right mindset would absolutely work but imo those guys are relatively rare.

Like I said, similar system at UH seems to have them competing for titles yr over yr. I'd argue that they are also not among the Top 5-10 programs in roster talent yr over yr but they are in terms of results .

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My hope is the approach moves us up in visibility and draws more Jimmy Butler and Khris Middleton style talent. We knew when Khris played he was special even though he didn't get a chance to go as deep in the tournament.

We are seeing that with Buzz's recruiting especially as he adjusts to the portal chaos. And presumably gets help on NIL.

I would go as far to say that whoever wins the SEC tournament will not win the national championship

Depends on the team and how it goes imo. If a team like Auburn just steamrolls thru it without injury I wouldn't automatically pick against them in the Dance . If it's a team without a lot of depth like Tennessee and they win rock fights then yes it probably wears them down for the Dance. We'd be somewhere in between imo but more like the Vols.

If your'e a top 4 seed in the SEC tourney you only have to win 2 games . Doesn't seem right with the balance in this league but that's how the brackets fall. The margins between the 3 & 8 seeds in this conference this yr are razor thin.

halfastros81 said:

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Depends on the team and how it goes imo. If a team like Auburn just steamrolls thru it without injury I wouldn't automatically pick against them in the Dance . If it's a team without a lot of depth like Tennessee and they win rock fights then yes it probably wears them down for the Dance. We'd be somewhere in between imo but more like the Vols.

If your'e a top 4 seed in the SEC tourney you only have to win 2 games

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True. But even Auburn hasn't been fully healthy and still 1 or 2 injuries away from being mortal

No doubt injuries can have a crushing impact on your tourney hopes.