If we are done- how do you grade the portal haul?

MarcAg

11:20a, 5/2/24

We might be done, we might be done. But if we are done, how are you grading the portal haul?

My Grade: B
I was originally going back and forth between B- and C+, but after watching a lot of Phelps I really like his game and what he is going to bring and I raised it to a B.

Payne- Big addition. Huge upgrade over what we had in Leveque with both talent and athleticism. His game is not like Marble's but he fills the talent gap we had with Marble's absence. He played in the Big Ten so he is going to bring physicality. We got bullied inside a few times last year. He also brings some shot blocking which is always helpful. His FT shooting on the season was atrocious at 47%, but in his last 8 games he went 23-31 (74%) so that is encouraging. Big men often take time to develop, so I think we will see an uptick in his game over the next 2 years. The fact we get him for 2 years make this pickup even more valuable.

Phelps- The three point percent jumps out at you, but if you actually watch him play you can see he is going to really help our team. He finishes really well at the rim and he has a really nice mid-range game. He shoot better on 2pt FGs than Boots, Wade and Manny last year. He also gets a lot of steals. He has good length (taller than Boots) and I like that.

Wilcher- I might be wrong, but I think he probably ends up being like our 6th guard. So I don't think he makes a huge impact, but the fact you have a shooter you can go to is big. We didn't have any shooting we could bring off the bench this year. I think he is a guy that will have stretches of not scoring more than 5 pts and maybe doesn't play much and then every 5 or 6 games has a double digit game where he comes in and is hot and they roll with him over other options

**I'm hoping by starting this thread we end up picking up somebody else, making this post worthless

Method Man

11:25a, 5/2/24

It's a good thread. I'd rate it a B/B-.

The Marksman

11:26a, 5/2/24

I'm a lot more pleased than you are. I'd give this haul an A. Phelps and Payne should be starters next year and Wilcher a good player off the bench. I'm very pleased with what Buzz has done this offseason so far.

AggieCrew44

11:27a, 5/2/24

A-. Phelps and Payne are instant impact day 1 starters. Hard to complain about the guys Buzz got. A+ would've been adding a true high level 3&D guard/wing but those guys are playing at Duke, not A&M

Suspect rotation come Conference time will be

Phelps
Wade
Manny
Solo
Payne

6th man: Andy

Bench: Carter, Mills, Coleman

Situational/minimal minutes/blowout: Wilcher, Hef, Turk, Dockery

MarcAg

11:27a, 5/2/24

In reply to The Marksman

The Marksman said:
I'm a lot more pleased than you are. I'd give this haul an A. Phelps and Payne should be starters next year and Wilcher a good player off the bench. I'm very pleased with what Buzz has done this offseason so far.

I definitely agree Phelps and Payne should be starters. If Phelps isn't a starter then that is even better as that means somebody really stepped up their game or Mills came in and was the real deal from the jump.

bobinator

11:46a, 5/2/24

Yeah I think this is a B.

Payne is an A addition, not only an upgrade but really a type of player we didn't have at all last year. Had 30 more field goals (130) than any of our posts had (our highest was Coleman with 102.) And wasn't just volume, he made them at a slightly higher percentage (60%) than, looking at just 2pt shots here, Coleman (58%), Garcia (57%), Solo (58%), or Leveque (29%, truly unbelievable, might be the worst two point shooter I've ever seen).

Phelps is close to an A addition, would be an A for sure if he could shoot better. Our ability to break down defenses off the dribble was, at best, inconsistent last year. Gives us much more flexibility on how to use Wade, and he's not only a plus defender but he's much bigger than Boots.

And agree on Wilcher. At absolutely worst he's still a depth improvement over what we had last year. He doesn't have that variable of hoping his shooting translates to better competition like we had last year with Carter and Lawrence, he's been in the Big Ten for the last three seasons and shot at a good clip. Even if he's basically Hefner but good at shooting that could be the difference in a few close games.

bobinator

11:55a, 5/2/24

In reply to MarcAg

The only other way I could see Phelps not starting is if Solo really improves. I could envision a scenario where you'd want to start Solo, Payne and Garcia, but either Solo or Garcia would need to be a much more aggressive scoring threat than they have been.

EliteZags

12:02p, 5/2/24

would be A if Phelps had more than 1 year left

bg92

12:19p, 5/2/24

We addressed our 3 main needs - big, scoring guard, and shooting.

I give it a B. I really like what I see in Payne's highlights. Would have liked to see Phelps spot shoot a little better than he does and Wilcher spot offer a little more than just shooting. But overall, if our NIL is as bad as rumored, I'd say this is a good group.

sincereag

12:37p, 5/2/24

I give it an A, because we didn't lose anyone of significance to the portal, and the three additions should improve our team. Good job Buzz and staff!

Know Your Enemy

12:42p, 5/2/24

B

frenchtoast

12:47p, 5/2/24

Did Buzz pull in the 11th best portal class? If not, D.

Method Man

1:44p, 5/2/24

In reply to bobinator

Buzz will inevitably bring a starter level player off the bench and switch early conference schedule.

Method Man

2:01p, 5/2/24

In reply to frenchtoast

frenchtoast said:
Did Buzz pull in the 11th best portal class? If not, D.

Kids don't commit based on your salary. They commit based on fit and increasingly due to their NIL.

AggieViking15

2:07p, 5/2/24

In reply to MarcAg

What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.

The Marksman

2:14p, 5/2/24

In reply to AggieViking15

AggieViking15 said:
What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.

Backup PG would be my wish if we landed one more guy

MarcAg

2:19p, 5/2/24

In reply to AggieViking15

AggieViking15 said:
What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.

If we added one and only one more I would say get the best available player you can who has multiple years of eligibility and not worry about what position they play.

AgEfan

2:24p, 5/2/24

In reply to The Marksman

The Marksman said:
AggieViking15 said:
What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.
Backup PG would be my wish if we landed one more guy

So you would rather have a backup PG than a guy that can come in start? So if you could land say Arthur Kaluma who is a guy that is 6'7 220 and can play on the perimeter and averaged 14 and 7 last year, you would rather have a backup PG than him?

I don't hate the answer if you say "PG". But when you say I am looking for a "backup PG" I feel like you are setting the bar low. Go get the best PG you can who might be our starting PG. Bring in the best competition and let the chips fall where they will and if Manny or Phelps get bumped to the bench then great.

bobinator

2:28p, 5/2/24

In reply to Method Man

Yeah I'm really talking minutes share more than actual starter. Who knows what Buzz will do with the actual starting lineup.

Heineken-Ashi

2:28p, 5/2/24

In reply to Method Man

Method Man said:
Buzz will inevitably bring a starter level player off the bench and switch early conference schedule.

After losing 5-6 non-conference games and talking about how the team is young and needs time to gel.

“Give it hell Heinekandle, I’m enjoying it.”
- Farmer @ Johnsongrass, TX

“No secure borders, no alpha military, no energy independence, no leadership and most of all no mean tweets - this is the worst trade I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime. ***Put that quote in your quote/signature section HeinendKandle*** LOL!”
- also Farmer @ Johnsongrass, TX (obviously in a worse mood)

The Marksman

2:30p, 5/2/24

In reply to AgEfan

AgEfan said:
The Marksman said:
AggieViking15 said:
What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.
Backup PG would be my wish if we landed one more guy
So you would rather have a backup PG than a guy that can come in start? So if you could land say Arthur Kaluma who is a guy that is 6'7 220 and can play on the perimeter and averaged 14 and 7 last year, you would rather have a backup PG than him?

I don't hate the answer if you say "PG". But when you say I am looking for a "backup PG" I feel like you are setting the bar low. Go get the best PG you can who might be our starting PG. Bring in the best competition and let the chips fall where they will and if Manny or Phelps get bumped to the bench then great.

I mean I'd love to go get a star player, but I was just being realistic and pointing out a potential position of need

TjgtAg08

2:35p, 5/2/24

In reply to AgEfan

AgEfan said:
The Marksman said:
AggieViking15 said:
What position would you want the last transfer to be? It would be nice to have one more true center and ballhandler in my opinion, but not sure which I would choose if we could only get one more. Guess it would depend on if Mills is ready year one or not.
Backup PG would be my wish if we landed one more guy
So you would rather have a backup PG than a guy that can come in start? So if you could land say Arthur Kaluma who is a guy that is 6'7 220 and can play on the perimeter and averaged 14 and 7 last year, you would rather have a backup PG than him?

I don't hate the answer if you say "PG". But when you say I am looking for a "backup PG" I feel like you are setting the bar low. Go get the best PG you can who might be our starting PG. Bring in the best competition and let the chips fall where they will and if Manny or Phelps get bumped to the bench then great.

I think backup PG is the answer assuming that PG has multiple years of eligibility left. As it stands right now, we are going to start the 2024 season with only 1 back court/wing player on the roster who will be here in 2025, and thats Mills.

Finding a guy that could come in, maybe play 10-15 minutes a game behind Wade and then be ready to start in 2025 would be HUGE.

Method Man

4:39p, 5/2/24

In reply to bobinator

Again, I think some guys just do better when they start and some guys it doesn't matter.

bobinator

4:42p, 5/2/24

In reply to Method Man

I do think some guys are actually better off the bench too for whatever reason. Maybe fresh legs gives them an added boost or something, who knows.

AggieViking15

4:54p, 5/2/24

I don't think we're done yet based on all these reports that we're still reaching out to people. Got to imagine Hefner or Coleman has called it a career.

Wicked Good Ag

5:58p, 5/2/24

In reply to MarcAg

MarcAg said:
The Marksman said:
I'm a lot more pleased than you are. I'd give this haul an A. Phelps and Payne should be starters next year and Wilcher a good player off the bench. I'm very pleased with what Buzz has done this offseason so far.
I definitely agree Phelps and Payne should be starters. If Phelps isn't a starter then that is even better as that means somebody really stepped up their game or Mills came in and was the real deal from the jump.

i dont think with Buzz who starts is of a primary concern...it will be minutes played twoard the midway point of conference that will define the team

Hefner started quite a bit early and Leveque started pretty much every game

Method Man

6:16p, 5/2/24

Wrong. It does matter. We lost games because hefner started. We lose games because Q Jackson didn't start I think playing Leveque a bunch lost us games. Most coaches just start their best players. Why is that?

Know Your Enemy

6:20p, 5/2/24

In reply to Method Man

What games did we lose because Leveque played too much? What games did we lose because Hefner started?

bg92

6:35p, 5/2/24

I think Manny needs to start for his mental game. I think once he was inserted in the starting lineup and knew he was going to be integral to the plan, his confidence went way up. Just like some guys are better off the bench, others need the confidence that comes from being a starter.

EliteZags

6:47p, 5/2/24

In reply to bg92

Manny needs to start if we want to have more than 1-2 scoring threats on the floor to avoid the early 5+min scoring droughts

AggieEyes

7:49p, 5/2/24

B+

I think the class will complement our current roster well and hopefully Solo, Manny and Jace Carter will also be much improved.

Could be a fun season!

GrayMatter

8:13p, 5/2/24

B-/C+ for me. I feel like Wilcher and Phelps were signed as a result of us not being able to close on better talent.

That's the perception anyway. The reality is TBD; Buzz's job will be to bring all these pieces in and establish a more consistent season.

Method Man

8:44p, 5/2/24

In reply to Know Your Enemy

Not really sure. He didn't win us any games for sure and every minute he played someone better wasn't. Please show me the teams that bring better players off the bench and start guys who essentially do nothing.

AggieCrew44

8:52p, 5/2/24

Playing/starting a center that defends and plays his role for a whopping 9 min per game is not why we lost basketball games

Method Man

8:57p, 5/2/24

That's 9 minutes someone else that does something could be playing. Yes I know. Foul trouble, etc. you put in a guy that doesn't do much when the guys that do can't play. Not just cuz. Jmo.