Watching Buggs being chosen by the Augustana coach to shoot Kevin's foul shots and then his confidently swishing both shots gave me a better feeling about him running the point than I have had for a while.
While watching him the rest of the game I began to wonder if their ever has been a quicker guard to wear a Valpo uniform.
Any opinions?
i agree. it felt good to watch buggs nail those two free throws. as far as the second part, i couldn't tell you!
Interesting question. Other than Erik, the only 2 that come to mind as anywhere close are Jarryd Loyd and Jared Nuness (before he got hurt). That said, Erik is definitely in a "speed" league all his own. I was sitting there tonight thinking how I would absolutely hate bringing the ball up the court with him hawking me unmercifully possession after possession.
When I interviewed back in the spring after the season he said he was going to focus on his scoring. Looks like it might just be paying off! http://sectionee.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-to-know-erik-buggs.html (http://sectionee.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-to-know-erik-buggs.html)
As long as he makes the FTs, that allows for us to keep a solid defensive presence in late game situations, without having to worry about a team hacking him like last year
It seems that now Erik even has some confidence in his FT shooting ability. I hope that continues because coaches don't have a short memory about that sort of thing. He will be tested, but if he makes them pay a few times the swatting Buggs strategy may come to an end this year.
From where I was sitting, it appeared that Buggs was encouraging the Augustana coach to choose him to shoot the free throws. He was making himself very visible, looking at the Augustana bench, etc. If this perception is accurate, it shows Buggs has confidence in his FT shooting that he didn't have last year.
I love how hard Erik plays the game and I'm excited for him and his new found confidence on offense!! What a huge benefit for the team if he is able to keep this up.
That was a great moment. Good for Buggs!