UNIFanSince1983 wrote:jturner38 wrote:Also who yall think will win Most improved? Thoughts? I guess we could compare last season stats to the current stats for players. For Ind st, it would be between Justin Gant and K. Smith. Both have improved there offensive game alot. Gant O-production wasnt greatlast season bc half the shots he gets now were going to Mahurin (then he transfer to play with his brother to a NAIA school, WTF) Wont complain tho bc we dont seem to miss him at all.
Nate Buss
Last year 3.5 pts and 1.2 reb 8.9 mins/game
This year 10.3 pts and 4.9 reb 20.8 mins/game
I was just about to say this. His stats speak for themselves (his shooting % has gone up from 48% to 56%+, he also has fewer turnovers compared to all of last season even though he's already played 100 more minutes this year; 9 this year in 333 mins compared to 11 in 232 mins last year) but the biggest reason he is even playing this year is because of his ability to defend. Now he isn't close to the Panthers best defender but last year he looked lost on defense with the exception of Louisville (surprisingly enough) and against D-III Wartburg College.
To illustrate my point, through the first 11 games of last season Buss was getting healthy playing time and averaged 7 pts a game. But his defense and rebounding efforts were so poor that he only played enough time to score 14 pts for the rest of the regular season (and that includes 9 pts @ Drake). In fact he only played 9 mins in the following 2 games (ISUb and Evansville) where he accounted for 1 foul and 1 turnover. He then sat for every remaining game until the CIT where he played a whopping 15 mins in the first 3 games.
He made big strides in the offseason and has now earned his spot as the Panthers first player off the bench. He'd likely start if Jacobson wanted to go with his Top 5 players rather than have guys like Buss and Morgan provide that "spark" off the bench. He fights for rebounding position, makes good decisions on offense and he can actually defend the perimeter and the post.
Can't speak for other teams but if anyone for the Panthers is going to win it's got to be Buss. No questions about it.
