Class of 2025 PF Tomislav Buljan (Croatia) Portal from New Mexico

[Orangezoo]

Bulijan is not going to be our starting center. He can play Center in small ball lineups but he's not going to be our starting center

Then who is? Don’t even try and sell us it’s Goodrick…

 

[phil77]

Bulijan is not going to be our starting center. He can play Center in small ball lineups but he's not going to be our starting center

Then I guess he won’t come because I am sure he will have better offers than to come sit behind White

 

[RF2044]

Bulijan is not going to be our starting center. He can play Center in small ball lineups but he's not going to be our starting center

Buljan is 6-9 250 pounds, and at 23 years old is an adult with man strength. That's why he's a double-double machine.

He's not "small." He's also not a rim protector. But this isn't the JB zone era. I don't know what the new defensive system Brunt will implement will be. Neither do you.

 

[orangefog]

Bulijan is not going to be our starting center. He can play Center in small ball lineups but he's not going to be our starting center

You do realize that he would be working with Arinze who was a great center for us at 6'-9", right? Otis Hill was like 6'-7". The 250lbs is the key.

 

[Scotch]

Kyle's wingspan and verticality allowed him to play WAY bigger than that though.

Think you can argue Buljan's strength does the same to some extent. Always some concern about how those touch shots look when you're trying to get them up over 7 footers instead of other similarly sized guys, but I'm at least confident he'll be able to hold his ground in the post and then you probably need guys like Sadiq to be able to rotate over to help contest post shots.

Yes, we get a bit too focused on height. Etan was 6'9". Elton Brand and Dejuan Blair were beasts. I know those are outliers but you don't need to be 7 feet tall to be effective. Arm length, hops, agility, strength all play a huge role in defensive efficiency.

 

[LpoolNative]

 

[granthath9]

you can’t be a 6’9 center in the ACC and be an effective scorer around the rim. Will Kyle had the athleticism to be a good rim protector but we all saw how he got pushed around on offense and defense a lot of the time. Tomislav would likely be a PF.

 

[Caleb8800]

Then I guess he won’t come because I am sure he will have better offers than to come sit behind White

He's never been a starting center in Europe or at NM. He even stated that he sees himself as a 4. It would be a huge stretch to depend on a kid who has never been a starting center anywhere to be a quality starting center in the ACC. This kid pairs perfectly with Sadiq at the 4 to add some size and beef to Diqs athleticism

 

[sufan59]

Let's actually land him first and see who else they land before we argue whether he is going to be a 4 or 5. I do know this, if they do land him, they will need to get an even bigger guy at the 5 for it to make sense for him to be a 4 which is not an easy task. Not impossible, but not exactly easy.

 

[Melancer46]

Buljan is 6-9 250 pounds, and at 23 years old is an adult with man strength. That's why he's a double-double machine.

He's not "small." He's also not a rim protector. But this isn't the JB zone era. I don't know what the new defensive system Brunt will implement will be. Neither do you.

I will say we've seen what a C with these kind of rim protecting limitations can do to the defense ala Eddie Lampkin, but I would also say I think this team is likely to end up much better positioned to cover up those weaknesses and accentuate his strengths.

 

[RF2044]

He's never been a starting center in Europe or at NM. He even stated that he sees himself as a 4. It would be a huge stretch to depend on a kid who has never been a starting center anywhere to be a quality starting center in the ACC. This kid pairs perfectly with Sadiq at the 4 to add some size and beef to Diqs athleticism

So... a guy who averaged a double double, started for New Mexico, and put up big numbers up against some higher profile programs, is going to elect to come to a school to sit behind a kid in the same class?

That's never going to happen.

It might happen with an unproven player like Gilhool [just using him as an example -- no idea whether he will actually come here or if we'd be interested in pulling him in], who might want to shift to a school that's closer to home, playing for a coach he likes [GMac].

But it isn't going to happen to a guy who is a double-double machine, looking to "level up."

Also, I think people get too hung up on positions. We need someone who can anchor the post on offense, and rebound on defense. This kid can do both. Again, this isn't the JB era, where we lock in on a lanky shotblocker who is a jumping jack but doesn nothing else. We've had guys like Arinze and Craig Forth play the center, and keep guys out of the paint with brute strength despite not being elite shot blockers.

 

[Melancer46]

He's never been a starting center in Europe or at NM. He even stated that he sees himself as a 4. It would be a huge stretch to depend on a kid who has never been a starting center anywhere to be a quality starting center in the ACC. This kid pairs perfectly with Sadiq at the 4 to add some size and beef to Diqs athleticism

The next biggest guy at New Mexico that played real minutes was 6'9" 200 lbs. Buljan was pretty comfortably their biggest guy aside from the 7 footer that only played around 10 minutes a game.

 

[orangefog]

you can’t be a 6’9 center in the ACC and be an effective scorer around the rim. Will Kyle had the athleticism to be a good rim protector but we all saw how he got pushed around on offense and defense a lot of the time. Tomislav would likely be a PF.

Unless you are Cam Boozer?

 

[granthath9]

Unless you are Cam Boozer?

Patrick Ngongba died?

 

[phil77]

Unless you are Cam Boozer?

Yup unless you are a top 10 pick in the NBA

 

[orangefog]

Patrick Ngongba died?

Maybe he was injured at the end of the regular season?

 

[granthath9]

Maybe he was injured at the end of the regular season?

That doesn’t change the fact that Pat played 28 games at center this year.

 

[LpoolNative]

Maybe he was injured at the end of the regular season?

So… he did die then

 

[orangefog]

Yup unless you are a top 10 pick in the NBA

We aren't expecting him to score like Cam Boozer. The point is, 6'-9" and 250lbs is a good sized center. Personally, I would like us to get someone taller as well. We have had many centers his size, and they've mostly done really well.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Correct. Buljan would be our starting center with Goodrick backing up.

Folefac and Sadiq would be our power forwards.

All 4 guys hit the glass hard. Must be a point of emphasis for G-Mac. Obviously if we get all 4 of these guys. I’d expect G-Mac to add one more 4/5 combo. Which tbh Petar Majstorovic would be the perfect guy to be the 3rd power forward and center.

PF- Sadiq, Folefac, Majstorovic
C-Buljan, Goodrick, Majstorovic

Not overly athletic.

 

[Caleb8800]

So... a guy who averaged a double double, started for New Mexico, and put up big numbers up against some higher profile programs, is going to elect to come to a school to sit behind a kid in the same class?

That's never going to happen.

It might happen with an unproven player like Gilhool [just using him as an example -- no idea whether he will actually come here or if we'd be interested in pulling him in], who might want to shift to a school that's closer to home, playing for a coach he likes [GMac].

But it isn't going to happen to a guy who is a double-double machine, looking to "level up."

Coaches aren't telling these guys that they are automatic starters. He's looking to get paid and he knows NM can't pay him what other schools can. You think schools like MSU are saying to him commit here and you're our starting PF? No they're told hey we'll give you X amount to come compete for a starting role

There will be plenty of minutes to go around between Sadiq needing rest/getting in foul trouble as well as small ball 5 minutes. You can offer a big role without necessarily guaranteeing a starters role. Also you don't think Sadiq is going to have to earn that role? Gerry isn't going to hand that to him he's going to want to bring in competition at these positions. Why do you think Hurley is looking at other guards in the portal? Because he knows competition brings out the best in players. Sadiq isn't going to just be handed 30+ minutes as our starting PF he will need to earn it

 

[phil77]

We aren't expecting him to score like Cam Boozer. The point is, 6'-9" and 250lbs is a good sized center. Personally, I would like us to get someone taller as well. We have had many centers his size, and they've mostly done really well.

Many centers decades ago were successful the games has changed.

 

[sutomcat]

The next biggest guy at New Mexico that played real minutes was 6'9" 200 lbs. Buljan was pretty comfortably their biggest guy aside from the 7 footer that only played around 10 minutes a game.

He averaged 10.3 rebounds per game. The guy who averaged the next most rebounds on New Mexico was a guard with 4.5. He WAS their center and their only inside player.

We would have him in the same role here, except surrounded with bigger players and more talent.

 

[orangefog]

That doesn’t change the fact that Pat played 28 games at center this year.

It also doesn't change the fact that someone 6'-9" and 250lbs can be effective against other bigs in the ACC or any other conference. It comes down to his skills. I haven't done the deep dive on this guy yet, but from what I have seen, he would be a great fit. We have Sadiq, but I would love for us to get a guy like Hines and bump this guy to PF to start a game, and then rotate Sadiq in and slide this guy to C for a great 3 man rotation at the 4/5. That is, if we were lucky enough to land those guys.

 

[RF2044]

Coaches aren't telling these guys that they are automatic starters. He's looking to get paid and he knows NM can't pay him what other schools can. You think schools like MSU are saying to him commit here and you're our starting PF? No they're told hey we'll give you X amount to come compete for a starting role

There will be plenty of minutes to go around between Sadiq needing rest/getting in foul trouble as well as small ball 5 minutes. You can offer a big role without necessarily guaranteeing a starters role. Also you don't think Sadiq is going to have to earn that role? Gerry isn't going to hand that to him he's going to want to bring in competition at these positions. Why do you think Hurley is looking at other guards in the portal? Because he knows competition brings out the best in players. Sadiq isn't going to just be handed 30+ minutes as our starting PF he will need to earn it

Hurley has the luxury of being able to sell tremendous recent success, which players want to be a part of. That's why he can go out and portal guys willing to sacrifice to come to his program to compete -- because some players aren't just chasing a bag, they want to win and win big. That's what uconn [barf] offers right now.

Our two biggest offseason needs are PG and Center. Not even debatable. All we've done is bring in an injured guy from Siena. Now, Goodrick appears to have higher upside than Souare, so at minimum if he ends up being a solid backup, I'm good with that. I also think he might prove to be "better" than just a competent backup -- time will tell, but I am not comfortable rolling him out as our starting center in such a pivotal year.

Right now, our two biggest needs haven't been fulfilled, beyond backup center. We have money to spend. You bring in Folefac if you can to compete with White for PT, and build depth.

But who do we bring in at Center? I would much rather have a double-double machine than a kid like the one from Stephen Austin, who can block shots but do nothing else.

As stated, we don't even know what the offensive / defensive systems that Daly and Brunt are going to help GMac implement yet. So it is pointless to be dismissive of player fit based upon old paradigms.

I would much rather have a proven commodity like Buljan who can rebound than roll the dice on another low major that comes at a bargain. Center is a massive, massive red flag in our roster right now.