Gophers men's basketball beat writer Amelia Rayno answered reader questions Monday:
Zach: Can Charles Buggs be relied on? Consistency has always been a problem with him, but he seems to be trusting his knee more and more each game.
Rayno: I don't really think it's about trusting the knee, per se. Buggs has a congenital issue, so he'll likely always have to play through some pain. His offensive production and passing has been great, but it's the defensive/playbook/mentality stuff that have been and still are the concerns.
Prosnick: Do our big men have the strength and stamina to compete with the other Big Ten big guys for a whole season?
Rayno: The real weakness is at the 4-spot, but Joey King is playing about as well as you can expect him to, right now. At center, Minnesota has a rim protector/rebounding specialist in Elliott Eliason and a dynamic post scorer in Mo Walker — a strong pair that many league teams lack. It's really a question of physicality and production on the boards, but the Big Ten isn't exactly packed with great big men this year.
Read the transcript at startribune.com/sports
