Kobe Bufkin

Bufkin is a very aggressive player who plays with a lot of physicality.  I checked his measureable after watching him and was amazed he was listed at 187 pounds.  Bufkin invites contact far more than most players his size and plays a bit bigger and stronger too.  Bufkin is very active without the ball, probing and moving to create a passing lane whether outside or cutting to the hoop.  He challenges players aggressively and is not afraid of contact or getting blocked (he actually gets blocked a lot).  Bufkin isn’t the most explosive run and jump athlete, but he has good footwork and body control, which he combines with good strength and hangtime to score efficiently inside.  Bufkin is really good using his body to jump up into defenders and creating an angle to score or to draw a foul.  Bufkin has a decent shot, but is also a bit too fearless with it. He is able to get his balance and shoot quickly and is very strong when stepping into a shot in rhythm, but less accurate when sped up.  He is also not great shooting off of any more advanced move that isn’t simply taking a dribble to get his rhythm.  Bufkin has decent handles, but they are more serviceable at this stage.  Bufkin has good ball control, but fairly basic handles.  He displays some shake utilizing crossovers, hesitations, and step backs, but mostly wants to and excels at driving in a straight line, which he can do with a quickish first step.  He’s also pretty savvy when the defense is off balance or has to run at him, utilizing escape dribbles and side steps to gain an advantage.  However, Bufkin doesn’t create a lot of separation or have great counters when his initial move is stopped.  Coach Howard was great at putting him in situations to get a step on the defense running him in P&Rs and utilizing a lot of off ball screens to get him moving downhill with a step on the defender.  Bufkin is also a smart cutter and an aggressive rebounder who will take advantage if his defender falls asleep or drifts to help.  Bufkin is a solid passer, who even shows some decent accuracy off the live dribble.  He shows some anticipatory passing moving the ball around the perimeter.  But he seems to have better vision when he is at the top ot the three point line and can survey the court as opposed to when he is in traffic and may not have the height / vision to see all of the passing lanes.

Defense is a similar story.  Bufkin seems to get the most out of his tools with a strong motor and aggressive, physical style of play.  Bufkin is simply relentless.  He runs back hard in transition.  He navigates screens well and shows good judgement for when to fight through them versus sprint around them.  He absorbs contact well for his size.  And bigger players would try to back him down, but his physical play and strong lower body made him tough to move.  On the perimeter, Bufkin does a good job of sitting down in his stance and moving his feet.  However, Bufkin does have his limitations.  He has good, but not great lateral speed and recovery speed and some NBA caliber athletes like Jalen Hood-Schifino and Terrance Shannon were able to jet past him consistently.  He tries to neutralize this by playing tight, physical defense, but that has it’s limitations.  Similarly, he doesn’t change direction especially fast and this leaves him vulnerable to quick crossovers or players driving hard and stepping back into a jumper or fade.  This is where Bufkin’s limited reach and springiness make it hard for him to contest shots.  This is also true when he helps and tries to get out to the perimeter, the effort and motor are there, but at times he struggles to get a close contest or has to fully commit to stop the shot, allowing players to sidestep or drive by him.  Bufkin is also active in help defense, rotating and diving down to check cutters, tag rollers, and guard multiple players as the ball is rotated.  Bufkin tries to provide some contestion inside, but his limited size and strength prevent him from really bothering any wings or big men with even an ounce of momentum.  Bufkin does however have quick hands and good anticipation and is able to jump into passing lanes or strip ball handers on ball or with digs.  He is also a good rebounder for a guard and is able to turn both the steals and rebounds into offense, quickly transitioning up the court.