Summary: Tugler is a defensive nightmare with freaky length and an insatiable motor that lets him guard anyone, while also crashing the boards and snagging lobs like a human highlight reel. The problem is his offense is a raw mess with clunky touch and no creation skills, which make it a lot harder to project his role.
Comparisons: Charles Oakley, Kenneth Faried
Strengths
Defense: With a 7-foot-6 wingspan and a blend of lateral quickness on the perimeter and agility in tight interior spaces, Tugler has remarkable defensive versatility. He can step out to the 3-point line and recover, or switch screens across positions, or play as more of a traditional rim protector. Houston had an 89.3 defensive rating with Tugler on the floor, by far the best in the nation.
Lob finishing: Tugler is a high-flyer who can catch lobs above the defense. He'll sprint up the floor to make himself available on the break, and he's always looking for cutting lanes in the half court.
Role-player skills: As a limited offensive player, he's figuring out how to make himself useful as a screener and by crashing the glass. And though he needs to improve his passing, he at least has a willingness to keep the ball moving.
Rebounding: He's tenacious on the boards. He fights for positioning and has the verticality to sky over opponents for boards.
Concerns
Fouling: Sometimes he's overly eager trying to block shots or get his long limbs into a ball-handler's dribble. Tugler fouled out of six games before the NCAA tournament even began, and was often in foul trouble. This limited him to only 22 minutes per game.
Shot creation: He lacks a handle for face-up drives and post-ups, and he panics when under pressure when he must pass the ball.
Touch: He made only 51% of his free throws through two college seasons, and lacks touch near the basket on layups that aren't right at the rim. Assuming he never develops a jumper, positional fit could be challenging since he's not as tall as true centers, meaning in some matchups he'll need to share the floor with another big but that big will need to have the ability to space the floor.
