Big 12 next year

[DFWHoopster]

going to be a really tough league. Everyone should be about the same or better. TCU will probably take over Texas Tech's role as sacrificial lamb. And Texas Tech is still probably a year or two away from being more competitive.

Kansas: best top 3 in the league when you consider offense and defense in Withey, Releford, Johnson. Talented influx of with Ellis, McLemore and White.

Iowa State- hard team to read. Will Clyburn will be a candidate for newcomer of the year along with M'Baye and Murray from West Virginia. I've never been that enamored with Corey Lucious from Michigan State- poor shooter. But I like Gibson, Ejim and Babb a lot. I think they don't lose much from an overall standpoint.

Kansas State: return 4 of their 5 best players in Rodriguez, Spradling, McGruder and Henriquez. Weber is known for being really good defensively and has been criticized for his offense. Will be interesting to see how this team develops. But McGruder is a candidate for B12 player of the year.

Oklahoma State- significantly better. Good 7-man rotation with Smart; Brown; Brian Williams; Darrell Williams; Olukemi; Nash and Cobbins. A likely NCAA team that might surprise and contend for the league title.

Oklahoma- significantly better. Experience and some holes have been filled with Hield and Hornbeck. Good top 5: M'Baye, Osby, Clark, Pledger, Grooms

Texas- better. Great recruiting class coming in with quality bigs. Last year's freshman class will benefit from being thrown to the wolves. Kabongo may take a big step forward not always deferring to Brown.

Baylor: will probably be the best perimeter team in the league offensively with Jackson, Heslip and Miller. But suspect defensively again. Success will depend on how much they get from Jefferson, Bello, Austin and Gathers.

Texas Tech- will be better. Their top 5 isn't terrible: Tolbert, Bail, Crockett, Nurse, Willis. Still a long way to go. But I can see 4-5 wins for them.

TCU- last year's Texas Tech. I don't see them wining more than 4 games in the league.

West Virginia- a wildcard. They have a really physical team. Aaric Murray (LaSalle transfer- 14 pts; 7 reb; 2 blks) and Deniz Kilicli will punish people on the blocks. Backcourt is suspect with Jabarie Hinds and Juwan Staten (Dayton transfer- 9 pts; 5.5 assists). But they have enough good players to make every game a war. Elijah Macon- 6'8" 220 lbs is a top 60 recruit.

An early prediction:

1. Kansas
2. Baylor
3. OSU
4. KSU
5. OU
6. Texas
7. West Virginia
8. Iowa State
9. Texas Tech
10. TCU

And I don't think the difference between 1-8 is going to be that noticeable. Thoughts?

 

[WTSooner]

I disagree that so many teams will be improved over last year. I actually see a few rebuilding/retooling years.

KU will be good, but they won't be dominating like KU teams of the past. They'll be more in line with last year's KU team.

Baylor will probably be pretty similar to last year.

I think ISU will fall, but I'm not sure they fall to 8.

TCU and TT should be the bottom two teams.

No idea on WV. Be interesting to see if they travel for away games affects them at all.

I think Texas will be pretty similar to last year. Not sure their guards are good enough to finish in the top 4.

KSU is tough to read. Sure they bring everybody back, but that is everybody back from a team that underachieved. New coach, should be interesting.

I don't see OSU finishing that high either. 4th, MAYBE, but even that would surprise me. They are still young, and I don't think much of Ford as a HC. Too much like Capel, in that you can't tell what his team is trying to do from week to week. That is never a good thing.

I think OU will be improved. How improved? I'm not sure.

If I was forced to make predictions today, it'd probably look like this:

1. KU
2. Baylor
3. KSU
4. OU
5. Texas
6. OSU
7. WV
8. ISU
9. TT
10. TCU

I think KU and Baylor are definitely the two best teams, but I don't see a lot of difference between teams 3-8. To me, this is a slightly weaker Big 12 than we had last year. Maybe more solid throughout, but less top heavy.

 

[bgrch1350]

1. Baylor - Their defense is always way below what it should be but talent and depth wise...They are one of the best teams in the country next year. They have a strong bench. I don't know whos all going to start for them but Pierre Jackson is a top PG. Austin is one of the best newcomers in college basketball. They have a POY candidate in Miller. They have the guards and the post. Morgan redshirted this season so they are going to have tremendous size advantage again.
2. Kansas - Johnson, Releford, and Withey would all start for any big 12 team so they have a solid nucleus coming back. Add in the fact that their coach is one of the best of making kids better and getting their kids to play solid defense, they should be in for another solid season.
3. OSU - This is the best team Ford has had since he's been at OSU. If Ford can put the pieces together, he could have one of the best teams in the country. If D.Williams gets to come back, and you add Cobbins, Jurick(if he has a full recovery), Soucek, and Murphy down low...they should be solid on the boards. They have solid guards as well.
4. Texas - They made the tournament last year and even though they lost Brown, they still have Kabongo, Lewis, and McClellan and they will be adding Ridley down low to go along with Holmes.
5. W.V. - They some how made the tournament last year and they were a very young team. Even though they lose 2 contributors, they are gaining 2 transfers that should have an immediate impact for them.
6. OU - They have their starting 5 returning with the addition of M'Baye. If they can get any kind of points from their guards other than Pledger, they should be able to get back to the tournament.
7. ISU - They lose White but they have some solid shooters returning. They add Clyburn and Lucious into their starting lineup. Back in 09-10, when Kalin Lucas got hurt in the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney...Lucious stepped up and help lead MSU to the Final Four.
8. KSU - I believe last year that they took advantage of a big 12 league that was down. I don't feel that they are going to be quite so lucky this season. They do have McGruder but they have a new coach as well. Losing Upshaw doesn't help them.
9. T.T. - Another bad year for them.
10. TCU - They can have some good battles with T.T.

 

[seniorsooner]

lmao @ OSU having "one of the best teams in the country"

Give me a freaking break.

 

[DFWHoopster]

lmao @ OSU having "one of the best teams in the country"

Give me a freaking break.

I think they can be good. But if Jurick and Soucek are getting any playing time, then they aren't going to be very good. Darrell Williams is probably the key guy for them. If he averages close to 10/10 (I think he's capable but he's had a long lay off), then they could be one of the better teams. Their perimeter defense and transition game can be very good.

 

[cowboysooner]

I am hoping and praying for a 20 win, .500 conference record, and 5th place finish in the conference. I think this will get us a low seed NCAA bid. Make it happen lon.

For me, it will come down to the improvement of Grooms, the consistency through the year from Osby, and the talent of the freshman (can one or two step up and earn minutes on the perimeter and hit some shots). Just don't know what to expect from Mbuye, Bennett and Arent, or how Lon will use them. It will also be interesting to see what Neal and Clark look like next year.

 

[BigTime]

Good thread, DFW.

Here is mine (haven't put in much research yet especially on the new guys or West Virginia)

1. Kansas
2. Baylor
3. Texas
4. OU
5. KState
6. OSU
7. WVU
8. ISU
9. TT
10. TCU

With 1-8 getting some postseason action.

 

[seniorsooner]

I think they can be good. But if Jurick and Soucek are getting any playing time, then they aren't going to be very good. Darrell Williams is probably the key guy for them. If we averages close to 10/10 (I think he's capable but he's had a long lay off), then they could be one of the better teams. Their perimeter defense and transition game can be very good.

Read what I quoted again. Base your response on that.

 

[bgrch1350]

Read what I quoted again. Base your response on that.

They could...and then again they might not. Talent wise, they have all the pieces.

Nash is going to be one of the better players in the country.

 

[bgrch1350]

I think they can be good. But if Jurick and Soucek are getting any playing time, then they aren't going to be very good. Darrell Williams is probably the key guy for them. If we averages close to 10/10 (I think he's capable but he's had a long lay off), then they could be one of the better teams. Their perimeter defense and transition game can be very good.

I understand Soucek but don't quite understand Jurick. He's a pretty good defender and rebounder.

 

[DFWHoopster]

All Big-12 1st team:

Guard: Pierre Jackson- Baylor
Guard: Steven Pledger- OU
Guard: Rodney McGruder- KSU
Guard: Elijah Johnson- Kansas
Forward: LeBryan Nash- OSU

All Big-12 2nd team:

Guard: Myck Kabongo- Texas
Forward: Quincy Miller- Baylor
Forward: Jeff Withey- Kansas
Forward: Deniz Kilicli- West Virginia
Forward: Jordan Henriquez- KSU

Newcomer: tough call- but I'll buy the M'Baye hype. Clyburn for Iowa State- 17 pts at Utah; Lucious- Iowa State (Michigan State transfer) and Aaric Murray at West Virginia (14 pts; 7 reb; 2 blks at LaSalle) are other candidates

All Freshman:

Guard: Marcus Smart- OSU
Guard: Ben McLemore- Kansas
Forward: Ricardo Gathers- Baylor
Forward: Cameron Ridley- Texas
Forward: Isaiah Austin- Baylor

 

[Salt City Sooner]

All Big-12 1st team:

Guard: Pierre Jackson- Baylor
Guard: Steven Pledger- OU
Guard: Rodney McGruder- KSU
Guard: Elijah Johnson- Kansas
Forward: LeBryan Nash- OSU

All Big-12 2nd team:

Guard: Myck Kabongo- Texas
Forward: Quincy Miller- Baylor
Forward: Jeff Withey- Kansas
Forward: Deniz Kilicli- West Virginia
Forward: Jordan Henriquez- KSU
Newcomer: tough call- but I'll buy the M'Baye hype. Clyburn for Iowa State- 17 pts at Utah; Lucious- Iowa State (Michigan State transfer) and Aaric Murray at West Virginia (14 pts; 7 reb; 2 blks at LaSalle) are other candidates

All Freshman:

Guard: Marcus Smart- OSU
Guard: Ben McLemore- Kansas
Forward: Ricardo Gathers- Baylor
Forward: Cameron Ridley- Texas
Forward: Isaiah Austin- Baylor

Over Osby? Curious as to your reasoning there.

 

[LoveDemSooners]

1. OU
2. KU
3. OSU
4. Baylor
5. KSU
6. Texas
7. WV
8. ISU
9. TT
10. TCU

Nuff said.
BTW, Pledger will be the Big12 player of the year.

 

[TheGimper]

1. KU
2. Baylor
3. Texas
4. OSU
5. OU
6. KSU
7. ISU
8. WV
9. Tech
10. TCU

 

[WTSooner]

Anyone that doesn't put KU number one is just silly. Until somebody other than KU finishes first in the Big 12 for at least two years running, KU should be the favorite.

 

[DFWHoopster]

I may be off on Henriquez but I think the light really came on for him his last 6 games. I watched 3 of those games and I was thinking he could be an all conference guy.

19 pts 12 reb 7 blks vs ISU
4 pts 5 reb 2 blks vs A&M
16 pts 8 reb 2 blks vs OSU
22 pts 14 reb 4 blks vs Baylor
15 pts 9 reb 6 blks vs Southern Miss
14 pts 17 reb vs Syracuse

pretty impressive stretch to end the season.

 

[DFWHoopster]

Any of you guys seen Ricardo Gathers play? Curious to hear opinions. I've seen Smart, Austin and Ridley a bunch. I've seen Ricardo a few times. His high school coach thinks he is the 2nd coming of Thomas Robinson. Said he would be shocked if he didn't average over 10 rebounds per game as a freshman. Hard for me to believe that is true. But Baylor does have to replace 18 rebounds per game so I guess it is possible Gathers gets his share of those.

 

[MNsooner]

Just for comparison here are Osby's numbers over the last 6 games

Team----pts----rebounds

ISU------10-------5

OSU-----16-------13

Baylor---12-------7

Texas---14-------5

A&M-----24------2

A&M-----17------5

Henriquez shot 57% over that stretch
Osby shot 54% over that stretch

Henriquez averaged 31.7 minutes
Osby 30.5

The biggest difference are the rebounding numbers in Henriquez's favor. Though over the course of the season Osby was on average 2 rebounds a game better than Henriquez.

In the end, I think they are both solid candidates, but Henriquez's best stretch was not much better than Osby over that stretch (which wasn't even Osby's best stretch of games). Overall, Osby was the better player during Big12 play. At this point, I would give Osby the edge.

 

[DenverSooner]

I think they can be good. But if Jurick and Soucek are getting any playing time, then they aren't going to be very good. Darrell Williams is probably the key guy for them. If he averages close to 10/10 (I think he's capable but he's had a long lay off), then they could be one of the better teams. Their perimeter defense and transition game can be very good.

There is nothing wrong with Jurick coming off the bench and playing about 15 minutes a game. He can rebound and block shots. He is not going to score a lot of points (or any) but he can be an effective backup PF/C in this conference.

 

[DFWHoopster]

There is nothing wrong with Jurick coming off the bench and playing about 15 minutes a game. He can rebound and block shots. He is not going to score a lot of points (or any) but he can be an effective backup PF/C in this conference.

I may be underestimating him. I just remember watching him play in Waco against Baylor when Baylor beat OSU 106-65. Baylor sent Perry Jones, Quincy Acy and Cory Jefferson (whoever was covering Jurick) long after every defensive rebound was secured. Those guys consistently beat Jurick down the court and got dunks and lay-ups. Jurick looked like he was running in cement. Most teams are going to take advantage of his lack of mobility in that way. That presents an issue for OSU.