Big 12 next year

[oSuJeff97]

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.

I don't know if your sample size of 1 game against a team with 3-4 NBA players on the floor is an accurate enough gauge of whether or not Jurick can be an effective Big 12 center.

Perry Jones, Quncy Acy, etc., have made LOTS of players look pretty bad over the past few years.

I agree with Denver... Jurick can be a nice defensive presence off the bench. There's nothing wrong with that.

I am curious why you think Darrell Williams will be back... did I miss something?

 

[DFWHoopster]

I don't know if your sample size of 1 game against a team with 3-4 NBA players on the floor is an accurate enough gauge of whether or not Jurick can be an effective Big 12 center.

Perry Jones, Quncy Acy, etc., have made LOTS of players look pretty bad over the past few years.

I agree with Denver... Jurick can be a nice defensive presence off the bench. There's nothing wrong with that.

I am curious why you think Darrell Williams will be back... did I miss something?

The only for sure NBA player on that floor for Baylor was Perry Jones. Maybe Quincy Miller also- we will see on him.

I think we all know how that one is going to go down with Williams. Is he a guy that can help OSU win next year? Yes. Can we find a way to get him through this season and delay any legal ramifications? Probably.

 

[61sooner]

OU will be better next year. But to get to 4th or 5th in the conference, the rest of the league will have to fall back to them as much as OU will move up.
Can't disregard West Va. with Huggins as the coach. Should be fun when WVA goes to K-State.

 

[DenverSooner]

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.

I agree. KU always gets my preseason number one vote unless OU is a legitimate contender. In that case loyalty wins out over logic and I pick OU.

 

[SoMuchDramaInTheLNC]

Re: OSU: I think they'll be better without Keiton Page.

 

[oSuJeff97]

I think we all know how that one is going to go down with Williams. Is he a guy that can help OSU win next year? Yes. Can we find a way to get him through this season and delay any legal ramifications? Probably.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this.

Who is "we" and what do you think is going to be delayed?

He's currently suspended from the team while he's awaiting trial. The only way that he's getting back on the team is if he's found not guilty in his trial.

His trial starts May 7, pending a change-of-venue motion that is set to be ruled on this Friday. (The D.A. made the motion.)

So assuming the trial goes forward on May 7, we should know in early May if he's going to be back or not. (If the change-of-venue motion is successful, I assume it would be delayed a few more months... but that's not getting him back on the team... in fact it's worse because it delays the trial further.)

My personal opinion is that he's not coming back. There's a reason that the vast majority of cases brought by the D.A. never make it to trial and/or never make it to jury deliberations. A plea deal to a lesser charge is the most likely outcome, IMO. And if/when that happens, he won't be back.

 

[Salt City Sooner]

OU will be better next year. But to get to 4th or 5th in the conference, the rest of the league will have to fall back to them as much as OU will move up.
Can't disregard West Va. with Huggins as the coach. Should be fun when WVA goes to K-State.

Already had a sample of that when WVU played KSU this past season in Wichita. They beat the 'cats in double OT, & FWIW, the crowd gave Huggins a standing O before the game when he was introduced. There was some jilted lover bad blood when he first left Manhattan, but it's pretty much gone now.

 

[HoHum]

The thing about Jurick, in my opinion, is that he's only effective against certain types of teams. Guys with lanky, up and down the court, big men he struggles with. He needs a guy like Thomas Gipson to go against.

And he has that hurt achilles as well, so who knows how quickly that will heal with a guy that size.

As for Soucek, I'm actually sort of optimistic about his future. He can really, really shoot it, and is a very good passer, and he's shown it in a few games. But, he had never lifted a weight in his life until he got to OSU. When he's a senior, he'd be 24 years old, and think he could be a very valuable piece. The kind of guy Iowa State used to have.

 

[PasoPoke]

I don't know where Jeff is getting his information.

There is a reason Williams hasn't taken a deal, his lawyers are convinced he didn't do anything wrong and are anxious to get to court. The DA has been stonewalling and has done everything they can to delay and drag the case out.

Basically the girl involved was blackout drunk (not trying to throw the girl under the bus, this is what I've been told by a lawyer buddy in Stillwater) and can't identify Williams but was told it was him. His position is she got the wrong guy. There are several players ready to testify on Williams behalf. The DA has begged for a deal, now the latest delay tactic is a change of venue which is almost unheard of from the prosecution, not likely to get it. If the change of venue is denied the DA may very well drop the case to avoid humiliation in court.

If Coach Ford and AD Holder thought he was guilty or was going to get convicted there is no way he would be participating in all the team functions and interacting with recruits.

 

[BanjoCharley]

If Coach Ford and AD Holder thought he was guilty or was going to get convicted there is no way he would be participating in all the team functions and interacting with recruits.

while OSUJeff says "He's currently suspended from the team while he's awaiting trial."

So is he suspended or participating?

 

[Sawyer]

Already had a sample of that when WVU played KSU this past season in Wichita. They beat the 'cats in double OT, & FWIW, the crowd gave Huggins a standing O before the game when he was introduced. There was some jilted lover bad blood when he first left Manhattan, but it's pretty much gone now.

As it should be.

Huggins is a West Virginia native and WVU alum, and he'd made no secret of his desire to coach there. The opportunity finally came up, and he took it.

It's not like he told everyone who would listen that we was going to retire at ksu then took the WVU job a week later or anything like that.

 

[5hrenergy]

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

 

[sperry]

1. Baylor
2. KU


This is all I feel confident about. Those two should be quite a bit better than the rest of the league. Should be a bloodbath from 3-8, with TCU and Tech a distant 9 and 10.

 

[5hrenergy]

1. Baylor
2. KU


This is all I feel confident about. Those two should be quite a bit better than the rest of the league. Should be a bloodbath from 3-8, with TCU and Tech a distant 9 and 10.

Talent wise definitely, but talent wise Baylor should have won it this year. They have a ridiculous amount of talent, but under coached IMO.

 

[DFWHoopster]

Talent wise definitely, but talent wise Baylor should have won it this year. They have a ridiculous amount of talent, but under coached IMO.

On paper Baylor looked like the most talented team, but I told all my Baylor friends before the season that Kansas had the best trio. And it usually comes down to who has the best trio if everyone stays healthy. Now I didn't think Missouri would be as good as they were after the loss of Bowers.

Baylor's "trio" heading into the season was Acy, Perry Jones and Quincy Miller. Right there you have an issue- no guard. Pierre Jackson was a huge plus for them. Without Jackson, they would have been like the year before- dysfunctional.

As good as Drew recruits, he has never landed elite point guards like Barnes, Self or Calipari. He has done pretty well with point guards rated around 20th nationally at that position: Jerrells, Carter, Walton (defense) and Jackson. LJ Rose will be the highest rated point guard Drew has ever landed. But obviously next year is Jackson's team.

Kansas' trio of Robinson, Taylor and Johnson I thought was superior when you looked at the whole package: experience, defense, offense, etc... It proved to be true.

This next year, if you factor those things in... you probably still need to go with the trio of Johnson, Releford, Withey.

Ranking the Big 3's this year:

1. Kansas (Releford, Johnson, Withey)
2. Baylor (Jackson, Miller, Austin)
3. OSU (Nash, Brown, Smart)
4. KSU (McGruder, Henriquez, Rodriguez)
5. OU (Pledger, Fitzgerald, Osby)
6. Texas (Kabongo, Ridley, McClellan)
7. West Virginia (Hinds, Kilicli, Murray)
8. ISU (Clyburn, Lucious, Ejim)
9. Texas Tech (Tolbert, Crockett, Nurse)
10. TCU (too irrelevant to look up)

 

[HoHum]

How much of an impact do you think Austin will make next seasons, DFW? Reports I've read are that he still isn't using his size fully to his advantage, still likes to drift out to the perimeter, etc...

What kind of numbers would you expect out of him?

 

[DenverSooner]

Ranking the Big 3's this year:

1. Kansas (Releford, Johnson, Withey)
2. Baylor (Jackson, Miller, Austin)
3. OSU (Nash, Brown, Smart)
4. KSU (McGruder, Henriquez, Rodriguez)
5. OU (Pledger, Fitzgerald, Osby)
6. Texas (Kabongo, Ridley, McClellan)
7. West Virginia (Hinds, Kilicli, Murray)
8. ISU (Clyburn, Lucious, Ejim)
9. Texas Tech (Tolbert, Crockett, Nurse)
10. TCU (too irrelevant to look up)

You have the wrong three guys for OU. The Big Three will be M'Baye, Osby and Pledger.

 

[DFWHoopster]

How much of an impact do you think Austin will make next seasons, DFW? Reports I've read are that he still isn't using his size fully to his advantage, still likes to drift out to the perimeter, etc...

What kind of numbers would you expect out of him?

He's got Anthony Davis type length but not as strong or polished offensively so I think his biggest impact will be on defense. I would guess 10 pts; 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. I think Ricardo Gathers has a bigger impact next year for Baylor. He was sold on fulfilling Acy's role and I bet he gobbles up most of Acy's minutes along with Cory Jefferson. Gathers will probably be a far better player in terms of college production than Perry Jones, Quincy Miller and Isaiah Austin in my opinion. Gathers will be one of the strongest players in the B12 as a college freshman. He has Royce White type strength.

Denver- I could see M'Baye being a better player than Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is a proven producer though. You never know what you get with newcomers when the lights come on.

 

[PasoPoke]

while OSUJeff says "He's currently suspended from the team while he's awaiting trial."

So is he suspended or participating?

He is only suspended from playing in games, he has participated in all other team functions.

 

[oSuJeff97]

I don't know where Jeff is getting his information.

There is a reason Williams hasn't taken a deal, his lawyers are convinced he didn't do anything wrong and are anxious to get to court. The DA has been stonewalling and has done everything they can to delay and drag the case out.

Basically the girl involved was blackout drunk (not trying to throw the girl under the bus, this is what I've been told by a lawyer buddy in Stillwater) and can't identify Williams but was told it was him. His position is she got the wrong guy. There are several players ready to testify on Williams behalf. The DA has begged for a deal, now the latest delay tactic is a change of venue which is almost unheard of from the prosecution, not likely to get it. If the change of venue is denied the DA may very well drop the case to avoid humiliation in court.

If Coach Ford and AD Holder thought he was guilty or was going to get convicted there is no way he would be participating in all the team functions and interacting with recruits.

If that's the case then that's great.

I learned long ago to be pessimistic in these situations.