Blair vs Grooms

[WTSooner]

I'm not going to offer a bunch of stats to back my opinion up, as I'm really not trying to convince anybody of anything.

That said, I'm of the opinion that Grooms was brought in to back up Blair, not to replace him. I know Blair isn't very highly thought of by most, but I still feel like he is a) better than most give him credit for, and b) better than Grooms.

I'm not saying Grooms has zero chance of beating Blair out, I'm just saying I think it is unlikely, and not really what LK had planned. If LK really wanted to replace Blair, he likely would have checked on more options then just Grooms. And maybe he did, but Grooms was on campus, and committed, pretty quickly after LK was brought to OU.

I feel like several posters on this board have WAY too high of expectations for Grooms. I also think some people put too much on Grooms being responsible for his JUCO team's record, just b/c he was the point.

Blair needs to play better, for sure, but I think having more of a system to follow will help not only Blair, but all the guards.

 

[Tony]

I'll be pretty disappointed if Grooms isn't starting by the end of the season.

 

[WTSooner]

I'll be pretty disappointed if Grooms isn't starting by the end of the season.

I guess I just don't understand this. It either implies that you think very, very highly of Grooms. Or very, very poorly of Blair. Neither of which I agree with.

Time will tell.

 

[NickZepp]

If Blair can not turn it over that much he's a pretty solid point guard. I know nothing about Grooms at this point because he's yet to play as far as I'm concerned.

 

[CMSOONER]

I'm not going to offer a bunch of stats to back my opinion up, as I'm really not trying to convince anybody of anything.

That said, I'm of the opinion that Grooms was brought in to back up Blair, not to replace him. I know Blair isn't very highly thought of by most, but I still feel like he is a) better than most give him credit for, and b) better than Grooms.

I'm not saying Grooms has zero chance of beating Blair out, I'm just saying I think it is unlikely, and not really what LK had planned. If LK really wanted to replace Blair, he likely would have checked on more options then just Grooms. And maybe he did, but Grooms was on campus, and committed, pretty quickly after LK was brought to OU.

I feel like several posters on this board have WAY too high of expectations for Grooms. I also think some people put too much on Grooms being responsible for his JUCO team's record, just b/c he was the point.

Blair needs to play better, for sure, but I think having more of a system to follow will help not only Blair, but all the guards.

100% agree. Classic case of every OU recruit is the next conference newcomber of the year.

 

[steverocks35]

Blair has to learn to be strong with the ball and quit pushing off with his off arm. If he can improve in those areas he'll be solid.

 

[Tony]

I've never seen a minute of Grooms play.

I don't think very, very poorly of Blair.

 

[garyeb2]

guys, use the google. you can finds articles and evaluations on both these guys (rivals.com.scout.com,ect) going back as far as '05. grooms has always been the better player. he is a different class of player than blair. if they were race horses blair would be a useful $5000 claimer. grooms could win for $20,000. with that, i hope neither one of them would be good enough to play on an oklahoma team 3 yrs. from now.

 

[MNsooner]

Blair will start all season. He has been solid most times and really good sometimes against high D-1 competition. It is a good sign that he played his best in Big 12 play. It means he improved over the season even as the opponents got better.

 

[CoachTalk]

guys, use the google. you can finds articles and evaluations on both these guys (rivals.com.scout.com,ect) going back as far as '05. grooms has always been the better player. he is a different class of player than blair. if they were race horses blair would be a useful $5000 claimer. grooms could win for $20,000. with that, i hope neither one of them would be good enough to play on an oklahoma team 3 yrs. from now.

So Jimmer Fredette wasnt highly recruited...Siena, Umass, and Utah... He went to BYU, guess he is worse than grooms! Grooms got better offers... Youre comparing apples to peanuts...

 

[Max Power]

So Jimmer Fredette wasnt highly recruited...Siena, Umass, and Utah... He went to BYU, guess he is worse than grooms! Grooms got better offers... Youre comparing apples to peanuts...

This is why I don't follow recruiting too much. 90% of the time it is too hard to get right

 

[garyeb2]

So Jimmer Fredette wasnt highly recruited...Siena, Umass, and Utah... He went to BYU, guess he is worse than grooms! Grooms got better offers... Youre comparing apples to peanuts...

no, i'm comparing grooms to blair. what are you talking about. i said in another post that grooms has always been considered to be a high mid-major talent. no one that is in the business of evaluating basketball talent ever thought that mush of blair. not even capel. in one article that i found, capel looked at him out of hs and didn't offer. no one offered except new orleans, who at the time couldn't get anyone because it was already widely known that were folding up d1 basketball. i don't know if grooms is good enough to get the job done or not. but, if anyone thinks kruger would burn a scholorship to bring in a kid worse than blair, well, i'm afraid those people don't hold the new coach in very high esteem. and using blairs performance last season to defend your position is laughable.

 

[AdaSooner]

I have said for sometime that there is a lot to like about Blair's game. But he has two glaring weaknesses for a point guard that cannot possibly be overlooked: Defense and Ball Control. If Grooms is noticeably better in those areas, he will win the starting job. It's that simple.

 

[Dcox]

I have said for sometime that there is a lot to like about Blair's game. But he has two glaring weaknesses for a point guard that cannot possibly be overlooked: Defense and Ball Control. If Grooms is noticeably better in those areas, he will win the starting job. It's that simple.

+1

 

[thebigabd]

Blair would be a very nice backup on a good team.

 

[garyeb2]

i don't want to get caught up in knocking the players all day. if grooms doesn't work out. i'll be rooting for blair every game.

 

[Dr Sleep]

I'm not going to offer a bunch of stats to back my opinion up, as I'm really not trying to convince anybody of anything.

That said, I'm of the opinion that Grooms was brought in to back up Blair, not to replace him. I know Blair isn't very highly thought of by most, but I still feel like he is a) better than most give him credit for, and b) better than Grooms.

I'm not saying Grooms has zero chance of beating Blair out, I'm just saying I think it is unlikely, and not really what LK had planned. If LK really wanted to replace Blair, he likely would have checked on more options then just Grooms. And maybe he did, but Grooms was on campus, and committed, pretty quickly after LK was brought to OU.

I feel like several posters on this board have WAY too high of expectations for Grooms. I also think some people put too much on Grooms being responsible for his JUCO team's record, just b/c he was the point.

Blair needs to play better, for sure, but I think having more of a system to follow will help not only Blair, but all the guards.

I Disagree. New coach with a new system, everyone has to earn their starting spot all over again. Everyone starts from square one. Also, it would be foolish to sign guys that you plan on being backups. Every player signed should have potential.

 

[thebigabd]

I Disagree. New coach with a new system, everyone has to earn their starting spot all over again. Everyone starts from square one. Also, it would be foolish to sign guys that you plan on being backups. Every player signed should have potential.

I dont agree with that at all. Coaches sign depth and backups all the time.

Under Sampson, I always thought he recruited roles instead of starters or backups. He recruited guys who were great rebounders, great athletes, great shooters, great slashers, etc and he usually had a pretty good mix of these "roles" on the team.

 

[AdaSooner]

i don't want to get caught up in knocking the players all day. if grooms doesn't work out. i'll be rooting for blair every game.

Me, too. I'm a huge Carl Blair fan. I just want to see the best PG on our roster running the offense.

 

[coolm]

Blair will be the starter and IMO he will do a good job. He was thrown in the fire and will perform much better with last season under his belt. No offense to Grooms at all, but he is here to play #2 #1.