Do we really have "no talent"?

[Mr.B!!!]

I keep hearing that, but with the right coaching is it that bad?

PF: Fitzgerald - Terrible on the boards, but solid offensive threat.
PF: Osby - Supposedly best player we played all year [debatable].
SF: Cam - Expecting a nice improvement here.
SG: Pledger - Streaky, but maybe improves defensively.
PG: Blair - Definitely needs to improve defensively, but I'm expecting both he and Pledger to benefit most from LK.

PF: Goff [Maybe?]
SF/PF: Neal - This guy has some serious potential IMHO.
SG/PG: Newell - I think he has serious potential as well.

Plus there are still at least a couple of recruits on the board who LK might bring in: Jurick? JUCO PG? HS Kid? This is the most interesting aspect of the next few weeks, that and the assistant coach roster [does LK bring them all, add Evans to staff, etc.].

 

[seniorsooner]

I think our talent level is a bit underrated. We were 5-11 in conference last year, and probably "should" have been 6-10. It's not like we were 1-15 and absolutely hopeless. Losing Cade is going to hurt, but if the guys from last year can improve and Osby is an above average contributor, we could maybe come close to .500 in conference play next year.

 

[FaithfulSooner]

Very good points that you bring up. I'm really not trying to blow smoke, but I think our roster may be a little better than some think. It feels like that we have a coach now that can squeeze every bit of ability that they have out of them. Personally I hope he brings a couple of his main assistants with him and adds another one from here or somewhere else. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!

 

[Big Old Booger]

I keep hearing that, but with the right coaching is it that bad?

PF: Fitzgerald - Terrible on the boards, but solid offensive threat.
PF: Osby - Supposedly best player we played all year [debatable].
SF: Cam - Expecting a nice improvement here.
SG: Pledger - Streaky, but maybe improves defensively.
PG: Blair - Definitely needs to improve defensively, but I'm expecting both he and Pledger to benefit most from LK.

PF: Goff [Maybe?]
SF/PF: Neal - This guy has some serious potential IMHO.
SG/PG: Newell - I think he has serious potential as well.

Plus there are still at least a couple of recruits on the board who LK might bring in: Jurick? JUCO PG? HS Kid? This is the most interesting aspect of the next few weeks, that and the assistant coach roster [does LK bring them all, add Evans to staff, etc.].

I think we have some talent but the problem is most of the talent has a hole in their game.

Fitz -- great scorer, horrible rebounder, not fast enough to play solid defense without fouling
Pledger -- streak shooter, decent ball handler, not good at defense
Blair -- good at getting to the rack, horrible ball handler, horrible shooter
Newell -- good at getting to the rack, not a good ballhandler, short for a 2 guard, has good defensive tendencies
Neal -- good shooter, pedestrian on defense, horrible haircut
Honore -- physical, bad defense, decent rebounder
Washington -- excellent rebounder, small, not an offensive presence, good at defense but always undersized vs who he is defending

Then we have Clark, who I think is our only complete player but Kruger will light a fire under him and he will be a better rebounder and I think his game will be much improved next year.

Osby is the wildcard...everybody says he has a complete game, but nobody really knows what he has until we see it for 40 minutes with lights on and people in the stands.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

I think our talent level is a bit underrated. We were 5-11 in conference last year, and probably "should" have been 6-10. It's not like we were 1-15 and absolutely hopeless. Losing Cade is going to hurt, but if the guys from last year can improve and Osby is an above average contributor, we could maybe come close to .500 in conference play next year.

What is funny is that with the shrinking of the conference, it may get back to the old Big Eight days where being above .500 in conference pretty much got you in the Dance. There were a couple of years during the "streak" that we benefited from that perception IMHO.

 

[sdcloud9]

I don't know how talented the players are really, but I do think their abilities will be maximized.

That's kind of a Kruger trademark.

 

[coolm]

Very good points that you bring up. I'm really not trying to blow smoke, but I think our roster may be a little better than some think. It feels like that we have a coach now that can squeeze every bit of ability that they have out of them. Personally I hope he brings a couple of his main assistants with him and adds another one from here or somewhere else. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!

that's not blowing smoke at all.

this isn't a completely talentless roster. the problem is that its' weaknesses are just glaring given the type of play these players skills should support.

for example: ballhandling. if your offensive weaknesses dictate that you limit possessions and value control of the ball then poor ballhandling is just a killer. it just devastates the whole formula.

We are in dire need of rebounders, better ballhandling, and more consistent outside shooting from guys who can either get their own shot or setup rather quickly.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Then we have Clark, who I think is our only complete player but Kruger will light a fire under him and he will be a better rebounder and I think his game will be much improved next year.

Osby is the wildcard...everybody says he has a complete game, but nobody really knows what he has until we see it for 40 minutes with lights on and people in the stands.

I consider both of these guys to be the "X-Factor" as to how good we might be next season. I've seen enough of Osby to know that he was athletically superior to any of our current bigs by a mile [although that is not saying much] and Cam is pretty athletic as well, just want to see if his game steps up to where it could potentially be.

BoB, we have gone from completely disagreeing to completely agreeing on just about everything OU Basketball related, and I have to say, you were right and I was wrong, based on PM's that doesn't mean that much to you, but still, I feel better about OU basketball today than if Jeff were still here, by a mile. I hate to make a comparison with aggie, but this hire has a feel like Sutton taking over for Hamilton...changed the dynamic of their program real fast.

 

[NickZepp]

that's not blowing smoke at all.

this isn't a completely talentless roster. the problem is that its' weaknesses are just glaring given the type of play these players skills should support.

for example: ballhandling. if your offensive weaknesses dictate that you limit possessions and value control of the ball then poor ballhandling is just a killer. it just devastates the whole formula.

We are in dire need of rebounders, better ballhandling, and more consistent outside shooting from guys who can either get their own shot or setup rather quickly.

Yeah I agree it's not a completely talentless roster. But there's obvious gaps all over. We have 3 guys that can pretty much score on anyone in Fitz, Pledger, and Cam Clark, and Neal looks like he'll be really good with some work too. But we just don't have depth and we have obvious gaps in that talent. Fitz can't rebound, and we have no good ball handlers. Our best ball handler is Pledger. I would like to have seen more of Washington as a post with Fitz because he looked like he could rebound pretty good, that's something we really needed from our post.

 

[NorthCarolinaSooner]

I think we have some talent but the problem is most of the talent has a hole in their game.

Fitz -- great scorer, horrible rebounder, not fast enough to play solid defense without fouling
Pledger -- streak shooter, decent ball handler, not good at defense
Blair -- good at getting to the rack, horrible ball handler, horrible shooter
Newell -- good at getting to the rack, not a good ballhandler, short for a 2 guard, has good defensive tendencies
Neal -- good shooter, pedestrian on defense, horrible haircut
Honore -- physical, bad defense, decent rebounder
Washington -- excellent rebounder, small, not an offensive presence, good at defense but always undersized vs who he is defending

Then we have Clark, who I think is our only complete player but Kruger will light a fire under him and he will be a better rebounder and I think his game will be much improved next year.

Osby is the wildcard...everybody says he has a complete game, but nobody really knows what he has until we see it for 40 minutes with lights on and people in the stands.

Booger....I would counter that MOST players have some kind of hole in their game. That is where coaching comes into play.....the best coaches usually get the best out of their teams by finding the best balance between their players and the best way to cover their deficiencies on the floor.

 

[OKURanger]

Neal -- horrible haircut

Awesome! Thanks for the good sense of humor.

 

[Hecubus]

If he teaches them how to play defense well next year then we'll have a postseason of some kind. They are D1 caliber players, so the ceiling is pretty high with some genius level coaching.

 

[Max Power]

I think haveing a coach that will focus on defense and rebounding will help out tremdously. Lon seems to be the type of guy that will bench Fitz if he doesnt hit the glass hard

 

[steverocks35]

In fairness to Fitz he played out of position all year. He's really a 4 trying to play the 5. When Osby and Goff come in he should be able to play more naturally and have some of the pressure taken off of him.

 

[SoonerinNC]

Fitz should rebound better with Osby help0ing.

Blair improved on defense but he started virtually from zero.

Defense and rebounding are both effort things. I would expect improvement there.

Hopefully Osby is as advertised.

Clark's better games are probably a better indicator of his potential than his overall play. Both he and Pledger were very up and down.

We often had good stretches and everyone does but the difference in the good and bad are usually an indicator of the effectiveness of the schemes. An early indicator of our offensive scheme was the problem Michael Neal had getting open for good shots his senior year. A good scheme gets your best offensive players open for shots that they can hit. If they are always under pressure something is lacking.

Hopefully Kruger can improve our consistency. Almost every player in the Capel era had big games and games where they just disappeared. Blake was a notable exception.

 

[BoulderSooner]

In fairness to Fitz he played out of position all year. He's really a 4 trying to play the 5. When Osby and Goff come in he should be able to play more naturally and have some of the pressure taken off of him.

osby is not a 5 ... .or a 4 really .. he could be a stretch 4 .. but he is a wing period ... he is going to get lots and lots of min on the wing next season

 

[Soonerman]

Almost every player in the Capel era had big games and games where they just disappeared.

Honestly, that just sounds like the game of basketball to me.

But, I agreed with the rest of your post!

 

[WTSooner]

Glad everybody is finally coming around to what I was saying all season. Did OU have enough talent to win the Big 12, or finish in the top 2-3? No, probably not.

Did OU have enough talent to compete MUCH better than they did, and possibly get a top 5-6 finish in the Big 12, and sniff the Dance? ABSOLUTELY!

Folks, we had 3 top 100 recruits on the roster (Cam, Fitz, Pledger), a couple of top OK kids (Cade and Neal), a guy in Newell that I was told probably should have been ranked in the 100-150 range, a pg in Blair that had a year of starting experience at a D1 school, and some depth in Honore/Washington/Thompson.

I still think every player except maybe Cade could have performed at a higher level last year, offensively, and they all could have played better individual and team defense. I never felt like the effort was consistently there. Hopefully Lon will require that.

 

[steverocks35]

osby is not a 5 ... .or a 4 really .. he could be a stretch 4 .. but he is a wing period ... he is going to get lots and lots of min on the wing next season

Oh ok, I had it in my head that the guy was a center, thanks for the correction.

 

[Tony]

Eh, we don't have NO talent, but we don't have a lot and we are very thin. Combined with the fact that we are losing our best player, anything better than an NIT bid is gravy in my book.