Early Season observations Part 2 - only talking about players on this team

[jaymOU]

Wichita Sooner started a good thread, but it got derailed with the transfer talk.....hoping we can focus on the current roster in this thread.

Positives:

Grant has been great - better than I expected
Bijan has looked playable - really was the difference maker against Ole Miss
Jacob gets my vote for most improved so far
Tanner looks stronger
Sam is probably the most pleasant surprise -athletic and aggressive
Milos impresses most of the time he is on the court. Needs to be more aggressive on offense
Otega - looks very promising

Negatives

CJ has lost his shot. Just doesn't seem confident. Hoped he would take a big leap scoring-wise this year. Still has a chance, but he needs to hit the 3 with more consistency.

Joe also has not shot it well. Love his energy and bounce, but seems TO prone at this point

Jalen is Jalen. Great some nights, but still misses too many easy shots for a 4-man. He has made a few threes which is encouraging.

Benny, Luke and YaYa I thought could be contributors, but not this year.

Team-wise I think 3 point shooting and rebounding will be what causes this group trouble. I love the three point-guard lineup with Milos, Bijan and Grant on the floor at the same time when we are closing games.

If CJ and Joe can be the occasional third option scorer and Tanner can stay out of foul trouble this team can be dangerous.

I am excited to watch them play and grow.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I don't understand Hill being in the negative category at all

he leads in +/- he leads in min he is our best defender ..

he had a terrible first game .....
but since he is at .564/.428/.813 10 points 5.16 boards 1.1 ast

 

[skyvue]

I wouldn't write off Benny yet. He's coming off an injury so he has some catching up to do, but it's a long season.

 

[pnkranger]

jaymou -- your post was spot on until you got to Otega in the positives category. Just about everything below that was a miss.

Drop Otega into the Negatives. Seems lost on defense off the ball. If he's an elite defender, it's got to be for the full possession because his ability to impact offensively is going to come along slowly.

Besides Grant, Hill has been our most important and impactful player. Should be at the top of the positives.

If anyone has been inconsistent, it's Tanner. Only averaging 20 minutes in Orlando and doesn't have more than 5 rebounds in any of those games. Disappears for long stretches, does a few good things, then disappears again. He's at the bottom of the positives for me. Better defensively, but offensive impact has been hit or miss.

You got it right on Noland and Joe. Can't get a donut from our two most experience SGs and continue to excel.

 

[jaymOU]

I don't understand Hill being in the negative category at all

he leads in +/- he leads in min he is our best defender ..

he had a terrible first game .....
but since he is at .564/.428/.813 10 points 5.16 boards 1.1 ast

Probably fair. I just expect more from him, but you are probably right. His finishing around the rim frustrates me.

 

[Stikboy]

Wichita Sooner started a good thread, but it got derailed with the transfer talk.....hoping we can focus on the current roster in this thread.

Positives:

Grant has been great - better than I expected
Bijan has looked playable - really was the difference maker against Ole Miss
Jacob gets my vote for most improved so far
Tanner looks stronger
Sam is probably the most pleasant surprise -athletic and aggressive
Milos impresses most of the time he is on the court. Needs to be more aggressive on offense
Otega - looks very promising

Negatives

CJ has lost his shot. Just doesn't seem confident. Hoped he would take a big leap scoring-wise this year. Still has a chance, but he needs to hit the 3 with more consistency.

Joe also has not shot it well. Love his energy and bounce, but seems TO prone at this point

Jalen is Jalen. Great some nights, but still misses too many easy shots for a 4-man. He has made a few threes which is encouraging.

Benny, Luke and YaYa I thought could be contributors, but not this year.

Team-wise I think 3 point shooting and rebounding will be what causes this group trouble. I love the three point-guard lineup with Milos, Bijan and Grant on the floor at the same time when we are closing games.

If CJ and Joe can be the occasional third option scorer and Tanner can stay out of foul trouble this team can be dangerous.

I am excited to watch them play and grow.

--Grant has been better than I expected, too, at least scoring.
--I was thinking Bijan was headed to the portal soon, but man over this tournament he displayed alot of skill. If he can get to the paint and score like that the rest of the year we may have something.
--I do like most of what Jacob has brought. Better than last year. Wish he'd mix it up more though and get more rebounds.
--Tanner... I guess is the same for me. I love it when he hits threes, but I wish he would just stay down low more and mix it up and get rebounds. He has had some good rebound games, so far. I understand mismatches and bringing bigs out, but what good is "5-out" when there's no one to get offensive rebounds?
--Sam is the biggest surprise to me. His contributions cannot be overstated. Not just his production but he way he's done it. Plays so physical, and is what OU has so desperately needed from that spot. Hope he continues to get MORE minutes.
--Milos, I love the 3 headed PG lineup, but I too would like to see him look to score more because I think he can, ALOT.
--I think Otega is being kind of wasted, and may be losing confidence. I would give him more of CJ's minutes. He's longer, taller, quicker, more athletic, better defender... and those attributes could probably translate to more scoring. He's not going to find a groove in two minutes per game. What would it hurt? Is Noland really doing....anything?
--Bam looks like a fish out of water, but he has talent and athleticism. Keep running him out there and hopefully he will get in sync.
--Hill is who he is, and I like it. Yeah he gets stuffed alot, but he plays good D, rebounds, can post smaller guys, and has come up with some needed points.
--Yaya, Benny, and North.. I guess Luke N is redshirting. I wonder how the staff feels about Yaya eventually being a contributor. I really don't know and I wonder. He looks like a million bucks. Benny, hope he sticks around, seems to have alot of game.

OU has played great defense so far, it seems better so far consistently than last year. Hope they can keep it up, and get better rebounding. A week or so ago I didn't know what to expect game to game, but man this last tourney seemed to forge at least a little bit of an identity. Very good defense, ball handling/passing lineups, and in turn lower turnover numbers. The extra passing ability from the 3 PGs has led to some better looks and some higher FG%. Now, if a guys like Oweh and Bam, and maybe Uzan could score a bit more, man, we'd have something.

We just had a 3 game sample of good. I'm interested to see if they can keep up some consistency with this slightly new good identity(low TOs, better passing, looks) and guys like Bijan can continue us upward track. OU is going to need someone besides Sherfield to pull their *** out of trouble in crunch time, in some of these bigger games..

 

[Boom Soon]

I agree with what people are saying here. This team really needs another guard to step up. It would be awesome if it was Bam, because his athleticism is something that could really help. I do think Benny will contribute by the end of the year.

I think back to the 2018-2019 season and how that Sooner team was able to make the tourney. This teams has more talent. They should make it.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I agree with what people are saying here. This team really needs another guard to step up. It would be awesome if it was Bam, because his athleticism is something that could really help. I do think Benny will contribute by the end of the year.

I think back to the 2018-2019 season and how that Sooner team was able to make the tourney. This teams has more talent. They should make it.

Good point. That team was very unathletic on the perimeter. Lon's teams always were great in the noncon, and that gave them a cushion. Would be nice if this team could pick up another couple big wins outside the league. Saturday is an important game -- I don't have a great feeling about this one, notwithstanding Nova's struggles. Arkansas and Bama will be tough, so this is a big one.

 

[Boom Soon]

Good point. That team was very unathletic on the perimeter. Lon's teams always were great in the noncon, and that gave them a cushion. Would be nice if this team could pick up another couple big wins outside the league. Saturday is an important game -- I don't have a great feeling about this one, notwithstanding Nova's struggles. Arkansas and Bama will be tough, so this is a big one.

You're right. The nonconference has carried the last like three Sooner teams to make the tourney. I wouldn't say Nova is "must-win," but it would be great at negating the loss to Sam Houston State. That loss will hurt.

Nevertheless, the team is progressing; and if Bam or Noland can get going then I predict a good season.

 

[Soonerb98]

I'm excited by the steady improvement so far. I felt like one positive last year, was that the team finished the season playing their best. The ceiling wasn't high, but they improved. This year's team is starting out ahead of where last year's team was in late November (I think), so if they can continue to improve throughout the season, I like our chances to build a resume based on our conference standing. It would be nice to add some more trophies in the nonconf, though.