Grooms has a list.

[thebigabd]

LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Houston, Baylor, South Florida.

He seems to like LSU the most, but that is probably because all of his interviews are done by their rivals site. Maybe William Jennings could get a hold of this guy.

I cant imagine he would go to Oklahoma State, given they just landed Cezar Guerrero and have Reger Dowell for another couple of years.

OU needs to land one of these 3 juco point guards. They need Grooms, Jones, or the CSI kid and I think they could be the most improved team in the league, maybe country next season.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Houston, Baylor, South Florida.

He seems to like LSU the most, but that is probably because all of his interviews are done by their rivals site. Maybe William Jennings could get a hold of this guy.

I cant imagine he would go to Oklahoma State, given they just landed Cezar Guerrero and have Reger Dowell for another couple of years.

OU needs to land one of these 3 juco point guards. They need Grooms, Jones, or the CSI kid and I think they could be the most improved team in the league, maybe country next season.

That is a pretty bold statement...honest question, you know the B12[0] as well as anyone, get one of these guys, where do you pick us to finish record-wise? Above .500?

 

[WTSooner]

That is a pretty bold statement...honest question, you know the B12[0] as well as anyone, get one of these guys, where do you pick us to finish record-wise? Above .500?

Let me ask you this.....if OU picks up a player or two.....including one of those JUCO's.....what Big 12-2 teams are without a doubt better than OU next year? KU and UT. Probably aTm? Who else? MU loses a lot, and their coach. OSU doesn't scare me, though they'll have some talent. Baylor may or may not be. I'm not sold on ISU, despite their talent. TT will be improved, but probably isn't "better" than OU. KSU loses a lot.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Let me ask you this.....if OU picks up a player or two.....including one of those JUCO's.....what Big 12-2 teams are without a doubt better than OU next year? KU and UT. Probably aTm? Who else? MU loses a lot, and their coach. OSU doesn't scare me, though they'll have some talent. Baylor may or may not be. I'm not sold on ISU, despite their talent. TT will be improved, but probably isn't "better" than OU. KSU loses a lot.

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing, just asking someone who follows the other teams in the conference more closely what his thoughts are. I think we will be very improved based on just what we "know" we have coming in. A year of experience and 5* coaching is going to help no matter what IMHO.

 

[WTSooner]

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing, just asking someone who follows the other teams in the conference more closely what his thoughts are. I think we will be very improved based on just what we "know" we have coming in. A year of experience and 5* coaching is going to help no matter what IMHO.

Agreed.

I have no idea where we'll finish. That will have a lot to do with how much change LK can accomplish in a relatively short period of time. If he can clean some things up though, with our probably roster, I'd say 4th place is attainable.

 

[thebigabd]

That is a pretty bold statement...honest question, you know the B12[0] as well as anyone, get one of these guys, where do you pick us to finish record-wise? Above .500?

My assumptions are based on Romero Osby being legit, and improvement from Cameron Clark and Calvin Newell. Plus a great coaching staff. Like any team, there will be question marks, but my assumption is that we will see big improvement from Cameron and Calvin, and that Romero is the best player on the team.

I think getting Grooms, Jones, or the kid from CSI is the difference in being 10-6 and 8-8.

I don't see the Big 12 as weak next year like a lot do. I think its going to be VERY strong. OU, OSU, ISU, and Tech all made significant improvements in the offseason. All have good looking teams. Nebraska and Colorado are gone. Missouri has a very experienced group, etc.

Texas and Kansas will be the class of the league, with A&M and KSU right behind. OU, OSU, ISU, TTU, MU, and BU will just melee for positioning. I dont think any of those clubs is significantly better than the other.

-OSU is the most athletic, but they have question marks shooting the ball.
-MU has the most experience, but we will see about Frank Haith and the Pressey boys.
-ISU has 5 transfers becoming eligible and return Ejim/Christopherson, and a really good juco.
-TTU got a significant coaching upgrade, and has a very athletic and good 3pt shooting lineup for next year.
-OU got a significant coaching upgrade, is adding a big talent in Osby, and has guys who were true freshman (Neal, Clark, and Newell) growing up.

Regardless, OU is another guard away from putting a good team on the floor.

It kinda reminds me of the Terrell Everett, Taj Gray class. Possible juco guard coming in would be like Everett, and Osby will be like Taj Gray (in terms of impact). Those two guys came in, were very good, and completely changed the team. You bring in two guys who can average double figures and start, and you can go from being bad-average to good pretty quick.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Agreed.

I have no idea where we'll finish. That will have a lot to do with how much change LK can accomplish in a relatively short period of time. If he can clean some things up though, with our probably roster, I'd say 4th place is attainable.

What three teams do you have as a lock ahead of us?

Here is where I'm at with OU as of today:

IF Osby is really as good as everyone around the program said, then I think he can make up for what we lost with Cade and maybe even better it (I really liked what Cade brought on the floor).

IF Cam can make the natural progression from being a Fr.-So., then I think he can be somewhere around a 14-18 ppg. type player for us. Between Osby and Cam, we know that we are going to have two spots on the floor with high-end D-1 athletes.

I really believe that Fitz kind of is who he is, pretty good low post offensive threat that can get some buckets, but absolutely mediocre athletically with no "above the rim" ability. Defensively, he is "okay" but again, he gets lost athletically out there sometimes. Maybe he'll keep improving, and he's not a terrible player.

I sort of lump Tyler, Steven and Calvin together as guys who have shown flashes of potential, but never any consistency. Given that we've seen Steven for two years now, he is the one that I have the least amount of upside. I actually really liked what I saw from Tyler towards the end of the season, and see him as a serviceable back-up to both Osby and Cam. But one of Steven or Calvin are going to start, and that is where we start to look weak [as far as starters].

As far as Blair, I don't think the guy is terrible, but we absolutely need more competition at that spot. If he were a better TP shooter, I'd be higher on him. Really, he isn't "good" at anything, but he isn't "terrible" at anything either [excepting IMHO his outside shot]. So I'm with abd, if we can get "good" here, I like us to be really improved.

Goff sounds athletic and he had some pretty impressive offers, not sure if once he got his offer and signed his LOI he sort of took it easy or not. Washington at least plays hard but is undersized. We need one more "decent" big body out there.

But I still think that coaching can and will overcome many of the "deficiencies" we say last season...putting guys in a position to succeed is huge, and as much as I liked Capel, he clearly wasn't getting it done on that end.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

. It kinda reminds me of the Terrell Everett, Taj Gray class. Possible juco guard coming in would be like Everett, and Osby will be like Taj Gray (in terms of impact). Those two guys came in, were very good, and completely changed the team. You bring in two guys who can average double figures and start, and you can go from being bad-average to good pretty quick.

That'd be nice. I liked those team...I'll NEVER forget the look on Kelvin's face when TE did the off the glass to TG dunk. It was a combination of the exasperated, both hands on his head look that we are all familiar with, but with a little smirk going on as well. Like he was prepared to be all po'd when the dunk failed, but when it didn't he was still put-out, but what was he going to say.

 

[colston15]

I'm guessing we add Richarson and one of the juco guards we're still after. I think that puts us squarely at 5th, maybe 6th, just based on rosters. But who knows what kind of magic Kruger can work? Maybe we could climb to 3rd or 4th.

 

[Soonerman]

Glad to see the debbie downers have turned into sunshine pumpers! :woot

 

[Max Power]

Glad to see the debbie downers have turned into sunshine pumpers! :woot

You have Lon to thank for that

 

[WTSooner]

You have Lon to thank for that

Exactly.

 

[WTSooner]

What three teams do you have as a lock ahead of us?

KU and UT. Yes, I know KU may lose a lot of folks, but Self will still have the best or 2nd best roster in the league, and he'll find a way to win a lot of games.

There probably isn't a 3rd team that is a lock, but aTm will be pretty strong, I think.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

KU and UT. Yes, I know KU may lose a lot of folks, but Self will still have the best or 2nd best roster in the league, and he'll find a way to win a lot of games.

There probably isn't a 3rd team that is a lock, but aTm will be pretty strong, I think.

I agree with those three.

 

[jerry]

You have Lon to thank for that

Well said!!!

 

[thebigabd]

I agree with those three.

1.) Texas
2.) Kansas
3.) Texas A&M
4.) Kansas State
5.) OU/OSU/ISU/Tech/Missouri
6.) Baylor

Thats how I rank the league this year. Everyone in "5" is even to me right now.

 

[WTSooner]

1.) Texas
2.) Kansas
3.) Texas A&M
4.) Kansas State
5.) OU/OSU/ISU/Tech/Missouri
6.) Baylor

Thats how I rank the league this year. Everyone in "5" is even to me right now.

Baylor will not finish last, or probably even next to last. They have penty of talent, and even though they aren't coached well, they'll win a good amount of games.

 

[thebigabd]

Baylor will not finish last, or probably even next to last. They have penty of talent, and even though they aren't coached well, they'll win a good amount of games.

They lose Perry Jones (a lottery pick) and Lace Dunn (the all-time leading scorer in the league) from a team that went 18-13 and was 7-9 in the league and got bounced in the first round of the Big 12 tournament by OU.

When Baylor lost Tweety and Udoh, they had a huge decline. Now they lose their 2 best players again, and you will see another decline.

How can you lose the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Big 12 and a top 5 draft pick, replace it with players who arent even close to their level, and get better?

 

[seniorsooner]

DFW says Baylor will go 12-6 in conference play this year.

 

[thebigabd]

DFW says Baylor will go 12-6 in conference play this year.

18 conference games?