Sam
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They started off slow with blow out losses to Tulsa and Missouri State and a close loss to the fighting Larry Birds.
They followed it up by going on the road to defeat Utah (not a bad win for a club like ORU). Then lost a closely fought battle at Texas Tech (team very similar to us in skill level in my opinion) then beat two midwestern cupcakes on the road in Western Illinois and IUPUI.
So that leaves me with the question will the real Golden Eagles please step up?
Of the teams I consider similar to OU's level of play (TU, Tech, Utah) they are 1-2.
So is the fear of ORU based on the fact that they're a familiar name to many us given their location or based on logic?
I know that arguably we should fear any team because we've shown we can lose to anyone thanks to the trip to Maui. But why should we consider this a key game or a scary opponent over Gardner Webb or Maryland Eastern Shore?
This ins't the Gerald Green, Ken Tut, etc ORU teams that consistently won the Summit league.
Lets compare the lineups.
PG
Rod Pearson true sophomore - Carl Blair sophomore
3.0 ppg, 31% fg 1.8 rbg, 2.3 apg, 19.2 mpg vs 4.3 ppg, 52% fg, 1.4 rbg, 3,1 apg 17.9 mpg
Slight edge to OU.
Despite Pearson being a starter he is 7th on the minutes and unless he's a really good defender I don't think he brings much to the table. Only shot 9 three on the years and has made 4 of them but based on his field goal percentage I bet he's just been wide open 9 times this year. Even though Blair hasn't been that great so far this year based on his nubmers for UNO last year I think he brings more to the table that Pearson does.
SG
Hunter McClintock RS Feshman - Cade Davis Senior
7.3 ppg, 1,5 apg, 48% FG, 42% 3, 25.1 mpg vs 14.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 45% FG, 43%, 36.3 mpg
Edge OU
McClintock is coming off a knee injury and seems to be a shooter only as he's only shot 6 free throws all year. Cade is well Cade, rather you bag on him or praise him he's turned into a pretty solid 2 guard who does a little bit of everything and leaves it all on the court. No contest in the edge.
SF
Dom Morrison Junior - Cameron Clark Freshman
18.1 ppg, 55% FG, 41% 3, 5.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 32.3 mpg vs 6.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 45% FG, 28.6mpg
Edge ORU
ORU's do everything forward is the star of the team. Even though he's shooting 41% from three, the bulk of that comes from his 6-7 and 2-2 performances in one game. Outside of those two games he's 1-13 from deep, so I would say he's a streaky shooter from beyond the arc. Doesn't stop him much those as he's good at attacking the rim and can hit jumpers. Even with Cameron coming off his best offensive game as a Sooner he can't make up for the experience Dom has at this level.
Steven Roundtree Freshman vs Nick Thompson Junior
12.1 ppg, 7.1 rbg, 52% FG, 28.6 mpg vs 6.5 ppg, 5.5 rbg, 2.3 apg, 44% FG, 47% 3
Edge ORU
While Thompson's offensive game and shooting picked up in his last two games vs Arkansas and Zona (14 ppg) his issues on defense and as a true post remain. Even though Roundtree is a tweener at the 4 (6'7 190) he's proven to be a better banger down low so far. For his production and till Nick plays defense at a higher level this is a spot that is most likely to go to the other team all the time.
Damen Bell-Holter vs Andrew Fitzgerald
10.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg 55% FG, 25.5 mpg vs 15.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 56% FG, 71%FT
Edge OU
Damen is more of a true center with his size and is a good defensive presence down low. Fitz though despite a game that at times looks somewhat unorthodox is turning into a consistent scorer for the Sooners rather its on the low block or hitting a mid range jumper. Still not sure on Fitz avoiding foul trouble or hitting the boards hard but with the way he's scorer I'll take him over the Damen.
Bench players
Warren Niles Sophomore vs Steven Pledger Sophomore
14.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 44% FG, 36% 3, 27.4 mpg vs 11.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 41%, 31%
Push
Niles despite only starting 3 games he's second in minutes and scoring. Based on stats he seems to be a volume shooter type who could either carry or sink a team. Not sure on his defense but he has good size for a 2 at 6'4 so he can't be that bad. Pledger is scoring really well at home (17.5 ppg) and this game is at the LNC, so hopefully he keeps scoring really well. Whichever player that is hot from deep will most likely win this match up.
Ken Holdman junior vs Cal Newell freshman
3.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 spg 21.5 mpg vs 5.4 ppg, 2.8 apg 17.2 mpg
Push
Holdman is a junior who I can only assume plays due to experience and being a good defender as nothing else he does stands out to me stat sheet wise. Cal is a raw freshman who shows flashes of potential but also being a raw freshman. Despite experience I bet Cal has a lot more raw talent than Ken so that makes it a push to me.
Thats 3 edges to OU, 2 for ORU and 2 pushes.
Now I will admit I am an OU biased guy who only knows ORU from staring at ESPN stat sheets and making assumptions based on whatever I know of basketball. But unless Scott Sutton just abuses Capel with X's and O's (however that can to happen) and/or Morrison and Niles go off from deep I don't see why OU won't win this game if they play with any form of competence this should be a Sooner win.
Another conclusion I've came through from looking at a bunch of numbers, even with Nick back I think we might still see some 4 guard lineup. They only play 3 posts consistently and one of those is a hybrid 3/4 type. So this is a game that it won't kill the Sooners to go small, similar to how it was for G Webb.
Anyway, rambling game preview over.
They followed it up by going on the road to defeat Utah (not a bad win for a club like ORU). Then lost a closely fought battle at Texas Tech (team very similar to us in skill level in my opinion) then beat two midwestern cupcakes on the road in Western Illinois and IUPUI.
So that leaves me with the question will the real Golden Eagles please step up?
Of the teams I consider similar to OU's level of play (TU, Tech, Utah) they are 1-2.
So is the fear of ORU based on the fact that they're a familiar name to many us given their location or based on logic?
I know that arguably we should fear any team because we've shown we can lose to anyone thanks to the trip to Maui. But why should we consider this a key game or a scary opponent over Gardner Webb or Maryland Eastern Shore?
This ins't the Gerald Green, Ken Tut, etc ORU teams that consistently won the Summit league.
Lets compare the lineups.
PG
Rod Pearson true sophomore - Carl Blair sophomore
3.0 ppg, 31% fg 1.8 rbg, 2.3 apg, 19.2 mpg vs 4.3 ppg, 52% fg, 1.4 rbg, 3,1 apg 17.9 mpg
Slight edge to OU.
Despite Pearson being a starter he is 7th on the minutes and unless he's a really good defender I don't think he brings much to the table. Only shot 9 three on the years and has made 4 of them but based on his field goal percentage I bet he's just been wide open 9 times this year. Even though Blair hasn't been that great so far this year based on his nubmers for UNO last year I think he brings more to the table that Pearson does.
SG
Hunter McClintock RS Feshman - Cade Davis Senior
7.3 ppg, 1,5 apg, 48% FG, 42% 3, 25.1 mpg vs 14.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 45% FG, 43%, 36.3 mpg
Edge OU
McClintock is coming off a knee injury and seems to be a shooter only as he's only shot 6 free throws all year. Cade is well Cade, rather you bag on him or praise him he's turned into a pretty solid 2 guard who does a little bit of everything and leaves it all on the court. No contest in the edge.
SF
Dom Morrison Junior - Cameron Clark Freshman
18.1 ppg, 55% FG, 41% 3, 5.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 32.3 mpg vs 6.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 45% FG, 28.6mpg
Edge ORU
ORU's do everything forward is the star of the team. Even though he's shooting 41% from three, the bulk of that comes from his 6-7 and 2-2 performances in one game. Outside of those two games he's 1-13 from deep, so I would say he's a streaky shooter from beyond the arc. Doesn't stop him much those as he's good at attacking the rim and can hit jumpers. Even with Cameron coming off his best offensive game as a Sooner he can't make up for the experience Dom has at this level.
Steven Roundtree Freshman vs Nick Thompson Junior
12.1 ppg, 7.1 rbg, 52% FG, 28.6 mpg vs 6.5 ppg, 5.5 rbg, 2.3 apg, 44% FG, 47% 3
Edge ORU
While Thompson's offensive game and shooting picked up in his last two games vs Arkansas and Zona (14 ppg) his issues on defense and as a true post remain. Even though Roundtree is a tweener at the 4 (6'7 190) he's proven to be a better banger down low so far. For his production and till Nick plays defense at a higher level this is a spot that is most likely to go to the other team all the time.
Damen Bell-Holter vs Andrew Fitzgerald
10.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg 55% FG, 25.5 mpg vs 15.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 56% FG, 71%FT
Edge OU
Damen is more of a true center with his size and is a good defensive presence down low. Fitz though despite a game that at times looks somewhat unorthodox is turning into a consistent scorer for the Sooners rather its on the low block or hitting a mid range jumper. Still not sure on Fitz avoiding foul trouble or hitting the boards hard but with the way he's scorer I'll take him over the Damen.
Bench players
Warren Niles Sophomore vs Steven Pledger Sophomore
14.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 44% FG, 36% 3, 27.4 mpg vs 11.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 41%, 31%
Push
Niles despite only starting 3 games he's second in minutes and scoring. Based on stats he seems to be a volume shooter type who could either carry or sink a team. Not sure on his defense but he has good size for a 2 at 6'4 so he can't be that bad. Pledger is scoring really well at home (17.5 ppg) and this game is at the LNC, so hopefully he keeps scoring really well. Whichever player that is hot from deep will most likely win this match up.
Ken Holdman junior vs Cal Newell freshman
3.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 spg 21.5 mpg vs 5.4 ppg, 2.8 apg 17.2 mpg
Push
Holdman is a junior who I can only assume plays due to experience and being a good defender as nothing else he does stands out to me stat sheet wise. Cal is a raw freshman who shows flashes of potential but also being a raw freshman. Despite experience I bet Cal has a lot more raw talent than Ken so that makes it a push to me.
Thats 3 edges to OU, 2 for ORU and 2 pushes.
Now I will admit I am an OU biased guy who only knows ORU from staring at ESPN stat sheets and making assumptions based on whatever I know of basketball. But unless Scott Sutton just abuses Capel with X's and O's (however that can to happen) and/or Morrison and Niles go off from deep I don't see why OU won't win this game if they play with any form of competence this should be a Sooner win.
Another conclusion I've came through from looking at a bunch of numbers, even with Nick back I think we might still see some 4 guard lineup. They only play 3 posts consistently and one of those is a hybrid 3/4 type. So this is a game that it won't kill the Sooners to go small, similar to how it was for G Webb.
Anyway, rambling game preview over.
