How will the emergence of Steve Pledger affect RW & Cade

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sharp1

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I was very impressed with cade, he just does so many things right...and Ray seemed a little out of sorts. How the very productive(only one game)play of Steve Pledger affect there minutes...Someone mentioned his poise, his stroke, coach Caple mentioned his "D"....how do you keep him on the bench?
 
sharp1 said:
I was very impressed with cade, he just does so many things right...and Ray seemed a little out of sorts. How the very productive(only one game)play of Steve Pledger affect there minutes...Someone mentioned his poise, his stroke, coach Caple mentioned his "D"....how do you keep him on the bench?
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Good topic, and one that I think will draw some different opinions. Here is mine:

- Cade Davis will play early and often for the next two years no matter what. Why? Because the dude busts his butt every day in practice. He rebounds. He has really grown as a defender. He is a leader off the court. Cade is just one of those kids that you love to have in your program.

- Ray Willis is a prolific scorer. He is long. He moves well. There are two things that really hurt Ray. 1. He is just too skinny. That's not his fault, and there just isn't a whole lot that can be done about it. 2. He has got to put forth the extra effort in practice that Cade does. He has got to play within the system and within himself.

- Steven Pledger has a great future at OU. It will start this year. I am so excited to have him in this program. I think his work ethic, God given talents, and will to be good will help him to max out his potential at OU.

Guys, this doesn't have to be a bad thing to have three guys that can play.

To answer your question, the emergence of Steve Pledger will cut down the minutes of both Cade Davis and Ray Willis. It will hopefully cause both of them (especially Ray) to work harder in practice. Cade's minutes will be decreased as compared to if Steve weren't here, but I think he will still play as many/more minutes than he did last year.

Ray is the one that may be in trouble because Steve being here is also going to cut into his minutes, and I am not sure how many minutes there will be to go around. It might put him in the same spot as he was in last year where he was the 3rd guard off the bench behind Cade and Omar, and you saw how many minutes he got....the good news for Ray is that this year's club may run some 4 guard stuff, and that would open up more minutes.

Just my thoughts...
 
sharp1 said:
I was very impressed with cade, he just does so many things right...and Ray seemed a little out of sorts. How the very productive(only one game)play of Steve Pledger affect there minutes...Someone mentioned his poise, his stroke, coach Caple mentioned his "D"....how do you keep him on the bench?
Click to expand...

The affects will be more on Ray than Cade. Cade still does thing to warrant minutes. However, if Ray struggles, Jeff doesn't have to go through growing pains. It's a little similar to Duke last year when Scheyer, that one guy who's now a quarterback, and Nolan Smith played poorly. Coach K went to Ellion Williams who played better than all of those guys.
 
It's obviously way to early to know, but if Pledger shoots like he did the other night, I don't know how you keep him off the floor. In addition, Pledger looked a lot more athletic than I expected. He looks physically mature for a freshman. The point being, he will probably end up doing all the "other" things just as well and maybe better than the two other players mentioned.

Many will probably disagree, but playing someone out of loyalty or reward for behavior is not good for team chemistry. You play the guys that give you the best chances to win. At some point, I could see Pledger fitting this description along with TMG and WW.
 
I agree with the poster that it affects Ray more than Cade. Cade has been through the fire and coach can trust him. Ray and Pledger havent proven anything yet. If coach has trouble keeping Pledger off the floor then Ray should be the odd man out.
 
I saw more out of Pledger in one Exhibition game than I've seen out of Ray in 1+ yrs. Granted he hasn't played a lot, but Steven hasn't either and he looked great. I know it was only UBC, but his stroke looked quick and consistent.

I agree with the fact that right now Cade has earned his minutes, but if his shooting falters, Pledger should definitely get a chance to be the first guy off the bench.


Ray is not a prolific scorer in anyway shape or form imo. I would love to be proven wrong this year.
 
Graeme82 said:
I saw more out of Pledger in one Exhibition game than I've seen out of Ray in 1+ yrs. Granted he hasn't played a lot, but Steven hasn't either and he looked great. I know it was only UBC, but his stroke looked quick and consistent.

I agree with the fact that right now Cade has earned his minutes, but if his shooting falters, Pledger should definitely get a chance to be the first guy off the bench.


Ray is not a prolific scorer in anyway shape or form imo. I would love to be proven wrong this year.
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Then you are going against what Coach Capel thinks. He called Ray the 3rd best scorer on the team last year. I have also heard from several of my sources that Ray can flat out light it up. He and Willie had some really good battles this summer during pick-up. Scoring is the least of Ray's worries.
 
ray is a scorer no doubt, but that's not what is going to get/keep him on the floor.
 
Can you really call it an emergence after one exhibition game against a terrible team? :) I think the bottom line is with the way Capel is recruiting each guy is going to have to win his spot every year.

So next year Pledger can't get comfy because Cam Clark and TJ Taylor are coming in to play the same way he came in this year. That kind of competition is huge in building a winning program. Nobody can rest on last year anymore.
 
If the reports are right about the scrimmage vs TU I think the emergence is the right way to describe Bird.
 
You'll all see what BIRD brings to the table soon enough. Emergence is a good way to explain it, and in a few weeks, the question asked in this discussion will be answered.

His play in the exhibition was merely the tip of the iceberg. :pledge

BOOMER SOONER BABY!
 
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pledger's emergence began the second he stepped off the plane from VA.
 
I think there' sa good chance RW will be gone by the end of the year.
 
NickZepp said:
I think there' sa good chance RW will be gone by the end of the year.
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I hope not. A lot of people say this, but he stuck around through some adversity already. Why leave? If he can gain some weight he will be a valuable guard for us in the future.
 
MNsooner said:
I hope not. A lot of people say this, but he stuck around through some adversity already. Why leave? If he can gain some weight he will be a valuable guard for us in the future.
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I think there's a chance he just doesn't get playing time. Nothing against the guy really I just think he doesn't get as much playing time as he thinks his talent should get. Some of it is the factors that others have mentioned in this thread. He's skinny, hasn't really played great in other phases of the game except scoring.
 
He looked better on defense and rebounding than Pledger in UBC game. He really has improved his game. He just looks like a better all round player than he used to. I don't know why people seem to think a player is going to transfer if he doesn't get minutes as an underclassmen. He may and he may not, but we don't really have any reason to think he will transfer. People were saying he was going to transfer last off season and obviously he didn't. It seems to me to be purely speculation. Heck, he may end up getting more minutes than people think if he can rebound.
 
How many guards does Capel usually like to play? Does he typically play 4 with a 5th getting spot minutes? If it's a top 4 who do you think the 4 are right now? Crocker, Willie, TMG, Pledger? That leaves Cade and Willis battling for the 5th spot. And if Willis can't crack the rotation this year it really won't get that much better next year.
 
I'm sorry, fellas, but I don't see Pledger coming off the bench in front of Cade. He might've looked good in the UBC game, but remember it was an exhibition! And anyway, I think Cade looked better. Pledger has a better upside, and sure he might cause a slight decrease in Cade's total minutes, but he won't be the sixth man this year. I don't see Capel going with a frosh scorer over quality defense and a seasoned upperclassmen that understands our system.
 
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