If you could

[bgrch1350]

I have refrained on this one even though my strong opinion was that wayman was the right answer. Yesterday I had a chance to ask a coach that was on the staff when tisdale was at ou his opinion. Without hesitation he replied Blake. He went on to say that after a game during Blake's freshman season, wayman said to him, "I wish I could have been as good as that kid"

There has been so many great players in college. Tisdale is one of them. Had Blake left for the NBA after his freshman year, I don't think Blake would go down as one of the top 30 OU basketball players of all time (talking about their performance in college). What Blake did as a sophomore will go down as one of the most dominant performances in the history of college basketball. His athleticism is off the charts scary. Even a knee injury didn't stop him from being the NBA highlight reel his rookie season. And Blake wasn't projected to be 1st team all american that year either.

Tisdale deserved that award b/c he brought it from day one. He was a dominant force from day 1 til his last game.

 

[Smash Williams]

Ewing and Olajuwon are two of the top 6-7 centers in the history of basketball

Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Olajuwon, Shaq, Moses Malone, David Robinson...that's seven off the bat who were inarguably better than Ewing. Throw in older guys like Mikan, Willis Reed, etc., and Ewing isn't sniffing top 6-7.

 

[sperry]

I have a feeling that if you adjust the numbers for pace of play, Blake's adjusted numbers from his soph season dwarf Tisdale's.

 

[Smash Williams]

I have a feeling that if you adjust the numbers for pace of play, Blake's adjusted numbers from his soph season dwarf Tisdale's.

I'm amazed that it took this long for anyone to mention this, especially given that Wayman played for Tubbs.

I can't calculate possessions per game without offensive rebounding/defensive rebounding splits (the 84-85 stats I found only aggregated the two), but just to give an idea of the difference in possessions...

1984-85 OU: 70.9 FGA per game
2008-09 OU: 55.5 FGA per game

 

[bocabull]

I have refrained on this one even though my strong opinion was that wayman was the right answer. Yesterday I had a chance to ask a coach that was on the staff when tisdale was at ou his opinion. Without hesitation he replied Blake. He went on to say that after a game during Blake's freshman season, wayman said to him, "I wish I could have been as good as that kid"

And it's not a knock on Wayman who was supremely skilled. But he knew what held him back in the NBA was athleticism. Something Blake has an abundance of.

 

[soonertravis]

Add one former OU player to the current 2015-2016 roster and have that player as if he was in his prime who would it be and why ? I feel like we have almost everything we need to make a run at a Final Four but a deadeye 3 pt shooter so I'd say Steven Pledger or Tim Heskett

Even if we agreed on the premise that this team wouldn't need one of our obvious stars(Waymon, Blake, Mookie, Hollis, etc.) and instead needed a deadeye three point shooter, why would we ever pick those two. Brent Price and Terry Evans are two that immediately come to mind. Dave Sieger could stroke it. All seem like much better options than either of the two above. And I know Heskett's stats.

 

[SilliSooner]

If you had Blake or Wayman, both in the top fifty college players of all time, on this team, we'd be the favorite to win the whole thing or at least top three. The wings in Buddy, Cousins and others are top notch and having three shot blockers to compliment an inside scoring machine like Blake or Wayman would be tough to beat.

 

[usedtobe1]

Add one former OU player to the current 2015-2016 roster and have that player as if he was in his prime who would it be and why ? I feel like we have almost everything we need to make a run at a Final Four but a deadeye 3 pt shooter so I'd say Steven Pledger or Tim Heskett

Like some of the others, I sure wouldn't pick Tim Heskett as my one pick to add to next year's team. Heskett was never really a starter for the team. He started 1 game his senior year and was the 5th guard in the rotation. He wasn't even the first guard off the bench. Nolan Johnson, Hollis Price, J.R. Raymond, and Kelly Newton all played ahead of Tim who barely shot 30% from the arc his senior year.

Heskett was scrappy but wasn't real quick. He did start 9 games his soph year after Alex Spaulding unexpectedly left the team before the season, and started the first 13 games of the non-conference season his junior year. He was a role player, and was certainly no messiah to carry OU to the basketball holy land.

Pledger wouldn't be my personal pick either if I was granted one wish, but he at least was a starter for 3 years. He had one memorable game where he almost single-handedly beat Iowa State in Ames with 38 points which including 7 3-pointers.

 

[usedtobe1]

By the way, my pick for an outside shooter would be Brent Price, but I'm biased. I knew his Dad, Denny, who was also a former OU player and assistant coach. Great guy. I ran into Denny at a Rockets game in Houston when Brent was playing for the Rockets. He spent 30 minutes asking about how my sons were doing ..... they used to go to his camps at Phillips University in Enid. I saw Brent one day move around the arc and hit 15-20 3-pointers in a row while warming up all within a minute.

Trivia: Does anyone remember the Phillips bumper sticker? It was "PU" and they had a Mama skunk and some baby skunks pictured as a mascot (I guess). I chuckled whenever I saw one of those stickers. I can't remember when Phillips closed.

 

[DenverSooner]

If you need one player that can fit this roster and shoot the three wouldn't it be Jackie Jones? Jones averaged 15 points a game, 7 rebounds and shot 37.5% from 3 point range. It seems to me he would be your guy if you want a big that can shoot the 3. He also blocked over 2 shots per game and had more than one steal per game. Jones only had 2 more turn overs than steals in his single season. That is pretty impressive for a big man.

 

[usedtobe1]

Here's my last post on Phillips University. The skunk mascot was called "Little Hay".

Phillips University's Skunk Mascot Won't Cause Stink

 

[Darwin]

We may be fine without another point guard but I see the position as too thin especially given the importance. Mookie or Brent Price would be picking NBA types, if not NBA then Ricky Grace or Terry Evans offer a lot but I still think Cory Brewer with talent, lock down defense and mental toughness would get my vote.

 

[DenverSooner]

Can't Walker and Cousins both substitute as PG? Honestly, I don't see it as a huge problem. If I could add one player it would be someone to replace Thomas in the starting lineup.

 

[Eielson]

If we want a tough defender that can shoot 3's, wouldn't we just get another Isaiah Cousins?

If we put the "no Wayman or Blake" rule on this, Mookie would be tempting, as we could really use another PG if we're after a title. I think I'd still have to go with one of Mookie's bigger teammates, though.

 

[Max Power]

If we want a tough defender that can shoot 3's, wouldn't we just get another Isaiah Cousins?

If we put the "no Wayman or Blake" rule on this, Mookie would be tempting, as we could really use another PG if we're after a title. I think I'd still have to go with one of Mookie's bigger teammates, though.

if no wayman or Blake, i'll take Stacy King

 

[DenverSooner]

if no wayman or Blake, i'll take Stacy King

He would be awesome with Spangler. They would compliment each other really well in my opinion because Spangler shoots well enough from the outside to force his defender to honor the shot. King was a very good low post player. That would give him a lot of isolation and not many college players could stop Stacy King one on one.

 

[Eielson]

if no wayman or Blake, i'll take Stacy King

That's what I would probably do.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Blake swept all national player of the year awards in college. Wayman never won any of them. Blake is a 5 time all star and 4 time all NBA player. Wayman was never an all star or all NBA. Blake's rookie season he averaged more points rebounds and assists than Wayman did in any season. Blake's worst PER season is much better than Wayman's best.

It's not even close.

What ever player you choose it has to be the player they were in college. How they developed at the next level is not pertinent. In college Waymon was twice the player that Blake was.