Introducing freshman Rashard Odomes

[usedtobe1]

Wings

 

[WTSooner]

I also like his confidence. He's not afraid to mix it up with the veterans. I liked the part where Spangler was complaining because Odomes was playing him to close and too physical on defense. No way this kid doesn't play and play a lot this season!

Which is why I think a lot of Buford's minutes will have to come at the 4.

You know Buddy is going to play 30+ a game at the three spot. Odomes, IMO, is a natural 3 as well, so if he gets minutes, they will probably come there. The natural spot to get Buford minutes this year is as a 4 in a small lineup.

They could play "bigger" and move one of those guys down to the 2 spot, but I don't think that is something we'll see often, and Cousins is going to get his 30 minutes or so as well. And that is where James projects if he plays.....as a 2 guard, I believe.

Good problem to have. Be interesting to see how it all shakes out. And the following season? Talk about some competition for starting spots. Woodard is your SR pg. Do you start James or Pritchard at the 2 guard? James, Odomes or Buford at the 3 spot? Buford or Lattin at the 4? Lattin, Manyang, or McNeace at the 5? And that doesn't even take into consideration that we'll probably sign at least one more player, if not 2.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

... You know Buddy is going to play 30+ a game at the three spot. Odomes, IMO, is a natural 3 as well, so if he gets minutes, they will probably come there. The natural spot to get Buford minutes this year is as a 4 in a small lineup.

They could play "bigger" and move one of those guys down to the 2 spot, but I don't think that is something we'll see often, and Cousins is going to get his 30 minutes or so as well. And that is where James projects if he plays.....as a 2 guard, I believe.

They could also play “bigger” when Woodard takes a rest, and Cousins plays some PG like he has done in the past. You have 120 minutes to split among the three guard positions (PG and wings). Potentially, you could be looking at something like this:

Backcourt Minutes (120)
> 30 .. Woodard
> 30 .. Cousins
> 30 .. Hield
> 30 .. Others (Odomes / Buford / James / Walker)

Frontcourt Minutes (80)
> 30 .. Spangler
> 15 .. Manyang
> 15 .. Lattin
> 20 .. Others (Buford / McNeese / Cole)

The depth is youthful, but the depth is there. Looking at the available backcourt minutes, it is certainly possible that someone (James?) becomes a redshirt candidate.

... Good problem to have. Be interesting to see how it all shakes out. And the following season? Talk about some competition for starting spots. Woodard is your SR pg. Do you start James or Pritchard at the 2 guard? James, Odomes or Buford at the 3 spot? Buford or Lattin at the 4? Lattin, Manyang, or McNeace at the 5? And that doesn't even take into consideration that we'll probably sign at least one more player, if not 2.

Not only that, but you left off incoming 6’5” freshman wing Kristian Doolittle. The 2016-17 team will have a nice mix of experience and youth.

 

[AdaSooner]

Which is why I think a lot of Buford's minutes will have to come at the 4.

You know Buddy is going to play 30+ a game at the three spot. Odomes, IMO, is a natural 3 as well, so if he gets minutes, they will probably come there. The natural spot to get Buford minutes this year is as a 4 in a small lineup.

They could play "bigger" and move one of those guys down to the 2 spot, but I don't think that is something we'll see often, and Cousins is going to get his 30 minutes or so as well. And that is where James projects if he plays.....as a 2 guard, I believe.

Good problem to have. Be interesting to see how it all shakes out. And the following season? Talk about some competition for starting spots. Woodard is your SR pg. Do you start James or Pritchard at the 2 guard? James, Odomes or Buford at the 3 spot? Buford or Lattin at the 4? Lattin, Manyang, or McNeace at the 5? And that doesn't even take into consideration that we'll probably sign at least one more player, if not 2.

I don't disagree that Buford could play the four some. In fact, I think it's likely that he will swing to that spot on occasion to create match up problems at the PF position. He's a very versatile player, much like Cam used to be, only I personally believe he has a bigger upside.

Odomes is similar in that he has the size to play the three and the skill set to play the two. With Buford being what I see as the heir apparent to Buddy at the three, I think he'll play that position, likely in a back up role, more often than the four this season. I think Odomes will see the floor a lot as a back up to Cousins at the two, and as Isaiah's replacement at that position when he moves to the point to fill in for Woodard. That could change if Walker surprises the heck out of all of us and proves to be an adequate back up at the one.

Most of what I've said may not happen until later in the season, after LK goes through the usual early-season substitution period to get a feel for where everyone fits, and to put players to the test to see how they deal with the competition for playing time. But, by the start of conference play, I think the role for each player will be pretty well set, with room for a tweak here and there of course.

Like you said, it's a good problem to have. I honestly don't remember the last time an OU team had so many options, at least on paper, than our coaches will have this fall. The best part to me is that we're going into the season with quality depth, not just players on a roster who may or may not be able to perform in real games situations.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I would not be suprised to see Spangler and Cousins average less than 30 minutes a game. Both clearly wore down last year. They both play extremely hard on both ends of the court and just need more rest.

Also with the apparent depth I expect Kruger to go a least 9 deep and possibly 10. In 13-14 they sacrificed defense due to quality depth and last season they backed off a bit on the offense.

If he can go 10 deep with quality players I would expect to see great intensity on defense with more agressive full and half-court trapping and pressing and all out uptempo offense.

It may depend on how well the new players can play defense more than if they can play offense well.

 

[Stikboy]

I would not be suprised to see Spangler and Cousins average less than 30 minutes a game. Both clearly wore down last year. They both play extremely hard on both ends of the court and just need more rest.

Also with the apparent depth I expect Kruger to go a least 9 deep and possibly 10. In 13-14 they sacrificed defense due to quality depth and last season they backed off a bit on the offense.

If he can go 10 deep with quality players I would expect to see great intensity on defense with more agressive full and half-court trapping and pressing and all out uptempo offense.

It may depend on how well the new players can play defense more than if they can play offense well.

Man that would be optimal. I hope they let a bunch of guys play so they can go all out on D. I know Lon usually doesn't play that many but I hope he does. 10 quality would be great and add experience for next year..

 

[WTSooner]

Not only that, but you left off incoming 6’5” freshman wing Kristian Doolittle. The 2016-17 team will have a nice mix of experience and youth.

Solid player, but with what we have in front of him, I don't see him as a threat to start as a freshman. Play? Sure. But probably not start.

 

[brettromar]

Solid player, but with what we have in front of him, I don't see him as a threat to start as a freshman. Play? Sure. But probably not start.

Yeah he is taller than 6'5 too.

I wonder where they play Doolittle. Is he going to be a tweener like Buford? I am not sure he could guard a wing player for every team but he still has another year to improve his lateral movement and ability to guard outside before he even gets to college. Could change my mind on that on just this season.

 

[usedtobe1]

CBS basketball writer Jon Rothstein had this to say about Odomes on Twitter:

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein Jul 5 Under-the-radar Big 12 freshman: Oklahoma's Rashard Odomes. 6-7 wing has terrific length and is really active. Will be in Sooners' rotation.

Odomes is not 6'7" but I agree he's really active. The day I watched them I would guess that Buford is an inch or two taller, but Odomes has a really strong build. Odomes looks an inch or two taller than James.

 

[trevahoma]

So Buford is a legit 6'7" and Odomes is 6'5"-6'6" and James is 6'4-6'5" ?

 

[usedtobe1]

My guess from afar is Buford is 6'6"-6'7", Odomes is 6'5" and James is 6'3-6'4"? Buford is about the same size as Cam Clark .... maybe slightly taller. Odomes has a really strong upper body so maybe he's taller than it seems from a distance. None of those 3 guys are skinny; they've all put in some time in the weight room.

 

[BCSooners]

My guess from afar is Buford is 6'6"-6'7", Odomes is 6'5" and James is 6'3-6'4"? Buford is about the same size as Cam Clark .... maybe slightly taller. Odomes has a really strong upper body so maybe he's taller than it seems from a distance. None of those 3 guys are skinny; they've all put in some time in the weight room.

No Ray Willis'?