James Hale's starting 5 prediction

[cowboysooner]

I believe JBaker's guess will most likely be correct. Having said this, we haven'g seen grooms and arent play so there is no way to know. But, I would agree with his guess.

I don't think Fitz will get very many minutes at the 4 however. It is my guess that Neal will back up Osby at the 4 and Fitz and Arent will rotate at the 5. I also doubt Osby will play much on the wing, except when and if Lon plays 4 out and 1 in. This being said, I haven't seen Osby play either. It hard for me to imagine a kid with his size being quick enough laterally to play on the wing, but if so, great.

Frankly, with all the talk about us needing posts and points, it has sort of been lost that we don't any true wings other than cam and bird. I guess newell could be considered a short wing. But after those guys, we really don't have anyone that I know of that can man defend out there. Neal played outside some for Capel and he isn't even close to being quick enough to really defend well on the outside in man defense. Maybe we ought to pick up another wing if we have an available schollie.

 

[McG78]

While Blair had a lot of unforced turnovers, I have to think a lot of his ineffectiveness came from a poorly designed offense and little supporting cast. I would hope that LK can better utilize him (which I think he will with a faster more open offense) and that Osby and Clark can open up some driving lines for the drive and dish. Blair had some solid games (e.g., Kentucky).

If Grooms starts over Blair, I think we will be pretty solid at point guard.

The problem is that I don't see Grooms or Blair as a real outside shooting threat. If we try to play them together, we will almost get no production from the outside.

 

[BoulderSooner]

i think it that line up you can call clark the 3 and osby the 2 if you want ... osby is going to be on the outside most of the time

 

[DenverSooner]

My Guess is:
Blair
Pledger
Clark
Osby
Fitz

Grooms backs up Blair
Newell backs up Pledger
Neal backs up Clark
Washington backs up Osby
Arent backs up Fitz

I pretty much agree except I would speculate that Arent is the first guy off the bench backing up both Osby and Fitz. In fact, I would not be shocked to occassionally see Osby at the 3 with both Fitz and Arent in the game.

I think Grooms and Newell both get minutes in the backcourt. I suspect Neal and Washington play roles but not major minutes because I don't see Clark and Osby on the bench much. I hope Neal plays so well that Kruger has to get him in the game. That will mean OU is a better team.

 

[DenverSooner]

Comments from Aren't after committing indicate that OU told him they want to move Fitz to PF.

I don't know what to think of this lineup. Clark at the 2 is intriguing, but it would be more effective if you had a great shooter at PG. Where is the shooter in this lineup? Not that Pledge or Newell have been consistent shooters either, though.

Plus, relying on a newcomer in the middle = lots of foul trouble. We may start these 5, but Fitz will be back at the 5 spot often, meaning Osby to 4, Clark to 3, and SP or CN back in the lineup.

Bright side is, if Aren't is capable, we have many lineup options to play around with.

Arent actually shot a respectable percentage from 3 in juco ball. Perhaps with Osby and Arent both capable of shooting the 3 you don't need a great 3 point shooter at any one position? Obviously it would be preferable to have a 40% or close to it 3 point shooter on the court but maybe you can get it done by committee with Pledger coming off the bench?

Clark actually shot .373 from 3 point last year but Blair was only .250. Maybe if your center is above .300 (which he was in juco) and Osby is a .350 shooter it works.

 

[ksSooner13]

My educated guess would be a starting line-up for game one of:

1: Blair
2: Pledger
3: Clark
4: Osby
5: Fitzgerald

But we will see a lot of Fitzgerald at the 4 with Arent at the 5, and Osby at the 3.

:clap I agree with this 100%

 

[Capel's Mustache]

Folks!

No way Jimmy Hale wrote this...where are the typos

 

[soonermule]

He handles the ball better then Blair does plus he can shoot, drive or pull up and pop.

 

[Krugerfan52]

My Guess is:
Blair
Pledger
Clark
Osby
Fitz

Grooms backs up Blair
Newell backs up Pledger
Neal backs up Clark
Washington backs up Osby
Arent backs up Fitz

You nailed it. People always like to jump the gun and just assume that incoming players will be better than returning players.

 

[coolm]

My educated guess would be a starting line-up for game one of:

1: Blair
2: Pledger
3: Clark
4: Osby
5: Fitzgerald

But we will see a lot of Fitzgerald at the 4 with Arent at the 5, and Osby at the 3.

yep

 

[jerry]

No way Jimmy Hale wrote this...where are the typos

lol!!

 

[WTSooner]

i think it that line up you can call clark the 3 and osby the 2 if you want ... osby is going to be on the outside most of the time

Osby will go inside more than Clark will.

And you do understand that in nearly ALL offenses ran against a man defense, the 2 and 3 players do nearly the exact same thing on offense right? And further, after the initial pass is made, the PG does the same things as the 2 and 3 players. This isn't the NBA.....playing a big 3 and expecting to post him up doesn't work. That is why you very, very rarely see it.

 

[NickZepp]

I think that depends on how athletic Osby is. When the Griffins were here and we had Patillo we would see lineups with Taylor, Patillo, Blake. It worked well because of how athletic those 3 guys were. I'm not sure how athletic Osby is, if he can run with some other teams guards play him at the 3 at times so we can have more size. Size is something we really haven't had as an advantage the last couple of years. It could be a big advantage next year if Arent can defend and rebound and Osby can play the 3.

 

[WTSooner]

Patillo and Selvy were both quite a bit smaller/quicker than Osby.

And both of those guys played the 4, primarily. Also, both had much better guard play at the 1/2 spots. That helps.

 

[Cleavon Little]

I lol'd

Me too

 

[garyeb2]

My Guess is:
Blair
Pledger
Clark
Osby
Fitz

Grooms backs up Blair
Newell backs up Pledger
Neal backs up Clark
Washington backs up Osby
Arent backs up Fitz

I Don't understand this obsession with wanting Fitz at the post. Didn't he have some problems rebounding and defending from that spot? Didn't the occasional foul trouble come from having to guard bigger guys? Why wouldn't it be better having him in his natural position so he would have the best chance to realise whatever potential he has? "Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result," is a definition of what?

 

[DenverSooner]

I Don't understand this obsession with wanting Fitz at the post. Didn't he have some problems rebounding and defending from that spot? Didn't the occasional foul trouble come from having to guard bigger guys? Why wouldn't it be better having him in his natural position so he would have the best chance to realise whatever potential he has? "Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result," is a definition of what?

I think most people believe Clark and Osby are the two most talented guys on the team and need to be on the court. I also think most people think Fitzgerald is an effective low post offensive threat. If you are of the opinion that Clark does not have the ball handling skills to play the 2 and would struggle defending the 2, it makes sense to play him at the 3. That forces Osby to the 4 and Fitz to the 5 unless you start Arent and bring Fitzgerald off the bench. While that is possible, I don't see it as likely because Fitzgerald has substantially D-1 experience. Clearly his rebounding and defense must improve but he made a huge leap from his freshman season to his sophomore season. Most players show their most improvement from their sophomore season to their junior season. Hopefully, Fitzgerald will be able to focus on his footwork and position this summer as opposed to losing weight (like he did last summer) and we will see some signficant improvement in his defense and rebounding.

 

[NickZepp]

I Don't understand this obsession with wanting Fitz at the post. Didn't he have some problems rebounding and defending from that spot?

He didn't have trouble scoring though which is what we need. We still don't have a lot of scoring overall.

 

[garyeb2]

He didn't have trouble scoring though which is what we need. We still don't have a lot of scoring overall.

He averaged 12.6 ppg. No one has ever said that Arent was completely void of scoring skills. What does 19 ppg in JC (he went off for 40 one night) translate into at the Div 1 level. I don't know. 8?, 10?, How much scoring do you really give up with Arent in there. Not much if any. And besides, Fitz got alot of his points with that clever little 8/10 foot jumper when he slipped away from the basket. If Arent can defend a big alittle better and just rebound in his area it looks like he would be a net plus to me. And one more point. There seems to be a consensus that Kruger will be able to coach last years bunch up alittle. I agree. But, if he can do that. He will be able to coach up Arent alittle too.

 

[NickZepp]

Washington averaged 19 a game at JUCO.