Jamuni McNeace Part II

[AdaSooner]

What the heck, I'm just going to say it. Jamuni McNeace was the second best post player on OU's team tonight. He was 4 of 6 from the field, finishing with 8 points, 7 rebounds (2 on the offensive end), 1 assist and 4 blocks.

This kid appears to be well on his way to becoming a dependable role player off of the bench. He still has a lot to learn. But, with the energy he brings to the court on defense and his nose for the ball on offense, it wouldn't surprise me much if he breaks into the starting lineup in the not-too-distant future.

 

[usedtobe1]

He looked really good for the second game in a row. I was surprised how athletic he is. I remember one time he was out of position but was able to recover and make a good defensive play. Jumani can jump, too!!

 

[Northbase]

Great to hear he is doing so well!
Who is the poster that for the past several months kept saying that he would not contribute much, just a role player,would be just a bench warmer?
Would love to rub their face in it. LOL

 

[CoachTalk]

Great to hear he is doing so well!
Who is the poster that for the past several months kept saying that he would not contribute much, just a role player,would be just a bench warmer?
Would love to rub their face in it. LOL

Don't think it was me but I thought he was 1 more year away. I'm surprised how far he has come in 1 year

 

[TINY]

I couldn't agree more, Ada. Jamuni appears to be a lot more polished than any of us could have imagined at this point and his ceiling was already ridiculous. If this kid continues to progress, he could be an elite big sooner than later IMO.

 

[big-hOUnd]

I am not surprised. See my posts from last year. Tried to tell y'all….

 

[DenverSooner]

Great to hear he is doing so well!
Who is the poster that for the past several months kept saying that he would not contribute much, just a role player,would be just a bench warmer?
Would love to rub their face in it. LOL

Some people just tend to be negative

 

[geeoh]

Granted I don't know if he's even keeping to his assignments in games or practices, but I think he's better than Lattin.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

he has a much higher ceiling than lattin it seems.

 

[MisterF]

He looked good...but remember their tallest player was 6'7".

 

[Larry72]

Hard work and Good Coaching = Rapid Development

 

[Stikboy]

I agree, so far Jamuni has surpassed my expectations. He may deserve, based on his play so far, to start ahead of Lattin. But let's not give up on Khadeem. Lattin may have a more polished offensive game, we just can't see it right now because they don't run anything thru him. Both guys are relegated to scoring off trash. Even though Lattin has tossed some airballs, you can tell he has a stroke that can be developed. He actually hit some Js in some games last year. I just wish they'd feed it to both those guys on the low block ever once in awhile to see what they can do, and keep Ds honest.

I think ALL of our newcomers are about to be in for a rude awakening. Both teams OU has just played are tiny. Villanova will be big and physical as will Wisconsin of course, and others. There will be ups and downs with these guys, as you kind of saw last night with Odomes. He couldn't hit ANYTHING. But they all just need to keep their attitudes up, take their lumps. That is what is supposed to happen before conference. This tough non con is the best thing for these guys. They are all talented and i'm excited about all 4. What did Sampson used to say? "So and so" will be exponentially better in early Feb compared to November. He always said that. Lattin improved over the course of the year last year. I hope he continues to this year. OU may need some scoring by committee down low to replace Tae....

 

[campbest]

Didn't see the game, but have seen Jamuni play a ton, starting in HS. I would curb expectations in an exhibition game, when you are athletic as he is, you can create lots of problems against a NAIA school...they can't compete at the rim or athletically. If he was really out of position, other D1 teams will expose that.

He will get spot run, especially if AK doesn't go, but just be wary of anointing him a starter, OU does not want that this year. He has a very high ceiling though.

 

[campbest]

Great to hear he is doing so well!
Who is the poster that for the past several months kept saying that he would not contribute much, just a role player,would be just a bench warmer?
Would love to rub their face in it. LOL

Never called him a bench-warmer, but said his contributions would be limited, especially if AK plays and as conference games commence.

 

[scrybe]

I think we've all seen McNeace's potential and the kid's probably guaranteed himself more time on the floor with his play in the two exhibition games.

But to suddenly declare him the better player than Lattin is, in my opinion, premature. I'm very excited about Jamuni after watching him twice. But Lattin has done nothing to make me lose confidence in him. His overall game is still better, IMO, at this point. I think they'll both be consistent contributors to this team.

 

[bgrch1350]

I'm ready for some Division 1 opponents. McNease looked good but I'm ready to see if he is legit as some other players on this roster. Its hard to judge kids against NAIA opponents.

 

[BCSooners]

Let's not forget Lattin guards the perimeter MUCH better, which will allow Spangler to bang down low. McNease is a pleasant surprise and will almost certainly help this year, but I think their time will be determined a lot by match ups.

 

[AdaSooner]

I knew when I started this thread that Jamuni will have a far more difficult time of performing well against stiffer competition later on.

But, when I said he was the "second best post player on OU's team" in tonight's game, that didn't have much to do with the size or the level of the competition. I have no doubt that his road to success will be harder against better teams, or that he could hit the freshman wall at some point of the season. But, when you analyze the way he has played in two exhibition games, especially on the boards with a 7.5 rpg average, there are reasons to be optimistic about his future.

And, for the record, I'm not giving up on Khadeem, by any means. I'm still as high on him as I was before. I'm just happy that this team has two athletic bigs who could be labeled as "gems" when our thoughts turn to what I believe to be a very bright future for this OU team.

 

[scrybe]

I knew when I started this thread that Jamuni will have a far more difficult time of performing well against stiffer competition later on.

But, when I said he was the "second best post player on OU's team" in tonight's game, that didn't have much to do with the size or the level of the competition. I have no doubt that his road to success will be harder against better teams, or that he could hit the freshman wall at some point of the season. But, when you analyze the way he has played in two exhibition games, especially on the boards with a 7.5 rpg average, there are reasons to be optimistic about his future.

And, for the record, I'm not giving up on Khadeem, by any means. I'm still as high on him as I was before. I'm just happy that this team has two athletic bigs who could be labeled as "gems" when our thoughts turn to what I believe to be a very bright future for this OU team.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[SoonerinNC]

He did have a big size advantage last night and he did a good job of exploiting it.
I like the way he moves around the court and he seems to have a good idea of his role.
He will probably have his struggles against bigger and stronger people inside buy he is quicker than most bigs and that should help him.
I have always liked him since I saw him on the net in practice last year. He also seemed to have a nice touch but we haven't seen that yet. Typical freshman tightness like with Odomes last night.