Khadeem Lattin

[j2d2]

My son and I talk about this all the time with Buddy and his handles. This is something he can work on, for sure, but I wonder how good his hands are, really. He seems to fumble some passes too. Some of what gets him in trouble, to me, is trying to go too fast. Sounded like in his post-game interview after one of the Bahamas games, Lon asked him to speed up, so that might be something coming from the coaches too. Just seems to get a little out of control at times.

As I think about it's almost like he is too explosive for his own good sometimes.

I, too, hope he returns next year. Fun to watch him play and his personality, smile and attitude are infectious.

I think his head is ahead of his body many times. A little deliberation(very little or he wouldnt be Buddy) would help.

 

[scrybe]

The issues Buddy has had at times handling the ball are not something that the team can't live with.

Think about it: Hield became a superstar and media darling during the off-season with his participation in the Durant and James camps. Don't you think all the attention he's received – including the high draft predictions – may have put a little extra pressure on the kid? Buddy is a very athletic player, and highly skilled in many areas of the game. There's no reason to believe we won't see significant improvement in his ball-handling as the season progresses. I don't remember him having huge issues with his handles last season (I'm sure some of you will correct me if I'm wrong).

I just think it would be better to focus on all the good things Buddy does and how important he is to the Sooners' success this season. If Hield dribbles the ball off his foot or fumbles a pass out of bounds a couple of times each game, he will likely more than make up for those miscues with his shooting, defense, rebounding, etc.

 

[AdaSooner]

The issues Buddy has had at times handling the ball are not something that the team can't live with.

Think about it: Hield became a superstar and media darling during the off-season with his participation in the Durant and James camps. Don't you think all the attention he's received – including the high draft predictions – may have put a little extra pressure on the kid? Buddy is a very athletic player, and highly skilled in many areas of the game. There's no reason to believe we won't see significant improvement in his ball-handling as the season progresses. I don't remember him having huge issues with his handles last season (I'm sure some of you will correct me if I'm wrong).

I just think it would be better to focus on all the good things Buddy does and how important he is to the Sooners' success this season. If Hield dribbles the ball off his foot or fumbles a pass out of bounds a couple of times each game, he will likely more than make up for those miscues with his shooting, defense, rebounding, etc.

scrybe, I think the criticism Buddy receives for his turnovers is due to two things: a) He's our best player, so the expectations are higher, maybe too high to be honest; and, b) Most of the comments about his handles can be traced to the reports that he may opt for the NBA after this season. If that is his plan, improving his handles would only increase the odds that he will go higher in next spring's draft.

For the record, Buddy's TOs have gone up just a little this season. Through the first seven games, he is averaging 2.0 TOs, compared to 1.8 per game last season. But he's not the only one who needs to improve. Three other players (Woodard, Cousins and Thomas, in that order) have more turnovers than him to this point of the season.

I think the fact that Buddy came into the season with a lot of pre-season hype, and perhaps unreasonable expectations, might be contributing to the pressure he seems to feel to perform at a high level. One thing I've noticed is that his turnovers usually occur when he is trying to do too much, not when he is allowing the game to come to him.

I agree 100% that Buddy contributes in so many ways to the team's success, it's not fair to focus on one or two areas that needs to get better. I have no doubt that a gym rat like him will correct them on his own in the not too distant future.

 

[scrybe]

Great post, Ada.

Great minds really do think alike.

 

[AdaSooner]

Great post, Ada.

Great minds really do think alike.

That they do, scrybe! :chestram2:

 

[NMSooner'80]

I also hope he fills out and gets as strong as his grandpa was when he played for what's now known as UTEP. David Lattin was a horse in college and was a first-round pick of the then-San Francisco Warriors. I'm pretty sure he went about 6-7, 250.